...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61640

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

**

Mr & Mrs

Who 'll wear herwedding gown now?

•P.7

— Bereaved mother•To wed in September, all plans concluded•Died with nine friends in crashed plane•I fainted when I heard of Levi's death — Brother

DANA PLANE CRASH

BY BOSE ADELAJA,PRISCA SAM-DURU &

VERA SAMUELANYAGAFU

LA G O S — T H ESomolu family in

Lekki area of Lagos andthe authorities of aprivate school inMafoluku, LaureatesCollege and Kiddies’

Kingdom Private School,are in deep mourningand inconsolable.

Last Sunday’s DanaAirplane crash in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, whichclaimed over 150 livesdealt them a devastatingblow. Ms Oluwakemi

Continues on Page 5

We killed Ningi,says Boko Haram

•P 5

FG not implementinganti-corruption laws — US

•P 6

*Ayoola: Already bought wedding gown *The search for loved ones continues

*Dana Management Minute Silence for victims*Condolence for Ayoola Somolu

AllegedN6.5bnfraud:

SylvagetsN100mbail

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2—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—3

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4—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—5

Who 'll wear my daughter's weddinggown now — Bereaved mother

Continues from Page 1

Ayoola Somolu, theironly daughter and oneof the most successfulmembers of the family,died in that crash withnine of her friends whowere returning fromAbuja after attendingthe wedding of one oftheir friends. She diedexactly three months toher own wedding.

Before the tragedy, allwas set for her wed lockbilled for the firstSaturday of September,2012; the wedding gownhad been importedalongside the costume,expenses for the bridaltrain had been takencare off, the hall and thecatering have been paidfor and plans were in topgear for the honey moon.

Being the last born inthe family of three, thebride’s family, theSomolus, who reside inLekki was lookingforward to this day of joyand was planning it in abig way before thetragedy struck and MsOluwakemi Somolu, analumni of QueensCollege, met heruntimely death.

Though she residedoverseas, Ayoola hadarrived Nigeriapenultimate Friday for afriend’s wedding whichtook place in Abuja onSaturday June 2 and wasin the company of hernine other friends onthat day when theunexpected happened.The 10 friends left Abujaon that fateful day andwere in the Dana

aircraft. Unfortunately,they all lost their livesin the air mishap.

Vanguard gatheredthat her 80-year oldmother and proprietressof Laureates Collegeand Kiddies’ KingdomPrivate School, hadwished her daughterhad stayed at home onthat weekend butAyoola pleaded with herand promised to comeback the following daynot knowing that thatwould be the last meetingwith her aged mother.

The aged mother toldher relations that ‘mydaughter arrived fromoverseas to attend herfriend’s wedding but sheis no longer alive towitness her day of joy.The Somolus have beenplanning the deceased’swedding in an exclusiveway but see how thewhole thing has gone, itis a big blow to the family.Who will wear herwedding gown now?”she cried

A close friend to thefamily, Mrs BridgetAnayo, said Ayoola wasthe favourite child of heraged mother and was totake over the running ofthe school as both parentsare advanced in age butthis was never to be.

When Vanguard visitedthe school at 3/5 OlayinkaAdenubi Street, AviationEstate, Mafoluku lastThursday, all the teachershad just arrived from atrip to Lekki where theypaid a condolence visit totheir aged proprietor andall of them were in

pensive mood.Some staff of the school

and parents of studentstold Vanguard that thedeceased had left a bigvacuum that would bedifficult to fill. “Theheroine of the Somolushas fallen, who are we toquestion the creator ofHeaven and Earth? MayGod grant her eternal restin His bosom,” said Mr.Okolie Ramond.

The Head teacher of the26-year old school, MrsIwuchukwu F.E, saidAyoola’s demise was a bigblow to the Somolus.“Everbody who came incontact with her usuallyhad a story to tell. Shetransformed many livesand was working hard tomake many people great.We have lost a benefactor,a motivator and a breadwinner to many. She diedat a time many neededher most, who canquestion God? He knowswhy He did this andnobody can question Hisauthority,” she said.

I fainted when I

learnt of Levi's

death — Brother

Like the Somolus, themood at the residence ofChief EmmanuelAjuonuma, the eldest sonof the Ajuonuma family,who was still in a state ofshock over the death ofhis younger brother, DrLevi Ajuonuma, wassorrowful. ChiefAjuonuma who labouredto grant an interview toVanguard Newspapers,was still confused about

the whole incident andhas continued to ponderwhy it had to be his everlively Levi, whom hedescribed as the love ofthe family, being the lastchild of their parents,and was until hisuntimely death, theheartthrob of theAjuonumas.

He is yet to come toterms with the demise ofhis brother and hascontinued to questionwhy Levi had to be onthat ill-fated flight. “Godknows everything, it has

happened and that is it.He knows why He allowedthe crash to occur andthere is nothing anyonecan do to bring the deadback” he sorrowfullystated.”

Continuing he said:“When I first heard thenews of the Dana planecrash I wept bitterly forNigeria not knowing thatmy own brother wasamong the victims. It wasindeed a terribleoccurrence and whenfinally I was told that Levihad died in that plane, itwas so shocking that Ifainted”.

He added that “Levi wasfull of life, we were neitherexpecting him to die soonnor was he, someone whohad no need forParacetamol and all of asudden, we heard he wasdead, it is really heartbreaking.”

He disclosed that thefamily had been asked tovisit the morgue for hiscorpse today, hopefully,burial arrangements

according to him, wouldbe announced later.

Some of his relatives,who are still shockedabout the loss of theirbeloved brother haveresigned to fate as theypreached that thedaunting challengesfacing the nation weresigns of the end. Theycalled on Nigerians toestablish a personalrelationship with God tobe able to go through thedifficult times.

The mood is same inOwerri where peoplehave continued to visitsome of Levi’s relativesto sympathize with them.Speaking from Owerri,Imo State, a relative whosounded dazed by theuntimely demise of herbrother in-law lamentedthat death had dealt theworst blow on her.

Also, a close colleagueof the deceased NNPCspokesman said that DrLevi’s demise was amonumental loss to boththe organization and hisfamily.

DIG NINGI GOES HOME—Crowd at the burial of former DeputyInspector General of Police, In-charge of Works Department, Force Headquarters, Mr Saleh AbubakarNingi, at Ningi, Bauchi State, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

FG not implementinganti-corruption laws — US

LAGO S— T H EUnited States,

yesterday, dismissedNigeria’s war againstcorruption alleging“massive widespreadand pervasive corruptionaffected all levels ofgovernment and thesecurity forces”.

In its 2011 CountryReports on HumanRights Practices, whichwas submitted toCongress by Secretary ofState Hillary RodhamClinton, it said the lawprovides criminalpenalties for officialcorruption; however, thegovernment did notimplement the laweffectively, and officialsfrequently engaged incorrupt practices withimpunity.

According to the

report: “Public officials,including the president,vice president, governors,deputy governors, cabinetministers, and legislators(at both federal and statelevels), must comply withfinancial disclosure laws,including the requirementto declare their assetsbefore assuming and afterleaving office. Violatorsrisked prosecution, butcases rarely came toconclusion.

“There was awidespread perceptionthat judges were easilybribed and that litigantscould not rely on the courtsto render impartialjudgments. Citizensencountered long delaysand alleged requests fromjudicial officials for bribesto expedite cases or obtainfavourable rulings.

“Police corruptionremained rampant,

particularly at highwaycheckpoints. Policeroutinely stopped driverswho did not commit trafficinfractions, refusing toallow them to continueuntil they paid bribes.The Office of theInspector General ofPolice attempted tostrengthen the PoliceMonitoring Unit, whichwas charged with visitingpolice stations to searchofficers for signs ofaccepting bribes;however, the unitremained ineffective andmade no arrests by year’send. Citizens could reportincidents of policecorruption to the NHRC;however, the NHRC didnot act on suchcomplaints during theyear, and no othermechanism existed toinvestigate security forceabuse.

6—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) receiving the Letter of Credence from Ambassador of Bangla-desh to Nigeria, Mr. Mur Mohammed during a ceremony at the State House, Abuja, yesterday. Photo:Abayomi Adeshida.

Dana crash: Aviation experts kick against Obakpolo probe panel

�Say it's wrong to set up parallel panelBy LAWANI MIKAI-

RU & DANIELETEGHE

LAGOS —THERE hasbeen strong criticism by

aviation experts andstakeholders on the deci-sion by the Federal Gov-ernment to set up theGroup Captain JohnObakpolo-led panel toprobe last Sunday's Danaplane clash at Iju-Ishaga inLagos

The Federal Governmenton Wednesday, through theMinister of Aviation, an-nounced the setting up of anine-man technical andadministrative panelheaded by retired GroupCaptain John Obakpolo toprobe the crash. The panelwill also take a comprehen-

sive look at the aviation sec-tor with a view to makingthe country airspace safe. Ithas six weeks to submit itsreport.

Aviation Minister, PrincessStella Oduah also said thepanel would work simulta-neously with the AccidentInvestigation Bureau, AIB,and would also do a com-prehensive assessment ofthe schedule of all the do-mestic airlines.

A former pilot and Air Traf-fic Controller, Mr. ObiOgbolu, said thoughObakpolo was in the avia-tion sector, he was not com-petent to carry out investi-gation of air crash.

He said: "It is definitelynot right. There are special-ists who investigate acci-dent all over the world, even

in Nigeria. We have suchpeople appointed by thegovernment, there is Acci-dent Investigation Bureauin this country, why do youhave to ask Obakpolo to gothere when these peopleare there? If you feel thatthey cannot do the workalone, you invite a for-eigner to join them possi-bly from FAA or somewhere

else."Also speaking in the same

vain, Captain MohammedJoji, General Secretary, Air-line Operators of Nigeria,AON, said it was wrongfor the government to haveset up a parallel panel.

He noted: "Listen to me,we are strongly objected tothat. Is he a trained sur-

veyor? It is an insult to FAAAmerica that gave us CATOne, it is an insult to Mr.President who used CATOne as part of his achieve-ments. What we are tell-ing America is that, theyare wrong to have givenus CAT One.

"What experience doesObakpolo have. It is an in-

sult to us. They should al-low the Commissioner of theAccident Investigation Bu-reau to investigate the acci-dent with his team."

Joji further said it wasagainst ICAO recom-mended practices to set upanother investigation panelwhen the Accident Investi-gation Bureau is there.

Boko Haram claimsresponsibility for Ningi'smurder�Says top govt officials 'll betargeted soon

MAIDUGURI — ISLAMIC sect, Boko

Haram, yesterday claimedresponsibility for the mur-der of former Deputy In-spector General of Police,DIG Abubakar Saleh Ningi,in Kano, on Tuesday.

Ningi who retired re-cently was gunned downwith his driver and a policeorderly on his way from hisfarm.

The sect stated in a state-ment written in Hausa, yes-terday, in Maiduguri thatit was happy killing the topretired cop, and vowed thatvery soon all top govern-ment officials would be tar-geted the same way as theywould have no hidingplace.

The statement alsoclaimed that contrary to theJoint Task Force (JTF) re-

cent declaration that it hadkilled 16 of their members,only one was killed.

The sect further claimedto have killed several sol-diers in a recent encounterin Maiduguri.

According to the sect’sstatement, "only one of ourbrothers was martyred. Asa result, it was only thismorning that they (JTF)came to pick up the deadbodies of their colleaguesand as usual startedtorching the houses of in-nocent people out of venge-ance.

"We urge the people ofMaiduguri city and othertowns to exercise patiencebecause very soon, Godwilling, we will flush outthese forces of unbelief andestablish the Islamic Shariasystem where justice willreign.”

DNA examination of crash victimsbegins�As relations protest slow process

�DNA results to take 4 to 6 weeks

�Samples to be taken abroad for analysis

BY CHIOMAOBINNA

LAGOS — DNA examination of the victims of

last Sunday’s crash involv-ing Dana airline com-menced, yesterday, amidprotests by friends and re-lations of the 52 identifiablebodies over the slow natureof the forensic processes atthe Department of the Pa-thology & Forensic Medi-cine of the Lagos State Uni-versity Teaching Hospital,LASUTH.

The mild protest ensuedfollowing what they de-scribed as "slow processes"in collecting the necessaryspecimen for the DNAanalysis. According to thefamilies, the process whichwas supposed to start asearly as 8:00 am did notbegin until about 9:30 am.

A friend of one of the vic-tims, Mr Gbenga Eguntola,said the forensic processstarted behind schedule.According to him, “wehave been here since morn-ing. They have scheduled36 families for the DNA, butsince 9:30 am, the first twofamilies that were called infor the process were yet to

come out at about 1 pm."Eguntola said he was at

the mortuary in connectionwith the late spokesman ofthe Nigerian National Pe-troleum Corporation,NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma,who died in the crash.

However, it took the in-tervention of the ChiefMedical Director and theChief Medical Examiner,Prof. John Obafunwa tocalm the families.

Chief Medical Director,Prof. David Wale Oke, how-ever, explained to the rela-tions why they have to bepatient with the hospitaland the government in theongoing processes.

Addressing the familiesinside the Lekan OgunsolaCrisis Centre, Oke ex-plained the various stepsthat were being taken toensure that the processeswere hitch-free.

Confirming the protests toVanguard, the Chief Medi-cal Director, who said noneof the bodies would be re-leased yet, announced thatthe DNA examinationwould take between four tosix weeks to be concluded.

Oke said: “The problem

we may have is about thebodies that are unidentifi-able. If you can’t get thegenetic mark, you can say'A belongs to B.' So thosewill probably take up to sixweeks to be concluded be-cause we are going to takethe tissues outside thecountry.”

“All the bodies recoveredmust undergo DNA analy-sis. The entire specimensubmitted will be taken outof the country in conjunc-tion with the tissue of thedeceased because it has tobe matched. We are hop-ing that in the next four tosix weeks commencing af-ter sending the specimen,our results will be back.The plan is to send thespecimen in batches. Butwe are still collating thespecimen.”

On why the test may notbe completed within twoweeks as earlier promised,Oke said: “We were at thefirst instance thinking thatas soon as we concludethe autopsy, we will re-lease them, but we had ameeting with the AttorneyGeneral of the state, the in-surers of Dana, the Min-

istry of Health in Lagos,Dana and all agreed thatbecause the matter of claimsthat will come up, we haveto do the DNA whether they(the bodies) are recognisableor not."

To that effect, he said thehospital was putting up a pa-per, with regards to thosevictims that are identifiableand listing names of thosepeople claiming to be theirrelations so that people whoare contesting that couldcome up with their com-plaints.

He added that another rea-son why this was necessarywas to ensure that the hos-pital did not give a body tothe wrong family.

"As of now, we have done20 autopsies. We want to besure that no litigation comesto LASUTH," he said.

Giving the details of theDNA processes, Oke said,“We are asking the motherand father of the deceasedpreferably, to come so thatwe can take the specimenfrom both.

“In the absence of thoseparents, siblings, that is, thebrother and sister and in theabsence of these four, speci-men would be taken from thechildren.”

On the importance of tak-ing specimen from both thevictim’s father and mother,Oke said the father andmother are closer to the in-dividual in terms of the ge-netic materials than the sib-lings because it is the geneticmaterials of the mother andfather that make up a child.

UNILAG name change: It'sJonathan's boldest decisionever —Gbagi

BY EMMA UJAH,ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

ABUJA — Former Minister of State for Educa-

tion, Olorogun KennethGbagi, has described thedecision of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan toname University of Lagosafter Chief Moshhod Abiolaas one of his boldest deci-sions since becoming presi-dent of the Federal Repub-lic.

According to the formerminister, the late MKOAbiola deserved the honourand even more, and there-fore urged PresidentJonathan to re-name theAso Rock Villa, MoshoodAbiola Villa.

His words: “Let me first

and foremost salute thecourage that, honestly, GenIbrahim Babangida couldnot do as a result of beingafraid of himself; what Gen.Abacha could not do; whatGen. AbdulsalamiAbubakar could not do;what Olusegun Obasanjocould not do; what UmaruYar’Adua could not do.

“It has taken the courage,the fear of God and mostimportantly, the respect forthe true love of democracyfor President Jonathan totake that bold step.

“Whilst I salute his cour-age and Abiola not being aregional leader, I demandof him without fear of con-tradiction to name Aso RockVilla as Moshood AbiolaRock."

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—7

From left: Deputy Governor (Operations), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Tunde Lemo; Chair-man, House Committee on Information Communication Technology, Ibrahim Sheu Gusau and YusufAyo Tajudeen during an oversight function to CBN headquarters, Abuja.

Alleged N6.5bn fraud: Sylva securesN100m bail�Court seizes his International Passports�As trial begins Sept 19

BY IKECHUKWU

NNOCHIRI

ABUJA — AFTERspending two days in

the custody of the Economicand Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, former gov-ernor of Bayelsa State, MrTimipre Sylva, yesterday,regained his freedom.

Sylva is facing trial overallegation that he master-minded the illegal diversionof funds from the BayelsaState treasury while he wasin power.

Consequently, the antigraft agency, on Tuesday,docked the ex-governor ona six-count criminal chargebothering on conspiracy,money laundering and ob-taining by false pretencecontrary to section 1(1)(b) ofthe Advance Fee Fraud andother Fraud Related Of-fences Act, 2004, as well assection 14(1) of the MoneyLaundering (ProhibitionAct) 2004.

Shortly after the accusedperson pleaded his inno-cence before a FederalHigh Court in Abuja onTuesday, trial JusticeAdamu Bello, ordered hisremand in the custody of theEFCC pending the deter-mination of his applicationfor bail.

At the resumed sitting onthe case yesterday, JusticeBello said he was satisfiedthat the defence lawyer,Chief Lateef Fagbemi,SAN, successfully adducedsufficient reasons capable ofswaying the court’s discre-tion in favour of his client,just as he ordered the re-

lease of the accused personafter he deposited N100million as bond.

Noting that the offencespreferred against the ex-governor were bailable of-fences, Justice Bello, how-ever, ordered Sylva to pro-duce someone resident inAbuja to stand surety forhim, adding that such per-son must be an owner of alanded property worth thebail sum.

The judge stressed thatthe court registrar mustverify the authenticity of thetitle deed of such propertybefore okaying release ofthe accused person from thegrips of the EFCC.

Meanwhile, sequel tofears expressed by the anti-graft agency over allegedsurreptitious moves by theex-governor to run out ofthe country once he isgranted bail, Justice Bello,yesterday, seized all his In-ternational Passports, warn-ing that he should not leavethe shores of Nigeria with-out first securing the con-sent of the court.

The court said that breachof any of the conditionswould amount to an imme-diate revocation of the bail.

According to JusticeBello, “I am persuaded bythe submission of thelearned Senior Advocate aswell as the contents of theaffidavit in support of thebail application and herebyexercise the discretion of thecourt in favour of the appli-cant.

“He is hereby granted bailin the sum of N100 millionand ordered to produce one

surety in like sum. Thesurety must be resident inAbuja and must be anowner of a landed propertyworth the bail sum. The ti-

tle document of the prop-erty must be deposited tothe court registrar for veri-fication before the release ofthe applicant from custody.”

Jonathan emphasises need for equitabledistribution of learning materials in schools

Moral decadence, rootof economic crimes—Lamorde

BY OSCARLINE

ONWUEMENYI

ABUJA — CHAIRMAN, Economic and

Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, Mr.Ibrahim Lamorde, hasdecried the high level ofmoral decadence preva-lent in the country whichhe said was the major rea-son for the perpetration ofeconomic and financialcrimes.

Lamorde made the re-mark, yesterday, in aspeech while declaringopen a workshop organ-ised by EFCC and theInterfaith Anti-CorruptionAdvisory Committee,IAAC, to validate two anti-corruption manuals at thecommission’s academy inKaru, Abuja.

He noted that it was aprivilege to have clergy-men and scholars gatherto contribute their quota inthe fight against corrup-tion.

He said: “What you aredoing for EFCC is so im-portant to this fight as aninstitution and as a coun-try. This is because

preachers and men of Godhold a vantage position toreach out and talk to theaverage Nigerian in verypowerful and convincingways.”

According to him, it wasbaffling that despite themessage of “Thou shallnot steal” in both the HolyBible and Quran, manywho profess to both reli-gions steal from the com-monwealth, adding: “Ihope, with a gatheringlike this, the heart of theproblem which is moraldecadence would be effec-tively tackled.”

Lamorde, who was rep-resented by the Comman-dant of the EFCC Acad-emy, Ayo Olowonihi, saidNigerians should be con-scious of the consequenceof their actions while theyare still alive as well as foreternity.

Speaking during theevent, chairman of IAACand the Vice-Chancellorof University of Ilorin,Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, saidparticipants should notonly see their job as a re-ligious obligation but alsoas a national assignment.

Customs Comptroller arrested foralleged gun-running

BY GODWIN ORITSE

LAGOS — COMPTROLLER of the Nigeria Cus-

toms Service, NCS, Mr JackBot, was yesterday arrestedby men of the Nigeria Po-lice force for alleged gun-running while on officialduty in Niger State.

The Comptroller in theInspectorate Division of theService was fingered in anon-going investigation intoillegal procurement ofweapons from the Policearmoury.

Also, another junior of-ficer, Shehu Ahmed, whoworked with Jack as his or-derly in Minna who is al-leged to have been an ac-complice in the crime wasalso handed over to the Po-lice.

A statement by the serv-ice spokesman, MrAdewale Adeniyi said theofficers were personallyhanded over to the Policeby the Comptroller-Generalof the Nigeria CustomsService, Alhaji AbdulahiDikko, following intelli-gence report on their activi-ties while in Niger State.

In a brief statement beforehanding over the officers,Dikko said the servicewould not harbour gun-runners whose activitiesconstitute a threat to na-

tional security.He said: “Despite the fact

that the investigating offic-ers came to my office with-out a warrant of arrest, Idecided to produce the of-ficers on account of theweight of allegations lev-

elled against them.”According to Adeniyi,

the offence was alleged tohave been committed inMinna, Niger State some-times in 2002, when Jackwas an Assistant Comptrol-ler of Customs.

Some senior Customs of-ficers who spoke to Van-guard on condition of ano-nymity said the officersshould be made to face thefull wrath of the law if theywere found culpable.

BY BEN AGANDE

ABUJA — PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan

has emphasised the needfor equitable distributionand effective applicationand use of the learning ma-terials in order to attain thetransformational agenda ofhis government.

The president stated thiswhen he flagged off the dis-tribution of educationalmaterials for the UniversalBasic Education at theModel Primary School,Maitama, Abuja.

President Jonathan, whowas represented by VicePresident Namadi Sambosaid: “We must do all wecan to ensure that textbooksand instructional materialsbring added value to oureducation process.”

“This three dimensionstrategy— quality produc-

tion; equitable distribution;and effective application—are essential steps that mustbe taken if we are to realisesignificant benefits from ourenormous investment inquality education, over theyears.”

He enjoined allstakeholders to understandthe inextricable linkagesbetween the three compo-nents, adding that educa-tion is an important compo-nent of his administration’sTransformation Agenda.

He further implored allstakeholders to supportgovernments at all levels toensure that “the basic edu-cation sub-sector providesthe solid foundation forquality education in Ni-geria.”

In her remarks, Ministerof Education, Prof.Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i,said the distribution of the

education materials waspart of Federal Govern-ment’s four-year strategicplan aimed at improvingquality of education, charg-ing the Universal BasicEducation Commission(UBEC) to track the move-ment and usage of thebooks.

On his part, the Minis-ter of State for Education,Ezenwo Nysom Wike, saidthe textbooks were free andthe distribution would be acollaboration between theMinistry, UBEC and itscounterparts in the 36 statesincluding the FCT.

Books to be distributed toall pupils of primaries oneand two include EnglishLanguage, Mathematics,Social Studies and BasicScience and Technology, aswell as library resourcesmaterials for Junior Second-ary Schools nationwide.

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

UNVEILING OF NIGERIAN UNITY

FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

Obafemi Martins (middle), with members of the Nigeria Football Support-ers club during the unveiling of the Nigerian Unity Football Tournament inAbuja.

From left: Miss Rita of Love FM; Moses Ebahor, Project Director; NigeriaUnity Football Tournament; Alhaji Muhammed Abdullahi, President, Niger-ia Traditional Wrestling Association who represented the Chairman of theevent, Engr. Sanni Ndanusa, President, Nigeria Olympic Committee, Obafe-mi Martins, Kelechi Esimogu, Publicity Secretary, LOC and Mr. Ejugo Al-fred, Chairman/CEO Mackjus Consultancy Services.

Members of the Dana air crash victims' families yesterday visited Lagos StateUniversity Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, to identify bodies of lost ones.Photo: Bunmi Azeez

LOOKING FOR CRASH VICTIMS

From left: Leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Asiwaju Bola AhmedTinubu with presidential candidate Congress for Progressive Change, CPC,General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), at a meeting in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo:Olu Ajayi.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—9

Titilayo: Court admits 20 photosBY ABDULWAHAB

ABDULAH &

MICHAEL OLADEPO

...PDP tackles Assemblyover Aviation Minister

BY DAPO AKINRE-

FON

B R I E F I N G :

G o v e r n o rB a b a t u n d eFashola, SAN,and others at abriefing in Alausa,Ikeja, on effortsto ensure timelyrelease of bodiesof victims of Sun-day's Dana planecrash at Iju-Ishaga.

IKEJA—AN Ikeja HighCourt, Lagos, yester-

day, admitted 20 photo-graphs, containing hor-rifying images of the lateMrs. Titilayo Arowolo, al-legedly killed by her hus-band, Mr. AkoladeArowolo, despite objectionby his counsel to theadmisibility of the pic-tures.

Admitting the photo-graphs, Justice LateefaOkunnu, said contrary tothe argument canvassedby defence counsel, thefact that the witness’ tes-timony had not been con-

tradicted and since hewas under oath, wasenough for the admissibil-ity of the pictures as ex-hibits.

Arowolo, who is facinga one-count charge ofmurder, was accused ofkilling his wife, Titilayo,last June 24, at their resi-dence in Isolo, Lagos.

At the hearing in thematter, Arowolo’s lawyerargued that the picturestendered before the courtwere tendered as mereidentification documentsand should not be admit-ted as exhibits.

The lawyer argued thatsince the negatives of thepictures tagged I’d 20, 28,3 and 15 were not pro-

duced in court, it shouldbe rejected as they can-not be tendered in evi-dence since there was nofoundation laid for ten-dering them.

Mrs OlabisiOgungbesan, who ledthe prosecution, had ar-gued that the defence caneasily cross-examine thewitness on the exhibitssince he was still beforethe court. She asked thecourt to overrule the ob-jection.

