Suicide bombers hitmilitary church in Jaji

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61761

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012**

Mr & Mrs

•Over 50 killed, many injured — Eyewitnesses• Only 11 killed, 30 injured — Army spokesman•Attack, a surprise, embarrassing — Source•Newsmen, NEMA, SEMA denied entry•Gunmen kill Family of three in Kano

Continues on Page 5

Suicide bombers hitmilitary church in Jaji

A BOOK YOU MUST READ

The NigerianDefence Academy—A Pioneer Cadet's Memoir

BY COL. PAUL OSAKPAMWANOGBEBOR (RTD.)

•Pgs.46&47

Crisis inOjukwu'sfamilyescalates

•P 6

•P.10

Presidencywades intounpaid subsidypalavar

SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,NORTH, KINGSLEY

OMONOBI, EMMANOVUAKPORIE &LUKA BINNIYAT

KADUNA – OVER11 persons were

feared dead, yesterdayand several others seri-ously injured when a sui-cide bomber rammed intothe Saint Andrews Prot-estant Church, inside theArmy Cantonment, Jaji,

—P.6

INSTALLATION—From right: Prof. Fidelis Okafor, Vice-Chancellor of Anambra State University; GovernorPeter Obi of Anambra State and HRM Orodje of Okpe, Orhue I at the Orodje's installation as Pro-Chancellor of AnambraState University, Uli, weekend.

AMCON,Capital Oilnegotiationin jeopardy

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 — 3


POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

Suicide bombers hit militarychurch in Jaji

What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’drealized it sooner –Colette

“IT is a curious thing; it appears that happinessis easier to get used to than despair”, says LemonySnicker, an author of many books. Maybe, it is be-cause the second time you had your favourite drink,for instance, your happiness at sipping the deliciousconcoction may not be quite as enormous as whenyou had it the very first time, and the twelfth timeyour happiness may be still less enormous, until itbegins to offer you very little happiness at all.

In this regard, happiness can be rightly, a stateor situation in which opposing forces or factor bal-ance each other out and stability is attained. Thetruth of the matter is that happiness comes fromwithin and is really not affected by outer circum-stances.

Menton sums it aptly: “We cannot be happy if weexpect to live all the time at the highest peak ofintensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity butof balance and order and rhythm and harmony”.

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge thetruth and falsehood in an open market is a nationthat is afraid of its people – John F. Kennedy. ByHis grace and mercy we will build a nation wheretruth and justice shall reign.

in Kaduna.A military spokesman

told the British Broad-casting Corporation,BBC that two vehicleswere driven into the bar-racks in Jaji in what hedescribed as “surprisingand an embarrassment”.

The unprovoked at-tack, according to wit-nesses, took place be-tween 11:30am and mid-day when the first set ofworshippers were aboutto depart after the firstservice.

The attacker, it waslearnt, had aimed at kill-ing most of the worship-pers as they were com-ing out of the church.

Scores of lucky wor-shippers and passersbywere also severelywounded by the force ofthe blast, which shockedmany residents of thecantonment who aremostly middle cadremilitary officers under-going their compulsorycommand and stafftraining programmes.

It was gathered thatmost of the criticallywounded were rushedto the Ahmadu BelloUniversity TeachingHospital, while otherswere taken to a nearbyhospital with life supportfacilities. The bodies ofthe victims were also

taken to nearby mortuar-ies in the city.

A military source con-firmed the blast and thedeath of many personsbut said it was too earlyto give the specific casu-alty figure.

Sources told Van-guard that the vehicleswere driven into the Jajicantonment through thebush, thereby escapingall the military check-points mounted at theentry and exit pointsinto the cantonment.

Military sources dis-closed that the suicidebombers, who died inthe blast, came throughthe Maraban-Jos axis,and thereby escaped be-ing detected at theAbuja-Minna-Kadunaaxis.

The source said: “It istrue that a suicidebomber attempted to en-ter the St. Andrews Prot-estant Church inside theCantonment but he wasstopped from gainingaccess to the main build-ing. But he detonatedhis bomb and killed him-self and some other per-sons.

“The main building ofthe church is not affectedand a few people havedied but we cannot givethe exact number of per-sons who have beenkilled”.

But the Director Army

Public Relations, BrigGen Bola Koleoso whohad earlier denied know-ing the casualty figurelater sent a text messageto say that 11 werekilled, and 30 injured.

Brig Gen Koleoso whoconfirmed the incidentin a text message toVanguard in Kadunasaid: “There were twinsuicide bombings today(Sunday) at the St.Andrew Military Protes-tant Church, Jaji Mili-tary Cantonment at1205hrs and 1215hrs.

“A bus first ran into thechurch and explodedabout five minutes afterservice had commencedwhile a Toyota Camryparked outside thechurch detonated tenminutes later. Figures ofcasualties are not yetclear but the injured arereceiving treatment atmilitary hospitals both inJaji and Kaduna. Inves-tigation into the bomb-ings has commencedand the area already cor-doned off.”

However after inform-ing him that the casualtyfigure was put at 50, heresponded saying: “11dead, 30 injured. Do notbe carried away by emo-tions please. The infor-mation you need havebeen given”.

Newsmen,NEMA, SEMAdenied entry

Officials of the Na-tional Emergency Man-agement Agency(NEMA), Kaduna StateEmergency Manage-ment Agency (SEMA)and the Red Cross toldVanguard on phone thatthe Army refused thementry to offer assistanceto the victims. Newsmenwere also barred fromgetting to the bombedchurch.

But several sources atthe scene of incidentsaid that not less than 50people were killed.

“I personally counted50 dead bodies, about 20were burnt beyond rec-ognition. Some of theinjured have severecases”, said a source,who lives near thechurch.

“I saw a truck load ofbodies arrive 44 ArmyReferral HospitalKaduna. I can’t be sureif they were dead or liv-ing. Soldiers would notallow us take pictures oreven go inside”, said aPhoto Journalist

Another source said:“The first car was said tohave exploded withoutany casualty and manypeople had gathered tosee the wreckage of thecar when the second sui-cide bomber arrived ashe detonated the bomb.Many people werekilled, I am not in a po-sition to say how manypeople are dead, butthey are many, I sawmany dead bodies. Ithink the people thatdied may be in the re-gion of 40 or 50. I can-not say precisely.

“This is sheer wicked-ness of the highest or-der. How can any hu-man being plan this kindof wickedness? We arenow feeling very inse-cure in the barracks.Our security system herehas been very porous.When people come andthey stopped them fromentering, they will calltheir relations and thepeople they know andthey will be allowed in-side. This is a very seri-ous embarrassment tous” another source said.

Apparently angered bythe temerity of thebomber, the military au-thorities there are said tohave immediately sealedoff the area and begun aserious security crack-down within the vicinityof the cantonment witha view to apprehendingthe masterminds of thedastardly act.

“For now, we arestudying the situationvery seriously and wehope to make progressin our search for the cul-prits,” a senior securityofficer, who is familiarwith the Kaduna inci-dent, stated.

It will be recalled thatattacks by suicide bomb-ers on places of worshipin the northern parts ofthe country have becomea recurring decimal,sending shock waves to

Christians in thoseplaces.

Only on October 28,2012, suicide bombersdrove into a Catholicchurch in Kaduna andmurdered seven wor-shippers in the thick oftheir morning mass.

Last month, manyChristians were killed ina church in Bauchi and50 others were injuredin a suicide bomb attackwhich took place duringthe early morning massat the St. Johns CatholicCathedral ChurchBauchi.

Mark condemnsact

Senate PresidentDavid Mark has con-demned the twin bombblasts at St. AndrewMilitary ProtestantChurch, Jaji, KadunaState and urged securityagencies to rise up to thechallenge

In a text message byhis Chief Press Secre-tary, Paul Mumeh,Senator Mark alsopleaded with the perpe-trators of the evil acts togive peace a chance.

According to SenatorMark, what Nigeria wasat the moment goingthrough should be seenas a challenge to all Ni-gerians irrespective oftribe, religion, ethnicgroup or political affili-

ation.The text read: “Again,

Senate President, DavidMark has asked any ag-grieved group or per-sons to accept dialogueinstead of resorting toviolence. He pleads withperpetrators to givepeace a chance.

“We have more to gainby being our brothers’keeper. Security opera-tives should step up tothe challenge".

Tambuwalcondemns bombblast

Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, Hon.Aminu WaziriTambuwal, who con-demned the bomb blasturged the security agen-cies not to despair overthe attack on their facili-ties.

In a statement issuedby his Special Adviseron Media and PublicAffairs, Malam ImamImam, Tambuwal said noreligion condones attackon innocent worship-pers, and urged allthose behind the bomb-ings to stop forthwith.

While grieving withthe families of those wholost loved ones in theunfortunate attack inJaji, Tambuwal prayedfor the quick recovery ofthose injured in thebombings.

Gunmen kill family of three in Kano

BY ABDULSALAMMUHAMMAD

KANO—A CHRISTIAN family of

three was killed by un-known gunmen, yester-day, at Konar Masalaciarea of Naibawa, Kano.

The victims included afather, wife and a child.They were said to bedriving out of theirhouse in a red-colouredGolf car when the gun-men on motorbike sud-

denly appeared and un-leashed volleys of bul-lets on them.

The family of three be-lieved to be from theSouth East , were head-ing to church around8.30am when the inci-dent occurred. Theyoungest member of thefamily, however. sur-vived the attack.

An eyewitness toldVanguard that opera-tives of the Joint Military

Task Force(JTF) cametoo late after the gun-men had escaped in theensuing pandemonium.

The Police spokesmanin Kano, ASP MagajiMusa Majia, while con-firming the incident, re-vealed that the head ofthe family gave up theghost in the hospitalwhere he was rushed formedical attention.

ASP Majia revealedthat investigation hascommenced.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Crisis in Ojukwu’s family escalatesBianca, in-laws in legal tussle over property

As family set to mark first anniversary of Ojukwu's death

BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU — THE silentwar between

Ambassador BiancaOjukwu, widow of the lateIkemba Nnewi, DimC h u k w u e m e k aOdumegwu Ojukwu, andDirectors of OjukwuTransport Limited, OTL,who are brothers of her latespouse, has blown open asboth parties have draggedthemselves before HighCourts of Lagos state todetermine who controls thelanded property belongingto the company.

This came even as thefamily had concluded plansto mark the firstanniversary of Ojukwu’sdeath at Nnewi today. Theformer Biafran warlord diedon November 26, 2011 at aLondon hospital at the ageof 78.

Crisis had been brewingbetween Mrs. Ojukwu andher late husband’s brothersover the control of someproperty which were left bytheir late father, EzeOdumegwu Ojukwu,under his company’sname, OTL, for decades.The late Ikemba Nnewi wasone of the directors of thecompany and apart fromliving in one of the propertyat Ikoyi which he vacatedand relocated to Enuguover 10 years ago, Ojukwuwas also involved inmanaging some of theproperty.

These property whichwere at a time compulsorilyacquired by the FederalGovernment were laterreleased to OTL and the lateDim Ojukwu continued tomanage some of them untilhis demise last year.

The property incontention

The property includethose situated at 58, IbadanStreet, Ebute Metta, Yaba,Lagos; 29, Queens Drive,Ikoyi, Lagos where Ojukwuonce resided, 41Macpherson Avenue, Ikoyi,Lagos, 13 HawksworthRoad, Ikoyi, Lagos, 14Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos,2A and 2B Park Close,Apapa, Lagos, 32ACommercial Avenue, Yaba,Lagos, Nnewi Building, 1/3 Creek Close, Apapa,Lagos, 120 Agege MotorRoad, Mushin, Lagos, 4Aand 4B Park Close, Apapa,Lagos, 196 Igbosere Road,Lagos, 15 Oshodi Street,Lagos and 15/16 ForcesAvenue, Port Harcourt.

After the death ofOjukwu, the OjukwuTransport Limited was leftwith six directors namelyProfessor Joseph Ojukwu,Engr. Emmanuel Ojukwu,Lotanna Putalora Ojukwu,Dr. Patrick Ojukwu, Arc.Edward Ojukwu and Lota

Akajiora Ojukwu while anEstate ManagementConsultant, Mr. MasseyUdegbe of Massey Udegbe& Company was appointedby the directors to managethe property.

Bianca goes to court

However, in a suit numberLD/1539/12 filed at theLagos High Court onOctober 9, 2012, Mrs.Bianca Ojukwu’s two sons,Afemefuna andNwachukwu Ojukwu,claimed that they wereentitled to the possessionof the property known as29, Oyinka Abayomi Streetformerly 29, Queens Drive,Ikoyi, Lagos “until theharmonization of themanagement andadministration of the assetsof the 1st Defendant(OTL).”

They urged the court todeclare that the forcefulejection of the claimantsfrom the said property wasillegal just as they alsoasked the court to declarethat they were entitled tothe possession of theproperty known as 13,Hawksworth Road, Ikoyi,Lagos; 32A, CommercialAvenue, Yaba, Lagos; 30,Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagosand 4, MacphersonAvenue, Ikoyi, Lagos,which they claimed, hadbeen under the possessionof their late father.

Mrs. Ojukwu, who suedon behalf her two sons,further sought an order ofthe court to restrain thedefendants or their agentsfrom interfering with the“Claimants’ possessionand control of 29, OyinkaAbayomi Street (formerlyQueens Drive) Ikoyi,Lagos” as well as theaforementioned fourproperty also situated inLagos.

...OTL, too

But in a twist, the OTLfiled a fresh suit numberLD/1680/2012 onNovember 1, 2012 alsobefore a Lagos High Courtagainst Mrs. Ojukwu,claiming possession of theproperty known as 29,Queens Drive, Ikoyi, Lagoswhich comprised two-storey detached house inaddition to the payment ofN40 million beingexpected rentable value perannum of the saidpremises from September27, 2012, until thedefendant gives uppossession of the property.

In addition, the OTLdemanded the payment ofN100 million as damagesfrom Mrs. Ojukwu as wellas 21 per cent interest onthe accrued sum untiljudgment was given and

five per cent until the entiresum was fully liquidated.

In a 15-paragraphstatement of claim broughtby its counsel, IfeanyiOkumah, OTL claimedownership of the propertyat 29, Queens Drive, Ikoyi,Lagos, explaining that itsagent appointed managingagent had asked Mrs.Ojukwu to handoverphysical possession of theproperty to him but sherefused.

The company said despitedisclaimers published insome national dailieswarning the general publicto deal with the managingagent appointed by it, Mr.Massey Udegbe andsubsequent letters to the

occupiers of the property tovacate and hand over thekeys to the owner (OTL) orits agent, the defendant(Bianca) refused to handover the property, adevelopment that hasdenied the company N40million rent it would havecollected on the saidproperty.

Tenants inconfusion

Following the two legalactions, some tenants of thesaid property were throwninto confusion as to who topay their rents and thisprompted one of theoccupants of 30, GerrardRoad, Ikoyi, Lagos, West

Africa Offshore Limited todrag Mr. EmmanuelOmuojine, the managingagent appointed by the lateOjukwu, Mr. MasseyUdegbe, who wasappointed managing agentby OTL and the company(OTL) itself before theLagos High court.

The company whichclaimed to have paid N40million to Mr. Omuojine onbehalf of OTL as five-yeartenancy in 2007, sought anorder of the court directingthe payment of N24 millionrepresenting two years rentfrom March 16, 2012 toMarch 15, 2014 in respectof the said property and forsame to be lodged into aninterest yielding account inthe name of the Chief

Registrar of the High Courtpending the resolution ofthe disputes between theparties.

By the new development,both Mrs. Ojukwu and thedirectors of OTL, wouldhave to wait for thedetermination of the varioussuits on the contentiousproperty before they couldfurther benefit from them.

Meanwhile, the firstanniversary is expected tobe observed at Ojukwu’sfamily compound at Nnewitoday though the familymembers are atloggerheads over whocontrols the property leftbehind by their late multi-millionaire father, Sir LouisPhilip Odumegwu Ojukwuwho died in 1966.

From left: Former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); former Head of State, Gen.Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) and Vice President Namadi Sambo during the Ahmadu Bello UniversityGolden Jubilee convocation in Zaria, weekend.

AMCON, Capital Oil negotiation in jeopardyCoscharis used my assets for loan collateral—Ubah

BY CLARANWACHUKWU

LAGOS —N E G O T I AT I O N

between the AssetManagement Company ofNigeria, AMCON, and theCapital Oil and GasIndustries Ltd, over thelatter’s indebtedness tobanks is being frustrated bysome powerful interests,who want to use theopportunity to get at themanaging director of the oilmarketing company, IfeanyiUbah.

The development comes,even as it was discoveredthat the Chairman and

CEO of the CoscharisGroup, Mr . CosmasMaduka, used the assets ofUbah as collateral in atripartite mortgage for N20billion with Access BankPlc.

Vanguard gathered,weekend, that AMCON,which was favourablydisposed towardsreopening the Capital Oildepot, after assessing thefacility, weekend, is nowsoft-pedaling on reopeningthe facility, which it sealedon November 16, based ona Federal High Court order.

On its assessment of theCapital Oil facility,

AMCON had observed thatthe facility was more thanenough to offset whateverindebtedness the companywas exposed to.

Ubah confirmsreport

Confirming thedevelopment, ManagingDirector/CEO, Capital Oil,Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, in atelephone conversationwith Vanguard yesterday,said: “We are stillnegotiating with AMCONon the matter, to help usrestructure our loansbecause we still want to runour company.”

He noted that his currentanguish is as a result of thefact that the company hasnot been able to import anyproduct since January thisyear, due to the crisisassociated with the subsidymanagement between theFederal Government andthe oil marketers.

With regard to his face-off with Maduka and AccessBank, Ubah claimed thatMaduka had restructureda N20 billion loan heobtained from Access Bank,using his assets as collateralwithout informing him,

Continues on Page 9

It's normal transaction —Maduka


ALSCON sale: RUSAL ignoresS-Court ruling, dares FG

Says court's verdict can’t stop it from running plant

From left: Chairman, Presidential Committee on Flood Relief, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and GovernorRotimi Amaechi of Rivers State at a flood relief camp in Rivers State when the committee visited there,weekend.

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH

ABUJA — EFFORTby the Federal

Government to complywith the Supreme Courtruling ceding themanagement of theAluminium SmelterCompany of Nigeria,ALSCON, in Ikot Abasi,Akwa Ibom State to itsrightful buyers, BFIGCorporation, has beenrebuffed by RUSAL, theRussian AluminiumCompany, that wassacked by the apex court.

