...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62632

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015**

Mr & Mrs

COLUMNIST:

Continues on Page 5

See inside

•Labour rejects governors' stance•Threaten to shut down Nigeria, if...•NLC leaders summon stakeholders' meeting today

Police beef upsecurity ahead ofHID Awolowo'sburial

By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Levinus

Nwabughiogu

ABUJA—THE 36state governors

have said that they canno longer pay theN18,000 minimum wagethat was signed into lawin March 2011 by formerPresident GoodluckJonathan, owing to the

Benin Republic invades 16 Nigerianvillages, hoists flags

Reps in rowdysession oversupplementarybudget

Soludo faults TSA; says Jonathan'sgovt bankrupted economy

We can't pay N18,000minimum wage —GOVS

ROBBERY AND BOMB VICTIMS—A lady victim of the Agbara, Lagos banks' robbery, yesterday,(left) and MusaIdris, victim of Wednesday's suicide bomb attack in Kano(right). Photos: Bartholomew Ndukwe and Abdulsalam Muhammad.

9

Emir cries out

KOGIPOLLS: Thecontenders,influencers,issues

31-33

See Pages 5&39

CMYK

P.19

We arenotafraid

OweiLakemfa

‘Once flagged down or asked to pull over, themotorist is instantly made to feel like a law breakeror criminal even when no offence has beenestablished against him or her.’ Reason? Find outin Vanguard’s Special Report on the Police comingyour way Monday. Don't miss it!

Checkpoint culture

SOUTH WEST VOICE

8

2 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 3

CMYK

4 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

POCKET CARTOONVanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—5

IT'S UP TO YOUBY AYO ADIO

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

We can't pay N18,000 minimumwage —GOVS

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

You cannot run fast looking back.

TO succeed amidst today’s dynamism, you mustfind your uniqueness. What can you do so well

that it seems almost impossible to replace you? It'sup to you.

Continues from Page 1

The greatest thing in this world is not so muchwhere we stand as in what direction we aremoving—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

MATERIAL things do not necessarily bring youhappiness. This is challenging for some

people to understand, especially those striving fortangible things as a source of fulfillment. The poem‘Parenthesis in Eternity’ by Joe Smith gives a deeperand familiar understanding of this principle. “Andthen there are those in eternity who reach a certainstage in which they realize the futility of the constantstriving for things that perish...things which afterthey are obtained, proves to be shadows."

PAN—From left: Managing Director, Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN)Alhaji Ibrahim Boyi; Peugeot's Vice President, Middle-East & Africa, Philip Jean;President Muhammadu Buhari and Chairman, Board of Directors of PAN, theYariman Zazzau, Alhaji Munir Ja’afaru; during the presentation of PAN productsto the President at State House, Abuja. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

poor state of the economy.Organised labour in itsimmediate reaction,however, kicked againstthe governors’ stance,saying workers are readyto shut down the country,if the governors pushthem into it.

Rising from a crucialmeeting that ended in theearly hours of yesterday,at the Old Banquet Hallof the Presidential Villa,Abuja under the umbrellaof Nigerian GovernorsForum, NGF, thegovernors said thatdwindling prices of oilhad drastically affectedtheir states’ income.

Specifically, they saidthat the burden of thewage was lighter when oilsold at $126 as against thecurrent $41 per barrel.

They, therefore, soughtaudience with PresidentMuhammadu Buhari onthe economy, resolvingthat the only way out ofthe quagmire was todiversify the economy

towards agriculture andmining.

Reading thecommunique issued at theend of the meeting,Chairman of the Forumand Governor of ZamfaraState, Abdulaziz Yarihinted that the Forum alsobacked the NigerianC o m m u n i c a t i o n sCommission (NCC) overthe N1.4 trillion sanctionon MTN.

According to him, thegovernors agreed that thefine must be paid in full.

He explained that theyreceived briefing from theActing Executive Vice-C h a i r m a n / C h i e fExecutive Officer of NCC,Professor Umar Dambatawho explained the matterto them.

He said: “We resolvedthat we must look at waysto enhance revenuegeneration and at thesame time look at ways tocut our overhead costs,especially the politicaloffice holders’ salaries andother overhead expenses.

“The situation is no

longer the same when wewere asked to payN18,000 minimum wage,when oil price was $126(per barrel) and wecontinued payingN18,000 minimum wagewhen the oil price is $41,while the source ofgovernment expenditureis from oil, and we havenot seen prospects in theoil industry in the nearfuture.

We can nolonger pay — Govs“We will diversify our

economy in the area ofagriculture and mining.But at the same time, weshould understand oursituation where some of us(states) today are takingN100 million as monthlyallocation and then havesalaries of over N2 billionto pay.

“We, therefore, agreedhere to take thissuggestion to NEC in ourmeeting today(yesterday) so that we canfind ways to tackle thisproblem.

“We are also looking atcoming together to havediscussions with Mr.President and his team,technocrats and experts inthe economy to see howwe can tackle thisproblem. We are workingharder to deal with it.

“On the sanction by theNCC, MTN has acceptedcommitting the offenceand has apologised, andis appealing for leniency;we the governors forumdecided to support theNCC to abide by the lawsof the land and the lawsof our land do not giveleniency to deliberateoffence to our nation.”

Labour vows toshut downNigeria, if...

In their reaction, leadersof Nigeria LabourCongress, NLC, andTrade Union Congress ofNigeria, TUC, warnedthat if the governorswanted workers to shutdown the nation because

of the issue, workerswould gladly do so,saying “the governorsshould not think that theNigerian workers do nothave the capacity toretrench them.”

Factional President ofNLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba,while insisting thatNigerian workers totallyreject the governors’position, warned that ifthe governors wantedorganised labour to closedown the country, labourwas ready to do so. Heconfirmed that the NLCwould be meeting todayon the platform of theCentral WorkingCommittee, CWC, and theissue would featureprominently after which astatement would bereleased.

Wabba said: “We rejectit totally. Nigerianworkers will never acceptit. We all know that it is areality that N18,000 canno longer take the workershome and cannot sustainany family. Manycountries are reviewingtheir minimum wageupwards to meet thecurrent realities. InNigeria, there is evengreater need to increasethe minimum wagebecause our currency hadbeen devalued; inflationkeeps rising amongothers.

"What is the relation ofthe Nigerian currency tothe Dollar or what is thevalue of the N18,000 to theDollar? We are going toreject the move with allour might. We are not thecause of the problem.They should think out ofthe box to find solution tothe problem. When therewas excess crude money,the workers did not benefitand so, we cannot bearthe brunt. If the governorswant us to close down thecountry, we will do that.

"What about theiroutrageous salaries,bloated overhead cost,inflated contracts andothers? NLC is meetingtomorrow (today) on theorgan of the CentralWorking Committee,CWC. Obviously wecannot bear the brunt.They governors shouldthink of how to generaterevenue instead ofdepending on oil moneyand allocation from Abuja.

“The governors shouldknow that the N18,000minimum wage was notjust negotiated, it was aproduct of a tripartiteprocess involving thegovernors, employers andorganised labour. Itpassed through theNational Assembly beforeformer PresidentJonathan signed it intolaw. If any party wants tobreach or renege on suchagreement, they shouldbe prepared for theconsequences.

"We know there arechallenges, but thegovernors should facereality. The problem is thecost of governance andtoo many frivolities. Today,with crazy bills fromelectricity providers,increase in fuel price,school fees, hospital bills,

and other utilities,N18,000 cannot take anyworker to the bus stop. Wewant to know theirsalaries as approved bythe Revenue and FiscalM o b i l i s a t i o nCommission, that of theircommissioners, advisersand others, their securityvotes and others.

It's an emptythreat — Ajaero

Similarly, hiscounterpart, Mr. JoeAjaero, dismissed thegovernors' resolution asan empty threat. He saidmost of them wereignorant of the processthat brought about theN18,000 minimum wage,warning the governorsnot to start a battle theycould not sustain becauseNigerian workers had thecapacity to retrench them.

According to him: "Well,because of the falling oilprices, soleadministrators should beappointed in the 36 statesand Abuja and the officeof state governors shouldbe abolished. The soleadministrators should nothave one singlecommissioner or adviser.They should also notreceive any salary orallowance because we arein a belt-tighteningperiod for us to survive.The governors shouldknow that the process thatbrought about theN18,000 minimum wagewas more democratic thanthe process that broughtmost of them to power.They do not have thecapacity to abolish theminimum wage. We areeven planning to presenta new proposal forupward review of thewage because, not only isit due for review, it is alsono longer in tune with thesocio-economic reality ofthe time.

"Do not forget that theminimum wage is an actthat was passed into lawby the National Assemblyand signed into law byformer PresidentGoodluck Jonathan inMarch, 2011. The day thegovernors say they can nolonger pay the N18,000minimum wage, that is theday they should vacateoffice as governors. Theyshould not make themistake that workers haveno capacity to retrenchthem from office."

On his part, Secretary-General of the Trade

Union Congress ofNigeria, TUC, Mr. MusaLawal, said labour wouldnever accept that and itwould be rejected andresisted with all powersavailable.

According to him, thegovernors cannot say theycan no longer pay theminimum wage. "If theydo, we are going to rejectand resist it with whateverit takes. Though we willmeet to reactappropriately, but we aredefinitely not accepting it.We are presenting aproposal for upwardreview of the wagebecause it is no longermeeting the realities onground.”

N EIGHBOURINGBenin Republic has

invaded 16 villages inOkuta, the border town inBaruten Local GovernmentArea of Kwara State,causing fear and tension inthe affected communities.

In their determination toannex the Nigerian villages,Vanguard reliably gatheredthat authorities of BeninRepublic had gone ahead toconstruct offices fot itsgendarmerie (Police station)in the affected communitiesand also hoisted thecountry’s flag.

When Vanguard soughtthe reaction of the SpecialAdviser to PresidentMuhammadu Buhari onMedia, Mr Femi Adesina onthe development, hedirected us to the Ministerof Information & Culture,Alhaji Lai Mohammed whoin turn directed us to contactKwara State Government orthe State Police Commandon the issue.

In his reaction, KwaraState Police PublicRelations Officer, Mr AjayiOkasanmi said “the StatePolice Command has notbeen officially informed ofthe invasion by the BeninRepublic. But now that wehave been informed, theCommand will actimmediately and contactthe nearest police station tothe communities to getfeedback. We will thendecide what to do next”.SEE MORE DETAILS

ON PAGE 39.

Benin Repinvades 16Nigerianvillages,hoist flags

By DemolaAkinyemi

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

Police arrest robbery suspects, injure4 alleged kidnappers in Abia

Man jailed 15 years for raping 9-year-old girl Courtremandsman, 26, inprison formurder

By Dayo Johnson

By Tina Akannam

By Anayo Okoli

4 in Police net over kidnap attempt in Ilorin

DUTSE—A Jigawa StateHigh Court has

sentenced 25-year-old SaniIsa, alias Sani Dogo of Zarenavillage in Birnin Kudu LocalGovernment Area, to 15 yearsimprisonment for rape.

Delivering the judgement,Justice Ubali Ahmad Taura

said the accused admittedcommitting the offence with anine-year-old girl last year atZarena village.

According to the judge, theoffence is contrary to section282 (1)of the penal code.

Justice Ubali-Taura said thefive witnesses who testified incourt confirmed that Sani

Dogo raped the under-agedgirl and sentenced him inaccordance with section 283 ofthe penal court.

However, one of the familymembers of the defiled girlwho pleaded not to bementioned, said he was happywith the outcome of the case.

He said if rapists were

convicted for their wickedacts, cases of rape of under-aged girls would be reduced.

He called on parents ofunder-aged and teenagerape victims in the state totake their grievances to acourt of law to seek for justiceand reduce cases of rape inthe state. AKURE—A 26-year-

old man, FrancisGabriel, has beenordered by an AkureChief Magistrate’s Courtto be remanded in prisoncustody for allegedlycausing the death of 20-year-old Henry Alisonby hitting him with apestle on the head.

The PresidingM a g i s t r a t e , M r sOlayinka Omole, said theaccused should beremanded in Olokutaprisons custody, pendingthe receipt of legaladvice from the StateDirector of PublicProsecution, DPP.

Francis was brought tothe court by men of theNigerian Police Force ona one -count charge ofmurder.

Police ProsecutorInspector MartinOlowofeso, said theaccused personcommitted the offence atabout 5:pm at Marketroad, Alade Idanre, inthe Ondo StateMagistrial District, onOctober 20,2015.

The offence accordingto him, is contrary to andpunishable under section316 and 319 of theCriminal Code Cap 37Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo stateof Nigeria, 2006.

Inspector Olowofeso toldthe court that the accusedperson murdered HenryAlison by hitting him on thehead with a mortal pestle.

The action of the accusedperson, according to him,resulted in the death of thedeceased.

Inspector Olowofesopleaded with the court foradjournment to enable himsend the duplicate of thecase file to the Director ofPublic Prosecution for legaladvice.

The prosecutor, therefore,prayed the court to remandthe accused person inprison custody, pending theadvice from the office of theDPP.

In her ruling, thePresiding Magistrate, MrsOlayinka Omole, orderedthat the accused person beremanded in OlokutaPrison custody, pending theoutcome of the advice.

Chief Magistrate Omole,thereafter, adjourned thecase till December 12, thisyear .

UMUAHIA—ABIA Statepolice command said

yesterday that its men fromUmuobiakwa police station inObingwa Local GovernmentArea of the state have arrestedtwo armed robbery suspectsand wounded four suspectedkidnappers in a gun battle atUratta Primary School in IsialaNgwa North council.

The wounded kidnapsuspects, according to theState Police Public RelationOfficer, Ezekiel Onyeke, aDeputy Superintendent ofPolice, are members of a gangof suspected kidnappers whoplanned and attempted tokidnap a produce merchant inthe area.

The police scribe said thefour suspects, who hadperfected a plot to kidnap theirvictim, ran into the waitingarms of the policemen whomonitored the situation,following a tip-off.

He said: “On sighting thepolice, the suspects openedfire on them and in theensuing gun battle, four of thesuspects were fatally wounded,while others escaped.

“Items recovered from theminclude a double barrel shotgun with one expended andone live cartridge in itschamber, one locally madepistol with one expendedround of cartridge in thechamber, twenty expended(empty shell) automatic rifleammunition, seven expendedcartridges, an axe, charms andwallets.

“In one of the wallets foundon them was an Alvan IkokuFederal College of Education,Owerri identity card bearingthe name of ChimezieOlileanya Hope of theDepartment of Education,Political Science and inanother wallet was foundINEC voters card bearing thename of Gabriel NwakodoChukwuem.”

He said the police were onthe trail of the suspects andappealed to the public toprovide information that couldlead to their arrest.

AKURE—FOUR suspectedkidnappers have been

arrested by detectives in OndoState Police Command forattempting to abduct a 26-year-old man, Idris Sule, anddemand for N10 millionramson.

The suspects, Dua Audu,Mohammed Seriki, AuduMetua and Adamu Ibrahim,were reportedly arrested inIlorin, the Kwara State capital.

Vanguard gathered that thesuspects during a telephone

Also, the police said theyhave arrested 21-year-oldWilson Ubazuruha andOkechukwu Kalu Okore, 20,said to be members of a three-man gang of armed robbersthat robbed a poultry feedshop at Umukaya and shot a

woman on the chest.The trio were said to have

successfully robbed the shopowner after firing several gunshots and were on their wayout when they ran into thewaiting arms of the police.

The police said that a locally

made revolver pistol wasrecovered from the suspects.

According to him, the thirdmember of the gang,identified as Star Boy, saidto be the leader of the gang,escaped arrest.

FUEL SCARCITY: Women hawking petrol, as scarcity of the product bites harder inBenin City, Edo State. Photo: NAN.

conversation with the victim,demanded for N10m to halt hisabduction.

It was gathered that thesuspects threatened to kidnapthe victim if the money was notpaid within a stipulated period.

Reports had it that thesuspects must have been giventhe would-be victim'stelephone number by one of hisaides, with the hope ofthreatening him to cough outthe money.

Contacted, the police imagemaker, Femi Joseph, said the

suspects were currently inpolice detention and wouldsoon be arraigned in court.

According to him, the victimof the attempted abductionreported the telephoneconversation which ensuedbetween him and the suspectsto the police.

He said the suspects werearrested through the telephoneline they used to communicateand negotiate with the victim.

The police scribe assured thatother fleeing suspects wouldsoon be apprehended andcharged to court.

By Dayo Johnson

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015 — 7

Ogun bank robbery: Mobile policeman shot dead•Pregnant woman, 11 others hit by stray bullets

•It was like a theatre of war —Residents

•As robbers attack bank customer in Lagos

By Evelyn Usman

LAGOS — OVER 10 gunmen,yesterday, stormed some

banks in Agbara area of OgunState, killing a mobile policemanattached to one of the banks.

About 12 persons, including apregnant woman, were reportedlyhit by stray bullets from therampaging robbers, while severalothers sustained varying degreesof injury in the ensuingstampede.

The gunmen, suspected to bemilitants, who attacked somebanks in Festac area of Lagos lastmonth, killing a mother of two andtwo other banks earlier at Ikoroduand Lekki areas of Lagos, werereportedly clad in militarycamouflage, with black bands tiedaround their heads.

They were said to have stormedBank Road, where about ninebanks are located, at about 8 amin two vehicles, a Toyota Siennaand Camry, announcing theirpresence with sporadic gunshotswhich sent residents and passers-by scampering for safety.

They reportedly denoted adynamite in front of one of the firstgeneration banks as twopolicemen who attempted to repelthe attack were shot.

While one of them, CorporalKadiri, was said to have died onthe spot, while doctors at anundisclosed hospital battled tosave the life of the other cop whowas shot in the right rib.

The operationEyewitnesses said four of the

gunmen entered the firstgeneration bank, collected theguns from the policemen that wereshot and used the guns to shatterthe Automated Teller Machines inthe bank’s premises.

The eyewitnesses said therobbers proceeded into thebanking hall where they orderedeveryone to lie down anddemanded for the bank’smanager with the vault’s key. Itcould not, however, beascertained if they penetrated thevault.

It was learned that othermembers of the gang outside thebank positioned themselvesstrategically to ward off intruders,firing non-stop.

In the process, stray bulletsreportedly hit passers-by,including an unidentifiedpregnant woman who was cladin black trousers and amulticoloured shirt.

It was like atheatre of war

An eyewitness who gave hisname as Musibau Kazeem,recounted: “The whole place waslike a theatre of war, they wereover 15 in number. They came on

motorcycles and in two cars. Theycame with explosives, firingindiscriminately.

"I hid under a vehicle thatparked during the shooting. Theirmission was to enter all the banksbut they only succeeded inentering one. Those who wentinside came out with wads ofNaira notes which they put insideone of their vehicles.

"One of them, suspected to bethe leader, was masked.Immediately he came out of thebank, he signalled his colleaguesto leave the scene. By then, theArmoured Personnel Carrierstationed at Agbara was firingsome shots. But they were notdeterred by the presence of theAPC as they fired sporadically atit, aiming at the tyres.

"Before leaving the scene, theyblew up one of their operationalvehicles. They used the fire fromthe vehicle as a shield to leavethe place in their other car. Wesaw two of them carrying two oftheir colleagues who were shotinside the car as they wereleaving.

"But we noticed that by then, thenumber of gunmen was limited.They snatched a vehicle from amotorist who was taking hischildren to school at Ilase area ofAgbara, in which they left thescene.

"But the ones I saw left the scenein the second vehicle which weheard was abandoned half way.They went through the waterheading towards Totowu, whilethose hit by stray bullets wererushed to a private hospital atAgbara by policemen."

Owner of the vehicle that wassnatched (names withheld), whowas still in shock, said: “I wastaking my children to school whensome guys stopped me at Ilase.They pointed a gun at me andasked me to step out of my car. Ihad to obey them because theywere with a gun. I thought theywere soldiers. “

We've never seena thing like this

Another eyewitness, who gaveher name simply as MamaChionye said nobody knew theywere armed robbers.

She said: "When they weredriving to the scene, we allconcluded they were soldiers.They drove recklessly and evenhit a tricycle who was on the way.On their way back from the scene,they stopped by Agbara marketand started firing, causing tradersto run in different directions.

"A woman was even amongthem. Four women were hit bystray bullets, we have never seena thing like this.“

Agbara Estateresidents react

Describing the robbery attack asan incident that took the entireresidents unaware, residents ofAgbara estate issued a statementyesterday, disclosing that therobbery was the first of its kind inthe 37 years history of the estate.

The statement read: “At about7am on November 19, 2015, therewas an organised armed robberyon Agbara Estate, the first of itskind in the estate’s 37-year history.The target of the attack was ZenithBank on Bank Road, where thevault and various ATMs werelooted. There are two fatalitiesreported (two police guards at thebank).

"Agbara Estate is carrying out animmediate review of its securityoperations and is collaboratingwith the local authorities andpolice force to prevent any suchincident happening again on theEstate.”

No arrest made —PoliceSpokesperson for Ogun State

Police Command, OlumuyiwaAdejobi, disclosed that therobbers came in throughBadagry-Ilasha road.

He said: “Their intention wasto raid all the banks on thatroad. But we gave them a hotfight. They were only able toenter one of the banks. Only onepoliceman, who tried to repelthem, was felled by the bullets.

“No arrest has been made fornow but some of them escapedwith bullet wounds. Theylaunched an attack on our APCbut we were able to force themto flee the scene. They useddynamite to blow up one of theiroperational vehicles beforeleaving the scene while werecovered the second one.

"We, hereby, appeal tomembers of the public,especially hospital staff andtraditional healing homes, toavail us with information onpatients with bullets wounds.We are also assuring the peopleof Agbara in particular and

Police arrest mother, her 2 children,308 other suspected criminals

Ogun State in general that morepolicemen have been deployed toensure their safety, particularly aswe approach the Yuletide."

Robbers attackwoman in Lagos

Meanwhile, a woman who hadgone to one of the secondgeneration banks in Festac Town,Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos was,yesterday, attacked by gunmenwho dispossessed her of theundisclosed amount withdrawnfrom the bank.

The gunmen, who apparentlytrailed her from the bank locatedon 23 Road, pointed a gun at her,threatening to shoot if she madeany noise.

Unconfirmed report had it thata policeman who accosted therobbers was shot.

Contacted, Lagos State PolicePublic Relations Officer, Mr JoeOffor, said it was not a case of bankrobbery as earlier claimed. Hecould, however, not give detailsbut assured that the command wasdoing all within its powers tocheckmate criminals in the state.

By Esther Onyegbula,Faith Ake & Ufuoma

Tiveruahor

LAGOS—THE police in Lagoshave arrested no fewer than

311 suspected criminals in differentparts of the state.

The suspects include a motherand her two children alleged to berunning a vicious robbery gang.

Parading 20 of the suspects atthe command headquarters, Ikeja,yesterday, the state PoliceCommissioner, Fatai Owoseni, saidtwo of the suspected robbers wereshot dead during exchange of gunfire with the Police.

Giving a breakdown of the haul,Owoseni said the arrests weremade between November 12 and18, 2015.

He also said 24 motorists werearrested at different locations forviolating Lagos state traffic law,while 401 motorcycles wereimpounded.

He said in line with the ban onstreet hawking by the stategovernment, the Police arrested109 hawkers.

Owoseni said 178 suspects werearrested during raids on criminalhideouts, adding that on the whole,311 were arrested.

Woman, 2 of her childrenOn the woman arrested with her

children, CP Owoseni said thewoman, Gladys Onunkwo, and hertwo undergraduate children werepicked up, based on a tip off.

He said: ‘’The two brothers whowere paraded alongside othersuspects, were arrested forallegedly robbing with their Lexusvehicle on Victoria Island axis ofLagos on the pretext of offeringladies a free ride to their

destinations.He said after moving to a

certain place, they would robthem of their belongings,including phones, money andATM cards, with pin numbers.They later end up stopping byany ATM centre nearby whereanother member of the gang,still on the run, will effectwithdrawals.

"In situations where theirvictims gave them a fake pinnumber, they will beat thevictim up and even rape themas the case maybe. We were ableto arrest the suspects after avictim who reported the matterto the police at Bar-Beachdivision gave detaileddescription of the suspects andtheir vehicle number plate. Itwas this that the police used intracking the vehicle to Agudain Surulere area of Lagos andfound out that it belongs to theirmother, Mrs Onukwo.’’

out some victims and asked themif I was the one and they said yes,that I was the person driving andmy brother who they described asfair in complexion, tall, wasbehind the car.

"I don’t know anything aboutwhat they are talking about. Eventhe vehicle they are talking about,I don’t go out with it. Though thecar is my mother’s car, my brotherdrives the vehicle."

In his defence, 28-year-oldIkenna Onunkwo Chris, a finalyear student of the sameuniversity, said he was arrestedby the police along side hisyounger brother, ChineduOnunkwo.

“We don’t operate. We arestudents of Northern Americanuniversity. The victims said at firstthat it was my younger brother,Chinedu. Later, they said it wasme. I don’t know anythingconcerning this," he stated.

Suspects accountGiving account of their

exploits, 23-year-oldChinedu Onunkwo, a 300-level Engineering studentof Northern AmericanUniversity, told Vanguard:“Our family is not a familyof robbers. The car they aretalking about is for ourmother but we are notinvolved in the robbery. Ithink it was a set-up bythose who do not like us.Policemen came to ourhouse at Aguda inSurulere, and asked aboutmy elder brother, Ikenna. Itold them he was notaround.

"They asked if I can followthem to the station. I didand the policemen brought

The suspects

8 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Soludo faults TSA implementation, says

Jonathan's govt bankrupted economy

MEETING: From left, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State; Rivers State DeputyGovernor, Mrs. Ipalibo Banigo; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule;Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed ofKwara State, during the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President YemiOsinbajo at the State House, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

Adds current policy regime inconsistent with objectivesof creating jobs

By Jonah Nwokpoku &Prince Okafor

LAGOS — Former Governorof Central Bank of Nigeria,

Chukwuma Soludo has said thatthe former President GoodluckJonathan had the worst economicmanagement team in historybecause he left Nigeria with anunprecedented rate of debtaccumulation.

While speaking at the thirdanniversary lecture of theRealNews magazine titled ‘Cana New Buharinomics SaveNigeria?’ Soludo said “First, Isupported PresidentMuhammadu Buhari (PMB)over Jonathan not because I wasconvinced about the credibility ofthe APC manifesto (and I said soin my article in January this year)but for three reasons. I wasconvinced that the last economicteam was bankrupting theeconomy and had no clue as tohow to fix it,” he said.

“Second, PMB is the firstpresident of Nigeria under ademocracy to have seriouslydesired the job and struggled forit for over 12 years. To metherefore, he must have a fewpoints to prove, and I was willingto bet on a man who purposefullywanted the job than otherwise.“Third, I was convinced that itwould be in the enlightened self-interest of the APC, once in power,to do their utmost to keep powerby delivering on the economyunlike the PDP which had takenpower for granted. I am stillconfident that PMB can deliverchange (although as I hadindicated in my article in January,I didn’t believe that any of the twoparties could deliver on theirmanifesto) but he and his teamnow need to run at the speed of a1000 km per hour.

“We must support them tosucceed by contributing when wecan, and criticising when we must— tough love! I am enjoying mystatus as ‘an independent’ (I don’t

belong to APC or PDP) and Itherefore have the liberty to sayit as I see it from the balcony!“As at 1999 when PDP came topower, Nigeria was largely apariah state still lucky to havesurvived as one indivisiblesovereign, especially in thecontext of the struggle byNADECO and restiveness inmany parts of the country. Oncorruption, TransparencyInternational scored it 1.6 out of10 and ranked 98 out of 99countries in 1999.”

He added that “After 16 years,several challenges remain andsome have even worsened(especially insecurity). AlthoughPresident Jonathan’s regimehad the worst economicmanagement relative to theresources at its disposal, it mustbe stressed that tremendousprogress was made in theaggregate 16 years of PDPgovernment.

He said: “For the better partof this year, the external shocksto the economy have beencomplicated or accentuated bya gamut of the 'tried and failed'command and control policyregime: de facto fixed exchangerate, largely fixed CBNmonetary policy rate, crudecapital controls, veiled form ofimport bans through a long listof ‘ineligible for foreignexchange’, de facto scrapping ofdomiciliary account establishedby law, etc.

Interest groups lobbyingto make policy shiftpermanent

"At first, I thought this was theusual knee-jerk response ofpolicymakers to a ‘sudden’shock. We tried a milder variantof this for a few months duringthe 2008/2009 unexpected/unprecedented global crisis(with global liquidity squeezeand massive capital flight) buteven then, it was communicatedas a ‘short-term crisis response’and it was quickly dismantled.

We now know what works andwhat doesn’t, even at a time ofcrisis.

“As one reads the confusingstatements from government inthe media: ‘We won’t devalue’,‘we won’t devalue for now’, andthe emotional debate about‘nationalism’ around issues ofimport ‘bans’ and capitalcontrols, one wonders whetherit is still a ‘short-term crisisresponse’ or a permanent shiftback to the old policy regime ofpre-1986.

"Even if the governmentinitially intended it as a short-term measure, interest groupshave emerged and are lobbyingto make the policy shiftpermanent. To add to theconfusion, the policy iscommunicated as a 'directive'from PMB as widely publicisedin the media.

“In the specific case of Nigeriacurrently buffeted by terms of

trade shock with microimbalances, especially fiscaland current account deficits aswell as supply side constraintsand with the economy skiddingto a halt with rising inflationand unemployment, thequestion is: how shouldrelative prices or asset pricesincluding exchange rate andinterest rate adjust to reflect aswell as shape whatevereconomic fundamentals?

External shocksdon't kill economy

"External shocks do not killan economy. How you respondwill determine whether youworsen it or meliorate theterms of trade shocks. That iswhat we are facing, the classicone. And how you respond toterms of trade shocks dependson whether the shock is fromthe monetary, nominal shockor whether it is from the realside shocks.

"And I would say on thismicro economic theory andevidence around the world arepretty much unambiguous.That faced with terms of tradeshocks, countries with flexibleexchange rate regime adjustfaster and adjust better withless negative impact on growthand employment than thosewith fixed exchange rate.

"This is global evidence,pretty much unambiguous forcountries facing terms of tradeshock, that countries that allowrelative pricing includingexchange rates to become thekey adjusters when faced withterms of trade shock havealways almost done better thanthose that resorted to exchangerate fixing and distortingcontrols.

“In theory, if you don’t allowprices to adjust, quantities willadjust and the quantities thatwill adjust are output andemployment. That is theexperience we have had inNigeria over the years. Andthat is what is happeningtoday. Output and employmentare adjusting with vengeance.

Policy regimeinconsistent withobjectives of creatingjobs

"My thesis is that from

Nigeria’s own evidence, that thecurrent policy regime isinconsistent with the objectives ofcreating jobs, growing income andreducing poverty. Nigeria since1973 can become a laboratory. Since1973, we have become episodes ofpositive and negative price shocks.

"If you divide the episodes ofpositive oil price shocks, episodesof negative price shocks and alsomatch them with responses of policyregimes, the evidence is that, in allcases, fixed exchange rates withcontrols, the economy has alwaysdone worse in that regime than inunder flexible regime.

“From Nigeria’s evidence, currentpolicy regime is inconsistent withobjective of growth, job creation andpoverty reduction. The currenteconomic hardship is largely ourchoice and not just oil price shock:The current slump of the economywas predictable and largelyavoidable. Just as it happened in1981-85, the economy has been ona tailspin.

"There is now about four per centgrowth shortfall relative to pasttrend, and this cannot be explainedby fall in oil prices alone. For thefirst time since 1990s, per capitagrowth rate (on annualized basis)is now negative implying thatpoverty is also escalating; capitalmarket has lost trillions, inflationand unemployment are on the rise.

"JP Morgan has delisted our localcurrency bonds and Barclays isthreatening same, while the cost ofborrowing for Nigeria rises. Foreigncapital is on the run, while domesticsavings is miniscule. It was‘headline news’ when FG paidOctober salaries, while states aresteeping in massive debt."

“Policy choices entail costs andbenefits, but the preference of oneto another should be based on the'net positive effects', depending onthe stated objectives. To sustain thecurrent arbitrarily peggedexchange rate will require a steeprise in interest rate and squeezingof bank credit to the private sector.

"Alternatively, intensifying theever opaque and distorting controlsand ‘bans’ will also severely harmthe private sector. I will be surprisedif the productive sector is notalready feeling the heat. The ironyis that it is the small businesses(which have no voice or power) thatare suffering the most. Many aresimply being choked to death bythe ‘controls’."

Bribery scandal: A-Court dismissesex-Mint boss' application for bail

By IkechukwuNnochiri

ABUJA — The Court ofAppeal sitting in Abuja,

yesterday, refused to grant bailto the former Managing Directorand Chief Executive Officer ofthe Nigeria Security, Mintingand Printing Company,NSMPC, Mr. EhidiamhenOkoyomon.

In a ruling, the appellate courtheld that Okoyomon shouldremain in prison custody untilthe appeal he filed against hisplanned extradition to theUnited Kingdom is determined.

The ex-Mint boss, who hasalready spent six months at KujePrison in Abuja, approached theappellate court, begging it toconsider his “deteriorating

health condition” and okay hisrelease on bail.

He told the court that he hashealth challenge that wouldrequire serious medicalattention, a service he saidwould be impossible for him toobtain from prison.

However, dismissingOkoyomon’s application aslacking in merit, the court heldthat there was no circumstantialreason for it to release him onbail.