IKEJA—LAGOS Statechapter of Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP,has berated Speaker ofLagos State of Assembly,Mr Adeyemi Ikuforiji andother Lagos lawmakers,who had called for the res-ignation of Minister ofAviation, Mrs. StellaOduah, following Sun-day's Dana plane crash.

PDP, in a statement byits Publicity Secretary, MrTaofik Gani, said the law-

makers’ call was in badfaith.

He said: “The partyagrees that the direct andremote causes of the crashmust be probed and anyofficial found culpablemust be brought to bookirrespective of the status.

''However, the party seesthe call by the Speakerand other Lagos lawmak-ers as one made in badfaith and just playingpolitics with very seriousnational calamity thatwarrants soberness.''

Dana crash:Ghosts' scaregrips IjuresidentsBY BARTHOLOMEW

MADUKWE

LAGOS—FOLLOWING concerns over al-

leged plans to bury victimsof Sunday’s Dana planecrash at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos,some residents of the areahave appealed to the au-thorities not to bury the vic-tims in the area, for fear ofghosts.

The residents, who basedtheir apprehension on theirbelief in the existence ofghosts, noted that it wasnatural that when humanbeings die prematurely,their ghosts will haunt thescene for a while.

Idayatu Ali, a 24-year-oldunemployed school leaver,said she would not want thevictims buried at the sceneof the accident, followingfear of ghosts.

She said: adding “this isnot superstition; I have wit-nessed where a young mandied in an accident and hisghost continued to cry at thescene for days until a sacri-fice was performed.”

Lagos House confirms JusticeAyotunde Philips as CJ

BY EBUN SESSOU

IKEJA—JUSTICEAyotunde Philips'

nomination as the newLagos State Chief Judgewas, yesterday, con-firmed by the House ofAssembly. Governor BabatundeFashola, SAN, had onMonday, in a letter to

the lawmakers, ex-plained that the ChiefJudge, InumidunAkande, will retire fromoffice on June 10. He recommend JusticePhillips to take over fromthe retiring Chief Judge,while urging the law-makers to consider andconfirm her appointmentas the new Chief Judge.

Fashola appeals to relations

of crash victimsBY OLASUNKANMI

AKONI & MONSUR

OLOWOOPEJO

IKEJA—GOVERNORBabatunde Fashola of

Lagos State, yesterday,appealed to family mem-bers and relations of vic-tims of the Dana planecrash to exercise more pa-tience for proper identifi-cation to be carried on thebodies before they werereleased.

He added that the statewould assist them in theburial arrangements ifthey so desired.

Fashola, at Alausa,Ikeja, said what was mak-ing the matter more chal-lenging at the momentwas the problem of iden-tification of the bodies.

He said: “There is a bigrisk here in releasing thewrong body to the wrongfamily. Even yesterday, Iwas told that in the proc-ess of identification, therewas almost a mix-up be-tween two families becauseof the state of the bodies.Foreigners are also in-volved. There is danger ofallowing Nigerian body tobe taken away.

CMYK

10—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Muslims want Ondo guber poll shifted

Relatives of the Dana plane crash at the Lagos State University TeachingHospital,LASUTH, mortuary, Ikeja, to identify bodies of their lost ones. Photo:Bunmi Azeez.

How Ondo monarch attempted torape housewife, police tell courtBY DAYO JOHNSON

BY DAYO JOHNSON

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-

YOUNG

AKURE—AN appealhas gone to Inde-

pendent National Elec-toral Commission, INEC,to shift the October 20 datefixed for the governorshipelection in Ondo State.

The muslim communityin state made the appeal

AKURE—A ChiefMagistrate's Court

sitting in Supare, OndoState, was told how a tra-ditional ruler, theOlusupare of Supare-Akoko, Oba AdejoroAdedeji, allegedly at-tempted to rape a house-wife, Olori ComfortAwogbamila, in his house.

The police also told thecourt how the wife of themonarch, Mrs. SherifatAdedeji, engaged in pub-lic brawl with MrsAwogbamila twice withina week.

Mrs. Adedeji is facing atwo-count charge of en-gaging in public brawl

and conduct likely tocause breach of peace be-fore the Magistrate, MrsOlubunmi Olujiyigbe.

The charge sheet read incourt said that: “You, Com-fort Awogbami and OloriSefifat Adedeji on May 4,2012 at about 8pm atSupare Magisterial Dis-trict unlawfully involvedyourself in fighting inpublic at Ugbe Quarters,Supare-Akoko andthereby committed an of-fence contrary to Section83 of the Criminal Codecap 37 Vol 11, Laws ofOndo State.”

The monarch’s wife andher co-accused, Mrs Com-fort Awogbamila, werealso charged with conductlikely to cause breach ofpeace, contrary and pun-ishable under Section249(d) of the CriminalCode Cap 37 Vol 11 Lawsof the state.

At yesterday's hearing,the Investigating PoliceOfficer, IPO, Mr.Ewarawon Fayowole, in-formed the court howOlori Adedeji fought withMrs Awogbamila, on May4, and the incident led toan uproar the town.

Fayowole tendered thestatement of MrsAwogbamila where shealleged that Oba Adejoroinvited her to his personalhouse and attempted toforcefully have canalknowledge of her.

However, a mild dramaensued in the court whenlawyer to the first accused,Mr. Duro Adonis, accusedthe police of profferingwrong charges against theaccused persons.

Adonis, who was cross-examining the IPO, askedhim to read the statementmade by Mrs Awogbamilain the open court, but thiswas objected to by theprosecutor, Mr. StevenDickson and the magis-trate.

The counsel arguedthat reading the state-ment would establishthat the police instead ofcharging the incident ofMay 4 which was an at-tempted rape, chargedthe incident of April 28which was an affray.

The court which agreed

in Akure, saying thatholding the election onthat day would disenfran-chise many of the muslimfaithful who will partakein this year’s hajj in SaudiArabia.

The co-chairman of thestate chapter of NigerianInter-Religious Council,NIREC, Alhaji IbrahimOmoloja, said a letter hadbeen sent to INEC na-tional headquarters onthe request.

Omolaja, while speak-ing at the quarterly meet-ing at NIREC said, “Weare seizing this opportu-nity to appeal to INEC toact fast on our letter whichhad since been sent to itand duly acknowledge sothat our members whowould perform this year’shajj will participate in theelection.

“The election, if allowedto go on as scheduled,will definitely disenfran-chise many muslimswhich will not be toogood.”

He, however, call on

...Religiousgroups fightmaternalmortality inOgunBY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA—MUSLIM and Christian

women leaders in OgunState, yesterday, pledgedtheir support for the stategovernment in its efforts toreduce maternal and childmortality rate.

The religious women or-ganisations gave the assur-ance at a sensitisation pro-gramme organised toround-off the Safe Mother-hood Day celebration in thestate with the theme, “Preg-nancy is Special, Let's MakeIt Safe,” at NUT Hall, Kuto,Abeokuta.

At the event, the Amirahof Federation of MuslimWomen Association of Ni-geria, FOMWAN, OgunState Branch, Dr. AishatLawal, and Women WingChairperson of ChristianAssociation of Nigeria,CAN, Deaconess AmokeOlugbade, said the initia-tive would help to liberateand enlighten women onpregnancy-related issues,saying that this would go along way to overcome thechallenges on maternal andchild deaths.

IBADAN—A GROUP oftrade unions, “Integrity

Group of Industrial Un-ions,” IGIU, has called onthe Federal Governmentto look beyond groundingDANA Airlines from flyingthe Nigerian airspace, butcarry out a total audit ofthe other airlines in thecountry to avert anotherair crash.

In a statement by Presi-dent of National Union ofHotels and Personal Serv-ices Workers, NUHPSWand General Secretary ofNon-Academic Staff Un-ion of Educational andAssociated Institutions,NASU, Leke Success andPeters Adeyemi, respec-tively IGIU called for apublic hearing on aviation

sector to address the rottherein. The group urgedgovernment to not onlymake public the outcomeof the investigations onthe circumstances sur-rounding Sunday’s crash,but take stern sanctionagainst all those foundculpable to serve as deter-rent to all players in theaviation industry.

ADO-EKITI—EKITIState House of As-

sembly has urged teach-ers in the state to offerthemselves for the com-pulsory examination, oth-erwise tagged as TeachersDevelopment Needs As-sessment, TDNA.

Speaking with newsmenin Ado-Ekiti, yesterday,Chairman, House Com-

mittee on Information,Omowumi Ogunlola,said the House had in thepast intervened in theface-off between the stategovernment and theteachers in public schools.

He said there was noth-ing unusual for an em-ployer asking its em-ployee to upgrade them-selves educationally bypartaking in the TDNAtest

Ogunlola, who is repre-senting Ijero constituency,urged the teachers to shedthe toga of pride and dis-play sense of patriotism bysubmitting themselves forthe test.

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

Ex-EKSU VCdocked overalleged N91mscamBY GBENGA ARIYIBI

AD O - E K I T I —FORMER Vice-

Chancellor of Ekiti StateUniversity, EKSU, Profes-sor Dipo Kolawole, was,yesterday, arraigned beforean Ado-Ekiti Magistrate'sCourt for allegedly stealingN91 million belonging tothe institution.

The former vice-chancel-lor, who appeared beforeChief Magistrate AdesojiAdegboye in Ado- Ekiti,according to police pros-ecutor, Amos Dagbo, be-tween August 28, 2009 andMay 13, last year allegedlystole the said money in con-nivance with two others stillat large

According to Dagbo,Kolawole committed the of-fence of felony by forgingthe letterhead of the univer-sity to withdrawN91,051,244.59 in one ofthe accounts of the univer-sity with the UBA Univer-sity Branch.

When asked if he wantedthe case to be tried by thecourt, Kolawole answeredin affirmative, the four-count charge was subse-quently read to him.

Chief MagistrateAdegboye granted bail toKolawole with the sum ofN400,000 with two sureties.

The case was adjournedtill July 18, this year.

media professionals in thestate to be cautious, ethi-cal and refrain from sen-sational reports that couldcreate tension as the stateprepare for the governor-ship election.

Ekiti House urges teachersto sit for test

Unions call for airlines' audit

Owo chiefs hail Ondo govt over dev

32 illegal Chinese immigrants held

BY DAYO JOHNSON

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

AB E O K U T A —BARELY 24 hours

after a trafficker was pa-raded with eight victimsin Abeokuta, by the OgunState Command of Ni-geria Immigration Serv-ice, NIS, the command,yesterday, paraded 32 al-leged illegal Chinese im-migrants in Abeokuta.

The command’s Comp-troller, GreeneAnike’Nweze, said thearrest was made whenNIS raided the hide-out ofthe suspects about 5.am.

He said none of the sus-pects could produce apassport or any othermeans of valid identifica-tion, adding that theywould be screened andinvestigated.

AK U R E — T R A D ITIONAL chiefs in

Owo, Ondo State, yester-

day, said the dualisation ofmajor roads in the town andthe rehabilitation of its wa-ter dam by the Ondo StateGovernment would go along way in alleviating theirplight.

Speaking on their behalf,Ugwadogbon of Owo,Chief Ademola Obanoyen,said the community wasgrateful to the governmentfor its development.

Obanoyen said the roadproject as well as the reha-bilitation of the water damhad made life meaningfulto the people and wasgradually changing theface of the ancient town to

a modern city.The community also ap-

plauded the administrationin the state for appointingseven indigenes of the townas permanent secretaries.

They are Mr. DareAragbaye, Chief GbengaAle, Mr. Soji Gbadebo, Mr.S.A. Mibiola, Mr. AkinOgunleye, Mr. AkinAragbaye and Mrs.Kosemani Kolawole.

He said Olowo of Owo,Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi, would be at athanksgiving service or-ganised by the communityfor the appointees on Sun-day in the town.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 —11

CP threatens Delta monarchs overkidnappings

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

AS A B A —

HENCEFORTH, anytraditional ruler in DeltaState, whose jurisdictionwas turned intokidnappers’ den would besanctioned, state PoliceCommissioner has warned,noting that hoarding ofinformation was hamperingefforts towards curbing themenace of kidnapping inthe state.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice in the state, Mr. TaiwoLakanu, who gave thewarning while briefingnewsmen in Asaba,yesterday, said thattraditional rulers weresupposed to be in firmcontrol of their subjects, andshould assist the police withnecessary informationwithout coercion, even if it

means concealing theiridentities while giving outsuch information.

He said: “The failure orrather lukewarm attitude onthe part of victims of kidnapand their relations towardscooperating with thecommand is rather

worrisome. It is alsonecessary to state that thecommand may be forced torecommend sanctions fortraditional rulers, whosejurisdiction is turned intokidnappers den.”

He assured residents inthe state and bankers inparticular, that there was nocause for alarm over attackby armed robbers, adding

that the command hadmapped out strategies tocheckmate any suchoccurrence as senior officerswere on constant patrol dayand night in the state.

A 24 year-old student ofDelta State University,DELSU, was also paradedwith other arrestedsuspected criminals.

Isoko youths sue minister, Shell, othersover onshore oil facilities' sale

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BY FESTUS AHON

Edo guber poll: Gowon endorsesOshiomhole, commissions projects

UGHELLI—ISOKOyouths under the

aegis of Isoko NationalYouth Movement, havedragged Shell Petroleumand DevelopmentCompany, SPDC; FirstHydrocarbon NigeriaLimited; AFREN Group Plc;Nigeria PetroleumDevelopment Company

Limited, NPDC; NigeriaNational PetroleumCorporation, NNPC, andMinister of PetroleumResources before a FederalHigh Court sitting in Asaba,Delta State over the sale ofonshore oil facilities inIsokoland.

The suit, which hasPresident of Isoko NationalYouth Movement, Mr. G.Okorobia; Chief Odomero

Igbine, Chairman Board ofTrustees; some oil familylandlords in Oleh, Iyede-Ame, Igbide, OkpoloEnhwe and Emede asclaimants, want the court “toset aside the sale and/or anytransfer of Shell and NNPCinterest and facilities(including OML 26 andOML30) to FirstHydrocarbon and AFRENGroup, without theconcurrence of theclaimants, who are thecustomary landlords/lessorsas null and void and of noeffect whatsoever.”

The youths want the courtto compel Shell, FirstHydrocarbon and AFRENGroup to enter into aMemorandum ofUnderstanding, MoU, withthe claimants to cater for theinterest and thedegradation of theclaimant’s environmentand all other benefitsaccruable to the claimants.”

BENIN CITY—AHEAD the July 14

governorship election inEdo State, former Head ofState, General YakubuGowon(rtd), yesterday,described thedevelopmental projects ofGovernor AdamsOshiomhole in the state asmagical and urged thepeople of the state to ensurehe emerged victorious atthe polls.

He spoke when hecommissioned the IheyaStreet and 10 adjoiningroads and street lights inBenin City.

Other projects flagging offby Gowon, yesterday, werethe he Edo StateGovernment free eyeglasses programme andtesting programme for 60years and above and therebuilt Iyoba Girl’s College,

Benin City.Gowon said: “I am happy

being in Benin tocommission these projectsbecause I have alwaysshared a lot of things incommon with people fromthis area. Bendel peoplehelped me to ensure oneNigeria during the civil war.That is why I am so glad

with what Oshiomhole isdoing today in Edo State. Iknow you want him tocontinue. If anyone is doingwell, he deserves thegratitude of everybody.

“From what I have seen,I want you to give him yourtotal support, so that he cancontinue with what he isdoing in all thecommunities."

BY TONY NYONG

Forum flays attack on firm

UYO—THE Uyo Youthand Elders

Consultative Forum,yesterday, condemnedunprovoked attack on amajor construction firm, theChinese Civil EngineeringConstruction Company,CCECC, in the state.

The forum said in astatement by its Chairman,Mr. Itoro Okon, and the

BURIAL: Cross-section of Okere-Urhobo chiefs at the burial of late HRMBenjamin Okumagba in Warri, Delta State.

Igbudu Market women paying homage at the burial.

Secretary, Mr. CletusEkong that the attackdirected at CCECC wasmalicious, handiwork ofsome greedy politicians.

It said: “We have foundout that the sponsoredpublications by those whohave chosen to embark onactions that will negativelyaffect the process oftransformation beingengineered by the governorof Akwa Ibom State."

AB U J A —C H A I R M A N

House of RepresentativesCommittee on Rules andBusiness, Mr. SamTsokwa, yesterday,threatened that theHouse would by nextlegislative year over-ridePresident GoodluckJonathan on bills hedoesn’n endorse withinthe constitutionallystipulated time limit. He also lamented whathe described as slowimplementation ofHouse’s resolutions bythe executive arm ofgovernment. He said theHouse will continue topass new resolutions.

The House CommitteeChairman further statedthat the slowimplementation of theHouse’s resolutions wassurprising since it wasbased on the resolutionsof the National Assemblythat President GoodluckJonathan transmutedfrom Acting to asubstantive President in2010.

Briefing newsmen onthe one year anniversaryof the seventh House,Tsokwa assured that theHouse would not deviatefrom the agenda it set atthe beginning of the year.

Commenting on theperformance of thechamber in the last oneyear, the legislator flayedthe reliance on ministriesand parastatals by somecommittee membersduring oversightactivities.

He said that it waswrong for lawmakerswho are going onoversight assignment todepend on logisticsprovided by the ministryor organisations they are

Reps threaten to over-ridePresident on unsigned bills

BY OKEY NDIRIBE,HENRY UMORU, EMMAN

OVUAKPORIE&INALEGWU SHAIBU

oversighting.Despite such

shortcomings thecommittee chairmancommended theperformance of theHouse committees,arguing that theysurpassed theperformance of previousassemblies in oversightfunctions. He maintainedthat the houseoversighted more thanever before.

Tsokwa stated that theHouse came in with aclear agenda and vision,adding that the agendais being followedreligiously.

He gave a breakdownof programmesaccomplished by theHouse adding that thechamber received a total of273 bills, most of which werein the second readingstage.

He explained that theHouse received 278motions and resolutionsand 178 petitions.

On the number of billspassed Tsokwa said that 32bills were passed in the last12 months.

Why NASS can't overrideJonathan’s veto onunsigned bills —Senate

Meanwhile the Senatehas explained that it couldnot override PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s assentto unsigned Bills becausethe sixth Senate whichpassed and presented themto the executive hadelapsed and remaineddissolved.

Also yesterday, theSenate gave PresidentJonathan a clean bill overassent to bills, stressing thatthere was no bill passed bythe seventh Senate and sentto the President that hewithheld assent to or failedto communicate thewithholding of assent.

VI N C E N T I A NRETREAT Centre,

1, De Paul Avenue, Yakoyo,Ojodu, Lagos, will beending its three-daymonthly retreat with thetheme: My Month ofRemembrance, today witha vigil starting by 9pm.

The event which will be hostedby the Vincentian Fathers will alsofeature Holy Mass and Adoration.

Retreat

CMYK

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

NSCDC parades woman, 7others for selling fake products

BY ANAYO OKOLI

UMUAHIA—EIGHTsuspects including one

female, believed to be deal-ers in fake and adulteratedproducts were yesterday pa-raded by the Abia StateCommand of Nigeria Secu-rity and Civil DefenseCorps, NSCDC. The Com-mand also impounded fakeconsumer products at awarehouse in EziukwuCemetery Market, Aba.Among the impoundedproducts were Mobil Insec-ticide, St. Lauren Wine,Seaman Schnapps, Sea-man’s Branded cups, 5

Alive wine, Eva wine,Chelsea London Dry Ginand Mc Dowell’s Whisky,Squadron Blended DarkRum, Bacchus Wine andMilo.

Handing over the sus-pects and the fake productsto National Agency forFoods and Drugs Admin-istration and Control, NAF-DAC, the Abia State Com-mandant of NSCDC, Mr.Nathaniel Ubong, said thesuspects were apprehend-ed by his men following atip off.

According to him, hismen met very hostile envi-ronment during the raidforcing them to retreat.

Ubong said “We havenot recovered half of thethings we discovered at theproduction site because thecrowd that was in sympa-thy with those arrested be-came volatile and threwstones at our men. We de-cided to retreat in order toavoid crisis.”

Receiving the suspects,the impounded productsand the investigation file,the Deputy Director, AbaSpecial zone of NAFDAC,Mr. Festus Anumba, de-cried the proliferation ofadulterated consumergoods in Aba and describedthe situation as “worri-some”.

Heavy traffic build up in Enugu asAbakpa-Nike bridge colapses

BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU—THE collapseof the 50-year-old

Abakpa-Nike Bridge inEnugu State capital onWednesday following aheavy down pour yesterdaycaused heavy traffic up inthe city. Residents of the denselypopulated Abakpa-Nikewho passed through thebridge late Wednesdayevening woke up yester-day morning to discover thatthe bridge had collapsed,

cutting them off from otherparts of the city. Mindful of the severehardship which the resi-dents would encounter onaccount of the incident,Governor Sullivan Chime,who returned from a trip toAbuja yesterday, drovestraight to the scene andquickly mobilized the ArabContractors to commencerepair work on the bridge,which one of the embank-ments was washed away byf l o o d . The state government, ac-

cording to the Commission-er for Information, Mr.Chuks Ugwoke, was deter-mined to get the bridge re-paired without delay hencethe quick mobilization of theconstruction firm to the site. Although no life was lost,it, however caused a majortraffic for motorists plyingAbakpa-Nike, Emene andTrans-Ekulu axis as mostresidents of the area wereforced back home, whilesome trekked to their plac-es of work, market ands c h o o l .

BY ERIC UGBOR

Residents express fear as robbers invadeAbia

ABA—RESIDENTS ofUmuahia, the Abia

State capital and Aba, nowlive in fear, especially atnight as armed robbershave been terrorizing thetowns and robbing peopleof their cash and other val-uables running into mil-lions of naira.

Investigations revealedthat armed bandits have inthe past one week invadedmany homes in the two cit-ies, robbing and inflictingbodily injuries on their vic-tims.

Narrating her ordeal,Mrs. Onyekachi Agbalu,who live on Ehiere road inAba told Vanguard how 10men bulldozed their waysinto her building androbbed occupants of thebuilding, including her.

She said she lost overN120, 000 meant for herchildren’s school fees andlamented that one of the oc-cupants of the building, ateacher, was beaten to com-ma and several injuries in-flicted on him because he

had no money to give the bandits.

Senator Uba loses mum

DAME Bessie ChinweUba, the mother of the

senator representing An-ambra South, Dr Andy Uba,has died, aged, 89. According to a statementby the head of the family,Senator Ugochukwu Uba,she passed on June 4 at theAbuja National Hospital af-ter a brief illness.

She was a devout Chris-tian, women leader and asuccessful entrepreneur.

The matriach of the familywho hailed from Ugah inAguata local governmentarea of Anambra State issurvived by Senators Ugo-chukwu Uba, Andy Uba,Chief Chris Uba, daughtersand grand children. Burialplans would soon be an-nounced by the family.

Senator Uba describedher demise as a huge lossnot only to the family, butthe state due to her moth-erly role.

Dana: Sen Okonkwo mourns

victims

PRESIDENT of the nascent Igbo Socio-political

group, “Committee 21”,Senator Annie Okonkwo,has expressed sadness overthe Dana Airline tragedythat claimed no fewer than170 lives, saying “it is agreat loss to the nation.”

In a statement by hisMedia Adviser, Mr. CollinsSteve Ugwu, the Senatorcalled for immediate and

thorough investigation intothe matter.

According to him, “it iswith a profound sense ofloss and agony that I joinPresident Good LuckJonathan and Nigerians tomourn yet another whole-sale demise of a generationof her people whose hopeand dreams are buried withthis tragic disaster".

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—13

CMYK

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—15

CMYK

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

CMYK

Donu Kogbara SSSSSwwwwweeteeteeteeteet & & & & & SOURSOURSOURSOURSOUR

CMYK

Responses to:donzol2002@yahoo.co.ukor to 0802 747 6458 (textsonly). PLEASE KINDLYNOTE THAT UNLESSYOU SPECIFICALLY

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 17

ELIZABETH II, the 86 year-old Queen of the British

Isles and Beyond, has just com-pleted six unblemished decadeson the throne. And I was hap-pily watching her spectacular,uplifting Diamond Jubilee cel-ebration on TV in London lastSunday when there was anewsflash announcing the DanaAir plane crash in Nigeria.

In other words, while one ofthe two countries I describe as“home” was joyfully basking innational pride and engaging inheart-warming jollifications tohonour its highly-respected andmuch-loved Head of State, theother was overcome by grief, de-spair, fury and absolute contemptfor its current and pastrulers. Over 1000 people haveperished in no less than l0 planecrashes since 1992. And there’sno getting away from the fact thatmost of these tragedies wouldhave been avoided if our regu-latory agencies did their jobsproperly.

As Michael Kadiri, a visitor tothe website of The Will, a Nige-rian-American online publica-tion, so succinctly put it: “One ofthe reasons normal countries in-sist on a robust regulatory envi-ronment is because men in thepursuit of profit cannot always betrusted to do the right thing.Wherever there has been a sys-temic failure of an industry, it isusually because the regulatoryagencies have been compromisedand are no longer fit forpurpose…”.

Meanwhile, others have been

A tale of two Sundaysmuch less polite than Kadiri; andI wasn’t surprised to encountera barrage of furious anti-

futile because they are, accord-ing to her, “incomparable”. Shefeels that it is ridiculous to men-

quently berates me for expectingtoo much of Nigeria.

I totally disagree with mymother in the sense that sinceNigerians and Britons are mem-bers of the very same humanrace, the former should be ableto achieve similar levels of com-petence, compassion and hon-esty as the latter. And it drivesme crazy when I’m told that I ambeing overly optimistic.

What is our problem, for cry-ing out loud?

When we go to school withthem, we often get better examresults than they do. When wework in their country or fororganisations that they manageor own, we work efficiently as ageneral rule and have even beenknown to excel within these sup-posedly alien foreign environ-ments on occasion.

And, sure, I’m definitely moreof an Anglophile than the aver-age Nigerian, but I’m not the onlyNigerian who wishes that Nige-ria was more like the UK. Manyof my compatriots, includingmany of the Vanguard readerswho contact me – AND many ofthe government officials I know- admire the way the British op-erate.

So why can’t we prove that weare as good as they are on everysingle level and suppress ourbaser instincts and dump theavarice, the thieving, the lack ofself-control and the hypocriticalreligiousity that isn’t tied to REALethics? Why can’t we get ouracts together and pull together

to build a nation in which life istruly valued and planes do notfall out of the sky with alarmingregularity?

