Police invade G-7 govs meeting in Abuja

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62006

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

Police invade G-7 govsmeeting in Abuja

COLUMNIST:•P.17

Continues on Page 15

•P.54

ADORATION GROUND TRAGEDY:

UNVEILING:From Left: Marketing Manager, Mr. Obinna Anyalebechi;Corporate Relations Director, Mr. Sesan Sobowale; MD/CEO, Mr. SeniAdetu and Marketing & Innovation Director, Mr. Austin Ufomba ,all ofGuinness Nigeria Plc, at the unveiling of the Guinness Foreign ExtraStout new label and packaging in Lagos.

ECLIPSE—Partial solar eclipse as recorded in Calabar, yesterday. INSETS: Left: Children observing the eclipse at the NationalSpace Research and Development Agency(NASRDA)in Abuja. Right: Permanent Secretary,Federal Ministry of Science and Technology,Mrs Rabi Jimeta (l) and Director-General,NASRDA, Prof. Seidu Mohammed observing the eclispe in Abuja, yesterday. Photos: NAN.

P.5

Obi, Ngige, Umeh trade blames

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, POLITICAL

EDITOR

LAGOS—A MEETING of the G7 gov-

ernors in the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP inthe Kano State Governor'sLodge in Asokoro area ofAbuja was, yesterday, dis-rupted after men of theNigeria Police stormedthe venue of the meeting.

The detachment of po-licemen led by the Divi-sional Police Officer of theAsokoro Division, whowas in mufti, invaded themeeting venue and im-mediately asked that themeeting be brought to aclose.

NPDP—A police DPO from Asokoro, Abuja, informs Gov. Rabiu Musa Kwankwasoof Kano State (middle) and others to stop the nPDP meeting going on in the KanoState Government Lodge, yesterday.

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 ————— 3 3 3 3 3


CMYK

POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013—5


Obi, Ngige, Umeh tradeblames

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Don’t envy the signs of happiness in any man,because you do not know the secret grief he isexperiencing; an average man has a grief unknownto most. Happiness is the capacity to carry life ex-periences well!

IT isn’t what you have or who you are or whereyou are or what you are doing that makes you

happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it—Dale Carnegie

Anthony De Mello wrote that happiness is ournatural state. Happiness is the natural state of lit-tle children, to whom the kingdom belongs untilthey have been polluted and contaminated by thefollies of society and culture. To acquire happinessyou don’t have to do anything, because happinesscannot be acquired. Does anybody know why? Be-cause we have it already. How can you acquirewhat you already have? Then why don’t you expe-rience it? Because you’ve got to drop something.You’ve got to drop illusions. You don’t have to addanything in order to be happy; Life is easy, life isdelightful. It’s only hard on your illusions, yourambitions, your cravings. Do you know where thesethings come from? From having identified with allkinds of labels- Abraham Lincoln sums it aptly:“People are just as happy as they make up theirminds to be.”

Handover of Ughelli Power Plant to Transcorp Plc : From left: CEO TranscorpUghelli Power Limited, Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi; Chairman Heirs Holdings andTransnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu; Ministerfor Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu; and the Okobaro of UghievwenKingdom, HRM Matthew Ediri Egbi Ohwahwa II, during the official handoverceremony of Ugheli Power Plant to Transcorp Plc, at Ugheli, Delta State, onFriday.

L A G O S —A N A M B R A

State Governor PeterObi; leaders of the AllProgressives Congress,APC, and the AllProgressives Grand Al-

liance, APGA, yesterday,traded blames over lastSaturday’s stampede atthe Holy Ghost Adora-tion Ground at Uke inIdemili North Local Gov-ernment Area ofAnambra State in whichabout 28 people died.While APC gubernato-rial candidate, SenatorChris Ngige and theparty's interim NationalPublicity Secretary,

Alhaji Lai Mohammedblamed Obi for the trag-edy, the Anambra StateGovernor and APGANational Chairman,Chief Victor Umeh, saidNgige is responsible andshould be arrested.

This came as theAnambra State govern-ment, yesterday, de-clared three days ofmourning for those whodied in the incident. Ina broadcast in Awka, yes-terday, Governor PeterObi also said that hewould set up a panel ofinquiry to unearth theimmediate and remotecauses of the tragedy.

The governor, whosympathized with fami-lies of the deceased andinjured, also directedsecurity agencies to en-sure that the culpritswere brought to book.

Meanwhile, the Arch-bishop of Onitsha, MostReverend ValerianOkeke, yesterday, saidthe stampede was re-portedly caused by afalse alarm raised bysomebody in the crowdalong one of the narrowroads out of the town.

APGA Candidate,Chief Willie Obiano con-doled with the bereavedfamilies and urged poli-ticians to shun politics ofbitterness.

Why I went to thechurch and whattranspired – Obi

Looking depressedand worried over thetragedy, Obi explainedhow he was being inter-rupted when the priestinvited him to speak tothe congregation.

Wondering why theAPC governorship can-didate should turn a holyground into a campaignarena, Obi said that ashe stood to speak, somegroup of people wavingbrooms and SenatorChris Ngige’s postersstarted singing Ngige’sname.

Obi’s broadcast read:“With a deep sense ofsorrow and sadness, Iaddress you today onthe tragedy which befellus yesterday (Saturday)at the Holy Ghost Ado-ration Ministry, Uke,Idemili North Local Gov-ernment Area ofAnambra State leadingto the death of over 20persons.

“My heart goes out tothe immediate familiesof the deceased, the pre-siding priest, Rev. Fr.Emmanuel Obinma, theCatholic Archdiocese ofOnitsha and indeed allAnambrarians. I assureyou that the AnambraState government in itsusual manner will giveyou all the needed sup-port to comfort you atthis painful period.

“It is, however, neces-sary to state what hap-pened at the vigil atUke. The host of theMinistry, Rev. Fr.Emmanuel Obinma hadpersonally delivered awritten invitation to me,requesting that I attendthe All Saints nightprayers (November 1,2013 being All SaintsDay).

“In my characteristicmanner, I honoured thatinvitation, arriving thevenue at about 10:00 pmwhen the Mass startedwith no more than 10persons including myelder sister, Rev. Sr.Martina Obi, the Na-tional Chairman ofAPGA, Chief VictorUmeh and others as wellas less than half of mysecurity details.

“It is worth-mention-ing that when I wascalled upon by the Priestto speak as the governorof the state at about 12midnight when theMass ended, a group ofpeople located in threedifferent spots startedchanting Ngige slogansand waving the broomsof All Progressives Con-gress and the pictures ofDr. Chris Ngige, theAPC’s flag bearer in theNovember 16 Governor-ship election. It took upto 20 minutes for thepriest to calm themdown.

“I was surprised thatsome people would turna prayer ground into acampaign venue. In my

remarks, which lasted nomore than five minutes,I promised to sponsor 20indigent people fromamong the faithful onpilgrimage, provide ac-cess road to thepremises and urged allpresent to pray forAnambra State and Ni-geria. The Presidingpriest and all presentcan testify to this, and itis on tape.

“I left the Adorationpremises at about3:00am on Saturday withthe persons who camewith me and arrived atmy Lodge at 3:30 amonly to be told after mybroadcast, later in themorning where I re-named the AnambraState University (ANSU)to ChukwuemekaOdumegwu-OjukwuUniversity that a stam-pede occurred at theplace where I had leftthree hours previously. Iquickly cancelled all myengagements on Satur-day and Sunday andstarted visiting relevantplaces to get first-handinformation on the trag-edy.

“I appeal to the goodpeople of our dear stateto remain calm andprayerful as God whohas been with us all thiswhile, will help us toovercome the presentsad development so thatwe can continue the taskof turning around ourstate.

“I have directed all se-curity agencies to doeverything possible tounearth the cause of thismayhem. A panel of in-quiry will soon be con-stituted to investigatewhat happened. Finally,I have declared threedays of mourning start-ing from yesterday inhonour of our departedones.”

Governor Obi isculpable– APC, Ngige

Reacting to the devel-opment, the APC saidthat Governor Obishould be held respon-sible for the tragedy forallegedly turning ahouse of prayer into ahouse of politics.In a statement issued in

Lagos, yesterday, by itsInterim National Public-ity Secretary, Alhaji LaiMohammed, the partysaid had Governor Obiand the APGA Gover-norship Candidate,Willie Obiano, not goneto the praying ground“to engage in wrongfulpoliticking,” the inno-cent souls who died atthe vigil would be alivet o d a y .Praying that God willgrant repose to the soulsof the departed andwishing all those in-jured a speedy recoveryand the families of thevictims the fortitude tobear their losses, it saidwhile there is nothingwrong in a State Gover-nor going to a vigil, suchvisit should not be im-promptu in order for theorganizers to make thenecessary security ar-rangements, and itshould also not be a li-cence to engage in po-litical campaign.

APC condemned theplan by Governor Obi toset up a panel to inves-tigate the stampede,considering that “theGovernor himself is atthe centre of the wholetragedy.

"Setting up a panel toinvestigate the cause ofthe stampede willamount to seeking to bea judge in your owncase. The only cause ofthe stampede is the Gov-ernor’s ill-advised visitto the vigil. Informationat our disposal has itthat the stampede wastriggered by the Gover-nor’s overzealous secu-rity details who man-handled congregants astheir principal was exit-ing the venue of thevigil. The security de-tails were said to havebeen irked by the mur-murs of disapproval thatgreeted the Governor’sattempt to campaign forhis candidate, Mr.O b i a n o .In like manner, Ngige,yesterday, advised Gov-ernor Obi to take re

Continues on page 13

BY CLIFFORDNDUJIHE & VIN-CENT UJUMADU

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Family of woman allegedly killedfor childlessness demands justice

MEASLES VACCINATION: Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State flags off the integrated measles campaignat Freedom Park, Osogbo.

BY EVELYN USMAN

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

5 brothersdocked forfraud

Bakassi returnees cry out overoil spill

Ex-NNPC staff, 3 others nabbedfor pipeline vandalisation

OPERATIVES of theInspector-General of

Police Special Task Force onAnti-Pipeline Vandalism havearrested a former privatesecurity personnel attached tothe Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation,NNPC, for allegedly workingas a middleman for vandals in

Shagamu area of Ogun State.The 47-year-old suspect

identified as KehindeOrimade, who admittedculpability, said he wastempted to work for vandalsfollowing the money that wasoffered.

Orimade, according to theAssistant Commissioner ofPolice in charge of the SpecialTask Force, Friday Ibadin, was

arrested while relocating toBenin, Edo State, when he gotwind that the operatives wereon his trail.

Also arrested were AdewaleSaka, Kemi Balogun andUmaru Abudulahi.

A truck, fully-loaded with apetroleum product, wasrecovered at the point ofdischarging it to prospectivebuyers at Ogere, Ogun State.

FAMILY of a housewife,Amaka Okoro, allegedly

murdered by her husband,Henry Okoro, over heralleged inability to bear hima child, has cried out to theLagos State Government toprevent alleged attempt bysome powerful persons tocover up the case.

The late Amaka, a mastersdegree holder from LadokeAkintola University,LAUTECH, Ogbomosho, andan executive marketer withVDT CommunicationsLimited, was said to have diedafter a fight with her husbandat their Gbagada home inLagos.

However, in a petition to theLagos State Attorney-Generaland Commissioner for Justice,Mr. Ade Ipaye, the deceased’sfamily, through their lawyer,Bamidele Ogundele, claimedthat the suspect’s family wasin talks with the police toduplicate the case file so thatthe matter will bediscontinued.

To this end the deceasedfamily sent a save our soulmessage to the Attorney-General to ensure that justiceis done in the case.

The petition partly read:“Surprisingly, the defendant’sfamily members, particularlyhis uncle and father who cameto the Ebute Meta

magistrate’s court when thedefendant was charged tocourt, was seen by our client

discussing with the prosecutorto immediately duplicate thecase file to the office of the

Director of Public Prosecutions,DPP, to enable him kill the casefile through his contacts.”

EKET (AKWA IBOM)—BAKASSI returnees in

Eket, Akwa Ibom State, havedecried the impact of theNovember 19, 2012 oil spillfrom the offshore Idohoplatform, belonging to MobilProducing Nigeria Unlimited.

Spokesman of thereturnees, Mr. FridayUdohuyo, said in Eket thatthe oil spill destroyed aquaticlife on the shoreline of their

communities and source oflivelihood of the fishermen.

He decried thedevelopment, pointing outthat their members borrowedmoney to buy fishingequipment.

He said: “We can no longerfeed our families. Ourchildren cannot go to schoolsand our drinking water andfarmland have beenpolluted.”

He said the hazard causedby the oil spill affected theirhealth, adding that many of

their children were sufferingfrom malaria and typhoid.

Udohuyo said severalappeals to the oil companyhad not produced anypositive result, stressing thatthey demanded N732 millionas compensation fromExxonMobil.

Speaking on behalf ofBakassi Returnees in EketLocal Government Area ofAkwa Ibom, Udohuyo calledon Akwa Ibom State and theFederal Government to cometo their aid.

ONITSHA— FIVEbrothers have been

dragged before an OgidiMagistrate's Court inAnambra State presidedover by Emelda Chu-kwudebelu, on a five-count charge of conspira-cy, stealing and fraud.

The accused personsare Walter Osefoh (44),Augustine Osefoh (58),Christopher Osefoh (60),Cyril Osefoh (45) andChidi Osefoh (53).

In the charge, the Policeprosecution alleged thatthe accused persons hadsometime in 2012 atUmuoji in IdemiliMagisterial District,unlawfully conspiredamong themselves tocommit a felony, to witstealing.

The prosecution furtheralleged that the accusedpersons on the same dateand venue, with intent todefraud, obtained N4million, property ofmembers and benefi-ciaries of Chief S. N.Osefoh Family Trust byrepresenting themselvesas the landlords of 2,Ahaeto Street, D-Line,Port Harcourt, RiversState.

The presidingMagistrate, Emelda Chu-kwudebelu adjourned thematter till today.

BY OKONKWO EZE

UMUAHIA— ABIAState Police Com-

mand, yesterday, para-ded 15 suspects allegedlyinvolved in variouscrimes, including armedrobbery, kidnapping,child trafficking andimpersonation, who werearrested by the commandin October.

Parading the suspectsat the Police Head-quarters in Umuahia, thecommissioner, Mr.Usman Abubakar,assured residents of thestate that the policewould ensure that crimeis reduced to the barestminimum and that theywould have a crime-freeEmber months.

Policeparades 15allegedcriminals inAbia

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013—7

ASUU warns FG against forced re-opening ofvarsities

NLC yet toimplementN18,000wage for itsworkforce

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME,OLA AJAYI & SIMON

EBEGBULEM

VISIT—From left: MD/CEO Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo; CEO, Nigeria Stock Exchange,NSE, Oscar Onyema; Executive Directors, Heritage Bank, Mary Akpobome and NiyiAdeseun, during a courtesy visit by Heritage Bank management to NSE.

AS the strike embarked uponby the Academic Staff Union

of Universities enters the fourthmonth, the union has flayedalleged plans by the FederalGovernment to forcefully order there-opening of the universitiestoday, saying this will onlycomplicate the situation.

Chairperson of the Uniportchapter of ASUU, ProfessorAnthonia Okerengwo, urged theFederal Government to toe thepath of honour in its effort towardsresolving the lingering strike.

His University of Benincounterpart, Dr Anthony Money-Emina, described as laughable,reports that President GoodluckJonathan will order the unionmembers to go back to work today.

Similarly, ASUU, University ofIbadan chapter, through itsSecretary, Dr Ayodeji Omole, saidsuch a report would further dentthe image of the government asanti-democratic, cautioningPresident Jonathan to allow asleeping dog lie by implementingthe 2009 ASUU/FGN agreementwhich the Federal Governmenthad already signed.

