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...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62490 ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 ** N150 Mr & Mrs Continues on Page 5 •P.19 •P.17 •P.19 COLUMNISTS: Brand Buhari’s encounter with Diogenes Compensating the Victim: Agenda for Legislative action Aliko Dangote: Cementing Africa's economic development Chibok girls dispersed, some married off Says they're being guarded at different locations Their condition can't be ascertained yet Adds: I appointed people I can trust in office Donu Kogbara's kidnap: DAY 11 By Clifford Ndujihe (with agency report) L AGOS —MORE than 513 days after the abduction of the Chibok Secondary School girls in Borno State, hopes of rescuing the girls en bloc vaporized as President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday, disclosed that they have been dispersed and some of them, especially Christians, married off against their faith. President Buhari made the comments in an interview on BBC Hausa service on Tuesday. Asked if he received any information about the whereabouts of the kidnapped Chibok girls, he said: "They (Boko — BUHARI >>7 Family of 6 dies in Lagos fire Drama as power failure disrupts Senate probe on power RELEASED—Gov. Kashim Shetima of Borno (R), commiserating with one of the 128 military detainees handed over to the state government after they were cleared of allegation of being members of the Boko Haram sect, in Maiduguri, yesterday. With them is the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (M). Inset: A cross section of the detainees handed over, yesterday. Photos: NAN. >>8 SHAKE-UP IN NAVY: New FOCs, PSOs appointed; 61 officers deployed >>9 C M Y K

Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

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Page 1: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

...towards a better life for the peopleVOL. 25: NO. 62490

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015**

N150

Mr & Mrs

Continues on Page 5

•P.19•P.17 •P.19

COLUMNISTS:

Brand Buhari’sencounter withDiogenes

Compensating theVictim: Agenda forLegislative action

Aliko Dangote:Cementing Africa'seconomicdevelopment

Chibok girls dispersed,some married off•Says they're being guarded at different locations•Their condition can't be ascertained yet•Adds: I appointed people I can trust in office

DonuKogbara'skidnap:DAY 11

By CliffordNdujihe (withagency report)

L A G O S — M O R Ethan 513 days after

the abduction of theChibok Secondary Schoolgirls in Borno State, hopesof rescuing the girls enbloc vaporized asPresident MuhammaduBuhari, Tuesday,disclosed that they havebeen dispersed and someof them, especiallyChristians, married offagainst their faith.

President Buhari madethe comments in aninterview on BBC Hausaservice on Tuesday.

Asked if he received anyinformation about thewhereabouts of thekidnapped Chibok girls,he said: "They (Boko

— BUHARI

>>7Family of 6 dies in Lagos fireDrama as powerfailure disruptsSenate probe onpower

RELEASED—Gov. Kashim Shetima of Borno (R), commiserating with one of the 128 military detainees handed over to thestate government after they were cleared of allegation of being members of the Boko Haram sect, in Maiduguri, yesterday. Withthem is the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (M). Inset: A cross section of the detainees handed over, yesterday.Photos: NAN.

>>8SHAKE-UP IN NAVY: New FOCs, PSOs appointed; 61 officers deployed

>>9

CMYK

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2 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — 3

CMYK

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4 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—5

Continues from Page 1

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

IT'S UP TO YOUBY AYO ADIO

Chibok girls dispersed,some married off —BUHARI

Write in your heart that every day is the best dayof the year —Ralph Waldo Emerson

A PERSON who lives in a state of gratitude ismore aware in the moment. Every moment is a

gift. You haven’t earned it. You haven’t brought itabout in any way. You have no way of assuring thatthere will be another moment given to you, and yet,that’s the most valuable thing that can ever be givento us, this moment, with all the opportunity that itcontains. Be grateful. We can avail ourselves theopportunities the moment offers or miss out fromlack of awareness, but the key to happiness is in ourown hands. Moment by moment, use it well andmake this life count.