Why can’t our leaders be genu-inely committed to eradicatingpoverty, developing infrastruc-ture, expanding the economy,nurturing talent and rewardingintegrity? Why does all this talkabout “Transformation” sound sohollow? Why oh why am I sit-ting in London absolutely dread-ing my next trip to Nigeria? Whydo I spend as much time outsidethe land of my ancestors as pos-sible? Why can’t I have a lovelyAfrican home I can be proud ofand yearn to return to?

Fond farewell

DR. Levi Ajuonuma, the ebul-lient, articulate Group GeneralManager, Public Affairs, ofNNPC, was one of last Sunday’sDana Air casualties. He had crit-

ics who griped about the enthu-siastic manner in which he co-operated with a system that isrotten to the core and complainedabout his penchant for defend-ing the indefensible. But most ofthese detractors are full of s......and wouldn’t have behaved dif-ferently if they’d been given achance to do his job.

Levi was my friend and I some-times accused him of being un-fair to some of the people aroundhim and of being economicalwith the truth; and he would justlaugh amicably and promise tobe kinder and tell me that if youare going to do a job, you might

Sorry

LAST week, I wrote aboutthe President’s decision to

re-brand Unilag. Several read-ers reacted passionately and Ipromised to publish their re-sponses this week.

But recent events have oblit-erated my interest in this issue.All that stuff about being for oragainst a mere name changeseems so trivial at the moment.Please accept my apologies ifyou find my attitude offensive.

,

,

Why oh why am I sitting in Londonabsolutely dreading my next trip toNigeria? Why do I spend as much timeoutside the land of my ancestors aspossible? Why can’t I have a lovelyAfrican home I can be proud of andyearn to return to?

as well do it well. And he wasindeed a gifted spin doctor. Hewas also - more importantly - abasically decent man.

Farewell, dear Levi. I weptwhen I thought about the an-guish you must have beenthrough in your final moments.And I will miss you.

Thanks so much for remember-ing me on my last birthday.Thanks for making me smilewhen I was feeling down. Mayyour sweet soul rest in peace andmay your family - whom youloved so very much - bear thisterrible loss with fortitude.

government commentaries whenI checked out the internet tomonitor the public’s reactions tothe Dana disaster.

My mother is always tellingme that my habit of comparingthe UK and Nigeria is completely

tion Nigeria and the UK in thesame breath because it should beobvious to anyone with half abrain that the gap between thetwo places and peoples is so widethat they might as well be on dif-ferent planets. And she fre-

The late Dr. Levi Ajuonuma

Dana Air crash site.... on Tuesday

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

BY ANIETIE EKONG

*Mr. Ekong, a public affairs analyst, wrote fromAbuja.

Akwa Ibom: A model of

good governanceIN the almost five years that Chief Godswill Akpabio hasbeen on the saddle as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State,

the state has witnessed unprecedented infrastructural andhuman capital development that many people who havefollowed development in the state since its creation in thelast 24 years have marvelled at the quantum leap. Indeed,Akwa Ibom has emerged as a model that people see andwonder by saying, “so government can work!” to borrow theGovernor’s phrase.Visitors to Akwa Ibom State have been stunned by thedizzying pace of development. Simultaneously, constructionof roads, bridges and flyovers go on in all parts of the state.Indeed there is a general consensus even among his politicalopponents that Governor Akpabio cannot be faulted onperformance because he has exceeded the expectations ofeven his critics and opponents. The Governor has turnedAkwa Ibom State into one huge construction site.Before now, many people had held the view that so muchmoney was allocated to the Niger Delta states with little toshow for it. This opinion had gained so much prevalencethat some people had agitated that the allocation to thearea is scaled down. But such people may not have takencognizance of the silent revolution that is going on in AkwaIbom State.Those who have visited the State lately have marvelled atthe economic wizardry of Governor Akpabio in taking on somany mega projects and other life-touching developmentventures at the same time across the State. It is instructivethat in the last five years, the administration of Chief Akpabiohas consistently devoted over 80 per cent of its annual budgetto capital projects. Also, in carrying out these projects, theadministration has made prudent management of resourcesits watch-word as it has plugged all loopholes and leakages

and devoted a huge percentage of the budget toinfrastructure.Governor Akpabio is often credited as saying that if youwant a five-star project, you must engage a five-starconstruction company. And this has been the lot of the statein the last five years. Reputable construction companies havedelivered world class projects that would stand the test oftime, across the state. It is instructive that at a time the wholeworld was under trepidation about the secret informationleaked about government malfeasances all over the worldby Wikileaks, what was ‘leaked’ about the Akwa Ibom Stategovernment under Governor Akpabio was that there wasinfrastructural revolution going on in the state.This ‘infrastructural revolution’ is visible across the state. Atthe last count, the Akpabio administration had constructedthree new flyovers (three more are nearing completion), over290 new roads (many of them dualized), spanning acrossthe length and breadth of the state. One distinguishingfeature of the Akpabio roads is that they neither are politicalroads nor built to score political points. From pastexperiences, roads built for political reasons are washed awayno sooner than they are commissioned. About a dozenbridges have also been built.

President Goodluck Jonathan during a visit to Akwa IbomState bore testimony to the pace and quality of work the

administration of Chief Akpabio has done: “From what Ihave seen so far, it is evident that the Akwa Ibom StateGovernment is driven by a singular commitment toenhancing the welfare and well-being of the people through

infrastructural development and innovation in the provisionof infrastructural amenities and human capacitydevelopment. The pace and level of developmentgraphically demonstrates that the Governor and his teamare focused and committed to transforming Akwa IbomState.“I have seen quite a number of projects today, some havebeen commissioned, I have inspected some, and tomorrowon my programme, I will still see more… One thing I haveseen today is that the projects I have seen are not just projects,but with very high quality…And I’m quite pleased with thatbecause the Governor is not just playing politics with projects,it is so glaring that he is committed to changing things,” thePresident said.Today unarguably, Akwa Ibom State has one of the bestroad networks in Nigeria. More roads and flyovers are beingbuilt across the state. As observed by a commentator, acrossNigeria, Akwa Ibom is among the very few states in thecountry which have built flyovers. While the ones in Lagosand the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja were mostly builtby the Federal Government, not many states have engagedin the ‘luxury’ of building flyovers because they don’t comecheap, but everyone desires the benefit of easing vehiculartraffic and decongesting the city. Now, even the most remotepart of the state could be accessed in less than two hoursfrom the state capital. Aside the impeccable infrastructure in the state, the Akpabioadministration has also laid a very solid foundation for thetake off of its ambitious industrialization programme.Realising the importance of power to industrial growth, theadministration completed a 191 megawatt independentpower project.

THE renaming of the University of Lagos(UNILAG) as the Moshood Abiola University ofLagos (MAUL) by the federal government as an-nounced by President Goodluck Jonathan in his2012 Democracy Day address to the nation cameto many as a rude shock. The students and staffof the University were so outraged as to embarkon protests both within and outside the school’spremises.

Contrary to some analysts, this spontaneous re-action had nothing to do with the students beingso young as not to know Abiola’s contributionsto nation-building and the restoration of our de-mocracy in particular. After all, their teachers whoare part of this demonstration of rejection of therechristening were not only adults when Abiolaheld sway, but some of them also were part andparcel of the struggle for the revalidation of hispresidential mandate given by the Nigerian peo-ple on Saturday June 12 1993.

Though to the president said he held wide con-sultation before arriving at the decision, therewere few indications that critical stakeholderswere taken along. For instance, the Senate andHouse of Representatives equally expressedsurprise at the president’s move, meaning theyhad no inkling of it, at least officially. After all,

Rage over UNILAGrenaming

being the first university in Nigeria set up underfederal legislation in 1962, it is expected that dueprocess of the law should be followed if renamingit is adjudged in the interest of the nation.

For years, Nigerians canvassed that Chief MKOAbiola should be recognised, not for being an an-gel (as no one is such) but for his contributions toNigeria’s democracy. Without the struggle he putup after the election was annulled Nigeria wouldnever have changed to what it is today, where asection of the country no longer holds the solefranchise for political leadership of the country.Both the north and the south have produced pres-idents, and in fact, it has become possible for theminorities to occupy the exalted position throughthe electoral mandate of Nigerians. This was sim-ply unthinkable before.

For a start, the president could have nominat-ed him for the national honour of Grand Com-mander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) oreven the highest cadre, the Grand Commanderof the Federal Republic (GCFR). After all, he waselected president of Nigeria though he was de-nied his mandate. Some Nigerian leaders whodid not even get elected president of Nigeria,such as Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were bestowedthe highest national honour.

There are also other national institutions andmonuments such as the National Stadium, Abujaor Lagos, which will befit him as the Pillar ofSports in Africa. The federal government also hasnine new universities under construction. Oneof them could be given Abiola’s name to help itleverage to prominence.

UNILAG is a coveted brand university in Nige-ria. We do not support its renaming without car-rying stakeholders along. We want Abiola ade-quately memorialised but not in this controver-sial manner. We advise the federal governmentto call a meeting of stakeholders and agree ami-cably on the best way forward, and then submitwhatever is agreed to the National Assembly fornecessary action. This is a democracy, and wemust respect the feelings of our people.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 19

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*Mr. Ojeifo, a journalist, wrote fromAbuja.

BY SUFUYAN OJEIFO

THIS piece was initially entitled: “OlaitanOyerinde: A Machiavelli Unravels in

Edo”; but I had to change it to “OlaitanOyerinde: Rest not in peace” for anunderstandable reason: To flag downattention of readers to the narrative, whichis both a tribute, in the plain literary logic,to a man who lived for the labour strugglebut was, unfortunately, cut down byunknown gun men in the arena of conflictthat has been given a political coloration,and a genre of message to a spirit being tofight for himself in the folkloric sense.

Since the gruesome killing of ComradeOlaitan, the Principal Private Secretary tothe Edo State Governor, Comrade AdamsAliu Oshiomhole, at his residence on UgborRoad in the GRA, Benin, in the early hoursof Friday, May 4, 2012, the Governor andsome of his aides have been peddling thetheory that the opposition PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, and its leaders wereresponsible for the dastardly act.

Oshiomhole has been particularly andpassionately committed to making apolitical capital from this. He hasunderstandably latched on to it as a windowof escape from the vicious missiles that werehitting his underbelly in the aftermath ofthe revelation of the alleged multi-billionnaira mansion and other structures he isbuilding on his sprawling estate at hisIyamho village in Edo State.

The politicisation of the killing ofOyerinde by Oshiomhole is not only an actof insensitivity to the dead and his family bya supposed father but also an indication ofthe Governor ’s desperation to divertattention from issues of accountability beingraised about the sources of funding for themonument to madness at Iyamho. It is partof deliberate efforts to preserve hisenlightened self-interest in the tumultuouspolitics that has become the lot of Edo State.

Instead of responding with his usualballyhoo to the Iyamho mansion scandal,the Comrade-Governor has chosen to takerefuge in reckless acts of pointing finger of

Olaitan Oyerinde: Rest not in peaceuntil...

guilt at the opposition over the killing ofOlaitan. And he is doing it with a rare relish,happy that attention has, to a large extent,been shifted from the sordid skeleton in hiscupboard at Iyamho. It is sad that theComrade-Governor is, by so doing, dancingon the grave of Olaitan.

Has Oshiomhole been denatured suchthat he could not address the Iyamhoscandal on its merit (or is it demerit)? Whyhas he decided to shy away from personallyjoining issues with the opposition on thescandalous Iyamho mansion saga despitethe wide and damaging publicity given toit? Very unlike the rambunctious Comrade-Governor! The reason is that his hands havebeen caught in the cookie jar and he hasfound it extremely difficult to wriggle out ofit.

His aides have tried hard to rationalise itbut have failed to explain it away. It israther unfortunate that the only way theGovernor and his strategists planned topush the issue to the background was byplaying dirty politics with the death of thethree journalists who died in his convoyaccident and his confidant (Olaitan). Buttheir blood must speak out. In particular,Olaitan’s blood must fight!

Politicaldesperation

I think reckless and extreme politicisationof Olaitan’s death is not the best way tohonour the life and times as well as hismemory. I am sure the dead himself wouldscorn this Machiavellian approach of usinghis killing to whip up public sentiments forpossible political gains. It will be more soif innocent persons have been wronglyaccused of perpetrating the act. This is thepoint at issue here. It is indeed worrisomethat reputations would be impugned withreckless abandon on the altar of politicaldesperation.

Indeed, Oshiomhole’s grotesquepropositions in the haze of governorshipelectioneering have simply convinced methat a new Niccolò di Bernardo dei

Machiavelli, that “diabolical” Italianhistorian, diplomat, philosopher, humanist,writer and father of modern political theorybased in Florence during the Renaissance,has unraveled in our own Edo State.

No matter how he is constructed or deconstructed, the greatest source ofMachiavelli’s reputation is, of course, ThePrince (1532). The main theme of this shortbook is that all means may be resorted tofor the establishment and preservation ofauthority — the end justifies the means —and that the worst and most treacherous actsof the ruler are justified by the wickednessand treachery of the governed.

So it is with Oshiomhole in his currententerprise at demonizing the opposition byaccusing its members of being responsiblefor all the tragedies that have so far befallenhim in the build-up to the July 14governorship election. His followers arefalling over themselves to sheepishlyreinforce his propositions and thus pleasetheir paymaster.

Indeed, I have not stopped thinking abouthow Olaitan Oyerinde would feel whereverhe is when wrong persons have been accusedof his death; and when, perhaps, his realkillers may just be members of thegovernment or the party for which he workedin Edo. I believe his remains would turn inthe grave at this cruel deployment of his

killing for political capital.The cavalier manner at which

Oshiomhole targeted the character of theopposition when the Police have not comeout with the result of their investigation issimply Machiavellian. It is one of thestrategies or means for preserving hisgovernance authority beyond November 14,2012. But to his chagrin, this will not work.

I sincerely and very seriously think thatbeyond Oshiomhole’s reckless accusationsand the Police investigations, the spirit ofOlaitan, a strong labour union activist whilealive, should be strong in the realm ofspiritualism to preponderate theshenanigans that have dominated thephysical or the terrestrial in the ambianceof Edo State politics.

This goes to the heart of the traditionalbelief, especially in Yoruba land, whereOlaitan came from, that spirits (spiritism)of the dead have powers to interfere in theaffairs of the living. If that is correct, Isincerely wish that the soul or spirit ofOlaitan will receive a rare capacity totorture and expose for ridicule andpunishment the elements that conspired tocut down his physical body in the midstreamof his life.

And if this mission must be accomplished,then much as the death of any mandiminishes me, I am careful in joining thebandwagon of genuine and fakesympathisers who have prayed for Olaitan’ssoul to rest in peace.

Having considered the callousness of hiskilling and the suspicious atmosphericscreated by Oshiomhole and his aides in theirhasty and unconscionable accusation (as ifit was pre-determined) of Chief Tony Anenihas being responsible for the killing (thegovernor has even named Delta Crescent,GRA, where Anenih lives in Benin afterOlaitan, a conclusive attitude when thePolice are yet to finish investigations), I canonly pray that the soul of Olaitan shouldnot rest in peace until it has helped relevantsecurity agencies to fish out his real killers.

So, my brother (since we are bothhandiwork of God’s creation), Olaitan,please, understand with me as I earnestlyurge you, yes your soul, not to rest in peaceuntil your killers are apprehended.

I sincerely wish thatthe spirit of Olaitanwill receive a rarecapacity to torture andexpose for ridicule andpunishment the ele-ments that conspiredto cut down his physi-cal body in the mid-stream of his life

IF it were possible, I’d really like to avoid using the

word “tragedy”- not only be-cause it’s trite and over-worked,but also because, in this in-stance, the term is woefully in-adequate.

It fails to give vent to my truepassions: To the explosiveplethora, the swirling vortex ofemotions that the Dana Airlin-er crash in Lagos has arousedwithin me.

Naturally, there is grief and asense of loss which I share withthe bereaved families of the pas-sengers and others who per-ished as well as with Nigeriansgenerally. But this is just partof the emotional mix, one di-mension of my thoughts andfeelings about an airline acci-

dent that follows an all-too-fa-miliar pattern.

The Dana crash fits perfectlyinto what has become an ethosof death and destruction, a cat-astrophic continuum, which en-tails a fatal accident and a lita-ny of promises, ceremonies andrituals. No tragedian - Greek,African or other - could have cre-ated a more dramatic contriv-ance than the scenario that isbeing played out in the wake ofthe Dana Airlines incident.

Nor could even the most ac-complished thespians have act-ed their roles with more exacti-tude, than did our administra-tors and elected officials, whenpaying their customary visit tothe scene of the crash. It was aclassic - if not exactly captivat-

ing - performance. The AviationMinister cried, as reportedly didthe President, who issued theexpected proclamation - prom-ising to “get to the bottom ofthis” and “find a solution” to theproblem of airline safety.

Let me stress, to avoid beingseen as callous and inconsid-erate, that when I make refer-ence to “thespians” and“acting”, I am taking poetic li-cence. The intent is not to por-tray the President or any otherpublic official as insincere, farfrom it. Many of you know thatthe Aviation Minister remains

one of my favourite and Godknows the entry of Dana into ourairspace precedes her.

So no, quite to the contrary,the grief of these leaders almostcertainly runs deeper, eventhan my own (if that is possi-ble). They not only share asense of loss with the rest of us,but must also - I think it’s fair toassume - suffer guilt-pangs,being among the personscharged with ensuring safe airtravel. What I must insist uponthough, is that grief is notenough. Nigerians, especiallythose who ply the corridors ofthis country’s air space regular-ly, as I do, deserve more thandisplays of sorrow and regret,after disaster has struck.

Elimination

of accidents

Accidents, of course, can nev-er be eliminated entirely. Butmembers of the public have aright to feel reasonably safe,whether in flight or in their sit-ting rooms - whether they areair travellers or people like theresidents of Iju-Ishaga, in La-gos, who reside under flightlanes.

“Getting to the bottom” of theDana Airlines crash, which the

DANA - Counting the deadand conning the damned (1)

President has promised to do,is an important first step to-wards providing Nigerians withthis sense of security: Towardsalleviating the oppressive psy-chological burden which thelooming threat of plane crash-es impose Nigerians.

The operation of Dana Airlineshas been suspended. But whydid it take over 150 Nigerianlives to achieve this - particu-larly when the irregularities, asreported in The Will, a U.S.based newsletter, were so glar-ing? Within hours of the crash,CNN had a detailed report onthe ill-fated plane formerlyowned by Alaskan Airways andrejected by both Canadian andUS authorities.

Why not us? If anyone thinksthat this will blow over, thinkagain. If anyone thinks that thisreport will join the rest, knowthat the mood in the country ischanging. It is like the filling ofa cup drop by drop. It is simplytoo hard to point the finger atthe drop that made the cup run-neth over. Maybe we should bethinking more along the linesof a judicial commission of en-quiry. The absence of conse-quence is the mother of ourevils.

To be continued.

Nigerians, es-pecially thosewho ply the cor-ridors of thiscountry’s airspace regularly,as I do, deservemore than dis-plays of sorrowand regret, afterdisaster hasstruck

CMYK

20—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Shock as taskforce flushes illegal squatters fromunder bridgesBY OLASUNKANMI

AKONI

WONDERS they say,shall never end.

This best describes whatthe Lagos State TaskForce on Environmentaland Other Special Of-fences, led by Superin-tendent of Police, BayoSulaimon discoveredduring the on-goingmassive reclamation ofloops and illegal struc-tures built under thebridges in the state.

The exercise followedthe directive byGovernor BabatundeFashola and endorsedby the FederalGovernment for the re-moval of all abandonedand illegally parked ve-hicles around Apapaarea particularly, alongOshodi-Apapa Express-way, Ijora, Creek Road,Marine Bridge as well asthe cleaning up ofbridges in the area.

The State governmenthad few weeks agohanded a seven-day ul-timatum to all illegal oc-cupants of the road, in-cluding owners of tank-ers, trailers, roadsideshanties and squattersliving under bridges toquit or be forced out.

The ultimatum took ef-fect from Sunday April29, setting the stage forthe full enforcement ofthe order by GovernorFashola, who duringearlier visits to the area,expressed shock at howthe once quiet andserene Apapa area hadbeen messed up bytanker and trailer driversand the owners of tankfarms.

Determined to ensurethat the roads are rid ofthe tankers, the FederalGovernment, throughthe Presidential Task-force headed by Sylvest-er Monye, who is alsochairman of the PortsReform Committee, hadon Friday made knownits involvement with La-gos to dislodge erranttanker and trailer driv-ers who turned the cor-ridor into a nightmarefor road users and resi-dents.

The operation involv-ing the two levels of thegovernment is beingsupported by teams ofwell-armed mobile po-

licemen, army, navy andair force, followingweeks of consultationswith stakeholders, in-cluding transportunions, National Unionof Petroleum and Natu-ral Gas Workers,NUPENG, among oth-ers.

Monye, who heads thePresidential Task Force,said it was now time toact to restore sanity onthe corridor and easeaccess to the Apapa andTin Can Ports whichhandle the bulk of ship-ments into Nigeria.

“We are ready to takethese people out. Wehave had extensive con-sultations with variousstakeholders because wechose not to take anyoneunawares and with thestrong support of the La-gos State government, Ibelieve we will succeedthis time. What we wantto do is to replicate thehuge success at Oshodiin Lagos,” he said.

President GoodluckJonathan had directedthe Acting InspectorGeneral of Police, theGarrison Commandersof the Army, Navy andAir Force to provide thecritical support for theoperation to ensure totalclearance of all thetrucks and their drivers

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if they fail to exit the cor-ridor.

Precisely a week ago,the taskforce bulldozersrolled to the notoriousIjora bridges removingthousands of abandonedvehicles and demolish-ing several illegal struc-tures. In the processthousands of illegalsquatters with their chil-dren were displaced.

While, speaking withVanguard Metro, VM,

over the development,the Task Force boss saidhis team had a verydifficult time getting ridof the squatters who putup a lot of resistance. AtIjora Olopa Bridge,brothels, business cen-tres, makeshift cinemasand lotto offices wereamong the many struc-tures that went downduring the clean-up ex-ercise. Children of dif-ferent ages were amongthose evacuated fromunder the filthy bridge.

One of the major dis-coveries was a big holethat leads inside thebridge where squatters

turned into a room andparlour. Various person-al belongings liketelevision and radiosets, and mattresseswere said to have beenremoved. It was believedthat the occupants musthave been using theplace as a hideout whilecarrying out their nefar-ious activities. No one,however, was appre-hended in the process.

Earlier, all kinds of

dangerous weapons, in-cluding cutlasses, guns,arrows and charms wererecovered in the rubblesat Marine Bridge, Apa-pa.

Speaking with VM, oneof the displacedpersons, who simplyidentified himself asJimoh, said: “Mybrother, I am atransporter; I didn’thave any place to go. Ihave been living underthis Ijora Bridge for thepast 15 years. I have my

family here. The LagosState government justbrought their bulldozersto demolish my house.Where do I go from here?

Another displaced vic-tim at Ijora 7-UP Bridge,who simply identifiedhimself as AlhajiAhmed, pleaded withGovernor Fashola to givethem special consider-ation as commercial busoperators.

“This is the popularMotor Garage known forKwara inter-states trans-

port, where travellerscome from all over themetropolis to board ve-hicles to Kwara. We havebeen operating here forover 30 years withoutany hassles until now.This is where we get themeans of our livelihood.We are begging the gov-ernor to have a rethinkon the evacuation exer-cise as we are ready toabide by any environ-mental laws,” AlhajiAhmed pleaded.

I am a transporter, Ihave been living underthis Ijora Bridge for thepast 15 years; I have myfamily here; the LagosState government justbrought their bulldozersand demolished myhouse; now where do Igo from here?

*Debris under the bridge at Ijora after the evacuation of squatters.

At last, a lifeline for border communities

BY CHARLES

KUMOLU

THE people of Shangev-ya district of

Kwande Local Govern-ment Area of Benue Staterecently had cause tosmile in appreciation asthe Border CommunitiesDevelopment Agency,BCDA, which is an agen-cy set up by the FederalGovernment primarily toaddress the neglect ofborder communities, pre-sented health and medi-cal facilities to the AdaCommunity Clinic locat-ed in the area. This wasdone during the visit ofthe Senate Committee onStates and Local Govern-ment Affairs.

The Committee whichwas led by Senator Kabi-ru Gaya, had an on-the-spot assessment of thecondition of Nigeriansliving in border commu-nities. The trip which wasnecessitated by BCDANeeds Assessment Re-port, was widely de-scribed as a welcome

development for the peo-ple living in Kwande LGAborder communities.

Prior to this presentationof beds, mattresses, pil-lows and mosquito nets,pregnant women usuallygave birth on bamboobeds and mats in theclinic. While making thepresentation, theExecutive Secretary ofBCDA, Numoipre Wills,assured the people thatthe Federal Governmentwas poised to addresstheir plight, but appealedto them to maintain facil-ities that have been pro-vided.

He further reiteratedthe resolve of the govern-ment to overcome inse-curity in all the bordercommunities in Nigeria.

Making his owncontribution, the SenateCommittee chairman,who was visibly moved bythe “pitiable” livingcondition of the peoplewith almost no accessroad, promised to taketheir plight to the Nation-al Assembly for positive

legislation.Gaya, a former gover-

nor of Kano State, alsolamented the absence offederal roads to link manyborder communities in thecountry.

Gaya said the visit pro-vided them with a “first-hand information” thatwould assist in carryingout their oversight func-tions on the activities ofthe agency. The Chair-man appealed to the Fed-eral Government to allo-cate more funds to theagency for capitalprojects. Responding, thevillagers thanked theBCDA and promised toput the facilities to gooduse.

The Committee also vis-ited Imande-Tura whichcould not be accessed bycars as the road was notmotorable. Instead thevisiting law makers andmanagement staff ofBCDA had to access thecommunity by motorbikespopularly called Okadapassing through severalstreams.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 21

CMYK

From left: Professor Yemi Osinbajo, former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Lagos/Director, LawPaviliion; Mr. Ope Olugasa, Managing Director, LawPavilion and Mr. Gbenga Fabilola, Director at the LawPavilionBlackberry App launch, in Lagos.

SMALL and Medium Scale

Enterprises (SMEs) listed onthe Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)should be exempted fromInternational Financial ReportingStandard (IFRS) says the ManagingDirector, Poly Products Nigeria Plc,Mr. Nasir Gwalani.

Gwalani who spoke to Vanguardon some of the challengesbusinesses face in Nigeria,especially quoted companies,opined that all over the world, smallbusinesses are not mandated toadopt the reporting system.