Justice MohammedMustapha, who delivered theruling, maintained that the issueof poor health canvassed byOkoyomon as the reason he re-applied for bail, was notsufficient enough.

The court held that it was theduty of the Nigerian PrisonsService to not only keep a

detainee, but to also cater for hismedical attention as well as feeding.

He said: “Being sick is never anexcuse for bail because the prisonis not only to keep detainees, but tocater for their health, and everydetainee must be treated wheneversuch detainee is sick.

“Let me say here that the courtmust not encourage prison to bederelict in its duties of providingmedical care for inmates wheneverthe inmates are sick, except onspecial ground where medicalfacilities to treat a special ailment isnot available.”

He, therefore, directed the formerMint boss to channel his medicalneeds to the Prison authorities,pending when his matter isdecided.

The ruling yesterday, made it thesecond time the court has turneddown Okoyomon’s bail requests.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 9

Reps in rowdy session oversupplementary budgetPDP members query poor implementation of 2015 budget

Supplementary appropriation passes second reading

By Emman Ovuakporie& Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA — PRESIDENTMuhammadu Buhari’s

request for additional borrowingof N1.6 trillion to finance the 2015budget, yesterday, led to ashouting war in the House ofRepresentatives betweenmembers of the All ProgressivesCongress, APC and the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP.

The shouting war wasexacerbated by the President’sclaim that an additional N465.6billion was required to fundsubsidy payments, an action thatdrew disdain from PDP memberswho said that the APC had beforethe election decried the paymentof subsidies to oil marketers.

PDP members also raisedconcern that the funds beingrequested by the President hadalready been expended, sayingthe letter was essentially to coverthe hole drilled by the President.

Leading the debate on thePresident’s request, HouseMajority Leader, FemiGbajabiamila, had appealed tomembers to approve thePresident’s request irrespective ofparty lines to empower thegovernment in the war againstBoko Haram insurgency and toenable it settle petroleummarketers as the country wasfacing fuel scarcity that was bitinghard on Nigerians.

His assertion was supported byamong others, MohammedMonguno, APC, Monguno/Marte/Nganzai, Borno State;Zakari Mohammed, APCBaruten/Kaima, Kwara State andMohammed Kazaure, APCKazaure/Roni/Gwiwa/Yankashi,Jigawa State.

Kazuare had added that “weneed the people to supportanything President Buhari bringsto the House.”

The Minority Leader, Rep LeoOgor, was, however, unfazed ashe pointed to a breach ofparliamentary procedure in thePresident’s request, arguing thatthe government had already spentmoney on All Africa Games whichhad since been concluded beforethe request was sent to theparliament.

Besides, Ogor said he supportedthe money on security to fight theinsurgency in the North butpicked holes with the issue ofsubsidy, noting that the APC, asan opposition party, had kickedagainst subsidy claims which theparty said then was a fraud,wondering at which point theparty changed position.

He also queried why N413.3billion should be paid as fuel

subsidy when the price of oilhad fallen sharply as he thenproposed that all relevant Housecommittees rigorouslyinterrogate the President’srequest.

As he spoke, Gbajiabiamilaraised a Point of Order todemand that Ogor withdraw hiscomment that the APC had inthe past described fuel subsidyas a fraud.

Rowdy session

The demand turned thechamber into a rowdy stageupon the sharp division betweenthe APC and the PDP members,forcing Speaker Yakubu Dogarato intervene to the fact that hewas not aware of any officialposition of the APC kickingagainst fuel subsidy. Thespeaker added that PresidentBuhari had recently said that hewould not remove the subsidy.

But insisting on his position,

the Minority Leader said theMinister of Information andCulture, Lai Mohammed,remains the voice of thegovernment of the day. Thisdid not got down well withAPC members who thenshouted at him to sit down, anaction that also spurred thePDP members to urge him on.Speaker Dogara againintervened and compelledOgor to take his seat.

Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, PDP,Isiukwuato/Umunneochi, AbiaState, said the budget of 2015had not been implemented up

to 30 per cent, saying: “If we passthis supplementary budget, arethey (APC) going to implement it?It is not about APC or PDP.”

The Minority Whip, YakubuBadeh, on his part said the Housewas in support of anything thatwould remove suffering onNigerians and that the PDP was insupport of the subsidy in as muchas it would impact positively on thecommon man.

He also said that the Houseshould monitor how the subsidymoney was spent so that the peoplewould have value for their money.

Upon the submissions, Dogaraput the question as to whether thebill on the supplementary budgetshould be read the second time witha resounding yea from the majorityof the members with no shouts tothe contrary.

INAUGURATION: Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki (left) and Chairman, SenateCommittee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, after the Senate President inauguratedthe second batch of Senate Standing Committees, in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Senate President'sOffice.

We’ll audit all pending high profile cases —AGFVows to re-invigorate anti-corruption agencies

By IkechukwuNnochiri

ABUJA — THE AttorneyGeneral of the Federation

and Minister of Justice, Mr.Abubakar Malami, SAN, saidyesterday that he has securedthe approval of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari tothoroughly audit all pendinghigh profile criminal cases.

The AGF, who made thisdisclosure while briefingnewsmen in Abuja yesterday,said the audit would be aimedat uncovering reasons why pastadministrations failed toeffectively prosecute corruptioncases that were initiated against‘some politically exposedpersons’.

He said the President Buhari-led government would nothesitate to re-open freshinvestigation against anyonewhose trial is found to have beencompromised in any way.

“Similarly, those whocompromised investigations ofsuch cases will be dulyprosecuted. Under thisadministration, there will be norespite for the corrupt,” the AGFstated.

Remarkably, almost 10 yearsafter the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission,EFCC, dragged some formergovernors to court over theiralleged complicity in moneylaundering and wanton lootingof public treasury, nomeaningful headway has beenmade on most of the cases.

In fact, most of the corruptioncases pending in court againstthe former governors are yet toeven enter the hearing stage.

Mindful of this fact, the AGF,yesterday, vowed to re-invigorate all the anti-corruptionagencies in the country, saying:“The battle against corruption isone which the administration ofPresident Buhari has identifiedas crucial to the ultimate capacity

of the Nigerian state to rise to itsfull potentials.

“The linkage betweencorruption and under-development has long beenestablished and explains whyMr. President, in his inauguraladdress on May 29, 2015,identified corruption as the worstform of human rights violationas it denies the people theresources they need to developand thrive.

“The Federal Ministry ofJustice will, therefore, bepositioned under my watch toplay this role in a credible andcommitted manner.

“The task of re-invigorating theministry and the other anti-corruption agencies such as theEFCC, the ICPC and theNigeria Police Force, is one towhich I hereby pledge mypersonal commitment and

energy, in order to positionthem to fight it within thebounds of law, without fear orfavour, affection or ill-will andin line with international bestpractices.

“Fighting corruption, ofcourse, is not only a questionof having laws and institutionsin place, but also involves theneed to deepen institutionalcredibility and individualintegrity.

“The staff of the ministry andthe other agencies, who will beinvolved in this fight, musttherefore, realise that new andimproved standards will berequired of them and thisgovernment will not acceptexcuses for failure in theinvestigation and prosecutionof cases.

“On its part, government willcontinue to improve the levels

of provisions of the resources andwelfare requirements of the officerswho will be involved in thiscampaign. We all must continue tobe motivated by the fact thatcorruption is a monster which canconsume us all if we do notcollectively tackle it throughindividual efforts and collectiveapproaches.

“The world over, it is believedthat democracy thrives in anatmosphere of an independentjudiciary, the protection of minorityrights and an active legislativeassembly that acts as an effectiveoversight over Executive action. AsNigeria’s Chief Law Officer, I ammindful of the responsibilitiesvested upon me under theconstitution and therefore commitmyself to building these Democraticinstitutions which are the pillars ofour democracy."

10—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

DeaconessAbigailAdeniyi forburial

Ambode, lawmakers task Fashola onLagos devt

Virgin Atlantic Airways Nigerian staff protest allegedbias by mgt

By Onozure Dania

FAANrectifiespoweroutage atMMIA

By Olasunkanmi Akoni &Ebun Sessou

LAGOS—LAGOS StateGovernor, Mr. Akinwunmi

Ambode yesterday described hispredecessor and Minister ofPower, Works and Housing, Mr.Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, asa synergy between Lagos andFederal Government that willaccelerate and actualize hisadministration’s plans forinfrastructural development in thestate.

Governor Ambode who said thiswhile delivering a keynoteaddress at the Lagos BusinessSchool Alumni Conference notedthat the State is privileged to haveFashola in charge of key federalministries at this critical momentin the history of the state.

“We are privileged to have mypredecessor in office at the centerin charge of Works, Power andHousing. This effectively meanswe have a synergy betweenLagos and the FederalGovernment to accelerate andactualize our current plans forinfrastructural development,”Governor Ambode said.

He added that though buildinginfrastructure to improve thequality of life is a top priority inLagos, traffic and security remainthe two key priority focus areasthat need urgent attention.

Speaking at another function,Governor Ambode said he hasnothing else to give to humanitythan uphold the tenets of goodgovernance.

He said this while speaking asguest lecturer at the AnnualLecture and Award ceremony ofThe Hubert H. HumphreyFellowship Alumni Association inNigeria.

Meantime, some members of theLagos State House of Assemblyyesterday said that the Ministerof Power, Works and Housing, MrBabatunde Fashola, SAN, had alot of hard work to do.

The lawmakers who spoke inLagos said that the former

governor of Lagos needed towork hard not to disappointNigerians and the President.

They expressed confidence inthe ability of Fashola, but saidthat power remained the onlyproblem impeding thedevelopment of the country.

Mr Oluyinka Ogundimu(APC- Agege II) said theminister needed to buckle up toaddress the problem of powerwhich had defied all imaginablesolutions.

Mr Abiodun Tobun (APC-EpeI) said that Fashola’sperformance as governor of thestate said a lot about him as anachiever and actualiser.

Tobun urged the minister notto disappoint the trust reposed onhim to transform the power sectorand put in place infrastructure.

Also, Mr Setonji David (APC-Badagry II) said the minister wasgiven serious areas whereNigerians are expecting change.

“Power, Works and Housing arevery crucial to the happiness ofNigerians who voted for change,”he said.

LECTURE/AWARDS: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (left); Group VicePresident, Mr. Guy Murray-Bruce (right); Founder/CEO, Centre for Values in Leadership,Prof. Pat Utomi (2nd left), and Dr. Raymond Ihuoma, during the 2015 Humbert H. Humphreyannual lecture and awards luncheon, at the Metropolitan Club, Kofo Abayomi Street, VictoriaIsland, Lagos, yesterday.

LAGOS—NIGERIAN cabincrew members of the Virgin

Atlantic Airways have called onthe Federal Government to cometo their aid over alleged racialbias and planned sack by theforeign airline.

The cabin crew membersthrough their lawyer, Chief FelixFagbohungbe, SAN, wrote aletter protesting the plannedtermination of their job by the endof this month.

In the said protest letter datedNovember 17, 2015 andaddressed to the Chairman ofVirgin Atlantic Airways Limited,Sir Richard Branson,Fagbohungbe said that thecircumstances surrounding theintended sacking of all theNigerian members of the VirginAtlantic cabin crew violated theprovisions of the InternationalLabour Conference Convention158 and the 1999 Constitution ofthe Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said that the intention of theairline to disengage the 21Nigerians based on research thatit no longer needs culturalexpertise on the Lagos route, is aspurious and untenable excuse.

Fagbohungbe further stated thatthe airline was being unfair toNigeria as a country by planningto lay off its Nigerian employeesdespite the fact that the Lagos-London route remains one of, it’smost viable and profitable route ofthe airline.

He also stated that it wasparticularly disdainful that theplanned sacking of the Nigerianswas not in tandem with anyreasonable severance package oroptions like the airline wouldnormally do where citizens of othernations were involved.

According to him, Virgin Atlantichad earlier shut down its callcentre in Nigeria and moved it toSouth Africa thereby

compounding theunemployment rate in Nigeriawhile creating additional jobsfor South Africa, despite theprofit being made from Nigeria.

He also recalled that therelocation of the call centre hadimposed additional costs onNigerians whose calls forinquiries were now routed toSouth Africa.

Reacting to the protest of theNigerian Virgin AtlanticAirways Cabin Crew membersover the alleged planned sackthe’ Sales Agent in Nigeria,Chief John Adebanjo,dismissed insinuations that theairline was planning to pull outof the country due to harsh

operating environment.He said: ‘’We have decided that

we will no longer have crewbased in Lagos. This is by nomeans a reflection on our Lagos-based cabin crew, the primarypurpose of our locally based cabincrew has been to provide culturalexpertise and customer feedback. Thisis no longer a requirement on the Lagosroute.

‘’The additional complexity requiredto operate an international crew basewhere there are no foreign languagerequirement means it is no longersustainable going forward. Thisannouncement has no impact on ourflying programme and we plan tocontinue flights between Lagos andLondon."

By Lawani Mikairu &Daniel Eteghe

LAGOS—THE FederalAirports Authority of

Nigeria, FAAN, yesterday,said that it has rectified thepower outage experiencedlate on Wednesday night atthe Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport,MMIA, Lagos.

Disclosing this tonewsmen, GeneralManager, Corporate AffairsFAAN, Mr. Yakubu Datisaid that the engineers ofthe agency swung intoaction to restore power tothe airport.

Mr. Dati noted thatpreliminary investigation toascertain what caused theoutage revealed that it wascaused by power surgefrom the power linesupplying MMA andsurrounding communities.

“After restoring power tothe affected parts of theterminal, our engineersmobilized immediately totrace affected equipmentand assess the levels ofdamage to them,” he said.

THE FINAL burialceremony for

Deaconess Abigail Adeniyiwho died on October 10,2015, has been announced.

According to theprogramme, a Christianwake will hold today forAdeniyi who was 68 yearsold, at Gospel ApostolicChurch, 4, AshimiuAsiwaju Street, PipelineBus stop, Orilowo Ejigbo,Lagos at 5pm.

The burial service is slatedfor Ejigbo Primary Schoolfield tomorrow at 11.00am,while internment will be ather residence, 22, Jubril FasanyaRoad, Ebenezer Bus stop, OrilowoEjigbo Lagos. Entertainment ofguests follows immediately atEjigbo Primary School field.

She is survived by children andgrandchildren.

Late Deaconess Adeniyi

Lagos warns residents against violatingplanning law

LAGOS—WORRIED by thespate of collapsed buildings in

two months, Lagos StateGovernment yesterday warnedresidents over erecting buildingagainst 2010 Urban and Regionalplanning law, saying “thegovernment has concluded plansto ensure that buildings conform

By Monsuru Olowoopejowith the state laws.”

Commissioner for PhysicalPlanning and UrbanDevelopment, Mr. AbiolaAnifowoshe and GeneralManager of Lagos StatePhysical Planning PermitAuthority, LASPPA, Mr. ToyinAbdul handed out the warningat a stakeholder summit in OjoLocal Government, themed‘Keying into benefits of city

development for urbansustainability.’

They said that the number ofbuildings erected daily is notcommensurate with number ofstructures that seek approval.

Abdul lamented that many erectbuildings against the seekingdevelopment plans, noting “theslums in the state at present wereas a result of negligence of thepast and this must stop in thestate.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—11

Ekiti tipper, quarry operators protest Fayose’stax policy

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

Amosun callsforresuscitationof readingculture

Shooting of citizens: IG reads riot act to policemenBy Daud Olatunji

ADO—THE Union ofTipper and Quarry

Employers of Nigeria, EkitiState chapter, yesterdayembarked on an indefinite strikeover the imposition of N1,000tax per trip and a fine of N50,000on any defaulter by the stategovernment.

The tipper owners describedthe tax as unacceptable and thefine as outrageous.

The members of the union,after a meeting on thedevelopment yesterday, stageda peaceful protest at theirsecretariat to denounce whatthey called the harsh tax policiesof Governor Fayose’sadministration which they saidwould kill their business.

They claimed that Fayosecame into office through theirvotes and his governmentshould not make life difficult forthe people.

The government, through aletter dated November 12, 2015and marked EK/MRDA/11/78and signed by theCommissioner for Commerce,Industries and Cooperatives,Mr. Michael Ayodele,communicated its desire toimpose the haulage tax ofN1,000 per trip.

The measure took effect fromNovember 16. Any defaulter willhave his vehicle impounded bya task force, to be released onthe payment of a fine of N50,000.

State chairman of the union,Chief James Mokoa, said hehad no option than to tell hismembers to withdraw theirservices because they can’tafford the N50,000 fine.

Meantime, Ekiti StateGovernment has sealed offsome commercial banks andmobile telecommunicationoutlets in the state for non-payment of business premisestax to the coffers of the state

government.The Unity Bank branch along

Adebayo Road and UBA alongSecretariat Road, as well as theEtisalat, Airtel and GloCorporate offices in the state,were all sealed off during theexercise.

The state Commissioner forCommerce, Industries andCooperatives, MichaelAyodele, who led officials ofthe ministry to seal off the

affected business premises,said the state government tookthe action following repeatedwarnings to the organizationsto fulfil their financialobligations to the state.

He wondered why corporateorganizations which havebeen making a lot of moneyin the state find it difficult tofulfil their civic duties to thestate.

As EKSG seals off banks, telecoms offices over tax default

A B E O K U T A — T H EInspector-General of

Police, Solomon Arase, yesterday,warned officers and men of theNigeria Police Force to desist fromthe habit of shooting civilians orrisk being jailed within 48 hoursof the commissioning of theoffence.

Arase spoke at Eleweranheadquarters of the Ogun StatePolice Command in Abeokuta.

According to him, it will becomean offence for SPY officialsrecruited by banks as part of theirsecurity teams to wear policeuniforms, ordering that such menshould be arrested and detained.

He, however, appealed to therank and file of the force to showcivility in their operation byobeying constituted authorities.

He decried a situation wherepolicemen harass civilians withsticks and whips saying that suchacts can only portray the force inbad light.

The police boss, however,commended officers and men ofthe command and gaveimmediate promotion to the nextrank to eight sentry guards whoperformed the guard of honour forhim just as he awarded personal

scholarships to eight pupils ofthe command’s primary schoolwho entertained him.

He enjoined the leadership ofthe command to promote goodrelationship with their hostcommunities saying thatpolicing now is more ofinformation and intelligencegathering.

He warned his men not todabble into commercial and civil

matters.Arase also warned policemen

against detaining of suspectsmore than the time allowed bylaw saying police authoritieshave paid money running intomillions of naira in damages thatarose from illegal detention.

He, however, singled outdangerous crimes like murderand armed robbery that canwarrant longer detention of

suspects because they willinvolve courts to process.

The police chief also enjoinedhis men to improve their imagesaying wearing of slippers forinstance does not portray theforce in good light.

Earlier, the state commissionerof police Abdulmajid Ali, listedthe challenges facing thecommand to include poorinfrastructure and the need foradditional divisions.

PUBLIC SERVICE DAY: From left; Registrar, Federal University of Technology, Akure(FUTA), Dr. (Mrs) Modupe Ajayi; Ondo State Head of Service, Toyin Akinkuotu; GovernorOlusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and Former Chairman, Governing Council, Rufus GiwaPolytechnic, Owo and Chief of Staff, Dr Kola Ademujimi, during the 2015 Public ServiceDay Celebration and Award for Exemplary Performance, in Akure, yesterday.

GOVERNOR IbikunleAmosun of Ogun

State, yesterday,emphasised the importanceof reading culture, saying itis very critical.

He said this at the openingof Ake Arts and BookFestival. In his address atthe June 12 Cultural Centre,Abeokuta, Amosun saidliterature is the soul of lifewhich provokes diverseideas noting that the cultureof reading is very critical as"you can’t give what youhave."

Director of Book Buzz andorganisers of Ake Arts andBooks Festival, LolaShoneyin, in her welcomeaddress, said over the pastthree years the character ofthe festival remains thesame. She thanked partnersof the festival for the pastthree years.

The European Union, EU,Ambassador to Nigeria andECOWAS, Mr. MichelArrion, in his address, said:"You don’t invest in water,health and education if youdon’t understand the cultureof the people you want togive water to."

Director of MarinePlatforms, Baji Nyam, at theopening of the festival,unveiled the contribution ofMarine Plartform to thedevelopment of literature inNorthern Nigeria,distributing books to manyBoko Haram affected areas.

By Gbenga Olarinoye

Osun unveils Wole Soyinka High School, Monday

OSOGBO—OSUN StateGovernment will on Monday,

November 23, 2015, unveil the newlycompleted High School in Ejigbo, EjigboLocal Government Area of the state.

The new school, named after NobelLaureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, is amagnificent three-in-one school, whichhas the capacity for 3,000 pupils.

The Monday commissioning of theschool, marks the first of such high schoolfacilities in the state having commissionedschools in the other lower categories ofthe mega-schools being built by the RaufAregbesola administration.

The government had earliercommissioned the Salvation GovernmentMiddle School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo,

Baptist Elementary GovernmentSchool, Ilare, Ile-Ife as well as theAnsar-rul-Deen GovernmentElementary School, Isale Osun,Osogbo. Already, more than 50schools in the elementary andmiddle school classification havebeen completed and put to useacross the state.

A statement by the Director,Bureau of Communication andStrategy in the Office of theGovernor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon,said the unveiling of the new schoolis in furtherance of the determinedimplementation of the report of the2011 education summit organisedby the state government whichidentified the multiform problemsand rots standing in the way offunctional education in Nigeria.

By Prisca Sam Duru

12 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—13

Rivers Assembly confirms granting approval toWike for N10bn loan

Tributes, prayers herald final funeral rites forlate Olu of Warri

Eastern NavalCommandarrests 1,500illegal shipsin 10 months

By Jimitota Onoyume

By Emma Una

You’re treading on boundaries of contempt,ex-NBA chief warns lawyers

By Egufe Yafugborhi

PORT HARCOURT—RIVERS State House of

Assembly has confirmedallegation by the AllProgressives Congress,APC, that it gave approval tothe state governor, Mr.Nyesom Wike, to secure afresh loan of N10 billion.

Leader of the House, Mr.Martin Amewhule, made theconfirmation, yesterday, at amedia interaction in hisoffice, saying that the Housesat in line with Order 5 Rule1 and Order 37 of the House.

He, however, deniedclaims by the APC that it satin the early hours of Tuesdayto grant the approval,adding that the approval wasgiven on November 12.

He said: “The governmentof Chief Wike hadapproached the Assembly togive approval to the stategovernment to borrow and Iwant to say that the RiversState House of Assemblyfollowed due process and in

tandem with the law and ourRules to approve such loansfor the government.

“We have made approvalsfor the Rivers StateGovernment to borrow, thelatest approval is N10 billion.But, let me quickly say this,even if we put together thefunds approved by theAssembly for the government,it is a paltry sum compared

to what the Edo StateGovernment just borrowedand which was approved bythe Federal Government, aswell as what the Lagos StateGovernment borrowed andwhat other states areborrowing.”

It will be recalled that theAPC blew the issue open inits statement, alleging thatthe governor got the House

to secretly approve the loan ofN10 billion at 6a.m., onWednesday, adding that allparties were told to keep theissue away from the public.

The Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in a statement bythe media aide to the statechairman, denied theallegation, saying that therewas no such move to securefresh loan.

WARRI—IT was a day oftributes, yesterday, for

the late Olu of Warri, OgiameAtuwatse II, as his final funeralrites which will begin today,were heralded with acommendation service at theOlu Palace (Aghofen), Warri,Delta State.

Following a session of hymnsrendition and bible readings,former head of state, Gen.Yakubu Gowon, in his capacityas Patron General, Bible Societyof Nigeria, BSN, opened thetributes, noting that the humilityand selflessness of the exited19th Olu of Warri during his lifeon earth.

Represented by the SecretaryGeneral of BSN, RichardAjiboye, Gowon noted: “Whenthe Itsekiri Bible was printed in2005, he (Atuwatse II) donatedsacrificially to support theproject. He was the highestdonor.

“The late Olu was athoroughbred Christianmonarch who used his reign toserve God with humility andinspired peace and harmoniousrelationship among his subjectsand neighbours. His actions andcharacter brought developmentto his people and respect to theover 500 years old throne.”

The BSN in honour of the latemonarch, shared 400 copies ofthe bible on the occasion,revealing that the Olu was onthe verge of committing moreresources for the printing ofmore copies of the Itsekiri Biblewhen he passed on.

Harping on the humility of thedeparted Olu, former GeneralOverseer, Four Square GosdpelChurch, Rev Wilson Badejo, ina sermon on “What is death?”said the Olu having livedbeyond the biblical three scoresand ten, did so with a fulfilledsoul.

He said: “Our royal father isright now in a place of grandeur.He is a baptized, sanctified,tongue speaking, spirit filled,born again son of God and aking on earth. While still livingamong us, the Olu would enterinto the sanctuary and removehis crown, telling you there is aking who is the King of kings,mightier and greater in alldimensions and should take Hisglory.”

In a tribute presented byPrince Yemi Emiko on behalf ofthe late monarch’s siblings, theroyal family said: “Given thesweep of his life, the scope ofhis accomplishments, theadoration he earned, it istempting to imagine thatAtuwatse would be detachedfrom the tawdry affairs of lessermen.

“I recall how few years into hisreign, we used to gather in hisgarden at Atuwatse Close torelive our growing up years in

the palace. He taught some ofus how to swim in the OkereCreek. He taught us how tocatch fish in those happymoments you wish nevercome to an end. Instructively,those moments provided himplatform to share his dream forhis kingdom, even hismiscalculations along with hisvictories.”

For Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,President, ChristianAssociation of Nigeria, afterclosing a session of prayers bythe clergy present for the

Itsekiri Kingdom and Nigeriaat large, he simply, in an odeto the late Olu, said, “Goodnight, we will see you in themorning.”

Today, all roads lead to Ode-Itsekiri, the ancestral home ofthe Itsekiri, also known as BigWarri, as the final funeral ritesbegin with dignitariesexpected from the Presidencyto state governors, traditionalauthorities, captain ofindustries and the diplomaticcorps.

Chief Yaya Pessu, Chairman,

Traditional Council in thekingdom who earlierannounced the funeral datesaid, “The funeral rites for thelate Olu will last 14 days fromNovember 20.

“And by December 12, thecoronation ceremony for hissuccessor will begin with aregatta at the Warri Club jettybefore the coronation rites atOde-Itsekiri. We are expectingdignitaries from far and nearand we enjoin all to cooperatewith us through thesemoments.”

C A L A B A R —BETWEEN the

months of January andOctober 2015, the EasternNaval Command of theNigerian Navy apprehendedno fewer than 1,500 ships,barges and boats carryingout illegal activities within itsmaritime domain.

Rear Admiral AtikuAbdulkadir, the Flag OfficerCommanding, FOC,Eastern Naval Command,told Vanguard whileconducting ExerciseMamaki at the high sea thatsome of the vessels arrestedduring the period had beendestroyed while some werehanded over to the NigerianPolice Force and NigeriaSecurity and Civil DefenceCorps in Calabar forprosecution

He said that arrestedalong with the ships andbarges were about 2,000men, who have also beenhanded over to the policeand warned that any onewith criminal intentionsshould steer clear Nigeria’sterritorial waters as the Navyhas beefed up its operationsto stem the tide of illegal oilbunkering and sea piracy.

FORMER President ofthe Nigerian Bar

Association, NBA, Mr. JosephDaudu, SAN, has warnedlawyers and practitioners in themedia who have beencommenting on the SupremeCourt's granting of stay ofproceedings in the case againstSenate President, Dr. BukolaSaraki, using “uncouthlanguage”, to beware of beingheld contemptuous of thehighest court in the country.

Daudu, in a statement

yesterday, expressed surprisethat some lawyers were quotedin newspaper reports asdescribing the decision of theSupreme Court as “illegal”, aposition, he said, was almostsacrilegious to take in thenation’s justice system.

He said: “That is mostunfortunate as decency andelementary regard for thefinality of the decisions of theSupreme Court should restrainevery citizen of this country,particularly a legal practitioner,

from using such base and scur-rilous language against the high-est court of the land.

“It is a known legal axiom thata decision of the Supreme Courtof Nigeria cannot be illegal inany form or manner as it isbinding on all persons andauthorities in this country. If aperson is aggrieved by thedecision of the court, the onlyapproach is to wait for anopportunity to arise and such aperson can ask the Court tooverrule itself or depart its earlierdecision.”

COMMENDATION SERVICE: From left: Pastor Daniel Awowho, Prof. Gabriel Yomere,Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor and Pastor David Okoturo, during the commendationservice for the late Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, at the Olu Palace, Warri, yesterday.

CMYK

14 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

COMMENDATION SERVICE FOR LATE OLU OF WARRIPHOTOS: AKPOKONA OMAFUIRE

Hon. J.F.K. Omatsone, former Speaker, DeltaState House of Assembly (left) and Hon.( Mrs.)Olivia Agbajoh.

From right: Rev. Mosignor Joachim Aghware, representing Bishop of WarriDiocese, Bishop Okeoghene Afareha, Rev. Fr. Ofuya Daniel of St. Michael’s CatholicChurch, DSC, Rev. (Dr.) Grace Ekperigin of Church of God Mission, Benin-Cityand Apostle J.A Okoro, representing the Bishop of Hiltop Assembly, Bishop TseyeOkotie at the commendation service for the Late Warri monarch, HRM. OgiameAtuwatse II.

Members of Ogono-Jesus entertaining guestson the occasion.

From left: Pastor Daniel Awowho, Prof. Gabriel Yomere, Pastor AyoOritsejafor and Pastor David Okoturo.

Mr. &Mrs. Abi Ete Ayida.

SERVICE OF SONGS AND CHRISTIAN WAKE KEEP FOR LATE CHIEFTORCH TAIRE IN LAGOS PHOTO: BUNMI AZEEZ

Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd) and his wife.

From left: Alhaji Musliu Smith, former IGP, Mr. Oladele Oshodi, Rev. JuliusAkindele and Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe, fomer Head of Service, Lagos State.

From left: Mr. Jolomi Taire, son of the Deceased, Deaconess Adefemi Taire, OFR, wife,His Highness, Ephraim Faloughi and Mr. Tajin Olusegun Taire, son, during the Serviceof Songs and Christian wake keep for late Chief Torch Oritseweyinmi Taire, at YabaBaptist Church, Yaba, Lagos, yesterday.

From left: Pastor (Mrs) Anthonia Adeyemo, Mrs. Mopelola Ayanfaki andDame Abimbola Fashola at the event.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—15

Face-off: How Obiano mismanaged my N75bn savings—Obi •Show evidence you left N75bn – APGA

By Enyim Enyim & AnozieEgole

FORMER GOVERNOR ofAnambra State, Mr. Peter

Obi, has reacted to Governor WillieObiano’s recent allegation that theN75 billion savings handed overto him (Obiano) by Obi, in March2014, were far less than the actualfigure, accusing the currentgovernor of distortion of facts andgross financial mismanagement.

At a recent press conference inAwka, the Anambra State capital,Obiano had dismissed Obi’sclaims as “half-truths” pointingout that the former governor leftthe state with a heavy debtoverhang of N106.2 billion whenhis tenure expired on March 17,

2014.Obiano had wondered howObi could have given Ndi Anambraa rosy picture of the assets he leftbehind without showing them theliabilities he incurred.

The governor, who spoke throughthe Secretary to the StateGovernment, Prof Solomon OsitaChukwulobelu, held that out of theN185.1bn, the Obi administrationcould only pay the sum of N78.9bnwhen it handed over power inMarch last year, bringing the totalliabilities to N106.2bn.

But Obi, who opened up yester-day, in a statement made availableto the press by his media aide,Valentine Obienyem, decried howObiano squandered the hardearned savings in foreign currencywhich would have gone a long wayin sustaining the development of

the State.The statement entitled, 'WeNeed a Public Debate on the N75billion Peter Obi Left,' provideddetails and listed the areas themoney was frittered away to includeN5 billion approved by the presentadministration for the celebration ofthe first 100 days in office, the N1billion monthly security vote,hundreds of billions spent for 2014Christmas decoration and buying ofhorses and the N40 million to mountthe gates at the Government’sLodge.

Others include N35 million spentto mount the gate at theGovernment’s House, change of roofat the Government House whichgulped N700 million, change of allthe tiles in the Government Houseto pale granite at N150 million,procurement of dining table at N25million, seats at N50 million, gold

bed from the UnitedStates at N30 mil- lion andanother gold bed for thegovernor’s wife at N25million.

Giving a furtherbreakdown on how Obianosuccessfully depleted theN75 billion savings withina short period of time,Obienyem said N40million was spent onimported kitchen cabinet

from the United States,N150 million for musicalsets for Aguleri, acquisitionand relocation of all landsaround the governor ’scompound at Aguleri, aswell as the increase inCommissioners andSpecial Advisers pay to overN400,000 monthly asagainst N190,000 Obi’sadministration paid.

Other areas the savingswas mismanaged includethe increase in salary ofSenior Special Assistantsfrom N160,000 to N300,000.

According to the formergovernor, Obiano had alsoused more vehicles in lessthan two years than whathis predecessor used ineight years, with thepresent Secretary to theState Government (SSG)using three Prado SUVsand two Toyota Hilux cars;the Chief of Staff ,two PradoSUVs and two Toyota Hiluxcars and the PrincipalSecretary using two PradoSUVs and one pickup car.

While saying that there isnothing wrong ingovernment borrowingmoney to meet its genuine

demands, Obienyemdismissed the claim that theObi administration left debtson contracts executed.

His words: “They saidthat Obi left N106.2 billion(wrong figure) over hangoncontractual debts alone. Ichallenge them to publishthe schedule of the debtsand the companies beingowed.