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

TO change anything on the outside, somethingon our inside must change. To live a rewarding

life, we must develop a strong character thatstrengthens our inner man which enables us toinfluence the world around us. It's up to you.

OUR life begins with our cry, our life ends withothers' cry. Try to utilize this gap and laugh

as much as possible.

VISIT—President Muhammadu Buhari (M) welcoming Leader of APC,Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,while former chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande(left) watches, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

Haram insurgents) havescattered them, and (they)are being guarded atdispersed locations. Mostof the girls are Christiansand were forced toembrace Islam. The sect’scruel leaders have marriedsome of the girls,obviously against theirwish. Others have beenleft to practice theirreligion but their conditioncould hardly beascertained.

"Both ground and airsecurity personnel in theSambisa forest could spotwhere the girls are, butsince the insurgents havealso kidnappedhousewives and otherwomen, no one could saywhether they mixed themor how they dispersedthem. But efforts are beingintensified and as peopleknow, the threen e i g h b o u r i n ggovernments of

Cameroon, Chad, andNiger are helping ussince these suicidebombers are now going totheir areas anddetonating the bombs inmosques and otherplaces."

On his efforts to checkthe Boko Haraminsurgency, Buhari said:"One of the decisions wetook soon after we cameinto office was to changethe service chiefs and weoverhauled the infantry.We mandated the militarychiefs to change theinfantry, re-train them,equip them withadequate weapons andput trained and qualifiedcommanders for thesoldiers. The three statesof Yobe, Borno andAdamawa know thesuccesses being recordednow."

Locals must helpfight Boko Haram

Told that despite thissuccess of the military,suicide bombers havecontinued to strike, thePresident fingered theinternational dimension ofthe insurgency andstressed the need for thesupport of local people inthe war.

"Boko Haram membershave pledged theirallegiance to ISIS — aninsurgent group from theMiddle East, withenough money and itsmembers werebrainwashed into killinginnocent people,including Al-Shabbabaround Somalia, and Al-Qa’eda from Yemen, plusthe ISIS itself aroundSyria and Iraq. If you canrecall, ISIS even went tomosques in Saudi Arabiaand killed people onabout three to fiveoccasions not to talk ofdoing same in Nigeria.So, the biggest problemhere is how theybrainwashed youngpeople, including younggirls, who go to mosques,churches, markets, motorparks and detonatebombs, kill themselvesand other civilians. Howwe are going to overcomethis is going back to thetraditional securityapparatus — communityleaders, neighbours,district heads, emirs, whoshould begin to identifynew faces in theirlocalities and ask themwhere they come from andwhat brought them. Theycan identify them in eithermarkets, or any otherplace. This is what willhelp us in that regard sothat those planning toundertake suicidemissions could beidentified and they wouldbe dealt withappropriately," he said.

I appointed peopleI can trust

In the interview, Buharialso defended his recentappointments criticized bymany Nigerians aslopsided, saying henominated people he

could trust, and who hadworked with him for years.

An overwhelmingmajority of the President’ssenior appointees arefrom the northern regionof the country, where hecomes from, and about 33per cent of theappointments is from hisnative Katsina State. TheSouth East has noappointee yet.

Asked why hisappointments arelopsided, he said: "This isthe nature of Nigerianpolitics. If they will dojustice to me, as anelected Nigerianpresident, let them look atthe Constitution aNigerian president workswith; there are peoplewho will closely work withme that don’t need to betaken to the Senate. If Iselect people whom Iknow quite well in mypolitical party, whom wecame all the way rightfrom the APP, CPC andAPC, and have remainedtogether in good or badsituation, the people Ihave confidence in and Ican trust them with anypost, will that amount toanything wrong? I havebeen with themthroughout our tryingtimes, what then is thereward of such dedicationand suffering? They didnot defect because ofpositions, they did notinvolve themselves in thepursuit of personal gains,and they accepted theirfate throughout our tryingmoments. What is wrongif I make you the secretary(of the federalgovernment) because Ihave confidence thatthings will go normal?"