It would be recalledthat the Supreme Courthad on July 6, 2012,voided the sale ofALSCON by the Bureauof Public Enterprises,BPE, to RUSAL on thegrounds that the BFIGCorporation offered ahigher amount of $410million as againstRUSAL’s $250 million forthe purchase of theplant.

The court also orderedBPE to collect the 10 percent initial bid pricewithin 15 days of signinga new Share PurchaseAgreement with BFIGand restrained theagency from discussingor negotiating the sale ofthe plant to any othercompany apart fromBFIG.

In a preliminary moveto ascertain the state ofthe plant with a view tohanding over to BFIG,the BPE informedRUSAL of its intention tocarry out an assessment

of the plant with a viewto obtaining its statusreport.

The National Councilon Privatisation, NCP,had ordered PBE tourgently carry out theassessment and turn inthe status report on thecompany and to submita roadmap for resolvingall the issues relating toALSCON sale in linewith the Supreme Courtruling.

The BPE immediatelyraised a stakeholderscommittee headed byMr. Emmanuel Ijewereto undertake theassessment, which wasslated for November 23,2012. Other members ofthe committee were Engr.Patrick Ikediashi,representing NCPChairman; arepresentatives of theMinistry of Mines,Justice, BPE and theNigeria Police. The BFIGwas to send an observerto join the team to IkotAbasi for the assignment.

BPE also intimated BFIGof the planned inspectionvisit to ALSCON andasked it to send in itsteam, prompting thecompany to move in a 14-man technical team drawnmostly from GeneralElectric of the UnitedStates and some Nigerianexperts in aluminiumtechnology, led by itschairman Dr. Reuben Jajaand Jimmie Williams fromthe US.

RUSAL abortsinspection visit to

ALSCONHowever, when RUSAL

got the BPE letter askingit to prepare for the visit,which was scheduled forlast Wednesday, itquickly moved to rubbishthe trip by querying theFederal Governmentagency on the motive ofthe visit and why amember of BFIG, theNigeria Police should beincluded in the team.

A letter datedNovember 19, 2012 andpersonally signed by theManaging Director ofRUSAL, Mr. Anthony A.Polovov, also politelyinformed PBE that thecompany does not havethe facilities toaccommodate high-ranking governmentaldelegation and wouldtherefore not be able toentertain them.

The company’s letteraddressed to Ms.Bolande Onaguruwa,Director General of BPE,said: “We acknowledgethe receipt of your letterdated November 15,2012, which contains alist of 12 persons who areto visit the ALSCON nextweek.

“To enable us to preparefor the visit, please bekind as to communicateto us beforehand, thefollowing: the purpose ofyour delegation’s visit toALSCON plant, theagenda of the visit, andin particular, the specificitems you will like todiscuss with us, andwhether there arepersons in your

delegations who are notofficials of BPE.

“If any non-BPEpersons will beattending, what are theirnames and what is thepurpose of theirparticipation? Why will arepresentative of theNigeria Police beattending the visit to theplant?

“Please note also that,unfortunately, theALSCON Smelter doesnot have the facilitiesnecessary toaccommodate the high-ranking governmentaldelegation at anappropriate level ofcomfort andconvenience. We,therefore, kindly suggestthat the delegation stayin one of the hotels inUyo, such as LeMeridien.”

Vanguard learnt thatthe NCP and the BPEwere upset with theresponse from RUSALand could not proceedwith the planned visit tothe plant, while theexpatriates flown in byBFIG, were left in a stateof confusion and shock.

It was learnt last nightthat the expatriates werestill in Nigeria hoping tosee an end to theALSCON sale debacle.

S-Court ruling hasnothing to do with us—RUSAL

However, RUSAL hasremained defiant, sayingthat the Supreme Courtruling does not haveanything to do with it or

its stranglehold on theplant, which has led to amassive depletion of theassets of the companyfrom N127 billion in 2004to a paltry N19 billion in2009, according to figuresat the Corporate AffairsCommission, CAC, whichVanguard sighted lastnight.

The financial figures for2010 and 2011 are not yetready and the assets of thecompany could be muchless going by the decliningtrend in recent years.

ALSCON explainscourt's verdict to staff

In a memo released to thestaff of the companyfollowing the SupremeCourt ruling, the managingDirector of ALSCON, wroteto them clarifying themeaning of the court action,saying: “Dear employees ofALSCON, themanagement wishes togive further clarificationswith regards to the rulingof the Supreme Court ofNigeria of July 6, 2012.

“Neither RUSAL nor

ALSCON is a party to thelawsuit. The ruling ofNigeria’s Supreme Courtneither changes nor canchange the ownership ofALSCON.

"ALSCON remains partof RUSAL and RUSAL’splans to develop andtransform the plant into acutting-edge and highlytechnological enterprisesare in progress. RUSAL asa good faith purchaser ofALSCON is ready to protectits ownership even throughlitigation in theInternational ArbitrationCourt in London.

"The situation around ourplant has attracted attentionat the highestgovernmental level. TheMinistry of Foreign Affairshas approached theNigerian Government witha request to undertakeactions to prevent apotential damage to theexisting fruitful andmutually advantageousrelations between Russiaand Nigeria, which mightbe caused by the currentsituation.”

‘Why FG cancelledagreement withLufthansa’

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN

LAGOS — REASONSemerged, weekend,

why the FederalGovernment cancelled itsagreement with theGerman airline, Lufthansa,under which the airlineenjoyed free royaltypayments for flights into thecountry.

Sources in the Ministry ofAviation disclosed that theMinister of Aviation,Princess Stella Oduah,instigated the cancellationof the four-year agreementupon revelations that theGerman airline failed tofulfill its side of theagreement signed inNovember 2008.

Oduah, it was learnt,moved to cancel theagreement following theadvice from the AttorneyGeneral of the Federationthat the country hadsufficient reasons to cancelthe agreement upon theconfirmation that the airlinehad not fulfilled its pledges.

Under the terms of theMemorandum ofUnderstanding betweenthe government andDeutsche LufthansaAktiengesellschaft (LH)Germany, the Germanairline was expected toprovide technicalassistance to the countrybesides creating a hub inAbuja in partnership withother international airlines.

The German airline was onits part expected to benefitthrough additional trafficrights on concessionarybasis.

Though the airline got itsadditional flight rights intothe country it, however, wasunable to actualise its ownpart of the agreement.

Remarkably, the SenateCommittee on Aviation hadrecently ordered theMinistry of Aviation torecover N2.198bn ($14.8million) from Lufthansabeing amount not paid bythe airline since 2009 whenthe agreement came intobeing.

What finally moved theMinistry of Aviation toterminate the agreement, itwas learnt, was a memofrom the Nigerian CivilAviation Authority to theminister which detailed thefailures of Lufthansa.

The memo read in part:“Having carefully analysedthe submission, it was clearthat Lufthansa appeared tobe the only beneficiary ofthe MoU as theimplementation of theagreement which wasplanned in phases was yetto progress beyond thetraffic rights granted toLufthansa to operate dailyflights from Frankfurt toAbuja.There is no evidenceto show any seriouscommitment on the part ofLufthansa airlines to therealization of theagreement.”


2 suspected air passengers arrestedwith US$2,073,160 at Lagos

BY DANIEL ETEGHE

LAGOS— TheAirport Committee

Special Task Force at theMurtala MuhammedInternational Airport,MMIA, Lagos at the

weekend arrested twosuspected passengerswith three bags of moneycontaining $2,073,160and 20,300 SaudiArabian Riyal (SAR) atthe “E” wing departurearea of the airport.

The suspects who wereidentified as Mr. TalalHammoud with passportnumber A03599105 andMr. Hassan Rmaiti, aFederal AirportsAuthority of Nigeria,FAAN worker with duty

card number 25009 andthe three bags of money,were handed over to theNigeria CustomsService, NCS, by theAirport CommitteeSpecial Task Force fornot declaring thecurrencies to officers onduty at the airport.

Speaking on the arrest,the Nigeria CustomsService Area Controllerat the MurtalaM u h a m m e dInternational AirportCommand Lagos, Mr.Eporwei Edike Charlessaid, the suspects andthe three bags of moneyhave been handed overto the Economic andFinancial CrimesCommission, EFCC, forfurther investigation andnecessary action againstthe suspects.

According to Charles,the suspects violatedregulations ofgovernment byattempting to smugglesuch amount of moneyout of the country withoutdeclaring the currenciesto Nigeria Custom’scurrency desk officers onduty.

He, however,explained that theAirport CommitteeSpecial Task Forceoperating at the airport,comprises of all securityagencies including, theEFCC, the State SecurityService, SSS; theNational Drug LawEnforcement Agency,NDLEA; the NigeriaImmigration Services,NIS, and other securityagencies working at theairport.

Ogun police recover N6m stolen from ATM,arrest 5

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A B E O K U T A —Ogun State

Police Command said ithad arrested fivesuspects and recovereda sum of N6 million froma gang of armed robbersthat attacked a newgeneration bank in

Sagamu town of OgunState.

The police PublicRelations Officer in thestate, Muyiwa Adejobi ina statement yesterday inAbeokuta, said thesuspects were arrestedfor their allegedconspiracy in theincident.

Vanguard gathered

that, the dare-devilrobbers stormed thebank at about 2.30a.m.on Sunday andallegedly broke theAutomated TellerMachines before theinformation got to thepolicemen around thearea who then chasedthem away.

It was further gatheredthat the gang acted on a

tip-off few hours after themachines were re-loaded with millions ofnaira.

Adejobi disclosed thatpolicemen on patrolraced to the scene inArmoured PersonnelCarrier, APC, whichmade the robbers to fleethrough the junglebehind the bank and leftthe N6million loot.

Rep proffers solution to corruption, insecurityBY OLASUNKANMI

AKONI

LAGOS —A member,House ofRepresentatives, OtunbaMichael Ogunnusi,

representing Ifako-Ijaiye, FederalConstituency, hasdecried the prevalenceof terrorism andcorruption in the country.

He said: There is anurgent need tostrengthen anti graft andsecurity agencies totackle the problems."

Ogunnusi who stated

this at the weekend inLagos during a grandreception in his honourorganised by OmoleEstate LandlordsAssociation, lamentedthat innocent peoplewere being slaughteredin the country dailybecause the right stephad not been taken toprotect the people.

He posited that one ofthe ways to really exposethose perpetrating theact of terror in differentparts of the country is toembrace community andstate policing systems,even as he advocated forimmediate change ofname from Nigeria PoliceForce to Nigeria PoliceService.

Ogunnusi said thatestablishing effectiveinstitutionalized stateand community policing,would drastically reducethe problem ofunemployment in thecountry.

According to him,“Most of those youthsfronting for Boko Haram,can be employed ascommunity policeofficers.

"Nobody will beavailable on the streetsagain to be wrongfullyemployed to causehavoc, so we could havesolved the problem ofunemployment andadditionally, we couldhave solved the problemof insecurity."

LLPP commends Lagos LG Tribunal decisions

Police arrest man forpouring acid on fiancée

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

LAGOS — A middle-aged man David

Suleiman has beenarrested by the police inLagos State for allegedlypouring acid on hisfiancée, Chika Egbo anda yet to be identifiedOkada rider at Ikotunarea of Lagos State.

Suleiman who iscurrently being detainedat the State CriminalI n v e s t i g a t i o nDepartment, Panti,Yaba,Lagos, was said to haveattacked his girl friend, a300 level student atEnugu State College ofEducation, with acid forrefusing him access totheir only child.

Police sources at thestate SCID, intimatedVanguard that troublebegan for the couplewhen Egbo becamepregnant for Suleiman,and he abandoned herclaiming that hetravelled out of thecountry, and leaving herwith the burden offending for herself andthe baby.

But few months aftergiving birth, he cameback requesting to seethe baby and he wasrefused..

A source, who cravedanonymity, said hetricked the 25-year-oldstudents who resides inEnugu State to LagosState and he took her toan hidden spot in Ikotunwhere he poured theacid on her.

“An Okada rider whowitnessed as the incidentunfold went afterSuleiman, but while hechased him, Suleimanemptied the can of acidon the Okada rider, whoheld him stronglywaiting for the help.

Other Okada riderswho drove by saw whatwas happening and thecame to his rescue andthey took Suleiman toIkotun police stationwhile the Okada riderand Egbo were rushed to

From left: Prof. Henry Cohen, World Gastro-enterology President; Dr. Thomas U Agan, Chief MedicalDirector, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital; Mr. Efiok Cobham, Cross River State DeputyGovernor and Prof. Hussein Abdel-Hamid, President of the Africa-Middle East Association of Gastro-enterology Association (AMAGE) Congress, at the opening of AMAGE congress in Calabar yesterday.

a hospital.”Meanwhile, Egbo,

who is laying critically illat the emergency unitof the Lagos StateTeaching Hospital,LASUTH, had her face,chest and some otherparts of body destroyedby the acid bath.

LAGOS— LagosLeague of Political

Parties, LLPP, yesterdayhailed some of thedecisions taken by theLagos State LocalGovernment ElectionPetitions Tribunal.

The tribunal led byJustice Ade Owobiyi onFriday declared the PDPcandidate as the validlyelected Chairman ofAgbado Oke Odo Local

Council DevelopmentArea.

The tribunal alsoordered a re-runelection in Yaba LocalCouncil DevelopmentArea.

In a statement signedby LLPP’s Lagos StateChairman, Mr. UdokaUdeogaranya, theLeague said that thetribunal was living up toexpectation.

He said that tribunal’scourage was what wasneeded to give the 2011Lagos State council pollsits expected credibility.

“It is a quintessentialverdict to order theLagos State IndependentElectoral Commission(LASIEC) to immediatelyissue a Certificate ofReturn to the PDPcandidate.

“It is, however, our

view that this meritedorder to conducted a re-run in Yaba LCDA mustnot be delayed byLASIEC,“ the statementread.

The League said:“LLPP counsels that thejudiciary has anexpedient role to play increating a harmoniouspolitical environmentthat often eludes Africansocieties after elections."


AMB. S. O. Ogundele is dead; he

passed away on Novem-ber 21, 2012 at the age of72.

Ogundele, who retiredin 2001 as director-gen-eral in the Ministry ofForeign Affairs, was bornon February 14, 1940.

After graduating fromthe Ahmadu Bello Uni-versity, Zaria, in 1965, he

S. O. Ogundele is dead

Late Amb. Ogundele

S-West PDP accuses Fayemi ofprofligacy

ADO-EKITI —TheS o u t h - W e s t

Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, has accusedthe Ekiti State Governor,Dr. Kayode Fayemi ofspending over N250million belonging to thestate on legal fees,protests and mediacampaign on thepending Supreme Courtcase challenging theAppeal Court judgmentthat made him governor.

The party, which

backed up its claim withdocuments with whichthe governor approvedN133 million on a flimsyagric project, saidEconomic and FinancialCrimes Commission,EFCC, should beam itssearchlights on the state.

PDP Zonal PublicitySecretary, Hon. KayodeBabade, who made theallegation in a releaseissued yesterday,disclosed that GovernorFayemi approved the

N133 million requestedthrough theCommissioner forAgriculture and NaturalResources, BabajideArowosafe on October 5,2012, the same day therequest was made.

“We are aware thatN250 million wasbudgeted for theSupreme Court case. Thefund is to be spent onlegal fees, organisingprotests and rallies aswell as media campaign.

“Already, we have evi-dence of how N133 mil-lion out of the N250 mil-lion was sourced from theState Treasury and wechallenge Fayemi andhis men to deny that theN133 million was actual-ly meant for the purport-ed agricultural projectfor which it was ap-proved.

“In a letter from theMinistry of Agricultureand Natural Resourcesdated October 12, 2012,the Ministry’s PermanentSecretary said the N133million should besourced from Head 460-01 Sub-head 30 of the2012 Revised Budgetwith a provision of N800million. The letter wassigned by one AnjorinA.J on behalf of thePermanent Secretary.

“We therefore wish toalert Ekiti people and theanti-corruption agenciesto this brazen looting ofEkiti State treasury toprosecute a case that ispersonal to GovernorFayemi and his party, theAction Congress ofNigeria (ACN),” Babadesaid.

Ogun ACN, PDP trade words overbudget performance

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — TheAction Congress of

Nigeria and the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, inOgun State havedisagreed over the 51 percent 2012 budgetperformance.

The PDP fired first salvothrough the minorityleader of the state Houseof Assembly, Job Akintanwho condemned thestate’s 2012 budget per-

formance of 51 per cent.Akintan had described

it as too unacceptablylow in the light ofalleged N42billionproposed loan of thegovernment in the year’sbudget.

Reacting to thecondemnation, the ACNin a statement signed byits publicity secretary inthe state, Mr. Sola Law-al, said PDP was dis-playing ignorance onbudgeting.

Mimiko apologises for visitingLadoja’s family late

BY OLA AJAYI & DAYOJOHNSON

IBADAN — ONDOState Governor, Dr.

Olusegun Mimiko, week-end, apologised for pay-ing condolence visit to thefamily of the former Gov-ernor of Oyo State, lateLamidi Adesina twoweeks after the politi-cian’s death.

Mimiko, who was ac-companied by his Oyostate counterpart, SenatorAbiola Ajimobi, describedAdesina as an irrepress-ible democrat who consis-

He pointed out that theGovernor IbikunleA m o s u n - l e dadministration actuallyproposed to borrow55billion naira in twoparts of N42billioninternal loans andN13billion external loan.

According to the party,Amosun’s administrationended up obtaining onlyN23billion loan out ofwhich it promptly paidback N4billion leaving abalance of N19billion.

joined the then Ministryof External Affairs andserved for 35 years atvarious Nigerian diplo-matic posts and in Ni-geria.

Ogundele, the onetime Nigerian ambassa-dor to Mozambique, adevout Christian, wasrecently conferred withthe Otun-Ijo of St. MarksAnglican Cathedral,Offa, Kwara State.

He is survived by chil-dren, grandchildren,brother and sisters. Burial arrangements willbe announced later bythe family.

L-R: Hon. Ademola Seriki, former Minister of Interior; Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Lagos State AssemblySpeaker and Senator 'Gbenga B. Ashafa, at the 8th day Fidau prayer for Hon. Toyin Hamzat, at Ayepe,Ogun State yesterday.

First Bank Holdings Plc lists32.6bn shares on NSE

BY BABAJIDE KOMO-LAFE

FBN HOLDING plc,the holding

company of First BankNigeria Limited willtoday lists its 32.6 billionshares on the NigeriaStock Exchange (NSE)This follows the de-listing of the shares ofFirst Bank from theExchange on Friday.

Chief Executive Officer,FBN Holdings Plc, AlhajiBello Macido announcedthis development via anemail message tocustomers of the bank.