“As at the time Obi leftoffice, he paid for all thecertificates generated oncontracts awarded.Certificates are generatedon the basis of workcompleted. Are they sayingObi ought to pay forcontracts yet to be done?The same man saying thisawarded 35 fresh roadswithin his first year in officeat the total cost of over N81billion out of which he haspaid N10 billion.

“On the other hand, Obiawarded roads totallingN93 billion in his last yearin office and paid a total ofover N51 billion on thoseroads before leaving office.Most of those roads were

Continues on Page 44

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Thanksgiving service to mark Alake of Egbaland's 10th coronation anniversary

From right, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,Chief Ernest Shonekan, Alake of Egbaland,Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, his Olori; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his wife, Biola; Mrs. Funsho Amosun, andOgun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, after the special thanksgiving service to mark the 10th coronationanniversary of Alake of Egbaland, at St. Peters Church, Ake Abeokuta, yesterday. Photo: Wunmi Akinola

Oba Adedotun Gbadebo (middle) with his Olori(left), and Asiwaju Tinubu.

From left, Oba Adeniyi Sonariwo, Akarigbo of Remo Land; Oba Kehinde Olugbenle,Olu of Ilaro, paramount ruler of Yewa land; Oba Olufemi, Olubara of Ibara; ObaAdedapo Tejuoso, Osile Oke Ona Egba, Olori & Oba Adetodun Gbadebo.

Oba Dapo Tejuoso (left), and Oba Adedotun Gbadebo with his Olori.

Cross section of the Oba's children.From left, Chief Segun Osunkeye, Chief Bazuaye H. O., and Chief BenjaminIredia, representing Oba of Benin.

Princess Adebisi Edionseri, and Oba AdeniyiSonariwo, Akarigbo of Remo land. Otunba Subomi Balogun & his Olori.

From left, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, Mrs. MargaretOrakwusi, and Chief Yinka Kufile

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 17

Responses to:donzol2002@yahoo.co.ukor to 0802 747 6458 OR0811 675 9752 (texts only).PLEASE KINDLY NOTETHAT UNLESS YOU RE-QUEST ANONYMITY,YOUR COMMENTS MAYBE PUBLISHED, WITHYOUR NAMES AND CON-TACT DETAILS AT-TACHED.

Ministers — Readers responses

LAST week, I praised Mr President for appointing

Rotimi Amaechi and BabatundeFashola to his Cabinet but toldyou that several concernedcitizens had contacted me toexpress the view that Mrs KemiAdeosun, Buhari’s newMinister of Finance, is notexperienced enough to holdsuch a sensitive and seniorportfolio.

I told you that havingwatched Adeosun’s SenateScreening last month, I sharedthe above viewpoint and I saidthat while I wish Adeoshunsuccess and hope she provesme wrong, a) I feel that she isnowhere near as distinguishedas her World Bank-trainedpredecessor, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and b) she does notstrike me as someone whopossesses the gravitas to standshoulder-to-shoulder with heraccomplished counterparts inBritain and the UnitedStates…or with Christine

Lagarde, the formidable FrenchCEO of the InternationalMonetary Fund.

A number of Vanguardreaders wrote to say or implythat they thought I’d beenunfair to Adeosun. In theinterests of journalistic balance,here are some of the emails andtext messages that pro-AdeosunVanguard readers sent me:

From: Caleb Ogbonna

<khalebpowers@yahoo.com>I have been an avid reader of

your weekly column for quite awhile now and I must confessthat you write with a perfectunderstanding of contemporaryissues.

My only frown was at yourdescription of Mrs KemiAdeosun, the HonourableMinister for Finance as anunfamiliar neophyte in thefinancial terrain and yourstrong emphasis oninternational recognition.

May I oppose your bias and

humbly say that it is not theyears of experience andinternational acclaim thatqualifies one for such toughjob, rather it is the grasp ofpeculiar challenges andcultural /socio-economicmaladies that arise from the‘Nigerian economic model’ thatplaces one in a vantage positionto solve problems.

Internationaltheories

Nigerian economic woes donot need those excellent ininternational theories andmodels but people with a touchof local intuition and relevantintelligence.

I am only an undergraduatestudent and I hold youropinions in high esteem, so Iam reluctant to question yourbasis for drawing certainconclusions. But my own takeis that we should give people

who are familiar with theNigerian terrain and oureconomic dynamics a chance toflex their cerebral muscles.

From 08035827823 TemiKingsway Eyoyibo

I am happy that RotimiAmaechi now controls ourtransportation sector. TheNortherners saw in him whatsome of us in the South-Southrefused to see because ofwickedness. BabatundeFashola is also very capable. Asfor the beautiful young woman,Kemi Adeosun, let’s give herall the encouragement we cangive her.

08068232727 Yinka OgunjobiDear Madam Donu, I agree

with your assessments ofAmaechi and Fashola butdisagree on Adeosun…Why notwait and see how she willperform when she has settleddown? Rome was not built in aday.

08034513498 Olorogun(Alhaji) Adams Braimoh

Why are you doubting KemiAdeosun’s abilities? Do otherministers possess any betterskills and knowledge? Pleaselet us give her a chance to serveNigeria. Stop running downyour fellow woman. Time willtell whether she will prove youwrong with an excellentperformance.

08056126016 PrinceChurchhill Owamiyemi

Kogbara, you are dead wrongabout Kemi Adeosun. What youwrote about her is misleadingand in bad faith. YourEuropean mentality made youcompare her with British,French and American financeministers. You even comparedher unfavourably with arrogantOkonjo-Iweala who abusedgovernors and spoke carelesslyto senators. I am not Yoruba. Iam an Itsekiri from Warri and Ido not know Adeosun fromAdam. But for now I see herand Fashola as the bestministers.

What more can Isay?!...Except that I don’t seewhy I should suppress anyreservations I may have abouta particular public officialsimply because she happens tobe a fellow woman, but I amglad for Adeosun’s sake that sheenjoys considerable supportfrom certain quarters…and willcontinue to keep my fingerscrossed that she justifies MrPresident’s faith in her anddoes well for Nigeria.

•Kemi Adeosun•Babatunde Fashola

A 22-Year-Old University of Port Harcourt computer sciences

graduate, Pamela Leesin Peter-Vigboro,recently won the 2015 Miss Nigeria beautypageant contest.

Even though Pamela comes from myvillage (Bodo City in Ogoniland), sherepresented Cross River State instead ofher own state, Rivers. And it is good thatNigeria has progressed to the point wherean individual doesn’t necessarily have tohave ancestral links to a location torepresent that location in a competition.

Location in acompetition

Pamela was not the only Miss Nigeriacontestant who didn’t represent her homestate. Jigawa State, for example, wasrepresented by a non-Jigawan calledKehinde Itunu. And the curse of tribalismwill surely wane if this trend continues.

But while part of me heartily applauds

On a lighter notethis advancement of the nation-buildingONE NIGERIA dream, I cannot helpfeeling rather miffed that it is Cross Riverrather than Rivers that is enjoying thekudos associated with pretty Pamela’s win!

Having said all this, I don’t even knowwhy I am grumbling about Cross Rivergetting the credit for Pamela’s victorybecause I don’t even approve of beautycontests!

Girls parading up and down catwalks inskimpy swimsuits - while their bodies arebeing scrutinized by judges who are mostlymale and mostly old enough to be theirfathers - is not my idea of how 21st centurywomen should conduct themselves.

If I had a pulchritudinous daughter, Iwould beg her not to enter sexist conteststhat promote vanity and the idea thatwomen are mere decorative objects to belusted after; and I’d advise her to allow herbeauty to be celebrated informally and urgeher to concentrate on developing herintellectual and social skills. •Pamela

•Rotimi Amaechi

CMYK

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Tribute to Chijioke NwosuBy Sam Ekpe

*Mr. Mantu, a civil rights activist, wrotefrom Kaduna, Kaduna State.

THE Nigerian Civil War of 1967 – 1970affected our education negatively by

drawing us back for the three years the warlasted. He was in class 5 and I was in class 4in the famous Methodist College Uzuakoliwhen the war broke out in 1967. In 1970, agood number of us returned to the school tofinish our secondary education. Those of usin class 4 were promoted to class 5 to take theWASC exam in 1970.

The WAEC exam in 1970 was cancelled(the notorious expo 1970) and we repeatedthe exam in 1971. It was in 1971 that Ibecame close to him – a fair complexionedyoung man with a lot of brain and beauty.He had no difficulty passing his West AfricanSchool Certificate exam with Grade 1 andpassing the very competitive entrance examto the University of Nigeria Medical School.It was in our lower Sixth Form that we causeda stir in the school. it was a tradition for theschool Management to appoint ‘Old boys’ i.e.those who passed through the school fromclasses 1 to 5 school prefects, along with a fewnew students who had come from otherschools for their Higher School Certificate(HSC) Education. When the names ofprefects for the 1971 /1972 session wereannounced, Chijioke Nwosu, my humble selfand one or two other old boys wereconspicuously missing from the list. Thisrevisionist attitude and departure from thenorm caused a lot of disaffection among thestudents as it appeared that the Uzuakolidiscipline and moral rectitude which we had

imbibed in the school for five years was beingdisregarded in favour of relatively new HSCStudents whom Uzuakoli had not passedthrough. The students carried placards andschool activities were disrupted for somedays. Some of us who were seen as ring leadersof the students' demonstration were sent onsuspension for some months. In the end,reason prevailed, we were recalled andappointed prefects. But during the impasseChijioke Nwosu passed the examination tothe UNN Medical School. This was a greatrelief and source of joy to us and he mockedthe school management saying that theirdisregard for him by not appointing himprefect was a blessing in disguise as he hadmoved on to ‘better life’. We recalled thisepisode with relish whenever we met ordiscussed our days in Methodist CollegeUzuakoli.

Dr. Chijioke Nwosu was born on September27th, 1947, as the fourth out of the 10children of the Methodist Family of Pa ElderMatthew Madukwe Nwosu and Ma Elder(Mrs) Nwano Nwosu, of Amaedukwu Nkpa,Okpuhu Nkpa Autonomous Community, inBende L.G.A Abia State. He was born inNdoro Ikwuano L.G.A. while the father wasa Head Master of the then prominentMethodist School, Ndoro, Oboro. He had hisElementary School education at OkpuhuNkpa Central School, Lohum Central School,

Ozuitem Central School and UzuakoliPracticing School respectively. While inUzuakoli Practicing School, he passed theentrance examination into the famousMethodist College Uzuakoli in 1963. Whilein Secondary School, he was very popularand sociable. He was a good athlete and alsowon the All Round Medal (VICTORLUDORUM) in 1971. He also participatedactively in Church Activities.

He obtained the degree of M.B.B.CH andbecame a Medical Doctor in 1978. Between1978 and 1979, did House Job in Universityof Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. HisNational Youth Service was with NigerianAir Force, Port Harcourt between 1979 and1980.

In 1984, he established a 25 bed Hospital,UDO POLY CLINICS at No. 9 and 10 ChiefEjims Street Rumuobiakani, Obio, PortHarcourt, where he practiced Medicine asthe Medical Director until his demise.

Dr. Chijioke Nwosu was born, baptized andgrew up as a Methodist, hence his very deepinvolvement in the affairs of MethodistChurch of Nigeria during his lifetime. Hecontributed immensely within Abia Statein Community Rural Development in theareas of Electricity, Water, Road Networkand Public Health which earned him awards,honours and Chieftaincy titles.

In 1995, he contributed handsomely duringWesley Methodist Church No. 1 HarbourRoad, Port Harcourt Church BuildingExtension Project for which his name wasclearly written on the Honours list. He was astrong member of the Men’s Fellowship,assisting in funding various Church activitiesespecially new Church sites, Baby WesleyChurch extensions and donated funds for

Evangelism. From 2002 to 2004, he single-handedly started and completed theconstruction of the Church Tower at his homechurch, Wesley Methodist Church, OkpuhuNkpa.

In 1996, he was honored by UzuakoliMethodist College Old Boys Association(UMCOBA), Rivers State Branch, whichconferred on him the prestigious title ofNNAGU II, THE MAYOR OF UMCOBA andin 1998 was conferred with theDistinguished Old Boy Award (DOB) by theNational Body of the Old Boys Association.

He received Chieftaincy title ofUGWUMBA 1 of OBORO Community wherehe was born during the father’s sojourn inNdoro, Oboro in 2000 as Headmaster andin 2002 he was conferred with the title ofONWA NETIRI OHA 1 OF AMAEGBUATONKPA. In 2003 he was conferred with thetitle of CHINYERE UGO 1 OF AMIYIOBILOHA. He was also invested with theTRUE FAITHFUL OF GOD (TFG) by Rt BishopBr. C.N. Ede, then Bishop of Uzuakoli Diocesein the same year.

On April 3,2005 during the “Recognitionof Service and Award of Merit” by theMethodist Church he was conferred withOFFICER OF THE ORDER OF JOHN WESLEY(OJW), by his Eminence Sunday Mbang,CON, Prelate Emeritus of Methodist Churchof Nigeria. In his bid to alleviate the sufferingsof the less privileged he gave free MedicalCare to many patients that could not affordto pay their Hospital bills. He is survived byhis wife, Mrs Stella U. Chijioke Nwosu andfour children;, a son – in-law, twograndchildren and host of other relations.

He gave free Medical Care tomany patients that couldnot afford to pay theirHospital bills

RECENTLY, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) removedNigeria from the list of polio-endemic countries. It was amajor milestone in the drive toeradicate polio after a year ofnot recording a single case ofpolio in any part of the country.

Previously, Nigeria had nevercompletely interruptedtransmission of the Wild PolioVirus (WPV). As of July 2012,the nation accounted for morethan half of all polio casesworldwide, but surprised theworld through this landmarkachievement.

Rapid progress against thecrippling disease came largelyas a result of the dedication ofcountless health workers andstrong government commitmentto reach every child with thepolio vaccine.

Back in 1988, polio waswidespread around the world,

Nigeria’s polio eradication drive

paralysing more than 1,000children every day. Today, it hasbeen reduced by more than 99percent. The fact that Nigeriahas now gone almost 500 dayswithout any new case of polio ischeering news. By exiting the listof polio-endemic nations, Nigeriahas brought the world one majorstep closer to achieving the globalgoal of polio eradication.

Eradicating polio would beone of the greatest achieve-ments in human history whichwould have a positive impact onglobal health for generations tocome.

With Nigeria’s new status as apolio-free country, efforts of theGlobal Polio EradicationInitiative, spearheaded by theFederal Government, WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)Rotary International, the U.S.Centre for Disease Control and theUnited Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) must be stepped up evenmore.

It is essential to appreciate thatthe global fight to end polio – adisease which just under 30years ago, paralyzed 350,000children around the world annually

–is in reality, a journey, not adestination.

Even in celebration, themomentum must be kept up. ForNigeria to be certified polio-free,no new cases must be detectedover the next two years. Toachieve this most important feat,decisive and deliberate measuresmust be taken.

Strengthened vaccinationcampaigns, especially in hard-to-reach and insecure areas,coupled with improved routineimmunization backed by diseasesurveillance, must remainmandatory components of theagenda.the anti-polio campaignmust continue.

Our defeat of Ebola,eradication of guinea worm andnear extermination of polio areconcrete proofs that there is nochallenge we cannot defeat withteamwork.

CMYK

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—————1919191919

CMYK

Send Opinions & Letters to:opinions1234@yahoo.com

We are not afraid

*Mr Udegbe, a lawyer, wrote fromLagos.

My Investigation Police officer and I

THE world is at war. Onewithout boundaries. With

the terrorist taking centre stage,the universe is on the edge. Thesane shake their heads while theunbalanced, tweet triumphantmessages claiming authorship ofadditional innocent lives theyhave taken at random. The earthis the theatre of enlightenmentwith a stage of darkness. Whileknowledge, innovation andtechnology illuminate the earth;the terrorists strive to knock offthe lights. But having lost threehundred and ninety six innocentsouls to three attacks within twoweeks to terrorism, the last thingwe need, is a divided worldagainst terrorists.

These string of tragedies beganon Saturday October 31, whenthe Russian Metrojet Flight7K9268 flying from theEgyptian holiday resort ofSharm El-Sheikh with 224 soulsincluding seventeen children,was bombed out of the sky in theSinai Peninsula.

Then on Thursday November12, a terrorist in the busy Burjal-Barajneh area of Beirut blewhimself up. As people tried torecover from this, Adel Tormonswho had witnessed the explosionsaw another man makingsuspicious moves, so he forced

himself on the suspect, and hisbomb went off. The courage ofTormons had saved lives as thesuspect might have mingledwith the gathering crowd beforesetting off his explosives. A totalof 43 people were killed and over200 injured. The Islamic State(ISIS) claimed responsibility.

The next day, at least sevenISIS terrorists attacked the civilpopulace in Paris, sending 129to early graves and leaving 349injured. People were killedperforming ordinary functionslike having a bite at a café or at afootball match. Perhaps, themost horrifying for me was themassacre at the BataclanTheatre where 89 persons werekilled. It reminded me of theOctober 23, 2002 DubrovkaTheatre, Moscow attack byChechen terrorists during which850 people were taken hostagewith 130 of them being killed.

Perhaps the fact that the Parisattacks took place in Europe, theuniversal out pour of anger andsolidarity messages virtuallydrowned news of the earlierterrorist attacks in Lebanon.World leaders and the dominantWestern media includingFacebook which produced(French national) tricolor profilepicture filter to users, forgot or

ignored the carnage in Beirutcarried out by the same group.But in reality, it is Lebanon,which has given shelter to overone million Syrian refugees, thatis on the frontline in the waragainst terror. The impressionmust not be given that lives inone part of the world, are morevaluable than lives in anotherpart. All lives matter.

The war against terror isuniversal, and we need a unitedhumanity to take on theterrorists wherever they are andwhenever they show their facesincluding in Nigeria whereterrorists this Tuesday,murdered 31 persons in the Yolaarea.

Pope Francis argues that theParis attacks are the beginningsof the Third World War. Thismay well be so, but the new warwould not be a conventional onewhere armies are pitched againstthemselves, fighting to take and

hold territories.In the war against terror, it

makes common sense forhumanity to unite; for the Westand America to end its war inSyria, Turkey stop attacks againstKurds and for Israel to allow itsPalestinian neigbours, theirindependent homeland. This waris not one between Muslims andChristians, Jews and Buddhists. Itis not a clash of civilisations orculture. It is one betweencriminals who want to reshape theworld in their own image, and therest of humanity. This is why, inunderstanding the anger of Franceand its President, FrancoisHollande who has promised a“ruthless’ and ‘pitiless’ response,it is necessary to caution thatFrance’s response should be basedon verifiable facts, clear objectivesand an eye on possiblerepercussions. This is necessary sothat we don’t go from a bad, to aworse situation.

After the 9/11 attacks, theUnited States (US) promised asimilar ruthlessness in itsresponse. However, like aprovoked but blind hulk, itturned to the wrong directioncrashing into anti-terrorist Iraq,knocking down its statestructures and infrastructure. Sorather than taking out theterrorist network which planned9/11, it took out the Iraqi state,leaving its broken shell withseparatist Shiite, Sunni andKurdish governments who areunable to govern, and producingISIS which took swathes of landfor a terrorist caliphate.

Then like a drunken giant, itstaggered into Afghanistanuprooting the government andturning the country into a failedstate. So while Americans canfeel justified for the bloodshed inIraq and Afghanistan, and itsrendition programme whichsaw it kidnap people around the

world and dump them withouttrial in detention centres, theyachieved little else. If anything,they lost more people, are in aquagmire in those countries, andhave made the world generallymore insecure.

Terror is employment ofviolence to attain politicalobjectives. At its heart is thecreation of fear. Hollande at theUnited Nations on Tuesday,vowed that the attacks will notchange French life. That theFrench tradition and culture,its cosmopolitan outlook andwelcoming attitude to allhumanity will continue. Thatis the spirit. We must not panic.

People must not stop going torestaurants or the stadium.Matches should not be cancelledlike Brussels calling off theBelgium – Spain match. On theother hand, the decision to goon with the France – Britainmatch, strengthens the resolveagainst terror. Militaryspending need not increase tothe detriment of socialspending, like British PrimeMinister, David Cameroonrushing to increase hiscountry’s military budget by$3 billion.

Perhaps, the worst indicationof fear after the Paris attackswas that by 27 Americangovernors who announced thatthey will not take in any of the10,000 Syrian refugeesAmerica had promised to bringin next year. Such panickypositions do not only play intothe hands of the terrorists, butalso fuel the anti-immigrationcampaigns especially inAmerica. We must not be afraidin the war against terrorists,but we must struggle for ahumane, just world built on theFrench Revolution motto ofLiberty, Equality andFraternity.

POLICE investigation action startswith either a petition or a complaint

by an aggrieved person or by an agencyover a misdemeanor or some criminalconduct to a superior police officer rangingfrom the Inspector General of Police, IGP,to any of his numerous offices. TheDivisional Police Officer, DPO, is the closestSenior officer to the people at the LocalGovernment Area or wherever, anddepending on the type of station, someDPOs have well over 100 police officersunder their control and command.

Good DPOs maintain a good balance withthe traditional rulers, and local politics oftheir area to preempt and control crime,and enforce the law. They are the law asthe case may be. Thus, the bad image ofthe Police in Nigeria, stems from who theDPO is, his understanding of the importof his office, and the role of the police inmaintaining a safe and peaceful society.A good DPO often is a good listener, takeshis decisions, and moves on withoutbeating about the bush, and allowinghimself to be manipulated by the rich andpowerful.

On the same token, a bad DPO is self-opinionated, shouts at every one, tries toapply the law wrongly to suit his whimsand caprices. He can turn a case againstthe complainant and charge him to courtwith anything just to punish him for notcompromising. To him, it does not matterwhether the charge is subsequentlystruck off or not, his interest is to subjectthe victim to Nigeria’s difficult legalsystem, where he could end up in prisoncustody if his bail is not well handled in

court. Something needs to be done aboutDPOs who upturn cases againstcomplainants and charge frivolous casesto court, because they contribute tocreating the fear in most citizens for policestations causing citizens to keep certaincrimes such as domestic violence, rape,battery, etc. from being reported.

The DPO is very important in the policechain of command, and care should betaken to select who to make a DPO, in orderto improve on the image of the police insociety.

DPOs report to Area Commanders, whoreport to the Commissioner of Police, CP,in the state, who in turn reports toAssistant Inspector General, AIG, whocontrols and commands a few states in theZone. There are other Police formationscommanded by CPs, to address specialisedcases, such the Police Special Fraud Unitin Ikoyi, Lagos etc.

Once a case is established, it is assignedto a police investigation officer, IPO, whowill handle the case file and report to his

superiors, and what becomes of that casedepends majorly on who the IPO is, hisknowledge, biases and idiosyncrasies. MostDPOs use Sergeants as IPOs, they lead otherlower ranks in their team, and they arethe link between the senior and juniorofficers and can make and unmake. Theyare so useful, yet mostly untrained, raw,and lack knowledge in the application oflaw and enforcement. The training of thiscadre of officers have become so crucial atthis stage of our democratic experience inpolicing, and with the social pulls in ournation. Most sergeants are not computerliterate, cannot understand and handlemost mobile phone applications, someeven regard such knowledge as riskywhich disposes persons to criminalconduct!

One cannot really blame them, whensome of our law makers are so unfamiliarwith the internet, that they would needspecial training for Facebook applications.One wonders what they do with the I padsthey carry about.

However, the IGP must pay specialattention to the education and training ofthese junior officers. Nigeria rushed intointernet banking without providingadequate infrastructure and training toback up management and monitoring ofsystems to dictate crimes associated withthe internet even before they areconsummated.

The Current control of forextransactions by the CBN poses differentkinds of challenges for IPOs. For example,when a person is carrying more than fiveATM cards, and average IPO treats himwith suspicion, irrespective of where hemay be domiciled. Internet bankingallows diaspora account holders whocarry ATM cards. The new CBNrestriction which reduced the amount aperson can with draw from his accountthrough the ATM from $500 to just $300

per day, means that a trader overseas willhave to wait for 10 days to be able to pullout $5000 to pay for his goods. What theydo to beat this, is to apply and get manyATM cards, to be able to meet theirrequirements as quickly as possible. Someof them carry up to ten ATM cardsaround, and when they run into an IPOfor any reasons, they become suspects ofCard fraud from the onset. The averageNigerian business man, suffers to makehis money, and suffers to use it; he queuesto deposit his money, cannot withdraw ordeposit more than $300 per day, and anyarrangement he makes to overcome thesechallenges lands him as a suspect beforean IPO. Our CBN should consider thecomfort of the majority of the commonman in their efforts to churn out policiesto police fraud in our finance system.

Our banking systems are increasinglybecoming exposed to the devils calledhackers, and when an account holderbecomes a victim of such an incidence, itis only necessary that care be taken to getto the root of the matter, with theconstitutional doctrine of presumedinnocence until proven otherwise appliedin such cases. IPOs do not understand this.The victim is a crook as far as they areconcerned, so the victim is detained,humiliated, for an action that iscompletely alien to him. Our IPOs shouldbe placed ahead of these developmentsthrough training and exposure, tominimize the sufferings and humiliationof victims of bank account related internetfrauds.

The IPO is so important in achievinggood investigation results, and should beso accommodated in training and humanresource development programmes of thePolice.

By Clement Udegbe

In the war againstterror, it makescommon sense forhumanity tounite; for the Westand America toend its war inSyria, Turkey stopattacks againstKurds and for Israelto allow itsPalestinianneigbours, theirindependenthomeland

Our IPOs should beplaced ahead of thesedevelopments throughtraining and exposure,to minimize thesufferings andhumiliation of victimsof bank accountrelated internet frauds

20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 21

CMYK

Tax now maincontributor tofederal revenue

TAX revenue has nowbecome the major

contributor to the federationaccount, due in part to thecontinuous decline in oilrevenue for the country.

Acting Chairman of FederalInland Revenue Service, FIRS,Mr. Babatunde Fowler,disclosed this in Lagos,yesterday, at a Tax BreakfastMeeting organised by KPMG.He said the continuous declinein contribution of oil revenue toFAAC now makes it moreimperative to focus on non-oiltax revenue and finally moveaway from dependence on oil.

Fowler noted that statisticsshow that tax collection hasbeen shoring up revenuecollection and that the gap incollection from oil and non-oiltaxes has been closed in the lastfew years. “The current revenuechallenges facing thefederation due to the significantdrop in oil prices have onceagain brought into focus the roleof FIRS in generating revenuefrom taxes for the federation.Data from the last three monthsshow that tax revenue is nowthe major contributor to thefederation account,” he stated.

Specifically, the FIRS bossnoted that since July, taxcontribution to the federationaccount has been far more thanthe combined revenues fromNNPC, DPR and the Nigerian

Customs Service, NCS. Forinstance, in July FIRScontributed N338.503 billion toFAAC, while NNPC contributedN77.398 billion, DPR N49.958billion and NCS N45.941billion. The respectivecontributions to FAAC were inAugust, FIRS - N278.362billion, NNPC - N76.178 billion,DPR - N39.968 billion and, NCS- N48.197 billion; and inSeptember, FIRS – N235.500billion, NNPC – N73.262 billion,DPR – N38.708 billion and, NCS– N42.365 billion. For October,FIRS and NCS contributedN292.753 billion and N52.249billion, respectively. NNPC andDPR figures for October werenot available. This shows thatout of the total contributions ofthe four agencies into thefederation account, for July,August and September, FIRSalone contributed 66.14 percent,62.88 percent and 60.41percent, respectively.

Moral suasionFowler said the new FIRS

approach is to treat taxpayersas clients, with FIRS in the roleof a service provider. “FIRS isconscious of its obligations totaxpayers and taxpayers areexpected to reciprocate theseefforts by voluntarily complying

with their obligations withoutbeing prompted. There must abe a conscious realization bytaxpayers and consultants thattaxation is both a moral andlegal obligation. At themoment, focus is on moralpersuasion for taxpayers tovoluntarily comply. Where thisapproach does not produceexpected results, we will moveto legal enforcement.

“The effect of the fall in crudeprices has reflected in revenueaccruable to the Governmentand projections do not indicatethat there will be an upwardchange in the near future.Increased focus is on FIRS toclose the revenue gap by

improved collection from taxes.This is a challenge, but also anopportunity to put in placestructures that can sustainablydiversify the revenue base ofgovernment away from oil andtowards taxation.

“Tax collection dependsheavily on economic activitiesand income therefrom. It istherefore important forgovernment at all tiers to growtheir respective economies,boost GDP and widen the taxbase.

“On its part, FIRS willcontinue to engage taxpayersand adopt creative strategies toensure 100 per cent voluntarycompliance.

Tiger Brands writes off N24bn loss in Dangote Flour

THREE years after South Africa’sTiger Brands bought 65 percent

equity stake in Dangote Flour Mills(DFM), the company said in a statement,yesterday, that it has written off its loss inDFM valued at N24 billion ($120million),and rescinded its decision on sub-SaharanAfrica expansion strategy.

Outgoing Chief Executive Officer of thecompany, Mr Peter Matlare said TigerBrands has not made a profit from DFM. “We spent a bucket load of cash learningthose lessons and shareholders are clearlyupset.

“We have to revise what the strategyshould look like and that’s work that isunderway right now.” Matlare said, “TigerBrands has written-off R1.7 billion ($120million) from DFM”, adding to the twoimpairments last year totaling R954 million,as the business struggled with toughcompetition and a weakening Nairacurrency.

In a bid to turn DFM round over the lastthree years, Tiger Brands mothballed some

of its mills and introduced new,higher margin products. But thoseefforts were dealt a blow late last yearwhen the Naira was devalued,resulting in higher input costs andas Africa’s biggest economystruggled with lower oil prices. TigerBrands also wrote down R250 millionfrom its investment in Nigeria’s DeliFoods, in which it holds 49 per centstake, citing a weaker currency and

slowing demand.Tiger Brands, which named chief

operating officer Noel Doyle astemporary CEO from next year,reported a surprise two percent fall infull-year profit due to the write-off.

Tiger Brands had earlier this week,said it would no longer providefunding to DFM as part of widerreview of its investment in thecompany, a move that could testDFM’s survival.

Shares in DFM slumped 4.85percent to 1.96 naira, giving a marketvalue of $50.5 million, or nearly a thirdof its $141 million net debt. Tiger,South Africa’s biggest consumer foodsmaker has not made a profit fromNigeria’s Dangote Flour Mills (DFM)after paying almost $200 million for a65 per cent stake in Nigeria’s pastaand flour maker in 2012.

Dangote Industries, owned byAfrica’s richest man Aliko Dangote,holds a 10 percent equity stake in thecompany. Dangote and three otherdirectors resigned on Monday.

By Yinka Kolawole

By Favour Nnabugwu

TigerBrands haswritten-offR1.7 billion($120million)from DFM

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

115.30 2.55

$3,376.00 47.00

$14.63 0.16

CBN Exchange Rate as at 19/11 /15

44.00 -0.14

40.17 -0.58

DOLLAR 195.97 196.47 196.97POUNDS 298.0704 298.8309 299.5914EURO 209.002 209.5353 210.085FRANC 193.1119 193.6047 194.0974YEN 1.5883 1.5924 1.5964CFA 0.2996 0.3096 0.3196WAUA 269.3905 270.0779 270.7652RENMINBI 30.6846 30.7634 30.8421RIYAL 52.2545 52.3878 52.5211SDR 270.0467 270.7357 271.4247KRONA 28.0089 28.0804 28.1518

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

MEETING: From left, Victor Onyenkpa, Partner and Head, TRIPS division; Nike James, Partner,TRIPS division, both of KPMG Nigeria; Babatunde Fowler, Acting Executive Chairman, FederalInland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Jane McCormick, Partner /Head of Tax, KPMG, UK andKPMG Nigeria, during a tax breakfast meeting organised by KPMG in Lagos. Photo: AKEEMSALAU.

“Voluntary compliance is thebest approach for achievingoperational efficiency andeffectively managing taxpayersand our efforts are aimed atcreating a system whichensures that cost of non-compliance is higher than thatof voluntary compliance.

“We will therefore continue tocollaborate and engage withstakeholders so that ourmessage of voluntarycompliance as the first lineapproach for managingtaxpayers is understood andinternalised by tax consultants,taxpayers and otherstakeholders,” he stated.

— FOWLER

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—22

CMYK

The Nigerian StockExchange (NSE) bid toincrease retail investors’

participation to about 25 millionhas received a boost with the

introduction of a mobile App -NSE Trade Smart.

The NSE Trade Smart is amobile application speciallydesigned for easy and accessibletransaction on the equitiesmarket. It is a secure trading

FMDQ becomesFMDQ becomesFMDQ becomesFMDQ becomesFMDQ becomesASEA memberASEA memberASEA memberASEA memberASEA member

PRESENTATION: From left, Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),Mounir Gwarzo (left) presenting the Ten Year Capital Market Master Plan to Vice President,Yemi Osinbajo, when Gwarzo visited him in Aso Villa.

NSE targets increased retailinvestors’ participation with newmobile app

Stanbic IBTC signs first international syndicated loanmarket transaction

Stories by Nkiruka Nnorom platform that allows investors toexecute various trading activitieson their own without eithervisiting the floors of the Exchangeor seeking the service of a broker.

Only about five millionNigerians, representing 2.9 per

leadership position in corporateand transactional banking and ourcommitment to supportingNigeria’s economic growth.