ASUU vowed that it would notbe intimidated into going back tothe classroom, “unless ourdemands are met by the FederalGovernment.”

ASUU Uniben said that thesolution to the current industrialaction embarked upon bymembers was for the FederalGovernment to come up with aclear agenda on how toimplement the 2009 agreementand the Memorandum ofUnderstanding, MoU, enteredwith the union in 2012.

Describing as laughable, reportsthat government will order theunion members to go back to work,ASUU urged government to shun“authoritarian approaches toresolving issues in dispute withthe union.”

Money-Emina said, “Theattention of our union has beendrawn to news report in the media,alleging that the President willdirect the re-opening of Nigerianuniversities with or without ASUUfrom Monday.”

Professor Okerengwo in astatement said: “Arm twisting hasnever worked as a disputeresolution strategy. It isunacceptable to the union thatwhile the President has invited theunion leadership for a dialogue,some overzealous assistants to thepresident are clandestinelyworking to jeopardise the process.

The surest and shortest route toindustrial harmony in theuniversity system and the fastestapproach to revitalising universityeducation is the implementationof 2009 agreement and the 2012

MOU,” the union said.UI-ASUU, while welcoming an

invitation to ASUU for a meetingtoday, warned that it would beunacceptable to its members ifgovernment failed to come out witha clear agenda for implementingthe 2009 agreement.

It said “The attention of ourunion is drawn to news reports in

the media alleging thatPresident Goodluck Jonathanwill direct the re-opening of allNigerian universities with orwithout ASUU.

"We wish to state that whilethe President had issued aninvitation to the leaders of ourunion for dialogue, it will beunacceptable to our members

if government fails to come outwith a clear agenda forimplementing the 2009agreement.

"Authoritarian posturing hasnever solved and will not solvethe impasse. We are calling onMr President to tow the path ofhonour and respect the 2009Agreement.”

Transcorp takes over Ughelli power plantBY PETER EGWUATU

TRANSCORP Ughelli PowerLimited, TUPL, a subsidiary of

Transnational Corporation ofNigeria Plc (Transcorp), weekend,officially took physical ownershipof Ughelli Power Plc, the ownerand operator of the 1000MWcapacity Ughelli Power Plantfollowing a hand over by theFederal Government.

The ceremony was held at theplant located in Ughelli, Delta Statewith government representatives,community leaders and otherstakeholders in attendance.

Vice President Namadi Sambo,who was represented by Mr.Emeka Wogu, Minister for Labourand Productivity said: "Thishandover ceremony is theculmination of 14 years ofpainstaking efforts by the NCP andits Secretariat, the Bureau of PublicEnterprises, BPE, the FederalMinistry of Power and otherstakeholders to reform andliberalize Nigeria’s electricityindustry.

"This reform and privatizationprogramme is rightly focused onthe big picture, that is, the impacton the economy as a whole andultimately, the greatest good for thegreatest number of Nigerians.

"I congratulate Transcorp foremerging as the successful winnerthrough a very rigorous,

competitive and transparentprocess. We appreciate yourfaith in the process and yourfaith in the Nigeriangovernment and economy."

Ughelli Power Plc, operatorof the Ughelli Power Plant isone of the six power generationcompanies unbundled fromthe Power Holding Companyof Nigeria, PHCN.

By August 21, 2013, TUPLhad effected full payment of$300million to the BPErepresenting 100 per cent ofTUPL’s bid price for the plant.

Chairman of Transcorp, TonyElumelu, while commentingon the successful hand oversaid, "I would like to thank theadministration of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan for itsdiligence towards achievingthis significant milestone in the

history of the Nigerian powersector."

He added that Transcorp andits partners Tenoil, SymbionPower, Thomassen andWoodrock Energy are wellpositioned and have therequired expertise to operate aworld-class power generationplant that will transform theNigerian power sector andchange the lives of its citizens.

Elumelu re-statedTranscorp’s unflaggingcommitment to invest in hostcommunities wherever theorganisation operates with theaim of creating jobs, providingtraining and ensuring vitalknowledge and skills transferthus ensuring sustainablecontribution to Nigeria’seconomic and socialdevelopment .

Eclipse witnessed in Nigerian cities

THE much-awaited eclipsewas yesterday witnessed in

some major Nigerian cities andtowns, between 1100 and1600hrs.

Eclipse is a phenomenon thatoccurs when the moon passesbetween the sun and the earth,and partially blocks the sun.

An online site had predicted

that partial eclipse will be visiblein Lagos by 12:50pm, when themoon would touch the edge ofthe sun.

It said that by 2:32pm,maximum eclipse would occurand the moon would be seenclosest to the centre of the sun,and another partial eclipse by4:01pm, when the moon would

leave the edge of the sun.The website also stated other

dates when eclipse would bevisible from Lagos, includingApril 15, 2014, (total lunareclipse), October 8, 2014 (totallunar eclipse), April 4, 2015(partial lunar eclipse) andSeptember 28, 2015 (total lunareclipse).

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

OVER three years afterthe National Minimum

Wage Act was passed intolaw, Nigeria LabourCongress, NLC, is yet toimplement the N18.000minimum wage for workersof Labour City TransportService, LCTS.

Not only that, Vanguardinvestigation revealed thatNLC has refused to sanctiona condition of service for theworkers who have beenexposed to unfair practicesthat labour has been wagingwar against.

Recall that Vanguard inAugust reported that theworkers were being owedseven months (now eightmonths) salary arrearsthereby inflicting untoldhardship and suffering onthe workers.

Efforts to speak with themanagement of thecompany including theChairman of the Board ofDirectors, Mr. KiriMohammed, yielded noresult.

When Vanguard calledMr. Mohammed on hisphone, he claimed he didnot know anything about theissue, because it was notlong he became the BoardChairman, adding that hewas making sure that thenew buses NLC boughtwere rolled out.

However, Vanguardgathered that efforts by theworkers through theumbrella union, theNational Union of RoadTransport Workers, NURTW,including several letterswere rebuffed.

Vanguard findingsrevealed that a resemblanceof a condition of service forthe workers prepared in2009 under themanagement of LCTS ledOwei Lakemfa, nowSecretary General ofOrganisation of AfricanTrade Union Unity, OATUU,was never implemented.


MUDI OUTLET OPENS IN GHANA—Nigerian Ambassador to Ghana, OluseyiOnafowokan (middle) and wife (left) and other guests at the opening of the new Mudioutlet in Ghana, weekend.

Nigerian Fashion Designer, Mudi and the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, Irene VidaGala at the opening of Mudi outlet in Ghana, weekend.

Reports of previous conferences can't berelied on — OKUNROUNMU

BY OLA AJAYI,OLASUNKANMI AKONI &

MONSOOROLOWOOPEJO

As Oyo PDP urges S-West stakeholders to shun APC's planned boycott ofconfab

CHAIRMAN of thePresidential Advisory

Committee on NationalConference/Dialogue, Dr FemiOkurounmu has said reports onprevious National conferencescould not be relied on becausemembers of such conferenceswere handpicked by thegovernment.

Okurounmu who spoke whenthe committee paid a visit toGovernor Babatunde Fashola ofLagos said, “no previousconference had the features of thepresent committee. I rememberthe 2005 conference organised bythe Obasanjo administration,which I was privileged to attendas a delegate of the Afenifere, andI can say that from my state, I wasthe only one who wasn’tnominated by the government.All others were nominated by theFederal or state governments. Sowe cannot compare that with this.

“The past reports were notproduct of Nigerians. It was theproduct of people who werehandpicked by government andthey were restricted. They werenot free to discuss several issues.If those conferences were right,there wouldn’t be any need forNigerians to start agitating foranother conference.”

He said the members werecommitted to conducting aconference with an exception asthey are poised to make it aconference of the people and bythe people with the agenda beingdetermined by the people and notthe government.

He reiterated that theconference would not have “no-go areas” and “for those who arenot very comfortable andimpressed with the provisions ofthe 1999 Constitution, the presentexercise is an opportunity to rightthe wrongs.”

During the visit, Fashola, hadurged the committee to considerthe report submitted by thecommittee on the 2005 NationalPolitical Reform Conference butshould remove the tenureelongation.

Meanwhile, Oyo State chapterof the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, has said it would be adisservice to future generationsof Yoruba for any political partyor group to call for the boycott ofthe national conference as thiswill automatically shut out peopleof the South West when criticalissues of how to structure thefederation are being discussed byvarious other ethnic groups thatmake up the Nigerian state.

The party through its PublicitySecretary, Mr. Lukman Agboluajecommended some of thestakeholders in the South Westfor expressing support anddemonstrating willingness tomake meaningful contribution tothe proposed national conferencein Lagos last Friday.

While asking interest groupslike traditional rulers, opinionleaders, civil society

organisations, labour union andother stakeholders in the zone tojoin in presenting agenda for theSouth West as it affects its continuedexistence in the Nigerian union,the party stated that it was in thebest interest of the entire region totake active part and make itsfeelings known by submittingmemoranda to the Senator FemiOkunrounmu-led NationalConference Committee to state thedemands and interests of theYoruba nation on issues that maybe slated for discussion at theconference.

The party, therefore, called on thepeople of the South West to ignorecalls by the All ProgressivesCongress and its leaders for theboycott of the conference as thiscontradicts the political beliefs andphilosophy of the late sage, ChiefObafemi Awolowo who nevershunned any opportunity fordialogue with Nigerians of otherethnic groups or interests on waysof restructuring the country.

The party recalled that individualsand groups including thoseclaiming to be progressives hadalways advocated nationalconference as a precondition foraddressing the various challengesthat confront the Nigerian state,now that President Jonathan hasset machinery in motion fordialogue, it is amazing that thesesame previous advocates of nationaldialogue are now fighting hard tothwart efforts to bring Nigerianstogether to a roundtable to discussand find solutions to their problems.

UK u-turns, drops visa bond policy against Nigeria, others

FACED with global anddomestic opposition to the

proposed visa bond for someAfrican and Asian countries, Britainhas announced plans to scrap theidea.

Under the proposal made by theHome Office, visitors from certainAfrican and Asian countries wereto pay a cash bond in return for avisitor’s visa.

Specifically, visitors from Nigeria,India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanka, and Ghana who apply for asix-month British visa would havebeen obliged to pay a refundable£3,000-pound ($4,800) cash bondto deter them from overstaying.

A government statementyesterday said a pilot schemewhich was due to start this monthhad been canceled. The proposalspurred global outcry and causedpolitical tension between thecoalition partners of DavidCameron as its Liberal Democratic

party led by Nick Cleggobjected to the proposal.

Clegg had initially said thebond plan was an idea worthexploring, but changed hismind after some members of hisparty called it discriminatory.The u-turn on the visa bondunderlines deep policy rifts inthe alliance between theConservatives and their juniorpartner, the centre-left LiberalDemocrats.

The pilot scheme wasexpected to start this month butsources close to the Britishgovernment said the proposalhas been dropped. No reasonwas given for the cold shouldergiven to the proposal which wastargeted at those countries withhigh risk immigration push.

Reports from Londonyesterday said: “We havedecided not to proceed with thepolicy and the pilot scheme

which was billed to start thisNovember has been halted. TheBritish government was notsurefooted on the immigrationpolicy reforms as it was boundto affect British drive for tradeand investment.

Opposition parties are alsoslamming the ruling party thatits flagship immigration policywas in disarray. Spokesman foropposition Labour Party DavidHanson, issued a statementyesterday criticizing “the rulingConservative Party on itsfloundering immigration policy.

Hanson said: “It seems DavidCameron’s government can’tget anything right when it comesto dealing with illegalimmigration.

“We have decided not toproceed,” the spokesman said,declining to explain why.

Polls show that immigration isone of the most important issues

for voters in Britain, whereCameron’s Conservative Party facesthe threat of the UK IndependenceParty, UKIP, siphoning off supportahead of a parliamentary electionin 2015.

Concerns have been fuelledrecently by warnings in the right-leaning media about “hordes” ofRomanians and Bulgarians movingto Britain next year, whenEuropean Union freedom ofmovement restrictions lapse at atime when Britons face risingcompetition for jobs.

UKIP, which campaigns for Britainto leave the EU and for a halt to“open door” immigration, madesweeping gains in local electionsin May, winning almost one in fourvotes, mostly at the expense of theConservatives.

Two weeks ago, the governmentsaid it was abandoning an idea fora nationwide advertising campaignurging illegal immigrants to “gohome or face arrest”.


Poison gas: Doctors battle to save pupil

BY MONSUR (OLOWOOPE-JO

AT least two of the 25 students of Ogba Junior Grammar

School hospitalised last Thursdayfor inhaling poisonous fumes froma photo laboratory close to theirschool are said to be battling forlife at the emergency ward of La-gos State University TeachingHospital, LASUTH, Ikeja.

According to reliable hospitalsources, the students — GbolahanLawal and another, a female — arehowever said to be under closewatch by doctors who believe theyhave good chances of recovering.

Gbolahan’s mother, Mrs.Isiwatu Lawal, who spoke to Van-guard said: “It was one of hisfriends who told me what hap-pened in their school while I waswaiting for him to return. This isbecause he wasn’t sick beforeleaving home.

“When I inquired from hisfriends, they said the chemicalreleased by a photo laboratory be-hind their school affected all thepupils including him. While someof the pupils affected were rolling,clutching their stomach andscreaming, he didn’t.

“So on his way home, heslumped on Ogba Road. It was by-standers who came to his rescue.They took him to a hospital wherefirst aid was administered on him,before he was transferred toLASUTH, Ikeja.”

She noted that her son com-plained of chest pain earlier andbegan vomiting the following day.“At present, he is about receivinganother drip. But the doctors have

assured us that he will be stablein few hours.

She stated that Gbolahan wasthe only male among the five stu-dents critically affected by thechemical, adding, “he is the onlyone in his ward. I don’t knowwhere others are.”

Meantime, Lagos State Com-missioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idrishas said that there have not beenany new cases of confirmed chol-era in the state aside the threeearlier confirmed cases reported

since the detection of the epidemicprone disease.

Idris who disclosed this, week-end, while speaking on efforts tocurb the spread of the disease,noted that not all diarrheoa caseswere cholera, stressing that vari-ous organs of government hadbeen working assiduously sincethe detection of the disease insome parts of the state to containthe spread.

According to him: “Followingthe notice alerting the public to

the cases of cholera in someparts of the state, various organsof the government like the Min-istry of Health, Information andStrategy, Environment, WaterCorporation, Waste Water Man-agement Office, Rural Develop-ment and Water RegulatoryAgency have risen to the occa-sion, and have been workingtirelessly to contain the spread.Since that time, we have not re-corded any new cases of con-firmed cholera.”

No fresh cases of cholera in Lagos, says Idris

35-yr-old man allegedly shot dead by policeman in LagosBY IFEANYI OKOLIE

LAUNCH: First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola (2nd right);former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan (right); Secretary tothe Lagos State Government, Dr. Oluranti Adebule (left); Book Reviewer and an alumnus ofthe University of Lagos, Mr. Jimi Disu (2nd left); Author, Mr. Lukman Olaonipekun (3rdleft); his wife, Mrs. Remilekun Olaonipekun (middle), and Chairman of the All Progres-sives Congress, APC, Lagos State, Otunba Henry Ajomale, jointly presenting the book enti-tled, 'Babatunde Fashola: A Story in Photographs,' during book's launch at the City Hall,Lagos.

Another teenager stowaway bid foiled in LagosBY LAWANI MIKAIRU

LAGOS — ANOTHER teen ager yesterday attempted to

stow away and was apprehendedat the airside of the MurtalaMuhammed Airport, Lagos. Heattempted to stow away on an Al-lied Air Cargo aircraft that was pre-paring for take-off.

This came almost one month af-ter the Nigeria Police, AirportCommand, paraded three teen-agers for attempted stow away atthe Murtala Mohammed Airport,

MMA, Lagos.The incident, according to air-

port sources, occurred in the earlyhours of yesterday.