He said: “In keepingwith our commitment toconsistently create valueand enhance customerexperience, I am pleasedto announce the de-listing of First Bank ofNigeria Plc on November23, 2012 and thesubsequent listing ofFBN Holdings Plc (FBN

Holdings) on November26 in its place.

The Bank adopted theholding company struc-ture in line with theCentral Bank of Nigeriaregulation requiring theseparation of commercialbanking business fromother financial servicesbusinesses.

An Extra-ordinarygeneral meeting of First-Bank held on 24 Sep-tember 2012 and ratifiedthe process after relevantapprovals were obtainedfrom the regulatory au-thorities.

Consequently, therehave been an alignmentand clustering of similaroverlapping businessesunder four broadbusiness groups,namely:commercial banking,investment banking &Asset management,insurance and otherfinancial services.

tently spoke out hismind on issues withoutminding whose horsewas gored.

Adesina, according tohim, was a man with anopen heart who neverdiscriminated againstanybody on any account.

He recalled that thelate Adesina alwaysspoke out against what-ever he perceived wasan injustice during themeeting of the Afenifere/Alliance of the Democra-cy in the Ijebu Igbo res-idence of the late ChiefAbraham Adesanya.

which he said was allpart of the grand plan toruin his operations.

He said: “Coscharis ismaking money using mysecurity. He restructuredthe loan he took fromAccess Bank withoutrecourse to Capital Oil,and the bank is chargingme illegal interests.”

Maduka reacts

Clarifying on the loan,Maduka, who also spokewith Vanguard ontelephone yesterday,admitted he took the loanfrom Access Bank, but onbehalf of Capital Oil.

When it was noted thatthe Access Bankdocument, exclusivelyobtained by Vanguard,on the transaction

indicated CoscharisMotors Limited as “TheBorrower,” said heborrowed the money onbehalf of Capital Oil forpetroleum productimportation.

He said: “I asked himto guarantee the loanwhich I took on hisbehalf, and I made himto sign the guarantor’sform because the LC(Letter of Credit) was

opened on behalf ofCapital Oil.”

Asked if this was anormal transaction ofaccessing loans from thebanks, Maduka said:“Yes, it is normal,”adding that this was whyUbah was made to signan offshore agreement inLondon to forfeit theassets if he reneged onthe payment of the loan.

Intimidation frustrates AMCON, Capital Oil negotiation



BY EMMA AMAIZE

Officials allegedly loot flood reliefmaterials in Delta

Man kills self over N.8m indebtednessin C-River

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU

CALABAR—IT wasa tragic end for Mr.

Gabriel Agochi of Ndok,Ishibori, in Ogoja LocalGovernment Area ofCross River State whoallegedly killed himselfover his inability to re-pay an N800,000 loan hecollected from a localthrift association.

Agochi, who was saidto be in his mid 40s anda transport operator re-siding at Agiga in Ogo-ja Local GovernmentArea until his death, hada transport company withthree Golf cars in itsfleet.

It was gathered that ina bid to make brisk mon-ey during the embermonths, he allegedly ap-proached the local thriftassociation, Agiga Usu-su Association, to collecta loan to enable him buyan additional golf car tobeef up his fleet.

A member of the asso-ciation and close fried ofthe deceased who gavehis name as Mike, saidGabriel “had one Golfcar with which he wasoperating his businessbut early this year hecame to us and got thesum of N600,000 (six

hundred thousandnaira) to add with hisown money and boughta golf car.”

He said instead of re-paying the N600,000loan he collected fromthe thrift association, hewent ahead to buy anoth-er car in September to

add to his fleet of cars inreadiness for the Decem-ber rush.

It was gathered that asa result of the rains thatdevastated Ogoja –Cal-abar highway, there waslow returns from the carswhich made it impossi-ble to keep to the termsof paying back the loanas agreed.

W A R R I — S C A NDAL is trailing al-

leged embezzlement andsharing of foodstuff be-longing to flood victims inWarri by some unscrupu-lous government officialsand leaders of Ayakoromocommunity in Burutu Lo-cal Government Area ofDelta State.

The state governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan,had, last month, removeda staff of the Bureau forSpecial Duties, Asaba,

from the disbanded IllahCamp for flood victims forallegedly siphoningfunds and ordered him torefund the money imme-diately.

He said it was callousfor anybody to rip-off in-ternally displaced per-sons, IDPs, in their pre-dicament and warned thatgovernment would dealdecisively with any officialinvolved in such embar-rassing act.

However, officials of theState Emergency ReliefAgency, SEMA, appear

not to have learnt any les-son, as they allegedlyembarked on the sameembarrassing act lastWednesday in collusionwith a few leaders of Aya-koromo.

Vanguard gathered thatwhile the flood camp atthe Swamp Road resi-dence of Ijaw nationalleader, Chief EdwinClark, was winding uplast Wednesday, membersof the community floodmanagement team drovein with several cars to cartaway the remaining reliefmaterials.

They ignored the pro-test of the appointed lead-er of the flood victims,Brakala Ebikeniye, whopleaded that governmentshould convey the reliefmaterials for the victims toAyakoromo where it wasobvious they were goingto face starvation on re-turn.

It was also learnt that theswindlers shortchangedgovernment in the pay-ment of “token pocketmoney” of N5,000 andN3,000 to each adult andchild affected by the flood,as they reportedly inflat-ed the list submitted togovernment.

Edo Guber Tribunal pandemonium: I'm alive—ACN member

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

DONATION: Prince Igho Majemite, Secretary, Urhobo Leadership Forum, Abuja, representing Dr.Ramsey Mowoe, President of the Forum, (2nd right); Bishop James Ighokpebi (2nd left); Mrs. EdnaObanyedo, Oleh Camp Commandant (left), and Mrs. Betty A. Mukoro, during the donation of reliefitems by Urhobo Leadership Forum, Abuja, to internally displaced persons at Oleh and Otor-Udu, inDelta State.

B E N I N — T H R E Edays after he was

reported dead, Edo StateAction Congress of Niger-ia, ACN, member, Minis-ter Idaro, weekend, de-bunked the rumours, ac-cusing those behind hisalleged death as mischiefmakers.

He threatened to takelegal action against Peo-ples Democratic Party’s

candidate in the last gov-ernorship election, GenCharles Airhiavbere, forthe development.

It would be recalled thatthe Charles AirhiavbereCampaign Organization,CACO, in a statement byOsaze Jesurobo, identi-fied Idaro as the man thatslumped at Thursday's sit-ting of the Edo State Gov-ernorship Election PetitionTribunal Benin, allegingfurther that he was a na-tive doctor brought to thecourt by the Deputy Gov-

ernor of Edo State, Dr.Pius Odubu, to engage insome diabolic acts in thecourt.

Idaro, who spoke fromhis village in Urhomehein Orhiomnwon LocalGovernment Council ofEdo State, said he wasnowhere near the Tribu-nal on Thursday nor hadhe been to the Tribunalbefore, let alone beingsponsored to go and per-form voodoo there by theDeputy Governor, DrPius Odubu.

Presidency wades intounpaid subsidy palaver

BY YEMIE ADEOYE

Pay within one week or...— Marketers

Legitimate claims' paymentongoing — Okonjo-Iweala

32 days' fuel product available— NNPC

THERE are indica-tions that the Presi-

dency may have decidedto wade into the contro-versy surrounding thePetroleum SubsidyFund, PSF, overseen bythe Ministry of Financein the wake of allega-tions of massive fraudwhich bedeviled thescheme.

The move is informedby the possibility of pe-troleum products scar-city of immense magni-tude in the Yuletide, ifmonies owed NigerianNational Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, andprivate oil marketers arenot paid.

NNPC, at the moment,has almost become thesole importer of prod-ucts, against previousarrangements where pri-vate marketers were re-sponsible for 90 percentof products distributionnationwide.

Jonathan's dilemmaVanguard reliably

gathered that the Presi-dent was caught betweenensuring that due proc-ess was followed, nomatter how long it took,and seeing Nigerianssuffer scarcity during theholidays or civil unrestas queues resurfaced infuel stations across ma-jor cities in the country.

A presidency source,who spoke to Vanguardon condition of anonym-ity, explained that Presi-dent Jonathan was alsoin support of a hard-linestance against market-ers, who might have de-frauded the system un-der the PSF scheme.

The source said theMinistry of Financemight be directedanytime soon to ensurea speedy payment proc-ess to all marketers, whostill have legitimate sub-sidy claims and have notbeen indicted by the AigImokhuede Committee.

According to thesource, “the seemingface-off between twoministries over unpaidclaims is unnecessary asthey are all working forthe interest of the gov-ernment.

“I think in the end whattakes precedence to Mr.President is the comfortof all Nigerians, espe-cially at this Yuletideperiod and going for-ward.”

Marketers speakWhen contacted, Secre-

tary-General of the Ma-jor Oil Marketers Asso-ciation of Nigeria,MOMAN, Mr. ObafemiOlawore, said: “If theMinistry of Finance waswaiting for theImoukhuede Committeereport and it has beensubmitted, then thosenot indicted should bepaid immediately, andNNPC should also makeit clear that they alonecannot service the entirecountry.

“If they pay NNPC andthe remaining marketersare not paid, there wouldstill be queues so thePresidency should sim-ply ensure that the fi-nance ministry pays eve-ryone that has a legiti-mate claim to make.

“There have been noimportation due to thehuge debts owed oil mar-keters and the NNPChad been saddled withthe task of over 85 per-cent of total importation,while 15 percent goes tomarketers.

“It is, however, impor-tant to note that therehas been instanceswhere marketers havebeen responsible for 60percent of importedproducts and the NNPChad 40 percent and nowit is 85 to 15 percent.”

Mr. Olawore statedfurther that it was im-portant for the debt ofabout N120 to N140 bil-lion to be paid thisweek if the governmentwas serious about en-suring a scarcity-freeyuletide for all Nigeri-ans.

According to him, itwon’t take less than twoweeks to land a vesselin the country, hence ifpayments were made tomarketers this week,they could make theirorder and products willbe arriving the countryfrom the second week ofDecember when the holi

Continues on Page 50


Amnesty: I was almost charged withcoup plotting —Alaibe

BY LEKE ADESERI &CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

Dangote lauds Amaechi onflood c'ttee

Alleged crude oil theft: Shelldenies report of staff's arrest

BUT for the Non-violence training he

got from Amnesty Facili-tator, Mr. Allen Onyema,former Chairman of NigerDelta Development Com-mission, NDDC, and Spe-cial Adviser to the Presi-dent on Niger Delta Af-fairs, Mr. Timi Alaibe,said, weekend, that hewould have been chargedfor coup plotting againstthe Federal Governmentwhen the amnesty pro-gramme started.

Recalling how, throughnon-violence education,they got militants to laydown their arms at thepeak of the militancy inthe Niger Delta, whichreduced oil production to30 per cent and almostcastrated the economy ofthe country, Alaibe saidtop people in the govern-ment believed that themilitants were beingtrained to overthrow thegovernment. And so hewas accused of plotting acoup and was summonedbefore the President andtop security officers to de-fend himself.

He spoke, weekend, inLagos at the confermentof the Pan-Nigerian Na-tionalist award on AllenOnyema, a lawyer andchairman of the Founda-tion for Ethnic Harmonyin Nigeria, FEHN, by theEminent Friends GroupInternational, EFGI.

At the colourful eventattended by Mr. KingsleyKuku, current special ad-viser to the president on

Niger Delta Affairs; DrBernard Lafayette (jnr);General Bob Adoba,former Chief of Army Lo-gistics; Annkio Briggs,Ezeigbo Lagos, Eze Hy-cinth Ohazulike, and ahost of former militants,Alaibe said he was sum-moned after the trainingof the first batch of 600 ex-militants started.

Conflict manage-ment

He said: “At some pointI was a banker and hadnothing to do with conflictmanagement. The injus-tice in the Niger Deltathrew me into it. The peo-ple were fighting for jus-

tice. That was how I metOnyema. In 2007, I wassaddled with the respon-sibility of interfacing be-tween the governmentand militants on the am-nesty programme. Get-ting someone wielding anAK-47 to listen to you wasnot an easy job but Godwas on my side. So, 600youths from variouscamps were in the firstinstallment of those to betrained.

Summoned to Pres-idency

"Allen Onyema utilisedthe power of love to re-solve conflict. I was ac-cused of training the mili-

tants to overthrow the gov-ernment. I was sum-moned by the presidentand before top securityofficers to defend myself.I took them on a 10-minute lecture on non-vi-olence as an approach toresolve the conflict andthey saw reasons withme.”

Speaking on how he gotthe militants to embracenon-violence, Onyema,who before the Amnestyprogramme had trainedand transformed about3000 Niger Delta youthsthrough the FEHN, saidinitially the governmentand the militants did notbelieve that the approachwould work.

The amnesty facilitatornoted that leaders alsoneeded training on non-violence.

THE PresidentialCommittee on

Flood Relief and Reha-bilitation has commend-ed Rivers State Gover-nor, Mr. Chibuike Amae-chi, for setting-up a floodcommittee in his state toreach out to all affectedareas.

Chairman of the Com-mittee, Alhaji Aliko Dan-gote, spoke, weekend,during a courtesy visit onGovernor Amaechi at theV.I.P lounge of Port Har-court International Air-port, Omagwa.

He said: “The Commit-tee, through its efforts,has saved lives and en-sured distribution of nec-essary materials to thedisplaced persons in thevarious camps. We alsohave plans to procureseedlings to enable the

farmers among the dis-placed people have anew start in the comingplanting season.

“I want to also thankyou (Amaechi) for yourassistance at the fund-raising dinner in Abujaon November 8, 2012,where state governorsjoined you to raise aboutN1.8 billion supportfund for the flood victimsand the funds have beenused to procure reliefmaterials to the variousstates, including RiversState. The Committee isvery impressed with thedevelopment.”

Responding, GovernorAmaechi thanked thecommittee for it’s contri-butions so far in the stateand talked of plans byhis administration to re-turn the flood victims totheir homes.

AWARD: From left,Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters,Mr. Kingsley Kuku; wife of the awardee, Alice Onyema; the awardee, Mr.Allen Onyema, and Dr. Bernard Lafayette jnr., at the conferment of Pan-Nigerian Nationalist award on Mr. Onyema by Eminent Friends GroupInternational, in Lagos. Photos: Lamidi Bamidele.

From left: Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, Mr.Kingsley Kuku; Chairman of the occassion, Timi Alaibe; the awardee, Mr.Allen Onyema, and his wife Alice, on the occasion.

SHELL PetroleumDevelopment Com-

pany, SPDC, has deniedreports that two of its staffwere arrested by govern-ment security forces for al-leged involvement incrude oil theft.

A statement issued yes-terday by Tony Okonedo,Manager, Media andCommunication Shell Ni-geria Exploration andProduction Company Lim-ited, Lagos, said the com-pany was equally con-cerned about allegationscredited to governmentsecurity agencies that SP-DC’s failure to repairidentified bunkeringpoints was frustratingtheir bid to combat oiltheft.

The statement said:“Without prejudice to theongoing investigation,

we can confirm that thearrested persons are notemployees of SPDC.There are indications fromthe investigation that thearrested persons are em-ployees of one of the sev-eral community-basedcontractors who under-take pipeline surveillancework on SPDC’s behalfin the Niger Delta.

"There are about 600 ofsuch contracts which em-ploy more than 9,000 com-munity persons, andserve as an early warningmechanism during pipe-line incidents.”

“The allegation ofSPDC’s failure to repairidentified bunkeringpoints fails to recognisethe complexities faced byoperators in the NigerDelta today."

BY HENRY UMORU

PDP: Gos move to frustrate Tukur’sreconciliation plan

ABUJA—STRONGindications have

emerged that the recon-ciliation move of the Na-tional Chairman of Peo-ples Democratic Party,PDP, Alhaji BamangaTukur, may not achieveany purpose as gover-nors elected on the plat-form of the party haveconcluded plans to frus-trate it.

It was gathered thatPDP governors in Pla-teau, Kano, Abia, Kadu-na, Enugu, Taraba andleaders of the party inEkiti State are not com-fortable with Tukur ’smove and are not pre-pared to key into theagenda of allowing some

members who left theparty to return.

Meanwhile, a memberof the National WorkingCommittee, NWC, hassaid that if the reconcili-ation process mustachieve its set target,President GoodluckJonathan must, as a mat-ter of urgency, interveneby calling the PDP gov-ernors to order.

‘’The national reconcil-iation within the partywill be dead on arrivalbecause of the over-bear-ing influence of our gov-ernors who don’t wantthe political spaceopened in their states,”the NWC member said.

It will be recalled thatsoon after the Tukur-ledNWC came on board he

had cried out that theparty was losing mem-bers to opposition politi-cal parties and he insist-ed that he would pursuevigorously his Three Ragenda of Reconcilia-tion, Reformation andRebirth.

He also said when heinaugurated the four-time minister, AlaboTonye Graham-Douglas-led reconciliation com-mittee for Kano State,that "our party is losingmembership. When westarted in 1998, up tilldate, we have seen manypeople go. We can’t al-low it to continue likethat. These people arestill there, they are mem-bers of our party; theyare still there, it meansthat they like the party.”


Ex-Azikiwe varsity V-C abducted

Bomadi LG boss seeks royalsupport

BY KENNETH EHIGIA-TOR

Aviation: AIB, Canadian firm signpact to build FDR/CVR labolatory

LAGOS—ACCIDENTInvestigation Bureau,

AIB, of the Aviation Min-istry has signed a con-tract with a Canadianfirm to set up FDR/CVRlaboratory for purposes ofanalysing recorded tapesof crashed planes.

At present, the FlightData Recorder, FDR, andCockpit Voice Recorded,CVR (Black Boxes), ofcrashed aircraft weretaken overseas for inter-pretation, to facilitate in-vestigation and report ofprobable cause of air ac-cidents.

Besides, air accident

W A R R I — T H EChairman, Care-

taker Committee ofBomadi LocalGorvernment Area, Mr.Collins Olorogun, hassolicited the support ofthe Pere of AkugbeneMein Kingdom, HisRoyal Majesty, PereKalanama the VIII, tomaintain the existingpeace in the area.

Olorogun, who paid acourtesy call on the royalfather, said he was at thepalace of his royal maj-esty to receive royalblessings and identifywith the traditional insti-tution to run an inclusive

reports in the countrytake years to release tothe public because of thelonger time it takes todecode contents of blackboxes outside Nigeria.

Spokesman of theagency, Mr. TunjiOketunbi, who disclosedthis last weekend, saidthe Canadian firm, CAE/Flight Scape would dothe installation of thelaboratory in Lagos.