NNPC, big theatreof theft

On his anti-graft warand whether he has madesome recoveries since hecame to power, thePresident identified theNigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation(NNPC) as the biggestarena for stealing thecountry’s funds.

His words: "The biggestarea of stealing ofNigeria’s funds wasthrough NNPC, which isthe apex oil sellingcorporation. That waswhy we dissolved theirboard and broughtsomeone who knows theoil sector very well, butwho is not from NNPCand entrusted him withthe leadership of theNNPC. And instead of theeight major departments,four were liquidated andfour continue to exist. Thisis because, for the past 10years, the crude oilstealing has been goingon using some vessels. Bylaw, their owners, captainsand where they are takingthe crude must be known.

"So, the method for thecrude oil stealing was thatthose involved shippedthe crude through smallervessels and then transferthe crude to the largervessels at distant locationsin the ocean, before they

head to other countries.Some of them carry thecrude but later change thedestination.

"Our new approach is toget support fromEuropean countries, theUS and China. Thosedoing the bunkering, youneed to know the amountfirst and the banks theydeposit the monies, etc.These are the things weare doing currently. Andyou know, thosedeveloped countries arestrict on evidences andyou have to show theevidences of such casesbefore they can assist you.If you recall, during themilitary regimes, suchpeople were arrested,thoroughly interrogatedand arraigned before thecourts with evidences.

"But that is impossiblenow. It is democracy andeven the foreigncountries, where themoney is being taken to,practice democracy. Thecompanies involved inbuying the crude and thebanks that kept the moneywould be identified so thatwe would determinewhether they areNigerians or not; whetherthe stolen crude and itsquantity was actuallytaken from here, sold withthe Nigerian name andhow what accrued toNigeria was diverted.

"So, the situation is acomplex one, but we aregetting support fromgovernments of thosecountries, including theirsecurity agencies. Whenwe get the relevantdocuments, we wouldbring them (culprits) backto our courts and try them.We would then show theevidence to the world thatthe crude oil they tradedwas actually stolen orshipped with Nigerianname but later changedthe papers and took awaythe money, instead ofdepositing them into theCentral Bank of Nigeria."

Asked when he wouldprosecute the lootersgiven his recent promisethat within weeks,Nigerians would witnessthe prosecution of suchlooters in the courts, heresponded: "Actually, weare at the verge of doingthat. I have justexplained the difficultiesinvolved. In the past,around 1984, the processwe underwent to recoverthe stolen monies wasdifferent from the one we

are adopting now. It wasa military regime at thattime, but now, ideologiesof the countries involvedare that until you areproved guilty, you remaininnocent. And that is whatwe have been trying toestablish; the actualidentity of the people,where they took the crudeto, did they really payback the money to theCBN or to the pocket ofsome individuals? Wasthe entire crude shippedor part of it? This is not aneasy thing and we havenever realized itscomplexity until recentlywhen some foreigncountries agreed tosupport our course."

Appointingministers tough

The President whoreassured that his cabinetwould be in place beforethe end of the month,however, disclosed that heis finding the processdifficult to finish becauseof the massive rot in thepolity.

"The process is difficultto finish. So, we wouldcontinue the screening tocome up with people thatdeserve to hold thepositions. This is because,what I see daily in termsof the damage inflicted onNigeria in the last 10years is enormous. OnlyGod knows its magnitude,"he said.

Asked if there werenames that he earlierlined up for appointmentsthat he later discoveredtheir complicity and thenchanged his mind,Buhari said: ‘’There arepeople that deserve tohold the position becauseof their knowledge ineither financial issues oroil sector or even ingovernance. But youdiscover that in one wayor the other, and whetherthey knew it or not, theywere dragged to suchunwholesome practices.Bringing such people willbe tantamount to leavingyour doors open whenyou have gone to rest inyour apartment. Puttingsuch people in eitherfinancial, petrol or worksministry would bedangerous becausebehind the scene, somepeople control a person.They would be dictatingto them with a threat toaward them contracts."