The teenager whose name couldnot be ascertained at the time ofthis report was spotted by theairside staff of the Nigerian Avia-tion Handling Company,NAHCo, who were handling theaircraft.

After his arrest, he was handedover to Aviation Security, AVSEC,of the Federal Airports Authorityof Nigeria, FAAN.

The sources further said the boywas taken out of the airside byAVSEC officials to an unknownplace.

However, coordinating spokes-man of the aviation agencies, Mr.Yakubu Dati could not be reachedfor his comments at the time of thisreport.

It will be recalled that the Com-missioner of Police, Airport Com-mand, Salahu Waheed, said thethree stowaway suspects, LateefPopoola, 13; Amadi Joshua, 14;and Ukpabio Onyedikachi, 14,

were arrested at different timesat the Murtala Muhammed In-ternational Airport, Ikeja.

Waheed, while handing overthe suspects to their mothers,had said there was a need fortheir respective state govern-ments to rehabilitate them likethe Edo State Government didwith teenage stowaway, DanielIhekina, who was arrested onAugust 24, 2013 after sneakinginto the tyre compartment of aLagos-bound Arik plane.

LAGOS — THERE was pan demonium yesterday in

Oshodi area of Lagos, after a 35-year-old man, Azeez Omotoso,was shot dead by a Police corpo-ral.

Vanguard gathered that the vic-tim who was also a youth leaderin the area met his untimely deathwhen some Policemen fromShogunle Police Station, respond-ing to a fight that started in a party

held in front of the victim's houseshot at him.

Eyewitnesses told Vanguardthat the victim who did not attendthe party, was coming home withhis wife and three children whena yet-to-be identified man ar-rested by Police during the fracascalled him for assistance.

The eyewitness told Vanguardthat when the victim respondedto the call, a police corporal iden-tified as ‘Awilo,’ got infuriated overhis presence and challenged thevictim for interfering in a matter

that did not concern him. He wassaid to have shot the victim, leav-ing him in a pool of his blood.

Meanwhile residents of AinaStreet and other adjoining streetsprotested in front of the victim'sfamily house at No. 28 Aina Street,Oshodi, calling on Police authori-ties to ensure the trigger-happypoliceman is brought to justice.

But news of the killing and sub-sequent protest in the area swiftlyspread as a wide fire causing panicin the area.

Lagos PDPchidesFashola forboycottingconfabsession

Corporal 'Awilo' in police cell

Airlineoperatorsprotest;suspendremittancesof charges

LAGOS — THE Lagos State chapter of

the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, has faultedGovernor BabatundeFashola for allegedlyboycotting the session ofthe Presidential AdvisoryCommittee on NationalDialogue which held lastFriday in Lagos.

The party’s PublicitySecretary, Mr TaofikGani, who said this, de-scribed the governor ’saction as unpatriotic andcondemnable.

He argued thatFashola had placedparty interest above thethe interest of Lagosians.

His words: “Governor’ssubsequent but belatedcontributions from theState House in Marina,amounts to mere talk andindeed another after-thought reflective of thegovernor’s style of nu-merous hasty conclu-sions in government.”

BY CHARLES KUMO-LU

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

LAGOS — LOCAL Airlines operators under

the aegis of Airline Opera-tors of Nigeria, AON, havesuspended all remittancesto aviation agencies be-cause of what they consid-ered excessive charges andhave called on the FederalGovernment to intervene inthe astronomical chargesimposed by the variousaviation agencies.

Spokesman for the group,Mohammed Tukur whosaid he had been man-dated to speak on behalf ofthe airlines, because of fearof reprisal, said all remit-tances, both old and newhad been stopped.

He said with effect fromNovember 1, 2013, the air-lines had stopped all remit-tances payable to the Ni-gerian Civil Aviation Au-thority, NCAA, the NigeriaAirspace ManagementAgency ,NAMA, the Fed-eral Airports Authority ofNigeria ,FAAN, and otherrelevant aviation bodies.


Confab aimed at elongating Jonathan’stenure — Ojudu

ADO EKITI — THE leaderof Ekiti State All

Progressives Congress, APC, cau-cus in the National Assembly,Senator Babafemi Ojudu has ex-plained why his party is not insupport of the proposed NationalConference organised by the Fed-eral Government, saying it is aploy to extend the tenure of thePresident Goodluck Jonathan be-yond 2015.

Ojodu, described the proposednational confab as a ‘charm andpoison,' saying members of hisparty do not intend to take a doseof poison.

He, however, said his party isonly interested in the convocationof Sovereign National Conference

and not a ‘conference of deceit.’The federal lawmaker made the

statement in Ado Ekiti, weekend,while presenting prizes to 19 un-dergraduates and post graduatesstudents of Ekiti origin, who par-ticipated in the 2013 editionof his essay competition.

His words: “What the APC isagainst is conference of deceitbecause this proposed confab byPresident Jonathan is diversion-ary. They don’t want election in2015, so they are only hiding un-der the conference to seek ten-ure extension.

“Any trick that will extend thetenure of the present governmentbeyond the constitutionally recog-nised four-year term, APC willgo against it. This confab is a poi-son and APC as a party won’t take

out of it.“The President is aware that his

party is imploding and dying.They know PDP cannot win elec-tion in 2015, they now want to or-ganise a confab that will be rub-ber-stamped at the National As-sembly where they have major-

ity. They know that whateverthey do at the conference willbe ratified.

“So, APC as a political partyunderstands all these gamesand as far as we are concerned,this is a conference of deceit andour party won’t take part in it.”

MEETING: From left, Special Adviser, Governor's Office, Mr. Akin Fasae; Governor KayodeFayemi; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, and Commissioner for RuralDevelopment and Community Empowerment, Mr. Folorunso Olabode, during this Year's Town,Villages and Communities meeting, ahead of 2014 Budget, in Ilasa-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

2 arraigned for raping 13-yr-old girl

Court fines Osun commissionerover failure to open defence

BY INNOCENT ANABA

A LAGOS High Court sittingin Ikeja has awarded N10,

000 cost against Osun State com-missioner for Youth, Sports andSpecial Needs, Mr. Stephen KolaBalogun, for failing to open hisdefence in the suit against himover alleged refusal to pay his rent

and arrears of a rented apart-ment in Lagos.

The commissioner and hiswife were sued by JusticeAdeniyi Adetokunbo Ademola,a judge of the Federal HighCourt over their alleged refusalto pay for the rent of a propertylocated at No. 51C, OduduwaCrescent in the GovernmentReserved Area, GRA, Ikeja.

Trial judge in the matter, Jus-tice O.A. Adefope Okojie has,meanwhile adjourned till No-vember 30, 2013 for the defenceto open its case, after the claim-ant had concluded his caseagainst the Commissioner andhis wife.

At the last hearing in the mat-ter, the Commissioner failed toopen his defence, but wrote aletter to the court asking for anadjournment.

Kola Balogun said the re-quest for adjournment was onthe ground that he was billedto attend the Osun State Execu-tive Council meeting on the dayof the trial.

Not happy by the develop-ment, the claimant’s lawyer,Mrs. Deola Saba lamented thatthe matter had suffered seriesof adjournments at the instanceof the defendants.

Saba had said: “The defend-ants are being unfair to us. I hadto come to court for the defencedespite the fact that my healthcondition was not that good aswell, only to find out that thematter wouldnot be going on asscheduled.”

She urged the court to awardcost against the defendant.

In a short ruling, JusticeAdefope Okojie granted N10,000 cost against the defendantsand granted the defendants lastopportunity to defend the case.

The judge also fixed Novem-ber 14, 2013 for definite defence.

The claimant (JusticeAdemola) had averred in thesuit that the Commissioner andhis wife refused to vacate theproperty despite the issuance ofquite notice on them.

He lamented that the Com-missioner and his wife hadbeen living in the said apart-ment since August 1, 1997, andthat the annual rental value ofthe property was N2 million.

Out of the N2 million rent for2007, the claimant averred thatthe commissioner only paidN1.3 million, and consequentlyfailed to pay the remainingN700, 000, adding that the com-missioner had never paid thehouse rent as at when due sincethe first payment resulting insubstantial rent arrears over theyears.

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

OSOGBO — TWO middleaged men have been ar-

raigned before an Osogbo Mag-istrate's court for allegedly rapinga 15-year-old girl in Ikirun, head-quarters of Ifelodun Local Gov-ernment Area of Osun State.

The men, Azeez kehinde, 20,Adeyanju Ismaila, 23, were al-leged to have defiled and as-saulted the girl simply identifiedas Pepeye at Igbo-Ile area ofIkirun, mid night.

The police prosecutor, MiretteWilson, a Police Inspector told thecourt that the two accused mencommitted an offence contrary toand punishable under sections516,358 and 360 of the criminalcode, cap 34, vol II, laws of OsunState of Nigeria 2003.

When the plea was taken, bothkehinde and Ismaila, however,pleaded not guilty to the chargesleveled against them.

Counsel to the accused persons,Mr. Adedokun Tunde applied forthe bail of his clients, praying the

court to grant them bail in the mostliberal terms as according to himthe accused persons were readyto stand their trial before the court.

He also presented an affidavitsworn by a member of the familyof the accused persons to the courtas evidence that they were will-ing to stand their trial.

The Police prosecutor who didnot oppose the bail application toldthe court to use its discretion ingranting the accused persons bail.

He, however, applied to inves-

tigate the authenticity of the affi-davit submitted to the court.

The presiding magistrate, Mr.Olusola Aluko lamented the in-volvement of young men in crimi-nal activities especially the rateat which females were defiled inthe state which he noted had con-tributed to the congestion of thestate prisons.

He granted bail in the sum ofN100,000 with two sureties in likesum and adjourned the case till6th of December, 2013.

Vice-Admiral Akhigbe's body arrives Lagos

THE remains of late Vice Ad-miral Mike Akhigbe, ar-

rived in Lagos on Sunday fromthe United States in a British Air-ways aircraft.Akhigbe, a formerChief of General Staff, died in aU.S hospital at the age of 68.

The remains were received atthe international terminal of theMurtala Muhammed Airport,Lagos by serving Naval officers,families, friends and EtsakoCommunity resident in Lagos.

A military ambulance branded

HQ NAMC, MMIACASEVACAMBULANCE with registrationnumber NA388E01brought outremains from the terminal beforeit was transfer to a hearseMercedes Benz belonging toMIC undertakers.

The Etsako community members entertained those wait-ing for the arrival of the remainsof Akhigbe with traditionaldances.The convoy which com-prises family members, seniorand junior military officers leftthe airport around 19:15p.m.

VanguardMan WinsRIMA’s BestICT Reporterof the yearaward

VANGUARD’S ASSISTANT Hi-Tech

Editor, Prince Osuagwu,weekend, won the covetedRecords and InformationManagement Award asBest Information Technol-ogy/ management Reporterof the year 2013.

The award in Lagos, wasin its 9th edition and theBest Information Technol-ogy/ management reportercategory debuted for thefirst time.

Osuagwu was nomi-nated alongside ICT edi-tors of Punch, ThisDay, TheGuardian and Compasswhere he polled the high-est votes from readers andICT industry stakeholdersto clinch the award.

The award was precededby a conference taggedRecords and InformationManagement Awareness,RIMA, Conference, withthe theme: “Records andInformation Managementin the Era of Cloud Com-puting.”

The conference ad-dressed major issues sur-rounding legal problems inRecords, Information andArchives Management,Records and InformationManagement CapacityDevelopment in Africa andElectronic Records Man-agement.

Declaring the awardopen, Dr. Oyewole said theawards were presentedonly to deserving individu-als and corporate organisa-tions for their involvement,activities and achievementsin the information manage-ment industry in line withthe objectives of RIMAFoundation in promotingproper management andsecurity of records and in-formation in the society.

According to him: “RIMAAwards are fiercely con-tested and highly valuedwithin the IT and businessworld. They are a showcasefor individuals and organi-sations that have demon-strated the vision and thebusiness skills in imple-menting new technologythat ensures real businessbenefits.

"The awards clearly dem-onstrate that the businessproposition for deployingnew technology is verysound, as evidenced by thenumber of well-conceivedand highly successful prod-ucts and projects submittedas entries each year.

BY IKENNA ASOMBA


I’m resolved to keep Nigeria united

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

BY KENNETHEHIGIATOR

Airline operators demand complete probe ofaviation sector

DELSUTHnurses beginstrike today

Y E N A G O A — P R E S I -DENT Goodluck

Jonathan, weekend, reaf-firmed his resolve to remainfocused and keep the countrya united and indivisible enti-ty, despite the alleged cam-paign of calumny against hisadministration.

President Jonathan, spoke inYenagoa at the Second Bayel-sa Thanksgiving Day anniver-sary.

Represented by the Ministerof Police Affairs, Navy CaptCaleb Olubolade (rtd), thePresident said that his resolvewas based on the belief thathis Presidency was under thebanner of God and madethrough a free and fair elec-tion.

He said: “On my part as thePresident of the Federal Re-public of Nigeria, I will remaincommitted and focused tokeeping Nigeria united andpeaceful under the banner ofGod, who made it possible forme to be here as your electedPresident in that free and fairelection.”

The President said that thepeople must show gratitude toGod for the peace being en-joyed in the country, despitewhat he described as a fewdistractions.

Jonathan asked the peopleto support the successes no-ticed in the transformation

agenda of the current admin-istration at the state and fed-eral levels.

The President, who hailedthe state governor, Mr Seri-ake Dickson, for his leader-ship and for instituting athanksgiving day in the state,emphasised the need to thankGod at all levels, for His di-vine protection and guidanceas they strive to bring aboutpeace, development and pros-perity.

“With what the state gov-ernment is doing in terms ofprojects and programmes, thestate government is keyinginto the transformation agen-da of the Federal Govern-ment, the benefits of which Ibelieve, will definitely turnthings around for the better.”

Earlier in his remark, Gov-ernor Dickson called for ac-tive participation in the cele-bration of the ThanksgivingDay, saying that the event

was for every Bayelsan with-in and outside the country.

Dickson expressed appreci-ation to the people of the statefor their show of support, par-ticularly the youths, whom heobserved had not disruptedany on-going project in thestate.

According to him, the exist-ing peace was also attributa-ble to the efforts of traditionalrulers, security services andthe unity among the threearms of government in thestate.

NURSES in DeltaState University

Teaching Hospital, DEL-SUTH, will, today, com-mence an indefinitestrike action to protestthe state government’salleged refusal to paytwo months salary ar-rears owed to 60 of itsstaff since 2009.

Delta State Chapter ofNational Association ofNigeria Nurses andMidwives, NANNM, ina statement by its Secre-tary, Mr. Olabode Akin-fenwa, said that the as-sociation’s position, di-recting its members inDELSUTH to embark onan indefinite strike fromtoday, was because ofthe the government’s al-leged lip service to-wards the salary arrearsfor 60 nurses after theiremployment in 2009,which the association in-sisted was a breach ofagreement.

The statement allegedthat the nurses wereasked to buy uniformsprovided by manage-ment of the hospital,which it noted, was anaberration and againstthe state employmentpolicy for nurses andmidwives, adding thatthe hospital cannot com-pel NANNM membersto obey such a policy.

STAKEHOLDERS inthe aviation indus-

try have called on theEconomic and FinancialCrimes Commission,EFCC, and Independ-ent Corrupt PracticesCommission, ICPC, tourgently move into thesector to save it fromcrippling corruption.

The stakeholdersspoke against the back-drop of the N255 millionarmoured car scam in-volving the AviationMinister, Princess Stel-la Oduah, and NigerianCivil Aviation Authority,NCAA.

Former National Sec-retary of Airlines Oper-ators of Nigeria, AON,Alhaji MohammedTukur, said that if therewas any time the avia-tion sector needed theintervention of the anti-

graft agencies, it wasnow.