According to him, in-stallation of the labora-tory will not only stoppatronage of a similarfacility abroad but alsofacilitate prompt accidentinvestigation.

“The Bureau has alsosigned a contract for in-

stallation of FDR/CVRlaboratory with CAE/Flight Scape of Canadawhich will enable theBureau to download bothflight recorders promptlyduring accident investi-gation. Hitherto, theseunits were taken over-seas for downloading."

ENUGU—IMMEDIATE past Vice Chan-

cellor of Nnamdi AzikiweUniversity, Awka, Prof.Ilochi Okafor, SAN, hasbeen kidnapped.

Okafor was abducted atabout 8am yesterday inhis residence at PioneerStreet, Independencelayout, Enugu, while hewas preparing for themorning service.

Reports say the abduc-

tors, numbering aboutsix, stormed the resi-dence armed with riflesand ordered the Profes-sor of law into a waitingvan.

Not much informationwas given by the family

BY TONY EDIKE butEnugu tate policecommand swung into ac-tion immediately theygot report of his abduc-tion.

He is whereabouts re-mained unknown atpress time yesterday ashis abductors were yet toestablish contact with hisfamily or relations.

The State policespokesman, Mr. EbereAmaraizu, said whencontacted that the anti-robbery squad was ontop of the situation.

He said the squad im-mediately intensifiedtheir trail and “very soonthey would make abreakthrough and rescuethe former vice chancel-lor.”

Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia State (left) with Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Mr. Ude OkoChukwu (middle), during an inspection tour of the new office complex of the state house of assembly inUmuahia.

CBN grants FirstRand,First Discount merchantbanking licenceBY BY PETER EGWUATU

& MICHAEL EBOH

I J E B O D E — C E NTRAL Bank of Nigeria,

CBN, has granted mer-chant banking license toSouth African FirstRandand First Discount HouseLimited, saying the na-tion’s external reserveshas risen further to $46billion.

Director of CorporateAffairs of CBN, Mr. UgoOkoroafor, revealed this,weekend, at the annualconference of FinanceCorrespondents Associa-tion of Nigeria, FICAN,in Ijebu Ode, OgunState.

He explained that thelicencing is in line withCBN’s new bankingmodel, saying, “thebanks have met the mini-mum capital base for mer-chant banking which isN15 billion. He saidFirstRand is partneringwith a local firm andwould commence opera-tion early next year witha capital base of N16 bil-lion while FSDH willcease operations as a dis-count house, and nowfunction as merchantbank.”

He also indicated thatseveral other institutionshave applied for mer-chant bank licence andthe apex bank would liketo see more regional

banks and communitybanks that will take careof the interest of smalland medium businesses.

He said: “Foreign in-vestors have a renewedconfidence in Nigeriahence the investment byFirstRand. We need thegrowth in Foreign DirectInvestment, FDI, ratherthan foreign portfolio in-vestment. We need peo-ple to come and investphysically so that thiscountry can grow andcreate employment.

“We need to continu-ously grow our excesscrude account reservessince Nigeria is depend-ing on oil as the only ma-jor source of revenue andthe oil will soon dry. Sowe need to save for therainy days.”

Okoroafor, expressedsatisfaction with thelevel of cooperation be-tween the monetary au-thority and fiscal author-ity in the country, saying,“The era of fiscal domi-nance is coming to anend. There is now col-laboration between fiscalauthority and monetaryauthority.”

FirstRand Bank is asubsidiary of the FirstRand Group, which is afinancial services pro-vider in South Africa.The group has its head-quarters in Johannes-burg, South Africa.

CBN commences automation of forex documentation

LAGOS—CENTRALBank of Nigeria,

CBN, has commencedthe automation of foreignexchange documenta-tion, with a three weekspilot run.

The pilot scheme,which commenced lastFriday, involves sevenbanks namely First Bank,Zenith Bank, GuarantyTrust Bank, DiamondBank, Unity Bank, WemaBank, and StandardChartered Bank.The au-tomation of foreign ex-change documentationmeans that applicationfor foreign exchange willbe initiated electroni-cally.

The apex bank an-nounced this develop-ment in a circular signedby Director, Trade andExchange, Mr. W.D.Gotring. The circular

was titled, “Automation offorex forms on the trademonitoring system (sin-gle window system fortrade).”

It stated, “This is to in-form all authorized deal-ers, destination inspec-tion service providers,Nigeria Customs Serviceand the general publicthat the pilot run of theAutomation of ForexForms on the TradeMonitoring System (Sin-gle Window System forTrade) is scheduled torun from November 22 toDecember 5, 2012, withthe under listed banks:Diamond Bank, ZenithBank, Unity Bank, WemaBank, Guaranty TrustBank, Standard Char-tered Bank, and FirstBank of Nigeria.

“Effective from the com-mencement of the pilotrun on November 22,2012, all Form ‘M’ appli-cations must be initiated

electronically on the sin-gle window system, whilenon-pilot banks are tocontinue to process paper

BY BABAJIDE KOMO-LAFE

Forms ‘M’ until Decem-ber 6, 2012 when the sys-tem will go live for allbanks.

government.The council boss, who

was received on arrival atAkugbene by PrinceEdon Americana andRoland Orie at theAkugbene waterside toldthe Pere that the mandateof his administration wasto focus on peace and se-curity, and environmen-tal sanitation. He assuredthe people of the localgovernment that his en-ergies would be directedtowards the mainte-nance of peace and se-curity of lives and prop-erty of the people of thearea, just as he said thatenvironmental issueswould have proper atten-tion.

Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 —13

Women, moderates set to rule US CongressWHEN the next Con

gress cranks up inJanuary, there will be morewomen, many new facesand 11 fewer tea party-backed House Republi-cans from the class of 2010who sought a second term.Overriding thosechanges, though, is a thin-ning of pragmatic, centristveterans in both parties.Among those leaving aresome of the Senate’s mostpragmatic lawmakers,nearly half the House’scentrist Blue Dog Demo-crats and several moder-ate House Republicans.

In the Senate, moderateScott Brown, R-Mass., lostto Democrat ElizabethWarren, who will be one ofthe most liberal members.Another GOP moderate,Richard Lugar of Indiana,fell in the primary election.Two others, Kay BaileyHutchison of Texas andOlympia Snowe of Maine,are retiring.

Moderate Democraticsenators such as KentConrad of North Dakota,Herb Kohl of Wisconsin,Ben Nelson of Nebraska,James Webb of Virginia areleaving, as is Democratic-leaning independent JoeLieberman. While abouthalf the incoming 12 Sen-ate freshmen of both par-ties are moderates, newarrivals include tea partyRepublican Ted Cruz ofTexas, conservative DebFischer of Nebraska, andliberals such as TammyBaldwin of Wisconsin andHawaii’s Mazie Hirono.There’s a similar patternin the House, where 10 ofthe 24 Democratic BlueDogs lost, are retiring or,in the case of Rep. JoeDonnelly, R-Ind., are mov-ing to the Senate. That willfurther slash a centrist

Senators-elect DebFischer,

Tammy BaldwinElizabeth Warren

group that just a few yearsago had more than 50members, though somenew freshmen might join.Among Republicans, mod-erates like Reps. JudyBiggert of Illinois andNew Hampshire’s CharlesBass were defeated whileothers such as Reps. JerryLewis of California andSteven LaTourette of Ohiodecided to retire. Seventy-one of the 83 House GOPfreshmen of 2010 were re-elected Nov. 6, but 11 lost,

including one of thegroup’s highest profilemembers, conservative

Rep. Allen West, R-Fla.Another faces a runoff in

December. “Some of thepeople who are the anti-

government ideologues,some of them are gone,”said House MinorityLeader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “And that messagehas been rejected by theAmerican people.”

...As criticsbattle Riceover style

SUSAN Rice has hada series of diplomatic

triumphs as U.S. ambas-sador to the United Na-tions. President BarackObama, an old friend,showed he has her backwhen last week he pub-licly challenged her Re-publican critics over theBenghazi controversy to“go after me” rather thanher. She knew formerSecretary of StateMadeleine Albright fromthe age of 4.

And yet Rice is nowfighting for her politicalfuture. Her chances ofbecoming the next sec-retary of state - replacingHillary Clinton - havebeen significantly dam-aged.

Senior Republicans,such as Senators JohnMcCain and LindseyGraham, have said theywill oppose her gettingthe job, signaling a con-firmation battle if Obamadecides to nominate her.

Egypt’s judiciary confronts Mursi

EGYPT’s stock marketplunged yesterday

in its first day open sinceIslamist PresidentMohamed Mursi seizureof new powers set offstreet violence and a po-litical crisis, unravelingefforts to restore stabilityafter last year’s revolu-tion.

More than 500 peoplehave been injured in pro-tests since Friday, whenEgyptians awoke to newsthat Mursi had issued adecree widening his pow-ers and shielding themfrom judicial review.

Mursi’s Muslim Broth-erhood supporters wereexpected to turn out againon the streets in a show ofsupport after prayers onSunday afternoon. Hissupporters and oppo-nents are both planningmassive demonstrationson Tuesday that many fearwill lead to more violence.

Sunday’s stock marketfall of nearly 10 percent -halted only by automaticcurbs - was the worstsince the uprising thattoppled Hosni Mubarakin Feb 2011. Images of

protesters clashing withriot police and tear gaswafting through Cairo’sTahrir Square were anunsettling reminder ofthat revolution.

“We are back to squareone, politically, socially,”said Mohamed Radwanof Pharos Securities, anEgyptian brokerage firm.Judges announced on

Saturday they would goon strike. Liberal politi-cian MohammedElBaradei called Mursi a“dictator”.

UK flood damages 800 homes

NO fewer than 800homes have been

flooded after storms hitparts of England andWales yesterday, the En-vironment Agency has

said. According to the re-

port, 816 houses havebeen affected after a bandof heavy rain and strongwinds swept across thecountry.

Devon and Cornwall,the report said , werebadly hit, along withMalmesbury in Wiltshireand Kempsey in Worces-tershire.

Already, two peopleincluding a womankilled by a falling tree inExeter and a man whosecar crashed into a swol-len river in Cambridge-shire have died in thestorm.

Palestinians open Arafat’s tombtomorrow

THE body of formerPalestine Liberation

Organization leaderYasser Arafat will be ex-humed tomorrows assamples will be taken tobe tested for poisoning aspart of an inquiry into his2004 death, an officialsaid at the weekend.

Similarly, forensic ex-perts from France, Swit-zerland and Russia willeach take their own sam-ples for independentanalysis, Tawfiq Tirawi,

head of the Palestinianinvestigation committeehas said.

The tomb in the WestBank city of Ramallahwill then be closed backup on the same day,Tirawi told a news con-ference in Ramallah.Arafat will be reburiedwith a military ceremony,he said.

The occasion is likelyto be an emotional onefor many Palestinianswho view Arafat as a sym-bol of resistance.



OPINION


*Mr. Ugochukwu, a commen-tator on national issues, wrotefrom Lagos.

BY ANIETO UGOCHUKWUPresident Jonathan on healthcare

TIME and again we havewitnessed unnecessary

deaths as a result ofinsufficient and very poormedical services offered allover Nigeria. The most painfulscenarios are when the victimsof these poor healthcaresystems in place and theirfamilies know they could havepulled through with betterservices. Sometime inSeptember, it was rumouredthat your wife, Mrs. PatienceJonathan, experienced ahealth scare that required herto seek medical attention inGermany. Rumours had it thatit was food poisoning at first,and then it was a rupturedappendix and finally someonementioned Parkinson’sdisease. Whatever she mayhave suffered or still sufferingis not the subject of this openletter but the special attentiongovernment officials and theirfamilies receive at the expenseof Nigerians for all ailments,including common cold.

Evidently, something mustbe very wrong with themedical training and facilitiesin Nigeria when the genuinelyrich, government officials (pastand present) and their familiesavoid our own healthcaresystem. This situationamounts to placing a premiumon some lives above otherseven when all the people aresupposed by fundamentalhuman rights to receive equalcare.

It beats my imagination that21st century Nigeria, a countrythat is one of the largestproducers of crude oil in theworld, cannot offer freemedical care to her citizens oreven when not free, a qualityand well subsidized medicalcare. There is nothing moreshameful than this situationand one would have thoughtthat it should be your firstpriority to increase the lifespan of the average Nigerian

through quality healthcare.Every year we lose thousandsof people from the increasingoccurrences of kidney, heartand cancer ailments and yetwe think it is normal.Nigerians raise monies to taketheir own to India but aresponsible governmentshould have taken a bold stepto intervene in thesesufferings by inviting theIndians health professionals toperform the surgicaloperations in Nigeria at theexpense of the government.

Do you know one of thereasons why corruption

is rampant even to the leastlevel of the Nigerian society?No one wants to be caughtdead in this mess of lack ofcare because they know thatin actuality we have adysfunctional government. Somany times, we have hadhospitals go on strike because

the government would notimplement the agreement ithad with trade unions andwhen this happens, theordinary Nigerian would die.This is very wrong. Nigeriamust adopt a system thatresembles the NHS trust in theUnited Kingdom but withoutplacing undue burden on thesalaries of the working classpeople.

We must take care of our ownby investing heavily in thehealth sector throughproviding up-to-date medicaltraining and upgradingavailable facilities, using thosehospitals which “you” peoplevisit in Europe and America asmodels. It is time to truly carryout turnaround maintenance ofour health institutions. Weneed specialist doctors all overNigeria. We need qualitytraining of medical staff andwe need a stable system thatdoes not close because of

strikes. I was reliably informedin 2009, that the teachinghospital at Enugu did not havefunctional indoor plumbing.Patients and their families hadto rely on buying water inorder to meet their needs.Imagine a teaching hospital ofthat nature without water;what kind of medicine werepeople practising there in thefirst place? There should be aspecial task force onrevamping these comatoseinstitutions for betterefficiency. Re-training of ourhealthcare workers to respondto emergencies is alsoimperative.

THE information management system ofthe President Goodluck Jonathanadministration is inchoate, inadequate anddownright confusing. The Chief Executiveof the Federation is hardly his ownsalesman. His officials appear to becompeting in issuing conflictinginformation to the public. Is it deliberate?In trying to paper over its

communication challenges with theappointment of Dr Doyin Okupe as theSpecial Assistant to the President onPublic Affairs, in addition to the existingpost of Special Adviser to the President onMedia and Publicity held by Dr ReubenAbati, matters are getting more chaotic. Apresidential official would say one thingtoday and another official of the samegovernment would emphatically contradicthim, leaving Nigerians confused andwondering what is going on in thePresidency.So many instances can be pointed at, but

the most crucial ones include governmentstatements on the report of the MallamNuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum RevenueSpecial Task Force, PRSTF, and the muchtouted “dialogue” with Islamic militants,Boko Haram. Okupe, described the Ribadu

Tell Nigerians TruthReport as “unimplementable”, giving theimpression that the Presidency found itutterly useless.Surprisingly, the same government set up

a committee headed by the Minister ofLabour and Productivity, Chief EmekaNwogu, to look into the Report and issue aWhite Paper. Does the White Paper have achance after Okupe had issued his own“white paper?While the fuss was yet to settle, Dr Abati

told media correspondents, “I can confirmto you that talks (between the FederalGovernment and Boko Haram) are going onin the background”. In his PresidentialMedia Chat on November 18, PresidentJonathan denied such talks, affirming thatsince the group had remained faceless theFederal Government would not discuss with

it.Given the importance of these two

particular issues to the economy andsecurity of the nation, we see the issuingof conflicting information to the public asa great disservice. The strange thing aboutit is that no official is ever reprimandedfor deliberate, mischievous misinfor-mation of the public. The conclusion leftto be drawn is that government seesnothing wrong in its serial duplicity ininformation management.Nigerians have a constitutional right to

be properly and truthfully informed aboutthe ways they are being governed.Communication from government to thepublic should leave no one in doubt aboutgovernment’s policies, programmes andintentions. Only a government withhidden agenda sees profit in creatingconfusion among members of the public.The Presidency must conduct a thorough

self-examination and rectify anyimpediment to a free flow of truthful,credible, accurate and timely flow ofinformation to Nigerians, unless doublespeak has become one of its tools formanaging information.


,,

OPINIONSyrian conundrum and the UN

*Lt.Col. Ulu, rtd, wrote from Lagos.

“

Continues on the viewpoint page

ON August 5, 2012, thirty threeminers got trapped in the bowels

of the earth, some 700 meters (2,300ft)from the surface. This was the Copiapomining incident at the San Jose copper-gold mine in Chile. Sixty –nine days and$20 million later, all 33 miners werebrought back to the surface alive and inrelatively good health, in an epic andunprecedented demonstration ofnational will and internationalcooperation. That operation confirmedin a most explicit and eloquent way theimportance and sanctity of human life.It confirmed the well-known aphorismwhich says that when there is the willthere will be a way and that no price istoo high to save a human life.Move over to Syria. In the past 19months the people of Syria, some22.5million of them, presumably inperfect health and living on the surfaceof the earth, breathing God’s own freeoxygen like everyone else, are doingtheir best to slaughter one another in aland closely associated with the ancient

civilizations of Mesopotamia, Babylonand Phoenicia. The civil war in Syria hasso far claimed over 30,000 lives, towhich on the average another hundredis added each day that passes, displacedabout 400,000 into neighbouringcountries and 2.5 million internally, notto talk of the large scale, mindlessdistruction that is going on there also.For the 22.5 million Syrians, the countryis a trap in hell and so far there is nonational will to save the country, ratherthere seems to be a will to do the exactopposite. Internationally, there has sofar been no effective will to rescue Syria.The mine rescue in Chile in 2010 andthe current situation in Syria representthe contemporary world’s best exampleof the difference between two words:sanity and madness. The restraint,courage and fortitude that produced thestartling mine rescue in Chile in 2010has deserted humanity in Syria.Although this article was inspired by a

humanitarian concern, another mainmotivation was a need to comment onthe gaping hole between what the worldexpects of the United Nations and theorganisation’s actual performance, as faras international peace and security isconcerned. This deficit in effectivenessand responsibility, on the part of theUnited Nations, has implications, notonly for Syria but also for everyoneelse,particularly for those of us in theThird World such as Nigeria, who arenot permanent, veto wielding membersof the UN Security Council, and whobecause of erratic leadership are themore likely to be victims in a conflict thatmay require effective supranationalintervention.At the 67th (2012) UN General Assemblylast September a gallery of worldleaders, including BarakO b a m a ( U S A ) , D a v i dC a m e r o n ( U K ) , M o h a m m e dMorsi(Egypt), the leaders or

representatives of the leaders ofGermany, France, Turkey, etc, allvociferously condemned the carnagenow going on in Syria.They were all long on words but shorton action, before and after thespeechfest. Only the USA, speakingthrough Hilary Clinton, the Secretary ofState, committed her country to the tuneof $42 million for what she called non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition. Shelater expatiated that the aid wouldinclude training and communications.The conflict in Syria has brought to thefore the fact that the United NationsOrganisation, itself designed for anddefined by the Second World War andthe Cold war, has become anachronisticand will remain so until redesigned andredefined for the post-cold war era andthe 21st century.In all of human history before the SecondWorld War, it seemed that the first orpreferred choice of action in the pursuitof public policy or national interest wasthe use of force.