Page 6: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

6—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

GunmenkidnapBayelsagov's aides

7 rescued, others feared trapped in collapsedEffurun hotel

Gunmen kill PDP youthleader in Kogi

Abductors kill Israeli during kidnap attemptin Abuja

By Boluwaji Obahopo

By Egufe Yafugborhi &Akpokona Omofuaire

By Samuel Oyadongha

As PDP, APC trade words over killing

LOKOJA—UNKNOWNgunmen on Monday killed

one of the youth leaders ofPeoples Democratic Party, PDP,Mr. Abu Jeremiah, at Ejule in OfuLocal Government Area of KogiState.

Vanguard gathered that the fivegunmen invaded the deceasedcompound at about 6pm while hewas playing draft with some ofhis friends.

Eyewitness account said thegunmen went straight for thevictim as they alighted from a carthat took them to the scene andshot him several times, as othersscampered for safety.

The assailants were said to haveleft the scene immediately theyconfirmed that the youth leaderwas dead.

PDP blames APCHowever, the PDP in the state

blamed the opposition, AllProgressives Congress, APC, forthe death of its members, sayingthe opposition had beensponsoring violence in the statein the last three months.

PDP state youth leader, StephenOnoji, who stated this in Lokojayesterday, while addressingnewsmen, alleged that theincident was the second murderthat had befallen the PDP in thelast couple of months.

“A Similar incident happenedin the same local government onJune 7, when three members ofour party were killed by armed

WARRI—RESCUERS,mainly neighbours and

members of Mercy Land Church,yesterday, pulled out sevenpersons from the debris ofcollapsed wing of Makaval Hotellocated off Refinery Road,Effurun, in Delta State.

Medical officials at nearbyDivine Grace Hospital, where thewounded victims were admittedfor medical attention, said it wastoo early to allow visits and talkswith the patients as a result ofinjuries and shock suffered in themishap.

Akpoguma Davis, a landlord inan adjacent building, whowitnessed it all, said: “At about3am, my dogs were barkingseriously, so I came out notknowing they were reacting tothe noisy cracks from the firstvibration.

“I took torch and went round,wondering if there were robberslurking. After three minutes, thiswhole wing of the buildingcollapsed. About seven personshave been rescued alive. I heardone woman shouting ‘I am MercyLand visitor, help me. We got herout after four hours.”

Benjamin Hosu, 51, from Lagos,said: “I and a colleague came totown to execute a projectyesterday. We were lodged in thefirst floor. Around 3.10am, we

YENAGOA—BARELYtwenty-four hours after

the two Okpoama chiefskidnapped last week in themangrove swamp of BayelsaEast senatorial districtregained their freedom,gunmen struck againyesterday in the riversidetown of Sagbama andabducted the Special Adviseron Political Matters to theBayelsa State Governor,Chief Fyneman Wilson.

Also abducted was thepersonal assistant to thegovernor’s aide, Mr. Fred.

This is the second time insix years that Wilson, a closeconfidant and associate offormer President GoodluckJonathan, would bekidnapped by armed men inthe state.

Wilson, a formercommissioner under theTimpre Sylvaadministration, was anoticeable figure at theformal declaration ofGovernor Seriake Dickson onTuesday.

The kidnappers, said to befour in number, reportedlystormed the residence of thegovernor’s aide, which issome distance away from thecommunity waterfront atabout 4am on Wednesday.

According to a communitysource, Wilson and hispersonal assistant wereseized at gunpoint by theirassailants and dragged to awaiting speedboat by theircaptors who escapedthrough the Forcados Riverto an unknown destination.

Contacted, the state PolicePublic Relations Officer,Asinim Butswat, confirmedthe incident.

Bayelsa State governmentyesterday condemned theabduction of the SpecialAdviser, calling for hisimmediate andunconditional release.