“It is a sad situationbecause we have neverhad this level of corrup-tion in this industry.The corruption in theAviation Ministry ishuge. It is not onlyNCAA that bought suchvehicles. I can tell youon good authority thatthe Federal Airports Au-thority of Nigeria,FAAN, and Nigerian Air-space ManagementAgency, NAMA, alsobought some vehicles.

“That is why we areasking the anti-graftagencies to investigatethese aviation par-astatals. It is not onlythe minister that is in-volved. If somebodyasked you to do some-thing illegal, why not re-sign, instead of doingit?” Tukur asked.

Tukur, who said he hasfaith in the capacity of

President GoodluckJonathan to address theissue, warned thatshould he shield thoseinvolved from prosecu-tion over the allegedscam, it would rub offnegatively on his gov-ernment.

On its part, the Na-

tional Cabin Crew Asso-ciation, NACCA, ex-pressed shock over thearmoured car scam, say-ing that even if the min-ister needed to addressthe issue of security, thecost of the vehicles wasindefensible.

GOSPEL CONCERT NIGHT: From left: Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson,Rev. Jesse Jackson, wife of the Governor, Mrs. Rachael Dickson and the American gospelartiste, Dr Juanita Bynum, during the Gospel Concert Night, organised as part of activitiesmarking the 2nd Bayelsa State Annual Thanksgiving Day celebration, at the Glory LandCultural Centre, in Yenagoa.

— JONATHAN


Court halts sale of Edo HouseBY GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

IMO to audit NIMASA over certification of MANgraduates

Lawmakersinsist onfinancialautonomy forstatelegislatures

BY FESTUS AHON

Petitions follow nominations of Edo Staterepresentatives on NDDC Board

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN—A LAGOS HighCourt presided over by

Justice S. B. Candido-John-son, has restrained Edo StateGovernment and its agentsfrom the planned sale of EdoHouse in Lagos, pending thehearing and determination ofthe motion on notice by theclaimant in the suit.

The court adjourned furtherhearing till November 20.

The said Edo House is on1225, Ahmadu Bello Way and1225 Bishop Oluwole Street,Victoria Island, Lagos. TheEdo State governor, Mr. Ad-ams Oshiomhole, had an-nounced plans to sell thehouse and use the proceedsto develop Edo State.

Defendants in the suit are,Governor Oshiomhole, EdoState Attorney-General andCommissioner for Justice, MrHenry Idahagbon, and an es-tate agent, Mr Segun Asaju.

The order was made in thesuit by Ferdinand Orbih &Co., acting for the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, whichis challenging the plan to sellthe Edo House in Lagos.

In a counter-affidavit in op-position to the suit, counselto the defendants, among oth-er things, averred that the

claimant has no right or in-terest whatsoever in or overthe said property.

He averred that “The Oba ofBenin, Oba Erediauwa, whois the representative of Edopeople, together with all tra-ditional heads, civil societygroups, the Nigeria Bar As-sociation, Benin Branch, and

the market women, support-ed the decision of Edo StateGovernment at the two townhall meetings.

“The Edo State House ofAssembly is also not averseto the sale of the house or theprocedure adopted. TheSpeaker of the House of As-sembly gave the position of

the House, when some youthsembarked on a rally in favourof the governor’s move to sellthe house. The Speaker in-formed the rallying youthsthat the sale was the rightthing to do and that the Houseof Assembly was in agreementon the point.”

THE International Mari-time Organisation, IMO,

is to audit the capacity of theNigerian Maritime Adminis-tration and Safety Agency, NI-MASA, to certify cadet grad-uates from the Maritime Acad-emy of Nigeria, MAN, Oron,Akwa Ibom State.

This is part of efforts by theworld maritime body to ensurethat cadets from the country’selite maritime institution wererecognised globally.

Rector of MAN, Mr JoshuaOkpo, who made the disclo-sure, said that the process hadalready commenced and willbe completed soon.

He said: “The IMO has saidthat NIMASA will also be au-dited to ensure that it has thecapacity, so that whatever NI-MASA does is accepted bymember states of IMO.”

The Rector frowned at thecurrent situation, where ca-dets of the academy were sub-jected to theoretical work with-out the opportunity to get firsthand experience at sea. To thisend, he called on the FederalGovernment to come to the aidof the academy to ensure thatthe institution does not con-tinue to graduate cadets an-nually that cannot compete at

the global stage.Okpo said: “We need to pon-

der the comparative advan-tages between training a childproperly thus making himuseful to the society, andtraining him half-baked andthereby turning out a miscre-

ant and societal problem. Weappeal to the Federal Govern-ment to, as a matter of nationalimportance, make provisionfor sea-time for the presentprogramme we have en-gaged in.”

He also called on govern-

ment to make budgetary pro-vision for the acquisition of atraining vessel for the acade-my as an alternative means ofgiving the required sea timetraining to future graduatesand the over 5,000 awaitingthat opportunity.

B ENIN—PETITIONShave continued to pour

in against the names submit-ted by the leadership of thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, in Edo State to the Pres-idency, as nominees for thestate representative on theBoard of Niger Delta Devel-opment Commission, NDDC,which is expected to be recon-stituted early next year.

Also, ahead the 2015 and2016 National Assembly andgovernorship election in thestate, a leader of the party inthe state, Captain Hosa Okun-bor, has donated N40 millionto the Edo South PDP with aview to strengthening the par-

ty for the elections. The cashdonation will be used to setup offices in all parts of theseven local government are-as in Edo South.

Governor Adams Oshiom-hole and other oppositiongovernors also have theirnominees for the NDDC job,even though the PDP hierar-chy is still battling to convincePresident Goodluck Jonathannot to give the slot to opposi-tion governor, which waswhat he did last time.

Vanguard learnt, however,that the opposition governorswant the President to under-stand that the PDP memberscannot alone give him a re-turn ticket to Aso Rock in2015, recalling that majorityof the governors of the newly

registered All ProgressiveCongress, APC, includingGovernor Oshiomhole, gavehim the votes of their respec-tive states in the last election.

They argued that it would besuicidal for the President tobow to the pressure of someleaders of PDP as regards theNDDC job.

Three names were submittedby the Edo State PDP for thejob. They are Levis Aigbogu,Osahon Ahunwan and ChrisNehikhare, but lately, Mon-day Osaigbovo, a former chair-man of Ovia North-East Lo-cal Government Area, was en-dorsed by some leaders of thePDP in the South, led by theEsama of Benin Kingdom,Chief Gabriel Igbinedion.

UGHELLI—TO en-sure a robust and

enduring democracy inthe country, the coun-try ’s legislators haveadopted a resolution forthe inclusion of a non-negotiable financial au-tonomy clause for statelegislatures in the ongo-ing constitution amend-ment exercise.

In a communique atthe end of a two-dayworkshop organised bythe National AssemblyJoint Committees onRules and Business incollaboration with theNational Institute of Leg-islative Studies in Abu-ja, participants, includ-ing Principal Officers ofthe state Houses of As-sembly in Nigeria,agreed that the Nigeri-an legislature shouldtake the challenge ofensuring effective over-sight to facilitate properbudget implementation.

NDLEAarrests 21suspects inBayelsa overhard drugs

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

YENAGOA—THENational Drug Law

Enforcement Agency,NDLEA, Bayelsa Statecommand, weekend, saidthat it nabbed 21 suspectsand seized a total of34.648.6 kilogrammes ofcannabis in the state inOctober, 2013.

Commander of theagency, Mr. Frank Hana-cho, made the disclosurein Yenagoa, while ad-dressing newsmen.

He decried the menaceof hard drugs in the soci-ety and stressed the needfor all hands to be on deckto check the trend.

Hanacho lamented thatthe society was in greatdanger, as according tohim, even nursing moth-ers have taken to the il-licit drug business.

“It should give every-one cause for concern.Each of these suspectswas arrested with sub-stances above 4kg, andthis has a multiplier ef-fect on the society,” hesaid.

CONSECRATION SERVICE: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, (left) and Bish-op Boboye Alonge, during a Consecration service for Bishop Fidelis Ugbong, at ElohimChristian Centre, Gwagwalada, Abuja. Photo: Bripin Enarusai.



Obi, Ngige, Umeh tradeblames

Continues from page 5

sponsibility for thestampede.

Noting that he was notready to play politicswith the lives of Anambrapeople, Ngige urged Obito explain to the peopleof the state why hesneaked into an all nightvigil with the full cam-paign machinery of theAPGA governorship can-didate.

Ngige observed thatGov. Obi’s statement onChannels Television that: ‘I was trying to speak tothe crowd and they werecalling a particular nameand, we have to find away to stop that’ clearlyindicates that the securityaides must have aggra-vated the worshippers,which eventually led tothe stampede.

Ngige whose reaction

was contained in a state-ment by the Director ofMedia and Publicity ofthe Chris Ngige Cam-paign Organisation,Chief Charles Amilo,noted that “SenatorNgige neither attendedthe crusade nor knewnothing about it nor re-ceived the report of theincident at the crusade ingood time. If NdiAnambra who are notnecessarily politiciansspontaneously rejectedGovernor Obi and hish a n d p i c k e dstooge during the nightvigil, considering thatObi and his APGA teamin uniform barged intotheir communion withGod with fliers and si-rens, and tear gas, whyshould Obi now blameNgige?

Ngige therefore in-vited Gov Obi to rise tothe responsibility of Gov-ernance in the remain-ing part of his tenure bypromptly explaining to

Ndi Anambra what hissecurity details were re-ported to have done tocreate a stampede in theplace of worship, as fur-ther obfuscation of facts from his government maybuild avoidable tension’

Arrest Ngige now– Umeh

Countering, APGA Na-tional cChairman, ChiefVictor Umeh called onthe Inspector General ofPolice, IGP, Mr. Moham-med Abubakar to arrestNgige immediately forhis alleged role in thedisaster.

Addressing newsmenin Awka, Umeh allegedthat Ngige’s supportersinstigated the pandemo-nium that started at theend of the crusade.

He wondered what hissupporters were doing atthe crusade ground withtheir party symbols con-sisting of brooms andposters of Ngige if it was

not part of an orches-trated plot to cause con-fusion at the prayerground in search ofcheap propaganda.

He said: “From whathappened at the HolyGhost Adoration ground,it was obvious that thismayhem and pandemo-nium were carefullyplanned and executed byDr Chris Ngige’s team.He has been very notori-ous for this type of an-tics. Having wastedabout 28 human lives, itwill be so little to say thatpolice should only comehere and ask peoplequestions.

He recalled that Ngigewas at the adorationground the previous dayto participate at theMass without being mo-lested by anybody, butthat knowing that Obiwould come the next day,he wanted to come butwas prevented by the or-ganizers in order to averta clash of interest.

Umeh regretted, how-ever, that despite beingstopped from coming,Ngige had gone ahead toinstigate his people todisrupt the Friday nightvigil to score cheap po-litical points, noting thathe had always displayed

such distractive tenden-cies in churches by com-ing in the middle of serv-ice where those heplanted would hail him.

Obiano condoleswith bereavedfamilies

However, Obiano de-scribed the incident as“unfortunate and de-pressing” while commis-erating with bereavedfamilies.

Wondering why politicsin the state should de-generate to a level whereworshippers no longerfeel safe to worship theirGod in a sacred place asan Adoration Ground,Obiano in a statement byMr. James Eze (Head,Media & Communica-tions Willie Obiano Cam-paign Organisation), im-plored the bereavedfamilies to take heart as-suring them that histhoughts and those of hisfamily are with them inthis moment of grief.

False alarmcaused stampede– ArchbishopOkeke

Also yesterday, theArchbishop of Onitsha,Most Reverend ValerianOkeke regretted the in-cident and commiseratedwith those who lost theirdear ones. He alsocommended those whovolunteered in savinglives after the incident.

The Archbishop, whospoke through the Direc-tor of Social Communica-tions in the Diocese, Rev-erend Father Pius Ukosaid: “In the early hoursof Saturday, November02, 2013, there was astampede moments afterprayers at the HolyGhost Adoration Centre,Uke, in Idemili SouthLGA of Anambra State.

"The stampede, whichoccurred while peoplewere going home, re-sulted in the loss of somelives. Some are still in-jured and receivingtreatments in some hos-pitals.

The stampede was re-portedly caused by afalse alarm raised bysomebody in the crowdalong one of the narrowroads out of the town.

The crowd was so muchthat people wanting toleave all at the same timemade it very difficult forpeople to find enoughspace to move."


We're more comfortablewith APC—G7 govs, nPDP

BY HENRY UMORU &DAUD OLATUNJI

ABUJA—AMIDSTseries of ongoing

meetings and moves forrealignment of forces,the Abubakar KawuBaraje-led splitter groupof Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, yesterday,said that it was morecomfortable with theleadership and membersof All Progressive Con-gress, APC.

The group, mean-while, added that doorsof reconciliation withthe National Chairmanof PDP, Alhaji BamangaTukur and the NationalWorking Committee,NWC were still open.

On Atiku, G7 govs

In another develop-ment, the PDP has de-scribed the former vicepresident, Alhaji AtikuAbubakar, the sevenrebel governors andother aggrieved mem-bers of the party as in-grates.

The party said thattheir action was synony-mous to an act of bitingthe fingers that fed them,saying that the partywas not bothered by therecent intensified effortsbeing made by APC towoo some of its gover-nors.

6,000 decampees

PDP National Secre-tary, Professor WaleOladipo, weekend,shortly after he receivedabout 6,000 members ofthe ruling APC and theLabour Party, who de-fected to the party at thereunion rally for itsmembers in Ogun WestSenatorial District, inIdiroko, Ipokia LocalGovernment Area, OgunState, said that it tookAtiku and his allies onlyfour months to hatch theplot that resulted in thecurrent crisis in PDP.

Oladipo argued thatthe former vice presidenthad bitten the finger thatfed him, saying that itwas unthinkable that

Abubakar and his allies,who had benefitted somuch from their member-ship of the ruling partywould not only turn theirback on their benefactorbut also plot its downfall.

PDP and S-West

“As far as the SouthWest is concerned, youcan see that PDP is wax-ing stronger by the day,particularly since the lastmini-convention of theSouth West that we hadin Ibadan. I don’t want toover-dramatize the situ-ation.

"The PDP has not fallenand will not fall, but asfor Abubakar, I will stilllove to believe that hewas misquoted. In casehe was not misquotedand if we believe whatthe media reported thatthe plot to split the PDPwas hatched actually fourmonths before our lastmini-convention, thatwill be most unfortunatefor someone of his statuswithin the party.”

nPDP's statement

However, nPDP in astatement by its NationalPublicity Secretary, Mr.Chukwuemeka Eze,said: “Even though weremain hopeful that wisecounsel would prevailand our demands wouldbe granted by the PDP,we, at the same time, feelcomfortable in the com-pany of APC, since weshare the same goal ofrescuing our dear coun-try, Nigeria, from theedge of the precipice andputting her firmly on thepath of sustainable de-velopment.

Sokoto Varsityinauguration

“The presence of APCand PDP leaders in largenumbers at the SokotoState University inaugu-ration is a positive devel-opment, which raiseshope for our fledgingdemocracy. It is a goodexample of politics of tol-erance and cooperationwhich we consider nec-

essary if the country isto experience peace andtranquility, withoutwhich there could be nodevelopment.

APC, nPDPcloseness

“The increasing close-ness between leaders ofnPDP and APC hasraised questions in theminds of many Nigeri-ans and fuelled specu-lations on the possiblemerger of the two par-ties. Speculations alongthis line have height-ened since last Tues-day’s inauguration ofthe Sokoto State Univer-sity, where both APCand nPDP put up astrong presence, withour National Chairman,Alhaji Baraje, leading ahigh-powered teamthat included formerVice President AtikuAbubakar, GovernorsMurtala Nyako ofAdamawa, MusaKwankwaso of Kano,Rotimi Amaechi of Riv-ers and Sule Lamido ofJigawa; as well as ourNational Secretary,Prince OlagunsoyeOyinlola, former OsunState governor, to theevent.