It will also help to boost ouroperations in Nigeria in line withour business objective oforganically growing our footprintin the retail banking space. Thedeal is yet another successfultransaction this year whereStandard Bank’s partner bankshave again endorsed their trustand confidence in the StandardBank Group”.

Chiradeep Deb, Managing

Director/Head, Corporate Financeat Mashreq, said: “It’s been aprivilege to lead book run andcoordinate the maiden syndicatedloan transaction for Stanbic IBTC.To have a fully subscribed deal insuch challenging marketconditions, against the backdropof the fall in prices of commodities,is a testament to Stanbic IBTC’sfinancial strength and StandardBank Group’s (SBG) strongrelationship with its bankingpartners across the region.Mashreq values its long-standingassociation with SBG and it is a

FMDQ OTC SecuritiesExchange has announced its

admission as a 'full member'Exchange of the AfricanSecurities ExchangesAssociation (ASEA).

The status, according to theExchange in a statement, wasratified at the association'sAnnual General Meeting (AGM)which opened the ASEAconference on November 15,2015 in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica.

A Full Member status entitlesFMDQ to vote during theassociation's AGM, fullyparticipate in ASEA events, befeatured in publications, as wellas accord it the privilege tonominate a representative forelection to the ASEA ExecutiveCommittee.

According to Ms. Kaodi Ugoji,Head, Strategy & CorporateCommunications Group atFMDQ, "this admission is apositive step towards making themarkets globally competitiveand provides, among others, aplatform for unlocking thepotentials in the Nigerian capitalmarkets through mutualnetworking and communicationwith various member exchangesin Africa.

"Membership of the ASEA is animportant reference for manyinternational investors and thestatus reflects FMDQ'scommitment to implementingthe highest standards in line withinternational best practices".

She added that the inclusion isin line with FMDQ's mission ofempowering the financial marketto be innovative and credible insupport of the Nigerianeconomy, and in support of itsagenda for the transformation ofthe market with a view toupgrading it to internationalstandards,

The ASEA works with itsmember exchanges to enhancetheir global visibility andcompetitiveness, with a view toattracting capital inflows to theAfrican capital markets,providing an authoritativeinformation portal andaggregated statistics on Africanmarkets and Exchangesrespectively, boosting marketdevelopment and capacitybuilding among memberexchanges and initiatingstrategic alliances on behalf of itsmember exchanges.

Cadbury reiterates commitment to developmental initiatives

cent of the total populace,according to available statistics,participate actively in the capitalmarket.

Speaking at the media launch,Executive Director, MarketOperations and Technology, Mr.Ade Bajomo, said the introductionof the mobile App becamenecessary following the need tomake transactions in the marketmore affordable to both theexisting and potential investors.

He added that the Exchangeembarked on the e-tradingactivities with its target being retailinvestors, hoping to increase to 25million.

“With the smartphone app,investors can enjoy real-timemobile trading services such as thecurrent value of trade, unit of share,volume of transaction, gainersamong others that give you moreinformation on a particularportfolio,” Bajomo said.

He explained that with theTrade Smart, investors can carryon transactions without havingto visit the trading floor of theNigerian Stock Exchange.

The Managing Director, GTISecurities Limited, Mr. AmosAledare, who also confirmedefficiency of the platform whileciting GTI, for instance notedthat the platform has enhancedthe firm’s activities since it waslaunched.

In the same vein, theManaging Director, InvestmentOne Stockbroking InternationalLimited, Mr. Oluwole Awe,responding to the operation ofthe product testified that theproduct was not elitist. He,however, said that to operate thetechnology, the investor shouldbe at least, fairly educated.

Stanbic IBTC Bank Limitedsaid it has secured its debut

syndicated term loan facility. Theone-year transaction that was ledby MashreqBank psc asCoordinating Bank and soleBookrunner, was oversubscribed.Stanbic IBTC closed thesyndication within six weeks oflaunch at a competitive pricingthreshold given the prevailingmarket conditions.

The 8-bank syndicate comprisedof long-standing relationshipbanks of Standard Bank Group,Stanbic IBTC Holdings’ parentcompany, that includedMashreqBank psc, theCommercial Bank (Q.S.C.) andING Bank N.V. as Mandated LeadArrangers & Bookrunners, whileAl Ahli Bank of Kuwait K.S.C.P.,Al Khaliji France S.A.,Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft,Filiale Luxemburg, Doha BankQ.S.C. and SBM Bank(Mauritius) Limited participatedin the Facility as Mandated LeadArrangers. MashreqBank psc isalso acting as the Facility Agentfor the transaction.

In a statement, Chief Executive,Stanbic IBTC Bank, Yinka Sanni,stated that “Stanbic IBTC Bank isdelighted with the reception of thesyndicate banks to its debut deal.We appreciate the confidence thatthe syndicate has in Stanbic IBTC,as it reinforces our market

pleasure to feature in multiplefinancings for the Group’ssubsidiaries in Africa.”

Dr Rassem Zok, CEO, StandardBank of South Africa, MENA,stated that “This transaction has aspecial significance for us being thedebut deal of Stanbic IBTC. Weare delighted with the responsereceived on this facility for ourNigerian subsidiary. This is yetanother successful transaction thisyear where our partner banks haveagain endorsed their trust andconfidence in the Standard BankGroup”

CADBURY Nigeria Plchas reiterated its

commitment towards thedevelopment of Lagos Statethrough its variousdevelopmental initiatives.

The company revealed thisduring a courtesy call on theExecutive Governor of LagosState, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode,by its leadership team led byManaging Director CadburyWest Africa, Mr Roy Naaman.

Speaking during the visit,Managing Director, CadburyWest Africa, Mr Roy Naaman,

affirmed that Cadbury hasenjoyed cordial relationshipwith the government andpeople of Lagos State over theyears and expressed gratitudefor the warm receptionaccorded the company in thestate.

He said: “On our part, weshall remain a responsiblecorporate citizen of the stateand continue to partner with thegovernment throughemployment generation,participation in variousdevelopmental initiatives,contribution to the state treasury

in different forms andstimulation of socio-economicactivities in the state.”

In his remarks, the ExecutiveGovernor of Lagos State, MrAkinwunmi Ambode, opinedthat Cadbury ’s newlycommissioned factory is goodnews for the state’s economyand a boost to its efforts ofbringing investments to thestate.

“As a state, we have a duty tosupport Cadbury not justbecause you employ ourcitizens and the socialresponsibility activities you

undertake, but to ensure wekeep enjoying the quality andconsistency your brands bringto our community.”

Speaking on the visit, Head,Corporate & GovernmentAffairs, Cadbury Nigeria, Mr.Bala Yesufu, noted that thecourtesy visit was not only toexpress appreciation to hisExcellency for unveilingCadbury state-of-the-art factoryrecently, but was alsonecessitated by the need tocontinually build, strengthen,nurture and sustainrelationship with government atall levels.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 23

WITH the flag off of the 2015/2016 dry season rice and

wheat farming in Birnin Kebbi,Kebbi state during the week,President Muhammadu Buharihas kicked start theadministration’s program ofdiversifying the economy throughagriculture.

President Buhari re-iterated atthe event that the importance ofagriculture to the economy cannotbe over emphasised as economicdiversification is the only way toprosperity “so go back to land anddevelop agriculture because theera of depending on oil is over “

He added that produce such asgroundnuts, palm oil, cotton andrubber plantation used to be themainstay of the economy. “Duringthis period, the economy was builton agricultural activities and ourgross domestic product grewsteadily.”

Since his election in May, thePresident has not hidden his desireto return the country to the path ofglory through agriculture.“Agriculture must cease from beingtreated as developmentprogramme; Agriculture must betreated as business, “he said.

To show how serious thegovernment is, a farmer in theperson of Chief Audu Ogbeh wasappointed as Agriculture minister.

The present agriculture ministerright from his screening at theNational Assembly told the worldthat Nigeria has one of the worstseeds to plant in comparison toothers countries in the continent.

As a farmer, he knows what heis saying as Nigerian farmers likeother African farmers have cropproductivity below the globalstandard because they do not haveaccess to improved adaptable seedvarieties.

Audu Ogbeh added a newdimension to his claims in BirninKebbi when he said under the pastadministration that despite thegood intentions of the immediatepast agriculture minister,Akinwumi Adesina, thatcorruption was still prevalent in thesector under him.

“People supplied sharp sands asfertiliser while fake seedlings weresold to farmers. There werecompanies with no traceableaddress,” he alleged.

As a result of these sharppractices, Ogbe said manystruggling farmers lost money.

“There will be no room forquacks any more. Under thisadministration, that will neverhappen again. No room for quacksany more.

With the continued comments ofAudu Ogbe on fake and poorseedlings in the country, manystakeholders are calling on thegovernment to pay attention to thefundamentals in the sector, one ofwhich is access to quality seedsfor farmers as seed is one of theleast expensive but most importantfactors influencing yields.

The Alliance for GreenRevolution in Africa (AGRA) notedthat most of the availablecommercial seed varieties in thecontinent were developed andreleased more than 30 years ago,and they are now susceptible to

THE Governor of Jigawa State, GovernorMuhammad Badaru Abubakar, said his

trip to China has opened his eyes and thatof his team to the need to enhanceagricultural competitiveness through the useof technology.

Speaking on his arrival from the Asiacountry, Governor Muhammad BadaruAbubakar, said the trip afforded his team theopportunity of identifying cost effective andmodern technology for agricultural valuechain development.

While re-iterating what he said during hisinaugural speech that supporting agricultureand its value chain will be one of the cardinalpoints of his government, Jigawa state

We need technology to grow agric— Gov BadaruGovernor said “We visited China becauseit has the largest investors in the world, weused the opportunity during the visit to seeif we can have some to adopt in our state”.

The Chinese investors, according toGovernor Badaru, are committed topurchasing 5,000 metric tons of Jigawasesame seeds this harvesting season whichwill lead to the establishment of Sesamecleaning plant around Maigatari area in thenearest future.

He added that the investors have alsoindicated interest in establishing 5,000hectares of rice estate and 5,000 hectares oftomatoes production estate, just as theyhave also promised to look into thepossibility of establishing a juice factory byusing the abundant mango trees in the state.

several emerging challenges notlimited to climate change.

The Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO) also said thatin many developing countries,farmers do not get benefit from theadvantages of using quality seeddue to a combination of factors,including inefficient seedproduction, distribution andquality assurance systems, as wellas the lack of good seed policiesand other regulatory instruments.

Before now, Nigeria had issuewith inefficient seed production,but the last administration underthe leadership of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan did a lot toboost the number of seedcompanies from eleven to 134making Nigerian farmers to haveaccess to high quality seed from4,252Metric tons in 2011 to over149,484metric tonnes in the firstquarter of this year.

The Managing Director ofMaslaha seed , Ibrahim Abdullahisaid the Growth EnhancementScheme (GES) of the Jonathangovernment facilitated the growthof seed system in Nigeria. “Theseed system before now was veryproblematic in the sense that thekind of synergy and linkage wenow enjoy with the agro dealersand the farmers was not there.”

Quality assurance

One area that stakeholders wantthe government to pay attentionto is that of quality assurance asmany seed that are not regulatedstill find their ways into the handsof local farmers. This they say isbecause the National AgriculturalSeeds Council (NASC) has notdone well in the area ofregulations.

A farmer, Olarewaju Semiu ,asked what is the seed policy ofNigeria like? He said as a farmer,he has not been able to lay hishand on the country’s seed policy.

Semiu noted that in the Zambiathat the country’s Seed Control and

Certification Institute (SCCI) isresponsible for the certificationprocess of the seeds.

He added that their mandate isto make sure the farmers who arethe end users of seeds end up withthe highest quality seeds.

“ZAMBIA is among best seedproducers in the Common Marketfor Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA) region and satisfiesboth local and export markets,Zambia currently produced about80, 000 metric tons of certified andquality seeds of maize and othersmall crops annually for exports.”

Olarewaju noted that theZambian seed industry hasdeveloped because they have inplace a seed policy and legislationgoverning certification, variety andexport and variety protection, “whycan’t Nigeria come up with its seedpolicy.”

He is of the opinion that Nigeriashould look at what the FAO hasdone to address the identifiedconstraints in seed issues as FAOworks within a range of areasaiming at enhancing seeds indeveloping countries andencouraging linkages betweenbreeding and seed systems.

Producing quality seedsmeans quality yields

For Ifeanyi James, farmers’access to quality seed and training

will improve farmers’ yields asfarmers traditionally depend onseed certified by governmentauthorities – seed that they knowhas been inspected by independentevaluators to deliver the bestpossible harvest for that variety ofgrain.

“However, in Nigeria, the seedfields that smallholders depend onare rarely certified. Governmentssimply do not have the capacity toinspect the enormous number ofsmall fields that are growing seedsin the country.”

He noted that at the NationalSeed Retreat organized by theNational Agricultural SeedsCouncil (NASC ), December lastyear, that it was observed that thereis dearth of breeders, SeedTechnologists in the NationalAgricultural Research andNational Seed Systems.

Other observations made at theretreat which Ifeanyi will want thepresent government to look intoare the quality issues on thevarious classes of seed beingproduced and marketed in theseed industry; inadequatefunding in the seed sub sector inrespect of training, research anddevelopment and seeddevelopment.

He added that the nonobservance of the harmonizedECOWAS Seed Rules for crossborder trade due to certificationprocedures amongst the ECOWASstates is another issue just as theinadequate seed agrodealernetwork for distribution/marketingof seeds by seed companies.

While noting that there is lowuptake of new released varietiesdue to limited awareness, he saidthe action of the former PermanentSecretary, Federal Ministry ofAgriculture, Arc. Sonny Echono,in taking the campaign of goodseeds to farmers in Abuja recentlywas commendable.

Mr Sonny Echono said duringthe seed demonstration that thepublic and private sectors are beingassisted to ensure that improvedseeds are made available tofarming communities to increaseagricultural production in thecountry.

Ifeanyi James added that theupdate of the national data baseon Community Based SeedProduction (CBSP) activitiesnationwide will also help increating awareness on communityseed production.

He further explained that theprogramme was designed tocreate market opportunities in therural communities for seedcompanies that are engaged incertified seed production andmarketing, adding that the CBSPhas been used by variousdevelopment partners/projects inmaking available improved seedto farmers in their project areas.

Creating seed-growers’cooperatives

Ifeanyi advised that the first stepshould be how to bring farmerstogether into seed-growers’cooperatives and associations.“Having associations not onlymake it more efficient to providetraining, it gives growers a unitedvoice to address governments’seed authorities and requestsupport.”

While noting that quality seedsuse doubles yields, he advises theNational Agricultural SeedsCouncil (NASC) to work withrelevant international agencies toimprove seed quality by providingexpertise and quality control, andsupplying basic seed forsmallholder seed enterprises.

Agriculture stakeholders call forco-ordinated seed programme

By Jimoh Babatunde

MEETING: From left, Board Chairman Adventist Development and Relief Agency,ADRA, Nigeria, Prof Oyeleke Owolabi; Business Director ADRA Denmark, Mr ErickBuch; Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Ekiti State, Mr. PeterOdebunmi and Country Director ADRA Nigeria Mr. Fred Omosebi at the ADRA BusinessLaunch in grower Scheme and Stakeholders meeting, in Lagos.

BY Aliyu Dangida

Since his electionin May, thePresident has nothidden his desireto return thecountry to thepath of glorythroughagriculture

24—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

CMYK

THE long awaited AllAfrica MusicAwards,AFRIMA, has

come and gone. The chipswent down at Eko Hotel,Victoria Island on Sunday, withhigh hopes on Nigeria artistesto repeat the feat they achievedat the maiden edition of theaward in 2014, where theycarted home 12 of the 23continental awards. But thatwas not to be this year.

If not for the standard theyset last year some would havestill argued it was arespectable outing for them,with 8 awards in their kitty.Praiz won the Best AfricanArtiste (RnB & soul); Dareygot Best African Artiste(Inspirational); Flavour

snapped up Best AfricanArtiste (African Electro);Revelation of the Year went toAdekunle Gold; MostPromising African Artiste toKiss Daniel; Best AfricanArtiste in Jazz to Kunle whileOlamide and Yemi Alade wonthe Best West African Artiste,male and female categoriesrespectively.

However, when it comes tothe big ones like the Artiste ofthe Year, Song of the Year,Album of the Year and BestGroup in Africa they werecompletely out of the picture.And these four categories wereall won by them last year.Davido who clinched all 4 bigones was completely missingin action. He won The BestAfrican Hip Hop, Song of theYear; Artiste of the Year, andBest Male Artiste in West

Continues on page 29

By Ayo Onikoyi,Entertainment Editor

award while the sensationaltwins, P-Square got the BestAfrican Group award.

The only person that featuredon the winners list is Olamideand what he got was Best MaleArtiste in West Africa whichwas won by Davido in2014.

Nigeria has nominations inall the 24 categories applicableto the country except in thecategories: Best African HipHop, Best African Rock andBest African Traditional Music.It means the country is opento collect 21 awards, where inmost cases they dominated theNominees list. Of all the 174nominations in which thecountry is eligible, it had 63nominations. But all thecountry could mustered is 8awards, meaning they lost in13 categories.

Interestingly, Nigerian

artistes had bigger presence inmost of the big continentalawards. For Album of the Yearaward for an instance, therewere 9 nominees andNigerians account for 5. YemiAlade, Psquare, Bez Idakula,Wizkid and Flavour were allnominated but it was CharlotteDipanda, from Cameroon, thatcarried the day. She is one oftwo Cameroonians nominatedin this category. Ghana andSudan got one nomination apiece. Last year it was won byOlamide.

The current Artiste of theYear is Tanzanian DiamondPlatnumz, who beat 5 Nigerianartistes, namely, Wizkid,Davido, Flavour, Olamide andYemi Alade. Again, this is atough one for Nigeria to lose

Africa. Shakiti Bobo crooner,Olamide came home with thecoveted Album of the Year

How Nigerianartistes failedto fly atAFRIMA 2015

When it comes tothe big ones likethe Artiste of theYear, Song of theYear, Album of theYear and BestGroup in Africathey werecompletely out ofthe picture. Andthese fourcategories were allwon by them lastyear

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—25

How Nigerian artistes failed to fly at AFRIMA 2015

ARTIST OF THE YEARDiamond PlatnumzSONG OF THE YEARDiamond Platnumz – “Nasema Nawe”, featuringKhadijo KopaALBUM OF THE YEARCharlotte Dipanda – “Elle n’a pas vu”BEST ARTIS IN AFRICA (RnB & Soul)Praiz Adejo – NigeriaBEST AFRICAN REGGAE, RAGGA &DANCEHALLStonebwoy – GhanaBEST MALE ARTIST: INSPIRATIONALCATEGORYDarey – NigeriaBEST FEMALE ARTIST: INSPIRATIONALCATEGORYBetty Akna- Equatorial GuineaVIDEO OF THE YEARWiyaala – GhanaBEST ARTIST IN AFRICAN POPVanessa Mdee – TanzaniaBEST ARTIST IN AFRICAN HIP HOP Casper Nyovest – South AfricaBEST ARTIS IN AFRICAN ELECTRO Flavour – NigeriaPRODUCER OF THE YEARSauti Sol and Cedric Kadenyi – KenyaSONGWRITER OF THE YEAR IN AFRICAJoseph Chameleone – UgandaREVELATION OF THE YEAR IN AFRICA

Adekunle Gold – NigeriaMOST PROMISING ARTIST IN AFRICAKiss Daniel – NigeriaBEST ARTIST IN AFRICAN CONTEMPORARYCharlotte DipandaBEST ARTIST IN AFRICAN JAZZKunle Ayo – NigeriaBEST MALE ARTIST IN WESTERN AFRICAOlamide – NigeriaBEST FEMALE ARTIST IN WESTERN AFRICAYemi Alade – NigeriaBEST ARTIST IN AFRICAN ROCKM’vula – KenyaBEST AFRICAN GROUPSauti Sol- KenyaBEST AFRICAN COLLABORATIONAKA(South Africa) and Burna Boy(Nigeria)BEST FEMALE ARTIST IN SOUTHERN AFRICABusiswa Ngoku- South AfricaBEST MALE ARTIST IN SOUTHERN AFRICACasper Nyovest- South AfricaBEST FEMALE ARTIST IN NORTHERN AFRICAManal- MoroccoBEST MALE ARTIST IN NORTHERN AFRICAAhmed Soultan- MoroccoBEST FEMALE ARTIST IN EASTERN AFRICATsedenia Gebremarkos- EthiopiaBEST MALE ARTIST IN EASTERN AFRICADiamond Platnumz- Tanzania

Here is the list of 2015 winners:

Continues from page 28

because out of the 10 nomineesNigerians make up 50% ofthem. Tanzania had two,Ghana one, Cameroon oneand Uganda one. Davido wonthe award last year

Anyone would have swornthe Song of the Year isNigeria’s to lose; there havebeen just too many of them.At least the nominees listshowed that was a must butthe reverse was the case.Wizkid, Davido, Psquare andYemi Alade made the list of 10

nominees in this category. Butit was Tanzanian DiamondPlatnumz that got away withthe 23.9 carat gold plaque.Davido also won the award lastyear.

Anyway, it was as if many ofthem read the handwriting onthe wall because they failed to

turn up for the award. Theconspicuous absentees thatdid not win awards wereWande Coal, Nneka, Timaya,Patoranking, Davido, Wizkid,P-Square, Seyi Shay, amongothers. Though Flavour andYemi Alade won awards, theywere also absent.

*Bola Ahmed Tinubu receiving his award at the event.

IT was a remarkableevening of clinking of

glasses and entertainmentlast weekend as Rémy MartinCognac officially unveiledthree Nigerian celebrities,including DJ Jimy Jatt, themulti-talented Folarin “Falz”Falana, popularly known asFalz, the Bahdguy, serialentrepreneur, Noble Igwe andAmerican actor, JeremyRenner as the company’s newSlash Generation BrandInfluencers.

By this recognition, thecelebrities will be the drivingforces behind Rémy Martin’slatest One Life/Live Themcampaign which encouragesconsumers to explore andcelebrate all their talents.

Unveiling the celebritiesduring a dinner session inLagos, CEO of the company,Mr Eric Vallet said , theywere chosen based on theirindividual talents, strengthsand the positive impacts theyhave made on the society.

According to Mr Vallet, astwo-time Academy Awardnominee, Jeremy Renner hasover two million followers onthe social media platform,including being acclaimed forhis ability to embody

characters of broad depth andappeal, from Sgt. James inKathryn Bigelow’s award-winning Hurt Locker to athief in Ben Affleck’s TheTown, a mayor in AmericanHustle…” Rising through theranks to become anaccomplished entrepreneurwith stakes in media, publicrelations, courier and otherinterests, Mr Vallet said,Noble also has made a namefor himself as an excellentMarketing Executive and avery resourceful PRConsultant. “ We describe himas a classic Rémy Martinman; one who never backsdown in the pursuit of self-actualization.”

On the company ’s newcampaign, Mr. Vallet said,their strategy is to focus ongenerating value which isabout delivering a greatproduct at the rightprice.Speaking further, hesaid, the campaign isexpected to run for more thanten years.

Appreciating the gesture,legendary DJ Jimmy Jatt said,“ It is a great feeling to berecognized as one of thebrand influencers of thecompany,” he said.

When Remy Martinunveiled DJ JimmyJatt, Falz, Noble asbrand influencers

By Benjamin Njoku

•DJ Jimmy, Noble Igwe, Eric Vallet (CEO Remy Martin) and Falz

CMYK

26 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Online is the convenient way to

do business.Many people will testify

of the capacity of online adsto provide access tocustomers at a cheaperquicker, rate. One of suchis Mr. Femi Oriowo, abusiness developer and anavid OLX user who sayshe has not only sold over500 items on the platformbut also secured his currentjob through OLX.

“I heard about OLX onthe radio in late 2013,”Oriowo told Glamtech, “Ihave been using theplatform since then. It hasbeen such a wonderfulexperience; I have beenable to sell over 500 itemsincluding phones andelectronics on theplatform.”

The catch for him is thespeed at which he getsthings sold on the platform.“The fact that there are nomiddle men involvedallows me to increase my

How I sold over 500 items onOLX—Oriowo

profit margin considerably,”he added. Oriowo said theplatform also gave him theright networkingopportunities to move hiscareer forward. His words:“Earlier this year, I metsomeone who bought alaptop from me, we laterbecame friends and now Iam the Business DeveloperManager in his company,the opportunities with OLXare endless.”

With the highunemployment rateamongst Nigerian youths,Oriowo believes that youngpeople can comfortablyearn a decent side-incomeby selling on OLX startingwith little capital. He said:“It’s a good way to start-upthe ladder to being self-employed and self-reliant.OLX gives you theexposure you need to getyour goods sold, providesexcellent user support andwhat’s more, it’s free. Youalso get to develop andhone your entrepreneurialskills.”

Doing business online isnot without its challenges,one of which is the issueof security, but Oriowobelieves the company isdoing its best to ensure thattransactions on its platformare becoming more andmore secure. “OLX, likeevery other onlinemarketplace has had itsshare of invasion fromunscrupulous elementscalled scammers; but withthe safety measuresrecently beingimplemented, scammingon OLX is sure tobecome a thing of thepast,” he concluded.

It’s you, but in 3D

AFRICA’S first 3d i m e n s i o n

scanning and printingservices founded byNigerian serialentrepreneur, IsraelOvirih, has added a newdimension to selfies inNigeria, by launching thefirst of its kind 3Dscanning and printingservice - 3D makery-which the companydescribes as “the ultimateselfie technology inNigeria and Africa.”

It could be you, yourspouse, child, or pet-anything and anyone canbe scanned inside theShapify booth to preservethe most memorablemoments with theultimate selfie. Theintroduction of thisservice marks the first inAfrica and one of thenumerous few that areavailable globally.

3D Makery offers wider

range of 3D printingservices, its first viableminimum product - the3D selfies or shapies

Speaking at the 3-dayunveiling event inLagos, 3D MakeryNigeria Chairman/Founder, Israel Ovirih,explained that the one ofa kind disruptivetechnology will outshineevery other technology,availing youthsemployment throughself dependence inNigeria.

According to him, “3Dtechnology is openingup a whole new world ofpossibilities and thereward of 3D printing

technology is that thescan can be used toproduce a full colourfigurine known as a‘Shapie.’ So, rather thana half cocked snapshot,you can have a 3Dprinted sculpture toeither keep as your ownor give as a gift”.

“The so-called“shapies” use 3D printingtechnology and designedto bring joy andhappiness each time aperson gazes upon the“Mini-Me”.

“We are thrilled to bringthis advanced 3D toolsand knowledgeablesupport team to helpgrow Nigeria’stechnology business. We have had success andsatisfaction with thistechnology and, uponexperiencing thetechnology ourselves,knew it would be a benefitfor Nigerians. We areconfident customers willembrace this technology.

By Nkiruka Nnorom

So, ratherthan a halfc o c k e ds n a p s h o t ,you canhave a 3Dp r i n t e dsculpture .Oriowo

By Prince Osuagwu Glo Slide 'N'Bounce concertCall it the mobile music

train and you wouldhave summed up the wholeessence of Globacom'srecent music concerttagged Glo Slide N bounce.One, it takes mobile phoneusers, particularly those onGlo network to gainentrance to the concert.Two, the music train movesaround the length andbreadth of the country tofish out young talents andalso to entertain, give morevalue to mobile subscriberswhose average revenuespending keep the networkin business.

The beauty of the concertwhich has continued todistinguish the indigenousnetwork operator as torchbearers in the discovery oflocal talents, is that everytown the concert trainberths many young talentsbegin their journey tostardom. So many Nigerianmusic talents, dancers andother acts build theircareers climbing samestage with alreadyestablished ones andthereafter, the stage keepsgetting up rather thandown for them.

So when the city ofEgbeda in Alimosho area ofLagos metropolis hostedthe music train, last week,the residents confessed toadditional value to theirinvestment on their mobilelines, when two music acts,Afro hip hop king, Flavour

and his upcomingrendition of his hit single,One Parole got the crowdoff their seats and it wasstanding ovation for the18 year old kid allthrough to the end of hisperformance.. Both thecompere and the DiscJokey publicly confirmedthat the kid was good and

definitely has a space inthe trail blazing musicindustry.

Thereafter, top acts likeEgo Reekado Banks andDi'Ja lit up the atmospherethe more with their popularnumbers.

However, the climax ofthe night was when poularact, Flavour mounted the

stage. The fans who hadeernestly waited for hisarrival began to wavetheir Glo phones, whichwas their ticket, on the air.

The Afro hip hopcrooner, electrified theshow, that one of theparticipants who spoke toVanguard, admitted that

" I just bought my Glo line few monthsback but I wish I had done that yearsbefore. This is wonderful"

Slide & Bounce concert held in 11locations across the country: Ikeja,Ikorodu, Egbeda, Surulere and VictoriaIsland in Lagos; Ibadan; Port Harcourt;Abeokuta; Ijebu Ode; Benin and Abuja.

Globacom said the show waspackaged for the delight of Glo’steeming subscribers in all the selectedlocations and adjoining cities and townsin order to give them the bestentertainment experience they canimagine .

Subscribers who attended the showin any of the listed locations were thosewho used up to N2,000 and above withinone month and sent “YES” and theirpreferred event location to a short code.

Glo ambassadors including Mama G,Funke Akindele, Odunlade Adekola,Mr. Ibu, Chiwetalu Agu and screendiva, Ini Edo were all in attendanceat different locations.

At the earlier part of the show inother locations top acts like D’banj,Wande Coal, Korede Bello, MI, Burna

Boy, Di’Ja and Bez. Edem and Kakee from Ghanaand Sessime from Benin Republic have performed.Popular disc jockeys, DJ Xgee, DJ Neptune, DJ Topsand DJ Jimmy Jatt, have also been in the juke box,like Neptune was at Egbeda while the trio of GbengaAdeyinka, Okey Bakassi and Jimmie De Hypeanchored the Ibadan show particularly.

.Rhymez on stage

Technology meets entertainment as

Flavour, Supa Rhymez take the stage

By Laju Iren

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 27

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28 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 29

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VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—31

2015: KOGI DECIDES

THE GladiatorsThough there are over

20contenders on paper, political punditshave narrowed the contest down to fourmajor contestants. Baring any last minutemiracle, it is expected that one of the fourcandidates would emerge as governor ofthe state come November 21.

Idris Ichala WadaThe incumbent governor of Kogi State

has strongly jumped to the fore asbookmakers, favourite to clinch a secondterm in office. His supporters see him as ahumble leader, who is brilliant, meticulous,shrewd and a great team player.

Agriculturaland tourism sectors

He has been able to attract a number ofinvestments into the agricultural andtourism sectors of the economy, as well asfollow his transformation blueprint inrepositioning the state.

Idris Wada has left a big mark in thearea of youth empowerment through theYAD4KOGI initiative, a situation whichhas given him a solid support base amongthe youths across the state. His landmarkachievements include the construction ofthe magnificent Kogi House in Abuja, thereconstruction of Kogi Hotels, Lokoja,establishment of Kogi State UniversityTeaching Hospital, Anyigba and the

By Kingsley Fanwo ongoing world-class Diagnostic Centre atLokoja.

Wada, a trained pilot found himself inpolitics as a result of what he called, “hispassion for service”.

Abubakar AuduThe Ogbonicha Prince is referred to as

Gaba Idu by his fanatical followers. He isreputed to be the most experienced of allthe contenders, having contested everygovernorship election in the state since1992.

Prince Audu has followers across thestate, a situation orchestrated by his statusas a two-time governor of the state.

Audu is reputed to have put in place anumber of infrastructures during his timeas governor. Some of his landmarkachievements include the Kogi StateUniversity, Kogi State BroadcastingCorporation, Kogi State Library and manyhousing estates. He has however lost fourconsecutive governorship contests in 2003,2007, 2008 and 2011.

Audu first governed the state on theplatform of the then National RepublicanConvention between 1992 and 1993 andthen between 1999 and 2003.

Emmanuel Enesi OzigiNot much was heard of Ozigi as a

politician before the current jostling for thegovernorship of the state. He had beenknown more before now as an adroitbusinessman.

Ozigi is flying the ticket of theProgressive Peoples Alliance, PPA and hehas from no where practically put the party

as a top contender in the election.The multimillionaire property czar has

won many followers to his brand and iseasily reckoned as the third force in thebattle.

Philip SalawuPhilip Omeiza Salawu is one of the most

competent hands among the majorcontenders. The highly successfulaccountant has made his mark in theprofession as a Fellow of the Institute ofChattered Accountants of Nigeria as wellas in the hospitality field.

Salawu was former Deputy Governor toAlhaji Ibrahim Idris for eight years.Sources say he had a frosty relationshipwith his boss towards the end of theirtenure.

Despite his position as Deputy Governorthen, he wielded too little influence in thecorridors of power. He has howeveremerged as one of the out-box contendersin the race.

How they stand in the SenatorialDistricts

The election is going to be a pull of theWada/Audu dichotomy. It is expected tobe a battle of wits between the two frontlinepoliticians.

Kogi WestKogi West is made up of seven Local

councils which includes; Lokoja, Kabba/

Bunu, Ijumu, Mopamuro, Yagba East andYagba West.

Kogi Local Government AreaUntil recent events, analysts had given

the Local Government Area to the APC,going by the voting trend of March 2015.However, the recent stoning of Audu atKotonkarfe has reversed the politicalfortunes of the party. Kotonkarfe is thelargest community in the LocalGovernment Area.

The hostility against Audu is notunconnected with rumour of rifts betweenAudu and the Ohimege of Kotonkarfe. Oneof Audu’s strongest supporters, Hon. SaliuAkawu Saliu , contested the Ohimege’sstool with the incumbent.