In a statement signed bythe Commissioner forInformation and Orientation,Esueme Dan-Kikile, thegovernment, whileconfirming the abduction ofWilson and his personalassistant, Fred, said it wouldnot wish to impugn anymotive behind the abduction,“except to state that theseacts of criminality will not becondoned.”

thugs.‘’All efforts to get justice over

the matter did not yield any resultas the security agencies in thestate are yet to make any arrestin connection with the murders,”Onoji said.

24 hours ultimatum

He, however, said the party wasgiving the security agencies 24hours to arrest the culprits,declaring that “the killing of theyouths of the ruling party in thestate must stop or we would haveto resort to self defence.”

Onoji said the state governor,Capt. Idris Wada, had since assuming

office, stamped out crime from the state.However, APC state chairman, Haddy

Ametuo, said he was not aware of anykilling by members of the party.

Ametuo, who said his party shouldnot be linked with criminal activities inthe state, urged the security operativeto investigate the incident to identifythose behind it.

AbductedOkpoama chiefsregain freedom

COLLAPSED BUILDING: A section of the collapsed three storey building, housing MakavalHotel, Effurun, Delta State, yesterday, where some people are still feared trapped.

heard noise and thought theywere armed robbers.

“Suddenly, our room wentdown to the floor. Some rescuerscame out with torch lights as weshouted for help. They startedbreaking in till they got us out.We have been to the hospital,checked and confirmed okay.”

When Vanguard reached thescene, rescue efforts were on topull out a pregnant womantrapped in the building, after shehad shouted for help.

The rescuers got to her by10am, and pulled her out to thewaiting arms of her father, aBayelsan, simply identified asGambia, who whisked her outimmediately, while decliningpress comment.

Ayo Ameye, a neighbour who

participated in the rescueoperation, said: “More personscould still be in there. A man onthe other side has been in contacton his phone. The phoneprobably ran out on batterybecause we have not been able tohear from him any more. The linewent dead.”

When Vanguard was leavingthe scene, two excavatorsprovided by the Mercy Land, hostto most of the guests lodged atthe hotel, were seen still clearingdebris, hoping to rescue more ofthe trapped victims.

None of the hotel staff presentwas ready to speak on thesituation, but early callers at thescene said they had indicated thatonly seven persons were lodgedin there, but it was gathered thatthe number could be more assome lodgers had companions

with them.Meanwhile, the state

government yesterday shut thehotel to ensure protection of livesand properties.

The Deputy Governor, Mr.Kingsley Otuaro,who gave thedirective when he spoke toVanguard shortly after visiting thecollapsed building, said the hotelremained shut until an integritytest was conducted by certifiedengineers to ascertain the causeof the collapse of the twin storeybuilding.

While noting that officials of theNational EmergencyManagement Agency, NEMA,and the Red Cross were onground to rescue trapped victims in thecollapsed building, Otuaro promised thatthe state government would takeresponsibility for hospital bills of theinjured victims.

By Kingsley Omonobi

ABUJA—AN Israeli national(names withheld) was

yesterday killed by suspectedkidnappers at Wasa in ApoMechanic village after he resistedhis abduction.

This came on a day twomembers of an armed robberygang that had been terrorizingresidents of AMAC Estate, alongAirport Road in Abuja in the last4 months, met their waterloo

during exchange of gun fire withthe police. The duo were killed,other members of the gang fledbefore they could beapprehended.

Eyewitness said the Isreali, astaff of Gilmor, a constructioncompany, was on his way to theconstruction site at about 8:30pmwhen four young men suddenlyforced his car to a stop, draggedhim out and attempted to forcehim into their Toyota salon car.

While trying to resist theattempt, the kidnappers were said

to have shot the Israeli, said to bebetween the ages of 30 and 35years.

The Police is, however, on thetrail of the kidnappers.

On the dead armed robbers,Vanguard learned that victims ofthe gang include journalists,medical doctors, traders andsenior civil servants as well aschurch goers when returningfrom vigil service.