Chemistrybetween Buhari,Tinubu

“The chemistry be-tween the team and thatof APC led by GeneralMuhammadu Buhariand Asiwaju BolaTinubu was indeed un-mistakable. The APCleaders have since thenintensified the lobby fora marriage betweenboth parties, even vis-iting some of our gov-ernors to directly invitethem to join the party.

“All these visits on ourstate governors simplydemonstrates our newstatus in the politics ofNigeria as the newbride of Nigerian poli-tics and we hope to playthe role as expected ofus as we hold the keyto Aso Rock come2015.”

Atiku, G7 govs are ingrates —PDP


Police invade G7 Governors meeting in Abuja

The arrival of the DPO and hisquest to see the Kano State gov-ernor, Governor Rabiu Kwank-wanso, immediately led to astandoff between him and theADCs to the five governorspresent at the meeting. Follow-ing the altercation, the DPOwas allowed to enter the roomwhere five of the G7 governorswere meeting with some otherformer governors and politi-cians aligned with them in theKawu Baraje led faction of thePDP.

Present at the meeting, ac-cording to Vanguard sources,were Kwankwanso, and his col-leagues from Jigawa, Niger,Adamawa and Rivers, AlhajiSule Lamido, Dr. BabangidaAliyu, Alhaji Murtala Nyakoand Mr. Rotimi Amaechi re-spectively.

Also present were the fac-tional national chairman of thePDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje andother leaders of the party. Al-haji Kashim Imam, a formerPresidential Liaison Officer,PLO to the Senate and one timeclose confidant of former Pres-ident Olusegun Obasanjo butnow generally known to be ina working relationship with theAPC controlled government inBorno State.

Others were SenatorsAbubakar Saraki and Abdulla-hi Adamu, Danjuma Goje im-mediate past governors ofKwara, Nasarawa and GombeStates, former governor ofBayelsa State, Mr. Timipre Syl-va, Senator Aisha Alhassan andthe factional national secretaryof the PDP and former gover-nor of Osun State, Chief Ola-gunsoye Oyinlola. Also at themeeting were Chief Sam SamJaja, the deputy national chair-man of the nPDP, former gov-ernor of Ekiti State, Chief Seg-un Oni and the national vicechairman of the PDP, North-west, Ambassador Ibrahim Ka-zaure.

Once he entered into themeeting room, the DPO whocame with six truck loads ofpolicemen, it was learnt, imme-diately told Governor Kwank-wanso that the meeting bestopped. He claimed he wasacting on orders from above,though he allegedly did not sayon whose specific orders.

The governors, it was learnt,rebuffed him asking him to pro-duce a search warrant as theyalleged that for him to enforcehis order he must have asearch warrant or court order.

Vanguard learnt further thatthe governors told him that itwas the height of lawlessness

for the DPO to disperse gover-nors meeting as they told himthat if he could do that to gov-ernors then ordinary men onthe streets were not free fromintimidation.

Governor Sule Lamido wassaid to have also quipped to theDPO that his instruction wasclearly illegal, telling him thatin the early eighties oppositiongovernors belonging to the Pro-gressive Governors Alliance metregularly without harassmentfrom the ruling party or govern-ment in power.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi onhis part said, “We were in ameeting here when the DPO ofAsokoro came to say that hewas sent by powers from aboveto arrest us and he came withtroops of mobile policemen insix vehicles. But we refused togo and asked that they shouldcome and take us.”

Yesterday ’s developmentwould be the second time in oneweek that a meeting of the G7governors would be disrupted.A similar meeting of the gover-nors in the Sokoto State Gover-nors Lodge in Asokoro, Abujawas disrupted last week.

One of the governors toldVanguard that it is now fearedthat authorities of the FederalCapital Territory Administrationcould now move in to tamper

with the certificate of occupan-cy of the Kano Governor'sLodge following earlier threatsagainst the Adamawa State Li-aison office in Abuja which theFCT authorities alleged is be-ing used for illegal political ac-tivities.

Continues from page 1

Emirates,Turkish airlinesdesignationapproved forKano Airport

We've curbedcriminality— Navy

THE Nigerian Navy,weekend, claimed that it had

been able to curb acts ofillegalities in the nation’sterritorial waters in spite of itsaging fleet.

To this effect, the Flag OfficerCommanding, FOC, WesternNaval Command, Apapa, RearAdmiral Ibok-Ete, said severalvessels involved in illegalactivities had been arrested andhanded over to prosecutingagencies.

The FOC, who spoke whilereviewing a parade marking theend of his second bi-annualinspection of units under theWestern Naval Command,attributed the feat to what hedescribed as hard work andresponsiveness of personnel inthe command.

BY EVELYN USMAN

THE Federal Governmenthas approved the

designation of EmiratesAirlines to Mallam AminuKano International Airport,Kano, and the NnamdiAzikiwe International Airport,Abuja.

The confirmation of thisapproval was made by theMedia Coordinator ofaviation agencies, YakubuDati. With this approval,Emirates will join TurkishAirlines, which was recentlyapproved to fly to KanoAirport.

The two airlines join otherslike Middle East Airlines andEgypt Air to airlift passengersfrom the ancient city.

Dati, however, said thoughthe Federal Government hadgiven approval for the airlinesto fly to Kano, Emirates wouldhave to determine when itwould start the service basedon its own logistics.

He noted, “You can contactEmirates for confirmation. Ithas been designated to fly toKano and Abuja, so the delayin starting the routes is notthat of the government."

OPINION


Maximizing radio jingle for peaceful co-existenceBY LABARAN SALEH

IN a deliberate effort to appeal to religious fanaticsand tribal jingoists whose activities and that of their

sympathisers create tension and deadly violence, especial-ly in the trouble-prone states, a voluntary radio jingle isbeing promoted by I-Nigerian Renaissance Initiative, anon-governmental organisation.

It must be admitted that it is quite impossible to gathermembers of such violent groups or associations to a dia-logue on peace-coexistence so that they sheathe theirswords, various approaches have been deployed by gov-ernment and other private initiatives without much suc-cess. A number of Nigerians have actually been involvedin various coordinated efforts aimed at not just launderingthe country’s image positively, but reminding government,citizens and stakeholders of the roles they must play in ourquest to put Nigeria on global map of successful and pro-gressive countries.

It was therefore heartwarming, when the National Co-ordinator, I-Nigeria Renaissance Initiative, disclosed atan interactive seminar in Abuja that her group has devisedand sponsored some radio jingles in selected radio sta-tions in the Northern part of the country.

Though as a volunteer in disaster management who hadtraveled to some states in the North on advocacy, I hadlistened to a couple of the jingles in Abuja, Kaduna andYobe, not realising that they were sponsored by an NGO.

Ada Stella Apiafi said that I-Nigerian Renaissance Projectis a perception transformation initiative intended to rein-vigorate the process of building good image for Nigeria,home and abroad. And this mission has been boldly etchedin the programmes and activities of the body through its I-Nigerian campaign. The group has been involved in sever-al advocacy campaigns all aimed at mobilising supportfor strategic national programmes and policies. It is equally

taking advantage of the social media to link up with theyouth population with the campaign of catching themyoung for national service.

Realising the importance of reaching the right public,especially those in environments where there have beencommunal and religious crises the organisation resolvedto engage media and use radio in the dissemination ofpeace messages with a view to dousing the tension thathas, lately, ravaged the Northern part of the country throughthe activities of Boko Haram insurgents.

The radio jingles which were primarily in Hausa lan-guage had been on for several weeks on such FM radiostations as Liberty Radio in Kaduna, FRCN Pyramid Ra-dio in Kano, Companion Radio in Katsina and Rima Ra-dio in Sokoto. Others included the Vision FM Radio inAbuja, Fombina Radio in Adamawa and Peace FM Radioin Borno.

The theme of the jingle, according to Ms Apiafi, is tofoster virtues of brotherliness, love and kindness by em-phasizing “that violence, bloodshed and destruction donot pay. God, in His wisdom, created us as different peopleso that we can live peacefully. Promoting unity in diversi-ty.”

An English version of the jingle which was also aireddaily on these radio stations goes thus: "Do not carry arms,kill, maim, or destroy!!! Nigerians, we must beware!!!"

The radio campaign should be pan-Nigeria in line withthe overall objective of her group to promote positive thingsabout the country. The reach and the role of the radio isunquantifiable, because practically, everyone has accessto a radio. The target of most of these peace messages onthe radio, are mostly rural people that do not have accessto newspapers and online mobility.

Well-conceived, strategic, precise, and eloquently devel-

oped radio messages such as jingle have have great ap-peal, and a huge capacity to excite their listeners, withoutlosing their very important themes of tolerance and peace-ful coexistence and security consciousness.

Such jingles recur on the mind long after they have beenaired as children, sometimes, find it easy reciting some ofthe jingles almost to the point of them becoming ‘personalanthems’ for quite a period of time. Most of the crises-ridden areas of today are areas where the radio is a majorsource of information for them, so that medium alone isquite an effective tool in dousing tension in these areas.

The self-sponsored worthy initiative by the NGO whichwe later learn is also packaging documentaries which areaired on national TVs, and opinionated articles on press-ing national issues in the print media should be encour-aged and supported.

That the onerous, but rewarding task of making Niger-ia one of the world’s 20 economies by the year 2020, re-versing its misfortunes and putting it on the path of eco-nomic prosperity, political stability, technological advance-ment and socio—cultural rejuvenation remains the respon-sibility of all Nigerians cannot be disputed. The glorious,flourishing and paradise-like Nigeria that we so picture inour minds can only be made a reality if we all put asidepersonal, ethnic and group considerations in place of na-tional interest.

Building the Nigeria of our dreams will require mean-ingful harnessing of our talents, coordinated and aggres-sive exploration and exploitation of our abundant naturalresources and faith in our dear country.

•Mr Saleh, a member of Journalists Against Disaster

Initiative, wrote from Abuja.

ASUU: How NLC can help

THE latest round of strikes by the Ac-ademic Union of Universities

(ASUU), has once again reached a deadend. After protracted negotiations, whichended with the Federal Government of-fering a concession that totalled N130 bil-lion, which the union rejected insisting onfull implementation of the 2009 agree-ment it signed, no further positiveprogress has been recorded towards end-ing the stand-off.

Rather, both sides are pitched in guer-rilla warfare. While ASUU accuses theFederal Government of sponsoringgroups, including students, to protestagainst it, it has resorted to city-by-cityprotests, which are invariably suppressedby the police. Both sides are now engagedin media exchanges, with propaganda andpolitical mudslinging freely used. Mean-while, students have already lost theequivalent of one term sitting at home andwaiting in vain for an end to the strike.

With the tussle now stalemated both sidesare clearly at the end of their wits. They

are looking for outside help. It is time fora credible, patriotic third party to step inand moderate the fight to bring it to anend.

This is the role required of the NigerianLabour Congress (NLC) and its wellmeaning affiliates to play. We are, there-fore, dismayed at the threat by the NLC,after its recent meeting in Kaduna, to calla nationwide strike over alleged FederalGovernment sponsorship of protestsagainst ASUU. If they should carry out thisthreat, NLC will definitely not be contrib-uting positively to this matter.

Labour should cast aside partisanshipand wear the matured toga of an unbiasedmoderator, even though ASUU is one of

their affiliates. There are times when,even an interest group such as organisedLabour, can stand above narrow interestsin the overall interest of the nation. Thisis one such opportunities.

We will recall how in 2011, Labour, in-cluding its former President, ComradeAdams Oshiomhole, Governor of EdoState, intervened to end that year’s roundof bitter strikes to give the nation a two-year breather. Oshiomhole played thatpatriotic role in spite of belonging to thedefunct Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), a strong opposition party. This isthe same attitude required to help the na-tion out of this logjam.

We call on the Federal Government, Na-tional Assembly, ASUU, NLC and select-ed eminent Nigerians to form a new teamto mediate the rift and completely over-haul the educational system. They shouldproduce a document that will form a newnational roadmap.

Our educational challenges are now tootough to be left to the FG and ASUU alone.

CMYK



CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013—51Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe and Prof.Omo Omoruyi: Two deaths too many

BY DON UBANI

did his abracadabara. The samefate befell Ndoki communities ofAfam and Egberu. They were inNdoki county council long beforeNigeria’s Independence andwere in Ukwa Division uptill thestaid 1976.

The obvious contradiction inNasir’s assumption that ImoRiver is the boundary betweenthe present Abia State and RiversState has continued to be glaring.This is because Omuma LocalGovernment Area, which issituated on the same side of theImo River with Ukwa-west LocalGovernment Area which is inAbia State, was deliberately leftin Rivers State. Where, therefore,lies the justification on using ImoRiver as the boundary betweenthe two states?

For Nigeria to prosper andassume its rightful position in thecomity of nations, injusticesdeliberately meted against somesections of the polity should,inevitably, be re-visited. Thegreatness of Nigeria can neverbe attained as long as somesections feel they were simplymarginalized on grounds ofethnicity. President GoodluckJonathan’s initiated NationalDialogue is a golden and, maybe, the only opportunity tocorrect, once and for all, thestructural abnormalities that haveobnoxiously constituted a clog onthe wheel of Nigeria.

and discipline defined his thoughts and pat-terned his actions. Thus, it was not difficult forme to tell where Admiral Akhigbe’s loyalty mostlylied between his earlier military profession andhis latter political vocation. However, his loyaltyto his profession did not subtract from him, thelove for his people of Etsako and Edo State, forwhom he was very passionate.

That Admiral Akhigbe believed much in therule of law, civility and democratic ethics wasunderscored not just by his conduct in office butalso by his decision to study law after leavingoffice. His desire to further exercise this belief as

tinued to bother about his Edo people and theNigerian State. In his many publications, writ-ings and interviews, he pre-occupied himselfwith the progress and stability of Nigeria, andthe advancement of democracy. He was a con-sistent advocate of two-party system as a ve-hicle for national unity. Yet he remained anunrepentant Bini man, carrying aloft our re-vered tradition and culture together with hisacademic scholarship and political activism.

He will be missed by everyone especiallyhis elitist club of Nigerian Political Science As-sociation, his populist class of Nigerian politi-cians, his enviable group of prolific writers,his respected Bini people and his beloved fam-ily. The dust raised by the death of Prof.Omoruyi had not settled when the news of thepassage of Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbereached me. I have followed Mike’s career bothin the Military where he rose to become anAdmiral and Chief of Naval Staff, as well as inpublic office where he served not only as mili-tary Governor but also as Chief of General Staff,number two citizen of our country. But per-haps we became much closer after he left of-fice and joined politics. As a member and leaderof the Peoples Democratic Party, he was atrusted ally, dependable friend and worthycompatriot.

Although he was a key player in the volatilefield of politics, his spartan military training

Omoruyi, the contributions of thesetwo foremost Edo sons become leg-endary. That is why I agree with theEnglish man, James Bailey, when hewrote in 1902 that: “We live in deeds,not in years; In thoughts, not inbreaths; In feelings, not in figures...He most lives who thinks most, feelsthe noblest and acts the best.”

Prof. Omo Omoruyi, the great pa-triot and nationalist, and AdmiralMike Okhai Akhigbe, GCON, mni,our gentle General and leader, willin death continue to think, feel andact for their people, state, country andhumanity, through the legacies theyleft behind. We thank God for the livesof these two great sons of Edo andNigeria. Their deaths, one coming soclose to the other, are too much for usmortals. Our prayer is that they be re-ceived and given their deserved rest,with eternal bliss, by almighty God.

I send my heartfelt condolences totheir immediate families, to the Biniand Etsako communities, to the Gov-ernment and good people of Edo Stateand Nigeria, and to all persons whotheir selfless services touched in di-verse ways. Goodnight, my dearbrothers.