He noted that going by verynature of the reporting system, itwould be diff icult for smallcompanies to abide by therequirements of IFRS.

He maintained that though thesystem could be acceptable tomultinational and other blue chipcompanies, SMEs that postinsignificant revenues should beallowed to continue with GenerallyAccepted Accounting Principles,GAAP.

“All over the world, small andmedium industries are notsubjected to all those things. Herewe are bringing everybody underIFRS. It is very difficult for smallcompanies to abide by what they aresaying.

Banks, yes; multinationals, yes,but small and medium scaleindustries whose turnover is fewmillion naira per year should beexcluded from the IFRS. InEngland, you don’t even requireaudited balance sheet i f yourturnover is not in excess of fivePounds. What you need is onlycertified accountant report,” hestated.

Gwalani stated that adopting thenew system will not resolve thelaxity and regulatory lapses that theregulatory agencies in Nigeria areknown for; adding that monitory

Industrialist seeks SMEs exemption from IFRSand thoroughly reading the reportswill yet constitute another problem.

Speaking on some of thechallenges businesses face,Gwalani stated that insecurity andinfrastructural decay havecontinued to pose grave danger tosurvival of business entities in

Nigeria.Vanguard recalls that all quoted

companies have been directed toadopt the IFRS reporting standardeffective December, 2012.

Already, a couple of companieshave announced their readiness totag along, while others said they

By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

MANAGERS of First Bank

Nigeria (FBN) Plc andPower Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN) may face contempt chargesat the Lagos High Court Igbosereover a dispute arising from breachof contribution in Barge PowerPurchase Agreement entered into byPHCN and Lagos State Governmentin 2000.

Applicant in the suit, Mr. OlasupoShasore SAN (also counsel to LagosState government) informed thecourt that PHCN and First Bank Plchave disobeyed the ex-perte orderof Mareva injunction made againstthem (PHCN and FBN) on May 16,2012 and sought to know why theydisobeyed even after admittingservice.

He said: “The first and secondrespondents have disobeyed theorder of the court and the rule isthat they should not come to thecourt to which they have disobeyedfor favour. They were served theorder on May 22, 2012 but they stillwent ahead to transact on theiraccount.”

Urging the court to stand the

PHCN, FBN risk contempt over powerpurchase agreement

matter down until the respondentsdepose under oath an affidavit ofcompliance to the order, Shasoreheld that various sums of moneywere on May 23 (a day after theywere served) withdrawn from theaccounts of the first respondent heldwith the second respondent runninginto billions of naira against theorders of the court, noting it was adeliberate action aimed at scorningthe order.

Counsel to the first defendant, Mr.Babatunde Ajibade SAN hadbrought a motion on notice seekingto vacate the ex-perte order ofMareva injunction, which foreclosestransactions in the accounts ofPHCN with First Bank and anotherbank.

The motion, which is supported bya 28-paragraph affidavit deposed toby one Matthias Dawodu was notopposed by the applicants counsel.But the applicants counsel insistedthat that motion cannot be moveduntil the firms clear the allegationsof disobedience to court order.

Ajibade argued that since theorder was served on therespondents on May 22 and thewithdrawals took place a day later,

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 07/06/2012

98.70 -0.15

84.23 +0.25

156.10 -2.35

2,155.00 +61.00

19.17 +0.27

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

CFA 0.2716 0.2816 0.2916

KRONER 25.8642 25.9478 26.0313

EURO 192.2616 192.8826 193.5036

POUNDS 237.4942 238.2613 239.0284

RIYAL 41.2745 41.4078 41.5411

SDR 239.8471 240.6218 241.3965

FRANC 159.9835 160.5002 161.0169

DOLLAR 154.8 155.3 155.8

YEN 1.9783 1.9847 1.9911

RENMINBI 24.3081 24.3871 24.4661

have since migrated to the newreporting standard ahead ofDecember deadline.

However, some financial expertshave said that the new system ofreporting requires a lot of disclosurewhich some companies might not becomfortable with.

it means that it was inadvertentlydone. According to him, themanagement of PHCN did notreceive the order by the time thetransactions took place.

“The order that my learned silk isreferring to has elapsed by effusionof time on the 23 of May becausethe order was to last for only 7 days.Since it was made on May 16, it haselapsed according to the rules orthe court. I disagree with the oralapplication of my learned silkseeking to extend the order.

“He supposed to do soappropriately. If my colleaguewould not allow us to move theapplication to discharge the orderfor alleged disobedience which wesaid was done inadvertently, Isubmit that the order has elapsedand the application for extension donot apply”, he declared.

Counsel to First Bank, Mr. BayoAkinsola said the applicant hadalluded to the fact that monies werewithdrawn from the account afterthe order but refuse to acknowledgethat there were also some lodgmentsinto the account. He stated that theywould respond appropriately to theallegations at the right time.

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

By MICHAEL EBOH

IOSCO raises concerns over regulation ofderivatives trading

AS the Nigeria

Stock Exchange,NSE, plans to introducederivatives trading inthe next couple ofmonths, theI n t e r n a t i o n a lOrganization ofSecurities Commissions,IOSCO, has raisedconcerns on the need for

effective regulation ofthe derivatives market toensure it does not leadto a crash in the capitalmarket.

IOSCO, according to astatement signed by itsspokesperson, CarltaVitzthum disclosed thatderivatives marketintermediaries, DMI,were not properlyregulated prior to 2008,

a development which ledto a number of themengaging in sharppractices which becameobvious during thefinancial crisis of 2008.

To this end, she saidIOSCO has published areport titled,‘International Standardsfor Derivatives MarketI n t e r m e d i a r yRegulation,’ which

recommends high-levelinternational standardsfor the regulation ofmarket participants thatare in the business ofdealing, making amarket ori n t e r m e d i a t i n gtransactions in over-the-counter (OTC)derivatives.

She said, “Historicallythese derivatives market

intermediaries (DMIs)often have not beensubjected to the samelevel of regulation asparticipants in thetraditional securitiesmarket. Withoutsufficient regulation,some DMIs operated ina manner that createdrisks to the globaleconomy thatmanifested during thefinancial crisis of 2008.”

The report, accordingto Vitzthum, is based onthe commitment by G-20leaders in 2009 to reformthe OTC derivativesmarket in response to thecrisis.

She said the report istaking into considerationdistinctions between theOTC derivatives marketand the traditionalsecurities markets, andalso the differences inj u r i s d i c t i o n a lapproaches ofinternational marketauthorities.

Vitzthum explainedthat the report draws onthe extensive workIOSCO has done ontraditional securitiesmarket intermediaries,in an effort to harmonisethe recommendationsapplicable to DMIs andto avoid the creation ofunnecessary burdens onentities that act as both

“Manufacturers find itdifficult to cope withinterest rate as higher as15 per cent, so we wantgovernment to provideintervention funds thatwill help manufacturersto continue productionin large scale which willlead to creation of jobsfor Nigerians.”

He commendedPresident GoodluckJonathan for theintervention fund fromthe Bank of Industry(BOI).

Ibube, stressed thatNosak would behonoured by SON on theaward of NIS 1SO 9001:2008 certificate.

According to him,“The QualityManagement System inaccordance with therequirements of NISISO 9001: 2008 wase s t a b l i s h e d ,documented and isbeing implemented and

maintained.”On its plan to go

public, he said, “We arepreparing this companyto access the capitalmarket in order to tapthe abundant benefits,especially long termfunds that will help usexpand our productioncapacity. Very soon wewill soon go public asarrangement hasreached an advancedstage.

“The companycommenced operation inJuly 2002, andspecialised in theproduction of high puritybeverage grade ethanol, with a daily productioncapacity of 100,000litres. The plant wasincreased to 250000litres per day with thecommissioning of the2nd plant in October,2007. To maintain ourleadership position inthe industry, the 3rd plant

AHEAD of its

proposed plans togo public and get listedon the Nigerian StockExchange (NSE) as wellas its certification byStandard Organisationof Nigeria (SON),Nosak DistilleriesLimited, has lamentedthe high cost of sourcingfunds from the banks,and called on theFederal Governmentthrough the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN)to find a way ofreducing interest rate.

Managing Director/CEO, Nosak Distilleries,Mr. Edwin Ibube,revealed this in Lagos,on Wednesday, sayingthe greatest challengefacing the company isthe high cost of sourcingfund from banks.

According to him,

Nosak Distilleries laments high cost offunds

From left: Managing Director, Solamith Nigeria Limited, Mr. Tunde Sanni; Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Keystone Bank Limited (special guest), Mrs. Sally Uwechue-Mbanefo and Mr.Tersoo Akula of Theophilus Danjuma Foundation during the TY Foundation graduation lecture organisedby Afrigrowth Foundation, in Abuja.

traditional securitiesmarket intermediariesand DMIs.

She said, “Therecommendations in theReport are intended toaddress: DMIobligations that shouldhelp mitigate systemicrisks; requirementsintended to managecounterparty risk in theOTC derivativesmarkets; and protectingparticipants in the OTCderivatives markets fromunfair, improper orfraudulent practices.

“ T h erecommendations aremade regarding thefollowing substantiveareas: Registration/licensing standards;capital standards orother financial resourcesrequirements for non-prudentially regulatedDMIs; business conductstandards; businesssupervision standards;and recordkeepingstandards.”

Continuing, Vitzthumnoted, “Consistencyamong marketauthorities with respectto the regulation ofDMIs is essential to thesuccessful oversight ofthe global OTCderivatives marketparticularly becausemany DMIs operate inmultiple jurisdictions.”

NASDAQ OMX

Group Inc said itwill offer cash andrebates totaling $40million to compensateclients affected by theproblems with FacebookInc’s initial publicoffering, an amount wellshort of the lossesclaimed by top marketmakers for the IPO.

After approval byregulators, Nasdaq saidon Wednesday, $13.7million would be paid toits affected memberfirms and the balancewould be credited tomembers to reducetrading costs, with allbenefits expected to beawarded within sixmonths.

“Our expectation isthat every firm willreceive some measure ofcash and that every firmwill receive their fullaccommodation by yearend if current tradingpatterns persist,” Eric

Nasdaq offers $40m to coverFacebook losses, short of claims

Noll, executive vicepresident for transactionservices at NasdaqOMX, said in a webcastto member firms.

The top four marketmakers in the FacebookIPO - UBS, Citigroup,Knight Capital, andCitadel Securities -together lost upward of$115 million due totechnical problems thatprevented them fromknowing for about twohours if their orders hadgone through afterFacebook began trading.

Smaller market makersthat might have sufferedlosses would alsoreceive a part of the $40million.

The idea of rebates hascaused some concern atother exchanges.Sources at Nasdaqrivals said that such aplan would force brokersto trade at Nasdaq,taking market share fromcompeting exchanges.

was commissioned inFebruary 2012.”

Ibube, disclosed thatthe company hasinvested a total of N6billion with employmentof 250 staff, stressingthat the increase in theplant capacity willgenerate additional 450jobs.

In his words, “Apartfrom cutting edgetechnology and newequipment in ourprocesses, we believe inmanpower training anddevelopment to meetgrowing industrychallenges.

Nosak Distilleries iscurrently the largestproducer of beveragegrade ethanol in Africathat serves the needs ofindustries such as:P h a r m a c e u t i c a l ,Cosmetics, Alcoholicbeverages, Blenders,Hospitals, Paint,Lacquers etc.”

BY PETER EGWUATU

… To get SON certification

CMYK

Vanguard,FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—23

CMYK

BRIEF

CBN, Lagospartner one-paymentworkshop

THE Lagos state office ofthe Auditor-General for

local government iscollaborating with the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN) toorganize a two day workshopon e-payment.

The workshop will involvepublic sector and localgovernment functionariesacross the state such asCouncil chairmen, councilmanagers, educationsecretaries of localgovernment educationauthorities, secretaries,pension board, localgovernment counciltreasurers, paymasters, headsof accounts of localgovernment educationauthorities and localgovernment pension board.Banks and CBN approvedsolution providers are beenencouraged to also attend toshowcase their end to end e-payment solutions to theaudience.

According to the head ofplanning, research anddevelopment Lagos Stateoffice of the Auditor-Generalfor Local Government, Mr.Adeniji Salami “In view of thecashless policy by the CBN,the fact is that e-payment isnew and alien to our economyand there could be some risksassociated with the practice.So we don’t want the localgovernment officials to runthe risk of huge losses due tolack of knowledge andunderstanding”. He furtherstated that the state office ofthe Auditor-General for thelocal government iscollaborating with the CBN tosensitize and enlighten thepeople on the workings of e-payment “we are doing thisto enlighten our people tounderstand the rudimentsand workings of cashlesspolicy, e-payment systemsand how it could assist us inour duties”.

The event is themed as ‘theworkings of electronicpayment/cashless policy forpublic sector functionaries,Local governments and Localgovernment educationauthorities in Lagos state’.

The event is scheduled tohold on the 13th-14th of Junewith the Special Adviser tothe Governor of Lagos stateon taxation and revenue Hon.Abimbola Shodipo as theguest of honour andPermanent Secretary/Auditor–General for LocalGovernment Lagos state asthe chief host.

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

SECURING convictions inprosecution of money

laundering cases is critical tosuccess of measures to fightmoney laundering andterrorism financing.

Director General of theInter-Governmental ActionGroup against MoneyLaundering in West Africa(GIABA), Alhaji AbdulahiShehu Yibaikwal said this onMonday at the officialpresentation of a book titled‘Strategies and Techniques ofProsecuting Economic andFinancial Crimes’.

He said “National and

Securing convictions criticalto war against moneylaundering —GIABA

regional capacities toinvestigate cases and bringthem to Court have beengreatly enhanced over thepast 6 years. However, all thatwork can come to nil ifconvictions are not thensecured. Thus, one final andcrucial step in the chain ofopposition to moneylaundering (ML) andTerrorism Financing (TF),including issues ofcorruption, is thestrengthening of the capacityof prosecutors to successfullyprosecute cases in court inorder to obtain convictionsand deny criminals the benefitof their ill-gotten gains. Thatis the aim of the book we are

presenting today. This bookhas been published as part ofour technical assistance tomember states.”

Speaking on the rationalefor the book, he said, “As aleader of the regional allianceagainst transnationalorganized crime, my goal isnot to determine the directionof the wind of change incriminal justice, but to inspireand adjust the sails – and thatis the main thrust of the bookto be presented today. Thebook seeks to provide someguidance to officials who areinvolved in the prosecution ofeconomic and financialcrimes. It reviews contendingissues, provoking somethoughts, especially on theways in which the capacity ofprosecutors should beenhanced to effectively deal

with economic and financialcrimes.

“In short, it aims tostrengthen the integrity andprofessionalism ofprosecutors. Interested userswill find the book useful notonly in understanding thenature and patterns ofeconomic and financialcrimes, but also thechallenges that developingcountries, in particular, facein dealing with theseproblems. The book drawsinspiration from experiencesof many jurisdictions, whichsuggest that to successfullydeal with these menaces,strong laws are vital, and thisview has been held by thecourts to represent aproportionate response to aninsidious problem.

“In many case laws, thecourts have accepted that ifeconomically motivatedcrimes are to be combated,there should be a balancebetween individual rights andthe wider public interest.Respect for human rights, isafter all, integral to crimeprevention and detection, theadministration of justice, andindeed, the trial of suspects.

“Looking into the future, wecan only be certain of onething - there will continue tobe changes in the conditionsand circumstances which formthe context in which we fighteconomic and financialcrimes within the rule of law.And for the crusade to remaineffective, we must strengthenthe capacities of investigators,prosecutors and also judgesto adapt appropriately, to takeinto account these changes.Hence, our technicalassistance program consistingof provisions of legal advisoryservices, training forinvestigators and prosecutors,as well as capacity buildingprograms for judges, willcontinue to target the specificareas that we can make themaximum impact in ourregional fight againstorganized crime, in particularthe laundering of theproceeds of crime and thefinancing of terrorism.”

GROUP ManagingDirector of Union Bank

of Nigeria Plc, Mrs FunkeOsibodu has called forconcerted efforts by banks tomake agricultural financingattractive and profitable forshareholders/depositors byfocusing on a holistic valuechain.She made this call in Abujaat the African Rural andAgricultural CreditAssociation (AFRACA)workshop sponsored by thebank.She emphasised the benefitsof this approach to includethe production of input/outputlinkages, meeting the needsof industries, infrastructureneeds of stakeholders amongothers.The Union Bank boss said thatthe value chain model wouldenhance increase in per

Union Bank boss makes case for agric financing

capita income, employmentgeneration, ruraldevelopment, empowermentof citizens and well informedbanking customers. She listed other benefits toinclude products foragricultural and industrialsectors, reduction in Africa’sfood import bill andsustainability of Africa’s foodsecurity.She eulogised the leadershiprole being played by theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in providing theplatform for banks to focus onagriculture. Mrs Osibodu said this was beingcomplimented by the FederalMinistry of Agriculturethrough practical innovationsin enlarging the value chainapproach. The AFRACA isexpected to assist the centralbanks, development agencies

and related ministries to aligntheir interventions andpolicies with areas that willenhance the agriculturalvalue chain. The forum is alsoexpected to provide a roadmap to utilising knowledgefor bank credit facilities fromthe farmers’ view point.Union bank has been in thevanguard of agriculturefinancing for many decades,which has earned it nationaland international awards andlaurels. Meanwhile, expertsand farmers at the workshophave called on relevantgovernment agencies to takeagriculture more seriously byincreasing incentives to thesector. The Secretary Generalof AFRACA, Alhaji SalehUsman Gashua set the tuneby challenging Africanleaders to refocus theirenergies on policies that

would attract investors to thesector. He observed that in mostemerging nations, Nigeriawas behind practical stepstowards achieving the muchneeded food security.Experts such as professorsVictor Okoruwa, JamesOlukosi, Dapo Adedire and DrIlo posited that until anenabling environment wasprovided for all issues in thevalue chain, agriculture willcontinue to suffer policyinconsistencies andsomersaults.They challenged all thestakeholders to team uptowards realising foodsufficiency in the continent.The agriculture expertsopined that it was throughcollaboration that the valuechain would be pulledrather than pushed

From left: Tosin Odukoya, Head of Investor Relations, Stanbic IBTC Bank; Hon. SamadOgunbo, Supervisor of Works, Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area; Morin Adeyemi,Head of Corporate Social Investments, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Memudu Bakare, Chairman,Community Development Association (CDA), Ogombo Town, during the handing over ofborehole facility donated by staff.

24 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

COCKTAIL — Rudolph Ezeani, Partner, Adejumo, Ekisola & Ezeani (Legal Practitio-ners & Notaries Public); Fubara Anga, Partner, Aelex (Legal Practitioners & Arbitra-tors); Sade Morgan, Legal Director for West Africa, British America Tobacco; AnthonyNwaochei, Managing Partner, The Law Crest LLP and Ayuli Jemide, Lead Partner,Detail Solicitors at the Law Crest LLP Cocktail party to commemorate the firm's tran-sition into a limited liability partnership in Lagos.

SEIZURES — Federal Operations Units (FOU) Comptroller, Dan Ugo andhis officers, inspecting some of the seized contrabands.

ACBF signs partnershipagreement with AfrExim Bank

Amiwero, maritime stakeholder, arrestedfor writing to President Jonathan

STORIES BY

DANIEL GUMM

THE Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ of

the Nigeria CustomsService has interceptedvarious contrabandgoods valued at overone hundred million(100 million) Naira inthe past two weeks.

The Controller of theUnit, Comptroller DanUgo, stated thisMonday, whileconducting press menround the seized items.

Prominent among theitems seized were jumbobales of second-handclothing, used hand-bags and shoes, usedtyres, poultry products,mosquito repellant coilsas well as used fridges.

Other items seizedincluded two (2) units ofbrand new Toyota Camrycars and an SUV, whichwere ostensibly clearedas used vehicles.

The CAC F.O.U. ‘A’explained that most ofthe items listed abovefalls under schedulethree (3) of the Revised

Import Prohibition list ofthe Common ExternalTariff. He emphasisedthat the FederalGovernment of Nigeriain its wisdom placedsome of these items onban in consideration ofthe health hazardsassociated with them,while protecting localindustries.

He further stated thatthe latest circular fromthe Customsheadquarters on zerotolerance to importationof contraband goods,particularly poultry

products would be ag-gressively pursued,reiterating theoperational readiness ofthe anti-smuggling outfitto combat smugglingand facilitate legitimatetrade.

The CAC stated:“There is a renewedvigour in our approachto anti-smuggling whichis intelligence based.”He attributed thesuccesses recorded tothe modalities put inplace by the unit tocheckmate activities ofsome unpatrioticelements whoseattitudes, of non-compliance with theFederal Government’sfiscal policies have beena clog in the wheel of oureconomic progress.

He, however, vowed tosustain the war onsmuggling incompliance with theadmonishments of theComptroller General ofCustoms, AlhajiAbdullahi lnde Dikko(CFR) and hismanagement team,calling on all Nigeriansto shun acts ofsmuggling in view of itseffects on our economyand as well as its securityimplications.

FOU Zone ‘A’ intercepts contrabands val-ued at N100m in 2 wks

ON April 3, armedmen from the Fed-

eral Operations Unit(FOU), Nigeria CustomsService, (NCS) stormedLucky Amiwero’s, Presi-dent, National Council ofManaging Directors of Li-censed Customs Agent’s(NCMDLCA’s) office,beat him, before he waswhisked away to theFOU office in Ikeja, foralleged misinformation.

At Ikeja, he was lockedup and denied access tohis lawyer for five days.

THE African Capacity Building

Foundation (ACBF) andthe African Export andImport Bank (AfrEximBank) has signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding, aimed atstrengthening theircollaboration on variouscapacity buildinginitiatives in Africa. TheAgreement recognisesthe common areasinterest in fosteringsustainable capacity forAfrican countries.

In signing the MoU,the two institutionsagreed to join efforts insupporting inter-Africantrade, by strengtheninginstitutional capacity forexport development,building capacity forresearch, policyformulation andimplementation of thinktanks. Private sectororganisations in thetargeted countries wouldalso be included in thefocus areas, in order touncover innovation ineffective economicintegration, inter-African trade and exportdevelopment.

ACBF has extensive

experience working onAfrica's developmentalchallenges and has anestablished regional net-work of partners that areable to carry out capaci-ty development pro-grammes in a sustaina-ble manner. On its part,AfrExim Bank is an Afri-can regional institutionthat provides trade fi-nance facilities to pro-mote intra-African tradeand to encourage Africancountries to trade inter-nationally. By partneringto mitigate country risksin Africa, the two insti-tutions will create syner-gies, through joint sup-port for economic policyanalysis and manage-ment and other capacitydevelopment initiatives.

ACBF and AfrEximBank are complementa-ry in contributing to themitigation of countryrisks, as the bank pro-vides country risk guar-antees to enhance thecredit of African borrow-ers, whereas ACBF con-tributes to better econom-ic policy formulation andmanagement on the con-tinent.

Speaking at the sign-

ing ceremony, Mr Jean-Louis Ekra, Presidentand Chairman of theBoard of AfrExim Banksaid that the agreementunderpined the bank'sstrategic focus onleveraging partnerships,in order to complementand supplement ongoingefforts at addressinghuman resource capacitygaps on the continent.He highlighted that"through strategicpartnerships andcollaboration, our twoinstitutions will be ableto create the necessarysynergies for the creationof the requisite humanand institutionalcapabilities to supporteconomic growth anddevelopment in Africa,by leveraging andpooling our individualtechnical expertise."

ACBF was establishedin February 1991. It isthe outcome ofcollaboration betweenAfrican governmentsand the internationaldonor community. Itsmission is to buildsustainable human andinstitutional capacity forsustainable growth andpoverty reduction inAfrica.

Amiwero, is an advocatefor port reform in Niger-ia. He was a member ofthe Reconstituted Presi-dential Task Force on Re-form of the Nigeria Cus-toms Service in 2010.

Amiwero stated that theCustoms authority havedecided to punish him forhis stand on many poli-cies of the service consid-ered contradictory to tradefacilitation. As a con-cerned stakeholder in themaritime sector, he hasmounted pressure ongovernment to suspendBenchmarking, alsoknown as CommoditiesData Base, the Comptrol-ler General of Customs,Abdulahi Inde’s policy toboost the revenue profileof the Customs, which theFederal Government hasmandated to generate N1trillion for the 2012 fiscalyear.

The Customs is doingeverything it could to si-lence those stakeholders,who opposed the Bench-marking policy. Bench-marking is a revenue col-lecting system where flatduties are charged on im-ported commodities re-gardless of the value ofsuch goods.

Amiwero had writtenthe President in one of hispetitions to reverse the

Benchmarking. Thepetition, titled: “Ille-gal Imposition ofCommodities DataBase by NigeriaCustoms Service inContravention of theCustoms and Ex-cise Management(Amendment) Act20 of 2003,” hadprodded the Presi-dent to disregardthe policy as it con-travenes paragraph7 (1) of the Actwhich stipulatesthat “Customs valu-ation shall be based

on the actual price of thegoods to be valued,bought or imported foruse in Nigeria, based onthe price actually payablewith adjustment.”

When Senate President,David Mark received thesame petion, he respond-ed by directing the Sen-ate Committee on Financeto act on the matter. TheFederal Government hassince cancelled the poli-cy following strong civilresistance of Benchmark-ing led by Amiwero.

Amiwero had been ar-rested and charged tocourt for alleged minsin-formation of the Presi-dent. His ofence: he hassigned and authorised theissuance of a document tothe President without au-thority. That he also gavefalse information to theOffice of the President ofthe Federal Republic,thereby committing an of-fence contrary to the pro-vision of section 125 (A)l(a) of the Criminal CodeAct cap C 38 Laws of ofthe federaton, 2004 an of-fence punishable underthe same Act.

Vanguard’s efforts toseek clarification from theCustoms as to why thearrest, was to no avail asthe Customs Public Rela-tions Officer, who did notwant his name in print,explained that he has justbeen posted to the FOU,from Servicom.

*Lucky Amiwero

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—25

STORIES BY NAOMI UZOR

Jonathan assures foreign investors of safety

THE Federal Governmenthas assured foreign

investors of safety of theirlives and properties includingtheir investment, urging themto conduct their businesses inthe country without panic.

President GoodluckJonathan who wasrepresented by the Ministerfor Trade and Investment, Dr.Olusegun Aganga, at theNigerian democracyanniversary lecture organisedby the Lagos Chamber ofCommerce and Industry(LCCI), said in spite of recentchallenges, his administrationremains resolute in ensuringthe security and protection oflives and properties of everycitizen irrespective of wherethey reside or work in thecountry, adding that he is"assuring our foreign friendsto continue to carry out theirbusinesses with no panicmeasures."