In one attack, the robbers shot amedical doctor in the face, thus disfiguringhim for daring to question them.

Page 7: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—7

UNILAG students protest over electrocutionof colleague

By Abdul-Lateef Ligali &Ebere Afam

6 family members die in Lagos fire

LAGOS—TRAGEDY struckyesterday after a family of

seven were roasted in a fire thatengulfed a building at Lawanson,Surulere, Lagos.

However, doctors at theIntensive Care Unit of GbagadaGeneral Hospital are battling tosave the life of the seventhmember of the family, eight-year-old Chidinma who sustainedserious burns.

Among those who lost theirlives in the inferno, whose causecould not be immediatelyascertained, were Mr. KelechiAli, his wife, Nkiru, Onoja, theirbaby boy of about three weeksold, their son, Favour, of aboutthree years old.

Also killed in the fire wereOnoja’s mother, who was on avisit to care for her nursingdaughter, and two other children,aged eight and ten yearsrespectively, who were said tohave visited for the summerholiday.

The grandmother, said to be inher 60s, had reportedly concludedplans to return to her base atNsukka , Enugu State yesterdaybefore the unfortunate incident.

The fire, it was gathered,started in Ali’s self-containedapartment located on 21, MichaelOgun street, Obele Lawanson, atabout 11pm Tuesday while thefamily was asleep.

It reportedly raged for over anhour before the arrival of the fireservice. Their shout for helpalerted other residents but no oneheeded the call.

Vanguard gathered that theircharred remains were recoveredin different positions by men ofLagos State Fire Service.

The charred remains of thefather was said to have beenmangled together with two of hischildren, while that of his wifewas seen with her little baby onher chest.

When Vanguard visited thescene yesterday, those on rescuewere still sighted clearing thedebris. An eyewitness whoidentified herself as AbureHanna, said: “A few minutes intomy sleep, I heard voices whichsounded like people werequarrelling.

‘’Later, I heard shout of fire fromthe next compound. I ran out andstarted calling neighbours tocome and help. I think the firehad been on for about 30 minutesbefore I came out. The fire servicecame late to the scene after thefire had been doused byresidents.”

Another resident, who pleadedanonymity, stated that the familymembers could have beenrescued had neighbours went fortheir rescue on time.

“Everybody stayed put in theirhouses even when the family wasshouting for help. This is becauseof the lingering quarrel between

LAGOS—STUDENTS of theUniversity of Lagos, UNILAG,

yesterday, took to the streetsprotesting the electrocution of oneof their own, Tuesday night.

The deceased, a 300 levelAccounting student identified asOluchi Anekwe,who hailed fromAku in Enugu State, waselectrocuted by a high tensionwire which snapped from a poleat about 7:20 pm.

This is just as a motor boy withan undisclosed identity was alsoelectrocuted by a high tensionwire at Jakande Estate gate, Isoloyesterday.

Unsuspecting Anekwe, said tobe returning from fellowship, waswalking back to her room inSodeinde New Hall on thecampus, when a high tensionwire snapped and fell on her.

Eye witnesses said that the polefrom which the wire fell, had beenfaulty for a while, withoutnecessary repairs by the schoolmanagement.

Vanguard gathered that the

Only surviving member, 8-yr-old Chidinma still in critical conditionthe family and their neighbours.

‘’As you can see , there are threehouses in the compound but themiddle one occupied by theOnojas was the one affected. Thisis not ordinary because even theconnecting wires to otherbuildings were not affected.“

Traditional rulerbreaks down

The traditional ruler ofSurulere, High Chief KareemJinadu Awoyemi, broke down intears as he arrived the scene,blaming other neighbours for notrising to the help of the affectedfamily.

Awoyemi said: “There areissues brought to me thatoccupants of the three buildingsin the compound were never in

good terms.‘’This is just too much. How

could this type of thing escalateto this level when the victims hadneighbours?.“ At this point, hestopped, shook his head and burstinto tears again before leaving thescene.