THE month of October in the year ofour Lord 2013, will certainly go down in

the annals of history as when heaven gainedat the expense of Edo State. First, it wasNigeria’s foremost Professor of Political Science;someone who combined the finest principlesof politics with its volatile practices in the man-agement of Nigeria’s public affairs.

Prof. Omo Omoruyi as a scholar sympa-thized with late Mallam Aminu Kano’s NEPUand Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NCNC in the firstrepublic. As a politician in the second repub-lic, he pitched his tent with Dr. NnamdiAzikiwe’s Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP, andbecame its gubernatorial candidate for BendelState in 1983. NPP was a welfarist party, whichwas in line with Prof. Omoruyi’s inclinations.

Thereafter, Prof. Omoruyi did not fully re-turn to partisan politics as he was appointedDirector of the Centre for Democratic Studies,CDS, under the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’sTransition Programme, in the build-up to the1993 presidential elections. In the twilight ofthis national assignment, Prof. Omoruyi suf-fered a ghastly and near fatal attack which, onhind sight, can be said to be the remote causeof the ailment that crept into his ebullient andbuoyant health, which eventually led to hisdeath.

Even with his ill health, Prof. Omoruyi con-years are worth manygenerations. Whencombined with theenormous accom-plishments of Prof.

Prof. Omo Omoruyi

, ,Their deaths, one coming so close tothe other, are too much for us mortals

BY DR. SAMUEL OGBEMUDIA

TRIBUTE

Admiral Mike Akhi

a civilian and extend it to the largersociety led to his aspiration to leadNigeria as a civilian President, whichoffice he vied for. It must be recalledthat he was the second in commandin Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar’s re-gime that gave birth to the current ci-vilian government. Therefore, the suc-cess of our present democratic dispen-sation will be to the eternal glory ofhis memory.

At 68, Mike died two years shy ofthe biblical three scores and ten. Buthis activities within those speedy

Opportunity to address injustices inMamman Nasir’s boundaryadjustment (2)

FOR no other reason thaneconomic punishment,

deprivation, humiliation andmarginalization, the ObasanjoMilitary Government set up theJustice Mamman NasirBoundary Commission. GeneralObasanjo’s targets were the Igboareas prolific with hydro-carbonand Mamman Nasir BoundaryCommission, unjustifiably usedthe Imo River as boundarybetween the present Abia Stateand Rivers State. It has to bestated that both sides of the ImoRiver, that is Ukwa-west in AbiaState and Oyigbo in Rivers Statecontain many oil-wells.But moreoil wells are in Oyigbo area. Letit be said here that thecommercial town of Obigbo,which was renamed Oyigbo afterthe Nasir boundary adjustment,is an Asa town. During thecolonial era, Obigbo town andKomkom Village, which are nowin Rivers State, were integralparts of Asa county council, withheadquarters at Obehie-Asa.After the Nigerian/Biafran War,Oyigbo and Komkom were inUkwa Division, with theheadquarters still at Obehie-Asa.They were in Ukwa Divisionuptill 1976 when Mamman Nasir

This is the concluding part ofthis piece which was firstpublished last Friday

CMYK

52—V52—V52—V52—V52—Vanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard, MOND, MOND, MOND, MOND, MONDAAAAAYYYYY, , , , , NONONONONOVEMBER 4,VEMBER 4,VEMBER 4,VEMBER 4,VEMBER 4, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

,,WHAT is your reaction to

the decision of leadersof the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) not to be partof President Jonathan’snational conference?

Well, you see, because ofone’s long standing in politics,you can always predict what islikely to come from theopposition. I saw that coming,but you and I know that the truthof the matter is that the demandfor national conference ornational dialogue has beenchampioned over time by myfriends and associates who arein the opposition. From my longpolitical career in theopposition, I know how thingswork there and how they reason.I’m not surprised that they aregiving that as their position.

On August 29, I wasinstrumental to arranging thevisit of The Patriots to Mr.President. And that visit was thefirst visit The Patriots will payto any President. I made a lotof facts available to the Presidentthat The Patriots are elderstatesmen; some of them are 75,85 and they hold very strongviews.

In fact, when I was appointedby Mr. President, I wrote to himthat I am a member of ThePatriots and one of the youngones; that The Patriots alwayshave and hold very strongviews. I said, ‘may be it will notbe necessary to sustain my

This dialogue’ll not be likeObasanjo’s conference — Ben Obi

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE,DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

SENATOR Ben Ndi Obi is the special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Inter-Party Affairs. Inthis interview he speaks to reporters on the gains of the sensitization workshop for political parties andstakeholders on the Anambra Governorship election, ongoing efforts to hold a national conference andwhy President Jonathan retraced his steps from opposing the confab. Excerpts:

membership since you haveappointed me as one of youradvisers, so that there won’t beany conflict.’

He said ‘it’s not bad to me,continue with yourmembership.’ So, I called oneof the Press conferencesorganized by The Patriots. Oneof the members that cameconfronted the Chairman,Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN)and said, ‘look, you havePresident Jonathan’s SpecialAdviser here and you arediscussing very sensitive issuesof this nature.’

Professor Nwabueze said,‘Ben Obi has some antecedentsand track records that speak forhim. We are very comfortable

with him.’I told the President, look, ‘The

Patriots have never seen anyPresident before and they aresaying they want to see you.’He said, ‘okay, let them come.’When they came, theydemanded and put in a positionpaper on how to go about a

National Conference. When thePresident looked at it, he said,‘okay, this issue has beencoming up all the time.

I will give you people ananswer in two or three weeks.’Finally, on October 1, on the53rd Independenceanniversary of Nigeria, thePresident said, ‘okay, let us talk;if Nigerians are ready to talk,the same with me.’

So, it’s not as if PresidentJonathan sat down and said thenational conference, here wecome. Last year, we went forTunji Braithwaite’s bookpresentation with thePresident. One of the demandsof Dr. Braithwaite is that we

have to hold this nationalconference before 2015.

The President responded thatwe will look into it. So, whenwe now have a team of elderstatesmen of that caliber, it willbe difficult for a President tomeet with them and not concedeto their request. Yes, theopposition will always say, ‘doit like this or like that’ butultimately, I think that thesuperior argument mustprevail.

What do you make ofarguments that the Presidentdecided to call for a nationalconference to get the neededsupport for his second term?

The President in setting upthe Senator Femi OkurounmuCommittee said clearly, discusseverything. He didn’t say therewere no-go areas. He gavethem a blank cheque, ‘go andwork.

Tell us what to do, tell us whatyou want us to do.’ How thencould one talk of a hiddenagenda? I still don’t understandthat bit. The President has said,‘go there; say what you want tosay. Put your views across.’

Quite honestly, a lot of them(opposition) were not expectingthat President Jonathan wouldsay, ‘go and talk.’ They weren’t

know how we want to governthis country?

On controversies trailingPresident Jonathan’s positionthat the report of theConference will be sent theNational Assembly forconsideration

For me, I want to look at itfrom two angles. One, if thePresident says it’s going to behanded over to the NationalAssembly we could then besaying that the views andpositions of the conference willbe sent to the NationalAssembly as Executive Bill,coming from the President.

Dominantviews

The other aspect of it is howdo you constitute the body? So,you want to find out, what is thecommittee going torecommend? We also want tofind out what Nigerians aresaying because the committeeis traveling now, collatingviews and collectingmemoranda from all the zones.So, it is after all of that, they willnow decide and say what thedominant views and positionsof Nigerians on how thisconference would hold are.

But ordinarily, the way thingsare is that the entire views ofthe people is what Mr. Presidentwill send as an executive bill tothe National Assembly.

On whether the conferencewill not go like the Obasanjoexercise of 2005

This is the first time you arehaving a President that isreacting to specific demands.Before Obasanjo did his 2005conference, there had beendemands. I happened to be inthe Senate when they started tohatch the idea of putting thetoxic third term agenda into therecommendation; and a lot ofpeople were saying, will peoplenot say why are you throwingaway the baby with the bathwater?

But most of us knew that thetoxin in there was enough topoison the constitutionalamendment. Even those of uswho are from the South-East,there was one clear statementfrom the report- create anadditional state for the Igbo. Itwas agreed by all the zones butwe knew that that was a biggamble. We were not preparedto go clause by clause. And thatwas really why we were able toachieve that thing (killing thethird term agenda) at that time.

On fears that the confabcould dismember Nigeria inline with the Americanprediction that Nigeria maybreak up in 2015.

You know when you have ahuge country like Nigeria withthis massive size andpopulation a lot of things cometo play. Fortunately, I was in theSenate when this idea from theCIA Chief came up and it waselaborately discussed.

Devolutionof powers

In spite of our differences, I’myet to see any serious-mindedNigerian leader that will cometo you and say, ‘damn it, let thiscountry disintegrate, let’s goour different ways.’ You don’tmake such comments. They willall say, ‘let us remain one.

Let us ask ourselves how wewant to live as one people.’ Theproblem is that the constitutionthat we talk about was providedto us by the military.

We had former MilitaryPresident Ibrahim Babangidatalking to the FiscalCommission few days ago andhe was in support of devolutionof powers. That is somethingthat needs to be looked into. Andeverybody is saying the samething.

A lot of these things have beenon, it’s just that we are yet to sitdown and say to ourselves look,how do we go?

You have been to Edo, Ondoand then Anambra, organizing

•Obi: Jonathan is sincere


The President in setting up the SenatorFemi Okurounmu Committee saidclearly, discuss everything. He didn’t saythere were no-go areas

expecting it. Butnow he has said tothem, go and talk, ittook some of themunawares.

Like I said, beingin this business ofopposition, theirthinking is: Are yousure this thing willnot help Jonathan in2015? I don’t evensee what it stands todo with 2015 forJonathan becausethe discussion isgoing to beconducted bypeople from all overthe country.

So, you are notgoing to have aJonathan teamdiscussing thecountry. If it’s byelection, everybodyis free to go andcontest. So, I don’tsee their reasons.Seriously, we needto talk. I believe it’stime to sit down andtalk. It’s time to sitdown and discussthis country. Let us

CMYK

WHAT was your reactionto your appointment

into this body?It is something that I am

delighted about because I havealways believed that sincethings have gone wrong in thecountry, we need to dialogueand if the president deemed itfit that I should be one of thepersonalities to set it rolling,then it is a national call that Iam well prepared to do.

Some believe that it is all atrick by the presidency?

If there is anything that tendsto suggest that directly orindirectly, I would not be a partyto it. I will not participate. Ibelieve that the president isvery sincere in his call for adialogue. I call on Nigeriansto come out, believe in it andparticipate for us to channel acourse for the future of ourcountry.

What is your impressionfrom the states you have so farvisited?

The turnout has been quiteimpressive. We started fromAkure and the turnout was very,very impressive. We went toMinna it was the same, we

National dialogue will makeour future much better — Sen AduduLAWYER and politician, Senator Timothy Adudu was recently appointed into the Presidential AdvisoryCommittee on National Dialogue with the expectation of tapping his experience as a former senator andskills as a lawyer to navigate the discordant tunes in the polity on the Nigeria question. Senator Aduduwas in the Senate between 2003 and 2007 during which time he was a rallying point for the Digitals asthe younger and seemingly more radical senators of that era were known. In this interview, SenatorAdudu who has since his exit from the Senate added academic degrees in arbitration responds toquestions on the desirability of a national conference and the workings of his committee. Excerpts:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

,

•Adudu:

,went to Jos it wasoverwhelming and that tendsto suggest that Nigerians arewilling to dialogue. So, Ibelieve that as we go round itis going to gather momentum.So far so good.

What is your expectationfrom this process?

At this point in time it wouldbe pre-emptive to speculate,but from the response we haveseen, Nigerians are ready tomake their statements, ready totake their destiny into their ownhands and it is thepreponderance of what theywant done that we are going toreflect in our report as acommittee when we aremaking our recommendations

the conference.If you also consider the time

frame he wants us to submit ourreport, it is expected that he isgoing to act upon it very

expeditiously. He has notelongated the time and he hasgiven a time frame which I amsure we are likely to meet upwith.

If you also look at thepersonalities that form thecommittee, you will see that wehave men of integrity and youcan say to a large extent it isnon partisan and each andevery member of the committeeis an accomplished Nigerian inhis own way, men of integrity,men that you can hardly easilyquestion their integrity.

So, I believe that it is a seriousbusiness, it is a serious call andwe must all respond.

The fact that the outcome ofthe proposed national

conference would besubmitted to the NationalAssembly has elicitedcomments that the conferencewould be a toothless bulldog?

What you have to appreciateis that this is a general motiontowards a dialogue and if youare discussing, there are boundto be give and take.

You cannot at this moment saythat you foreclose this aspect orthat this is how it is going tobe. We must appreciate that we

are not acting in vacuum, thereare institutional bodies in placewhich no matter what we do,we cannot lose sight of thoseinstitutions.

Having said that, we mustappreciate that if two peoplehave agreed to dialogue, thereare bound to be give and takein certain ways.

So, what the outcome is goingto be I wouldn’t want to saynow, it might be, it might not.Why I say so is that, since it is

dialogue people would come tothe negotiating table, dialogue,have a conference and agreeon certain parameters.

What are the concessions thatare going to be made? Iwouldn’t know. What are theproposals that are going to bemade? I wouldn’t know.

That it has to go to theNational Assembly, yes, I agreewith that. But if you sit downwith the stakeholders, anddon’t forget that we visited theNational Assembly and thatthey are partners with us in thisexercise and what I want youto appreciate is that by the timewe all sit down, we mightagree on certain parameterswhich I wouldn’t know whatthat might be. So, it may be, itmay be not but at the end ofthe day, what we want to see isa situation whereby allstakeholders, Nigerians and allstakeholders agree on the wayforward.

So, following theseconsultations what would bethe next phase of yourassignment?

The next phase of ourassignment is for us to draw ourconclusions, make ourrecommendations and submitto the President in accordanceto our terms of reference.

So, Nigerians should comeout en-masse and participatein the exercise because it is anopportunity that we shouldtake seriously to fashion outour destiny. We must come outto chart a course for our future.

Nigeria is bigger than anindividual and we must rallyround the President to givehim support because this issomething that I believe that across section of Nigerians havealways clamoured for. Inspiteof all that have happened, Ithink we have a future and ourfuture would be much better ifwe sit down to dialogue.

Nigerians are ready to make theirstatements, ready to take their destiny intotheir own hands and it is thepreponderance of what they want done thatwe are going to reflect in our report

This dialogue’ll not be like Obasanjo’sconference — Ben Obi

sensitization workshops ahead ofgovernorship elections, how do you seethe Anambra exercise compared toothers?

If you recall, in Edo, we had sixcandidates; in Ondo, we had 13 but inAnambra it is 23. This says only onething: The exposure of Anambrariansand their interest in the democratic effortsof this country.

In Anambra, you have the good, thebad and the ugly. I led the pack of the


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to Mr. President.Some fear that

y o u rrecommendationsmay not beacceptable?

When we get tothe bridge we willcross it. But I wantyou to read thebody language ofMr. President. Itis about the firsttime that he hassaid that there willbe no no-goareas; in otherwords, there willbe no barricades.If you rememberat theinauguration hesaid that he hasleft even the issueof nomenclatureopen and that weshould decide, wes h o u l drecommend whatnomenclature wewould be giving to

first of electoral victims in 2003. Eversince, Anambrarians have charged upto making democracy work. So, all theparties struggle one way or the otherto provide candidates for the election.In a nutshell, there is awareness. Theinterest of politicians in Anambra isquite glaring; they want to be part ofthe unfolding democratic success story.We try to make them play the gameaccording to the rules and understandthat at the end of the day, only one manwill emerge victorious.