BY PETER ULU

Why the alliance may not work

YET another attempt atw e l d i n g

together an alliance to defeat aruling dominant party isunderway. This time, the chiefprotagonists are Chief BolaAhmed Tinubu’s Action Congressof Nigeria (ACN) and retiredGeneral Muhammadu Buhari’sCongress for Progressive Change(CPC). Since independence, ithas become part of Nigeria’spolitical history that betweengeneral elections contendingsmaller political parties will try togang-up against the usualdominant ruling party.

We saw it in the First Republicwhen the United ProgressiveGrand Alliance (UPGA)consisting mainly of the NationalCouncil for Nigerian Citizens(NCNC) and the Action Group,tried to upstage northern regionalgiant and ruling party at theCentre, the Northern People’sCongress (NPC). It collapsedbecause the UPGA leaders couldnot sink their ambitions anddifferences. In the SecondRepublic, the National Party ofNigeria (NPN) emerged as thedominant national ruling party,while four others – the NigerianPeople’s Party (NPP), the UnityParty of Nigeria (UPN), thePeople’s Redemption Party (PRP)and the Great Nigerian People’sParty (GNPP) formed a groupcalled the People’s ProgressiveAlliance (PPA). The effort alsofailed.

Transitionalpolitics

At the ensuing 1983 generalelections, the NPN not only wonthe election but also became evenmore mammoth, thus triggeringfears of Nigeria becoming a one-party state.

In the 1998/1999 transitionalpolitics, the People’s DemocraticParty (PDP) had established anearly dominance and nationalspread. It had already won someof the staggered provincial polls.In order to attempt to head off itsimminent emergence as thedominant national party, tworegional rivals – the Alliance for

Democracy (AD), which hadswept the South West, created astrange contraption of a mergerwith the All People’s Party (APP).The merger was only for thepresidential election. DrOgbonnaya Onu, a surrogate ofAlhaji Umaru Shinkafi, won theAPP primaries in Kaduna, whileChief Olu Falae won the ADpresidential ticket in Ibadan.

Onu was forced to step downfor Shinkafi, who agreed to runas the Vice President to Falae,while the party platform adoptedwas the APP. Falae became thepresidential candidate of a partyhe was neither a member norcontested for its presidentialticket! See what I mean by“strange”? Even stranger still, theregime of General AbdulsalamiAbubakar accepted thearrangement in its resolve not togive the Yoruba reason to boycottthe transition. PDP went ahead

to win by a landslide.Plotting against the PDP: The

proposed alliance or merger thistime has the ACN and CPCplotting against an entrenchedelection winning machine andnational party, the PDP. It will beanother uphill task at the least.

For one, the calculations thatstarted the two sides into thisventure is, as far as I amconcerned, fallacious. Based onthe National PopulationCommission (NPC’s) figuresawarding the North West 37million and South West 27 millionpeople, it was assumed that analliance of parties in control of thetwo zones would upstage PDPand produce a president ofNigeria.

The assumption did not workout in the 2011 election. Thenumber of actual voters in the twozones was far removed from the

number of registered voterscredited to them. On the otherhand, the number of actual votersin the South East, South-Southand North Central were morethan expected and went a longway in producing the president.

The difficult question will be:who produces the president? Willit be the bigger party, the ACNwhich controls six states in twogeopolitical zones, or the CPC, aminority party with only one statein North Central? Will Buharisink his presidential ambition forACN’s choice, possibly RajiFashola or Adams Oshiomhole?Or will a man who has provedincapable of getting majorityvotes in the North insist on beingthe flag-bearer and lead thealliance to another defeat? If ACN

Gen. Buhari

These two parties do not really shareanything beyond the common desire towrest power from the PDP. The PDPhas become so entrenched that it is ina position, with its enormous powersof incumbency, to infiltrate thealliance and unsettle it from within

controlled parties never sharepower. they simply take over. IsTinubu willing to risk that?

Revolutionary behaviourialshift: The question of ideologywill not be an impedimentbecause Nigerian political partiesare not interested in that. But thequestion of ethnic and sectionalmindsets will. CPC is a northernMuslim radical party, with Buharias its sole raison d’etre andinspiration. ACN is a modernpolitical party for now basedchiefly in the South West with aleg in Edo. It has done a lot towhittle down the regional appealof the Awoist parties of old. If itfields an acceptable candidatesuch as Fashola, Oshiomhole orSenator Chris Ngige it will sell.The ACN will perform a lot betterif it continues to improve on itsnational spread rather thandissipate efforts trying to ally witha CPC that is unlikely to evenconcede the presidency to it.

These two parties do not reallyshare anything beyond thecommon desire to wrest powerfrom the PDP. The PDP hasbecome so entrenched that it isin a position, with its enormouspowers of incumbency, to infiltratethe alliance and unsettle it fromwithin.

PDP will still bank heavily on

produces the presidentialcandidate, will Buhari’s fanaticalsupporters in the Muslim Northagree to vote for him?

If Buhari inherits the leadershipof the Alliance and by a stroke ofoutside luck they win, Tinubuwill have to bid his little politicalfiefdom goodbye. Experiences inthe NPC, NPN and ShehuYar ’Adua’s People Front ofNigeria (PFN) showed Fulani-

the political behaviour ofNigerians which tends to favourthe ruling party at the polls,especially for the presidency. Itwill require a major revolutionaryshift in this behaviour for theelectorate to summon a collectivenational effort and vote out asitting president.

However, let the two parties goon and try their luck. You nevercan tell. Miracles still do happen.


,

,

,

,

BY ADEWALE KUPOLUYI

*Mr. Kupoluyi wrote fromFederal University of Agric.,Abeokuta, Ogun State.

BY PETER ULU

*Lt. Col. Ulu, rtd., wrote from Lagos.

Continues tomorrow on pg. 18

BUT the scale of destruction in the Second World War was cathartic and

the leaders of the so-called free world forthe first time began to plan deliberately forsome form of a world government that willat the very minimum offer a forum throughwhich such destructive conflicts can be pre-empted or prevented. Of course, before theSecond World War, there was the League ofNations, but the seriousness with which thematter of international peace and securitywas addressed was unprecedented followingthe Second World War. After that war, it wasglobally accepted, formerly and otherwise,that the use of force will no longer be such aready option in the advancement of thenational interest but rather a last resort,when and if all else fails. The United NationsOrganisation was the tangible expressionof this new mindset.

Looking back now, however, the UN asdesigned by its founding fathers hasapparently outlived its usefulness. To startwith, the UN was not designed, ab initio, asa democratic institution or rather thedemocracy in the UN started and ended withthe permanent members of the SecurityCouncil.

At inception in 1945 much of the worldoutside Europe and America were coloniesor territories controlled by the greatvictorious powers, namely the UK, Francethe Soviet Union and the USA. It is thesesame powers plus China that constitutedthemselves into the permanent, veto-wielding members of the UN SecurityCouncil. It is these five powers that madethe initial draft charter of the UN, whichwas then ratified by 46 other foundingmembers. Today, 193 flags are hoisted atthe UN headquarters, representingindependent sovereign nations, a long wayfrom the 51 of 1945. The charter of the UNOwas a document which catered forinternational peace and security as seen

through the eyes of the victorious powers ofWorld War II. In other words, out of the 193member nations, the security of 188,morethan 97 per cent, are subject to the whimsand caprices of the remaining five, less thanthree per cent, the so-called PermanentMembers of the Security Council. Thisinherent injustice and lack of equity has beenloudly illustrated in Syria. The status quo tome is clearly untenable.

In recent decades, particularly since theend of the Cold War in 1989, a majority ofinternational conflicts have been resolvedeither without UN intervention or without adecisive UN intervention. In the Balkans, inthe nineties, the UN was weak andineffective.

It was NATO, the European Union andAmerican muscle that eventually turned thetables and ensured a decisive outcome infavour of international peace and security.The International Security Assistance Force,ISAF, in Afghanistan is a NATO apparatusthat is currently managing to destroy theTaliban and build a post –conflictenvironment in that country.

Although nominally the United Nationswas present in Iraq in 2003, it was thepreponderance of the American contingentthat brought about a decisive outcome. InIvory Coast and Sierra Leone, it was theFrench and the British who brought in thedecisive element. The UN failed woefully toprevent or mitigate the Rwandan genocidein 1994.

Regional blocks, apparently aware of theUN’s increasing irrelevance, have begun toappreciate the situation and have thereforebegun to take more responsibility forsecurity within their territories. ECOWAS,for instance, was effective in seeing CharlesTaylor off in Liberia in the nineties and early2000s. Today ECOWAS is not waiting forthe UN in Mali. In Mali, the ECOWAS,perhaps out of experience, is showing moresophistication and elan there and is headedin a direction that gives confidence in theregional body’s ability to resolve conflicts

Syrian conundrum and the UN (2)

Concluded

Continued from page 41

IT is widely acknowledged thateducation remains the bedrock

for the development of any nation.Simply put, education is thedriving force behind the socio-economic advancement of anyserious nation.

What this means is that a nationwill continue to be pariah untileducation is made to take its prideof place in the scheme of thingsand so, no country can developbeyond the level of its education.

In Nigeria, one might not bewrong to submit that the policiesof the successive governments inthe country have added little valueto educational advancement,which has been ravaged by amyriad of problems, which keepworsening by the day.

Perhaps, the most severe of theproblems is poor funding – whichdirectly or indirectly leads to otherperennial setbacks - shortage ofquality staff, dearth ofinfrastructure, inadequateclassrooms and offices,proliferation, insufficientadmission spaces, examinationmalpractice, cultism, brain drain,inadequate laboratories forteaching and research, shortage ofbooks and journals, indiscipline,low remuneration, inconsistentand ill-conceived policies.

It is saddening that on theaverage, Nigeria spends less thannine per cent of its annual budget

2013 budget: Rescuingeducation

on education when smaller Africannations like Botswana spend19.0%; Swaziland, 24.6%; Lesotho,17.0%; South Africa, 25.8%; Coted’Ivoire, 30.0%; Burkina Faso,16.8%; Ghana, 31%; Kenya,23.0%; Uganda, 27.0%; Tunisia,17.0%; and Morocco, 17.7% .

An overview of this sector showsthat the total federal allocation toeducation had been on the declinefrom 11.13 in 1999 to 7.0 per centin 2001, meaning that the share ofboth the Gross Domestic Productand total government spendinghave fallen over time.

The allocation of a decliningfraction of the GDP to educationinvariably poses a serious dangerto the country’s long-term growthand development prospects.

This has raised the pertinentquestion of whether the decreasein these measures of educationalexpenditure is a result of too-small-a-share of total publicfinancial resources beingallocated to those levels ofgovernment which have mostresponsibility for the sector.

Since the late 1970s, when thetuition and feeding fees wereintroduced and government gotenmeshed in crippling effects ofInternational Monetary Fund/World Bank loans, the lots ofeducation have actually gonefrom bad to worse.

In responding to the problem ofchronic under-funding, Nigerianpublic universities had adopted anarray of cost-sharing measures, to

survive. Even at take-off, manyinstitutions were never paid theirstatutory subventions, grants andallocations.

For instance, students’contributions were obtainedthrough a multitude of feesimposition - tuition in state andprivate institutions, acceptance,registration and certification,caution, sports, identity cards, lateregistration, examination,laboratory, transcript, andmedical centre registration fees,among others - as these fees varyin amount paid from oneuniversity to another.

The condition for teachingand learning in many

institutions is grosslyunacceptable. This largelyaccounted for why no Nigerianuniversity has attained anyremarkable position in the worldglobal rankings.

On the other hand, contributions

from the private sector toeducation in Nigeria were limitedto the endowment of prizes andprofessorial chairs, and othervoluntary donations.

Campaigns to raise endowmentfunds in Nigerian universitiesdated as far back as the 1950s whenthe University College, Ibadanstarted an endowment drive. From1988 to1994, the University ofIbadan generated approximatelyN22.02 million from endowmentsand grants.

It was widely believed that in thedesperate bid to survive thefinancial crunch, manyuniversities resorted tounconventional means of survival,including conferring honorarydegrees to questionable people.

The government’s inability toadequately fund all tiers ofeducation has created basis for theauthorities of institutions to imposevarious obnoxious charges andfees of the students. This has madeeducation the exclusive preserve ofchildren of the few rich and theprivileged. Often times, they aresent to school in first rateinstitutions abroad. This shouldnot be.

The role played by interventionagencies such as the TertiaryEducation Trust Fund ismeaningful but is still a far cryfrom the needs of this critical sectorof the nation.

It was, therefore, cheering newsthat the Jonathan administrationhas decided to toe the right trackin the nation’s aspiration ofattaining the actualisation of the26 per cent minimum allocationto education, a benchmarkrecommended by the UnitedNations Education, Scientific and

Cultural Organisation.The President had already

submitted the 2013 budgetchristened “Fiscal Consolidationwith Inclusive Growth” to theNational Assembly for passageinto law. The proposed budgetallocates N426.53 billion toeducation out of the total nationalbudget of N4.9 trillion.

All things being equal, it isexpected that with the prudentmanagement and release of funds,the state of our education isexpected to be better. But previousexperiences have shown that thisoptimism may not be so unlessnecessary measures are put inplace to ensure that the proposedbudget becomes real.

To begin with, a sizeable amountshould be set-aside as capitalexpenditure. For instance, in the2012 fiscal year, the sum ofN400.15 billion, representing 8.43per cent of the budget wasallocated to education. Out of this,N345.091bn (82%) was allotted torecurrent expenditure, while ameagre N55.056bn (18%) was forcapital expenditure andN317.896bn was proposed forpersonnel cost, while N27.192bnwas for overheads.

The main ministry had a budgetproposal of N5.491bn, allocatedto MDGs - N2.173bn; parastatals- N5.196bn, universities -N14.411bn, colleges of education- N4.555bn, while unity collegesgot N7.663bn.

within its own bloc.In Syria today, where the so-called Arab

Spring came to a screeching halt in April2011,after more or less successfully passingthrough Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, the UNhas proved itself once more, unreliable . Thevacuum thus created has, however, beentaken up by Syria’s neighbours, notablyTurkey, Jordan and members of the ArabLeague. They have run to the vanguard ofefforts to not only mitigate the collateraldamage, but also to bring about anequitable and sustainable outcome. For tensof thousands dead and hundreds ofthousands more suffering directly from thewar however, these efforts are coming toolate.

The first attempt by the UN to intervenein the Syrian conflict fell flat on its face.

No less a person than the former SecretaryGeneral, Kofi Annan, was appointed by theorganisation to lead the effort for theresolution of the conflict. After six monthsin the job, Mr. Annan resigned. Hisresignation says much, not only of hisfrustration with his failure to makeheadway, but also of his loss of faith in theorganisation of which he recently was itschief protagonist. Today, we now have arenowned, retired Algerian diplomat,Lakhdar Brahimi, who is curiouslydescribed as a UN-Arab league envoy, asMr. Kofi Annan’s replacement on the Syrian

beat. Mr. Brahimi is now in his third monthon the job. He apparently believes that inthe circumstances he would consider his jobdone if he is able only to keep diplomaticchannels open. Were he able to produce anytangible results, that would be a bonus. Mr.Brahimi’s constant motion reminds one ofDr. Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacyduring the Yum Kippur War between theState of Isreal and Arab armies in 1973.Mr. Brahimi’s first attempt to move fromconstant motion to actual accomplishment,his attempt to broker a cease fire using theopportunity of the ID-el-Kabir last week wasa spectacular failure. But Mr. Brahimi didnot miss a beat. He simply gassed up andcruised to Beijing, from where he will bereportedly moving to Moscow, etc.

It is important to be fair to Mr, Brahimi.The situation in Syria is a complex one. Itsure needs Mr. Brahimi’s broadmindedness.The conflict is currently raging in anintensive military phase. My take on thewarring parties, Assad’s forces and the so-called opposition forces, is that neither sidehad any idea what they were getting intowhen they allowed each other to be drawninto a vicious military dueling ,althoughmuch of the responsibility for that belongsto Bashar Assad, who ,up till thisday,remains the de jure head of the state ofthe Syrian Arab Republic and commanderin chief of its armed forces, with a testedstanding army of about 400,000 men. MrAssad probably presumed that destroyingthe opposition would be a walkover.

Experienced, well trained, disciplined andprofessional military officers are always veryreluctant to initiate and careful aboutinitiating military hostilities of any kind forone simple reason. They are aware, morethan most people about the consequences,not just for their troops, but moreimportantly for the innocent, vulnerablepeople who will get caught up in thefighting: noncombatants and civilians,including women, the young, the old, whowill be killed ,maimed, displaced orotherwise made to suffer for years orgenerations.

With the prudentmanagement offunds, the state ofeducation isexpected to bebetter; but thisoptimism may notbe so unlessnecessarymeasures are putin place

Regional blocks,apparently aware ofthe UN’s increasingirrelevance, havebegun to appreciatethe situation and havetherefore begun to takemore responsibility forsecurity within theirterritories


INSTALLATION OF ORODJE OF OKPE AS ANAMBRA VARSITY'S PRO-CHANCELLOR

HRM Orodje of Okpe, Orhue I was installed as the Pro-Chancellor ofAnambra State University, Uli, weekend.

From left— Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State; HRM Orodje ofOkpe, Orhue I , and his wife. From left— Prof. Fidelis Okafor, Vice-Chancellor of

Anambra State University; Governor Peter Obi; andHRM Orhue I.

Governor Peter Obi.

Governor Peter Obi (left) and HRMOrhue I. HRM Orhue I and his wife.

Prof. Okafor, Governor Obi and HRM Orhue I.

HRM Orhue I. HRM Orhue I and members of the university's Governing Council.


LOOKING back at whathas transpired since you

became governor, at whatpoint did you decide it wastime to part with yourimmediate predecessor?