Traditionalupheavals

There is a general belief that thecloseness of SAS to Audu may cause sometraditional upheavals as residents arenursing the feeling that SAS is still eyeingthe Ohimege stool.

Kupa/Eggon will go for PDPAs it stands, the PDP may record an

unexpected victory in the LocalGovernment if drastic moves are not madeto reassure the traditional ruler of Koto ofhis safety if Audu wins.

Alhaji Musa Ahmadu, former SSG toKogi State Government is the man to watchin Kogi Local Government Area. He is oneof the PDP leaders in Kogi West.

Lokoja Local Government AreaLokoja Local Government Area is

politically a no-man’s-land. The structureon ground shows the Local Governmentmay be split 50-50 between the PDP andthe APC. Senator Tunde Ogbeha, the DGof the PDP Campaign Organization is thestrongman of Lokoja Local GovernmentArea.

Kabba/Bunu LGASince 1999, the PDP has never lost

Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area.Kabba currently boasts of two electedofficials who are both PDP. PDP is tippedto win Kabba Township.

However, mainland Bunu such as Iluke,Olle, Illah may be clinched by the APC.PDP is expected to win Kabba/Bunu by aslim margin. The men who will makethings happen here are Hon. TajudeenYusuf of the House of Reps, Dr. StephenOlorunfemi, Hon. Yomi Kolawole, HouseMajority Leader, Pastor Femi Obalemo andMr. Kola Ologbondiyan on the part of PDP.

On the APC team are the popular Engr.Olusola George Olumoroti and therecently defected Hon. Duro Meseko.

Ijumu LGAIjumu Local Government Area is the

home of the APC governorship runningmate, Hon. James Faleke. He hails fromEkinrin Adde. This may swing the LocalGovernment towards an APC victory.Ijumu may however not be a walkover forthe APC with the weight of politicaljuggernauts such as Prince SolaAkanmode, Hon. Abiodun Ojo and Gen.David Jemibewon (rtd), all of the PDP.Senator Dino Melaye is also expected toput his weight behind his party, APC.

Mopamuro LGAMopamuro is the home of the Deputy

Governor, Arc. Abayomi Awoniyi. Thehome factor may work heavily in favour ofthe PDP here. With the likes of Chief Ola

Continues on page 32

Baring any lastminute miracle, itis expected that oneof the fourcandidates wouldemerge asgovernor of thestate comeNovember 21

THE hype and vibrations over the first governorship electionto be conducted since the advent of a new administration willreach a crescendo tomorrow when voters in Kogi State go tothe polls to choose a governor.The campaigns by the major political parties practicallyreached every village and town in Kogi as the state’s majorpolitical gladiators swamped the nooks and crannies of thestate, styled as the Confluence State.

KOGI: The

contenders,

influencers,

issues

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32—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Continues from page 31

Akande, Barrister Sola Ojo, Hon. Eric Fiki, Hon. FolushoDaniel, Hon. Dayo Akande, Hon. Folorunsho Daniyanand Engr Perry Awe pulling the strings for PDP, it is notunlikely the party carries the day. On the other hand,APC also parades heavyweights such as Chief ClarenceOlafemi, Hon. Abayomi Obaro and Mr. Henry Abimbola.PDP is favoured to clinch Mopamuro.

Yagba East LGAThe Jide Omokore factor is still a big one in Yagba

East. But with the experience and sagacity of the likes ofHon. Salaudeen Ganiyu, the die may be cast for a titanicbattle in Yagba East. PDP stalwarts like Hon. HenryOjuola, Hon. Kayode Obaro, Hon. Hasan Salawu andHon. Tolorunjuwon Faniyi will be contending with thelikes of APC’s Mr. Toyin Akanle, Engr. Kayode Odeyemiand a host of others. With the Yagba Agenda, PDP hasan upper hand. But either of the two parties stands achance of winning Yagba East.

Yagba WestYagba West is firmly under the control of Hon. Sunday

Karimi, a member of the House of Representatives. He isa PDP leader. His political mettle will be confronted withthe political chemistry between his Egbe people and PrinceAbubakar Audu.

The direction of Hon. Samuel Aro, another hugelypopular leader in the Local Government may decidewhere the pendulum swings. PDP has a slim edge here.

Kogi CentralKogi Central is made up of five Local Government Areas

of Okene, Okehi, Adavi, Ajaokuta and Ogori/Magongo.Okene is the most populated LGA in the district. Both

the PDP and APC are equally matched in the area.However, the bitterness which trailed the APC

2015: KOGI DECIDES

•Wada •Audu

•Ozigi •Salawu

KOGI: The contenders,influencers, issues

governorship primaries, lost by the darling of Ebirapolitics, Alh. Yahaya Bello, may lead to protest vote againstthe APC. Audu has also been criticized for relocating theSpecialist Hospital at Obangede to his hometown ofOgbonicha.

Despite APC’s showings in the last elections in theCentral, analysts are of the opinion that the district ispoised to produce the votes that will end the hopes ofAPC. Many APC leaders in the area are not committedto the APC project. It is also expected that the politics ofclans in Ebiraland may spring some votes towards PPAand Labour Party. The two parties are fielding Ebiracandidates. PDP is expected to win in Okene, Okehi,Adavi and Ogori while APC is tipped to win Ajaokuta.

Alh. Yahaya Karaku, Lt. Gen. Saliu Ibrahim (rtd) andPatrick Adaba are leading the PDP onslaught while Hon.Bello Abdullahi and Hon. Ahmed are matching PDP inthe Central.

Kogi EastKogi East boasts of nine Local Government Areas. They

are Omala, Ibaji, Idah, Olamaboro, Ankpa, Ofu,Igalamela/Odolu, Dekina and Bassa.

With the two glitterati coming from Kogi East, the districtis expected to be the battle ground. Both Wada and Auduare immensely popular in the East.

The influence of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and Dr. AhmaduAli is expected to deliver both Omala and Idahrespectively. Audu is expected to record a landslide inhis Ofu home. He is also expected to clinch Olamaboroand divide Ankpa 50-50. The Ibaji people see Wada as ahero for developing the agricultural potential of the area.He is expected to win Ibaji.

Bassa Local Government, the only non-Igala Localgovernment area will be divided by the two parties. FridaySanni Makama remains the undisputed game changerin Igalamela/Odolu. He is solidly behind the governor.

Interestingly, the home front of the governor, Dekina,is not guaranteed for him. The defection of Isah JibrinEchocho and some other leaders in the Local GovernmentArea has changed the political permutations of Dekinapolitics. Pundits are giving a 55 percent cushion to PDPin Kogi East while the APC is tipped to capture 45 percentof the votes.

Issues That May Shape the PollThe Personalities of the ContendersWhile Wada has been hailed as a humble and listening

leader, Audu has been credited for his infrastructuralrevolution while in power. However, opponents of theformer governor do not rate him as far as humility isconcerned.

Local Government Staff and Teachers’ SalariesThe inability of Local Government Areas to pay their

staff members have been blamed on the State Government.Similar problem is been encountered by primary schoolteachers in the state. Though the government has beenstriving to ensure the backlogs are cleared through theyet to be released bailout funds, not a few voters areexpected to vote against the PDP based on the salaryissue.

The GenderCard

Kogi women are said to be more disposed to Wada,who is reckoned to enjoy a stable marriage. The governoris also hailed for giving women a number of high profileappointments. Though Prince Abubakar Audu ensureda woman rose to become the Secretary to the StateGovernment under his administration.

Good Governance and TransparencyWhile Wada may be accused of not constructing many

gigantic projects, Prince Audu did. Wada ensured peaceand security in the state and made more efforts at bridgingthe ethnic gulfs in the state.

Prince Audu’s candidacy has been flayed by critics asbeing an ethnic chauvinist and also on account of hisongoing trial for corruption during his term as governorbetween 1999 and 2003.

The Running Mate IssueWada stuck to his running mate, Arc. Abayomi Awoniyi.

Awoniyi is from a family of bureaucratic excellence. Helearnt the dots of politics from his late father, Chief SundayBolorunduro Awoniyi. On the other hand, Hon. AbiodunFaleke is a veteran of the game, having been Chairmanof the cosmopolitan Ikeja Local Government Area for twoterms.

He is also representing Ikeja 2 Federal Constituencyfor the second consecutive term.

The choice of Faleke created bad blood among the APCleaders. It is believed in some quarters that a prominentSouthwest leader of the APC brought Faleke in order tobe able to tame Sen. Dino Melaye for his “rebellion” inthe Senate Presidency saga.

Also, failure of APC to pick a running mate from Yagbahas also been condemned by Yagba political leaders. Boththe Senator and governorship running mate are fromIjumu Local Government Area.

Whatever happens as 1,397,786 voters decide the nextgovernor on November 21, Kogites expect their nextgovernor to address the pressing issues of infrastructure,empowerment and ethnic bridging. November 21 is adate with the destiny of the confluence state.

While Wada has beenhailed as a humbleand listening leader,Audu has beencredited for hisinfrastructuralrevolution while inpower

CMYK

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—33

BAYELSA DECIDES

WHAT informed your decision to embark on a community -to-

community campaign? Are yousatisfied with what you have seen onground?

Part of what I am doing and have beendoing is to quietly in my own waychange the way politics is played in thisstate. The level of maturity andtolerance I have brought to bear on thepolitics is such that you see theopposition campaigning against me asvigorously as I am also campaigning.That is happening for the first time.

When the APC’s Chief Timipre Sylvawas governor, you saw what he did.When he was here as governor,anybody who wanted to campaignagainst him will be attacked. One of hissupporters, Chief Rufus Abadi, knowswhat happened to him in his house atOtuan. But some of our people haveshort memories. I want to challengemy opponent Sylva to do same andsleep in the communities as I am doing,instead of bragging about federal force.

By Samuel Oyadongha

HAVING concluded the first leg of his community to community meet the peoplecampaign tour, a first by any sitting governor in the history of the state in whichhe was accorded a warm reception by the community folks who trooped out intheir thousands, Gov Seriake Dickson fielded questions from the media on theforthcoming governorship election and reeled out his achievements, whichaccording to him, are verifiable and would speak loud for him come December 5.Excerpts:

No one knows him at the federal levelother than he was used to unseat hisbrother. Let him go to our communitiesand relate with them freely as I amdoing.

I sat in a dining hall built by mygovernment in Ukubie one of the investments we have made in all thecommunities. We are not where we wantto be yet but we have made a differenceand they appreciate the roads and theyare all waiting to receive me. The lastcommunity on my way was Ayama andall Tarakiri communities.

Tarakiricommunities

They were very receptive such thatfor three days they did not go to theforest or farm, they waited for me fortwo to three days, to encourage me. Icannot thank them enough.

It is my prayer that after the election Iwill go back on this community tourbecause it has also opened my eyesmore which is the central purpose ofthis Government: to see the people’s

material conditions and how much Ihave tried to solve all their problems andto see what remains to be done.

These gentlemen called APC aretrying to take our state nowhere. Despitethe old names, their communities do notappreciate them, they have no support.I have done what no government hasdone before, spent two nights inSouthern Ijaw, one night in Korokorosei,which is my Speaker’s community.

The entire ward waited till about 8pmwhen we got there. We commissionedtheir pavilion, a road that we did, theyalso have the schools and investmentsthat are there. All we are doing is toconsolidate so that by God’s grace thoseboarding schools will start by Januaryand I cannot wait to see these childrenthat I saw in all the communitieswearing smart clean uniforms providedby the Restoration Government, withbooks supplied. Our children are brightand because of the investments we havein education they can compete withtheir mates elsewhere.

That is why I am not surprised thatour educational rating has gone up from28 in the national chart to fourth inWAEC results. If we achieved thiswithin this short period then imaginewhat will happen when I consolidatewith all these twenty five constituency schools coming on stream?

Sylva said pensioners have not beenpaid. I am the one who said that ourallocation is unfortunately low, evenoffices do not have allocation, I am sorrythat is the situation but I gave my wordand true to type we have started paying.

When he was here he was not payingthem for years, I have the records, hewas owing over 6 billion naira ingratuities. Someone who could notmanage N15-16 billion, can he manageN4.2 b that we are receiving now? Outof which we are still paying his debt.The bond he took runs till 2017.

Ministerialposition

From the ministerial position they gaveyou can see how they rate Bayelsa. Froma state that lost the Presidency, whereour only permanent secretary has beenremoved, only God knows what happensnext. Our highest customs officersretired. They say we got minister of Statefor Agriculture I say no it is assistantminister, in effect it is minister withoutportfolio.

The truth is that Bayelsans must wakeup, the elites must learn to put thepeople’s collective interest ahead of theirown selfish interest.

Timipre Slyva went about promisingpeople governorship and he became thegovernorship candidate, he alsopromised everybody the position ofdeputy governor and he failed them.

Peace accord signed with the other

parties? I signed because that was the right

thing to do. My campaign is aboutpeace, development and prosperity. Youhear me ask people to accord Sylvathe respect that is due him. I am not aman of violence unlike those who aremerchants of violence and cultism.

I believe that a political leader andanyone aspiring to lead people mustshow example and our society can onlydevelop when you have peace. We havebeen able to achieve so much becauseof the prevailing peace and we want itto get better.

That is why our PDP campaign is notabout promises of what we will do.

Someone whocould notmanage N15-16billion, can hemanageN4.2billion thatwe are receivingnow, out ofwhich we arestill paying hisdebt?The bondhe took runs till2017

SomeBayelsans haveshort memoryabout Sylva— DICKSON•Dickson

CMYK

34—Vanguard, FRIDAY , NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Dear sir

`

Ikpeazu’s giant strides in AbiaIkpeazu’s giant strides in AbiaIkpeazu’s giant strides in AbiaIkpeazu’s giant strides in AbiaIkpeazu’s giant strides in Abia

Dear sir

THE massive road construction workgoing on in Abia State, is a

testimony to the Governors promise oftotal Rehabilitation of the state onassumption of office.

The Governor had promised to providejobs for the unemployed graduates andall other youth idling away in the state.It is said that an idle mind is the Devll’sworkshop. For some years now, the

crime rate in the state has become soalarming such that some have taken tokidnapping, robbery and other socialvices that now plague the entire state.

Against this backdrop, the Governoron assumption of office on 29th May,2015 quickly initiated a number ofprojects ranging from Rehabilitation.ofroads, Electricity supply, Health careand Youth empowerment programmesto alleviate the suffering of the masses.

Presently, massive road rehabilitationis on going in Aba and other areaswithin the state. Even the perennialheavy rainfall which had made thepeople’s economic life miserable couldnot prevent the work going on.

Notably among these road works arethe Ukaegbu and Umuola roads whichlink Obikabia junction along newUmuahia road on one side and also toEhere Opopo junction along Ikot-Ekpene Road all in Aba.

There is road construction work goingon at Ehere by same Ikot-Ekpene road.Massive road construction work is alsoon going at Ariaria market end byUmuole and Udeagbala road inOsisioma area.

In Ohafia and Umuahia, rehabilitationof roads are going on. Last month,Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was at Ibemein Obingwa Local Council tocommission an electrification project.The community ‘had been in totaldarkness for so long without any helpfrom past administration.

He opened a free health care centreat Itungwa also in Obinqwa LocaiGovernment Area of the State. So withina 100 days in cffice, the Governor haddone a lot to restore the confidence ofthe people in the PDP ledadministration in the state.’

Chijioke Akwarandu, Obingnoa LGA,Abia State.

Dear sir

THE Nation newspaper reportedyesterday (16th November, 2015) that

President Mohammadu Buhari hadwarned the Independent NationalElectoral Commission (INEC) and theNigerian police to “ensure free, fair andcredible governorship elections” inBayelsa and Kogi States come December2015.

This warning was in response to the“mischievous” interpretation by the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) of a meetingearlier between the President and theINEC concerning the elections. Thatmeeting was “well-intended”: “to warn ...the INEC and the police to do prepareand give the nation a credible election...”.

Mr. President’s reason was that “hesuffered election manipulations in 2003,2007 and 2011 and would not like to haveany Nigerian to go through that again”As the President of Nigeria, no one wouldread unnecessary meanings into this wellintended fatherly concern. But in politics,1+1 may not be equal to 2; so, the PDPfeels it is not 2 but another number.

Therefore the PDP, according to TheNation issued a grave statement throughits publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuhto the effect that the President wants touse the INEC and police to win theelections for the All Progressives Congress,APC, the President’s party. PDP,according to the report, “cautioned” Mr.President. This, to me, made the matter avery serious one indeed, for a politicalparty to caution Mr. President even on amatter PDP have not proved to be 100%sure, that the meeting in question was towin the elections using the INEC andpolice and by any other means possible.Again, in politics like football, nearlyanything is possible.

For me, Mr. President’s response toPDP’s unsubstantiated, heavy andindicting accusation was inadequate.President Buhari needs a neutral platformto explain to Nigerians that he doesintended or asked the INEC and police torig the elections as alleged by the PDPand the PDP needs an opportunity toprove to Nigerians that it is sure and haveevidences that Mr. President actuallyinstructed the INEC and police to rig theelections by all means. The court willthereafter pass its judgment and Nigerianswill be better informed.

Politicians must learn to deal and relatewith truths and not rumours and hearsays.Nigeria cannot continue to anchor herpolitics on rumours and all sortsof assumptions.

Okachikwu Dibia, Abuja.

Buhari’s actionBuhari’s actionBuhari’s actionBuhari’s actionBuhari’s actioninadequateinadequateinadequateinadequateinadequate

A PARTICULAR sore point of Buhari’s ministerial appointment,

is his appointment of someone who was aminister thirty-three years ago (1982)!In 1982, blackberry and apple werenothing but fruits. But by 2015,‘blackberry’ and‘apple’ have assumednew meanings.They have metamorphosed into foremost ICT brands known the world oversuch that if you ask a twelve-year oldchild what blackberry is, the most likelyanswer he or she will give is that it’s aphone. This analogy goes to show thereis a world apart between 1982 and 2015!Why such a person should be in Buhari’scabinet must be of grave concern to theyoung generation of Nigerians .

It is indeed curious that while thirtysomething year olds are appointedministers in other climes, in today’sNigeria, someone who was a minister thesame number of years ago is preferred.Yet, at every opportunity, youngNigerians are told they are the leaders oftomorrow.

How can they lead when the samepeople are recycled? How will theopportunity come when the old brigaderefuse to go?

Lucky Ofodu, Lagos.

Still on ministerialStill on ministerialStill on ministerialStill on ministerialStill on ministerialappointmentappointmentappointmentappointmentappointment

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—31

Nigerian parents want miracles when itcomes to children living with autism

— Dotun Akande, Winner, Vlisco 2015 Award

WHAT led to thecreation of The

Patrick’s Speech andLanguages Centre?

It began with my story, thestory of my son. Over theyears, it has outgrown my sonand involved other stories andother families. Many childrenhave passed through us;many families have been at thecentre.

We have been able to helpsome of these children to gointo mainstream school. Weare still struggling withhelping some of them and wehave not been able to supportsome of them. Like you know,Nigerians parents wantmiracles when it comes tochildren living with autism.But with these children, ittakes time.

There is absolutely nothingyou can do with thesechildren if you don’t givethem time. For those that havegiven us their children andtheir time, the result has beenfantastic.

Fantasticresult

When it comes to thesechildren, there is nothing youcan do without being patientand without loving themexceptionally.

How supportive has Vliscobeen?

Vlisco has been quitehelpful with our programmes.Every time we invite them foran event, they support us.

You recently clinched theaward for Vlisco 2015Women’s Month. How didthat happen?

I was nominated with threeother women doing great jobas well. They put it out to thepublic and they announcedthe winner .We won by thegrace of God. I cannot say Iwon; it is the work that I dothat made me win.

Did you expect to win?I expected to win. How can

you be in a competition and

not expect to win? I waslooking forward to winningand I was even telling themthat “I pray that people thinkwe are worthy”. Autism is aworthy cause to be associatedwith and we thank God, wewon.

How have you learntpatience from having to raiseyour son to starting thecentre?

I have learnt patience. Iwould say growing up, Iwasn’t a patient person. Iwanted everything done veryfast and very quickly. Funnilyenough, when the situation ofmy son arose, I wanted to seeit to a logical conclusion. Iwas quite patient withtherapy, but I wasn’t patientwith my son.

I still wanted everythingdone fast .I kept him on histoes at every point in time,treated him like he was likeany other child. I was alsopatient with the peopleworking with him. I knew thatit was important for us to workas a team. That is exactly whathappened. The entiretherapists that started with myson, finished with my son.There was never a change.

Do you think autismawareness in Nigeria is goodenough?

The awareness is growing,but I can’t say whether it’sgood enough. I don’t think so.I don’t think it is adequate .Weput out a video onlinerecently and we found somepeople asking: “Is it true thatthis people exist in Nigeria?”I was shocked .Because overthe years, we have done aseries of videos on autismawareness and that particularvideo was our fourth .So Ithought that a lot of peoplewould still have known. Ifound out that there is still alot to be done. Many morecenters have opened up.Many more people knowwhat autism is. Many morepeople are getting betterdiagnosis compared to thetime we started the centre .It’s

a welcome development andwe are proud that we startedthat trend. Patrick Speech and Languages Centre is thefirst centre specifically forindividuals with autism inNigeria.

What is the differencebetween children who areliving with Down syndromeand children living withautism?

When one sees a personliving with autism, theindividual doesn’t have aphysical symptom. There is nophysical sign. The only wayyou would know is that thechild isn’t talking and thebehavior is queer.

Chromosonaldisorder

It’s not the same like otherchildren. The child sometimeswants to be isolated fromothers; he doesn’t want toassociate with others.

For children living withDown syndrome, it’s achromosomal disorder. It hasfacial features. The childrenhave drowned faces .Thechildren that are living withDown syndrome are verywarm. They always want tohug you most of the time. Some of them can be

withdrawn but most of themare very warm. You can see itin their physical features.They also sometimes sharesimilarities in the sense thatchildren with Down syndromedo not have speechdevelopment .Their speechare delayed. Sometimes theyhave challenges with thingsthey do with their hands.Most of them don’t grow tall.

What drives you?When I saw that my son was

developing and overcomingsome of the symptoms ofautism, I just knew that therewere others out there thatneeded that help. When westarted and saw the numberof people that were coming infor enquiries, we werealarmed. We started out bywriting about autism in City

People. We were writing everyweek.

Were you still in thebanking industry?

No, I had left. I had left thebanking industry even beforethe thought of starting thePatrick’s Speech andLanguage Centre. I left thebanking industry because Ihad time related issues.

What are the things you doto boost their self esteem?

For example, we started awork programmes with one ofour adults at the centre.Immediately we started thework programme, he was laidback at first, but when weattached some form ofresponsibility to it, he came tous saying he wanted an I.Dcard because he is now amember of staff. His demeanorand his outlook towards lifechanged.

DOTUN Akande has dedicated her life to helping children living with autism overcome thedisability. Years back, she was distraught when her son was diagnosed with autism. With patience,therapy and the right knowledge, her son overcame it. This birthed the Patrick Speech andLanguages Centre for individuals living with autism and advocates for early intervention. Theamazon who recently clinched the Vlisco 2015 Women’s Month Award and also doubles as a Vliscoambassador, reveals in this interview why she started the centre, autism awareness in Nigeria andmore.

By Kehinde Ajose

When I saw thatmy son wasdeveloping andovercoming someof the symptoms ofautism, I just knewthat there wereothers out there

*Dotun Akande

32—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

ideas, and decide on new areasof partnership, with the stategovernment, for infrastructuraldevelopment and renewal. Thetheme of the conference was‘’Relevance in EconomicTurbulence’’ which attractedNigerian women from all social-economic strata to deliberate onhow to remain relevant in theprevailing economic turbulencein our country.

What kind of impact did theprogramme have on thewomen?

Across the nation, citizens aredrawing attention to the hardeconomic realities but theconference has offered newinsights and solutions, which isimportant to establishing andmaintaining a good quality of life.Also, it was able to address theempowerment of women throughskills acquisition and training forus as managers, how to deployavailable title resources tosignificantly impact our familiesand society and provideenriching experience for allparticipants.

Our expectation was that at theend of the conference, all womenshould be sufficientlyenlightened, and honestlyassess themselves to identifyareas they need to work on, to

ensure a happy and joyfultomorrow.

Apart from this, successfulfemale entrepreneurs shouldmentor and train upcoming oneswhich could be either group orindividual based. Likewise, thegovernment or our policymakersand financial institutions shouldestablish and make the availableones more robust, supportiveenabling environment for womenentrepreneurs to access financialservices.

Also, women should beresilient. They should be readyto break all barriers, face

challenges and endure for awhile. They should never giveup on a failed first, second orthird attempt.

How do you think these canbe realized?

The first thing is that thegovernment should encouragethe establishment of more womenagencies, individual or collectivewhich leads to a better institutionand policy choices while womenshould cultivate the art of savingin formal institutions and investin bonds to help the country’sdevelopment needs. In doing so,they are contributing to thefinancial resiliency at the nationallevel.

You earlier said that attentionhas been drawn to the hardeconomic realities in the country,how can women overcome this?

In order to be relevant in thissocio-economic turbulence,women must be mindful of theirhealth, eat right, exercise and tryto combat stress by choosing ahealthy lifestyle. Apart from this,they should take personalresponsibility for and cultivatethe habit of saving for retirementfrom the minute they startearning money and be ethical intheir behavior because doingotherwise ultimately leads tosocial and economic loss.

KANEKA Corporation of Japan, makers of therenowned hair fiber, Kanekalon recently launched

the much awaited opening of Miss Kanekalon, a platformto appreciate true African beauty.

The theme of the pageant was “Bringing out the naturalbeauty and elegance of African women” and auditionswere held in Port Harcourt and Lagos. Twenty finalistswere selected to compete in the finals which took placeon 14th November 2015 in Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the organisers of the pageant, the eventwas an opportunity for Nigerian women to re-evaluateand appreciate their beauty. “This pageant is all aboutshowcasing the natural beauty and elegance of Africanwomen. Kanekalon offers stylish and high qualityproducts that meet the demands of today’s woman,complimenting each woman’s beauty, allowing her tofeel great, not just in her appearance, but also in whatcomes from within; confidence in whom she is; and as aresult giving her courage to open doors to newopportunities.”

The grand finale was fun and exciting, as there werefantastic performances and wonderful gifts to take home.There was also an exclusive hair show of brand-newweave-on styles and lots more.

Miss Kanekalon pageantholds amidst fanfare

By Juliet Ebirim

By Bose Adelaja

Women shouldbe resilient.They should beready to breakall barriers, facechallenges andendure

•Bolanle Ambode

With COWLSO, womencan make a difference—Bolanle Ambode

THE Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials COWLSO, recently hadits 15th National Conference at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island whereissues affecting the general well being of women were highlighted. Theoccasion featured royal fathers, notable speakers from all walks of life likethe governor of Kebbi State Alhaji Atiku Bagudu and the host governor MrAkinwunmi Ambode amongst others.

The three day programme was the first outing of the wife of Lagos Stategovernor Mrs. Bolanle Ambode as the Chairperson of the forum. In thisinterview, Mrs. Ambode shared her experiences about the programme andher vision for COWLSO, excerpts.

WHAT is COWLSO? COWLSO means

Committee of Wives of LagosState Officials, one of the biggestand the most important women’sprogramme in Lagos State andNigeria as a whole. It provides aplatform for women from allspheres of life, to contributepositively to families,communities and the nation atlarge.

We are not implying that ouractivities totally exclude men, weonly make bold to say, that oursis a large assembly of womenwith focus on the improvementof society.

Leading one of the biggestwomen forums in the countryis not a joke, how do you cope?

I am delighted to assume theposition of the Chairperson of abody which has impactedpositively on the lives of many

women. The success did notcome overnight but as a result ofthe labour, courage andperseverance of my predecessorswho have done great job tochampion the cause. Theiradmirable performance over theyears, coupled with hard workand dedication, has proved thatthey have all it takes to handleany project, whatever the size.

Permit me to say they havedemonstrated the ability to leadthe way and motivate othersthrough team building, whichhas resulted in our success storyand brought us to this gloriousdestination.

What can you say about thejust concluded 15th annualnational conference?

The three day event was aforum to deliver my first addressas the Chairperson. The annualgathering is an event thatwomen in the state and beyondlook up to, to interact, ventilate

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015—37

A-Ibom contractors give ExxonMobil 21 days ultimatumBy Chioma Onuegbu

Miyebi lauds Okowa over peace c'ttee

Bayelsa poll : Group drums up support for Dickson

By Jimitota Onoyume

By Gabriel Enogholase

Oshiomhole-Igbinedion face-off: Group vows to make Edo ungovernable

MRS EuniceOgheneochuko

Duku (Nee Iteh), of ErutaseQuarters, Edjekota-Ogor,Ughelli North LocalGovernment Area, Delta State,aged 61, is dead.

According to the burialarrangement by the family,lying-in-state takes place inher country home, ErutaseQuarters, Edjekota-Ogor,tomorrow, while funeralchurch service holds at PipeLine, Edjekota-Ogor, withinterment followingimmediately.

Madam Dukudies at 61

Late Mrs. Eunice Duku

UYO—CONTRACTORSfrom Akwa Ibom State,

under the aegis of CoreCommunity ContractorsInitiative, have given MobilProducing Nigeria Unlimited, a21-day ultimatum to implementthe Local Content Law 2010.

The executives of thecontractors, led by the Chairman,Chief Friday Ebong, who paida courtesy call on the ParamountRuler of Ibeno, HRM EffiongArchianga, yesterday, lamentedthat Mobil Producing and othercontracting firms have

neglected the core communitycontractors over the years in theaward of contracts, adding that ifnothing was done on theexpiration of the period, theywould stage mass protests thatwould shut the company’soperations.

He said that only menial jobswere given to them while majorcontracts were given on weaverto other contractors despite thefact that they have competent andqualified hands among them.

Ebong said it had come to theirnotice that Mobil had alreadyimplemented the Local ContentLaw of the Federation in some

places like Bonny, Lagos andWarri.

He said, “We have presented acomprehensive list of allcontractors from Akwa Ibom Stateregistered with Mobil, for easyidentification and award of certaincontracts stipulated by theNigerian Local Contents Law of2010.

“The company is not ready topatronize local contractors despitethe fact that we have enoughqualified and competentcontractors to handle all sort ofcontracts. Core communitycontractors have employedpeaceful approach with Mobil to

make them see reason why theyshould also be awarded majorcontracts.

“We have exhausted allavenues of peacefulnegotiations with Mobil andthey seem only to recognizeviolent communities.

“We are peace loving peoplebut if by the end of November2015 Mobil does not implementthe Local Content Law, we willbe left with no option but carryout a sympathy protest that willshut its operations in state.”

In his response, theParamount Ruler of Ibeno,Achianga who was representedby his coordinator Chief ItaNdem, called on the contractorsto exercise patience.

B ENIN—PROTESTShave continued to trail the

face-off between GovernorAdams Oshiomhole of Edo Stateand the Esama of Benin, ChiefGabriel Igbinedion, as a group,under the aegis of ConcernedBinis, has threatened to makethe state ungovernable if thegovernor did not desist frominsulting prominent Binicitizens.

Spokesman for the group, Mr.Chris Agbonwanegbe, a formerCommissioner in Chief LuckyIgbinedion's administration, in astatement in Benin, yesterday,also berated the governor for hisalleged penchant for insultingelders, especially those of Binistock.

The group recalled that in thelast two outings of the governor,he took time to insult the BiniChief and his son, a formergovernor of the state anddemanded to know what theIgbinedions did to warrant theunprovoked attacks.

He said: “People of ChiefIgbinedion's status in otherstates are celebrated andhonoured,” adding that theIgbinedions did nothing wrongin assisting the governor to getto power.

The group also noted that theso called land for which

Oshiomhole was crucifying theIgbinedions was actually given tothe elder Igbinedion which wasreserved for him by Col. JohnInnieger of blessed memory.

They wanted to know if the

same Lucky Igbinedion that wasbeing abused did not giveOshiomhole land at the AnglicanGirls Grammer School, AGGS,premises, just as they asked thegovernor to tell Edo people if he

has not given a parcel of landbigger than what he wasaccusing Igbinedions of to AlhajiAliko Dangote for whichDangote has done nothing todevelop.

DeltaScholarshipBoard taskshigherinstitutions onverification ofbeneficiaries

By Festus Ahon

ASABA—EXECUTIVESecretary of Delta

State Bursary andScholarship Board, MrElijah Ologe, has called onauthorities of higherinstitutions of learning in thecountry to cooperate with theboard in the ongoingverification exercise toascertain genuine studentsof the state's origin.

Ologe, in a statement, saidthat the board was out tostamp out fraud by removingall ghost names.

He commended GovernorIfeanyi Okowa for theprompt release of funds forthe payment of theoutstanding 2013/2014bursary.

Noting that the release ofthe funds was a display ofthe state government’scommitment to the wellbeing of its citizens, he toldstudents of the state toalways support GovernorOkowa in his effort todevelop all parts of the state.

Speaking further, Ologeurged students who were yetto get payment in theongoing exercise to bepatient, adding that theywould soon get paid.

PORT HARCOURT—AHEAD of the December

5 governorship election inBayelsa State, voters have beenurged to re-elect GovernorSeriake Dickson to sustain hisachievement so far.

Bayelsians for Socio- EconomicConsolidation, BSEC, said thegovernor had tackled most of theproblems inherited from thefailures of the past government

led by Chief Timipre Sylva.President of the group, Mr

Joseph Ogbe, who spoke in PortHarcourt, Rivers State, yesterday,said Governor Dickson hadimproved on the security situationin Bayelsa State, adding that thegovernor had also built the stateto a tourism hub.