He disclosed that thecountry has continued toattract the required flow ofinvestment from both domesticand foreign sources,especially in sectors where thecountry has competitive andcomparative advantage suchas the downstream oil andgas, mining, agriculture andinfrastructure, real estate

development, maritime andshipping.

“As a result of aggressiveinvestment drive by theFederal Ministry of Trade andInvestment, investmentscommitments of N6.6 trillionhave been made for the next

3 years; comprising ofN3.9 trillion in FDI and N2.7trillion in LDI and withimmense potential for jobcreation. This is expected tocontinue, given the manyreforms that thisadministration is putting in

place to improve Nigeria’sbusiness and investmentclimate. These include ports,customs, business registration,tax, immigration, power andinfrastructure reforms amongothers,” he said.

President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Goodie Ibru (left); representativeof President Goodluck Jonathan and Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of theNigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Mustapha Bello and Guest Lecturer and SectorDirector, Africa Region, World Bank Washington, Marcello Giugale, at the Democracy Daylecture of the Chamber.

French watch manufacturer seeks increase inmarket position

French watch and jewelrymanufacturer, Cartier

International says the openingof four outlets in Nigeria wasto bring its products closer toconsumers and to strengthenits market position in thecountry.

Export Director, BrunoCarraz, told reporters inLagos that of Cartier ’s 300

outlets worldwide, four are inLagos and Abuja, respectively;and they have concluded plansto further open new boutiquesin Port Harcourt and othercities in the country.

Bruno, who was in thecountry with the AreaManager, VincentDecoopman, , further statedthat they were in Nigeria todiscuss with their partner,

Polo Nigeria Limited on howthey can better attractNigerians to Cartier brands.(Polo Nigeria is a collector andmarketer of luxury items likewatches, jewelry, leatheraccessories, eyewear, etc formanufacturers worldwide.)

“I thank Polo for what theyare doing for us in Nigeria. Wefound in Polo a good partner

because they have theknowledge of the market, andthey know how to representour brands in Nigeria and wefeel this is the time for us tostrengthen our position inNigeria. Cartier is renownedfor luxury items in everycountry. Today with the helpof Polo team, if you talk aboutwatches in Nigeria, or anyluxury, there is only one name‘Polo’; so our choice of Polo isbecause the company is veryknowledgeable about luxury.They are the best one to reallydeliver what Cartierrepresents. So we are veryproud to start the businesswith Polo Ltd,” said Bruno.

Fielding questions on luxuryitems collection in Nigeria,Decoopman, said it cuts acrossvarieties of Cartier collectionsyou can find in the world.“Everything you can find inplaces like New York, Paris,anywhere in the world likewatches, jewel, leatheraccessories, eyewear; Cartiercollections have been here fordecades already. Polointroduced these collectionsand what we are doing now isto raise support in terms ofm e r c h a n d i s i n g ,Communication, investmentand training,” he stated.

The Minister of Trade andInvestment, Mr. Olusegun

Aganga, has said that one ofthe major challenges that havehindered the growth ofoperators of the Small andGrowing Businesses (SGBs) inNigeria is access tocompetitive markets bothlocally, regionally and globally.

Aganga disclosed thisduring the Market AccessInteractive Session organisedby the EnterpriseDevelopment Centre of thePan- African University incollaboration with EtisalatNigeria, in Abuja.

“One of the majorchallenges that have curtailed

the growth of operators ofSGBs in Nigeria is access tocompetitive markets bothlocally, regionally and globallyand several deliberateinterventions in the past havenot had any significant andsustainable impact. Therefore,a new impetus must begenerated to expand themarket horizon of the SBGs inNigeria” he said.

He noted that the theme ofthe interactive session,‘Facilitating Market Access forSmall and GrowingBusinesses’ is aimed at keyingthe SGBs into the value chainof large enterprises for thepurpose of empowering and

strengthening them to be inthe best position to createemployment, generate wealthand reduce poverty in Nigeria.

“Specifically, the session isaimed at creating marketaccess for credible SGBs inNigeria, bridging the gapbetween Large Enterprisesand SGBs, fosteringnetworking and partnershipopportunities, enabling localcontent development andparticipation in varioussectors of the Nigerianeconomy by SGBs, andcreating a platform forstructured networkingbetween SBGs, among

Access to competitive markets impedesSGBs' growth — Aganga

LCCI inducts 73

new members

THE Lagos Chamber ofCommerce and Industry

(LCCI), yesterday, awardedcertificates of membership toseventy- three companies.

These companies wereawarded certificates ofmembership by the LCCI at areception ceremonyWednesday, at the CommerceHouse on Victoria Island.

According to the PublicRelations Manager of LCCI,Mr. Tope Oluwaleye, theleading Chamber ofCommerce in the West Africansub-region, was established in1886. Part of its advocacy rolesis ensuring a conducivebusiness environment for itsmembers in particular and theNigerian business communityin general. Many businessorganisations in Lagos areregistered members of theChamber.

The Chairman, membershipand Welfare Committee of theChamber, Dr. WoleOgunpehin, disclosed thatnew members are admittedinto the chamber every quarterin a year while receptionceremonies are held for themtwice within the same period.

Reps wadeinto Innoson’sauctioned parts

BY OLAYEMI FOFAH

THE House ofr e p r e s e n t a t i v e s

committee on industry hasrecently expressed concernover the controversial seizureand auctioning of 25containers bearingCKD{Completely KnockedDown} parts belonging to anindustrialist, Chief, Dr.Innocent Chukwuma.

The committee which wereon a working visit to InnosonPlastic Plant at Emene, Enugustate were shocked when theChairman of the company ,DrChukwuma explained how thecustoms impounded thecomponents imported for theassembly of motorcycles by hiscompany, which were latersold to unknown buyerswithout compensation to hiscompany. The committeewhich comprised tenlawmakers has promised towade into the matter as theywere amazed by the actions ofcustoms services.

“My main problem now ishow to settle the banks thathave financed the importation.My ordeal started in 2004when the 25 containers valuedthen at N800 million wereimported, but impounded andlater sold by the customsservice officials. I have goneto court to seek redress,judgment was delivered in myfavor, but the customs onlypaid 30 per cent of the wholesum and refused to pay thebalance. I have tried within mycapacity to pay some part ofthe money to the banks thatfinanced the business yet theyare still threatening andharassing me with Economicand Financial CrimesCommission {EFCC}officials” he explained.

CMYK

26 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—31

With PRINCE OSUAGWU

princeosuagwu@gmail.com

LG unleashes the gamingpotentials in 3D TV

By EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

TELEVISION took a new dimension to entertainment onTuesday, when LG electronics debuted with its first ever

Cinema 3D game festival in Nigeria. The LG 3D game festi-val was staged to demonstrate to the Nigerian public, thepotential of the 3D television in the gaming environment.About 200 youths recruited by LG were on hand to test theirgaming prowess in the trilling and relaxed atmosphere ofDEEHALL, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

The 200 gamers for the LG 3D Wars contest,were drawnfrom across the 36 states of the federation and FCT. The con-test is expected to recognise the LG 3D War Champion at theend of the competition, in a grand finale, expected to hold atSilver Birds Galleria.

The winner will coast home with LG’s new 55”inch Cine-ma Screen 3D TV to be launched in Nigeria next month.

innovations specifically fit forthe purpose.

The beautifully crafted NokiaAsha 311 is a fast and fluid 3.5Gcapacitive touchscreen device,powered by a 1GHz processorto provide a great internet ex-perience. The bright and edgyNokia Asha 305 is a fun andaffordable phone, featuring theexclusive Easy Swap dualSIM. The phone features abright and colorful 3” WQVGAresistive touch screen alongwith Bluetooth and Dual Bandconnectivity. Forty EA gamesare available for download withevery phone as well as a 2MPcamera, Nokia Maps and therevolutionary Nokia Browserwhich helps significantly low-er data costs. Its sister, the No-kia Asha 306, is a single SIMmodel, and becomes Nokia’smost affordable Wi_Fi handsetto date. Along with all the greatfeatures that come with it, suchas bright and colorful, 3” WQV-GA resistive touch screen and40 EA games for download, theNokia Asha 306 also provides

NOKIA has just addedthe touch experience to

its new three Asha models, 305,306 and 311. The reason maynot be unconnected to its desireto have the next billion con-sumers connected SMARTly.

The company said that thethree new phone models havefurther expanded the success-ful Asha family that was firstintroduced in October 2011.

Today, there are 10 Asha de-vices available in more than 130markets, providing young, so-cial consumers with a choice ofphones to match their own life-style.

These latest phones, Nokiasaid, have been designed toprovide an incredibly rich,smartphone_like experience toconsumers who want to be setfree from excessive data con-sumption costs and short bat-tery life. The Nokia Asha 305,Asha 306 and Asha 311 offer anew, fully re_designed touchuser interface, combining theproven ease of use from Nokia’sheritage with digital design

WLAN, enabling users to stayconnected while on the move.It also supports video stream-ing through both GPRS andWLAN, meaning this handsettruly is a fun way to stay intouch.

The Nokia Asha 311 is a col-ourful, compact touch screendevice that comes with all thefeatures you’d expect for a funand easy mobile experience. Itboasts of a bright and colour-ful, scratch resistant capacitiveglass screen with polarizationfilters ensuring users get thebest experience from theunique and visually entertain-ing user interface. The NokiaAsha 311 also features a 3.2MPcamera and pre-installed No-kia Maps, in addition to the 15level pre-bundled version ofAngry Birds.

The pre-loaded social clientmakes accessing Facebook,Twitter and many other globalsocial networks simple whileNokia Browser makes usingmobile internet fast and afford-able. It also includes the mostpopular messaging services.

Three Nokia Asha rangesnow in Touch

•New Nokia Asha touch ranges

FOR career photographers andother real tech geeks, a new

technology just debuted to make pho-tography more fun. It is the ioShut-ter , a remote-control app/device thatallows the user to control how hisDSLR takes photos, via the iPhone,iPad or iPod touch. The app allows acamera which is hard-wired to thephone to be triggered in a numberof ways.

In its single shot mode, ioShuttercan be used to take photos simply bytouching a control on the iDevice’sscreen. However, it also incorporatesa motor drive function, timer, timelapse, sound trigger, movement trig-ger, and bulb mode where the shut-ter remains open as long as the userdictates. Those modes can even be

mixed, so the user could for instancearrange for the camera to start tak-ing shots in time lapse mode, butonly once the app is triggered by asound. The system currently workswith Canon cameras, along withsome models of Samsung, Hassebladand Pentax, while a version forNikon is said to be on the way.

The app works with iPhone mod-els 3 and up, 4th generation iPodtouch, and all iPads. Prospective us-ers can download it for free from theApp Store, to check out its featuresin more detail. If you want to actual-ly use it to take pictures, however,you will require the dedicated cam-era cord. Although prices currentlyaren’t available on the product web-site.

•Remote camera shutter.......

The estimated retailprice for Nokia Asha305 is EUR 63 and it’sexpected to start ship-ping in the secondquarter of 2012. Theestimated retail pricefor Nokia Asha 306 isEUR 68. The NokiaAsha 311 has an esti-mated retail price ofEUR 92. Both devicesare expected to startshipping inthe thirdquarter of2012.

screens on phoneslike the Galaxy Notein terms of size ver-sus pixel density.The new five-inchdisplay uses LG’sAdvanced High Per-formance In-PlaneSwitching, APIStechnology, whichthe company claimsdelivers improvedcolor accuracy, in-

creased resolution and PPI,and greater light transmissionfor lower power consumption.

Though, the company has notannounced which phones willbe featuring the screen, it isrumored that Google’s nextNexus device will launch inthe next several months, andcould very well feature a five-inch screen. Others speculatethat Apple is eyeing the Gal-axy Note, and plans to launcha five-inch device of its own.

With Google’s Android con-ference a few weeks away, andApple’s iPhone press event, itis expected that the first to re-ceive LG’s new display willsoon be known.

•Contestants showcasing their creativity on LG 3D TV in Lagos.

... and 5” full HDsmartphone display debuts

As technology changes the face of the world, LG appearsundaunted in innovation as it has introduced a new smart-

phone display that’s expected to come to new handsets in thesecond half of 2012.

The smartphone comes with a panel of five inches across, andfeatures a pixel density of 440ppi with an aspect ratio of 16:9,capable of displaying 1080p HD content. The new display alsocomes with trumps Apple’s retina display, as well as the larger

•LG’s five-inch LCD dis-play can handle full 1080pHD video

Shutter that allows camera control via iPhone

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28 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 29

30 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 31

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32— Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Did you cook growing up? Yes. I did a lot of cookinggrowing up.What made you decide tobecome Professional Cook? I have a passion for theprofession.How did you train ?I was trained in SheratonStockholm hotel Sweden, theythough that African hasnothing to offer but I was ableto prove to them that we cando more better How difficult was yourtraining? The training is not difficultbecause this what I choose asa careerWould you do it again?Yes. It is a training any chefwill love to have.Best cooking tip for a novice? Working in the kitchen tablefor the first time may be quitea thrill. Cooking is somethingthat you should take seriously.Here are some basic cookingtips that everyone shouldknow before putting on anapron.Preparation is the key: Preparethe things that you need towork with before cooking.Purchase all the ingredientsthat you need and make a

Oluwole Oshinloye trained as a chef at the Nigerian Hotel& Catering school and the Sheraton Stockholm hotel

Sweden. Today, he is the executive chef of Golden Tulip Festachotel, Lagos. In this chat he shares his experience .

checklist of the tools andequipments that you will use.Proper preparation is one ofthe key things that separatethe professional from thenovice.Food hygiene: Whenpreparing to cook, alwayswear clean clothes and put onan apron. Briskly wash yourhands before and after work-ing with raw meat and otherfood items. Pull your hair backto prevent any loose hair tocome in contact with yourfood. Wash all meat, poultry,fruits and vegetables beforecooking them. Avoid handlingfood when you are sick or feelill.Frying : Frying is one of themost common cookingprocedures. Cool and dryplaces are the best storage foroil. It is not advisable to deepfry salted or moist products.Fry in small portions of foodso that the oil would not cooldown fast. Frying pans shouldbe heated up with just theright temperature so that foodwould not stick to the pan.Baking :Make sure that allingredients are pre-measured.Temperature is very importantin baking. Always followt e m p e r a t u r erecommendations as indicated

in the recipe. The mixingprocess in baking should befollowed precisely. Over-mixing or under-mixing canalter the taste of your finishedproduct adversely. Do notovercrowd your oven andavoid opening the oven doorevery so often.On cooking pasta: Rememberthat fresh pasta cooks quickly.Cooking pasta in plenty ofwater and constant stirringcan prevent them from stickingtogether. To prevent mushypasta, make sure not to allowyour pasta to stay in waterlonger than it should. Salt

British Airways unveils Olympics menu

Michelin-star chef,Heston Blumenthal

has unveiled the Olympicand Paralympic Gamesinspired menus created byrising star Simon Hulstone,which cabin crew will serveto three million BritishAirways customers duringthe Games.Simon spent the past yearbeing mentored by Heston

does not only bring out theflavor of pastas but it couldalso add to its firmness.Cooking vegetables: It isadvisable to scrub vegetablesrather than to peel them. Mostnutrients can be found in theskin of the vegetables. To getthe most out of your vegetable,you can steam your veggies orput them on a microwave ovenrather than boiling them.Finish up with a goodpresentationWith a nice presentation, youwould definitely entice anyoneto have a taste of the food youprepared. It is a good idea to

decorate your food only withthings that are edible. Ediblegarnishing should always gowith the food that youprepared. One tip: use thesimilar ingredients that aredominant in your food forgarnishing. For instance, youcan create chocolate curls totop of a delicious chocolatecupcake.Grilling : The marinade is thekey to a good grilled food. Puta generous amount ofmarinade to the food that youare about to grill. The best cutfor marinated food should atleast one inch thick. Whencooking directly from acharcoal grill, sufficientamount of coal can add to thequality of your food.With these basic tips in mind,you are sure to make your wayto a delectable and satisfyingmeal!Cooking is something fun,could be one of your hobby.Especially for moms. Momshould prepare the meal forthe family. Change your menueveryday, so your family won’tbe bored. Happy Cooking What advice would you offera young person interested ingetting into the culinaryindustry? There are two ways; eitheryou start in a kitchen or atculinary school. But the mostimportant thing to becominga good chef, is traveling,curiosity, never thinking youknow the truth, trying to workwith a lot of different chefs,learning many ways of cooking,then finding your own style, butstill being open. You will neverbe done experiencing new waysof cooking...Favorite Gadget?The most basic and necessarykitchen gadget is a good knife. The 8" chef’s knife is the onemost serious cooks use most. Funniest Kitchen incident? Working in kitchen a. Startmaking a BIG mixer bowl ofmash potatoes...pour the milk inand accidently turned the mixeron high. Mashed potatoes allover my face, the sous chef andwall. Tasted good though.Favorite food to cook with? I think that poached anddressing fresh whole salmon aremy favorite foods to cook.How important is the foodculture to Nigerians today andare they still handing downtraditional recipes to theyounger generations?Food culture to Nigeria is oneof the world’s most ethnicallydiverse countries.Nigeria has such a variety ofpeople and cultures that it isdifficult to pick one nationaldish.The Yoruba, Hausa and the Ibo. Each area has its own regionalfavorite that depends oncustoms, tradition, and religion.The different foods available alsodepend on the season.The “hungry season” is beforethe rains arrive in March, andthe “season of surplus” followsthe harvest in October andNovember. Fruits, however, areenjoyed year-round.

Chef Oluwole Oshiloye

By JIMOH BABATUNDE

Blumenthal as part of the BAGreat Britons programme,which supports British talentin the run up to the London2012 Games.With a nod to Heston’screative approach, Simon’sdishes take inspiration fromthe airline’s menus datingback to 1948 – the last time theGames were held in London.Popular ingredients from the

there is a speciallycommissioned on-boardsoundtrack which customerscan listen to -featuringuplifting music andcommentary from iconicBritish moments fromprevious Games.British Airways mentorHeston Blumenthal, said:“Simon has created anexciting, delicious and well-balanced menu that payshomage to the Games in aclever and subtle way. Thedishes celebrate our richhistory and British talent at itsbest. As a mentor, chef andfriend I’m very proud of whathe has achieved.”Heston spent the past yearmentoring the 37-year oldfrom Torquay, as part of the BAGreat Britons Programme,which offers a global platformfor up and coming Britishtalent in food, art and film inthe run up to the Games.

Michelin-star chef SimonHulstone, said: “It’s anhonour to have created amenu that millions of peoplewill experience during theGames - I can’t think of abetter platform to showcaseBritish cuisine.”Simon has created fourmenus, which will beavailable on long-haulflights from LondonHeathrow from July in; First,Club, World Traveller Plusand World Traveller cabins.Working with Heston andhis experimental team,Simon researched food inpost war Britain, as well asthe 1948 airline menus. Asfood was rationed at thetime, ingredients that wereindigenous and plentifulsuch as ox cheek and fishplayed an important part ofpeople’s diet during theseausterity years. Evenathletes at the 1948 Gamesenjoyed a diet rich in fish.

time haveb e e nincorporatedinto hismenu, withsome dishesreinventedfor a modernd a yaudience –rich inumami andusing localproduce. Tocomplementthe menu

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 — 33

housing in the districts and sat-ellite towns.

Not done, Senator Mohammedalso insists that under the evolv-ing dispensation city plannersand property developers have amoral duty to device ways of in-tegrating indigenous elementsinto modern housing plans in-stead of hounding them outthrough various disputed payoffsand troublesome resettlement ar-rangements. In other words, mod-ern cities being planned under acreative arrangement known asthe Land Swap Model (of thePrivate Public Partnership) willmake provision, among otheroptions, for the original settlersto be part of the new cities. Tendistricts have been earmarked forthis purpose in a massive opera-tion that promises to instantlytransform the Abuja landscapeinto a study in human habitat de-velopment.

Humanhabitat

In a country where political office-holders elevate showman-ship to the stature of an art, whereimpunity is deployed in a demo-cratic setting to hoodwink thepeople into believing that all mo-tions lead to movements, it is sur-prising that Bala Mohammed isable to achieve the goals of theFCT Administration without thefamiliar cacophony of noises of thepast. That explains the absenceof fanfare even as his adminis-tration insists with adherence tothe Abuja master plan; that is whythe sustained skills acquisition,

WATCHING the Minister ofthe Federal Capital Terri-

tory, FCT, Senator Bala Moham-med, at a recent interactive ses-sion with some journalists, to ex-plain the policies, programmes,achievements and challenges ofhis administration, the occasionthrew up some dramatic yetsplendid and reassuring mo-ments. Talking about drama, oneis reminded of the misadventureof the rather egocentric reporterwho had so preposterously re-marked that the minister had notdone anything to promote indus-try, only to look pitiable when theminister established, to the con-viction of all present, that muchhad been achieved! In otherwords, the reporter was either mis-chievous or ignorant. Either way,that would be considered by anyright thinking person as unfortu-nate.

Nonetheless, the misplacedquestion did not deter the minis-ter whose decorum all through theinteraction was undergirded bydisarming candour and spell-binding insight laced with enor-mous respect for his professionalcolleagues. The minister was tore-enact the same mien and de-livery at another forum. Oh! Bythe way, not many know that Balastarted out as a journalist in Jos,Plateau State. Well, he jumpedship and picked up a job with thecivil service. Lucky guy! He sawtomorrow. But it wasn’t all by hap-penstance. His distinguished civilservice career was punctuated byappointments as special assistant,first to the Minister of Interior (lateAlex Ibru) and later, Minister of

and heart-warming responses,none was as reassuring as his em-phasis on social infrastructureaimed at the lower strata of thesociety. His thoughts on thisevolved as he explained away themass housing program of his ad-ministration, the massive roadconstruction works, the Abujamass transit buses and why heensured that the $500 millionChinese loan to facilitate the com-pletion of the Abuja Light Rail

Bala Mohammed andAbuja renewal

,

,

empowerment and rehabilitationof beggars, street traders and com-mercial sex workers is treated asa humane governmental respon-sibility and not a political tool. Todraw the point home, SenatorMohammed reminds anyone whocares to listen that these Nigeri-ans flock to Abuja in search ofgreener pastures only as a lastresort. To him therefore, “theyshould be treated with compas-sion even as we insist on apply-ing the rules”.

Let’s we forget, when consum-mated, the Land Swap Model willstand out as a creative break-through in public private partner-ship. Its major advantage is thatby guaranteeing the provision ofinfrastructure in virgin areas, newcities would spring up withoutany financial demand on govern-ment.

The savings will then be appliedto other pressing needs of thepeople. I have no doubt thatmany, like me, cannot wait for theday this will be completed. Buthow long will that take? Or willthe project suffer the fate of otherpublic projects: bogged down bybureaucratic inertia, political in-terests and elite mischief?

Here is the good news. First, theproject has received the endorse-ment of the president’s economicteam. Second, high net-worthproperty investors have signifieddefinite interest in the project.Among these are Dangote Group,Rosehill Group, China RailwayConstruction Company, SystemProperties Development Consor-tium Limited, Edimo Group of It-aly and Afri-International Projects

and Consulting Ltd. Third, across-section of enlightened pro-fessionals and technocrats hasapplauded the programme imple-mentation for its transparency andpracticability.

At the recent stakeholder forumon the model Mansur Ahmed,director general of Nigeria’s In-frastructure Concession Regula-tory Agency, ICRA, MustaphaBello, CEO of the Nigerian In-vestment Promotion Commission,NIPC, and Dr. Shamsudeen Us-man, minister of national plan-ning, all applauded it not only asan out of the box extra-budgetaryrelief but a catalyst for the hugeemployment and supply windowwhich, in their view, paves wayfor achieving the human devel-opment component of PresidentJonathan’s agenda. Thus, barringunforeseen hitches, Senator Mo-hammed’s determination of actu-alizing President Jonathan’sdream of transforming Abuja intoone of the world’s first five citiesby the year 2020 is well on course.

Light railproject

Does that sound fictional? Thinkof Abuja with the light rail projectbeing operational by 2013; imag-ine a capital city with the presti-gious $1.2 billion World TradeCentre (already under construc-tion by no less a company thanthe Churchgate Group), take amental lip into the $2.6 billionAbuja Downtown Centre whichagreement has been signed withthe Balkan Group of billionaireAmerican investor Jim Phillips.Think about a sprawling metrop-olis traversed and served by ameshwork of elaborately con-structed roads as is the case inAbuja today. Have you seen theAbuja airport road of late? It re-minds one of any of the motor-ways in the United States. If thatis a sign of the dream city thatPresident Jonathan plans to be-queath to Nigerians, he wouldhave blessed the memory of hispredecessors who initiated manyof the projects as part of the Abu-ja master plan.

•Agu, former Editor in chief ofChampion newspapers writesfrom Lagos

Have you seen the Abuja air-port road of late? It reminds oneof any of the motorways in theUnited States

By EMMA AGU principle of equity, fairness andjustice.

From his responses at the meet-ing with journalists, you coulddiscern a man with a deep knowl-edge of his charge, a politiciandriven by a consuming passionto drive the transformation agen-da of President GoodluckJonathan to its logical conclusion;someone who, in spite of the highoffice he now occupies, has notlost sight of his own humble back-ground in the backwaters of Abujaand therefore naturally empathiz-es with civil servants; a national-ist who, inspite ofthe en-d e m i cnepotismof our po-litical en-v i r o n -m e n t ,maintainsthat thef e d e r a lcapital ter-ritory is forevery Ni-gerian.

Of hismany so-b e r i n g

Aviation (Isa Yuguda, now Gov-ernor of Bauchi State). That wasbefore he was elected to the Sen-ate of the Federal Republic of Ni-geria.

I am forced to give this back-ground because of the tremen-dous impact it has had on theminister’s approach to nationalissues and the challenge of ad-ministering the Federal CapitalTerritory. To start with, equippedwith such a rich and varied back-ground, it is no surprise that,under him, the FCT has record-ed steady progress. For another,given that the minister subscribeswholly to the civil service cultureof loyalty in service, one shouldnot be surprised about his un-questionable loyalty to PresidentGoodluck Ebele Jonathan, thoughit needs be emphasized that thisis, in part, attributable to his prin-cipled insistence on the cardinal

project was secured.He reminded his media col-

leagues: “Don’t forget that I start-ed like most of them in the lowerrungs of the civil service. I livedin the outskirts of the city centreand experienced what it meansto live in shanties and the night-mare of commuting to and fromwork, far away from the city cen-tre”. The problem, he explained,reels of callous indifference: overthe years, top private and publicsector executives made housingplans for themselves without anyprovision for drivers, gardeners,stewards, etc. He insists that hisadministration is determined toreverse the trend as a way of al-leviating the plight of the peoplein line with President Jonathan’stransformation agenda. To thisend, his preoccupation has beento provide infrastructure as a cat-alyst for development of mass

•Abuja light rail mass transit...ready in 2013?