OPINION

,

Much ado about ‘Oduahgate'

President Jonathan in the eyes of observersBY JOHNSON EBIGIDE

WHEN President Goodluck EbeleJonathan was overwhelmingly

elected as the president of Nigeria in 2011,the expectations of Nigerians were highand they wanted him to if possible usethe magic wand to turn around the for-tune of the country for the better. When,therefore, he appeared to be slow in meet-ing up with the yearnings of the people,some wrote him off as a political non-per-former. But those that know him betterargued objectively that he should be givenenough time to study the political terrainin the country to enable him tackle thevarious malaises bedevilling the countrywithout putting the country into jeopardy.

Yes, those that pleaded for more time forPresident Jonathan have won. Havinggotten a proper grip with the socio-politi-cal and economic structure of the country,President Jonathan, like a sleeping giant,has sprung into action to fulfill the expec-tations of Nigerians.

Speaking with the National President of

the Eagle-Watch for good Governance, asocio-political organisation with a widenational network of operations in Niger-ia, at Ughelli after the declaration of theresult of the Delta State Central Senatori-al by-election occasioned by the death ofSenator Pius Ewerido (an election won bythe former NDDC Managing Director,Chief Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, on theplatform of the PDP), Comrade CletusKwalekeme said that President Jonathanis a man of his word. He maintained thatPresident Jonathan deserves the collectivesupport of Nigerians, considering the factthat he had never reneged in his promisesto the people. He noted that the outcomeof the election which was adjudged to befree and fair is an indication of the untir-ing efforts of President Jonathan to ensurethat elections in the country are conduct-ed in a most free and fair environment.Comrade Kwalekeme argued that those

that have been faulting every move byJonathan are mischievous and simply outto distract the President from fulfilling hiselectioneering campaign promises to Ni-gerians. Comrade Kwalekeme maintainedthat the recent approval by PresidentJonathan for the convocation of a nation-al dialogue is a heart-warming decisionwhich would definitely unite the variousethnic nationalities in the country, addingthat government had put necessary ma-chinery in place to ensure that the presentdialogue will be a success and far removedfrom the past ones organised without po-litical will and sincerity.

While appealing to the leadership of thestriking ASUU to call off the debilitatingstrike in the education sector in the coun-try to enable students to go back to school,Comrade Kwalekeme stressed that Presi-dent Jonathan has a listening ear, sayingthat ASUU members should give him thebenefit of doubt by going back to the class-

room, even as he assured that PresidentJonathan would not disappoint the war-ring lecturers.

He appealed to Nigerians to continueto support President Jonathan, whom hesaid has high sense of political tolerance,saying that not only does the Presidentgive the opposition the room to operateconstitutionally, but hearkens to reason-able and constructive criticisms from theopposition, just as he commended the un-tiring efforts of President Jonathan tobring normalcy to the Northern part ofthe country.

In all, President Jonathan has what ittakes to move Nigeria to the next level ofdevelopment; what he needs urgently nowis the collective support of all Nigerians.

*Mr Ebigide is the State Publicity Sec-retary of Eagle Watch For Good Govern-ance, Delta State.

ODUAHGATE is the latest publicscandal that has seized the public

sphere in Nigeria in the past two weeks orso. It concerns an allegation that Ministerof Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah,colluded with officials of one of thedepartments in her ministry, the NigerianCivic Aviation Authority, NCAA, to orderfrom Coscharis Motors, two armouredBMW cars at a cost totaling N255 million(or $1.6) for her use as Minister.

Apart from the stupendous amountinvolved, the allegation gathers moreoutrage when additional independentresearch in some quarters revealed thatthe kind of car ordered goes for about N64million apiece at source. The impressionthis creates is that some inflation of figurestook place, which would expose all thoseinvolved in the allegation to prosecutionby the anti-graft agencies if prima faciecases of culpability are established againstthem.

This scandal was born when awhistleblower in the Ministry of Aviationalerted Saharareporters, an online newsblog with a penchant for exposing criminaland corrupt activities, especially ingovernment. The story made a landfall inthe mainstream media, and everybody hasbeen free with their comments, particularlypainting Oduah in the garb of a corruptminister who must be relieved of her joband sent to jail.

I have a couple of very simple questions.Did the Minister actually collude withofficials of the NCAA to purchase twoarmoured cars at inflated prices at thetaxpayers’ expense? Are those cars meantfor her official or personal use?

President Goodluck Jonathan respondedto the uproar by issuing the Minister aquery. He also set up a panel of threeheaded by the immediate past Head ofFederal Civil Service, Alhaji Sali Bello,with the National Security Adviser, retiredCol Sambo Dasuki and Air Vice-MarshalDik Iruenebere as members. A panelconsisting of a seasoned top bureaucrat likeBello and the nation’s senior securityofficer, Dasuki, should be able to exploreall the angles to this case and ensure thatthe President gets all the right answerswith which he will decide what to do about

this matter. For avoidance of doubt, thePresident saddled the panel with the jobto (a) investigate whether the procurementof the vehicles at that price followed dueprocess; (b) establish the purpose for whichthey were procured.

In addition to answering the President’squery, which was published in the media,Oduah submitted a large volume ofdocuments to the House of Representativeswhich summoned her to explain whathappened, backing them up with a 12-page defence of herself and the actions sheand officials of the NCAA took.

She did not deny complicity in the saga.Rather, she reiterated that (a) theprocurement of the cars followed dueprocess, tendering all relevant documentsto support her claim; (b) the armoured

the NCAA has not spent such an amount,but rather that, through open, due process,the cars were procured from Coscharisthrough a lease financing by First BankPLC that will be liquidated in three years.She added that (d) the expenditure wasapproved for the NCAA by the NationalAssembly in compliance with the MediumTerm Expenditure Framework, MTEF.

She also pointed out that the purchaseof these armoured cars and other vehicleslisted in the story were part of the overallmodernisation and upgrading ofequipment in the Aviation industry, ofwhich the remodeling of the 22 airportsaround the country is already evident toair travellers in the country. According toher, as an industry regulator, NCAA needsto have all the specialised vehicles whichit can deploy when dignitaries from

international stakeholder groups comecalling, particularly at a time when Nigeriais looking forward to being electedPresident of the International Civil AviationOrganisation, ICAO.

Having looked extensively into the casesmade by the Minister’s accusers and thedefence she has put up, it is my studiedopinion that we wait for the presidentialpanel and the Committee of the Houseinvestigating this matter to finish their work.The reason is simple. Both the accusersand the defendant will (naturally) onlypresent facts and arguments that willadvance their interests.

There is clear evidence that some of thosehounding the Minister are working forvested interests in the industry and thepolity at large. It is also obvious that the

Minister, in her defence, might havedredged up some red herrings to divertattention.

But a thorough investigation will bringout a complete picture. I wish thepresidential and House panels make theirfindings known to the public. If theMinister or any official of the ministry, theNCAA, the bank and the motor dealershipcompanies are found to have engaged inany misconduct or official corruption orintention thereto, the law must take its fullcourse. The case must be establishedbeyond any shadow of doubt because thatwill make prosecution easier and lessexpensive.

But if at the end it is established thatindeed, nothing unseemly took place andthat the purchases complied not only withdue process but were essential towardsequipping our aviation industry to meetup with normal internationalrequirements, the Federal Governmentmust be unequivocal in commending theMinister and her team for a job well done.

We are living in a highly charged politicalenvironment. We must ensure that theprobe and actions we will take in thismatter will be well above politics. It willbe a sad day if Princess Oduah’s handsare clean and bloodthirsty jackals areallowed to orchestrate a lynch mob andforce the President to remove her fromoffice. The President must act on this matterwith the highest public interest of Nigeriauppermost in his mind. He must neverpander to parochial politics, eitherknuckling down to the pressures of a vocalopposition or bowing to the soft fancies ofPrincess Oduah’s past contributions to hispolitical fortunes.

Oduah has made a few mistakes as ahuman being on her duty post, but withintwo years as Minister of Aviation, she hasalready left an indelible fingerprint. But itcannot be helped if she soiled her uniquetransformation of the industry.

*Princes Stella Oduah

We must ensure that the probe will bewell above politics; it will be a sad day ifPrincess Oduah’s hands are clean andbloodthirsty jackals are allowed toorchestrate a lynch mob and force thePresident to remove her from office

I READ with great delight how Governor Gabriel Torwua Suswam ofBenue State acted as the Bestman to a chefwho works for a church in Makurdi. Hewas simply identified as Peter, who gotwedded to his bride, Tabitha. Said Suswam:“Today I am happy to identify with Peterand Tabitha as I march to the Altar as Peter’sBest man. I have known Peter as adedicated steward/cook in the ParishHouse any time I came visiting the Church.Most youths today will rather refuse to

Gov Suswam, a chef’s Bestman!work as stewards and look down on peoplewho do such jobs. It is not what you dothat matters but how you affect others inyour little position. “It is for these reasonsthat I am happy to identify with Peter andwife and wish them a happy married life,while I enjoin other youths to emulatehumble beginnings in all they do as itattracts blessings from God and beforemen”. That’s how leaders inspire thepeople they lead! Cheers Peter, Tabitha andBestman, Suswam!

BMW cars werenever meant for heruse but for the useof the NCAA in itsnational andi n t e r n a t i o n a lo p e r a t i o n a lactivities. In fact, she(c) pointed out that



CMYK


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Kerry begins M/East shuttleto revive peace talk

US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry said his

country is committed toworking with Egypt’sinterim rulers, on his firstvisit to Cairo since themilitary ousted PresidentMohamed Morsi.

“We are committed towork and we will continueour cooperation with theinterim government,” Ker-ry told reporters in a jointnews conference on Sun-day, calling for “inclusive,free and fair elections.”

Kerry said he wanted toexpress to the Egyptianpeople “as clearly and asforcefully as I can in nouncertain terms, that theUnited States is a friend ofthe people of Egypt, of thecountry of Egypt, and weare a partner.”

Egypt’s Foreign Minis-ter Nabil Fahmy, who metKerry earlier in the day,

was present at the newsconference and said: “Imentioned before that US-Egypt relations is goingthrough turbulent time.Kerry’s comments todayshow positive signs.”

Fahmy said that Egyptwould look beyond theUnited States to meet itssecurity needs and warnedWashington that it could nolonger ignore popular de-mands in a changed Arabworld.

Tunisia extends emergencyrule

Tunisia, which is grappling with a political

crisis and violence attribut-

ed to armed groups, hassaid it is extending byeight months a state ofemergency in place sincethe 2011 uprising.

The presidency made theannouncement on Sundayand said the state of emer-gency would be extendeduntil the end of June 2014.

Tunisia’s authoritieshave renewed the state ofemergency by periodsranging from three monthsto a year since the 2011uprising that toppled vet-eran strongman Zine ElAbidine Ben Ali.

Late on Saturday, Tuni-sia’s ruling party, Ennah-da, and the oppositionfailed to reach an agree-ment on appointing a newprime minister, with bothsides pledging to contin-ue negotiations.

Iran’s supremeleader backsnuclear talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali

Khamenei has voicedhis support for Iran’stalks with world powersover its disputed nuclearprogramme while ex-pressing pessimismabout them.

“No one should seeour negotiating team ascompromisers,” Khame-nei, Iran’s top decision-maker on its nucleardrive, was quoted assaying on his officialwebsite yesterday.

Syrian army moves intosouthern Damascus

Syrian army and Shi’iteMuslim fighters at-

tacked Sunni rebel areasin southern Damascus onSunday in an offensiveaimed at breaking resis-tance to President Basharal-Assad around the cap-ital, activists said.

Militia from Iran andIraq and the LebaneseShi’ite group Hezbollah,who overran two southernsuburbs last month, arelooking to build up theiradvances by capturingopposition districts closerto the center of Damascus,the sources said.

Fighters from the al-Qaeda linked al-NusraFront and the Islamic

State for Iraq and the Le-vant, which is heavilycomprised of foreign jiha-dists, have joined Islam-ist rebel brigades andFree Syrian Army units inclose quarters fightingaround the district ofHajar al-Aswad.

Hajar al-Aswad is main-ly inhabited by refugeesfrom the Israeli occupiedGolan Heights. It is oneof a series of Sunni dis-tricts on the edge of Dam-ascus at the forefront ofthe uprising against As-sad, who belongs to theAlawite sect, an offshootof Shi’ite Islam that hasdominated Syria since the1960s.

•John Kerry

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YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU RL A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E ) K I O S K4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

Vanguard, MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2013 — 59

Bright future forour footballI AM one of those who can write authoritatively

about our Golden Eaglets. From the very first matchthey played together as a team in the African Qualifi-ers in Niger, to their camping in Calabar, African fi-nals in Marakech Morocco……….I have been a disci-ple of a team I believe promises positive vibes for thefuture of the game in Nigeria.

Yes, the Nigeria Football Federation and the CrossRiver State Government should take a bow for invest-ing in these boys over time. The coaches and otherback up staff of the team also deserve mention for thework, tireless work they have put in to get the kids tothe standard where they have been rated as one of thebest, if not the best team in the world, going forward.

I know how difficult it is to coach boys in this agecategory, boys who enjoy to play their game and be-lieve that the only attribute in football is score goalsand in the process shun tactical inputs for their Godgiven techniques. To Manu Garba, Nduka Ugbade andEmmanuel Amuneke, I doff my hat.

Two weeks ago I wrote here that I will be happy ifthis team gets to the final, but I see already a team thatguarantees ten years of our football if well managed. Isaid this team is one that plays good enough to re-ceive commendation, even if it loses. It appears thoughthat losing is not in the dictionary of these glory boys.Against Sweden, it was a never say die attitude thatbrought them from the brinks of defeat to a deserveddraw.

Next came Iran and the Eaglets stamped their supe-riority. Uruguay was the dreaded team, a country thathad dealt us severe blows at the senior and Under 20levels. Saturday, the South Americans came callingand as expected gave us some moments of concern,but the Nigerians took control of the match and by thesecond half were in charge. But for lack of marksman-ship and youthful exuberance the Uruguayans wouldhave fallen by no less than five goals.

I commend these youngsters who have given uscause to be proud at world football stage because likeI did say, at knock out level, the best do not normallywin. Ask Japan, ask Brazil.

Tomorrow is another day. This time a reenactment ofthe group match that gave us the biggest scare of ourlives. This time a draw will not be okay. An outright

winner will have to emerge. Yes the coaches must haverevisited the former match and made amends, just asthe Swedes bemoaned the loss of an unprecedentedopportunity, first time out.

It will not be easy, but with these boys it may be veryeasy. It is a team on rampage, one in which only thegoalkeeper has not taken a shot at goal. Like a friendsaid to me, if the Uruguayans were not able to stop us,is it those Swedes that will? According to him theSwedes were lucky first time out. this time, there willbe no hiding place. I say AMEN.

BACK TO THE LEAGUE

Last week I wrote that I was very happy with the leagueand the way it ended. I said I was very confident that ourrepresentatives in Africa ( Pillars, Enyimba, Warri Wolvesand Bayelsa ) will give a good account of themselves…Areader wrote in, very angry with me. Chris Djeniko([email protected]) said there was nothing to cele-brate about the league. I quote “.

“Sir, I quote you from the above subject of your MondayVanguard blog:“. . . in all my years I have associated withfootball, I have never come across a situation where, inany league in the world, over ten teams were available forthe drop with just one match to spare. . . In all of these, Ifeel proud that the days of state hosting AGMs to overturnleague tables are over. I am happy that today we haveleaders who are honest, disciplined and focused not get-ting themselves in messy situations that posterity will recordnegatively against them..

”If you had read the observations made on the leaguelog table in different websites especiallywww.kickoffnigeria.com, you wouldn’t have expressed yourhappiness in this blog. Apparently you were proud.