There is only one thing thatis permanent in life and that ischange. When your interestgoes contrary to the interest ofthe people, when what youwant is not what the peopleare looking for, when youwant to make the people to cryinstead of making them tolaugh, then there must be atime when the change willcome.

For me, I did not have anyproblem with my predecessoror with anybody in the state. Iwas elected to supervise thetransformation of the stateand not to serve anyindividual or group ofindividuals.

The electorate in Abia Stateare greater than individuals orgroup and I decided to takesides with the majority whoelected me to serve them. Yousee, I never had any problemwith him, the problem waswhat the stakeholders of AbiaState who felt alienated fromtheir state, who felt that theyhave been driven away fromtheir state, and also the peoplewho felt that their needs werenot being attended to, who feltthat nobody was listening tothem.

So they began to call for achange, they came here andbegan to voice their displeasureat what had happened and theneed to change the way thingswere being done.

The real owners of the statestood up and said enough wasenough and I had to listen tothem. It was not me thatshouted for liberation. It wasthe real owners of the state thatinsisted that the only thing thatwould pacify them is to beliberated from those who havebeen denying them thedividends of democracy. Theysaid they wanted to part wayswith those who did not wantthem to have a say in the waytheir state was being

How I led the Abialiberation struggle — Gov. Orji

Continued on page 45

GOVERNOR Theodore Orji is in the second term of his stewardship of AbiaState. In the second half of his stewardship, Orji has generally been acclaimedto be working hard to cover up for the lethargy and crises that characterised thegovernance of the state in the first term before he championed the liberationstruggle that disentangled the governance of the state from the hands of thehitherto prevailing political cabal. In this interview in Umuahia he speaks of hisaspirations, the challenges he has been faced with and the legacies he isexpecting to bequeath to the state. Excerpts:

administered.So I had to go with them, I

never had any problem withanybody and up till today Istill don’t have any problemwith anybody. I challenge mypredecessor to mention onesingle offence of mine to himwhen he decided to rubbishmy image.

I am the governor of AbiaState and the state has 17 LocalGovernment Areas and mybusiness is to make sure thateverybody is happy and thatis exactly what we are doinghere.

After restoring peace in thestate following theembarrassing period ofkidnapping, would youdescribe that period as thedarkest period of yourpolitical career?

No, I saw it as a challengebecause the people wereconcerned. That is why whenI go to Aba and I hear someof the talks going on there, Ijust say to myself, where wasthis ‘Enyimba, Enyi’ whenkidnappers were ravaging thearea. Most of those who aremaking noise now all ran

away, they abandoned theirhouses and ran to Abuja andLagos . But we were resolutein our determination to endthe reign of terror and that waswhat we did in conjunctionwith the federal government.

This is why the people arevery much at home with mebecause they saw that I did notabandon them when itmattered most. I remained andtogether we fashioned the bestsolution to the problem andtoday there is peace in Abia.There is not only social peacebut there is also political peace.

You see that all thestakeholders are alwaysaround and have been givingtheir advice on how to makethe state better. The state doesnot belong to one individual,it belongs to all of us and thisis what they have beenyearning for a long time andwhen they could not achieveit when they were not allowedto make their input in thegovernance of their state, theystarted talking of liberation,this is what happened here.

Yes, we have restoredpeace, it was a situation thatmade Abia a pariah state.People were running away andleaving their houses andproperty, nobody wanted tohave anything to do with thestate and those that remainedbehind were always living infear.

always on top of the situation.We have purchased severalvehicles for the securityagencies and we are workingwith them to maintain peace.

That is why all the awardswe have received have all beentied to what we have been ableto achieve in the state. We arenot making noise about allthese things because they arethe things we must do for ourpeople.

Abia people are very lovingand hospitable andhardworking, all they need isthe opportunity to present themthe conducive environmentand also carry them along andthat is the kind of leadershipwe have provided and they arehappy.

What would you describeas your greatestachievement?

Returning peace to the entireAbia State , giving the peoplea say in the government thatthey elected me to be theirservant, seeing that all thestakeholders in Abia State cannow come together and speakwith one voice on whatconcerns the state.

Monumentalachievements

These are monumentalachievements that will remainindelible and which wouldconstantly be referred to in along time. As I told you before,the stakeholders were allscattered everywhere becausethey were alienated by thegovernment in their state, theywere never allowed to speakand the state was alienatedfrom what was happening atthe centre, the state was losingwhat others were gaining.

,

,

But today, it has become athing of the past, businesses arespringing up everywhereespecially in Aba, don’t mindwhat you are hearing fromsome few people, the realpeople living in Aba are veryhappy because they know whathappened and what we didand they know that life is betternow than what it was beforeand this is what gives me joy.

We are still investing heavilyin security because weunderstand the meaning ofinsecurity, we have been therebefore and we know what itdid to us.

So we are not going to allowsuch a thing to happen hereagain, and that is why we are

This situation gave rise forthe liberation struggle, if yougo and ask them, they will tellyou. They are all there and stillalive, go and ask them, theydemanded for the liberation ofthe state and I was the arrowedhead because I was the onethey elected to champion thestruggle.

Also everywhere you go inthe state, there is peace, you canwalk the streets at anytime ofthe day and night and feelsecured. You can now sleepwith your two eyes closed,your business can thrivebecause there is no longermolestation. So these aremonumental achievements.

I am the governor of Abia State andthe state has 17 Local GovernmentAreas and my business is to makesure that everybody is happy and thatis exactly what we are doing here

*Orji: We have restored peace

BY DAPO AKINREFON


Continued on page 44

My plans forAba — Orji

You have also seen the legacyprojects we are doing, theNew Government House.

Where we are sitting nowto hold this interview is theguest house of EmekaOmeruah, it was not built bythe government. This hasremained so since Abia wascreated in 1991.

If you go to other states, yousee the Government Housesand the Governor’s Lodges,but here almost 22 years aftercreation, we are still in arented apartment. Thestakeholders also lamentedabout this and we now agreedthat it was time to take thisreproach away.

If you go to other states, yousee International ConferenceCentres, but here the MichaelOkpara auditorium is the onlyplace where all governmentfunctions are held and it is notenough to contain a goodnumber of people, not to talkof the state of theinfrastructure.

So the new conferencecentre which will have acapacity for 3000 persons willgive the state a good standingto host conferences and otherinternational events. Theseare legacy projects that touchmy heart and which I intendto complete before my tenureends. These are projects thatI would like to be rememberedfor after I have left office.

Are you worried that thesecriticisms have continued totrail your administration inspite of all these efforts?

As I told you earlier, thesecriticisms do not bother me as

long as I am doing what mypeople want. They are theones that elected me as theirgovernor and they havecontinued to express theirconfidence in me.

So long as what I am doingis what the people want, I cannot be distracted. I have amission here and that missionis to transform the state. Thatis the uppermost thing on mymind, that is what I thinkabout everyday. If thecriticisms are right, I will lookat it and see how I can reflecton it to better the lives of thepeople, but if it is adestructive one, I simply glossover it and move on.

What we have achieved sofar is in line with the desiresof the people that gave me themandate. That is why I alwaysrefer to the stakeholdersbecause these are people whounderstand what is on theground. They come tosuggest this and that and Iknow that they are speakingfor their people because everystakeholder must have peoplewho also speak to them intheir communities.

So when they suggest it, wetry to see how we can do itbecause it is what my peoplewant. So let them talk and letus continue to do what wehave been elected to do andmake the people happy, let allthe stakeholders continue towork together and let Abiacontinue to experience peace.That is all that matters.

Is your determination totransform Aba not one ofthose political speeches?

No, not at all. We have never

joked with Aba . Everythingwe promised to do in Aba wehave started some, completedsome and will continue on theothers. Aba is very importantto the success of the state, justlike other places here. We justcommissioned the Okagwe/Ohafia road. You need to visitthat road to see what we havedone and how happy thepeople are. The road hadremained impassable for years,but today the people are happythat it has been completed. Wehave completed the Nunya/Isuikwuato road, that is theroad most commuters gothrough to Enugu .

So as we are working in Aba,we will also be working inother parts of the state. Since

you came into Umuahia, youmay have noticed that thereis a change in the areabecause the electricity supplyis steady. What we areenjoying in this office now iselectricity from the nationalgrid not generator. Weevacuated power from theOhiya sub station and poweris now steady in the state andartisans are now workingeveryday and making briskbusiness.

Aba cannot be left out.Before Christmas you will seewhat we are going to do inAba with the 16 roads thathave already been awarded.The contractors will soonmove to site and the area willwitness a change.

Aba is very dear to myadministration because of theneglect the place hassuffered in the hands ofprevious administrations,even though some of them

You must have noticed thatwe have fought refuse to astand still with the manycompactors and roll-on roll-off trucks we purchased andsent to the area.

It is no longer the dirtycommercial city it was knownfor before we came on board.So we are working in Aba andby the time my administrationwill be signing off in 2015,Aba will have a lot toremember my government.

What will you want them to

remember you for?They will remember me as

one governor who did notplay politics with their well-being. They will rememberthat I was one governor whopromised to transform theinfrastructure of the area andkept to my promise, that I wasone governor who put a stopto the incessant flooding inthe area by opening up thegutters so that water can flowfreely into the Aba River, thatI was the governor whoensured that refuse did notovertake the city again, butused everything at mydisposal to keep the city clean,that I was the governor whoensured that insecurity whichwas the hallmark of the citywas resisted and made thepeople to sleep with their twoeyes closed.

So there will be a lot that Abapeople will remember me for.

They will remember that Iwas the governor who nevercollected any shop from themto give to my family membersand deprive the genuinetraders from having their ownand that I was the governorwho never borrowed a dimefrom any stock market to putall these things on ground,but worked out thetransformation by cutting mycoat according to my cloth.

These are facts on theground and they areincontrovertible, they areempirical.

It was not methat shouted forliberation, it wasthe real owners ofthe state thatinsisted that theonly thing thatwould pacify themis to be liberatedfrom those whohave beendenying them thedividends ofdemocracy ,

,*Orji: I have a mission here and that mission is to transform the state

*Orji: Aba is very dear to my administration


The Nigerian Defence Academy—A Pioneer Cadet's Memoir

BOOK SERIAL

BY PAUL OSAKPAMWAN OGBEBOR

TODAY...."In my passion for enhanced

military knowledge, I had in Lon-don in 1987 bought a book on theBritish Royal Military Academy atsandhurst: A Documentary byMichael Yardley, which I com-pleted reading during my flightbetween London and Lagos. Theknowledge about Sandhurst cou-pled with that gained during my1971 study visit to the UnitedStates Military Academy at WestPoint gave me the incentive towrite a book on the Nigerian De-fence Academy at Kaduna." Withthese words, Paul Ogbeboropens his knowledge box on Ni-geria's elite military academy andthe Indian and British connec-tions. The first in this two-partbook serial.

Passion for militaryIn my passion for enhanced military

knowledge, I had in London in 1987bought a book on the British RoyalMilitary Academy at sandhurst: ADocumentary by Michael Yardley,which I completed reading during myflight between London and Lagos. Theknowledge about Sandhurst coupledwith that gained during my 1971 studyvisit to the United States Military Acad-emy at West Point gave me the incen-tive to write a book on the NigerianDefence Academy at Kaduna.

As a pioneer cadet, my aim of writ-ing this book, therefore, is to presentan eyewitness account of the birth andearly development of the Academy…In writing this book, I have dependedmostly on remembered events andphotographs, some of which I person-ally took by virtue of being chairmanof the Defence Academy PhotographyClub for the duration of Course I. Evenall efforts to get photographs frommembers of Regular Course II were invain. The reasons for the hiccups in-cluded the Nigeria Civil War, whichbroke out a few weeks after the com-missioning of Course I cadets as offic-ers with most going straight from theAcademy to their formations in prepa-ration for the commencement of thecivil war.

Unfortunately, many neither ever re-turned alive nor ever saw their belong-ings. In the same vein, members ofCourse II were trained, commissionedand deployed under war hysteria. Inaddition, many of the Nigerian pioneerstaff were deployed to the war-front,most of whom are now dead, while thepioneer Indian officers returned totheir country. And even their replace-ments, after many years were replacedby Nigerian officers, who themselvestrained in the Academy. No properrecords were really passed along fromgeneration to generation in the Acad-emy. The same could be the bane of

any institution with no regard forproper records.

Despite the missing links, thanks toGod that I, as a pioneer cadet whostarted and saw the Academy developin the first four years, am alive to passon my eye witness accounts which Idocumented in this book. I have en-

deavoured to capture the uncertaintywhich characterized the commence-ment of the Academy as a project. Thisis evident in our reporting to com-mence training on 20th January 1964while the institution was officially in-augurated in March 1964; neither hav-ing the requisite academic staff for asmuch as 40 per cent of the period norhaving a full compliment of militarystaff. This being the reason no mem-bers· of Courses I and ·were commis-sioned into the Air Force. However, therequisite officers came on adhoc basisto teach the core subjects. The most,vivid evidence was that further intakeswere not made until 1966 when only 22members of Course II joined the Acad-emy when Course I was already in their

The Great Quest

MRS. ASEMOTA who was a co-teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catho-lic Girls Secondary Modern School inBenin City met me in June 1964 andasked where I was that I did notresume with them at school. I told herthat I was then a cadet at the NigerianDefence Academy, Kaduna. Mrs.Asemota exclaimed and queried thatshe thought I had a secondary schooleducation. And if so, what then was Idoing in the Army.

My family also had the same disap-pointment at the time they realizedthat I was in the Nigerian DefenceAcademy and not in Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria to study any of thosepreferred disciplines like Medicine,Law, etc.

The much Nigerians and especiallymembers of my ethnic group, the Binisknew about the Armed Forces, whichwere then the Army and the Navy just

coming up was from the legacy of theFirst and Second World Wars’ were thesoldiers who were already demobilizedand were roaming the streets clad inmedals. The ex-soldiers had retired tothe cities; spending the little fortunesthey brought from the war fronts indrinking, telling war stories endlesslyand being favoured with security jobsin the colonial masters’ offices.

Certainly, soldiering was regarded asa career for drop-outs, illiterates, crimi-nals and the Godforsaken whose ex-istence nobody cared about like thescum of the earth. With such publicimage of soldiering, who would blameeither Mrs. Asemota or my family forbeing apprehensive of my choice to bea soldier after attaining a good second-ary school education? The usual ex-pectation then was for me to join thebandwagon of white-collar work force,which was in vogue.

My cousin Mr. Folorunsho DavidOgbebor, now late, had served in theBurma Campaign during the SecondWorld War. He was lucky to have beenengaged as a warder in His RoyalMajesty Prison Service after his demo-bilization.

He would come from his station, thecity of Calabar, a town situated in east-ern Nigeria, to Benin City to spend hisannual leave with my father. He wouldwake up early in the morning with acup of palm wine in one hand and acane in the other hand; blasting outorders and drilling the children on theusual house keeping duties beforegoing to school. He would clad him-self in the olive green army uniform,which was made-up of rolled-up long-sleeves shirt and khaki knickers. Hewould wear a pair of big black bootsand tightly wound-round putties; ablack belt over the severally rolledround waist cummerbund; a wide flaphat and then adorn his chest with med-als. With a big stick in one hand, hewould start parading the then narrowsandy streets of Benin City visitingfriends.

Uncle Folorunsho, as he was usuallycalled, was then my idol and first con-tact with soldiering. Although I wasonly six years old, I used to sneak intohis room to wear his oversize boots,shirt, the big hat, and tried to marchabout in them. But I dared do that onlywhen he was not in the house or whenhe was asleep.

Soldiers used to come to Benin Cityoccasionally on flag marches. Theywould be clad in full battle order, andmarch around the streets singing“Leave your father, Leave your motherand join the Army, one more river to

Continues on page 47

As a pioneer cadet, myaim of writing this book,therefore, is to presentan eyewitness accountof the birth and earlydevelopment of theAcademy… In writingthis book, I have de-pended mostly on re-membered events andphotographs, some ofwhich I personallytook...

,

,

third year. Thus, the question whetheror not the Academy could be sustainedwas apt. Gladly, the fear of the unknownnever affected the cadets resolve to workvery hard, to complete the course andbe commissioned as Regular Combat-ant Officers.

Although, the 61-member cadets· ofCourse I came from all across local gov-ernment areas, provinces and the thenfour regions of Nigeria, in spite of the

cadets varied cultural, linguistic andreligious backgrounds, we involuntar-ily and perfectly harmonized; result-ing in the Academy’s production ofworld class regular combatant militaryofficers as our only goal… We also per-formed creditably well in other aspectsof our military studies, which earnedus commission into the Army and Navyon 17th March 1967. Above all, we alsoachieved excellence in other endeav-ours, including sports. We never failedto carry on the military tradition of“work hard and play hard.”

Col. Paul Osakpamwan Ogbebor (Rtd.), Author.

BOOK SERIALVanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012 — 47

cross, one more river, one more river,one more river to cross.”

The song with the marching was likeopium to me. It used to excite me somuch that I would slip away from myparents and go about with the soldiersall day. Then they would retire to theircamp, which was situated at thepresent site of Edo State Ministry ofWorks and Transport Headquarters inthe city of Benin. There they erectedand lived in olive green tarpaulintents. While at the camp, they wouldmove about in green vests; playingvarious games of football and hockey.They would sing and eat mostlycanned foods including bread; appear-ing merry at all times. In order to be-come psychologically part of them, Iwould escape from the house and hideby the camp fence to watch, wishing Icould be one of them.

Thus, my second contact withsoldiering was impressive and excit-ingly captivating. The memory waslong lasting; resulting in my practicingsoldiering at home even after the sol-diers had long moved out of Benin. Istill remember how I would go to anearby cocoa farm to pluck the freshgreen leaves with which I made my-self the green army dress and thenmarch and sing “Leave your parents,join the Army, one more river to cross.”

I had a cousin Mr. S. I. Victor whonoticed my profound interest insoldiering. He came home one day andsaid that if I would go on all errandshe sent me, he would take me to watcha war movie at the cinema. From thatminute on, I became entirely submis-sive to him. I washed his clothes, pol-ished his shoes, served his meals anddid whatever he wanted. Truly, he livedup to his promise when he took me toOlowu Cinema, which was the onlymovie theatre in Benin City, to watcha film called Battan.

Battan was a battle film of an opera-tion in the Burma Campaign of theSecond World War. In the film, theJapanese launched an attack and dis-lodged the allied forces from their de-fence positions. The Japanese weresmallish and masquaradly camou-flaged with tree branches and freshgreen leaves. Their advances were asif the entire jungle was moving whichfrightened the allied forces into a dis-organized withdrawal and defeat.