•Map of Abuja FCT•FCT minister, Bala Mohammed

CMYK

34—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Departure of two great icons

I FEEL a grievous sense of personal loss with the death of

two great Nigerians. Indeed twodistinguished icons of a kind. Thetwo of them belong to a genre ofpublic servants whose exaltedpublic offices did not get into theirheads nor did they blind them toany possible future which, as wesay, is always “in the laps of thegods” (Our God, the Ever-faith-ful, the Omnipotent, the Omni-scient and the Creator of all ofus). They both had commontouch and would go the extra mileto encourage any of their compa-triots who genuinely and honestlyaspire to excel.

I am referring to HRH Oba Ol-adele Olashore, CON. The Alo-ko of Iloko-Ijesha and former Di-rector of Banking Examination inthe CBN and my good friend; Al-haji Ibrahim Damcida, formerFederal Permanent Secretary inmany ministries culminating asFederal Permanent Secretary inthe Ministry of Finance. AlhajiIbrahim Damcida retired into sev-eral businesses and served on theBoard of a number of multination-al companies among which wasthe Nigerian-American MerchantBank Limited (NAMBL) of whichhe was Chairman.

Let me start with Ibrahim Dam-cida. A detribalized Nigerian

manner and was very knowl-edgeable in the nuances of gov-ernance, so much so that his ad-vice was always sought after indifficult times in Nigeria. He hadso many close friends from out-side his Kanuri enclave of Biu andMaiduguri and particularly, inthe old South-West and the East-ern parts as well as the remain-ing parts of the North. He wasindeed a true Nigerian. All theseearned him Board appointmentsin his retirement in many multi-national companies which werevery proud and appreciative ofhis helpfulness and commit-ment.

Oba Olashore on the otherhand was a complete gen-

tleman and a true friend whowould go the extra mile to assistwhen he was in any exaltedposition. He also had the com-mon touch and was one of theearliest directors of a departmentin the Central Bank who will goto any length to be helpful withinthe confines of the regulations ofthe CBN. My path ran into hiswhen I had to handle the appli-cation for a licence for the estab-lishment of the bank, Icon Limit-ed (Merchant Bankers) while Iwas Company Secretary of NIDBand Director in-charge of Icon Se-curities Limited during my yearsat NIDB. I believe that at thattime both the Banking Examina-tion and Supervision Depart-ments in CBN were merged. Ialso believe that he was more orless the architect of the first regu-lations for the setting up of mer-chant banks in Nigeria. I was theone who made a suggestion tomy colleagues in NIDB that weshould convert the then Icon Se-curities Limited, a stockbrokingcompany which I was headinginto a Merchant Bank.

Banking licencefor FCMB

Let me acknowledge that hereadily agreed to let me pick hisbrain on a number of naughty is-sues and was particularly help-ful to me, so much so that whenthe licence had been signed, hetelephoned me to come person-ally and collect the licence on be-half of my employers. Thisamong other experiences I hadin dealing with him, encouragedme to apply for a banking licencefor FCMB when I was disen-chanted with what was happen-ing within the former Icon Limit-ed (Merchant Bankers).

Needless to say that on this lat-ter occasion, my friend Dele Olas-hore as I knew him then, with oneof his assistants, Wole Oduyemi,who later on became a DeputyGovernor in CBN, went to all pos-sible lengths to encourage andassist me in this my pioneeringeffort of single-handedly apply-ing for a banking licence - a stepI took which encouraged manyother Nigerians to follow suit. I

TRIBUTEBy OTUNBA MICHAEL

BALOGUN

will never forget the roles of Mr.Ola Vincent, Alhaji Otiti and thelate Governor of the Central Bank,Alhaji Abdulkadir, who madesure that in spite of human ob-stacles, the first wholly-owned Ni-gerian Merchant Bank was grant-ed licence.

During the one year of grace tocomply with all the conditions, myfriend, Dele Olashore, as he thenwas, had become the Chief Ex-ecutive of what use to be calledAfribank and he was extremelyhelpful in putting together theshare capital of only N2 millionin those days which was lodgedin his bank. Not long after, hebecame the Chief Executive Of-ficer of First Bank and his sup-port and encouragement for myyoung institution solidified ourfriendship. Something that struckme very thoughtfully was his can-didness, sincerity and humili-

Bank, I came to his house in Ikoyito offer him a position next to mein the fledgling FCMB.

Oba Olashore continued withthis his unique dispositions up tohis ascension of the throne of hisfore-fathers at Iloko and we con-tinued to be very close friends.We used to joke with one anotheras to who was the bigger brother,and one day he just came to meto say that he had conceded thatI was his senior brother becauseI was one full year older than hewas. Among his peers and manyObas, Oba Olashore endearedhimself to all and sundry and asI said earlier, he had a commontouch, set up a Public Schoolnamed after him in his commu-nity but patronized from all overthe country. He also took land-mark steps to develop his com-munity.

I cannot within this short spaceof time say all that I would haveliked to say, except to concludethat he was a devoted Christian,honest to a fault, candid and sin-cere in his disposition to all andsundry. He lived a life of serviceand assistance to his fellow hu-man beings. He never allowedhis exalted positions in life par-ticularly at the CBN to run intohis head or detach him fromfriends as long as he was actingwithin the confines of the regula-tions. He never turned a blindeye to the future. He was a truefriend and indeed at my last birth-day in March this year, he wroteme a beautiful letter reminiscingon our friendship and extollingmy humble achievements in lifein spite of dauntingobstacles. My wife and my chil-dren join me in wishing his soula graceful repose in the bosom ofGod His maker. Amen.

•Otunba Michael O. Balogun,CON, is the Asiwaju of IjebuChristians & The Olori Omo-ObaAkile Ijebu,

,He never allowed his exalted posi-tions in life particularly at the CBNto run into his head or detach himfrom friends as long as he was act-ing within the confines of the regu-lations

whose path first crossed minewhile we were students in theUnited Kingdom. He and otherdistinguished Nigerians includ-ing the former Head of State,General Yakubu Gowon, while hewas a young military officer study-ing at Sandhurst, lived with usin the British Council Hostel atNo.1, Hans Crescent, Knights-bridge, London. We all returnedto Nigeria and as I said, Ibrahimheld many top positions in theFederal Public Service. He nev-er forgot all of us who were hisfriends from student days. Hewas one of the powerful civil ser-vants and Permanent Secretarieswho would go the extra mile tobe of assistance to anyone partic-ularly his compatriots, Nigeriansfrom any part of the country. Hedid so with such humility and sin-cerity that have remained indeli-ble in the hearts of many of us.

I would with a sense of modes-ty acknowledge that I was one ofthese friends and others who werebeneficiaries of the good natureof Ibrahim. He retired into busi-ness and he retained his affableand genial nature, his enthusi-astic and calm cheerfulness. Hediscussed Nigerian problems ina most objective and patriotic

To his eternal credit, I wouldnever forget that during the con-solidation exercise in the bank-ing industry; finding that FCMBwas close to making the requiredpaid-up share capital of N25 bil-lion, he personally approachedme to come and take-over his ownbank, Nigerian-American Mer-chant Bank Limited (NAMBL)because as he claimed, he hadimplicit trust in my integrity andprofessionalism. He eventuallyjoined us on the Board of the en-larged FCMB of which he re-mained until his death, a substan-tial shareholder. He only retiredas a director about a year ago inaccordance with the CBN re-quirements.

Ibrahim and his dear wife, Ali-ma, were very close to me andmy wife and would always bewith us at Ijebu or in Lagos justas we tried to reciprocate. I havelost a personal friend whose re-lationship I cherish so much andwhose type of relationship withother compatriots this countryneeds badly. My wife and mychildren join me in condoling hisfamily especially Alima and theirchildren. I pray that AlmightyAllah would grant his soul eter-nal rest. Amin.

ty. Eventhoughhe was as o u n dtechno-c r a t ,while inall theseexaltedpositions,he wentto alllength tobe help-ful andwas al-w a y sfrank anddown toearth. Oneremark-able in-stance ofhis hu-m i l i t yt h a tw o u l dever stickin myheart wasthe wayhe ac-knowl -edged inhis book,t h a twhen hehad tol e a v eF i r s t

•Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida •Oba Oladele Olashore

CMYK

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012 —35

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

dadadekola@yahoo.com

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Kola Fayemi

YOUR LUCK TODAY

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By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

TAURUS: Better opportunity to make money may comeyour way but those who want your affection and vice versa,may not allow you to concentrate fully. Take advantage ofthe opportunity to establish friendship with influentialpeople.

GEMINI: Most of the exciting happenings are within yourbase of operation. And healthy relationships may start be-tween you and other members of your work force. Take theinitiative.

CANCER: When it comes to passion/romance, you comefirst. And on a day like this when love is in the air, you can’tbe left in the cold. Don’t be selfish please.

LEO: Financial success may be what you want to celebratewith members of your opposite sex who unexpectedly arouseyour passion.

VIRGO: Many will desire you strongly today but you’llequally attract the green-eyed monster called jealousy es-pecially from your established relationship. Movement andcommunication will do the magic

LIBRA: Romantic Venus and sexy Mars are bringing in-fluences of money, friendship, real love and leadership toearth’s inhabitants. What do you want?

SCORPIO: Venus, Mars and Pluto at work today will in-fluence many of you to give more time to matters-of-the-heart, especially physical side of it.

SAGITTARIUS: Love is in the air but if care is not taken,members of your opposite sex you see as your superiors (orboss) may become entangled. Watch it.

CAPRICORN: Influence of the Moon today actually wantsyou to work hard but if you ignore love, you’ll not be ableto concentrate on what you are doing. Friends will driveyour fun-seeking vehicle along social circles.

AQUARIUS: Some of you will be falling in love for thefirst time. And those of you who are old in the act will haverare excitement and satisfaction. Money can come in.

PISCES: You will find it relatively difficult to ignore loveas attractive members of your opposite sex may go out oftheir way to gain your attention.

ARIES: Powerful emotional feelings may overwhelm someof you and make you crave secret affair (with your subor-dinates?) It’s important you don’t allow scandal.

What is wrong withme?

Dear Joshua,

I have written you many letters without response, I hope Iwill be lucky this time around. What’s your e-mail ad-dress?Although, I am interested in my financial affair and willlike to know what awaits me in the future as the ups anddowns are giving me concern, what I want you to tell meis: Who is working spiritually against my marriage? I havemarried four times. Why?

Sunday, Oyo.

Dear Sunday,

My e-mail is: joshuaadeyemo@yahoo.com If you have spiri-tual warfare, it is in your financial affairs. You were en-dowed with special ability to make money for both yourselfand other people.However, three things can militate against your financesnamely; inability to hold on to your gains for too long (mis-calculation) jealousy and occultic manipulation by thosewho are green with envy.Yet, whatever happens, dire financial misfortune is not meantfor you, especially if you heed advice from your star; yourbeing spiritual will assist you.Fortunate placement of the Moon and Venus in Libra andSagittarius endowed you with charming and magnetic per-sonality which will make it easier for you to attract mem-bers of your opposite sex who will be willing to make youhappy. But after sometime, your hidden aggressive person-ality and tendencies to worry will come out to the resent-ment of members of your opposite sex.Some other times, you promise more than you can deliver.Then yours is a jealous soul (yes everybody was born withjealous traits) but yours is extraordinary and if you havereason to doubt the other person, you may not be able toforgive.The summary here is that there’s not much spiritual aspectworking against you here but your too strong or powerfulpersonality is what you will need to work on: if at all youhave problem with love. One sure bet is members of youropposite sex cannot do without your magnetic pose.

greater or lesser, big-ger or smaller, in peaceor in pieces, but if hekeeps the good fight,remain loyal to hiscause, he will never bediminished. Truly, hewill be counted amongthe great.

Think about it!

Never be lessM

AN has onlyone enemy in

his life. I guess youwant to know whothat enemy is? Sup-posing I ask you to tellme who your enemyis, who would youpoint finger to? I ampretty sure your next

door neighbour willbe your target.

Supposing I tell you,your answer is far fromthe truth, what will beyou reaction? Thetruth is that you areyour own worst en-emy. Even if the whole

world is against you,if you don’t surrenderto them, you willmaintain your great-ness and dignity evenin death.

Only two things canhappen to a man inlife — he is either

CMYK

36—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Suspected assassins murderBenue cleric

Rotational presidency: LG bosswants constitution amended

We'll abide by party's decision oncandidate —Ondo ACN guber aspirant

DESOPADECassures Isokopeople onprojects

BY PETER DURU

BY CHINENYEH OZOR

Mimiko's wifemarks birthday

MA K U R D I — Acleric with the

Methodist Church at AgoOtukpa, in OgbadigboLocal Government Area ofBenue State, Rev MichaelEjeh was, Tuesday,slaughtered by unknownpersons in a bush, abouttwo kilometres from thechurch where he had gonethe previous day to pray forthe congregation.

UGHELLI —THEc o m m i s s i o n e r

representing Isoko ethnicnationality on the board ofDelta State Oil ProducingAreas DevelopmentC o m m i s s i o n ,DESOPADEC, Mr JosephOgeh has assured Isoko peopleof their fair share in the 2012budget of the commission in linewith their quantity of oilproduction.

Ogeh, who gave the assurancewhen Presidents-General ofIsoko communities paid him acourtesy visit, said thecommission was committed to theoverall development of oilproducing communities in thestate, explaining that onassumption of duty, he ensuredthat salaries of staff were paid fromthe ethnic nationality’s escrowaccounts, which gave Isokonation additional funds thatwould be used to fund othersector’s.

LG polls:Candidate harpson change

Wife of the deceased,Charity Ejeh who spoke toVanguard, yesterday, atAgo village on the killingof her husband, said thedeceased had gone to aDeliverance Ministryowned by one ProphetMoses Ujah at Odebebefore he was laterdiscovered dead in a bushwhere he had gone to easeh i m s e l f . Some of the deceased

colleagues expressedshock over the way he died,adding that the deceasedwas a gentle and easygoing person. According tothem, there was more towhat happened than meetsthe eye. According to sources,Rev Ejeh after prayers onthe fateful night haddecided to sleep in Odebaas it was late for him toreturn to Ago.Prophet Ujah was said tohave accepted to host thelate reverend after which heordered two of his pastors

to sleep with him at theministry’s office, only to befound dead the followingmorning in a bush. His body has since beendeposited at a mortuary inOtukpa even as his hosthad been detained by thep o l i c e . Meanwhile, efforts aresaid to be in top gear by theEnone Diocese ofMethodist Church tounravel the cause of thedeath of Rev Ejeh, giventhe mysteriouscircumstances surroundingthe issue. Attempts to get thereaction of the Police PublicRelations Officer, PPRO inthe state, Mr Philip Agenafailed as his deputy, EjikeAlaribe said that he was ina meeting.

BY FESTUS AHON

AKURE—WIFE of theOndo State

Governor, Mrs KemiMimiko marked her 45thbirthday anniversarywith visits to over 100sets of triplets andquadruplets fromdifferent parts of thestate, whom sheshowered assorted giftso n . Mrs Mimiko said herpet programme,”Maternal PulseFoundation” decided toidentify with the tripletsand quadrupletsdelivered in the statesince the presentadministration came onboard on her birthday,adding that thedistribution of gifts tothem was another waysharing her joy withthem.

Group holds fund raising forOshiomhole's re-election

BENIN CITY—

G O V E R N O RAdams Oshiomhole ofEdo State has taken hisre-election campaign anotch higher with a fundraising held for him at theprestigious TranscorpHilton Hotel.

The Governor who vowedto sustain the struggle tokeep the forces ofd a r k n e s s a n dunderdevelopment out ofthe state said hisadministration hassucceeded because thepeople now determinewhat goes on in the state.

He said: "Edo peopledetermine who is aCouncillor, Chairman,members of the House ofAssembly, the Governorand any of the electiveoffices. We must sustainthe momentum to take EdoState to the next level.

“I have nothing to live forbut to stand on the side oftruth. Nigeria is greater

than any of the politicalparties and for those whobelieve they are greaterthan Nigeria, we cannot beafraid of them because weare determined that thosewho feast on our commonwealth must be stoppedand we are notrelenting to stop them.”

Governor Oshiomholesaid while Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN, has beengoing round the variouscommunities telling thepeople what thegovernment has done inless than three years, thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, are in Abuja perfectingplans to rig the election.

He said: “We haveshown what we have done.The flooding problem inBenin is a thing of the past,there are roads with streetlights and drainages toopen up the variouscommunities, schools areconstructed and water isflowing in parts of Edo statewhere in the past they saidit was impossible."

UYO—IN a buildupto tomorrow’s local

government polls in AkwaIbom, Mrs. Stella Inyang,from Enwang ward 1 ofMbo local government areahas promised meaningfuland impactful change ifelected.

Inyang who is running forconcillorship on theplatform of PeoplesDemocratic party, PDP, toldnewsmen at her Mbo basethat she has got in her kittylaudable people-orientedprogrammes that wouldmake the difference.

In a terrain where men areusually the gladiators, Inyangwho declared that competenceand not sexism was the issue thatwould ensure victory, appealedto her compatriots to putsentiment and tradition apart tovote en-masse for her.

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

NSUKKA—THEN a t i o n a l

Assembly, NASS, hasbeen urged to amend the1999 Constitution toaccommodate rotationalpresidency as the onlypanacea for peace in thec o u n t r y . Chairman of IgboezeSouth Local GovernmentArea of Enugu State, MrFestus Ozioko who madethe suggestion also calledfor the convocation of aSoverign NationalConference, SNC, tocement the unity between

the various ethnic groupsin the country. Ozioko spoke in aninterview with Vanguard,saying that the twin issuesof zoning and SNC shouldbe addressed to ensure thegrowth of democracy in thec o u n t r y . He said: "The peopleshould not be afraid of SNCas it will ensure long termsolutions to the problems inN i g e r i a . "He further explained thatsince the return ofdemocracy in the country in1999, there have beensteady progress at the

federal, state and localgovernment levels,pointing out that this waswhy no group or groupshad agitated for forcefultake over of government,adding that enshriningrotational presidency in theconstitution would stoppolitical uprisings withdifferent names andshapes, as it would addressthe problem of rulershipsince every section wouldquietly wait for its turninstead of causingunnecessary distraction inthe name of ethnic agitationamong others.

AKURE—ACTIONCongress of Nigeria,

ACN, governorshipaspirant in Ondo State,Chief Jamiu Ekungba hassaid that the large numberof governorship aspirantsin the forthcoming electionin the party in the state,will serve as its strengthrather than weakness.

Allaying fears being

entertained in the politicalcircle in in the state overthe development, Ekungbasaid whoever emergedfrom the process to beadopted by the party inselecting the candidate forthe October 20 lection willbe supported by all theaspirants.

He said: “Rather thandisintegration, we will turnthat perceiveddisadvantage to strength

with which to lift the bannerof our great party to greaterheights.”

Ekungba who wascanvassing for support at arally in Isua, the capital ofAkoko South East where about1,000 members of Labour Partyfrom five different wards/townsdecamped to ACN said the partywill utilise all the opportunitiesavailable to it to better the lot ofthe people.

Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Instituteof Management, NIM (left) and Mr. Sabo Sodangi during the visit of the Institute toMr. Sodangi under the NIM We Care programme. Photo: Oscar Ochiogu.

From left: Mr. Gbenga Ibikunle, Executive Director, BATN; Mrs. JulietAnammah, Director, Real Sector, Acceanture Nigeria and Mr. Bert J. Ronhaar,The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria at the AgriBusiness Food SecuritySummit in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Diran Oshe.

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY,JUNE 8, 2012 — 37

25 years of Stage and ScreenContinued from last week

DURING these years, wesaw the gradual transition

and the build-up of the nation’sentertainment industry.

Television dramas began togain grounds and stage showsreduced in number as in pop-ularity. Only Chief HubertOgunde was left standing fromamong his colleagues. He com-bined stage and screen andlasted longer than the others.Indeed, most of them passedon. They died from the fade of

stage. It was acase of ‘fade offto frame up’.Soon after, themain bowl of theNational Theatrewas shut downfrom commer-cial presentationof performances.Then, of course,came the prolif-eration of HomeVideo and thatput the blocks onthe path of the-atre and stage production. Weannounced the demise of the-atre stalwarts like Duro Ladi-po, Zulu Sofola, Ola Rotimi,Hubert Ogunde etc.

The art in acting could notfight back into popularity. Un-safe roads at night, car thefts,all made their contribution tothe dearth of Theatre traditions.One of the capital reasons islack of venue. There are nolarge enough playing groundsto give producers enough au-dience to make profit. No Rep-ertory Theatre companies topolish ‘green horns’ from The-atre Arts departments into bril-liant performers that can shineround the world as star actorsfrom any of the dozen or so

universities in the country, thepresident’s Bonanza to theentertainment industry couldbe released into operation tobuild the Industry, Halls andAuditoria help performances,exhibitions, studios therebysetting up jobs for painters,sculptors, dancers, graphicArtists etc, to feed the Nation-al Hall of Fame. We have es-tablished the theatre cultureas in other countries, especial-ly the western world. Weshould also be in the reckon-

ing, in terms ofperformance,product iv i tyand accultura-tion. Severaltimes, we blewthe whistle to‘Stop the Enter-tainment Train,Nigeria wantsto get on’, butsad to say, weare still notready as a na-tional industry

to tag along with TV industry,film industry and stage – tobuild a giant industry of En-tertainment.

The Entertainment Indus-try’s growth or advancementshould take shape first by re-structuring for a better founda-tion, proper training groundsaway from University Bureau-cracy and improvement onteaching methods. In the West-ern world, there are schools fortraining actors and actors teachacting, just like football. So, letthe Theatre Arts Professorsteach appropriate subjects sowe can produce star actors notgraduates of Theatre Arts seek-ing jobs as Receptionists andBank Security.

Discovery of themissing ingredient

(L-r) Chief Ernest Shonekan, Chairman of the occasion, Femi Onasanya,the author and Mrs Adenike Adeniran during the public presentation ofthe book

By JAPHET ALAKAM &PRISCA SAM-DURU

JUDGING by the decencyand simplicity that graced

Femi Onasanya’s bookpresentation recently at theFunction Hall of the MUSONCentre Lagos, it will only be fairto describe the launch as unique.The organisers, chief host andguests especially, the Chairmanof the occasion and former Headof Interim National Government,Chief Ernest Shonekan; formerMinister for Industry, Chief MrsNike Akande; former Presidentof ICAN and Chief launcher,Mrs Adenike Adeniran and manyothers must be commended forsticking to time.

The book, One MissingIngredient is a well defined piecewith consistent vivid descriptionsthat incorporates biblicalallusions for the purpose ofchallenging readers into actionso as to attain set objectives. Inother words, it is premised on theauthor’s firm belief that after all

rather to celebrate somebody whohas done a good thing by writinga book.”

According to him, writing abook is not an easy task, andespecially an inspirational book.It calls for commitment anddedication which the author hasdemonstrated. Life according tohim is full of persistence and it isthe author’s persistence that

articulated review titled, How toLive Your Vision, described the63 pages book as a “Cornucopiaof simple statements, ordinaryideas, common thoughts thatwhen properly and ferventlyinternalized will produce anextraordinary personality”,adding that what the book “lacksin volume or caressingaesthetics, it more than justifies

We shouldalso be in thereckoning, interms of per-

formance,productivityand accultur-

ation ,

,

AFTER several months oftinkering, altering and

reconfiguration to developinto new forms in the explo-ration of materiality and theextant possibilities of workingin various media in verycreative ways, Auchi trainedpainter and one of Nigeria’smost talented colourists, willpresent his new body of worksin a solo exhibition titledAuthenticity of Thought, anexhibition of artworks in amixed media .

The exhibition which is or-ganised by Sachs Gallery,Lagos will open on June 9,and run till June 13, 2012 at

Nwokolo showcases new forms at TerraKulture

spective in his art as throughthe body of works, he willpropagate his thoughts, frag-ments of thoughts, up grow-ing impressions, concerns invarious socio- political andeconomic happenings fromthe local to events in the in-ternational scale and it willfeature about 25 works in fab-ric, aluminum foil, papiermache, enamel paint etc. Theworks actually shows a driftfrom his usual painting worksto constructed objects. How-ever, it also reveals the trajec-tory of his creative talents ashe was able to combine

painting with his design andcraftmanship.

In assembling the works,the artist made use of fourmain dimensional of material,they are those made of rolled-up pieces of fabrics placedorderly on a board, thosemade of flattened and foldedpieces of aluminum foil andthose made up of papiermache on a board but themetal works dominate thecollection. And with the fu-sion of the above materials ,he was able to produce stun-ning works that sends hismessage across.

,,We are not here to celebratesomebody who has donesomething bad but rather tocelebrate somebody who has donea good thing by writing a book

made him to do that.Citing that persistence and

staying focused made the likesof America to go to the moon,successful businessmen tosucceed, Professors in theuniversities to get professorialchairs, he added that life is fullof ups and down, if you fall today,

with the persistent and pertinentdesire of the writer to connect withhis audience in a manner that islong-lasting and character-retooling.” In her part, the chieflauncher Mrs. Adenike Adeniran,former President of the Instituteof Chartered Accountants ofNigeria, ICAN commended the

efforts have been made in aspecific venture or endeavours,one needs perseverance orpersistence to emerging asuccessful person.

The tone, descriptions andauthor’s testimonies are eloquentindication of his genuine concernfor wastages in the society.

In his remarks, Shonekan wholighted up the event withhumourous jokes, in his capacityas chairman of the occasionthanked all for coming to theevent which was an indication ofthe love they have for the authorand his family. Shonekan whowas not happy with the recentugly developments in UnitedKingdom where a formergovernor of a State in Nigeria wasjailed and another Nigerian girlsentenced stated that “we are nothere to celebrate somebody whohas done something bad but

you can also get up again.Writer/Journalist Femi

Akintunde-Johnson in his well

author for thegood work,pointing out thatthere is alwayssomething new inany chapter of thebook.

The book launchwas not withoutsome form ofentertainment asprior to its formalpresentation;guests wereentertained withsome soulinspiring gospelsongs.