He said: “It is interesting to notethat Dickson, whom some did notgive any chance to reclaimBayelsa, has succeeded incorrecting past errors. Under his

watch, democratic governancehas become effective,institutions have become morestable, security is beingentrenched and above all, hehas upheld his electionpromises.

“The Dickson administrationhas built a tourism architecturethat is now turning Bayelsa intoa major tourism hub. It hasbecome the destination ofchoice for the hosting of majorentertainment events.”

FORMER chairmanshipaspirant under the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, WarriNorth Local Government Area,Delta State, Alawei BalakumoMiyebi, has commendedGovernor Ifeanyi Okowa and hisdeputy, Kingsley Otuaro, forinaugurating a committee toresolve the dispute in WarriNorth.

Miyebi, in a statement,yesterday in Koko, Warri North

council, commended the effort ofthe governor and his deputy forthe constitution of a committee toresolve the lingering dispute inthe council, adding that it showsDeltans would enjoy hisprosperity agenda.

According to Miyebi, “This actshows that the people of the statewill soon see the new face ofDelta.

“The Egbema people and I willjoin hands with the committee to

resolve all issues brought to itfor the development of Ijawsand Itsekiris of Warri Northcouncil.

“I know the committee willrestore permanent peace toWarri North council. I also sendmy greetings to all members ofthe committee especially theItsekiri leaders, for theirpainstaking effort, wisdom andsincerity in resolving thecrises.”

AWARD: From left: Justice Z. A. Bulkachuwa; Justice Umaru Eri; Justice Mahmud Mohammed, CJN; Justice I. T. Mohammad;Justice Emmanuel Ayoola; Justice M. A. Ope-Agbe, and Justice T. A. Oyeyipo, during the conferment of NJI fellowship oneminent jurists at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, yesterday.

38 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Vanguard,FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015—39

BRIEFING: From left, Brand Manager, Pepsodent, Unilever Nigeria, George Umoh;President, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe; Category Manager Oral Care,Unilever Nigeria, Bunmi Adeniba; Director-General, National Agency for Food, DrugsAdministration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii and Director, National Institute forPharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD, Prof Karniyus Gamaniel at a pressbriefing to flag off 2015 National Oral Health Week organised by the Federal Ministry ofHealth in partnership with Pepsodent, in Abuja.

NigeriaPensionConsumersholdsymposium

THE Nigerian PensionConsumers will hold their

symposium on January 27,2016 at Sheraton Hotel &Towers, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to Project Director,Abidemi Adesanya, thesymposium will provide ameeting point for workers inthe contributory pensionscheme, PFAs, PFCs, CPFAsand the regulatory agency toshare the thoughts and mindsof an average Nigerianworker. It will also provide aforum for cross fertilization ofideas among all stakeholdersin the industry.

Keynote speaker at the eventis Mr. Longe Eguarekhide,Managing Director, AIICOPension Managers. Otherspeakers include BabatundeSalawu, Head of HumanResources at Skye BankResources, among otherleading pension and humanresources personalities.

The theme of the programmeis: “The future of NigeriaPension Industry: An overviewof the present and likely futuredevelopment in the pensionindustry.”

Remo Sec Schold studentsmeet

THE meeting of All ClassSets of Remo Secondary

School, Sagamu, Ogun Statewill hold at the school premiseson Saturday by 11:30am todiscuss preparations towardthe 70th anniversary of theschool, which will take placein February 2016. According tothe National Secretary, each setis to send two representativesto the meeting.

Benin Republic invades 16Nigerian villages, hoists flag

By Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN—NEIGHBOURINGBenin Republic has invaded 16

villages in Okuta, the border townin Baruten Local Government Areaof Kwara State, causing fear andtension in the affected communities.

In their determination to annex theNigerian villages, Vanguard reliablygathered that authorities of BeninRepublic had gone ahead toconstruct offices fot its gendarmerie(Police station) in the affectedcommunities and also hoisted thecountry’s flag.

Vanguard checks revealed that thedevelopment negated the boundarydelimitation of 1914 between Britainand France which the two countrieshad respected.

The affected villages includeOgomne, Bwin, Gandasunon,Kpuru and Woru Wuren Kparu.

Others are Ajuba1, Ajuba 2, SakaYeruman Kparu, Monta, DotinKparu, Halidun Kparu, YakubunKparu, Sonsi, Gunosani, AlhajiKparu, Yodo Mankparu and SimenKparu.

The Emir of Okuta, Alhaji IdrisSerio Abubakar, who confirmed thedevelopment in an interview withjournalists, said the developmentalso led the Okuta Emirate Councilto order the people of Yakparu axisto dismantle the Beninoise flaghoisted in the villages, adding thatthe flag was currently in the custodyof the emirate council in the town.

The monarch appealed to Kwaraand Federal Governments to cometo the aid of the people of Okutavillages as residents now lived infear of possible attack.

He said Nigerian teachers,dispensary workers and Immigrationofficials in Ogomue had been sentpacking from the Nigerian villagesby Benin Republic officials.

He also called on PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to rise to thesituation before the Benin Republicauthorities invade all Nigeriancommunities in Baruten LocalGovernment Council of the state.

The emir recalled that during thegovernment of President Ibrahim

Babangida, the gendarmesattempted their encroachmentmove, claimed ownership ofOgomue, a village underBoriya of Okuta district inBaruten local governmentcouncil of the state.

He noted that the move ledthe then military governor ofKwara State, Lt. Col. AhmedAbdullahi, and the thenCommander of 22 ArmouredBrigade, Ilorin, Col. Ojokojo,to visit the area.

He also said a visit duringthe period under review

prompted the hoisting ofNigerian flag at Ogomue, withthe subsequent construction ofa primary school, a dispensaryand Immigration post by theNigerian authorities to give thevillagers a sense of belonging.

He noted that since then, theGerdarmes had fled the areauntil recently when they sentNigerian government workersin the area parking beforeestablishing their presencethrough the illegal removal ofthe Nigerian flag and hoistingof Benin flag there as well as asconstruction of Gerdarmesoffice.

Yola, Kano blasts: Senseless,wicked —Dogara

By Wole Mosadomi,Emman Ovuakporie &Johnbosco Agbakwuru

FG confirmsN100bn debton aviationprojects

By FavourNnabugwu

ABUJA — FORMERPermanent Secretary,

Ministry of Transport,Aviation sector, Hajiya BintaBello, has confirmed that theFederal Government owedN100 billion debts on projectsin the aviation industry.

Speaking during herhandover notes in Abuja,Bello, who is now at Ministryof Women Affairs, affirmedthat she was not able to offsetup to N1 billion of the debtsin her six months stay in thesector.

She said: “There is noministry, former or new, thathas no challenges and thechallenges of the aviationsector are as usual as youknow.

"Funding remains the mainissue of the sector. I knowwhen I took over, l met a debtof over N100 billion and lwas not able to pay back evenN1 billion, so it’s a hugechallenge.

On the second runway atAbuja airport, she said: “Wehave, at the moment, an issuewhich has turned to be anational issue and everybodyis looking forward to it.

“There is also the need forconstruction of the secondrunway in Abuja. You are alsoaware that the existingrunway at Abuja is over 30years old, it has given wayand there is need to constructa new one and l would wantto mention here that nocontract on the secondrunway has been awarded.”

While welcoming theMinister of State for Aviation,the new Permanent Secretaryof the Ministry ofTransportation, Mr SabiuZakari, pledged the supportand loyalty of staff to theminister, while admonishingthe staff to support theminister in his duty to achieveBuhari’s administration focusof change mantra.

On his priority as theMinister of State for Aviation,Senator Hadi Sirika, said thereconstruction of a secondrunway of Abuja InternationalAirport was a disaster inwaiting if not fixed as soon aspossible.

Sirika said government couldnot afford to delay thereconstruction of Abuja runwayany further because of theenormous danger involved.

“I am very young in theindustry but where l trained,we have eight runways and asingle runway is just aninvitation for disaster and thatis why we have to do it, it is amust, it must be done,” he said.

By OlasunkanmiAkoni

ABUJA — SPEAKER of theHouse of Representatives,

Yakubu Dogara, hascondemned the bomb attacksin Yola, Adamawa, and Kanostates.

This came as GovernorAbubakar Sani Bello of NigerState also condemned theblasts, describing the twoincidents as unfortunate andacts of cowardice.

According to a statement byhis Special Adviser on Mediaand Public Affairs, Mr. TurakiHassan, Dogara described theattacks as babaric, senselessand wicked.

The speaker, who mournedvictims of the bomb blast, alsoprayed for quick recovery forthe scores of people injured.

He urged Nigerians to besecurity conscious and bevigilant to help securityagencies with vital informationabout activities of terrorists andother criminal elements in theirsurroundings.

The speaker also charged the

security agencies to intensifyefforts in intelligence gatheringand sharing as the surest wayof pre-empting such deadly andwicked attacks.

LAMATA to construct barriers totackle traffic gridlock

LAGOS— The LagosMetropolitan Area

Transport Authority, LAMATA,has concluded plans to erect aone-kilometre long concretefence with iron see-throughgrating between the servicelane and main carriageway fromMile 12 towards Ketu as part oftraffic control measures alongIkorodu Road.

This came barely a week afterthe launch of Mile 12-IkoroduBus Rapid Transit, BRT, classicoperations with 434 buses readyfor operation.

The plan, according to theWorld Bank assisted-agency,will also include theconstruction of median jerseybarrier and multiple lay-by for

commercial buses and other uses.Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan,

Special Adviser to GovernorAkinwunmi Ambode onCommunication andCommunities, disclosed this at astakeholders meeting withexecutives of Mile 12 Market, theLocal Council Development Area,Community DevelopmentAssociation and LAMATA.

According to him, the measuresare aimed at finding a lastingsolution to the incessant trafficgridlock at Mile 12 and ensurefree flow of traffic through thearea.

He said government was morethan committed to tackling thecurrent traffic challenges beingexperienced in the state to createan enabling environment foreveryone to thrive.

CMYK

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

PRESENTATION: From left—Medical Officer, Health, Akerele MedicalCentre, Surulere, Dr. Shosanya Abidemi, Hon. Desmond Elliot, PublicRelation & Events Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc., Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, andChief Nursing Officer, Matron Boika Queen, during the presentation ofmedical equipment to the medical centre in Lagos, yesterday.

WALK FOR LIFE: From left—President, Institute of Directors, Mr. YemiAkeju; Chief Ajibola Ogunshola; Chief Opral Benson, and Dr. Fred Odutola,during the IoD walk for life in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

TRADE FAIR: From left—Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mr.Tunji Bello, representing the governor, Vice President, Lagos Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, LCCI, Chief Nike Akande; President, Alhaji RemiBello, and Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. RotimiOgunleye, during the Lagos Special Day and closing ceremony of the LagosInternational Trade Fair, in Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

FESTIVAL: From left—Head Minister, Worship Festival, Cletus Akhimian,Convener, Hannah Oyebanjo; Pastor Ayo Oyebanjo and Chuks Aforonwa,all members of the worship team at a briefing to announce the 2015 WorshipFestival scheduled for Sunday 29, November, 2015 in Lagos.

TOUR: FOC, Naval Training Command, Rear Admiral Adejimi Osinowo,inspecting the guard of honour on arrival at the Nigeria Naval EngineeringCollege, Ogorode-Sapele, for his biannual tour of the college in Delta State.

From left: Delta State Commissioner of Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah,representing Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, President, Lagos Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, and Delta StateCommissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Mary Iyasere, during theDelta State Special Day at the just concluded 2015 Lagos International TradeFair, Lagos.

SPECIAL DINNER: From left (standing)—Mr. Victor Odozi, former DeputyGovernor, Central Bank of Nigeria; Professor Apata, a renowned Professorof Dentistry; Prof. Gabriel Osuide, former Director General, NAFDAC; AlhajiZak Mohammadu, formerly of Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, and AVM Joel Ehigie(retd), with their wives seated at the Special Dinner by Edo College Old BoysAssociation (Ancients) in Lagos.

PROGRAMME: From Left—Programmes Director, Beat 99.9FM, Mr Olisa Adibua,Programme Chair, CORA, Mr Jahman Anikulapo, Chief Operation Officer, ID Africa,Mr Femi Falodun, Creative Director, Wazobia FM, Mr Steve ‘Yaw’ Onu, ProgrammesDirector, City 105.1 FM, Mr Gbemileke Oyinsan, General Manager, Five Star MusicGroup, Mr Soso Soberekon, during the Neclive Series Programme in Lagos.

CMYK

VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—41FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—41FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—41FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—41FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015—41

Safar 8, 1437 A.H.

MUSLIMS all over theworld stand in solidarity

with Paris and the people ofFrance. It was extremely anotherwicked act from the blood thirstyterrorists. It is becoming clearerto the world that terrorists world-over are not Muslims, in fact wewonder if they are even humans.Those carrying out heinous crimesin the name of Islam do not havethe support of millions of Muslimsall over the world.

If a Muslim is a person whomakes a commitment to live inpeace through servitude to Allah,therefore the actions of a fewfanatical individuals whoaccidentally happen to haveMuslim names or ascribethemselves to the Muslim faithshould not be a yardstick by whichIslam is judged.

In Nigeria here, we have beenhaving our share of the terrorattacks. Many of these attacksclaimed the lives of thousands ofMuslims. In one of the attacks,recently, the vampires stormed avillage in the North East, in thewee hours, called out a earlymorning prayer and genuineMuslims came out to observetheir prayers only to beslaughtered by these vampirescalled Boko Harram.

Prominentmuslims

How can they be Muslims?There were several otherMosques attacks during Jumatprayers, there were several targetson other prominent Muslims whoopenly condemned theiractivities. But we know God theCreator of every being iswatching and will serve Hisjudgment on all those who causemischief on earth and causedpains to others. They willdefinitely be punished by Allahas though they have killed thewhole of humanity.

Like every other concernedindividual, we mourn the horrifickillings of 129 people in the lastFriday attack. May AlmightyAllah be pleased with their soulsand give their families thestrength to bear the loss.

To understand Islam’s stance onterrorism, one must refer to itsoriginal sources, the Quran andthe teachings of ProphetMuhammad, (s.a.w)which areexplicit in their prohibition of anyform of injustice including that ofterrorism which seeks to instillfear, injury or death to civilians.

The Quran turns our attentionto the high value of human life,whether it is Muslim or non-Muslim and makes it absolutely

Paris attack: God loves not aggressors

BY ISHOLA BALOGUN forbidden to take an innocent lifeunjustly. The gravity of such acrime is equated, in the Quran,with the killing of all humanity.

“On that account: We ordainedfor the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person - unless it be formurder or for spreading mischiefin the land - it would be as if heslew the whole people: and if anyone saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of the wholepeople. Then although there cameto them Our apostles with clearsigns, yet, even after that, many ofthem continued to commit excessesin the land.” ( 5:32 )

Not only is human life sacred inIslam but the property, wealth,family and dignity of all individualsin society are to be respected andprotected.

Sanctity ofhuman life

Those who transgress theserights and sow fasad (corruption)as the Quran describes it, incur thewrath of Allah.

The message of the Quran is clearas we have seen, that the sanctityof any human life is to be respectedand any violation in that regard isparamount to the worst crime.Mercy is at the heart of the Islamiccall, “We sent thee (OMuhammad) not save as a mercyfor the peoples” (21:107); a totallydifferent message to what theterrorists are sadly imparting tohumanity.

Concept of JihadJihad is usually associated with

Islam and Muslims, but in fact, theconcept of Jihad is found in allreligions,political and economicideologies, and of course all otherlife endeavours. Islam definesJihad as striving and struggling forimprovement as well as fightingback to defend one’s self, honor,assets and homeland. Also, Jihadis interpreted as the struggleagainst evil, internal or external ofa person or a society. Jihad, in

Islam, means learn, teach, andpractice Islam in all aspects of one’slife at all times to reach the highestand best education in order tobenefit oneself, family and society.It means to be a messenger of Islameverywhere, in every behavior andaction. Reject evil, wrongdoing,and injustice and not by coercingpeople to accept Islam.

Again, in Islam, there is no suchthing as holy war. This terminologywas generated in Europe duringthe crusades and their war againstMuslims. Islam recognizes Jewsand Christians because they allfollow Prophet Ibrahim, believingin Moses and Jesus. For manycenturies even in the days ofProphet Muhammad, (s.a.w),Muslims have peacefullycoexisted with Christians, Jews,and people of other faiths,maintaining social, business,political and economic treaties.Islam respects all humans andfaiths as long as there is noreligious oppression, forbiddingMuslims from serving Allah,preventing others from learningabout Islam, and not respectingtreaties.

About 70 virginsThe concept of suicide and killing

others to get “70 virgins” inParadise, is quite silly.

The fact of the matter is, the“companions of Paradise” arementioned as being pure and somuch above anything we mightimagine on earth, so as to indicateto us they are new, pure (virgin)and are not touched by men ordevils, a reward for discardingworldly life and materialism forbetter things in Paradise.

From left: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Mrs Grace Oladimeji; former dep-uty Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Latefat Okunu; Hon. Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr.Abdul Hakeem Abdul Lateef and Co-Chairman, NIREC, Dr. Saheed Timehin during NIREC'svisit to the Commissioner

The concept ofsuicide andkilling others toget “70 virgins”in Paradise, isquite silly

LAGOS State Governor, Mr.Akinwunmi Ambode has

issued warning to hate preachers(mischief makers) among religioninstitutions to desist forthwith from theact as it would not tolerate religiousintolerance in the state.

Ambode gave the during a specialmeeting with members of the NigeriaInter-Religious Council (NIREC), atthe State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

The governor also disclosed thatfrom next year, the state governmentwill begin inter-face religiousconferences where all religious bodiesin the state, irrespective of theirdenominations will participate andwould be coordinated by NIREC.

Ambode, represented by the StateCommissioner for Home Affairs, Dr.Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, explainedthat the government would stop anyreligion leader who preaches hatemessages that is capable ofendangering people’s freedom.

Freedom ofreligion

According to him, “Henceforth,we’ll start to monitor mosques andchurches and ensure that clerics donot engage in hate preaching.

“Our constitution in Nigeria hasrecognised the freedom and rights ofevery citizen to express himself orherself in a way he or she believes.The right to freedom of religion,conscience and the right to express itpublicly, individually or in communitywith others, to express to observe, topractice and propagate it.

“Section 42 of the constitution goesfurther to say nobody on account ofexpressing himself should besubjected to any form ofdiscrimination. So, if we are talkingabout peace, peaceful co-existence,then tolerance is key to all of us.

“Let it be known to residents that

Religious intolerance: Lagosclamps-down on hate preachers

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

•To hold NIREC quarterly infer-face conferences

henceforth, Lagos government incollaboration with Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), will nottolerate hate preachers. These are thepeople who do not preach theirreligion but continue to spreadmischief about people of otherreligions. We will not tolerate religiousintolerance.

“This is the time for advocacy, leteverybody realize that you have theright and freedom to practice yourreligion but you will be stopped frompracticing that religion if it createsmischief. And under Section 45 ofthe Nigeria Constitution, thegovernment is empowered to put astop to your freedom when itendangers other people’s freedom,”he said. The government, whilesupporting Mosques in the call forprayers to their faithful, urged clergiesto immediately deactivate the externalloud speaker after the call had beenmade in-order not to constitutenuisance to the community.

“We are going to ensure that thisadvocacy is taken to the grassroots tolet people know that we are notstopping people from practicing theirreligion but the rights of others mustbe taken into consideration. Inrecognition of tolerance, Ambode hasdirected that in collaboration withNIREC, from next year there wouldbe quarterly inter-face conferencewhere all religious bodies will meetto discuss way forward and furtherstrengthen existing cordialrelationship between the tworeligions. It must not be a fire brigadeapproach that is only when there iscrisis we meet.” Abdulakeem addedthat the state government had earliermet with Christian and Muslimleaders where it was agreed to startenumeration, data gathering ofmembers in the state “and we cannot do this without the collaborationof NIREC. We are enforcing our lawin a manner that it restores the dignityof the people.

CMYK

42 — Vanguard,FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

L-r: Etisalat Customer, Raphael Osamon, Chief Marketing Officer, EtisalatNigeria, Francesco Angelone, Etisalat Customer, Chizoba Okpala-Atsu andDirector, Customers Care, Etisalat Nigeria, Plato Syrimis at the Etisalat Cus-tomer Forum held in Lagos

From Left: Caroline Oghuma, Public Relations Manager, MultiChoice Nigeria;Ivie Okujaye; Martin Mabutho, General Manager, Marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria;Chioma Afe, Marketing Manager, DStv and Okechukwu OC Ukeje during the medialaunch of the DStv Upgrade Season Offer held at Westown Hotel, Ikeja Lagos.Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

ABUJA—THE Houseof Representatives

has moved to probe theAssets ManagementCompany of Nigeria,AMCON, over allegedunder-valuation of sometank farms that it put up forsale on behalf of clients.

This development wassequel to a motionpromoted by RepDanburam AbubakarNuhu. The House directedits committees on bankingand currency as well asfinance to investigate thematter and report backwithin one month, andurged AMCON to suspendfurther transaction on thesale of the assets pendingthe outcome of theinvestigation.

The House in plenaryresolved that AMCON hadinvited interested membersof the public to submit bidsfor the purchase of 32petroleum products storagetanks located in Ibafon,Apapa, Lagos State as aresult of the failure of someoil companies to up theirdebts four years after thecorporation took over theirnon-performing loans fromcommercial banks.

But the lawmakers saidthe processes leading to theproposed sale of the 32 tankfarms worth several billionsof Naira by AMCON hasbeen alleged to be incontravention of Section 28of the corporation’s Act of2010. Citing the relevantSection, the lawmaker said“the valuation of, andpurchase price of eligiblebank assets shall bedetermined in accordancewith guidelines issued fromtime-to-time by the CentralBank of Nigeria,” but thatthe provision was keptaside.

Reps probeAMCON overalleged sale oftank farms

By Emman Ovuakporieand Johnbosco Agbakwu-

ru

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015—43

The Supreme Court and the mob hysteria

By Prince Ajibola Oluyede

A CLEARLY orchestratedtirade against the

Supreme Court of Nigeria inrespect of its acceptance of anundertaking by the counsel tothe Respondent in the SarakiAppeal has come to my attentionfollowing two days of consistentbashing of the Court for daringto do the unthinkable byscuttling the politicallymotivated stampede to removeBukola Saraki from his positionas Senate President through awholly unconstitutional trial atthe Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Concerning my submissionthat the Code of ConductTribunal’s trial of Bukola Sarakiis unconstitutional, I willaddress that in another forum.For now I wish to respond tothe clearly misconceived notionthat the Administration ofCriminal Justice Act can beused to oust the power of thecourts to grant stay ofproceedings in criminal trials.

The issue as formulated by theleader of the charge goes asfollows: “It is unfathomable thatthe Supreme Court decided toreturn the country to the statusquo ante in a rather brazen andbizzare manner. Given theouster clause contained insection 306 of the AJCS(sic), theCode of Conduct Tribunal oughtnot to have delivered its rulingin respect of the preliminaryobjections filed by Dr. Saraki” –Femi Falana (SAN).

Grant of stayof actions

Highly respected ProfessorItse Sagay (SAN) was alsoquoted by the media as havingsaid that “The newAdministration of CriminalJustice Act has completelyeliminated any application orgrant of stay of actions orproceedings in criminal trials;it prohibits it. So, what theSupreme Court has done isillegal and it is shocking thatthe Supreme Court wouldindulge in illegalities”.

Both eminent lawyers areintolerably wrong and thus givethe impression that their perincuriam opinions could onlyhave been motivated byprejudice and not by their wellknown life long struggle for thepublic good. Indeed the mannerin which their respectedopinions have rabble-roused asurge of public opinion againstthe apex court in respect of anissue which is still sub-judicesmacks, in my humble opinion,of criminal contempt..

It is in this context that I joinissues with them on the matteras follows: •Section 306 of theACJA is unconstitutional, nulland void in so far as it seeks tolimit the exercise of judicialpowers vested in the courts bysection 6 of the Constitution of

the Federal Republic of Nigeria1999 as amended.

•Ayoola JCA (as he then was)in NNPC V Fawehinmi [1998]7NWLR (PART 559) 598 at612E-H echoed an age oldprinciple of separation ofpowers when he said “Otherthan in consonance with theconstitution itself, legislativeprovisions which preclude thejudiciary from exercisingjudicial powers violate theseparation of powers principleenshrined in section 6 of theConstitution”

•Relying on the abovedictum Omoleye JCA inNjikoye V MTN [2008] 9NWLR (part 1092) 339 at 369F-H also stated that “..the courtswould disregard any statutethat seeks to regulate andobliterate their judicial powersconferred on them by theexpress provisions of theConstitution, the supreme andgrund norm of Nigeria. ….. Anenactment will therefore beconsidered opposed to the

constitutional provisionsvesting judicial powers in acourt if: it … purported toremove judicial powers vestedin the court or redefine it in away as to whittle it or limit theextent of the power vested orconferred on the court by theConstitution.”

•What this means is that nolegislature in Nigeria has thepower to enact legislation thatlimits the exercise of judicialpower or (as Falana states in hissubmission) constitute an“ouster clause”. •With regard toouster clauses (although I donot agree that section 306 isone) Section 4(8) of theConstitution expressly forbids itand disempowers thelegislature from making anysuch law. •To do so thelegislature would have toamend the Constitution andthat procedure is not the sameas the mere passing of a bill intolaw as was done with the ACJA.

Strange andbizarre

•It is, therefore, more strangeand bizarre that any lawyerwould castigate the apex courtor any court for that matter forignoring the so called “ousterclause” constituted by Section306 of the ACJA especially as itexpressly conflicts with thepowers donated to the judiciaryby the constitution, part ofwhich is the power to order stayof any proceedings.

•In this regard theFundamental RightsEnforcement Procedure Rules2009 expressly provide inOrder 4 Rule 4(iv) that the CivilRights Court may “Grantinjunction restraining theRespondent from taking furthersteps in connection with thematter or maintaining statusquo or staying all actionspending the determination of [aFundamental Rights]Application”

•In Order XI of the samerules it is provided that the CivilRights Court may “At the

hearing of any [fundamentalrights] application, under theserules, …. Make such orders,issue such writs and give suchdirections as it may consider justor appropriate for the purposeof enforcing or securing theenforcement of any of theFundamental Rights providedfor in the Constitution or AfricanCharter on Human and PeoplesRights (Ratification andEnforcement) Act to which theapplicant may be entitled”

Criminalproceedings

•Katsina Alu JCA (as he thenwas) in the case of Abia StateUniversity V Anyaibe [1996] 3NWLR (PART 439) 646 at 661E-F said of the FundamentalRights Enforcement ProcedureRules as follows: “Since theRules have the force of law asthe Constitution itself, itoverrides the provisions of anyother enactment which seeks toprovide ‘an alternative’”

•Therefore, in my humblesubmission it is erroneous foranyone to state that it is illegalto grant a stay of proceedingsin criminal proceedings. •Thecriminal court may ignore theprovisions of section 306 in sofar as it limits its ability to dojustice in any worthy case andcertainly an appellate court thatperceives that something iswrong with any criminalproceedings may order its staynot withstanding the provisionsof section 306 of the ACJA andif it becomes an issue may infactset aside the section as invalidnull and void.

•Furthermore a Civil Rightscourt before whom a complaintis made that a criminalproceedings infringes on any ofthe fundamental right inchapter iv of the Constitutioncertainly has the power donatedexpressly by the constitution tointervene and the provisions ofsection 306 of the ACJA wouldnot be of any moment in thatcircumstance given thesuperiority of the Constitutionto the ACJA.

•Care must be taken by theBuhari Government and itsadvisers not to end up reducingthe judiciary to irrelevanceunder the cover of this “waragainst corruption”.

•Whereas everyone agreesthat it is necessary to root outthe plague of corruption fromthis country the method bywhich that is to be done mustnot be at the expense of the

integrity of the institutions ofdemocracy. The idea to limit thepower of the courts to grant stayof proceedings in criminal trialsis apparently rooted in theperception that judges cannotbe trusted to do the right thingin Nigeria because ofcorruption, this cannot be theappropriate way to root out thecorruption in the judiciary. It isequivalent to enacting a lawforbidding the President fromapproving expenditure becausewe believe that politicians arecorrupt. That would only bringgovernance to a halt. The hueand cry about the efficacy ofsection 306 today is becausethose who favour it are notthemselves judges. If they were,they probably would frown ona law that already labels themas incompetent to rightlyexercise discretion or corruptbefore they had a chance toshow their mettle.

•It must be borne in mind thatthe fight against corruption is aworldwide fight as evidenced bythe United Nations Conventionagainst Corruption 2003 andthe ECOWAS protocol on thefight against corruption 1993both of which Nigeria issignatory to.

Illegalinstigation

The methods are stated inthose conventions and theyinclude a strengthening of theinstitutions of democracy andnot the whittling down of theirefficacy, authority or powers. Iwonder why Nigeria’s case isalways negatively different.

•Furthermore abuse of officeand the illegal instigation ofcriminal processes are requiredby Articles 17 and 25 of the UNConvention to be criminalizedby signatories as corruptpractices. If the Supreme Courtperceives that the criminalproceedings against SenatorSaraki might have beenimproperly instigated for anyreason it is obliged to join in thefight against corruption bystopping it completely and tothis end may properly stayproceedings until it is satisfiedthat its perception is wrong.

I congratulate the SupremeCourt for braving the mobhysteria which appears to be thehallmark of this new fightagainst corruption to do theright thing.

•Prince Oluyede is ofTRLPLAW

I congratulate theSupreme Court forbraving the mobhysteria whichappears to be thehallmark of this newfight againstcorruption to do theright thing

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

Map of Nigeria

CMYK

44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

From left: Mr. Yinka Adu, General Manager, Marketing, Elizade Nigeria Ltd; Mr. Lyrida Lu - ReginalManager, South-Central Africa Light Commercial Division, JAC Motors International; Mr. DemolaAde- Ojo, Managing Director, Elizade Nigeria Ltd, and Mr. Obagbuwa Oloyede,Head, Operations,Elizade Auto Land, Elizade Nigeria Ltd, during the media briefing on JAC brand of vehicles andfacility by Elizade Nigeria Ltd, in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe

Anambra police command parades 48suspected cultists, 2 native doctors• as Abia police arrest robbery suspects, wound 4 suspected kidnappers

By Anayo Okoli &Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA—THE AnambraState police command

yesterday paraded 48 suspectedcultists who allegedly belong tothe notorious VikingsConfraternity. Also paraded were

two native doctors said to beallegedly preparing charms forarmed robbers and kidnappers.This came as the Abia Statepolice Command said its menfrom Umuobiakwa police stationin Obingwa Local GovernmentArea of Abia State arrested two

armed robbery suspects even asfour suspected kidnappers wereseriously wounded in a gun battlewith its men at Uratta PrimarySchool in Isiala Ngwa Northcouncil.

The Police Public RelationsOfficer, PPRO, in Anambra, Mr.

Ali Okechukwu said thesuspected cultists were arrestedin various parts of the state as theywere carrying out initiation of newmembers.

Among items recovered fromthem were guns, cartridges,machetes, large quantities ofIndian hemp and otherdangerous weapons.

Places where they were pickedup, he said, include Nnewi,Ogidi, Awka, Awkuzu, Ihiala,among others.

According to Okechukwu, mostof the suspects were students invarious tertiary institutions,adding that all of them would soonappear in court sinceinvestigations into their caseshave been concluded.

He said that the arrest of thesuspects followed a tip-off bymembers of the public and urgedthe people of Anambra State tocontinue to support the police inits efforts to rid the state of crime.

The wounded four kidnapsuspects in Abia, according to theState Police Public RelationOfficer, Ezekiel Onyeke, a DeputySuperintendent of Police weremembers of a gang of suspectedkidnappers who planned andattempted to kidnap a producemerchant in the area.

According to him, the foursuspects who had perfected plotto kidnap their victim ran into thewaiting hands of the police menwho were monitoring the situationfollowing a tip-off.

FACE-OFF: How Obiano mismanaged my N75bnsavings —Obi •Show evidence you left N75bn – APGA

Most of those roads were usedto campaign for him duringelectioneering on the premise ofcontinuity,” the statement said.

On the claim by the presentadministration that it met only N9billion cash in the treasuryObienyem said: “ It is shockingto note that the Anambra Stategovernment said they only met 9billion cash in the treasury. Thepoint is that Obi left 37 BillionNaira in the treasury. We have thestatements of accounts from thebanks as at March 17th, 2014. Let me illustrate using a fewexamples. Fidelity Bank and themoney in the account as at 17th March, 2017: account Name: Ministry of Works, No:5030005514, N2,403,862,359.89;account Name: Ministry ofWorks, Housing and Transport, No: 5030025545, N2,029,706,380.45; accountName: Local Govt Community Development,account No: 5030042391,N1,734,069,061.09; accountName: Government Account, 5030047097,N3,048,355,196.

Diamond Bank: AccountName: Anambra State SubsidyAccount, account No:0026290200, amount N5,126,258,908.72; accountname: UBE Matching Grant Account, No: 0031151473,amount N2,101,864,766.68; account name: Anambra StateJoint Local Govt, No: 0022404540;

amount N3,276,354,490.46.First Bank: Name of

Account: EF/IGR ConsolidatedAccount, no is 2018779464,amount is N2,139,951,400.00.Enterprise Bank, account nameis Govt House, Awka, Account nois 1400036138 and Amount is1,928,596,191.25. The totalis N23,789,018,751 (Twenty-ThreeBillion, Seven Hundred andEighty-Seven Million, eighteenhundred, Seven hundred andfifty One kobo.”