I was so thrilled that I escaped towatch the film a second time. But sinceI had no money, I pleaded with theproprietor’s wife Mrs. Olowu to allowme join her children in hawking re-freshments or condiments of sweets,kola nuts and cigarettes to the custom-ers and she obliged. By that, I was ableto gain free entry to watch the film.

Unfortunately for me that night, thegenerator supplying electricity brokedown and disrupted the movie show.Thus, the fans went on rampage and Iwas injured in the resultant stampede.

Coincidentally, my absence from thehouse was noticed. On my returnhome, my father gave me very severethrashing. In spite of these tragedies,the adventure has remained indelible,and in fact, a pleasant experience in

The Nigerian Defence Academy—A Pioneer Cadet's Memoir


TOMORROW....

OGBEBOR writes on his admis-sion into NDA, The NigerianArmed Forces, Repositioning ForA New Status, Nigerian Adoptionof the Indian Experiment amongother must-read revelations.

my memory to date. This is mostly be-cause the movie offered me the firstopportunity of seeing soldiers in com-bat in a battlefield, which further trig-gered my interest in soldiering.

In 1960, I had gone with a classmate,Eugene Egbuniwe to spend and cel-ebrate Nigeria’s Independence atEnugu, another city situated in theeastern part of Nigeria. At 4 p.m. ofthe first day of October 1960, there wasa military display: including a tattooin which soldiers dressed in full battleorder staged a mock battle of an attackoperation during which they crawledon their stomachs and fired guns. I wasso over-whelmed at seeing militarymanoeuvres live which were similar tothe ones I had watched in that war filmcalled ‘Battan’ that I unconsciouslywent on my stomach and crawled intothe arena to share the action with thesoldiers.

Unfortunately, one fierce-looking sol-dier picked me up. He was about tothrow me over the fence when anothersoldier saved the situation. The GoodSamaritan soldier identified with myfervent interest and asked if I wouldwant to be a soldier, my answer wasaffirmative. He scribbled on a paperand told me to write an application and

forward it to the address if I wanted tobecome a soldier.

The Enugu contact with soldieringbecame a turning point in my life. Icould no longer contain my interest.So on returning to school at SaintPatrick’s College in Asaba town, I im-mediately applied for enlistment intothe then Royal Nigerian Army. I how-ever got a disappointing reply whenthey advised that since I was alreadyin class three, I should wait until I fin-ished my secondary school educationand obtain the West African Examina-tion School Certificate. It was only thenI could qualify to apply for considera-tion to become an officer in the Army.

I considered the letter a disappoint-ment because I did not understandwhy I should not be enlisted into theArmy there and then even with mypartial secondary school education. Infact, my disappointment was com-pounded by my ignorance of what en-tering the army as an officer meant.But my interest in soldiering was againrekindled when in my final year insecondary school, the Army had in re-action to my earlier application remem-bered to send me the form for the en-trance examination into the Army.

The Examination

I studied hard and sat for the exami-nation, which held in Ibadan township.The fun of the examination was in thegeneral paper in which we were askedto arrange in ascending order of sen-iority a mixed grill of badges of ranksof the Army. I can still remember myanswers on that fateful day. My ar-rangement in ascending order of sen-iority began with the rank of a major-general; followed by a major, sergeant-major, colonel, lieutenant-colonel andcapping the order with the rank of acaptain which I surely knew was thenomenclature for leaders and heads ofany sports or outfits in a secondaryschool. I am sure I only passed thatexamination because of my very strongbackground in mathematics and othersciences on which we were also tested.

The military added to their featherwhen I was lodged and fed at the ex-

amination centre in Ibadan free ofcharge and then given the sum of fif-teen shillings (which was then theequivalent of two United States dol-lars) for my transportation. However,destiny has a way of turning a disap-pointment into a blessing if only oneis patient. This was also the case withthe Nigeria Police that picked me upright from school and camped me atIkeja Police College Lagos for sports.Consequently, by the time the Armyentrance examination result in whichI was successful was redirected to mefrom Saint Patrick’s College in Asabato Southern Police College in Ikeja,Lagos, the interview and final selec-tion into the Army had been concluded.

As providence would have it, thethen Colonel (Dr.) Austin Peters no-ticed me during the sports meet at theSurulere sports ground where at mytender age and size, I excelled in the880 yards (800m) and one-mile raceswhen I competed for the Nigeria Po-lice Force. The Colonel invited me andqueried what I was doing in the Policeinstead of the Army that would offerme better career prospects. When I toldhim how I got my result late, he im-mediately gave me a note to one Cap-tain Ebo at the Army Headquartersalong Marina, Lagos that was then theCapital city of Nigeria. Thus, CaptainEbo took my particulars during my visit.

With the intervention of Colonel Aus-tin Peters who was the Director of Ni-geria Army Medical Services, I got toknow later, I was invited for the nextArmy Selection Board for Course No.8 of the Nigeria Military Training Col-lege (NMTC) in the city of Kaduna.The interview and selection took placeat Kaduna in August 1963 and lastedfor one week. To the glory of God, mydream came true as I was finally se-lected.

The Nigeria Military Training Col-lege (NMTC), Kaduna No. 8 Coursewas to have started in September 1963.The initial training was to have beenfor four months in NMTC Kaduna af-ter which the successful cadets wereto proceed to various foreign militaryinstitutions for the detailed officers’course and commissioning. For in-stance, I could have been admitted intoCourse No. 7 if my result in the 1962entrance examination had not come tome after the interview had ended.

Major Sharashude (Indian Army) with his "C" Company athletic team in1966 Academy inter-company sports competition. Author: Vest 45.,

,

I was so over-whelmedat seeing military ma-noeuvres live whichwere similar to the onesI had watched in thatwar film called ‘Battan’that I unconsciouslywent on my stomachand crawled into thearena to share the ac-tion with the soldiers.



PEOPLES DemocraticParty, PDP chieftain

from Delta State, Chief God-swil Obielum has urgedthe Delta South and Cen-tral Senatorial districts inthe state to concede the2015 governorship slot toDelta North without anystrings attached.

Speaking while receivinga delegation of AniomaAgenda during a courtesycall, the PDP chieftain saidif left alone, the top con-tenders for the PDP ticketwould decide on the ticketwithout rancour. The Anio-ma Agenda delegation ledby its chairman, BarristerAlex Onwuaduamu, saidthe group was committed to-wards the emergence of anindigene of Delta North asthe next governor of thestate based on equity, fair-ness and justice on the factthat the zone is the only oneof the three senatorial zonesin the state yet to produce agovernor for the state.

While commending Ani-oma Agenda for its effortsin mobilizing the people,Obielum urged the groupto concentrate its efforts inthe Delta Central and Southsenatorial districts sayingthat he would on his partsustain the cordiality withthe other leading guberna-torial aspirants from thezone.

2015: Obielumseeks guberconcessionto Delta North

A NEW pressuregroup, Movement

for Fundamental Change(MFC) has emerged tocheckmate poor gover-nance in the country. Themovement, being proposedto operate like a UK-modelshadow government willdevelop and promote patri-otic policy positions on ma-jor public issues, cuttingacross all sectors, and useall democratic means tocompel government to com-ply with its positions.

In a keynote address de-livered at the inauguralmeeting of the group heldin Lagos, one of the con-veners, Engr. Martin Ono-vo, noted that the situationin Nigeria called for seri-ous concern of all compa-triots as the country was onthe brink of dysfunctionali-ty.

Onovo listed dysfunction-alities in the governance toinclude the rating of thecountry as the second mostcorrupt in the whole world,having the lowest 'publicpower capacity per capita’worldwide, the only OPECmember importing refinedpetroleum products, has thehighest infant and mater-nal mortality’ rate world-wide.

Group seeksshadow govtin Nigeria

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

O N A N U G A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissModupe ElizabethOnanuga, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Modupe ElizabethDurotolorun. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A D I E L A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissLinda WakaebinyoAdiela, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.G a b r i e l l aWakaebinyo Okpefe.All former documentsremain valid.General publicplease take note.

OKONKWO—I, for-merly known and ad-dressed as MissOkonkwo ChidinmaUzoma, now wish tobe known and ad-dressed as Mrs Nwo-bele Chidinma Uzo-ma. All former docu-ments remain valid.Canadian Embassyand general publicplease take note.

OKAFOR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OkaforSandra EuchariaEbere, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. IromuanyaSandra EuchariaEberechukwu. Allformer documentsremain valid.University of Nigeria,Nsukka; Nwafor OrizuCollege of EducationNsugbe, NYSC andgeneral public pleaset a k enote .

Reconciliation of Name

This is to certify that thename(s) OgechukwuNdidi Madubuike,Linda OgechukwuM a d u b u i k e ,Ogechukwu GiftMadubuike, SylviaO g e c h u k w uMadubuike refer to oneand the same person,that I now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. IhemegbulamSylvia Ogechukwu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

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ALI —I, formally knownand addressed as MissModester Nnedinso Ali,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Modester NnedinsoOnuh. Formerdocuments remainvalid. NPFMicrofinance Bank,First Bank, University ofNigeria, Nsukka, UNN,and the general publictake note.

UKWANDU—I, for-merly known and ad-dressed as Miss Uk-wandu ChibugoHarriette, now wishto be known and ad-dressed as Mrs.Nwakama ChibugoHarriette. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O G B O N — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOgbon MercyOghare, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Mercy OghareKalusi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKORONKWO—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOkoronkwo GraceAmarachi, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Okoronkwo GraceAmarachi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. NYSC andgeneral publicplease take note.

A N O Z I E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAnozie ObiageliAlexandra, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Onyeagoro ObiageliAlexandra. Allformer documentsremain valid.Federal College ofComplimentary andA l t e r n a t i v eMedicine, FederalMinistry of Healthand general publicplease take note.

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O Z E G B E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asStephen Ozegbe,now wish to beknown andaddressed asApostle StephenJoseph. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation ofNameMy Wife’s formername is MatildaAdepeju Ajayi and thenew name is MatildaAdepeju Alagbada,while my colleague’sformer name isYewande OyinkansolaOkunfulure and hernew name is YewandeOyinkansola Ajilore.All former documentaremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.


Presidency wades into unpaid subsidy palaver

THERE are indica-tions that the Presi-

dency may have decidedto wade into the contro-versy surrounding thePetroleum SubsidyFund, PSF, overseen bythe Ministry of Financein the wake of allega-tions of massive fraudwhich bedeviled thescheme.

The move is informedby the possibility of pe-troleum products scarcityof immense magnitudein the Yuletide, if mon-ies owed Nigerian Na-tional Petroleum Corpo-ration, NNPC, and pri-vate oil marketers are notpaid.

NNPC, at the moment,has almost become thesole importer of prod-ucts, against previous ar-rangements where pri-vate marketers were re-sponsible for 90 percentof products distributionnationwide.

Jonathan's dilemmaVanguard reliably

gathered that the Presi-dent was caught betweenensuring that due proc-ess was followed, nomatter how long it took,and seeing Nigerianssuffer scarcity during theholidays or civil unrestas queues resurfaced infuel stations across ma-jor cities in the country.

A presidency source,who spoke to Vanguardon condition of anonym-ity, explained that Presi-dent Jonathan was alsoin support of a hard-linestance against market-ers, who might have de-frauded the system un-der the PSF scheme.

The source said theMinistry of Financemight be directedanytime soon to ensurea speedy payment proc-ess to all marketers, whostill have legitimate sub-sidy claims and have notbeen indicted by the AigImokhuede Committee.

According to thesource, “the seemingface-off between two min-istries over unpaidclaims is unnecessary as

they are all working forthe interest of the gov-ernment.

“I think in the end whattakes precedence to Mr.President is the comfortof all Nigerians, espe-cially at this Yuletideperiod and going for-ward.”

Marketers speakWhen contacted, Secre-

tary-General of the Ma-jor Oil Marketers Asso-ciation of Nigeria,MOMAN, Mr. ObafemiOlawore, said: “If theMinistry of Finance waswaiting for theImoukhuede Committeereport and it has beensubmitted, then thosenot indicted should bepaid immediately, andNNPC should also makeit clear that they alonecannot service the entire

country.“If they pay NNPC and

the remaining marketersare not paid, there wouldstill be queues so thePresidency should sim-ply ensure that the fi-nance ministry pays eve-ryone that has a legiti-mate claim to make.

“There have been noimportation due to thehuge debts owed oil mar-keters and the NNPChad been saddled withthe task of over 85 per-cent of total importation,while 15 percent goes tomarketers.

“It is, however, impor-tant to note that therehas been instanceswhere marketers havebeen responsible for 60percent of importedproducts and the NNPChad 40 percent and nowit is 85 to 15 percent.”

Mr. Olawore statedfurther that it was im-portant for the debt ofabout N120 to N140 bil-lion to be paid thisweek if the governmentwas serious about en-suring a scarcity-freeyuletide for all Nigeri-ans.

According to him, itwon’t take less than twoweeks to land a vesselin the country, hence ifpayments were made tomarketers this week,they could make theirorder and products willbe arriving the countryfrom the second week ofDecember when the holi-day season would be atits peak.

He noted further thatthe problems of the mar-keters had been the in-terest rates from thebanks, which he puts at

BY YEMIE ADEOYE Pay within one week or...— MarketersLegitimate claims' payment ongoing— Okonjo-Iweala32 days' fuel product available— NNPC

22 percent and which ac-cording to him, is “kill-ing the marketers” as thebanks were no longerlending, in view of thehuge debt which govern-ment was not settling.

Okonjo-IwealaIn a swift response,

however, the Co-coordi-nating Minister for theEconomy and Finance,Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated that pay-ments of all marketerslegitimately owed wascurrently ongoing.

She added that theMinistry was not una-ware that the Yuletideseason needed to betaken care of and woulddo all it could to ensurethat Nigerians didn’t faceany hardship as a result


DR. OLUSEGUN AGAGU

NEBULOUS yardsticks suchas school enrolment,

terrain, number of hospital bedsand developmental effortsshould be jettisoned as theyconstitute avenues for fraud andcorruption. Having received itsfair share, every state will thenbe able to conduct its own affairsthe way her people want. Theycan create as many LocalGovernment Council Areas asthey like and recommendremunerations for their staff asthey deem fit. We will then beable to redress situations such aswhere Lagos State with apopulation of about 15millionpeople and contributingsubstantially to the FederationAccount will have 20 localgovernment areas while stateslike Osun with a population of2.6 million people have 30 localgovernment areas orKatsina witha population of 4.4 millionpeople having 34 localgovernment areas.

Funding of localgovernments: The funding of the774 local governments in thecountry has generatedconsiderable acrimony especiallysince the onset of the presentdemocratic dispensation.Accusations, denials andinvestigations on the diversion oflocal government funds by stategovernors have been rife in thepolity. A clear provision should,therefore, be made in the on-going constitutional review toclearly redress the matter.

Our recommendation is that theconstitution should clearly statethat a specific percentage of the

total of a state allocation from thefederation account, to includestatutory derivation, VAT, etc.should be allocated to localgovernments in the state by aState/Local GovernmentAccounts Committee. To ensurethat grassroot development iswell funded nationwide, werecommend a 60/40 sharing ratiobetween the state governmentand the local governmentadministration. Only clearindices such as landmass,population and derivationshould be used here.

Derivation and fiscalfederalism: The debate on thequantum of revenue from naturalresources that should be retainedby states in which they occur(derivation) has perhapsoccupied more space in ourpolitical discourse than any otherissue.

Control ofnatural resources

Arguments have raged fromthose that advocate that statesshould totally control revenuethat is derived from naturalresources in their territory andpay only a small percentage tothe Federal Government to those

who want substantialfederal control andrelatively even sharing.As has been the situationin other constitutionalreview exercises, theissue of derivation isexpected to generate a lotof heat during the currentexercise. One expects,however, that goodcounsel will prevail anda give and take attitudewill be adopted bydecision takers to ensureequity, unity, peace andreasonable consensus inthe nation. It is our viewthat a number of issues

should be highlighted in oursearch for consensus on thissensitive matter. These include:

(a) Percentage for derivation: The high percentage (50 percent and more) allocated toderivation under the regionalconstitutions were workable thenas the relatively large sizes of theregions evened out thedistribution of valuable resourcessuch that no region was grosslydisadvantaged. To insist on suchhigh percentages now that wehave 36 states will clearly createa “few oasis within a large body

of deserts”. This certainly willnot engender a harmoniousrelationship among the states nora peaceful co-existence amongour people. A contrary view thatpreaches a low percentage forderivation will also encourageviolent agitation and theaccompanying disruption inproduction and revenue loss.Between these two extremes, areasonable balance can benegotiated.

(b) Consideration for oilproducing local governments:The progressive increase in thepercentages allocated forderivation (from 1 per cent to 13per cent) that we have seen overthe last three decades can bejustified, on the basis of equityand the need to remediate thedegradation that mining andother production activities impacton the environment and sociallife of the production areas.

Development ofactual producing areas

It is, however, unfortunate thatmany states that earn huge sumsfrom derivation direct very littleof the derivation funds towardsthe development of the actualproducing areas. Such lack ofsensitivity must be addressed inthe constitution to ensure that asubstantial part of the derivationfunds are utilised to develop theactual natural resource producingareas.

(c) Community profit sharingwith operators: The propositionin the Draft Petroleum IndustryBill (PIB) that makes for thecontribution of five per cent of theprofit made by operators from theexploration and production of oiland gas into a CommunityDevelopment Fund for thedevelopment of the hostcommunities is a welcomedevelopment. This is clearlydifferent from derivation funds

which are managed by the stateGovernments. It must be madeclear to all that oil producingcommunities are the actuallocalities where production takesplace. The people there willnaturally have ownershipsentiments and a sense ofdeprivation if such provisions arenot made. The principle ofcommunity profit sharing withoperators in our production areasshould be extended to othersectors as it will go a long way inpromoting peace, communitycollaboration, enhancedproduction and revenue inflowfor the nation.

(d) Onshore/offshoredichotomy: Based onpronouncements being madefrom the two sides of the divideon this issue, it appears that the


Political reforms for goodgovernance, justice and peace (2)

metre isobath is a reasonable limitbeyond which offshoreexploration and productionactivities will not impactnegatively on coastalcommunities. We cannot, in rightconscience, expect our coastalcommunities to continue to watchthe degradation of theirimmediate environment andannihilation of coastal fishing byoil pollution without asking forcompensation. For the sake ofequity, justice and peace, theprinciple of extending the limitfor derivation for littoral states tothe 200 metre isobath should thistime be properly entrenched inthe constitution once and for all.