Also present atthe event wereveteran actorChief JusticeEsiri, Mr TundeAyeni, Victor

Odozi, Prof Ayodeji Olukoju, ViceChancellor of Caleb Universityand others.

the Lagos culture house, TerraKulture, Victoria Island , La-gos.

Alex Nwokolo who hasbeen desirous for change hasgradually shifteds his artisticground from his usualpaintings as he exploresmateriality in a new body ofworks.

Desire forchange

The focus of the show according to Nwokolo is basedon the desire for change andthe need to have global per-

CMYK

38—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Continues on page 41

DO you agree with the PDP thatthe federal administration has

delivered on its promises?Yes, they have delivered on insecurity,they have delivered on insolvency of thefederal government, they have deliveredon the division in the country, they havedelivered on depletion of social capital; Idon’t know what they are celebrating. Ithink they can celebrate because they stole2 trillion of subsidy money and they arestealing some billions in pension.

I think they have delivered, but forthemselves not for the Nigerian people.The PDP and Jonathan have every reasonto celebrate because they have wiped outour foreign reserves, wiped out excesscrude account and they all own houses inAbuja and Lagos. So, they have everyreason to celebrate but go to the localmarket and ask many Nigerians whetherthe plight of this year is better than theplight of last year and the answer will bevery clear. Nigeria has become muchworse under Jonathan’s watch. So, I don’tknow what they are celebrating.

Do you imply that Nigerians areregretting voting in Jonathan?

I don’t know. Every Nigerian must havea view on this. I don’t think his no shoestory and all that got him elected. I don’tthink he was elected, I think they riggedtheir way into power and if they wereusing the power for good, it will not betoo bad.

Waiting for God'sjudgment

But the power is being used to perpetratefraud against 168 million people and thosethat voted for him should ask themselveswhether they have done the right thingand those of us that did not vote for himbut our votes were stolen and added tohim. We are waiting for God’s judgment.

Do you believe the opposition is strongenough to take power from the PDP?

When the time comes, the opposition willbe strong enough. People think theopposition is just political parties, thosewho think so are in the dream land;opposition is Nigerian people, Nigerianswhose lives have been much traumatized,that is the opposition and at the level ofpolitical institutions, we are here toorganize our ourselves into a united andformidable opposition, I hope we getthere.

How organized are you the oppositionparties?

We are organizing, I don’t want to saymore than that.

Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clarkhad said while marking his birthday thatJonathan will contest in 2015. As anortherner, what is your take on this?

I am not a Northerner, I am a Nigerian.I don’t see myself as a Northerner, I don’tlike those affiliations; I don’t believe in

Yes, Jonathan has deliveredfor his friends — El-Rufai

FORMER Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has since his

informal exit from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP transformed into one of the leading

voices of the opposition. A chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Mallam El-Rufai

in an interview reviews the performances of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and profers his

suggestions. Excerpts:

BY HENRY UMORU

that, I believe I am a Nigerian and I seeevery Nigerian from whatever part,language and religion as a brother. Again,that is what is wrong about our country. Idon’t think the constitution disqualifiesJonathan from contesting, I don’t see anyproblem in that.

Only the constitution and the electoralacts defines who can run and who cannotrun and I don’t see anything in theconstitution that disqualified Jonathanfrom running, but what he is not entitledto do is to rig the election and imposehimself on Nigerians because if thathappens we will respond. It is as simpleas that. You can deceive me once, but Iwill not allow you to deceive me twice. Ifyou deceive me once, then the next timeyou do it, I will react. That is it. Edwin K.Clark is entitled to his views and I agreewith them because any Nigerian who isabove the age of 30 with a secondary schoolcertificate is qualified to run for presidentand unless he runs more than twice. So,he is entitled to run.

How far has the CPC gone inreforming itself?

The CPC is young, we were registeredin 2009 and before we could settle down,we had to contest election and yet, ourpresidential candidate got over 12 millionreal votes, not the Jonathan fake votes.

We have organizational issues in theparty as a young party, we are not 13 yearslike the PDP, we are just 3 years, so, thesekinds of issues can happen and we areaddressing them and part of what I am

doing is to get some of these issues sortedout and we are working on them. Theparty is working on its internal problemsand we will overcome all these issues toensure that PDP stops destroying Nigeria.

Back to the government, as a formerMinister you worked with NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, where do you think in

economy will be restored. Stealing shouldnot be the full time job of people ingovernment. They should work andmanage the economy.

The third is that these endless promisesto improve the electricity must stop anddeliver some results. Electricity generationhas not improved from the level we left itwhich is about 3,200 megawatts in April2007. It has not changed; in fact it hasgone down once in a while.

Finally, they should think of the 6 millionbabies we make every year and begin tothink of their future. People without hopeare capable of anything; the governmentshould level the playing field. These arethe four areas I will advice them to lookat. I am not their Adviser.

Will the North allow PresidentJonathan to run in 2015?

It is not up to the North or anyone toallow anyone to decide, Nigerians decidewho they want as President and there wasgreat consensus at a time that thepresidency should be ceded to the Southand no credible Northerner contested theoffice. I don’t think there is anythingwrong with that.

These are some of the decisions peoplemake for the unity, peace and goodgovernance of the country. I don’t believewe should be selecting our presidents onthe basis of where they come from. I havesaid this overtime, I think we should lookfor the best qualified person for the joband where you have a decent person doingthe right thing, everybody benefits –North, South, East and West, Muslims andChristian, Hausa, Igbo Yoruba, Ijaw,everyone, we can all benefit from goodgovernance.

Your former boss, Chief OlusegunObasanjo recently decried the level ofcorruption where he was quoted to havealleged that members of the NationalAssembly are rogues and armed robbers,do you agree with him?

President Obasanjo is a very thoughtfuland experienced person, I am sure beforehe made the statement, he had the factsand I think Nigerians know what he meantand they all know the National Assemblymembers, the allowances they take thatthey are illegal.

Obasanjo knows what he is talkingabout. I don’t believe that everyone in theNational Assembly is bad, there are many

*El-Rufai: I am not a Northerner, I am a Nigerian

,

,before the next election?

There are three or four fundamentalissues where this government has failedwoefully in the last 2, 3 years becauseJonathan has been around not for oneyear, but for about three years. They havefailed in providing security for the peoplewhich is the primary reason for having agovernment. They should look at what theyhave been doing in the last one year andcorrect it. That is one. Second, they havenot managed the economy well.

This country is broke, the federalgovernment is unable to pay federationallocation on time, they are unable to paysalaries on time, we are in May, Aprilsalaries have not been paid.

There should be reduction in level ofcorruption and fraud in the amount of fundleakages so that the liquidity in the

decent people there but there is somethingwrong with the National Assembly. I don’tknow what Obasanjo said but whateverhe said, he must have his reasons and hisfacts.

How would you access the 7th NationalAssembly?

Disappointing, for me this NationalAssembly has not done much. There aremany legislations that have been lyingthere forever like the Petroleum IndustryBill which has been in the NationalAssembly since 2008. The most importantlegislation that will reshape our oilindustry has been lying there. It was theSenate that first had the resolution oninvestigation of fuel subsidy fund, but atthe end, it was the House of

The PDP and Jonathan have everyreason to celebrate because theyhave wiped out our foreignreserves, wiped out excess crudeaccount and they all own houses inAbuja and Lagos

the next oneor twoyears thegovernments h o u l dconcentrateon andNigerianswill behappy for it

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—39

SINCE the May 29, 2012 Democracy Day celebrations,the question on the lips of many remains: What havepolitical office holders been able to achieve since theirinauguration on May 29, 2011?

In Bauchi State where Mallam Isa Yuguda holdssway as the governor, the last Democracy DayCelebration was an avenue to give account of hisstewardship since he was re-elected in the April 2011gubernatorial elections.

Yuguda, it would be recalled had on May 29 lastyear, pledged to correct all the mistakes made duringhis first tenure in order to change the fortunes of thestate for the better.

“This time it will not be business as usual because Iwant to correct all the mistakes I made during my firsttenure in office. My administration will place highpremium on the security of lives and property, while alot of investment opportunities would be explored tocreate jobs for the teeming youths in the state,”Yuguda noted during his inauguration at IBB squarein 2011.

He also reiterated the commitment of hisadministration to deal ruthlessly with anyone, whowould constitute a clog in the administration’s wheelof progress. With one year gone since this pledge wasmade, what the governor has done so far, has been asubject of discourse in the court of public opinion.

Whether he has acted in accordance with hiscampaign promises, is still being debated by followersof political events in the state.

Areas like Health, Security, Human Development,Transportation, Water Supply, Agriculture, amongothers, have received the governor’s special attentionwithin the period under review.

WHAT efforts are youtaking to ensure security

in Bauchi?Our country has being goingthrough a lot of trial and asjournalists you will appreciatethat you are the conscience ofthe society and your job is avery risk job, it is just like thatof my own job. I swore by theKoran, when I was taking oathof office that I will protect livesand property.

We have sworn, also toprotect property. If anyperson’s property is destroyedtoday in Bauchi state, if it is notan accident, if people go andjust burnt somebody’s house,then, I am held responsible,that is why I have a law in placetoday if there is arson by anygroup of people that localgovernment would not havesubvention for that month untilit fixes that house. If they killyour animal and you come andreport that your animal hasbeen stolen, then we use thelocal government money to buyyour animal and we give it backto you and then the balance is

How we're handling insecurity in Bauchi—Yuguda

The state government constructed and commissionedfive new general hospitals, in addition to the over1,000 Health Centres across the state. One of thehospitals, Tafawa Balewa Hospital, which is a 144-bedstate of the art hospital, was built at the cost of 577million.

In furtherance to his bid to ensure optimumhealthcare in the state, Yuguda created four newagencies. They include; Bauchi State Agency for theControl of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Leprosy,BACATMA, Bauchi State Primary Health Care, ,BSPHC, Bauchi Hospital Management Board, HMB,and Bauchi State Health Insurance Scheme, BHIS.

In ensuring the security of lives and property, theYuguda administration was able to combat themenace of a youth cult group, otherwise known asSara-Suka( political thugs).

Before now, the youths were dreaded across thestate, because of the mayhem they usually left behindafter attending any political activity.

Another step taken by the Yuguda’s administration isthe creation of the Sayawa Chiefdom through a lawpassed by the Bauchi State House of Assembly.

It was said that the agitation for the SayawaChiefdom was the reason for the recurring crisis inTafawa Balewa Local Government, which successiveadministrations battled to solve without success.

An indication that the security level in the state hadimproved, was made by the Chief Press Secretary,CPS, to the governor, Mr. Micheal Adeyemi.

He stated this shortly after he led journalists oninspection tour of some projects within the state capital.

“What is worth celebrating on Democracy day in thestate is the fact that the state has been experiencingrelative peace for some time, especially in the

troubled Tafawa Balewa axis where crisis have beenrecorded in the past. It would be recalled that the stategovernment took bold steps at addressing the issue.First, the Sayawa Chiefdom was created and thecouncil was relocated to Bununu town. This is a verygreat achievement by the Yuguda led administration.There is no state that is totally free from crisis, butcompared to other states, Bauchi state is peaceful,”Adeyemi stated.

Further checks showed that scholarships wereawarded to 20 students to study AeronauticalEngineering in the United States of America and 45others in different institutions across Asia and Europe.

ChallengesOne area in which the state appears challenged is

the aspect of inherited debt from previousadministrations. Under this, a N22 billion debt owed tobanks is believed to be the most pressing challengebefore the administration.

Inspite of the huge sum of money channeled towardscombating water scarcity in the state, some residentialareas are still battling with water scarcity, forcing thestate government to take drastic measures to surmountthe problem.

Present efforts have led to the activation of the oldWater Pumping Facility which is now said to pumpabout 2.4 million gallons.

Another source of worry in the state, is thecontroversy surrounding the creation of the SayawaChiefdom.

The Sawaya people have taken the stategovernment to court over the matter, describing thedevelopment as incondusive. This has continued tofuel tension in the area until this moment. Anotherarea in which the Yuguda’s administration is oftencriticised by opposition parties, is the poor relationshipthe Governor has with the media in the state. This isoccasioned by his frequent trips and absence in thestate. Although he had asserted that his frequentabsence from the state was to attract more dividends tothe state, his relationship with the media on the issueremains unhealthy.

Yuguda's story in BauchiBY SUZAN EDEH

ONE AFTER:

Continued from page 41

GOVERNOR Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State in this

interview with newsmen discusses the insecurity

situation in the country and the efforts by his

administration in restoring peace in the state.

Excerpts:

what the local government willget so that everybody will beon his toes. If you lose one lifewithout due process, the localgovernment will forfeit itssubvention until the day itproduces that hoodlums.

We call the family, wecompensate them for the life.This law was recently passedto bring more sanity into oursystem.

Anytime you see anythingabout Bauchi, either mayhemor Boko Haram and I assureyou the opposite is the case. Wehad an incident of Boko Haramin 2009, that is when we hadan attack and that was whenwe engaged them that night for12 hours.

You have to tell Nigerians,you have to help Nigeriabecause there is no country thatcan develop without regards forlives and property. Believe meNigeria is one of the safestcountries on earth, despite allour kidnappings. There aresome countries on earth, I don’twant to mention the countrybut you people should know,

every minute a woman israped, every minute, a humanbeing is killed. In fact, in oneof those countries, a budget ofone city is almost twice thebudget of Nigeria put together.As way back as 2001, they werebudgeting $30bn for securitybut have you ever seen it intheir papers?

We make our own country so

insecure because they read us.Immediately you write, they goto internet to read aboutNigeria and you now go tothem to discuss investmentwith them, they will say no.

I also want to appeal to youbecause we have to haverespect for human lives youwill never see any gruesomepicture in the newspaper in the

west, the human beingslaughtered and you see his/her pictures on the pages ofnewspapers. It gives us animpression of a country that isnot safe. It does happen intheir countries too, theyslaughter people, but you willnever see them give itprominence on the pages oftheir newspapers. Thosegruesome pictures on thepages of our newspapers turnaway people from us.

What efforts are to makingto compare notes with yourfellow governors in the northwho are having the samesecurity challenge?

We have been meeting ofrecent and we share our owntactics with my neighbouringstates, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano,Borno, Yobe including Taraba,Gombe and Adamawa. We asgovernors and also thestakeholders intend to meetvery soon because it is our owntime that God has decided togive us leadership. It is ourown responsibility, not aboutBauchi being peaceful andGombe is not peaceful. Bauchiis being peaceful and Borno isnot peaceful. If you see the kindof damage that the economy ofBorno state has undergone,gentlemen you will weep.

*Gov. Yuguda: Bauchi is peaceful

CMYK

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

POL SNIPES

PRESIDENT Sani Abachawas in amiable mood as he

grinned mischievously to hislong time friend and playpartner, Dr. Jeremiah Oseni onthe tarmac of the NnamdiAzikiwe International Airport,Abuja that afternoon. Air ForceOne, carrying PresidentBarrack Obama of the UnitedStates had just touched downat the airport and PresidentAbacha was making a rareouting to receive the world’smost powerful leader.

“We got them didn’t I tellyou? All we needed to do wasto insulate ourselves and allthis democracy nonsense willdie out,” the Nigerianpresident said to Oseni, hislong time associate.

“Ranka dede you are correct,now the President of theworld’s leading democracy has

If Abacha had lived?

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,

POLITICAL EDITOR

come to meet with thePresident of Africa’s biggestdemocracy," Oseni said.

"Yes, your claim that the worldwill come to meet us on yourterms has paid off,” Dr. Oseniwho like Abacha had risenthrough the ranks of theNigerian Army to the positionof a General told the president.

Following his disengagementfrom the military at the officialage of 60, Oseni had seen itexpedient to replace hismilitary appellation of Generalwith a civilian title. At least fouruniversities including theUniversity of Lagos hadhonoured him with doctoratedegrees for his service to thefatherland. A former Ministerof the Federal Capital, Dr.Oseni emerged as thePresident of the Senate andhad kept the chamber in quietsubmission to the dictates ofPresident Abacha.

As the pair conversed and

waited for President Obama todeplane, Nigeria’s PrimeMinister, the western educatedAlhaji Teslim Polarin kept adistance alongside the ForeignMinister, Chief James Eboriand a horde of bureaucrats whokept a quiet conversation withthe Chief Security Officer to thePresident, Brig-Gen. HamisuAl Mustapha.

Political

caucus

Polarin who had originallydesigned himself for theNigerian senate wasnominated for the position ofPrime Minister by the Yorubapolitician, Alhaji LamidiAdedibu who had emergedagainst all odds to become theleader of the Yoruba politicalcaucus in the country. Polarinwas nominated following theexit from office of the first PrimeMinister under Abacha, ChiefJim Nwaobodo who had servedtwo consecutive terms between1998 and 2008.

Far back in the reception line

were chairmen of the fivepolitical parties; parties thathad been once described as thefive fingers of a leprous hand.Three of the five parties hadover time shrunk leaving thedominant two, the UnitedNigerian Centre Party, UNCPand the Grassroots DemocraticMovement, GDM to strugglefor space.

Chief Barabbas Demade,national chairman of theGrassroots Democratic Partyand Alhaji Isa Lawal nationalchairman of the United NigeriaCentre Party, UNCP were asusual engaged in theirunending game of superiorityto take front position in thereceiving party. After the fiveparties in 1998 adopted thethen General Abacha, the twoforemost national parties hadcontinued to take turns insucceeding presidentialelection to present Abacha inthe elections. The world hadbeen aghast at the folly of theNigerian political class in 1998when all five political partiesadopted Abacha in thepresidential elections.

exhilarating exhaustion thatfollowed a romp and rollickwith Abacha one of the moreadventurous ladies had eatenthe poisonous apple thatAbacha had secretly swappedwith another apple of his ownwhich he had eaten.

The diplomatic fuss thatfollowed saw the

surviving girl detained inAbuja for two years and wasonly released following quietmoves by President GeorgeBush who succeeded Clintonto downplay the opposition ofthe West to Abacha’stransmutation as civilianpresident.

But it required more than thatfor President Obama to visitNigeria. One of the conditionsthat had been negotiated withNigeria’s foreign minister,Chief Ebori was that therespected Nigerian formermilitary head of state andAfrican statesman, Gen.Olusegun Obasanjo would beallowed to meet with Obamaduring the visit. Indeed, priorto the visit, a senior UnitedStates diplomat had visitedObasanjo in his residence inOtta to prepare him for thevisit. The one time Nigerianleader, the diplomat reported

ERSTWHILE, military Head of State, General SanniAbacha died on June 8, 2008 just before winning theunanimous endorsement of the five registered politicalparties of that era. His death led to a resetting of the shapeand structure of the Nigerian political landscape. But whatif he had lived?

,,

In the exhilarating exhaustion thatfollowed a romp and rollick withAbacha one of the more adventurousladies had eaten the poisonous applethat Abacha had secretly swappedwith another apple of his own

Following that, ahead of the2003 elections it was agreedthat for democratic decorumthat the UNCP should presentAbacha while the GDM shouldnot present a candidate. In2003 it was the turn of theGDM to present Abacha.

The other three nationalpolitical parties, however,presented presidentialcandidates who in the 2003 and2008 presidential elections alllost their deposits that werereportedly offset by theadministration.

Inside the plane as heprepared to step down from AirForce One, President Obamawas still trying to reconcilehimself with the reality ofengaging the Nigerian rulerwho had been the scorn of twoof his immediate predecessors.

President Bill Clinton it wasreported had employed allmanner of intrigues includingemploying the use of twoIndian born female operativesof the Central IntelligenceAgency, CIA to undermine theNigerian president.

President Obama smiledquietly as he remembered thesecret briefing he had beengiven of how a diplomaticincident between the twocountries broke out after one ofthe Indian girls died aftereating an apple laced withcyanide that she was supposedto have fed Abacha with. In the

in his dispatch to Washingtonwas in good health but lived inmiserable conditions. His onetime profitable farm had beenrun aground during the timeof his incarceration between1995 and 1999. Obasanjo wasreleased in 1999 as part ofAbacha’s efforts in wooing theworld after his strangedemocratic expression in 1998.

Even though free, Obasanjo's life was one of hand to mouthdependent on his militarypension and periodic inflowsfrom his children abroadincluding his US baseddaughter, Iyabo who is asuccessful veterinary doctor inthe United States.

As Obama deplaned he wasescorted by a number of seniorofficials of the USadministration, but the surprisefor their Nigerian hosts was thepresence in the entourage of aformer Nigerian senator andactivist in the NationalDemocratic Collation,NADECO, Senator SolaSinubu. Sinubu’s visit toNigeria it had been agreedbetween Nigerian diplomatsand US administration officialswas purely apolitical, Sinubuwas visiting to see his agedmother and matriarch of Lagostraders. As Obama neared him,Abacha could not but againmutter to Oseni near him, yeswe got democracy in my ownterms.C

MYK

IN this column a fortnightago, I asked whether the

‘Amalgamation of 1914’ was amistake. The feedback was thatjudging by the present state ofevents in Nigeria, the step takenby Lord Lugard, though helpfulto Britian, was not in the bestinterest of the country.

Many argued that instead ofone politically unstable country,it would have been possible tohave three or more independentcountries – strong, reliable andin a competitive relationship withone another.

Others believe that it was notthe amalgamation that was faultybut the inability of past andpresent leaderships to maintainpolitical unity and evolveeconomic prosperity. It would appear that the problemsof the country are deep rootedand thus, could not be blamedon the present President ofNigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.

The President recently in aspeech in Enugu called for theevaluation of events since 1914and also assessment of eventssince independence in 1960.

In fact, the political situationsuffered a terrible stroke in theNigerian civil war of 1967-70. That war could be attributable tothe intransigence of oldpoliticians and the inability of themilitary to agree on the principleof justice, fairplay and equity thatwas needed at that time.

There should be no more grandillusion of political unity, religioustolerance and ethnic co-existence. There should be aneed for dialogue to support thecontinuous existence of Nigeriaas a strong and happy nation.

In recent weeks the economicstability of the country has beencalled to question. The otherday, the Coordinating Ministerfor the Economy, Dr NgoziOkonjo-Iweala said that Nigeriawas not broke as being imaginedby many soothsayers just

because of recent delays in salarypayments and a daypostponement of the meeting ofthe Federal Account AllocationCommittee (FAAC).

"With a GDP (Gross DomesticProduct) growth rate of over 7percent and foreign exchangereserves of $38.6bn ($38.72bn onMay 17). The economy has beendoing quite well,” the Ministerwas quoted as saying.

The Minister is quite correctjudging by the availablestatistical figure showing actualtotal revenue to be about N500bnmore than the projected figure.The latest statements of theamiable Coordinating Ministerseems reassuring as against herearlier statement some weeksago that the amount of $3.6 billionin the depleted Excess CrudeAccount would not be enough tosustain Nigeria for any period oftime.

The Minister held the stategovernors for the slow growth ofthe Sovereign Wealth Fund(SWF) by adhering strictly to theprinciple of ‘true federalism‘ asopposed to the economicadvantages of the Fund asprotection against future

it has been paper growthwithout favorable impact on thelevel of unemployment which isestimated to be about 29 percentof the working population – 3 percent unemployment is theaccepted norm in developedcountries.

It is a deep sense of relief thatthe CBN has now publiclyadmitted that its belief thattightening monetary policy iswrong as a pre condition formacroeconomic stability.

We agree with the CBN that,‘Monetary Policy on its own haslimitations with respect toinducing growth without fiscaland structural measures relatingto petroleum, power andinfrastructure sectors‘. It isbelieved that no economictransformation will be feasiblewithout heavy concentration ofefforts on provision and supplyof electric power. The rulingparty has continued tomonopolize wisdom and propervision for development in thepower sector.

Solar power andcoal exploitations

Not enough investments havebeen made in solar power andcoal exploitations. Sadly too,efforts by some states on powerprojects for their citizens havebeen diverted to the national grid,to the detriments of the indiginesof the states concerned, e.g.Lagos and Rivers State.

It may be pertinent to note thatas at the time our FinanceMinister was advocating for aforeign loan to fix our economicinfrastructures, the oil moneywhich should be the engine ofgrowth, was lavishly distributedto states and local government. The sum of N563.089bn wasreported to have been distributedto all tiers of government after anapology for a delay of a day ortwo. Some apologists of true

turbulence. However, the mainargument of the state governorsis that in true federalism, youcannot withhold any part of theirallocation without their consent,or spend it without their expressapproval.

This argument raises theproblem of the concept of federaland unitary type of governmentoperated in this country. Thereshould be a re definition of thetype of federalism operated inNigeria. At the time theargument on allocation ofresources to all levels ofgovernment is being debated, theCentral Bank of Nigeria,CBN, inits latest statement said thatNigeria‘s economic growth is atgreat risk.

This is based on observabledecrease in the growth of crudeoil productions, (2.3 percent); nonoil sector and agriculture in thefirst quarter of 2012 comparedwith the same period last year. The overall economic growth in2012 is estimated at about 6.5 percent, a little below that of over 7per cent in the year 2011.

Over the years the Nigerianeconomy has grown at anaverage of about 7 per cent, but

Critical observations onNigeria’s economic andpolitical stability

federalism would frown at asystem which allows a BigBrother in Abuja to bedistributing funds to its fiefs onsuch regular basis. Truefederalism ensures that each statewould develop all its resourcesand manage its funds to the bestof its ability for the good of itspeople.

If the minerals in each state areallowed to be developed by thestate, and not wait for federalauthority‘s blessings, the betterit would be for the economy ofthat state and generaldevelopment of the country.

In many developed nations, allexplorations, productions andsales are left in private handsthrough companies owned byshare holders. All incomesderivable from their operationsgo directly to the shareholdersafter payments of due taxes totheir host and homegovernments.

Government might participatemerely as shareholders likeothers. If the federalgovernment is the solecontributor to the Joint Venturesoperations, (unless the contraryis the case), it stands to reasonthat the total income from oilbelongs to the sole funder of theoperations-Federal Government. I have advocated in this columnseveral times for a more realisticapproach to this problem of oilmoney allocation.

The NNPC should be convertedinto a public organization ownedby the Federal Government(30%), Oil Producing States(50%) and other States (20%).The owners would subscribe tooil and gas production costs inrelation to their holdings andshare income accordingly in theproportion of their shareholding. Surely, the convenientmarriage of common senseeconomics with sensible politicswould promote political stabilityand economic prosperity.

Representatives that took thelead and did good work in thatregard.

I think the overall performanceis disappointing though I will sayFarouk Lawan has helpedelevate the quality of the Houseof Representatives. I think underTambuwal, the House ofRepresentatives has becomemore reflective of the wishes ofNigerians than the Senate.