“It is pertinent to note that twoyears have gone and AnambraState government is still debatingwhat was left or not, even whenother governors that inheritedhuge debts, unpaid salaries andrepayable loans and bonds haveall taken off.

“In Obi’s first six months inoffice, he had already savedenormous money for the statebefore he was illegallyimpeached” he added.

According to Obienyem:“During his inauguration, Gov.Obiano listed many projects hewould undertake, some of whichare building an airport, buildingthree power stations, amongothers.

“He started three fly-overs at theinitial cost of N5 billion that waslater varied to N15 billion. Theydiverted the money meant for theroad, from Amansea to Amawbiaround- about to three flyovers.The contractor doing thoseflyovers is owed over N7 billion.

“He also started the constructionof three roads to the airport

simultaneously. Are these notenough reasons to convinceAnambra people on the need toborrow rather than bring Mr. PeterObi into it?”

Show evidence you left N75bn -APGA

But the All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, has dared theformer governor of Anambra State,Mr. Peter Obi, to produce evidencethat he handed over N75 billionto his successor, Dr. Willie Obianoas he claimed in his hand-overnote 18 months ago.

Speaking to reporters in Awka,the National Publicity Secretary ofthe party, Chief Ifeatu Obiokoye,said the party and GovernorObiano decided to keep mute forsuch a long time because theywanted peace to reign, more sowhen Obi was still a member ofAPGA family.

He said there was no doubt ab-initio that both the uninformed andinformed minds knew that thecontroversial N75bn was notexisting any where.

“I believe Governor WillieObiano was being cautious bycoming up with the truth nowwhich, if he had done before now,would have embarrassed hispredecessor.

‘’What is clear is that even in thehandover note the liabilities werenot clearly spelt out.

“The other aspect was othermonies that was not in liquid cashbut in liabilities. What do we nowdo with the truth as revealed byGovernor Obiano.

Otti appealsagainst tribunaljudgment

By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA—ABIA Stategovernorship candidate

on the ticket of APGA in the Aprilgeneral elections, Dr. Alex Otti,has filed a notice of appealagainst the judgment of theelection tribunal whichdismissed the petition he filedagainst the election of GovernorOkezie Ikpeazu.

According to Otti’s counsel,Mr. Oracle Nwala, his clienttook the decision to appeal thejudgment after consulting withleaders of the party as well asmajor stakeholders and a cross-section of the people of the state‘’who voted massively for himduring the election.”

Nwala expressed the hopethat the Court of Appeal wouldgrant Otti’s prayer to bedeclared the winner of theelection with the preponderanceevidence he put forward,especially on the cancellation ofthe election results in three localgovernment areas of Obingwa,Osisioma and Isiala NgwaNorth.

Continued from Page 15

CBN grantsWema Banklicence tooperate asnational bank

By BabajideKomolafe

THE CENTRAL Bankof Nigeria has

granted Wema Bank PLCthe licence to operate as anational bank. This followsthe apex bank’s final approval to Wema Bank toconvert from a Regional Bank to a National Bank.

In 2010, Wema Bankdownscaled to operate onlywithin its core areas ofbusiness – South-South,South-West and FCT Abuja.Now, the Bank with a capitalbase of N43.8 billion hasmet the regulatoryrequirements for theNational Banking licenseas stipulated by the CentralBank of Nigeria. Thishistoric event has madeWema Bank the first bankto be granted a NationalBanking Licence havingpreviously operated with aRegional License.

According to SegunOloketuyi, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, CEO, - Wema BankPlc, - “This Approvalrepresents a milestone forthe Bank in the delivery ofits Project LEAPcommitments. Six yearsago, we took a decision torefocus the Bank’soperations on its areas ofstrength and build asustainable institution.

"We took advantage of thenew licensing regime andapplied for a Regionalauthorization with a pledgeto expand in the nearfuture, once theturnaround project wascompleted. The Bank’stransformation wasimplemented in threephases; first to stabilize theBank, second to preparethe building blocks forgrowth and third to go forgrowth. We are now withinthe third phase of thetransformation project.”

The CEO stated that thenew license has createdopportunities to scale upgrowth, and added that theBank will continue tostrategically select itsbusiness locations acrossthe country with focus onareas where return oninvestment will bemaximized, andshareholder valueenhanced over the mediumto long term.

“To ensure that thisapproval is leveragedappropriately, we arealready in the process ofraising $100 million in Tier2 capital and wouldcommence a Tier 1 capitalraise in Q1 2016."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 45

Bayelsa poll: APGA candidate withdraws fromrace, rallies support for Sylva

By Samuel Oyadongha& Emem Idio

Decline in govt expenditure depressed economic growth—NBS Report

Kano blastvictimrecountsordeal

N8 trillion lost to Illegal Mining every 2years,Senate

By Emeka Anaeto, EconomyEditor

EFCC grills Perm Sec over missing N.5billion Sure-P cash

Y E N A G O A — T H Egovernorship candidate

of All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, Mr ChristopherEnai, has withdrawn from theDecember 5, governorship pollin Bayelsa State and declaredhis support for Timipre Sylva ofthe All Progressives Congress,APC.

Enai is a former chairman ofEkeremor Local GovernmentArea and member of the Houseof Representatives on theplatform of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP.

He later defected to the APCto vie for the party'sgovernorship ticket which waswon by Sylva, a developmentthat forced him to pitch tent withAPGA where he picked theparty's ticket as candidate forthe forthcoming poll.

Enai, whose name is onIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC's list asAPGA governorship candidate,however, caused a stir when hemade a surprised appearance atthe formal flag- off of the APCcandidate's campaign inSagbama Local GovernmentArea to support Sylva'sgovernorship ambition.

Enai, who spoke at Ekeremorduring the APC rally, said his

decision to withdraw from thegovernorship race ascandidate of APGA and jointhe APC was to support the“change revolution” to bringabout the desired change inthe state for the betterment ofthe people.

“My withdrawal is not that Iam leaving APGA entirely. Iwant a situation where we canachieve a new Bayelsa and I

believe that APC can do it. Mysupporting APC is not that Ido not have followers while inAPGA but my reason is that Iwant to support my brother,Sylva, because, this is the timeto face reality in Bayelsapolitics.

“I must say that I am in lovewith APC, so, I am using thisopportunity to call on ourpeople to vote for the real

change and for goodgovernance. Of course, I amnot the only candidate leavinghis party. I know them all butI am not in the right positionto be mentioning them forpublication. Right now, out of20 political parties in the race,about nine have steppeddown. This is democracy andyou have the right to join anyparty,” he said.

CURRENT data from the National Bureau of Statistics,

NBS, has indicated that a signifi-cant decline in government ex-penditure in the second quarter(Q2) 2015 accounted for the poorperformance of the economy thisyear even as total expenditureon Gross Domestic Product,GDP, during the period showeda 2.3 per cent increase in realterms.

During the period under re-view GDP growth rate was 2.57per cent, a significant declinefrom 3.38 per cent recorded infirst quarter, Q1, 2015. Thoughthe third quarter GDP inched upto 2.84 per cent all the threequarters this year so far were sig-nificantly lower than 2014 andalso lower than what federal gov-ernment projected in 2015 bud-get.

GDP can be derived as the val-ue of all goods and servicesavailable for final uses and ex-port. The expenditure approachmeasures the final uses of orexpenditure on the producedoutput as the sum of final con-sumption expenditure, grosscapital formation (investmentactivities carried out in the econ-omy), and exports less imports.

In its GDP Expenditure Report

released yesterday NBS saidgeneral government final ex-penditure decreased year-on-year by 11.81 percent. In realterms this decrease was morepronounced with general gov-ernment final expenditure go-

ing down by 14.83 percent rela-tive to Q2 2014, and by 10.75 per-cent relative to its level in the pre-vious quarter (Q1, 2015).

In nominal terms, governmentfinal consumption expenditure,GFCE, stood at N1.354 trillion in

Q2 2015, down by 11.81percentfrom N1.535 trillion in the corre-sponding period of 2014. Thismeant that the share of GDP ac-counted for by GFCE fell from6.99 percent to 5.87percent, thelowest share since 2010.

ABUJA–WORRIED by thefall in prices of crude oil and

the urgent need to diversify theeconomy, the Senate yesterdayraised alarm that Nigeria was los-ing a total of N8 trillion every twoyears following the activities of ille-gal miners. The Senate which ex-pressed concern over the activitiesof illegal miners of the nation’s sol-id minerals, however mandatedits Standing Committee on SolidMinerals with Senator JoshuaDariye as Chairman to investigatethe “mindless and unlawful plun-dering of Nigeria’s solid minerals.”

The Senate also urged the In-spector General of Police, IGP, So-lomon Arase and other law enforce-ment agencies to wake up to theirresponsibilities of stopping illegalmining in Nigeria as well as arrestthem. It further urged the federal,state and local governments to take

ABUJA—Operatives of theEconomic and Financial

Crimes Commission, EFCC,yesterday quizzed the immedi-ate past Permanent Secretary inthe Ministry of Culture and Tour-ism, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele, over herrole in the disappearance ofN500 million Sure-P cash meantfor the ministry.

The woman, who was sackedby President Muhammadu Bu-hari last week, was summonedby the EFCC to answer ques-

tions on how the huge sum ofmoney earmarked by the gov-ernment for the ministry disap-peared under her watch.

According to a competentsource in the commission, Mrs.Ejele, arrived the headquartersof the anti-graft agency around10 am yesterday and was grilledfor several hours.

The former permanent secre-tary was expected to be admit-ted to administrative bail pend-ing when she would be formal-ly charged for the alleged of-fence.

TWENTY-year old MusaIdris, a victim of last

Wednesday bomb blast in Kanoyesterday recounted his ordealin the blast. Musa was lying crit-ically injured at Abdullahi WaseSpecialist Hospital, Nassarawa,Kano with his right leg wrappedin plaster of Paris (POP) arisingfrom the injury he sustained fromWednesday blast at Kano GSMmarket. The 20 years old Eco-nomic students of Kano poly-technic could not hold backtears as he asked in rhetoricwhether he would ever walkwith his legs again.

Recounting his ordeal, IdrisMusa, who hailed from Okene,Kogi Central said “my fatherhanded over one thousandnaira to me last Sunday to re-pair my phone which of courseI gave to my friend and classRep who is a specialist in phonerepairs. As at Monday, myfriend who appeared hooked toacademic challenges could notrepair the phone, and thisbrought about suspicion frommy dad who suspected I wasup to a game as he issued anultimatum to either produce thephone by Wednesday or returnshis money. On the faithful dayI left the school to the GSMmarket with my friend to collectthe phone and as we took twosteps into the market, we hearda deafeaning sound that sentus sprawling on the ground”

“I tried to escape from thescene but my legs failed meand remained on the groundhelplessly before a good samar-itan came to my aid. Collabo-rating his son’s tragic experi-ence, Malam Musa told Van-guard ‘I took full responsibilityfor his travails’.

WARD CAMPAIGN: From left: Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear AdmiralGboribiogha Jonah; Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and National Vice Chairmanof PDP, Akiuwa Anioma, at the PDP governorship Ward campaign, at Imiringi Ward 8, inBayelsa.

By Henry Umoru/ JosephErunke

concrete steps towards ending ille-gal mining in Nigeria. These reso-lutions were sequel to a motion bySenator Duro Faseyi, PDP, EkitiNorth and titled, “Illegal Miningof the Nation’s Solid Minerals.” Inhis debate, Senator Faseyi notedthat the unlawful plundering of the

nation’s solid minerals by stateand foreign miners was furtherconfirmed by the former perma-nent secretary of the ministry ofMines and Steel Developmentduring his briefing of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari on the stateof the ministry.

By Soni Daniel

By AbdulsalamMuhammad

Full GospelBusinessmenConference startstoday

VICE-President Yemi Osinbajo will today in Lagos,

address this year’s AnnualConference of Full GospelBusiness Men’s FellowshipInternational Nigeria, FGBM-FI-NG at the National ArtsTheatre, Iganmu,with thetheme: “The Revolution”.

According to the Vice-Presi-dent of FGBMFI-NG, Tokun-bo Obayan, at a briefing aheadof the conference: “The key-note address will be deliveredby Professor Osinbajo, whileLagos State Governor, Mr. Ak-inwunmi Ambode, would bethe special guest of honour.”

Other speakers are IfeanyiOdedo, Professor Pat Utomi,Mr. Abiodun Fijabi, Fela Duro-toye, and Ngozi Ekeoma.

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

I K E C H U K W U — I ,formerly known andaddressed asI z u c h u k w uIkechukwu Ezike, nowwish to be known andaddressed asIzuchukwu VictorEzike. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O N I G B A N J O — I ,formerly known andaddressed asOnigbanjo AminatAjibike, now wish to beknown and addressedas Adejoye AminatAjibike. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

I L I E M E N A M — I ,formerly known andaddressed as NonsoEmmanuel Iliemenam,now wish to be knownand addressed asNonso EmmanuelFrancis. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

E L E G H A R A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissChinwe ChristianaEleghara, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Omogor ChristianaChinwe. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

AMUZAT—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss IsilamiyaAbiodun Amuzat, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. RajiAbiodun Isilamiyat. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

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ANIMASHAUN—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissAnimashaun AdetutuAlimo, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OlasinboAdetutu Serah. Allformer documentsremain valid. AccessBank and generalpublic please take note.

Confirmation of name

I hereby state thatAdigbonu AustineAnthonia Obianuju isthe same person asAustine Anthonia Uju.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis is to confirm thatI UmeayichieChimezie Christian,am the same person asUmeh Chimezie. Allformer documentsremain valid. DiamondBank Plc, FCMB Plcand general publicplease take note.

I B I K U N L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissO l u w a d a m i l o l aRebecca Ibikunle, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.O l u w a d a m i l o l aRebecca Adejumobi.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

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O G U N S A N — I ,formerly known andaddressed asOgunsan MorenikejiAduke, now wish tobe known andaddressed as AinaMorenikeji Aduke.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

IGBINEWEKA —I,formerly known andaddressed asIgbineweka BlessingEse, now wish to beknown and addressedas Chigbufue BlessingEse. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

GIBSON—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Grace CarillaGibson, now wish tobe known andaddressed as MrsGrace CarillaAroyewun. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

OZIEGBE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OziegbePaulina Isioma, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ugbebor PaulinaIsioma ChibuzorAnthony. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

Confirmation of nameOMAKA—This is toconfirm that OmakaPaulina and OmakaPauline Joe Favour isthe same and oneperson. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Banks andGeneral Public Pleasetake note.

PETER—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss FavourIhuoma Peter, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ihuoma OgbonnaOkey. All formerdocuments remainvalid. NPF and generalpublic, please takenote.

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Confirmation of nameI Ifeoma C. Okoyehereby state that amthe same person asChijioke Ifeoma Angel,now wish to be knownand addressed asChijioke Ifeoma Angel.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

SUNDAY—I, formerlyknown and addressedas SundayOlanrewaju Paul, nowwish to be known andaddressed as ShobitanOlanrewaju Paul. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic, please takenote.

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EBI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ChineyeLucia Ebi, now wish tobe known andaddressed as MrsChineye GodwinAmogu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

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Confirmation of nameI hereby state that insome of mydocuments my namewas written as EzeEmeka, and in othersas Ezekwere EmekaUgochukwu. I an thesame person bearingall the names. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic, please takenote.

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Confirmation of nameThis is to confirm thatUsouwah DorisEberechi is one andthe same person asVincent DorisEberechi, now wish tobe known andaddressed asUsouwah DorisEberechi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

YAHAYA —I, formerlyknown and adressed asMohammed YahayaTairu, now wishes to beknown and addressedas MomohMohammed Tairu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Mybankers and generalpublic take note.

A D E Y E M O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAdeyemo KafayatAdebimpe, wishes tobe known andaddressed as MrsGbesan KafayatAdebimpe. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Lagos StateGovernment andgeneral public takenote.

ONYEKE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OnyekeMartha Chinyere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ogoh MarthaChinyere. All formerdocuments remainvalid. National YouthService Corps andgeneral public pleasetake note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to confirm thatthe name LewisOfunne, refers to oneand the same personas Lawrence Okafor,but now wish to beknown and addressedas Lewis Ofunne. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis is to confirm that thename Winner Joe-Christopher, refers to oneand the same person asChristopher Winner. Butnow wish to be knownand addressed as Joe-Christopher WinnerObinna. All formerdocuments remain valid.Access Bank, GTbank,Diamond Bank andgeneral public please takenote.

O B I E F U L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissObiefule RuthChidinma, now wishtone known andaddressed as Mrs.Itiveh Ejiro RuthChidinma. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Any authority itconcern and generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of NameThese namesTamarauke-Kemebimor G.B., HeadmanTamarauke-KemebimorBrawaide Brass belong tosame person but now wishto be known andaddressed as HeadmanTamarauke-KemebimorBrawaide Brass. All formerdocuments remain valid.Any authority it mayconcern and generalpublic to take note.

Confirmation of NameThese names FrankOyere and EbiamaEbimobore belong tothe same person butnow wish to be knownand addressed asEbiama Ebimobore.All former documentsremain valid. UBA,any authority andgeneral public to takenote.

OKPARA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Mrs OkparaRoseline, now wishtone known andaddressed as OtoboloRoseline. All formerdocents remain valid,any authority it mayconcern and generalpublic to please takenote.

UMOLO—I, formerlyknown an addressedas Miss SiomebaPennington Umolo,now wish to knownand addressed as Mrs.Siomeba PenningtonOwho. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

JIBUIKE—I, formerlyknown an addressed asMiss Adaku MercyJibuike, now wish toknown and addressedas Mrs. Adaku MercyMadubuko. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

JACK—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Jack EyemaMfon, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Joy EyemaOkwudiri. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

NWEKE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss NwekeNwamaka Nelly, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.O n y e k a o k w uNwamaka Nelly. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

U M U K O R O — I ,formerly known andaddressed asUmukoro KemiAduke, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAwoyemi KemiAduke. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

46—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

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ACHIME—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss AchimeAmaka Nnennaya, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Onyia AmakaNnennaya. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

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Addition of nameARO—I, formerlyknown as Ene AroNdubuisi Vincent,now wish to be knownand addressed as EneNdubuisi Vincent. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

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Confirmation of nameOlaboye Akeem andAnthony Okpanachibelong to sameperson, but now wishto be known andaddressed as OlaboyeAnthony OkpanachiAkeem. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Union Bank,any authorityconcerned and generalpublic please takenote.

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Confirmation of name

I, Ncharam

Christopher and Nchra

Christopher is one and

the same person. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

EKOROH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss BlessingNnenna Ekoroh, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Blessing NnennaJulius. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

N N E B E D U M — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissIfeoma EuchariaNnebedum, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ifeoma EuchariaUdeaja. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

OGINNI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OginniO l u w a f u n m i l a y oCatherine, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.A l a b iO l u w a f u n m i l a y oCatherine. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

K A R E E M — I ,formerly known andaddressed as KareemSekinat OmowunmiTitilope, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Taiwo SekinatOmowunmi Titilope.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic, please takenote.

O L A W E P O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOlawepo Esther Tobi,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Suarau Esther Tobi. Allformer documentsremain valid.University of Lagos,Nigeria YouthsService Corps (NYSC)and general public,please take note.

ONWUZULIKE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOnwuzulike IfeomaStella, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Nwosu IfeomaStella. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

KAMOLI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Taiwo KamoliJimoh, now wish to beknown and addressedas Jimoh Taiwo. Allformer documentsremain valid. FirstBank Plc, Ecobank Plcand general public,please take note.

M B A O M A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MbaomaA n t h o n i aChinaemerem, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Eze AnthoniaChinaemerem. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic, please takenote.

OLUBOLA—I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Olubola AbiodunOluwagbemisola, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs. SalakoOlubola AbiodunOluwagbemisola. Allformer documents remainvalid. General public,please take note.

YISAU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss YisauA d e f u n m i l a y oMutiat, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.A l a r a p eA d e f u n m i l a y oMutiat. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General public,please take note.

O S A K W E — I ,formerly known asMiss MargaretIfeyinwa Osakwe, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Margaret IfeyinwaPorbeni. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKAFOR—I, formerlyknown as Miss OkaforRoseline Ngozi, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ibeh Roseline Ngozi.All former documentsremain valid. Oji RiverL.G. ENS LGSC andgeneral public pleasetake note.

A B U B A K A R — I ,formerly known asShehu UsmanAbubakar, now wish tobe known andaddressed as ShehuUsman Hamisu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

AYEGBA—I, formerlyknown as Miss AyegbaJudith Amina, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Oke Judith AminaAyegba. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OBI—I, formerlyknown as ObinedeGeraldine Obi, nowwish to be known andaddressed asObinede GeraldineOby. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKORO—I, formerlyknown as MissChioma Nora ReginaOkoro, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Chioma NoraRegina Moses. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

U N A I C H I — I ,formerly known asMiss Unaichi NkirukaFavour, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Nwoke NkirukaFavour. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015—47

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

TAIRU—I, formerly

known as Muhammed

Tairu, now wish to be

known and addressed

as Yahuza Muhammed

Tairu. All former

documents remain

valid. General public

please take note.

SALAMI—I, formerly

known as Miss Taibat

Salami, now wish to be

known and addressed

as Mrs. Taibat Ajoke

Amzat. All former

documents remain

valid. General public

please take note.

SALAKO—I, formerlyknown as SalakoModupe Omowunmi,now wish to be knownand addressed asOderinde ModupeOmowunmi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

M E S H A C H — I ,formerly known as Mr.Meshach EnuaguneOno Emeni, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mr.Mishael EnuaguneOno Emeni. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

I H E J I R I K A — I ,formerly known asMiss Nneka KateIhejirika, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Nneka Kate Ejemezu.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

O T U N L A — I ,formerly known asMrs. JosephineAdedayo Otunla, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Josephine AdedayoErinle. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of name

I, Onwumechuruba

Hyacinth Chidi is the

same person as Ubah

Hyacinth Chidi. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

N N E O M A — I ,formerly known asMiss NneomaChukwuemeka Iroha,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Alili Nnena Emeka.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A D E M I S O L A — I ,formerly known asAdemisola ZainabAlaka, now wish to beknown and addressedas Ademisola ZainabAlaka Ikenchuku. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of name

I, Okafor Bolum

Moses is the same

person as Okafor

Bolum Dennis. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take

note.

O D E W U N M I — I ,formerly known asOdewunmi MatthewGbenga, now wish tobe known andaddressed asOlarenwaju MatthewGbenga. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OGHOTUOMA—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissEvelyn EnemuteOghotuoma, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Evelyn EnemuteA k h a d e h b u s iOharedia. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

IKEMDA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss PhilomenaEnaruke Ikemda, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Philomena EnarukeMusah. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

ANENE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Azuka AneneNwachukwu, nowwish to be known andaddressed as AzukaD a v i d s o nNwachukwu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

JAMABO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss JamaboSeleipri Bennis, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.B e n n i s - A m e r i k aSeleipri. Allformer documentsremain valid. DeltaState University andgeneral public pleasetake note.

BIALIKI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Ediri GodwinBialiki, now wish to beknown and addressedas Ediri GodwinEgbine. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

E F E K O R O T U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEfekorotu EnakpoyeriRita, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OkperiruisiRita Enakpoyeri. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

S Y L V A N U S — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissSylvanus Faithful, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Akpoilih Faithful. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

JIBUIKE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Adaku MercyJibuike, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Adaku MercyMadubuko. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

CHUKWUJEKWE—I,formerly known andaddressed as AngelaAbara Chukwujekwe,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Angela Elechi AbaraOgbonna. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to confirm thatthe names DavidBruno Agbro andEdirin Bruno Agbrorefer to me, buthenceforth I wish to beknown and addressedas Edirin BrunoAgbro. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

C H U K W U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as FrancisChukwu, now wish tobe known andaddressed as FrancisChukwumba. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of name

I, Mrs. Vivien

Osolonye Ugonabor,

am the same person as

Mrs. Vivien O. Chris.

All former documents

remain valid. General

public please take

note.

GOLLEY—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Matina EnorGolley, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Matina Enor GolleyEwhujovwho. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OKAFOR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OkaforChinelo Emmanuelaand Linus ChineloEmmanuela, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ebireri ChineloEmmanuela. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

MENE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Mene Rapheal,now wish to be knownand addressed asMene RaphealSolomon. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

KANU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss NnennaMargaret Kanu, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Nnenna MargaretOnyebuchi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKOH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Okoh Ifeoma,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Ajamikoko Ifeoma. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

IGBINOBARO—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissLydia Uyi Igbinobaro,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Lydia Odoruyi Ogwu.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

TEBU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss TebuOvuakporaye, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ovuakporaye ChrisAigbekaen. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of nameThe names OkikiKalawei, Okiki WoweiKalawei, KalaweiWowel and OkikiWowei OzuofayeKalawei are mine,henceforth I wish to beknown and addressedas Okiki WoweiOzuofaye Kalawei. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

Confirmation of nameMy name appear asBankole MariamAderayo on my BVNDatabase withDiamond Bank, andfor personal reasons Iwish to be known andaddressed asOlayinka MariamAderayo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

MENE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Raphael Mene,now wish to be knownand addressed asOgboduwa RaphaelMene. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

EBEGBULEM —I,formerly known andaddressed as MissAnn ChizobaEbegbulem, now wantto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ann ChizobaAkujuobi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

I G H O V O J A H — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOghenemine UhweIghovojah, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Eliora OghenemineArubayi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

INYANG—I, formerlyknown andaddressed asMiss.Inyang FlorenceObiajulu, now wish tobe known Mrs. Adewole FlorenceObiajulu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Generalplease public takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis is to certify thatOmaghomi Christianaand IghorodjeChristiana is the sameand one person butnow wish to be knownand addressed asOmaghomi Christiana.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis is to certify thatOghenedafe Wi l f redNewton and Dafe NewtonMagege is the same andone person but now wishto be known andaddressed as DafeWilfred Newton Magege.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to certify thatEzeudeka MartinUgochukwu, EzeudekaMartin UgochukwuAugustine, EzeudekaUgochukwu Augustinerefers to one and the sameperson, that I now wish tobe known and addressesas Ezeudeka MartinUgochukwu. All formerdocuments remain valid.General public please takenote.

UDE—I, formallyknown and addressedas Ude AugustineChima, Now Wish ToBe Known AndAddressed As UdeoguAugustine Chima. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

N W A N K W O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNwankwo RachaelChinyere, now want to beknown and addressed asMrs. ChukwuemekaRachael Chinyere. Allformer documents remainvalid. Federal Ministry ofHealth, Federal MedialCentre Umuahia, Nursingand Midwifery Council ofNigeria and generalpublic please take note.

ISHAKA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Ishaka VivianNneka, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OjukwuVivian Nneka. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

SULEYOL—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss PriscillaSuleyol Ayag, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Priscilla SuleyolAsema. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Gwer East L.G.Aand general publicplease take note.

ERDOO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Tyokura ErdooEvelyn, now wish toknown and addressedas Mrs. AondonaErdoo Evelyn IyorhenOrtese. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Benue StateUniversity TeachingHospital and thegeneral public pleasetake note.

OBOBA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Oboba ElohoLoveth, now wish tobe known andaddressed as MrsOssai Eloho Loveth.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

O B I O K P O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as ObiokpoEndurance, now wishto be known andaddressed as ObiokpoSuccess. All formerdocuments remainvalid.Sectraco NigeriaLimited and Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of nameThis is to certify thatOfulue Joseph Ositaand Iwebenua JosephOsita is the same andone person but nowwish to be known andaddressed asIwebenua JosephOsita. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

ENEKWEIZU— I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEnekweizu NdidiMaryann, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Madu NdidiMaryann. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

LAFUA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss PatienceEguvabore Lafua, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Patience Eguvabore.Imuero All formerdocuments remainvalid. Delta StateGovernment andgeneral public pleasetake note.

I K U K A I W E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissIkukaiwe CynthiaOgochukwu, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Uzoka CynthiaOgochukwu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OKEKE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Okeke LindaNkechinyere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Mbah LindaNkechinyere. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ONYEGBUNWA—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissMercy Onyegbunwa,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Mercy Atoi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

E J I O F O R — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEjiofor Stella Amaka,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Obieje Stella Amaka.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

N N A N N A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as NnannaPatrick, now wish to beknown and addressedas Patrick Abraham.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

I B R A H I M — I ,formerly known andaddressed as IbrahimAhmed Dembo, nowwish to be known andaddressed as DemboBakari Ibrahim. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

U W A G B O E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as EstherUwagboe, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAdesuwa EstherO g h e n e k e v w eMonday-Uwagboe.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

O G B O T I T I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissFaith Pere-EreOgbotiti, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Faith Pere-EreLawrence. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

DISEYE —I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Gbefa Diseye,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Diseye GbefaEgberipou. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

ALLAH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Allah MaryEbikedoubo, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Allah Okpomu MaryEbikedoubo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OYINKEPREYE—I,formerly known andaddressed as OyenkeOyinkepreye, nowwish to be known andaddressed as OyenkeOghenewoke. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

K U N O U N — I ,formerly known andaddressed as TombaraGbolegha Kunoun,now wish to be knownand addressed asTombara India. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

SPIFF—I, formerly

known and addressed

as Spino Spiff, now

wish to be known and

addressed as Inemi

Spiff. All former

documents remain

valid. General public

please take note.

OSAIGBOKAN—I,formerly known andaddressed asAbusomwan PreciousOsaigbokan, nowwish to be known andaddressed asAbusomwan PeaceOsaigbokan. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A M A G B E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAlatarighabofa IkioAmagbe, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Alatarighabofa IkioYousuo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Brass LocalGovernment Counciland general publicplease take note.

S Y L V E S T E R — I ,formerly known andaddressed as SylvesterLawrence, now wish tobe known andaddressed as SylvesterOmavuaye Lawrence.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

BILA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss BilaNiekenimi NathanielAgako, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. WariebioweiTarilayefa Niekenimi.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

WALTER—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Iboh Walter,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Iboh StephenPeregha. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

ABOH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss AbohOghenetega, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Oguara InaraOghenetega. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of names

I, Ekiseehehh BenedictTuborkeyi do herebyconfirm that the namesEkiseehehh Tuborkeyi B.,Ekiseehehh B.Tuborkeyi, EkiseehehhBenedict Tuboukeyi andEkiseehehh BenedictTubor refers to one andsame me. All formerdocuments remain valid.General public pleasetake note.

Confirmation of namesI, Mensah IsraelOweipadei do herebyconfirm that thenames Mensah IsrealKoffi and Israel Oweipadei Mensahrefer to one and sameme. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of namesI, Onah SamuelBeimopre do herebyconfirm that thenames SamuelBeimopre Onah andOnah Samuel refer toone and same me. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of namesI, Matthew EnetimiFaith do herebyconfirm that the namesMatthew Enetimi andMatthew Enetimi referto one and same me.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

Confirmation of namesI, Prince AbelPerekeme do herebyconfirm that the namePrince Abel refer toone and same me. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Correction of namesI, Andrew Evelyn dohereby state that myname was wronglywritten as DawaEvelyn instead ofAndrew Evelyn. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Correction of namesI, Amgbari BritishWoyindeinyefa dohereby state that myname was wronglywritten as AmgbaliBritish Woyindeinyefainstead of AmgbariB r i t i s hWoyindeinyefa. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

I K W U E M E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissI k w u e m eK o s i s o c h u k w uUchenna, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.A n y a e g b u n a mK o s i s o c h u k w uUchenna. All formerdocumemnts remainvalid. The authoritiesto whom it mayconcern and thegeneral public toplease take note.

N D U K A I R E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNdukaire OnyinyechiComfort, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Spiff OnyinyechiComfort. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OMORINKOBA—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOmorinkoba BosedeVictoria, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Okunsola BosedeVictoria. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

ATEIEKIOMIE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissEden RoseAteiekiomie, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Rose A. PaulOpunyiade Nkpornwi.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

E Z E N W A K A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissChika LilanEzenwaka, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Chika Lilan Arua. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

NWIKUE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss PatienceBariadoora Nwikue,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Patience BariadooraCoxson. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

UNACHUKWU—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissChikaodili IyowikeUnachukwu, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Chikaodili IyowikeVictor ChibuikeNwebo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

N WA G B A R A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNwagbara NgoziObed Chibuike, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Dr. Mrs.Ogu Ngozi ObedChibuike. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

NWUBA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss NwubaMaryrose Ebere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ezedike MaryroseEbere. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015—49

50—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 , 2015

BARELY one weekafter their formal

inauguration, the newMinister of Science andTechnology, Dr.Ogbonnaya Onu, hasespoused his vision for thecountry, saying thatNigeria has no reason tobuy weapons from othernations.

The Minister who spokeduring his inauguralmeeting with the directorsand heads of the ministryin Abuja, said Scienceand Technology Ministryis at the centre of threemajor promises ofsecurity; job creation andfight against corruption,which were made by thenew APC administration.

He assured of hisresolve to explore thenations’ potentials inscience and technology intackling the issue ofinsecurity across thecountry.