Conclusion: It is our prayerthat the present effort by theNational Assembly at amendingour constitution succeeds in

This is the concluding partof the contribution of Dr.Olusegun Agagu, formergovernor of Ondo State tothe National Assemblycommittee on Review of the1999 Constitution. The firstpart was published lastFriday.

controversy on the onshore/offshore dichotomy in oil revenuesharing has not been laid to rest.Indeed, the on-going debate onthe impending constitutionalreview appears to have furtherfuelled the controversy. As thelittoral, oil producing states aredrumming up their clamour forhigher percentages forderivation; the non-oil producingstates appear to have found newvigour in insisting that theprovision in the 1999 constitutionon onshore/offshore dichotomybe implemented to the letter.

Our plea is that the controversyshould be modulated since thepolitical solution of 2004 wasendorsed by all the states and theFederal Government. Theconsensus reached on the 200

making our polity moreharmonious and efficiently run.We urge our Senate and ourHouse of Representative leadersto consider the exercise asfundamental and sine qua nonfor the return of our nation to thepath of peace and progress. Weplead that our State Governorsand State Assemblies shouldwork closely with the NationalAssembly in making the exerciseincisive, thorough, rancour freeand conclusive within the life ofthe present National Assembly.What the rest of us should do iscontribute ideas that can enrichthe present exercise and allowour legislators, who have theconstitutional duty of amendingour constitution, to do their jobwithout let or hindrance.

For the sake of equity, justice and peace,the principle of extending the limit forderivation for littoral states to the 200metre isobath should this time be properlyentrenched in the constitution once andfor all

,

,

Contending with oil and gas pollution in the Niger Delta region...derivation should be properly entrenched in the constitution


D E F E N D I N Gchampions of the

National Sports Festival,Team Rivers have beencharged to further raisethe bar in terms of themost gold medals won inthe history of the Games.

Team Rivers set a recordat the 17th NationalSports Festival hosted byRivers state with a totalhaul of 135 gold medals.

THE BIG RELAY: A Lagos State athlete with the Torch of Eko 2012 sports festival inLagos, Saturday. Chairman of the LOC and Deputy Gov Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire(3rdfrom left), Lagos State Commissioner for Sports Enitan Oshodi and Secretary of theLOC, Kweku Tandoh(ist from left) were part of the relay.

Team Rivers targets 160 goldmedals at Eko festival

However, the chairmanof Team Rivers Participa-tion Committee at the18th National Sports Fes-tival, tagged Eko 2012,Engr Tele Ikuru hascharged the state’s con-tingent to win a mini-mum of 160 gold medalsand further cement herplace in the history of thegames.

Tele Ikuru, who is alsothe Deputy Governor of

Danny Jordan commends Lagos

THE chief executiveofficer of the 2010

FIFA World Cup, DrDanny Jordaan, hascommended Lagos Stateover preparations put inplace for the 18thNation-al Sports Festival, Eko2012. festival.

Speaking at the Eko2012 international sportsseminar with the theme,

BY MMACHUILECHUKWU

Rivers, gave the chargewhile addressing the ath-letes that will representthe state at their Univer-sity of Port Harcourt campon the eve of their depar-ture for Lagos.

He said his optimism oftargeting a record 160gold medals is hinged onhow the state has pre-pared well for the gamesand the quality of talentsavailable in the team.

C-River eyes 14 goldmedals at Eko 2012By JOHNBOSCO

AGBAKWURU, Calabar

CROSS River StateGovernment haspredicted that the stateathletes to the NationalSports Festival that be-gins in Lagos tomorrowwill win at least 14 goldmedals.

The Commissioner forSports and Youths Devel-opment, Mr. PatrickUgbe expressed opti-mism at the weekendwhile briefing journalistsin Calabar. He said thatthe state expects the ath-letes to double the state’s

achievements from theirlast outing in RiversState.

Ugbe said, “We believethat we can improve onour performance in thelast sport festival that washeld in Port Harcourt,Rivers State. Then, wehad seven gold medalsand this year we believewe would do much betterthan that.

“We expect a hundredper cent improvement inour performances at thegames which means aminimum of 14 gold med-als, but I think we can dobetter than 14 gold med-als.

“National sports festival:A driver for social, eco-nomic and national de-velopment” last week hesaid; “the seminar iswonderfulbut Nigeriashould start preparingfor the big events”.

Jordan who flew intoNigeria on the morningof the seminar told hisaudience that Nigeriawas ripe for big timeevents as the countryboasts a vibrant econo-my second to none onthe continent.

Odeyemi clinches NNPC Juniortitle

AYOBAMI Odeyemifrom Abeokuta

Sports Club yesterdayupset the No.1 seed,M o h a m m e dMohammed, from Abujato win the boys 16singles title of the NNPCJunior CircuitChampionships whichended yesterday inLagos.

Odeyemi, the thirdseed, saved a total of 11

break points on hisserves in the pro setmatch which ended 9-7.Mohammed who wastipped to win thetournament kost hisserve to trail 2-4 butturned on the heat down4-8, saving two matchpointsin the final gamebut the Abeokuta boymanaged to hang on towin.

CMYK


A million Naira forfestival gold

and in the true spirit of the Olympics with“…glory in participation” as the drivingprinciple.

Immediately after the second All AfricaGames, the National Sports Commissionsent a three man committee to West Ger-many to study their principle of mass par-ticipation in sports and they came back torecommend a biennial sports festival inNigeria founded on the German model.

The festival was to be amateur in na-ture, mass participation in concept anddiscovery of talents as the ultimate.

They also recommended the promotionof unity and friendship among the youthsthroughout the country.

Intermediate andsenior categories

It will be recalled that when the festivalkicked off in 1973, competitions were heldin the junior, intermediate and senior cat-egories. There was no problem with thisuntil Kwara 1985 when the craze for goldand ephemeral glory eroded the originalaims of the festival leading to mass cheat-ings and falsification of age and medicaldocuments.

Then came an era of poaching of ath-letes, where potential gold medalists soldtheir skills and prowess to the highest bid-der. It was therefore common to see stateswithout rivers and pools winning swim-ming medals! Till date, the National SportsFestival has not recovered from the can-ker worm of “superiority” where empha-sis is placed on the medals table ratherthan on the discovery of talent. The crazeand fight for positions which leads to ac-cusations and acrimony has also led to therelegation of friendship and unity that ismeant to rule the games.

Perhaps the only legacy that the festivalis still propagating is the provision of in-frastructure, one that host states benefitfrom. More recently, Kaduna, and PortHarcourt can boast the best sports infra-structure, one that may not have beenpossible without them hosting the festi-val. Ordinarily this development is alsoexpected to extend to the provision of roads,upgrading of hotels, communication fa-cilities, beefing up of security and othersocial amenities.

This is where Governor Godswill Akpa-

bio of Akwa ibom State took off from, whenhe sent off the state athletes to Lagos, Fri-day night at the ultra modern banquet hallin Uyo. The apostle of “Uncommon Trans-formation” said he was not going to waittill he hosts the festival to provide the statewith the state of the art sports facilities.He pointed at the President GoodluckJonathan foundation laid Olympic sizestadium under construction in Uyo andwent ahead to invite the country to itsopening in 2013.

Most importantly the governor told thestate contingent that gold in Lagos shouldbe a means to an end, “….try me and see.Win gold in Lagos and benefit from spon-sorship to the best sporting programmesand training facilities anywhere in theworld. You and this state will be the onesto bail this country out from the presentsports doldrums.”

The governor spoke about the billionsof dollars that can be gotten from the sportsindustry and wished he was a successfulsportsman rather than a governor ( thosepresent were willing to switch positionswith him ….) On a serious note he toldthem to go to Lagos and win medals andthen come back and tell him what theywant to become. “ …Let your success inLagos be a passport to future greatness.Remember that you come from a state thathas been acknowledged for its uncommontransformation and sports cannot be dif-ferent.

“ You must remember that he who wakesup in the morning to find himself a suc-cess was not sleeping. It is only in thedictionary that “work” comes before “suc-cess”. You must go to Lagos and be trueambassadors of your state by imbibing theculture of discipline and dedication. Youmust stay focused and concentrated,knowing quite well that victory comes ina split second.

“ Don’t dope. If by chance you find your-self lying second, forge on, you may getto your hotel room to discover that the ath-lete ahead of you was on dope and youhave been elevated to a gold medal posi-tion….” He rewarded the gold medalistsin the 2011 festival in Port Harcourt with amillion naira each and said though he con-gratulated them for coming out 8th over-all, he was expecting something betterfrom Lagos.

IN the next two weeksLagos, host of the first

and second National SportsFestivals in 1973 and 1975,will be the focus of Nige-ria’s sports attention as allthe states of the federationand Abuja run, jump, kicklift, swim and throw all insearch of glory for theirstates. The founding fa-thers of the National SportsFestival will also tell youthat the festival was meantto engender unity amongthe youths of the country

FRIENDS, well wishers, colleagues,kith and kin were all praise to God

as Olympic Gold medalist Chioma Ajun-wa dedicated her set of triplets yesterdayat the Four Square Gospel Church, MendeMaryland.

The highlight of the service was of coursethe dedication of the kids especially whenit came to the girl, Ruth, Chioma Junior.The officiating minister saw another Olym-pic gold in the making, 15 0r fewer yearsfrom now.

For Joshua, Caleb and Ruth he prophe-

Chioma Ajunwa Junior dedicated for gold

sied divine protection and guidance, nowthat they have been handed over to God.

Chioma Ajunwa in her testimony gaveglory to God for visiting her when she hadlost hope. That after eight years of mar-riage, she was at the point of resigning tofate when God appeared and gave hercause for everlasting joy.

After much dancing and songs of praise,the Police band took the stage and enter-tained guests present with sweet melo-dies of praise.

See you during the festival



Continues from B/Pfor the world to view thetourism potentials ofLagos.

Aside the calisthenics

We’ll blow your mind

Team Delta arrives

and the way the club isrun appeals to Pep.

“Right now I’d beastonished if he went toChelsea. He really wantsto wait for the United jobeven if it meansextending his time out ofthe game.”

Guardiola wants to beable to concentrate on allaspects of the footballclub without interferencefrom above.

Red Rom’s constanthiring and firing ofmanagers — interim chiefRafa Benitez is his ninthboss in a decade — doesnot appeal.

Guardiola

display, the openingceremony will witness thecarnival like nature of thestate.

Foremost musicianswill also be part of theceremony, which willcommence at 5pm onTuesday.

According to the LOCSecretary General,Kweku Tandoh,Nigerians should notmiss the ceremony, as thebest of the state will be ondisplay with the gateopening at 3pm with pre-opening ceremonyactivities.

Tandoh, however,urged motorists to parktheir vehicles at theNational Stadium withoutany fee.

“I think the openingceremony is what wewant Nigerians not tomiss because it is onlywhen they witness it thatthey can assess it. Thepre-activities before theproper openingceremony will start at 3pmwhen the gate will beopened, while the mainevent will commence fewminutes after 5pm. Sonobody should miss it,”the LOC scribe said.

Continues from B/P

Mrs Roli Udughan, hitthe mega city in a convoyof buses and headedstraight for theHeadquarters of TREMin Gbadaga, to receivespecial prayers from Dr.Mike Okonkwo.

Looking splendid intheir uniform ankaranative wear, the teamexuded confidence of agreat hunting ground forgold medals when pushcomes to shove at thefestival.

Parading a rich array oftalented athletes, whohave received the highestlevel of coaching andexposure, the athleteslooked relaxed ahead ofthe start of hostilities.They seemed confident ofemerging top of the

The mediocre affair didlittle to lift spirits, with Citymarginally the better sidebut unable to fashion thevictory that would havetaken them back aboveManchester United at thetop of the table.

Benitez was left withplenty to ponder after thefrosty response from hisown fans, who directedabusive chants at himduring the game and alsodelivered a minute’sapplause for Di Matteoafter 16 minutes, inhonour of the Italian whowore the number 16 shirtas a player.

And there was no instantrevival for FernandoTorres as he struggledonce more - althoughBenitez will be pleasedwith a clean sheet.

Chelsea

Continues from B/P

Continues from B/P

medals table come theday of the closingceremony on December10 at the Teslim BalagunStadium. Also on hand toreceive the team was theManaging Director ofZenith Bank, Mr.Godwin Emefiele.

Chairman of the DeltaState Sports Commission,Pinnick Amaju, whotraveled with the athletesin their Toyota Hiacebuses from Delta State,said that they were inLagos to reclaim theirbirthright at the NationalSports Festival.

Amaju said that havingexposed the athletes totop-notch training, thathe was confident thatTeam Delta was going tobeat all others to the topof the medals state.

al Lagos, Rhonda Wat-son threw this challengeto Nigerian kids at a foot-ball project tagged “Kicklike a Girl” at Saint Gre-gory’s college ObalendeTuesday.

She said the missionwas interested in empow-

Sports teaches you to be a winner – WatsonBY MMACHI ILECHUKWU

THE United StatesMission has urged

Nigerian girls to embracesports which they saidwas a great unifying fac-tor that could exposethem to other skills thatcould be beneficial tothem.

The public diplomacyofficer for the UnitedStates Consulate Gener-

ering girls to take tosports. “The US missionwants to use this as a glo-bal initiative to empoweryoung girls knowing thatsports is a unifying fac-tor. It will help disciplinethe girls and open theireyes to skills they never

knew they had” Watsontold reporters.

In her own words;“sports will make youchallenge yourselves andteach you how to be awinner”

According to the orga-nizers, the “Kick like aGirl” project is an attemptat breaking stereotypesthat girls are bad atsports, it seeks to createan awareness that girlsare as good as boys whenit comes to sports.

“We are in Lagos toreclaim our first positionon the medals table of theNational Sports Festival.We want to win thetrophy, we have workedhard, trained hard andbeen able to imbibe theset principles ofdiscipline, hard work andbeing very prayerful andif we have to stay with theabiding principles, Ibelieve that we can winthe festival”, said Amaju.

On what informed thevisit to TREM, Amajusaid that “we cannot doanything without Godand I feel that what Godhas a hand in what youdoing that you wouldalways come outvictorious. I believe thatif you put everythingbefore God, you alwayscome out clean”.

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470;Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

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

e-mail: [email protected]

How to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2012

TODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Fragrance (5)5 Tumult (6)8 Solitary (5)10 Joker (6)11 Existence (4)14 Verified (6)15 Always (7)18 Before (3)19 Edge (3)21 Covet (4)23 Prise (5)24 Plot (4)27 Barrier (3)31 Readable (7)32 Bomb-hole (4)35 Pilfer (6)38 Faint (5)39 Seemly (6)40 Trivial (5)

DOWN2 Cereal (3)3 Entangled (6)4 Beer (3)5 Aid (4)6 Earlier (6)7 Valiantly (6)9 Commanded (7)12 Anger (3)13 Level (4)16 Gem (4)17 Emulate (5)20 Souvenir (7)22 Mask (4)24 Selected (6)25 Distant (4)26 Observe (6)28 Predict (6)30 Favourite (3)33 Remainder (4)36 Skip (3)37 Tank (3)

ACROSS: 1, Number 5, Boat 8, Lower 9, Art10, Tool 11, Late 12, Pupil 13, Lulled 16, Melt18, Void 19, Ate 22, Pie 23, Ebb 24, Apex 25,Reel 28, Rudder 30, First 32, Grab 33, Song34, Era 35, Miser 36, Diet 37, Edited.

DOWN: 1, Nearly 2, Mutilate 3, Esteem 4,Volunteer 5, Believe 6, Oral 7, Tier 8, Lop 14,Depressed 15, Nib 17, Lie 19, Obedient 20,Ape 21, Exhibit 26, Lunged 27, Errand 29,Aged 30, Fame 31, Tor.

We’ll blow your mindEko Sports Festival:

Guardiola snubs Chelsea, prefers Man Utd

•Guardiola


New York, fancies movingin at Old Trafford whenAlex Ferguson retires.

That could be at the endof this season.

If not, Guardiola wouldbe prepared to hold outfor another year.

Fergie and Guardiolaare close friends andhave met privately in NewYork.

A source close toGuardiola said: “Thewhole history ofManchester United, hisrelationship with Sir Alex

PEP GUARDIOLA isready to snub

Chelsea because hewants to boss ManchesterUnited.

Blues owner RomanAbramovich is hoping theformer Barcelona chiefwill take over at StamfordBridge next summer.

But Guardiola, who ison a year’s sabbatical in

RAFAEL Benitezsuffered a fiercely

hostile reception fromChelsea’s supporters ashis managerial reignopened with a goallessdraw against PremierLeague championsManchester City atStamford Bridge.

Chelsea owner RomanAbramovich appointedthe former Liverpoolmanager on an interimbasis after sackingRoberto Di Matteo onlysix months after winningthe Champions League

Chelsea fans jeer Benitez

•Chelsea 0 Man City 0

and FA Cup.Benitez’s arrival has

met with an angryresponse Chelsea fans inthe wake of his old rivalrywith them during his timeat Anfield - and theymade their strength offeeling abundantly clear.

The Spaniard was metwith deafening jeerswhen he arrived in thetechnical area beforekick-off, with the stadiumannouncer struggling tomake himself heardahead of a minute’sapplause for formerChelsea manager DaveSexton, who has passedaway.Continues on Page 55

— Organisersboast

THE LocalO r g a n i s i n g

Committee (LOC) of the18th National SportsFestival tagged Eko 2012is planning a colourfuland memorable openingceremony tomorrow at theTeslim Balogun Stadium.

The ceremony will alsobe a replica of whathappened at the London2012 and it is acelebration showcasingthe best of the Lagos.

It also features a paradeof all competing statesand the highlyanticipated entrance ofthe unity torch.

The eyes of the worldwill be on Lagos for theopening ceremony of theEko 2012.

The ceremony willprovide an opportunity


BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

THE most decoratedteam in the last two

decades of the National

Team Delta arrives, vows to reclaim top spot

DELTA FOR SHOW.......First Lady of Delta State, Mrs Roli Uduaghan (4th fromleft), flanked by Managing Director , Zenith Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele andAmaju Pinnick, Chairman, DeltaState Sports Commission, with some Team Deltaathletes, yesterday on arrival at the TREM headquarters in Gbagada. Photo ByDiran Oshe

Sports Festival, TeamDelta, yesterday arrivedLagos in style for the 18th

National Sports Festival,with a vow to reclaim the

title they lost to TeamRivers at the last editionof the nation’s foremostmulti-sports competition.

With the festival

effectively getting intofull swing tomorrow,Team Delta, led by theFirst Lady of the State,Continues on Page 55

•Team Riverstargets 160 gold•C/River eyes14 gold — Pg 52

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