What do you think should bethe outcome of the report fromthe House of Representatives?

I think a few things are clear,the report identified the

information, it is very difficult tomake any permutations andconclusions, but what I do knowfor sure is that the currentpractices of the government havefailed. There are strong

Continued from page 38

Yes, Jonathan has delivered for his friends — El-Rufai

Borno has a history of 1,200years of Islamic civilization.

Go and look at the history, butyou can see that 1,200 years ofa town that had civilization ofpeace (because I slam preachespeace, Christianity preacheslove,) so where the two cometogether, you can imagine thekind of leadership we are goingto have but today the economyof Maiduguri that was servingCameroun, Chad, Niger, apartfrom neighbouring states inNigeria, but today the marginhas been closed.

Hardly will you find one ortwo families that will put pot ontop of fire before they feed theirchildren. I am not speaking forthe governor but that is thereality and these are yourpeople, your own brothers andsisters. It can happen to you.

The situation is that we aretrying our best. We are sharingour tactics. It is not somethingthat I can discuss on the pagesof newspaper. I am assuringyou that, we are still working

as a team.On Boko Haram: Almost all

of them are graduates; some ofthem are mechanical engineers,some of them very, veryintelligent. They have decidedto take up arms because thereis no job. Imagine somebodywho doesn’t have a job,

How we're handling insecurity in Bauchi — Yuguda

Continued from page 39

suspicions among us that thegovernment is behind some ofthese violence including BokoHaram and the government hasnot done anything to apprehendsome of those behind theviolence.

They are losing the battle in theheart and minds of thecommunity where the so calledBoko Haram is supposedlyoperating and I think they needto rethink their strategies. Thegovernment should stop it, theyshould stop complaining andthey should stop behaving as ifthey are victims and just solvethe problem.

nowhere to go and they say anidle man is the devil’sworkshop and they are therein thousands. Eventually theywill have a meeting point,eventually they will havesomebody who has power toindoctrinate, power to usethem, the power to incite them

to do something.It is not my own making that

I am created as a Fulani manneither yours that you werecreated as a Yoruba man. All ofus have a duty to our countryto make it a great country.Instead of abusing thePresident, advice him. What

has he done, because God haschosen him to be the President.He is the only one out of 150million people. God chose him,it is not him. He cannot givehimself power. If you forceyourself into power, you will seethat God will force you out.

companies that collected publicfunds without supplyinganything. I think they should beasked to refund that money backbefore you go any further. Youdon’t need any investigation. Butno action is being taken alongthat line. I heard that the anti-corruption agency has got thereport and I do hope that allthose involved in doing thewrong things will be brought tojustice as quickly as possible.

On Boko Haram, what is theway forward?

I don’t know it is a complicatedissue with many dimensions.Unless you have all the

*El-Rufai:

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—41

CMYK

Vanguard

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42—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012—43

L-r: First Lady of Lagos State, Dame AbimbolaEmmanuella Fashola; President,The CounsellingAmbassador Organisation, Mrs. Regina Iyabo Obasa;and Engr. Adekanmi Obasa, during the BERACHAH2012 & Annual Praise & Worship Concert with thetheme: Perpetual Praise held at the Balmoral HallKudirat Abiola Way Oregun, Ikeja

R-l: Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, Corporate Servicesexecutive, MTN; Lynda Saint Nwafor, Chief TechnicalOfficer and Ms Funmi Omogbemi, GM, Corporateaffairs during the press conference on MTN networkmodernisation Project Announcement in Lagos,yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

R-L: Pastor Mrs Ewaen Edun; Miss Evelyn Edu; Dr.Leo Erhunmunsee, Chief Medical Director FederalMedical Centre, Asaba; and Dr. Kayode Adeniran,Head of Dept. Paediatrics, FMC, at the presentation ofbaby incubator and medical equipment to the centre,Asaba by Chirst Embassy Church, Asaba branch. PhotoNath Onojake

L-r: Mr. Felix Awogu, GM supersport Nigeria; Mr.Segun Agbede, Supersport; Mr. Charles Anazodo,Supersport presenter; Carol Tshabalaka, Supersportpresenter and Mozez Praiz, Supersport presenter atthe Supersport Roll Out of Two 24 hours Channels forEuro 2012 media Quiz in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola,Photo Editor

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YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S ATOUR

L A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N -G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E )K I O S K

4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8 , 2012 — 45

Roger Federer willneed all thereserves of his

Zen-like calmness if thedismal weather forecastholds for Friday’s men’ssemi-finals day at theFrench Open.

Forecasts areexpecting more rain ona day of twoheavyweight clashes,with Novak Djokovictrying to extend hisquest for a fourthstraight title at a majoras he faces Federer, andRafael Nadal playingDavid Ferrer withSpanish clay pride onthe line.

Federer, the 2009 Parischampion with four titlesin 2012, is accustomedto ending the party forDjokovic after haltingthe Serb’s unbeatenmatch streak at 41 winsa year ago at this stageat Roland Garros.

Since that loss,

Federer needs to be ‘mentallyready’ for Djokovic

French Open Watch....French Open Watch Ferrer in mission impossibleagainst Nadal

Such is RafaNadal’s vice-likegrip on the

French Open that hissemi-final opponentDavid Ferrer concedesbeating him is “almostimpossible”.Ferrer is a claycourtspecialist who hasdropped only one set enroute to the last fourculminating in astraightforward victoryover fourth seed AndyMurray on Wednesday.But such is the six-timeschampion Nadal’sdominance in Paris, thatFerrer knows the oddsare stacked enormouslyagainst him when thepair meet on Friday.“I think you can win aset against Rafa, but

there is a differencebetween winning a setand winning a match,”he told reporters.“Winning a matchagainst Rafa is almostimpossible. He is insuch good shape.”Ferrer has won only fourof 15 matches againstthe Mallorcan battlerand his only claycourtsuccess came eightyears ago.The pair have playedtwice this year, in Spainand in Rome, and Nadalhas won both withoutconceding a set.“Each match is different.In Godo, I had to beslightly more aggressiveand I made mistakes.“In Rome it wasdifferent, because I hadopportunities to win aset, but he playedextremely well - I tried.”

Djokovic has won a tightUS Open semi-final andone at Rome last monthagainst the 16-timeGrand Slam champion.

But as holder of morethan a few himself,Federer is not impressedby potential records.

He’s all about getting oncourt — even a heavyone — and playing thematch.

“It doesn’t matter if it’sNovak or any otherplayer really, you justwant to be wellprepared; you want to be

mentally ready for a longday,” said the 30-year-old.

“Over five sets the rainor the sunshine couldcome and go. You havemore possibility ofinterruption justbecause you’re out therefor a longer period oftime. It’s a differentkind of approach."

Greece’s ironcladdefence isPoland’s biggest

worry, both the coachand captain of the theEuro 2012 co-hostsacknowledged onThursday on the eve oftheir tournament opener.

“It’s clear that theGreek defence, and infact the whole team, isbased on defensive play.That’s their strongpoint,” Poland managerFranciszek Smuda saidahead of a trainingsession in Warsaw’sNational Stadium,venue for Friday’s clash.

“It’s definitely going

to be the hardest nut forus to crack,” he added.

Greece qualifiedhandsomely for Euro2012 without losing asingle match, scoring 14goals and conceding just5.

Captain KubaBlaszczykowski saidforcing open a breachwould be key.

“We have people whoare pretty good at doingthat,” the midfielderadded, without namingnames.

While Polish fans wereecstatic to have drawnGreece in their group, itwas largely because they

avoided heavyweightssuch as championsSpain or 2008 finalistsGermany, and Polandhave repeatedly warnedagainst underestimatingthe Euro 2004 victors.

“Greece are a goodteam for sure. Theyproved that in theq u a l i f i e r s , ”Blaszczykowski said.

Poland themselves areon paper the weakestteam at the 16-nationE u r o p e a nchampionship, hostedwith neighbouringUkraine, and as hostsdid not have to comethrough qualifying.

Mata aimsat Italy

Ch e l s e amidfielderJuan Mata,

with the ChampionsLeague already tuckedunder his belt thisseason, says that hehopes to play his part inhelping Spain defendtheir Euro title - butwarns their firstopponents Italy willpose a tough openingchallenge.

“They are a verycompetitive team andare always very difficultto beat with talents onbaord such as (Antonio)Cassano or (Mario)Balotelli,” says Mata,who will have his workcut out to get a startingberth in the holders’stellar midfield.

“Of course my goal isto play as much aspossible. But thecompetition in the group

is very strong - I’ll haveto work hard to get inthere but that’s normal -various other playersdeserve their startingeleven status,” he addedmodestly.

One man who won’t bethere is injured all-timerecord scorer DavidVilla.

“He’s scored a lot ofgoals for his country butI think we have noshortage of firepower in(Alvaro) Negredo(Chelsea clubmateFernando) Torres and(Fernando) Llorente.Then we have attackingmidfielders who can alsoget on the scoresheet.”

RIP Preciado,say Spain

Spain were Thursdaymourning the death

of former Sporting Gijoncoach Manolo Preciado,who had only beenappointed coach ofVillarreal on Wednesday,from a heart attack.

Preciado, who alsocoached racingSantander, had thereputation of being aworkaholic and was wellrespected across Spain.

Italian flavourfor opening

The Euro 2012opening ceremony

in Warsaw will have adecidedly Italian flavouras it is being producedlargely by creativedirector Marco Balichand DJ Karmatronic - akaAchilles Filippo Sparta,a remixer for starsincluding Shakira.

Balich was behindsimilar extravaganzas atthe Winter Games at SaltLake City (2002) andTurin (2006), while he isalso helping producethe London Gamesopening ceremony. Hewill furthermore be MCfor the closing ceremonyat the Euros.

Briefs

•Mata

•Djokovic

•Nadal •Ferrer

Poland wary of Greek defence

•Federer

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48 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

UN accuses Syria of massacre as survivors recount horror

Romney beats Obama in fund raisingREPUBLICAN presi-dential candidate MittRomney and Republicangroups raised more than$76.8 million in May, hiscampaign said yesterdaytopping the more than$60 million President

Barack Obama and hisDemocratic allies hauledin.

Romney’s campaignand the Republican Na-tional Committee have$107 million in cash on

hand, the campaign said.Obama’s cash on handfigure was not immedi-ately available.

“We are encouraged bythe financial support froma broad range of voters,

said Romney national fi-nance chairman SpencerSwick. “It is clear thatpeople aren’t willing tobuy into ‘hope andchange’ again.

Greece facesbankruptcy,austerity hitspanishchildren

AS European leadersgrapple with how to

preserve their monetaryunion, Greece is rapidlyrunning out of money.Nikos Lekkas, a govern-ment official, said bankshad hindered his effortsto collect back taxes.

Government cofferscould be empty as soonas July, shortly after thismonth’s pivotal elections.In the worst case, Athensmight have to temporarilystop paying for salariesand pensions, along withimports of fuel, food andpharmaceuticals.

Officials, scrambling forsolutions, have consid-ered dipping into fundsthat are supposed to be forGreece’s troubled banks.Some are even suggest-ing doling out i.o.u.’s.

Iraq executesSaddam's aide

ONE of SaddamHussein’s closest

aides who handed downmany of the dictator’s re-pressive orders was ex-ecuted in Iraq yesterday,the justice ministry said.

Abed Hamoud,Saddam’s private secre-tary, was regarded bymany Iraqis as more influ-ential than most ministers.

He was number four onthe U.S. list of most-wantedIraqi officials following the2003 invasion, after theSunni dictator and hissons.

He was sentenced todeath in 2010 on chargesof orchestrating a crack-down against rival politi-cal parties in Iraq in the1980s and 1990s, includ-ing assassinations andunlawful detentions.

UNITED Nations Secretary-General, Ban

Ki-moon ratcheted up thepressure on Syrian Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad yes-terday to end his 15-month onslaught againstopposition seeking to ousthim, condemning a re-ported new massacre inSyria as an “unspeakablebarbarity.”

Ban, speaking at thestart of a special U.N.General Assembly ses-sion on the Syrian crisis,called again on Assad to

immediately implementinternational mediatorKofi Annan’s six-pointpeace plan that bothDamascus and the oppo-sition publicly embracedin April but continue toignore. This came sixhours after tanks and mi-litiamen pulled out ofMazraat al-Qubeir, a Syr-ian farmer said he re-turned to find onlycharred bodies amongthe shouldering homes ofhis once-tranquilhamlet.Syrian troops and

militiamen loyal to Presi-dent Bashar al-Assadstood accused by oppo-nents yesterday of a newmassacre of scores of vil-lagers hours before a di-

vided U.N. SecurityCouncil convenes to re-view the crisis.

The killings of at least78 people at Mazraat al-Qabeer, near Hama, will

pile pressure on worldpowers to act, but there islittle sign they can over-come a paralysis born ofsharp divisions between

Western and Arab stateson the one hand and As-sad’s defenders in Rus-sia, China and Iran.

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FIXTURES

Continues from B/P

Sunday June 17

Kharkiv, Group B: Portugal v Holland 7:45pm

Lviv, Group B: Denmark v Germany 7:45pm

Monday June 18

Gdansk, Group C: Croatia v Spain 7:45pm

Poznan, Group C: Italy v Republic of Ireland 7:45pm

Tuesday June 19

Donetsk, Group D: England v Ukraine 7:45pm

Kiev, Group D: Sweden v France 7:45pm

QUARTER-FINALS

Thursday June 21

Warsaw, QF1: Winner A v Runner-up B 7:45pm

Friday June 22

Gdansk, QF2: Winner B v Runner-up A 7:45pm

Saturday June 23

Donetsk, QF3: Winner C v Runner-up D 7:45pm

Sunday June 24

Kiev, QF4: Winner D v Runner-up C 7:45pm

SEMI-FINALS

Wednesday June 27

Donetsk, SF1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF3 7:45pm

Thursday June 28

Warsaw, SF2: Winner QF2 v Winner QF4 7:45pm

FINAL

Sunday July

Kiev: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 7:45pm)

3 more Eagles drop outof Blantyre battle

Continues from B/P

prepare for the Na-tions Cup qualifieragainst Rwanda.

The game, earlierscheduled for SundayJune 17, has now beenmoved forward to Satur-day, June 16 at the UJEsuene Stadium in oneof Africa’s cleanest city,where football was firstplayed in Nigeria.

Keshi told the playersthat he feels a personalsense of loss to ask themout but going by FIFArules he cannot takemore than 23 players toMalawi, but assuredthat they remain partand parcel of his plansof rebuilding the nation-al team, urging them tokeep the faith with himand help return Nigeri-an football to the top of

the chart in Africa andone of the best in theworld.

The lucky 23 playerswho made the cut forMalawi are:Vincent En-yeama, Austin Ejide, andChigozie Agbim, allgoalkeepers. DefendersGodfrey Oboabona,Azubuike Egwueke,Gege Soriola, Papa Idris,Efe Ambrose, EldersonEchejile and Juwon Os-haniwa. In the midfieldare Gabriel Reuben, Ra-heem Lawal, ObiorahNwankwo, Ejike Uzoe-nyi, Obinna Nwachuk-wu, Henry Uche, AhmedMusa and John Utaka,while the hunt for goalswill be led by VictorMoses, Sunday Mba,Ikechukwu Uche, Omat-sone Aluko and UcheKalu.

Usain Bolt’s grand entrancein Oslo

Continues from B/P

nightspot.It was a chance for the

25-year-old worldchamp to let his hairdown, as he takes abreak from the local Bis-lett Games and his prep-

arations for the LondonOlympics.

And he would be gladof the female companyfollowing his split withgorgeous fashion de-signer girlfriend LubicaSlovak last month.

Usain called time onthe romance to concen-trate on his training.

Utaka returns to happy hunting ground

JOHN Chukwudi Utaka will be one of only

two players in the Nige-rian squad that were inBlantyre the last timethe Super Eagles tack-

led the Flames in a qual-ifying match in thatcountry.

On March 29, 2003,the Eagles doused theFlames 1-0 in a 2004 Af-rican Cup of Nations

qualifying match, rightat the Kamuzu Stadium.The only goal of thematch was scored by

John Utaka.The languid but effi-

cient marksman returns

to the Kamuzu Stadiumon Saturday as memberof the Nigerian teamthat must earn threepoints against the

Flames in a Day 2 matchof the 2014 FIFA WorldCup Brazil qualificationseries of the Africanzone.

I'm scandalised by those who ar-gue that Jose Mourinho destroyedMikel Obi's game by making himdefensive.

Of Mikel Obi andKojo Williams

CALLISTUS Ibare of AIT, with his camera man,put me on the 'dock' ten minutes before Nigeria

engaged Namibia in Calabar.I had told him I supported Stephen Keshi's pro-

gramme, insisting that the building of a new na-tional team with special attention on the local play-ers was one good way out for Nigeria's football. Ireminded him that many of the foreign-based starsseverally disappointed Nigeria at the crucial mo-ment and that going by the ill-fated Nations Cupqualifier against Guinea in Abuja last year and thematch in Rwanda in February this year it was clearthat the time of many of them was up. I maintainedthat Keshi was on the right track and should be al-lowed to continue the good work. Then came thelast question. "If Keshi loses this match will you stillsupport him?" I said absolutely yes and remindedCallistus again that there was no other way out oth-er than Keshi's ongoing programme. Building of ateam takes time and when the players are local play-ers it could take longer time because two majorthings will suffice - developing their technical andtactical abilities and exposing them to modern life,facilities and even the atmospherics of big occasionsso that they will not easily be overwhelmed. Expo-sure is very important. I heard that the matchesagainst Egypt in Dubai and in Peru were eye open-ers to the boys. Some of them admired the streets.When they entered the stadium in Peru the noisyfans overwhelmed them and this contributed to thepoor first half we saw in that 1-0 defeat.

Keshi consulted when he got the job and I wasamong those who told him to focus on our

league players because I knew that potentialsabounded in our league. But I warned him that itrequired hard work and the ability to transform rawtalents to finished products. I knew that not allcoaches could do that. Not all coaches are devel-opers. Some are good in managing stars but cannotdevelop talents and vice versa. Keshi assured methat he would start a programme similar to whatClemens Westerhof did. Repeatedly, I said thatWesterhof was a gift to Nigeria from God and thatpeople should not expect to see, so soon, anotherforeign coach who would love Nigeria and be ascommitted as Westerhof was. You may even havesomebody very committed but who lacks the skill todevelop players especially within our harsh anddeplorable conditions. Keshi picked his team andwent to work. And the result now is what we have

in players like mesmerizing Ejike Uzoenyi, KaluUche, Henry Uche, Sunday Mba, Papa Idris, Gab-riel Ruben, Oshanuwa, Godfrey Itama and Egwuek-we. After watching the games in Rwanda and inCalabar, I wonder what could have happened ifKeshi didn't start this ongoing programme. I bet hisjob would have been on the line because we wouldhave fallen by now. In Rwanda, the five local play-ers who played saved Nigeria from defeat. In Cala-bar Ike Uche gave Nigeria victory with great contri-bution from players Keshi is currently grooming.The three substituted players (Obiora, Utaka andVictor Moses) all ply their trade abroad. Does this

fensive midfield of Eagles, I don't see Mike Obitaking his place now. Against Argentina in the in-ternational friendly in Bangladesh, Obi toyed withthe ball, lost it and never gave a chase until Argen-tina scored with it. That's characteristic of him inEagles. Against Guinea in Abuja, after 15 minutes,he was supporting his waist with his hands. At sometime, he was walking on the field. I'm scandalisedby those who argue that Jose Mourinho destroyedMikel Obi's game by making him defensive. Forabout six years that he has played for Chelsea didMourinho tell him not to score or even make anassist?

They say he is a good passer of the ball. I agree.But most of his passes are either backwards or

to his side. He rarely puts pressure on opponents.It was against this background that Keshi called himafter his first training session with him and passedthese words to him. "I want you to express yourselfon the field, feel free, go forward and score. Don'trestrict yourself in anyway." Obi thanked him andwalked away. The next day he said he was injuredand that was how he missed to play against Botswa-na in Benin and Zambia in Kaduna, Keshi's firstand second matches. After this disappointment,Keshi left him alone. Up till now Obi has not shownany sign of commitment to the national team. Evenwhen Barrister Chris Green, chairman of NFF Tech-nical Committee, tried to make a case for his invita-tion after the Champions League victory of Chelseaa mail came informing the NFF that he was injured.Green fumed. I have told this story so that nobodyputs pressure on Keshi over players who lack thefighting spirit for Nigeria. For now, Ruben is givingus more, Ohanuwa is better than Taiye Taiwo andKalu Uche, Sunday Mba will be more deadly thansome of the strikers abroad especially against Afri-can countries. Let's use them and do what Kojo Wil-liams suggested. Take them to Europe and exposethem and make them stars. Let me recall what theformer NFA chairman told me:

"When I took Eagles to Sweden they hit us 7-0 inour first match and Westerhof and I hid this fromNigerians. In our second match they beat us 3-0.We were building a team and knew where we wereheaded. The third match we won 3-2 and we start-ed gathering the momentum. We have more moneynow than then so let Keshi embark on tours in Eu-rope to train these local players who will be greatstars tomorrow if we do the right thing. Exposurewill help a lot." I agree, Kojo.

Access Bank Fifth Chukkerwins Charity Shield Polo title

THE prestigious Access Bank UNICEF CharityShield’2012 Polo Tournament which took to a blis-

tering start some days ago came to a thrilling climaxat the weekend with the defending champions, Ac-cess Bank Fifth Chukker edging MRS in a tense finalto retain their coveted Charity Shield.Within three daysof explosive battles, the four teams with a high-goalshowdown narrowed to two finalists with Access Bankteam edging the ambitious MRS12-10 to maintain theirCharity Shield supremacy for the third year running.

52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

send any signal? I will never join those asking Keshito totally shut the door on foreign-based players.We need the ones who can fit into our game, thosewho can fight and play well in our World Cup andNations Cup qualifiers. African football, I maintain,is always different and there are some playersgroomed in Europe who don't fit in here. Afterwatching Gabriel Ruben of Kano Pillars in the de-

,

,

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e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

How to Play SudokuTHE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

TODAY'S PUZZLES YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012

CContinues on Page 52

Friday June 8

Warsaw, Group A: Poland v Greece 5pm

Wroclaw, Group A: Russia v Czech Republic 7:45pm

Saturday June 9

Kharkiv, Group B: Holland v Denmark 5pm

Lviv, Group B: Germany v Portugal 7:45pm

Sunday June 10

Gdansk, Group C: Spain v Italy 5pm

Poznan, Group C: Republic of Ireland v Croatia

7:45pm

Monday June 11

Donetsk, Group D: France v England 5pm

Kiev, Group D: Ukraine v Sweden 7:45pm

Tuesday June 12

Wroclaw, Group A: Greece v Czech Republic 5pm

Warsaw, Group A: Poland v Russia 7:45pm

Wednesday June 13

Lviv, Group B: Denmark v Portugal 5pm

Kharkiv, Group B: Holland v Germany 7:45pm

Thursday June 14

Poznan, Group C: Italy v Croatia 5pm

Gdansk, Group C: Spain v Republic of Ireland

7:45pm

Friday June 15

Donetsk, Group D: Ukraine v France 5pm

Kiev, Group D: Sweden v England 7:45pm

Saturday June 16

Wroclaw, Group A: Czech Republic v Poland 7:45pm

Warsaw, Group A: Greece v Russia 7:45pm

For more on Euro 2012, turn toour centre spread . Its a SportsVanguard Special

FIXTURES

3 more Eagles dropout of Blantyre battleI

T was another harddecision to take for the

Super Eagles technicalcrew, as three more play-ers were dropped fromthe party that headed forBlantyre, Malawi,Thursday night to joinNnamdi Oduamadi,who earlier dropped outdue to injury amongthose who will not takepart in the battle ofMalawi on Saturday.

Those dropped areSunshine Stars of Akure

striker, Izu Azuka, Nor-way-based FengorOgude and EkighoEhiosun, who was onloan to Turkish side,Samsunsport last sea-son. The trio will haveanother opportunity ofproving themselves wor-thy of being in the na-tional team, when theyjoin the team’s camp inCalabar, Cross RiverState next Monday to

CContinues on Page 52

Poland,Greeceface-off asEuro begins•Turn to Centre

Spread

Usain Bolt’s grandentrance in Oslo

HE’S famous for finishing well in rac-

es, but it seems UsainBolt also knows how tostart a night in style too.

The world’s fastest manarrived at Oslo’s plushBar Tjuvholmen in aSPEEDBOAT with abeauty on each arm.

And the record-break-ing sprinter was a run-away success when hetook to the stage as well.

He took the opportu-nity to show off his lessfamous talents, having ago at drumming andDJing at the Norwegian

CContinues on Page 52 Arriving in style ... Usain Bolt with friends

ACROSS

1 Stone (6)5 Plastered (6)9 Beneath (5)10 Maintain (6)11 Clergyman (6)12 Lukewarm (5)14 Always (4)17 Decay (3)18 Wan (4)20 Sum (5)22 Jockey (5)23 Cautious (7)24 Stitched (5)26 Cap (5)29 Poke (4)30 Marry (3)32 Dreadful (4)33 Hell (5)35 Really (6)36 Surpassed (6)37 Allude (5)38 Deserved (6)39 Give (6)

DOWN

1 Shrub (6)2 Hamper (6)3 Lechery (4)4 Go in (5)5 Liability (5)6 Parched (4)7 Decapitate (6)8 Smart (6)13 Driven (7)15 Elector (5)16 Rushed (5)18 Heaped (5)19 Bar (5)21 Youth (3)22 Massage (3)24 Elf (6)25 Awe (6)27 Torn (6)28 Offer (6)30 Paddled (5)31 Dissuade (5)33 Present (4)34 Angry (4)

ACROSS: 4, Dazed 7, Cleric 9, Rig 10, Pod12, Visit 13, Leek 15, Medal 17, Regale 19,Evil 20, Steer 22, Eat 24, Niggled 27, Tea 28,Erode 31, Mess 33, Atomic 35, Harem 37,Pest 38, Relax 39, Dim 41, Peg 42, Tumour43, Asked.

DOWN:1, Scales 2, Severe 3, Zip 4, Diva 5,Agile 6, Elicited 8, Coma 11, Delegated 14,Keen 16, Deal 18, Grit 21, Tireless 23, Team25, Gear 26, Drip 29, Ocelot 30, Entire 32,Shape 34, Omit 36, Axed 40, Mud.

CMYK