Perhaps you wouldn’t have submitted it for publication.The summary of what these websites (I guess you wouldhave read them too) are saying that the home teams werewinning almost all their matches and the away teams werelosing almost all. Even those that are for the drop!! Not soin Europe and other leagues. They use so many terms todescribe our league table- ‘laughable,’ ‘disgrace,’ ‘absurd,’‘funny,’ ‘match-fixing table.’ I was ashamed that othersare seeing our league in such a light. These websites re-produced the log table from www.fifa.com. So it means fifais also looking at us with one kind eye like that. I tell yousomething. This is what our football administrators haveturned most of us into. No trust in them. Our administra-tors must make some changes so that our league will notbe ‘laughable’ anymore.”

I promised Chris that I will share his thoughts with usbecause this page is held in trust. I am not going to joinissues with Chris, tell him why he cannot compare our leaguewith Europe, not at this stage, not even issues of securityand live telecast of ALL matches that impact directly on theperformance of referees.

I swear we will get there. We will.See you next week

Ultimate Commander invitesJonathan to come watch himdestroy America’s Lashley

Battle of Legends

World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, De UltimateCommander (left), Promoter, Aghalieaku Arinze and pop-ular musician, Omawumi, during the media briefing onthe Battle of Legends in Lagos...at the weekend..

WORLD HeavyweightWrestling Champion,

Osita Offor, popularly knownas De Ultimate Commander,is pleading for PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s pres-ence at the Oriental hotel, La-gos, on December 6 when hedefends his title against Unit-ed States of America’s BobbyLashley.

Speaking in Lagos at theweekend during a pressbriefing to herald the fight,Commander disclosedthat he already has thebacking of four servinggovernors, the National

Assembly and his spiritu-al pillar, Prophet T.B. Josh-ua, stressing that the pres-ence of President Jonath-an would serve as the ic-ing on the cake and thereal tonic he needs tosubdue his American chal-lenger.

“I’ve never lost or drawnany fight in my career. Nowthat I’ve got enoughmotivation from the NationalAssembly, my state Governor,Dr. Theodore Orji and Gov-ernors Babatunde Fashola,Godswill Akpabio, IssaYuguda as well as my spirit-

ual pillar, Prophet T.B Joshua.I am not going to let my pro-moter and the entire Nigeri-ans down” he assured.

“But I wish to make apassionate appeal to myPresident, His Excellency, Dr.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, tosit by the ringside and watchme package the Americanwrestler in a crate back to hiscountry,” De Ultimate Com-mander said.

Snowden backs reform ofglobal intelligence system

FUGITIVE U.S. intelligence contractor

Edward Snowden saidcalls for more oversightof government intelli-gence agencies showedhe was justified in re-vealing the methods andtargets of the U.S. secretservice.

Snowden’s leaks aboutthe National SecurityAgency (NSA), from itsalleged mass scanningof emails to the tappingof world leaders’phones, have infuriatedU.S. allies and placedWashington on the de-fensive.

In “A Manifesto for theTruth” published in Ger-man news magazine DerSpiegel on Sunday,Snowden said currentdebates about mass sur-veillance in many coun-tries showed his revela-tions were helping tobring about change.

“Instead of causingdamage, the usefulnessof the new public knowl-edge for society is nowclear because reforms topolitics, supervision andlaws are being suggest-ed,” the 30-year-old ex-CIA employee and NSAcontractor wrote.

DR Congo rebels declareceasefire

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo’s

M23 rebels have de-clared a ceasefire after a20-month rebellion inNorth Kivu province toallow peace talks withthe government to ad-vance. Bertrand Bisim-wa, leader of the M23rebel group, urged allfighters yesterday to “im-mediately end hostili-ties” with the govern-ment troops.

“We call on the facili-tator of the Kampala

peace talks to immedi-ately put in place amechanism to monitorthe ceasefire,” Bisimwasaid in statement. Therewas no immediate reac-tion from the army.

The declaration of thetruce came on the daywhen the governmenttroops said it launched anew offensive againstrebel fighters who fled tothe hills around Congo’sborder with Uganda andRwanda after being oust-ed from Bunaguna, theirlast stronghold.

Two French journalists killedin Mali

TWO French journalists have been killed

in the northern Malitown of Kidal after beingabducted by gunmen,French and Malian offi-cials say.

Ghislaine Dupont andClaude Verlon, both jour-nalists with French radiostation Radio France In-ternationale (RFI), wereseized on Saturday after-noon after they had fin-ished an interview with aTuareg rebel leader whenseveral armed mengrabbed them, accordingto a city official.

“A few minutes after apursuit began for the ab-ductors of the two French,

we were informed thattheir bodies werefound riddled with bulletsoutside the town,” saidP a u l - M a r i eSidibe, prefect of thetown of Tinzawaten, whois based in Kidal.

A senior Tuareg officialalso said the bodieshad been recovered out-side Kidal. A Mali secu-rity source saidthe journalists werekilled about 12km outsidethe town.

The executions occuredas the government is try-ing to talk with rebels inthe north to prevent a wid-er conflict in the country.

Niger detains scores ofTrans Sahara migrants

NIGER has roundedup close to 150 mi-

grants crossing the Sa-hara to Algeria in thepast two days, in a crack-down on illegal migra-tion after 92 people diedof thirst trying to makethe same desert journey.

The grisly discoverylast week of the bodiesof mostly women andchildren left stranded inthe harsh Sahara desertafter their trucks brokedown, has promptedNiamey to clamp downon migrant traffickingnetworks.

60 — Vanguard, MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Swedes, who are mak-ing their debut in thistournament, holding outfor a thrilling 3-3 drawat the Khalifa Bin ZayedStadium in Al Ain.And as both teams pre-pare for another heavy-weight showdown clash,the Nigerian coach in-sists that his boys haveenough weaponry intheir arsenal to defeattheir foes.

Having scored 20goals in five matches,the Golden Eaglets re-

EagletsContinues from BP main the best attacking.

Speaking to reporters,Garba who congratulat-ed his boys for defeatingUruguay 2-0, said “Wehave learned so muchplaying againstSweden the last time butwe shall be ready forthem this time around.Sweden should be readyfor the fireworks whichwe shall fire on them.”we are going to flythe flag of the conti-nent since so muchwould be expected from us ,”added Garba.

encounter, which theNigerians won 2-0, hewas automatically ruledout of the next match.

According statisticsobtained by SportsVanguard from theFederation ofInternational Football

IdowuContinues from BP Associations, FIFA,

Idowu’s yellow card wasamong the 145 yellowcards so far issued byreferees at the ongoingtournament. It males anaverage of 3.02 cardsper match, below the 172mark issued at this stageof the tournament inMexico 2011.

Omeruo

profile friendly in Lon-don.

Coach Keshi has re-called brilliant youngdefender KennethOmeruo, a key compo-nent of his 2013 AfricaCup of Nations winningsquad, as well as therugged and attack-minded midfielder Re-uben Gabriel.

Both men were out in-jured for months. Omer-uo dislocated a troubledshoulder at the FIFAConfederations Cup inBrazil in the summerwhile Gabriel would be

Continues from BP happy to be fully fit af-ter sitting on the benchall through the AfricaCup of Nations cam-paign.

Stand-in skipper Vin-cent Enyeama is calledalongside goalkeepersAustin Ejide and Chig-ozie Agbim, while SouthAfrica-based defenderJames Okwuosa andstrikers Obinna Nsoforand Uche Nwofor alsokeep their places. Thelist also includes AfricaCup of Nations top scor-er and two-goal hero inAddis Ababa, EmmanuelEmenike.

featured for the GoldenEaglets, who are just one

match from reaching thefinal of the FIFA U-17World Cup in UAE.

Speaking to reportersweekend, Garba said thatIsaac embodied the spiritof the team, noting that hisabsence was missed by theentire team. “I miss Isaaca lot. Apart from scoringgoals, he also assistsothers to score goals. Heembodies the spirit of theteam and his contributions

IsaacContinues from BP cannot be overstated.

Before we came here, hehad scored in every matchthat we played and wasthe top scorer at the AfricanChampionship”, saidGarba, who added that ifIsaac is fit for tomorrow’smatch against Sweden thathe would start from thebench.“If he is fit, he willstart from the benchbecause he is just comingfrom an injury break andcannot just be thrown intothe action from

the start”, said Garba.

FORMER Super Eagles captain, Sunday

Oliseh proved yet again whyhe was regarded as a bornleader when he strolled intothe Golden Eagletslocker room to counsel andpray for the budding young-sters after their2-0 win over Uruguay onSaturday in Sharjah.Speaking on the team’s im-pressive performance at theFIFA U-17 World Cup UAE2013, Oliseh who is on theTechnical Study Group (TSG)said the players deserve com-mendation but warned themagainst complacency.

“Working with FIFA, youhave made me very proudbecause of your playing styleand overall conduct in thiscompetition,” began Olisehwho cried like a baby whenSuper Eagles finished run-ners-up when Ghana-Ni-geria co-hosted the 2000 Af-rican cup of Nations.”But bethat as it may, I don’t wantyou to start counting becausenobody remembers the teamthat comes second next dayexcept the champions.”

Oliseh said the GoldenEaglets should not regardthemselves as favourites yetto lift the trophy despite play-ing some of the bestmatches at this champion-ship.

The former Ajax and Juven-tus midfielder said:” You don’tstart counting until the battleis won and I want you tolearn from a teamlike Brazil who are alreadyout of the competition be-cause they started countingbefore the job was done.”The two-time World Cup starfurther warned the playersagainst complacency even ashe charged them to pay at-tention to instructionfrom ‘the most competentUnder-17 coaching crew.’

Oliseh prays for Golden Eaglets

Golden Eaglets in jubilant mood

BITTER losersUruguay are

crying foul over their 2-0 quarter-final loss to theGolden Eaglets, whothey insinuate are abovethe U-17 age of the FIFAWorld Cup holding inthe UAE.

After Iran accused theNigerians of not beingteenagers, the currenttirade from theUruguayans is thesecond stinging attackthat the Eaglets weregoing to get here.

Uruguay players, atthe final whistle of theirdefeat by Nigeria,collapsed to the groundin anguish as ifbereaved.

Captain FabrizioBuschiazzo, whoadmitted that they werenot decisive in attack,questioned the true ages

Uruguay cry foul over Eaglets win

of the Nigerians, whoshowed grit and class intheir 2-0 victory inSharjah,

“We didn’t punchwhen we needed to. Wecould not convert andthey scored their firstgoal early. Out ofanxiety we ended upgoing for the result andthey hurt us a lot byusing that space.

“I am very angry tothink that Nigeria arenot 17. We are a under-17 team and are betterthan any other under-17s but not against 35and 40-year-olds, whichis how the Nigerians

appeared to be to me”,said Buschiazzo, whoadded that “this is notan excuse .but it is clearthat they don’t have theage to play”.

Also speaking at themixed zone, MarcioBenitez stressed thatUruguay was confidentto get the result butfailed despite “doingeverything”. “I don’tknow what was missing.I’m very proud but sadnot to moved forward.We are going to haverevenge,” he said.

Franco Pizzichillo, oneof the outstandingplayers in thetournament

ResultsEngand

Everton 0 Tottenham 0Cardiff 1 Swansea 0

ItalyLivorno 1 Atalanta 0Verona 2 Caglian 1Lazio 2 Genoa 2Sampdoria 3 Sassuolo 4Udinese 0 Inter 3

Bralex Football Managersreality show debuts

THE first realityfootball show

that will put both playersand managers in the runfor top prizes and otherincentives is underway,organisers haveannounced.

The show which willcome alive in Lagos inJanuary, 2014 is beingput together by a Lagosbased outfit, BralexFootball Mnagers.

Okpe EmmanueAlexander, the ChiefExecutive Officer of thecompany, said forms forthe show will soon be onsale and they areexpecting about 5,000applicants but afterscreening, only 32

BY JACOB AJOM contestants willeventually find space forthe competition.

He disclosed that hiscompany was planningwell for the talents thatwill be picked after theexercise. He announceda cash prize of $100,000US Dollars and otherincentives.

Apart from the topprize, “we already haveagreements withEnglish Premier Leagueside, Crystal Palace andCoventry in theNationwide League toenable the talentsdiscovered at the end ofthe programme to furthertheir careers either asmanagers or as players,”Alexander said.

CMYK


62— Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

CMYK


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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

How to Play Sudoku

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.

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

VVVVVanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard,,,,, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Nigeria Vs Uruguay

Eaglets to unleashfireworks on Sweden

Kick-off: 5 p.m. (tomorrow)

Omeruo, Gabriel return forEthiopia, Italy •Keshi lists 25 for big games

Idowu out of Swedenshowdown

SUPER Eagles’Head Coach,

Stephen Keshi, has in-vited 25 players toexecute the two biggames against Ethiopiaand Italy that the Africanchampions will executein Calabar and London

respectively within 48hours mid-November.

First comes the 2014FIFA World Cup finalqualifying match againstthe Walya Antelopes ofEthiopia, at the U. J. Es-uene Stadium, Calabaron Saturday, 16th No-vember, a fixture theEagles lead 2-1 from thefirst leg in Addis Ababaon 13th October.

Two days later, the Af-rican champions take onfour-time World champi-ons Italy at the CravenCottage ground of Eng-lish Premiership club,Fulham FC in a high-


GOLDEN Eagletsand Sweden will

tomorrow battle for aplace in the final of theFIFA U-17 World Cuphere in Dubai, with theNigerian coach ManuGarba warning the Scan-dinavians to prepare forfireworks on the SheiukRashid stadium.

Both sides met in thegroup stage, with theContinues on Page 60

GOLDEN Eagletsm i d f i e l d e r

Akinjide Idowu will misstomorrow’s semi-finalshowdown againstSweden at the Rashid

Stadium in Dubai.Idowu went into

Saturday’s quarter-finalagainst Uruguay with ayellow card to his nameand when he baggedanother in theContinues on Page 60

I miss Isaac — Garba

COACH ManuGarba has

confessed that he wasmissing the on-fieldcontributions of top

…says striker to start from benchstriker Success Isaac,who was injured in thematch against Swedenand has since not


NO WAY...Golden Eagletsd e f e n d e r ,Akinjide Idowufights for the ballagainst FabrizioBusdicazzo ofUruguay duringthe quarter finalmatch in Sharjah,UAE on Saturday.Nigeria won 2-0.Photo/AFP •Omeruo

ACROSS1 Climbed (6)5 Vessel (4)8 Fish (5)9 Lout (3)10 Sphere (4)11 Orient (4)12 Restrict (5)13 Oozed (6)16 Lake (4)18 Damage (4)20 Finish (3)22 Devotee (3)23 Attempt (3)24 Tardy (4)25 Pitcher (4)28 Pattern (6)30 Cheese (5)32 Unfortunately (4)33 Flag (4)34 Wrath (3)35 Inclined (5)36 Expired (4)37 Coin (6)

DOWN1 Purloined (6)2 Rich (8)3 Badge (6)4 Animated (9)5 Dexterity (7)6 Warmth (4)7 Compassion (4)8 Whole (3)14 Guarding (9)15 Snoop (3)17 Uncooked (3)19 Skill (8)20 Consume (3)21 Ousted (7)26 Cause (6)27 Introduce (6)29 Pass (4)30 Storm (4)31 Craft (3)

ACROSS: 3, Atlas 9, Bridge 10, Bucket11, Ensure 12, Ogre 15, Else 17, Teasing20, Lip 21, Tutor 23, Edam 25, Loch 26,Yearn 28, Bad 30, Donated 33, Ilex 35,Nude 36, Topic 38, Turbot 39, Outing 40,Pant.

DOWN: 1, Abbot 12, Tiara 3, Age 4, Tenant5, Abut 6, Sue 7, Skill 8, Steep 13, General14, Essay 16, Sighted 18, Guard 19, Col 22,Rowan 24, Men 27, Notion 28, Birth 29,Decry 31, Tunic 32, Deign 34, Rota 36, Top37, Cut.

CMYK

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Police invade G-7 govs meeting in Abuja