“When we neededweapons to fightinsurgents in the NorthEast, it was difficult, evenwith our own money. Whydo we need to go outsideto buy weapons? Whenwe have able men andmaterials that canmanufacture most of themilitary equipment that weneed. India was buyingweapons before but is nowin a position to producewhat they need. Thedefence industry we havein Kaduna wasestablished at the sametime with that of Brazil,but today theirs canmanufacture aircraft,ships, tanks but ours willtake a very long timeunless we act veryurgently.

“Our ministry is verystrategic as far as securingthe nation is concerned. Inthe area of growing oureconomy, for too long, wehave been a consumingnation; we import most ofour needs. We exportwood but we import toothpick, we export crude oiland import petroleumproducts, we export cocoabut import chocolate, thiscan be very disturbing.The missing link is thatthe key we need to openthe door for prosperity ismissing, despite havingall it takes to be a greatnation."

In terms of economy,reducing poverty, creatingjobs, ‘the Ministermaintained that scienceand technology are vitalin actualizing theobjectives of thegovernment andpromised to leverage onthe available opportunitiesto achieve the objectives.

We have noreason to buyweaponsoutside Nigeria— Onu

By Emmanuel Elebeke

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

ODIKA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Odika NgoziBlessing, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Akomolafe NgoziBlessing. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

TOLUWALOJU—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissToluwaloju JosephineTaiwo, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OmiyeJosephine Taiwo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

N W A B U I S I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MrsNneka ScholasticaNwabuisi, now wishto be known andaddressed as MrsNneka Livinus. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

A K P O B O M E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissFlorence Akpobome,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Florence James. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

M U O G H A L U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissChinwe Muoghalu,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Chinwe Igbodokwu.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

O P E Y E M I — I ,formerly known andaddressed asShakirullah AbubakarOpeyemi, now wish tobe known andaddressed asShakirullah Abdul-Qadir Aremu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note

Clarification of nameI wish to clarify thatboth Ododeh Roland,Ododeh Roland .M.and Michael Roland issame person, but nowwish to be known andaddressed as OdodehRoland. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKIRIE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss NwakaegoOkirie, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. NwakaegoEsther Ezendo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

EYOROROKUMOH—I, formerly known andaddressed as MissBessie RobertEyororokumoh, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Bessie Akeme Gita.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

MUNIR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss HalimaMunir, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs HalimaHussaini Adamu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

ABIA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Afiong EdetAbia, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Afiong AbiaOkponung. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Local EducationAuthority/Abuja AreaCouncil (LEA/AMAC), U.B.A, AsoSavings & Loans andgeneral public pleasetake note.

M A I S A I N I — I ,formerly known andaddressed asMaisaini SardaunaMonde RaysonGodwin, now wish tobe known andaddressed asMaisaini SardaunaGodwin. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

C H I E K E Z I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as LilianUgochi Chiekezi, nowwish to be known andaddressed as LilianUgochi Igwe. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation ofname This is certify that thenames OmejeSunday Vitus andOmeje Vitus refer toone and the sameperson as OmejeSunday Vitus. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ORABA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OrabaC y n t h i aS o m t o c h u k w uEzinwanne, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Okoh CynthiaS o m t o c h u k w uEzinwanne. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

E K P E T I P U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissRachael DirizideEkpetipu, now wish tobe known andaddressed as MrsRachael Ogoba. Allformer documentsremain valid. EcoBank plc and generalpublic should pleasetake note.

E N D U R A N C E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asO r i t s h e m i n o n eEndurance, PerseveranceGeorge OnuohaGoodness, now wish tobe known and addressedas OritsheminoneGoodness. All formerdocuments remain valid.UBA PLC, Diamond BankPlc, Skye Bank Plc andgeneral public shouldplease take note.

AUTHENTICATION OFNAME: That my true andcorrect names areEmmanuel Robert Olomu,some of my documentscarries Emmanuel RobertOlomu and Erowo RobertOlomu. That both namesmentioned above are oneand the same person,now wish to be knownand addressed asEmmanuel Robert Olomu.All former documentsremain valid. Eco Bankand general publicshould please take note.

U M U K O R O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MISSUMUKORO ELOROSEMARY, nowwish to be known andaddressed as MrsUshurhe Elozino. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic should please

take note.

N Z E K W U E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asElizabeth UfuomaNzekwue, now wish tobe known andaddressed asElizabeth UfuomaIgugu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicshould please takenote.

A K P O B A R O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as AkpobaroFranklin, now wish tobe known andaddressed as GeorgeF r a n k l i nOwhoekewho. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic should pleasetake note.

ORU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Afoke Oru,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsOgaga Afoke. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic should pleasetake note.

KAIKA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss MarvellousOgheneyatiaye Kaika,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsM a r v e l l o u sO g h e n e y a t i a y eEruotteh. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicshould please takenote.

PEREMOBERE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissMacaulay HelenPeremobere Dupe,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsErhurun Helen Dupe.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic should pleasetake note.

OVWEGHRERHOHWO—I, formerly known andaddressed asOvweghrerhohwoStanley, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAduviekeya AdjarhoStanley. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicshould please takenote.

MAFURU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss MafuruQueen, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. AkpotorQueen Jesha. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic should pleasetake note.

U M E K W E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as UmekweKelvin Chibueze, nowwish to be known andaddressed asOnwumalu KevinChibueze. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicshould please takenote.

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VANGUARD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 51

Mastermind in Paris attackskilledTHE suspected

ringleader of the Parisattacks, AbdelhamidAbaaoud, was among thosekilled in a French policeraid on Wednesday,prosecutors say.

They confirmed Abaaoudhad died when anti-terrorpolice stormed a flat in theParis suburb of Saint Denis.

His body was foundriddled with bullets andshrapnel in the apartment.

Interior Minister BernardCazeneuve said he hadreceived intelligence thatAbaaoud passed throughGreece on his return fromSyria.

It is unclear whether hehad concealed himselfamong thousands ofmigrants arriving inGreece before heading forother EU nations.

Confirming the IslamicState (IS) militant left forSyria last year, MrCazeneuve said no EUstates had signalled hisreturn.

The minister alsoimplicated Abaaoud in fourout of six attacks foiled inFrance since this spring.

The Belgian national, 28,was identified from hisfingerprints.

Friday’s gun and suicidebomb attacks in the Frenchcapital left 129 people deadand hundreds injured.

Eight people werearrested and at least twokilled in the raid on theproperty in Saint Denis.Heavily armed policestormed the building aftera tip-off that Abaaoud was

in Paris.Investigators are still

looking for another suspect,Salah Abdeslam, who isbelieved to have travelledto Belgium after the attackson Friday night.

The identification ofAbaaoud raises seriousquestions for securityservices.

SYRIA: Assad rejectstransition time table

SYRIA’S PresidentBashar al-Assad has

said a political process toend the country’s bloodycivil war cannot begin while

it is occupied by “terrorists”.Mr Assad told Italian state

television that the timetablefor elections “starts afterstarting to defeat terrorism”.

It is unclear whether hewas referring only to IslamicState (IS) militants or alsoto Western-backed rebels.

Last week, 19 countries -including Mr Assad’s allies- set a deadline of January1, for the start of peace talks.

They signed a UNstatement that calls for aceasefire to be agreed by 14May 2016 and for freeelections to be held a yearlater.

Neither the Syriangovernment nor oppositionwere invited to take part inthe event in Vienna so thatthe countries could presenta unified message.In aninterview with Rai TVbroadcast on Wednesdaynight, the Syrian presidentstressed that no deadline forthe start of a politicaltransition could be set whileparts of the country were notcontrolled by hisgovernment.

US House to vote on Iraqi,Syrian refugees entry

REPUBLICANS in theUS House of

Representatives arepreparing to vote onlegislation that would placenew restrictions on theresettlement of Syrian andIraqi refugees in the US.

Democrats say that the billconstitutes grandstanding,while Republicans say thepublic is demanding greaterprotection from terrorism.

President Barack Obamahas said he will veto thelegislation.

The bill follows the attacksin Paris that left 129 peopledead. Seven of theperpetrators died in theattacks, and one of them isthought to have been a

Syrian who entered Europevia Greece with migrants.

The bill would require thehead of the FBI, theDepartment of HomelandSecurity, and the Director ofNational Intelligence to signoff on each refugee as being“not a threat to the securityof the United States,”following an FBIbackground check.

The bill reportedly does notcontain provisions thatwould screen refugeesbased on religion - a contrastto proposals offered bypresidential candidates JebBush and Ted Cruz, whohave said that preferenceshould be given toChristians.

Indian Muslims protest against deadlyISIS attacksA prominent Muslim

group in Indiaorganised protests across thecountry against recentdeadly attacks in France,Lebanon, and Turkey by theIslamic State of Iraq and theLevant (ISIL).

“Islam doesn’t permitkilling of innocents. Sincemost of the killings are beingdone in the name of Islamand jihad, that’s why it is ourreligious duty to raise our

voice against the act,”Maulana MahmoodMadani, chief of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, told AlJazeera. Thousands ofMuslims across dozens ofcities came out on the streetson Wednesday chantingslogans and raising bannersagainst ISIL and itsaffiliated groups, Madanisaid.

“It’s a conspiracy to bringa bad name to the Quran,Islam, and the Prophet. We

Kenyans stuck in 50km traffic jamon Nairobi-Mombasa road

Libyan held over 1984 UKpolice shooting

demonstration outside theLibyan Embassy in Londonin 1984. Scotland Yarddescribed the arrest of theman, in his 50s, as a“significant develo-pment”.

He was detained onThursday morning in south-east England and is now incustody. He is also suspectedof money launderingoffences.

Two other Libyan nationals- a woman in her 40s and aman in his 30s - were alsoarrested on Thursday onsuspicion of moneylaundering. Scotland Yardsaid the other two suspects,arrested at separateaddresses in London andsouth-east England, are inpolice custody and thatsearches are under wayacross the country.

In a statement, PCFletcher’s family said herfather had recently died,with his “one regret in life”being that he had “neverwitnessed any justice”over the shooting.

have to fight against thisconspiracy. It’s a jihad for us.Those [ISIL] who are doingthis are really Allah’s rebels,”the Jamiat leader said.

The activists held placardswith messages reading“ISIS is a threat tohumanity,” and “Stop ISISeverywhere.”

“We have received hugesupport. Almost all Muslimorganisations have joined usfrom across India,” said Madani.

KENYAN police havebeen deployed to ease

a traffic jam reportedlystretching for 50km (30 miles)on the highway betweenMombasa and Nairobi.

The road is crucial for EastAfrica’s economy as it linksthe port of Mombasa tolandlocked countries, such asUganda, South Sudan andRwanda.

The worst-affected area isaround Taru, about 80km

from Mombasa.Correspondents say the

jam has been caused byrepairs to the road followingheavy rains.

Traffic jams are common inKenya and are often causedby its badly maintained roadnetwork but this is said to bethe worst for several years.

More than 1,500 truckshave been stuck, WillingtoneKiberenge, acting chiefexecutive of the Kenya

Transporters Associ-ation,told Reuters news agency.Some motorists have beenstuck in the countryside,miles from the nearest shop,since the jam began onTuesday evening.

“I have not eaten sinceyesterday morning, notshowered and not evenchanged clothes,” NathanielChweya, a lorry driver taking10 cars to the Ugandancapital of Kampala sai.

•Balkans to reduce intake of migrants

A Libyan man hasbeen arrested on

suspicion of conspiracy tomurder PC Yvonne Fletcherthree decades ago.

PC Fletcher, 25, died afterbeing shot while policing a

World’s second-largest diamond foundin Botswana

THE world’s second-largest gem quality

diamond has beendiscovered in Botswana, theLucara Diamond firm says.

The 1,111-carat stone wasrecovered from its Karowemine, about 500km (300miles) north of the capital,Gaborone.

It is the biggest diamondto be discovered inBotswana and the largestfind in more than a century.

The 3,106-carat Cullinandiamond was found inSouth Africa in 1905 and cutinto nine separate stones,many of which are in theBritish Crown Jewels.

“The significance of therecovery of a gem qualitystone larger than 1,000

carats, the largest for morethan a century... cannot beoverstated,” William Lamb,the CEO of LucaraDiamond, a Canadiandiamond producer, said ina statement.

Lucara says two other“exceptional” whitediamonds - an 813-caratstone and a 374-carat stone- were also found at theKarowe mine.

“I am truly at a loss forwords. This has been anamazing week for Lucarawith the recovery of thesecond largest and also thesixth largest gem qualitydiamonds ever mined,” MrLamb said.

Botswana is the world’slargest producer ofdiamonds and the tradehas transformed it into amiddle-income nation.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Earthnearing danger zone

LESS than two weeksbefore a crucial global

climate summit in Pariskicks off, NOAA, NASA andother global temperaturemonitors released datashowing that the planet ishalfway to two degrees ofwarming, the muchpublicized limit of“controllable” climatechange.

Global data from NOAAreleased Thursday showsthat the averagetemperature across theentire planet for the monthof October was a recordshattering 0.98 degreesCelsius (1.76 degrees

Fahrenheit) warmer thanaverage for the month ofOctober — making it thehighest averagetemperature reachedcompared to normal inEarth’s historical record.

The NOAA data is backedup by similar data setsmaintained by NASA andthe Japan MeteorologicalAgency, which also rankedOctober as the hottestmonth on record comparedto average. All of thisvirtually guarantees that2015 will rank as thewarmest year overall,breaking the record thatwas set just last year.

Suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks,Abdelhamid Abaaoud

•A traffic jam reportedly stretching for 50km (30 miles) on the highway betweenMombasa and Nairobi.

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Pretty Lunatic’ By Andy Akman

dadadekola@yahoo.com

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

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YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

52 — Vanguard, FRI DAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAYTHOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard EromoseleARIES; Both yourself and other important

personalities to you are beginning to see things fromsame point of view making it easy for you to eliminateunnecessary rift.

TAURUS; Venus moves into a positive angle to yourStar and encourages peaceful settlement. Exhibitionof maturity on your part will favour you better.

GEMINI; Gradually you are dropping aggressiveapproach you have adopted in the last few days tothe betterment of your cause. Remain practical till after10.15pm.

CANCER. Other people will continue to have theirsays and if you try to indoctrinate them tensedatmosphere will be aggravated. Be patient.

LEO; Entrance of romantic Venus into a positiveangle will enhance your prospects. Both financial andlove related success are possible.

VIRGO; This is not the right time to rely on promisesmade by others. Continue to take matters-of-the-heartseriously. Reason with your reliable associates.

LIBRA; Better than yesterday; however that is notto say you should throw caution to the wind.Improvement on your love life indicated. Try to comportyourself.

SCORPIO ;After the am period you will becomemore aggressive. However your best way to successis to seek and reason with opinion of your spouseand/or important partners.

SAGITTARIUS; After a few days of fun you mayneed to settle down to serious business. Those of youworking till very late evening will need to be morecareful till after 10.15pm. Reason with your tried andtrusted old hands(friends).

CAPRICORN; Venus moves into positive angle andboost your sparkling personality to the betterment ofyour cause. Could be a nice day for the-young-at-heart.

AQUARIUS; It is important you don’t allow yourmind to wander unnecessarily so that minor but costlymistakes would be averted. Avoid late eveningconfusion.

PISCES; Recent tension generated by controversyover money will start to ease off. Be more vigilant ifyou are working late in the evening. Yet you will needto watch what you do within your base till after10.15pm tonight.

Dear Joshua,

I want to know about my future, especially what Ishould expect from my love life both in the immediateand far future. However that is not to say I am notinterested in good financial standing.

Francis, Abuja.

Dear Francis,Although there will be a particular time you will

need to be more careful so that you will not gamblewith love as predicted under your love life.

Major challenges for you here is inability to holdon to your gains (profits) partially by the contactmade between your natal Saturn and Venus andsome other times by your love of LUXORY (easylife).

Although the Saturn influence can be mitigated,the love of luxury comes from your Taurus – Stallionwhich must not be totally discouraged but shouldnot be allowed to go beyond your control. Yes envyand jealousy can creep in as indicated by theoppositions between your natal Venus/Saturn inTaurus and Jupiter in Scorpio, but that is notenough excuse for either failure or manipulation ofoccult powers against you. Whatever anybody saysand/or does GREAT FINANCIAL SUCCESS is yourportion.

The most influential planet during your birth houris Venus-the planet of MONEY and LOVE. You arethe romantic type whose magnetic personality andopen handedness are sources of big trap to hismembers of opposite sex. As handsome as you areyou truly crave stability in your love life, /home andthe happiness you desired will be yours. You willneed to watch carefully around and during your44th year on earth as you may be tempted to gamblewith matters-of-the-heart.

Good future for me?

No future ambition? — 2YES, what isyour ambition

in life? You musthave somethingthat motivatesyou.It is not acrime to beambit ious.Howcan it be a crime

because you choset osucceed?Ambitionon its own is not acrime.What is a crime is

I N O R D I N AT E

ambition.Inordinatemeans excessive.Every reasonableperson believestoo much of any-thing is bad.It isnot just bad, it is

dangerous.Ambitionis no exception.Have your own

ambition.However,ensure that yourambition is realis-tic andrealizable.Thinkabout it!

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 53

CMYK

54— Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

WesterhofContinues from BP

was proud of his team,and Westerhof took ex-ception to the idea, say-ing it was nothing to cel-ebrate.

“Congratulations, youbeat Swaziland 2-0 inthe return leg match ofthe preliminary round ofthe qualifiers,”Westerhof said.

“But does that reallycall for celebration? Yes,there are no minnows infootball but who areSwaziland to hold theSuper Eagles to a goal-less draw?

“The Super Eagles

won 2-0 in Nigeria butis it not a game the Su-per Eagles should bewinning 6-0, 7-0 undernormal circumstances?What type of football dothey play in Swaziland?

“Swaziland is not thefirst match Super Eagleshave played underOliseh. There has notbeen any difference be-tween their first gameunder him and the gamewith Swaziland.

“I’m sorry, with Oliseh,the Super Eagles maynot go to the World Cupin Russia,” Westerhofdeclared.

Mikel is important to Eagles — OlisehCOACH, Sunday

Oliseh has movedto quell speculationsthat Sunshine Stars star,Paul Onobi is heir appar-ent to Chelsea midfield-er, John Mikel Obi.

Mikel was surprising-ly dropped from the Ni-geria side that beat Swa-ziland 2-0 in a WorldCup qualifier in PortHarcourt but Oliseh saysOnobi did not take theplace of the Chelsea su-perstar.

He added that “no-body has a fixed spot inthis team” as he contin-ues his rebuilding pro-cess with the three-timeAfrican champions.

“What I feel about On-obi is that he’s a homestar.

“I said it from the on-set that I don’t care ifyou play at home orabroad.

“If you are goodenough and you canadapt to the tactics thatwe play, we will do it.

“I am glad that thewhole world has wit-nessed a vindication ofthat policy that I will al-ways adhere to.

“He’s solid. He’sstrong on the man (tack-le). He’s solid. He’sclairvoyant and onething I like about him isthat he’s very hungry.

“And that’s what we

need now. “However, Imust use this medium tostate that Onobi did notplay at the expense of(Mikel).

“Nobody has a fixedspot in this team,” hesaid.

“Oliseh’s record asNigeria coach in com-

petitive matches is nearperfect as he is yet tolose a single game sincetaking over fromStephen Keshi in July.

El Clasico defeat ‘ll lead to goodbye forBenitez at Real Madrid•Cristiano Ronaldo is known to be frustratedby Benitez’s defensive tactics - and he’s notshy of showing it

THINGS are not whatthey used to be at

Real Madrid. ArrigoSacchi once askedFlorentino Perez what theteam would look like if the

president picked the XIand he scrawled a 4-4-2down on a piece of paperwith Zinedine Zidane atcentre back – it was theonly way to fit all theattacking players in.

Jose Mourinho broughta large dose of defensivepragmatism when hearrived in 2010 and RafaBenitez now gets awaywith all but admitting thatin the recent Madridderby Real looked todefend their 1-0 lead inthe second half only toconcede and draw thegame. In the old RealMadrid team – the onewith Zidane in its midfield- the phrase ‘defend a lead’was never heard.

As Benitez prepares forhis first Clasico onSaturday, the pressure is onhim not just to beatBarcelona but to turn on thestyle. There are claims thatCristiano Ronaldo has toldthe president the team willnever win while he’s incharge, while televisionfootage shows Ronaldocomplaining to SergioRamos that the teamplayed ‘too deep’ againstSevilla in their last match,a 3-1 defeat.

All the time Zidane waitsin the wings ready for hischance should it comealong.

‘He’s taking his time andhe is not going to be rushedby anyone,’ Emmanuel

Petit said of his old WorldCup-winning team-materecently.

Zidane has never been inthe kind of rush PepGuardiola was at Barcelonato become a first-teamcoach. But he did admit inthe summer that if the clubhad called him to takecharge this season he wouldhave been ready.

This week in an interviewin Bild, Zidane speaks ofToni Kroos being the finalpiece in Real Madrid’sjigsaw. That is not the wayBenitez sees it and he iseven contemplating leavingthe cultured Germanmidfielder out of Saturday’sstaring line-up to make roomfor the defensive muscle ofCasemiro. He probablywon’t do it but the fact thatit is an option speaksvolumes.

Therein lies thedifference between the twomen’s philosophies and itwill not be long before thefans are calling for someFrench flair if Benitezbegins to lose ground on theonly enemy that reallymatters to Madrid.

Zidane has not beenpulling up any trees in theB-team, Castilla, but thathas no bearing on whetherhe can do the first-team job.Blending together his ownmix of some of the bestplayers in the world is avery different job from tryingto get the best out of sometalented teenagers inSpain’s third tier. Zidanedid Benitez no favours byalso saying in that Bildinterview that he hasn’tseen a bad Bayern Munichgame since Pep Guardiolatook over.

French national anthem to beplayed in Premier Leaguegrounds

THE French national anthem will be played aheadof kick-off at Premier League stadiums this week-

end as a tribute to victims of the Paris terror attacks.There will also be a minute’s silence around the grounds

and players will wear black armbands.Clubs will follow guidance from anti-terrorism security

agencies – the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and theNational Counter Terrorism Security Office – to ensurethis weekend’s action is played under the safest condi-tions.

A full security briefing was given to every club by Pre-mier League officials providing details of the current threatalert. The police are in the process of reviewing theirsecurity operations and will have extra presence at thematches. Fans can expect extra, more thorough searchesat stadium gates and have been advised to arrive earlierthan usual to allow time to enter the stadium ahead of thematch. Premier League executive chairman Richard Scud-amore said: ‘The clubs have been fully briefed in contextof the current guidance from national security servicesand are liaising with their local police forces to ensurethe appropriate security and safety measures are in placefor their matches and stadiums.’

The 56-year-old also confirmed via a statement on thePremier League website that players will stand in thecentre circle facing the main stand of each ground afterthe coin toss while the choral version of the French na-tional anthem is played.

Lagos SWANcongratulatesNnekaIkem-Anibeze

THE Sports Writers Association of Nigeria

(SWAN), Lagos State chap-ter, has congratulated Mrs.Nneka Ikem-Anibeze on herappointment as Special Ad-viser on Media to the Ho-nourable Minister of Sports,Solomon Dalong.

In a statement signed bythe Secretary, Emma Njoku,Chairman of the association,Fred Edoreh, hailed the newSports Minister for choosingNneka, who he described asvery suitable for the positionconsidering her wealth of ex-perience as a journalist witha passionate bias for sports.

“On behalf of the execu-tives and entire members ofthe Sports Writers Associa-tion of Nigeria, Lagos chap-ter, I heartily congratulate ourdear Nneka Ikem-Anibezeon her appointment as Spe-cial Adviser on Media to theHonourable Minister ofSports, Solomon Dalong,”Edoreh began in the state-ment.

“This is the first time a wom-an would be appointed asSpecial Adviser to a SportsMinister, and it is an indica-tion that the new Sports Min-ister, true to his name, So-lomon, is, indeed, a wiseman,” the statement added.

“Having risen to the envi-able position of an AssistantDirector, Sports with RadioNigeria, I have no doubt thatNneka’s wealth of experi-ence, both as a sports jour-nalist and as manager of hu-man resources.

Sturridge: I am fit, ready

DANIEL Sturridge ispreparing for a return

to action after declaring him-self “fit and ready” for a Liv-erpool comeback. The for-ward has missed his team’spast seven matches after suf-fering a knee injury, but re-turned to full training onTuesday.

Manager Jurgen Klopp isunlikely to bring the Englandinternational into his starting

line-up at the first chanceagainst Manchester City onSaturday but Sturridge is op-timistic about leading the Liv-erpool attack.

“I’m fit and ready to go andit’s going to be a great timefor me,” Sturridge said.

“It’s been great under thenew manager. I’ve been backtraining for the past couple ofdays and I was training whenhe first arrived.

•GRITTY . . .Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi vies with Tony Tsabedzeof Swaziland in the first leg meet in Swaziland

•Ronaldo •Benitez

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 — 55

Kidnappers contact Prof.Anugwueje’s family

HOPE thatk i d n a p p e d

Athletics Federation ofNigeria medical director,Professor Ken Anugwuejewill be released emergedyesterday, as the felons

By Ben Efemade contact with hisfamily members.

Anugwueje, an ofteneasy going man was takenby the kidnappers onWednesday, as he made forthe airport in company ofhis official driver, who was

killed by the gunmen.Athletics Federation of

Nigeria presidentSolomon Ogba confirmedyesterday that thekidnappers have madecontact and have demandfor a N20m ransom, beforethe Professor of sportsscience could be released.

“I was with him till about1.00pm Tuesday afternoonbefore I left for Warri. We weremaking arrangements for ourcamping in Port Harcourt.

“This is shocking and wecan only keep our fingerscross as we wait for hisrelease, “ Ogba said.

Anugwueje, is theUniversity of Port Harcourtdirector of sports. He is alsoin charge of the IAAFsanctioned HighPerformance Centre, whereNigerian athletes and othersfrom the West African regioncan obtain high standardtraining.

Nigerian athletes areexpected to camp there inPort Harcourt in preparationsfor the 2016 AfricanChampionships andOlympics Games in RioBrazil.

SUPER Eaglescoach, Sunday

Oliseh said that noplayer in his team isguaranteed a place asNigeria continue in theirquest to qualify for the2018 FIFA World Cup.

Oliseh, was speaking

FIFA 2018 WC: No player isguaranteed a shirt, says Oliseh

against the backdrop ofheart warmingperformance put up bySunshine Stars’ PaulOnobi in place of JohnObi Mikel in their secondleg tie of the qualifiersagainst Swaziland onTuesday in Port Harcourt.

“What I feel aboutOnobi is that he’s a homestar.

“I said it from the onset

that I don’t care of youplay at home or abroad.

“If you are goodenough and you canadapt to the tactics thatwe play, we will do it.

“I am glad that thewhole world haswitnessed a vindicationof that policy that I willalways adhere to.

“He’s solid. He’sstrong on the man

(tackle). He’s solid. He’sclairvoyant and onething I like about him isthat he’s very hungry.

“And that’s what weneed now.

“However, I must usethis medium to state thatOnobi did not play at theexpense of (Mikel).

“Nobody has a fixedspot in this team,” hesaid.

Dikko happy with home-based Eagles

LEAGUE Manage-ment Company

Limited (LMC) chairman,Shehu Dikko said it was adelightful experience to seefive Nigeria ProfessionalFootball League playersmake contribution to theSuper Eagles win overSwaziland in last

Tuesday’s World Cupqualifier in Port Harcourt.

They include AustinObaroakpo, Chima Akas,Ezekiel Bassey and PaulOnobi who ensured thatJohn Mikel Obi was notmissed in the match.

“Delighted to see five@LMCNPFL playersmade the squad for thecrucial Super Eagles WorldCup qualifier againstSwaziland and the fourthat played did very well,”Dikko said on social media.

“This clearly shows weare making progress bothat the LMCNPFL andSuper Eagles and soon wewill have a team of ourdreams.”

Swazi coach HarrisBulunga confirmed thatthe inclusion of the home-based playerscomplicated their matchplans for the SuperEagles. There were nohome-based players inthe first leg decided inLobamba.

AKWA Unitedfootball club have

been given an executiveorder by the governor ofAkwa Ibom State,Emmanuel Udom, to doeverything possible, tobring the Trophy home,when they face Lobi Starson Sunday in the Final ofthe event at the TeslimBalogun Stadium inLagos.

The Governor did notmince words, as heexpressly ordered theplayers of the club to goto Lagos and beat Lobi

Federation Cup: Akwa Unitedget ‘executive order’

Stars in the finals of the2015 tournament, whenhe hosted the players toa breakfast meeting onWednesday at theGovernment house,Uyo.

“I am coming for thegame against Lobi Stars inLagos. I want you to go andbring back the trophy. Thestate is waiting patiently forthe trophy, Udom said.

“I know you have a goodteam that can make all ofus in Akwa Ibom smile.This is the first time, a clubfrom the state will qualifyfor the final of theFederation Cup and I wantyou to make it count thistime”

Meanwhile, Lobi UnitedCaptain, Terna Ikpeen hasassured that the team willbeat Akwa Ibom teamwhen they clash onSunday.

Ikpeen insists that theyhave a better team and willemerge Champions of thecompetition this year.

Awoniyi, Success lead foreign prosfor Rio Olympics qualifiers

NIGERIA havenamed Germany-

based striker Taiwo Awoniyiand Isaac Success from LaLiga side Granada in a finalsquad for the 2015 AfricanU23 Nations Cup in Senegal,which will serve as qualifiersfor next year’s Olympics inRio de Janeiro.

Awoniyi is one of severalforeign-based professionalspicked for the tournament,which kicks off on November28 in Dakar.

The 18-year-old striker ison loan to FSV Frankfurt in

the German second divisionfrom EPL club Liverpool.

The other overseas-basedstrikers are Isaac Success ofLa Liga side Granada andJunior Ajayi, who has beenflying high at new Tunisianside CS Sfaxien.

Nigeria begin theircampaign on November 29against Mali in Mbour.

Egypt and Algeria are theother teams in their firstround group.The top threeteams in this tournament willqualify automatically for nextyear’s Olympics in Rio.

Lobi ‘ll pip Akwa Utd — Arinze

LOBI Stars forwardCollins Obioma

Arinze said Sunday’sFederation Cup finalagainst Akwa Unitedwill be a tough call, buthe and teammates aredetermined to makeBenue fans smile.

“We are here for onereason and that’s to liftthe Federation Cuptrophy. We won it in 2003but lost it to Heartland in2012 but this year’s’ finalwill favor us,” Arinzesaid.

Thrilling... Super Eagles attacker Moses Simon outwits Mkheweli Sanele of Swazilandduring the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier match between Swaziland and Nigeria. Nigeriais on to the next round.

Let Me Go... Prof Anugwueje inKidnappers’ den.

•Paul Onobi.., Risingstar

•Gov Udom

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

How to Play Sudoku

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

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

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

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDDDDDAAAAAY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSWERSWERSWERSWERSWERSTTTTTODODODODODAAAAAY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

CMYK

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS4 Devil (5)7 Hymn-book (6)9 Seed-case (3)10 Free (3)12 Darkness (5)13 Dross (4)15 Lament (5)17 Rest (6)19 Employed (4)20 View (5)22 Faucet (3)24 Deceived (7)27 Through (3)28 Shabby (5)31 Region (4)33 Diminished (6)35 Biscuit (5)37 Tug (4)38 Fragment (5)39 Immerse (3)41 Clef (3)42 Erase (6)43 Stuck (5)

DOWN1 Essay (6)2 Tainted (6)3 Conflict (3)4 Ballad (4)5 Farewell (5)6 Attained (8)8 Swimming-pool (4)11 Agitated (9)14 Repair (4)16 Peruse (4)18 Glance (4)21 Ecclesiastical (8)23 Plague (4)25 Petal (4)26 Intense (4)29 Elicited (6)30 Shouted (6)32 Watchful (5)34 Parched (4)36 Imitated (4)40 Enclosure (3)

ACROSS: 1, Dial 4, New 6, Soar 9, Orb 10,Converse 11, Neon 14, Eat 16, Acute 19, Uplift21, Tonic 23, Remained 24, Terce 27, Tip 31,Case 33, Initiate 34, Lea 35, Star 36, Ash 37,Copy.

DOWN: 2, Iron 3, Live 4, Narrator 5, Whet 6,Sonic 7, Ore 8, About 12, Duvet 13, Clear 14,Eft 15, Tenet 17, Using 18, Exude 20,Diminish 22, Cap 25, Exalt 26, Clear 28, Diva29, Disc 30, Step 32, Sea.

Westerhofblasts Oliseh

El Clasico defeat ‘ll lead toBenitez sack

•Ronaldo •Suarez

French national anthemto be played in PremierLeague grounds — Pg.54

•Bale•Neymar

•Oliseh

•Westerhof

FORMER Nigeriahead coach

Clemens Westerhof isn’tconvinced SundayOliseh is the right manto lead the national teamto the 2018 World Cupfinals in Russia.

Westerhof, who wonthe 1994 Africa Cup ofNations title with theSuper Eagles in Tunisia,launched anextraordinary tiradeagainst Oliseh after theybeat Swaziland 2-0 onFriday.

Following the victory,Oliseh told the press heContinues on Page 54 Mikel is important to Eagles — Oliseh Pg.54

Watford v Man Utd 1:45pmChelsea v Norwich 4pmEverton v Aston Villa 4pmNewcastle v Leicester 4pmSouthamptom v Stoke 4pmSwansea v Bournemouth 4pmWest Brom v Arsenal 4pmMan City v Liverpool 6:30pm

Tomorrow’s EPL matches

Details inside

•Says he canttake Nigeria to

World Cup

CMYK

CMYK