Attempt to burnother buildings foiled

When news of the neglect byother neighbours filtered round,some aggrieved personssuspected to be members of thedeceased family attempted toburn down the two otherbuildings whose tenants wereaccused of turning deaf ears totheir relatives’ cry for help.

Attempt by some sympathisersto stop this move resulted in an

altercation that almost led to afight. It took the intervention ofpolicemen from Surulere Division,led by the DPO, Mr MondayAgbonika, to arrest the situation.

But when Vanguardapproached him at the scene, hedeclined comments, referringVanguard to the State Police PublicRelations Officer.

One of the aggrieved relativeswho refused to disclose hisidentity said: “The family went tothe market yesterday to get itemsfor the mother-in-law as theirtradition demands to celebrate thearrival of the new born baby afterone month of Omugwo.

‘’This morning, they weresupposed to go to the village, theman has already purchased bustickets and now they are dead.

The father was a trader who soldsewing materials on LagosIsland, while his wife, is aparishioner at Saint MulumbaCatholic Church, Lawanson,Lagos.’’

Donations for survivorMeanwhile, a man was seen

collecting money fromsympathisers . When askedwhat the money was meant for,the man who spoke on conditionof anonymity, said : “We aredonating for the treatment of thelittle girl that is in the hospital.Chidinma (survivor ) is in criticalcondition in the hospital and weare doing all we can to ensureher survival. Doctors said she hasa fifty-fifty chance of survival.’’

Lagos State Fire ServiceDirector, Rasaq Fadipe, said firetrucks were deployed to thescene immediately the distresscall was received.

The razed apartment.The 8-yeare-old Chidinma who survived the inferno that claimedall family members.

By Evelyn Usman, DayoAdesulu & Esther Onyegbula

University of Lagos has its ownelectricity distribution cable whichit monitored, inspected and fixedin case of any problem. But forunknown reasons, the repairs,was reportedly never done on thefaulty pole until it snuffed life outof Oluchi.

Explaining how Oluchi waselectrocuted, a first year student

who identified himself simply asMuyiwa, told Vanguard: “Whenthe wire fell on her, she wasscreaming for help but nobodycould help her as everyone wasafraid because it was a highvoltage wire. By the time somepeople summoned courage andrescued her it was late as she wasconfirmed dead a few minuteslater."

Students protestIrked by what they described

as negligence on the part of theschool management, theaggrieved students barricadedthe main gate of the university,thereby preventing vehiclesfrom coming in or going out ofthe school premises. They sangsolidarity songs and kickedagainst a statement credited toone of the lecturers whose namewas given simply as Ajape. Thelecturer was quoted to have toldthe protesting students to forgetabout the dead and carry on withlife.

One of the protesting studentswho spoke on condition ofannonimity said : Ajape was oneo f the deceased’s courseadvisers. How could he makesuch a reckless statement? Hesaid ‘she is dead and gone,there is nothing anybody can do’,without any feeling of pain forthe deceased.

"Another thing that sparked theoutrage was that lectures wenton today(yesterday) as if nothinghappened. If Oluchi was alecturer's child, would they treatthe case this way?“

The late Oluchi Anakwe

Lamenting, acourse mate ofthe deceasedwho spoke toVanguard onthe condition ofa n o n y m i t ysaid: “I believethe schoolmanagementwanted to seethe height of thedamage beforef i n d i n gsolution to theproblem. Nowthat it hasclaimed the lifeof the student, Iguess they willtake action.”

Page 8: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

8—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

KADUNA REFINERY: From left— Group Managing Director, Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu; Managing Director, KadunaRefinery Petrochemical Company, KRPC, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, and Manager, PowerPlanning and Utility, Engr. Kolawole Timothy, during a working visit by Kachikwu toKaduna Refinery, yesterday. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi.

ABUJA—THE Chief ofNaval Staff, Vice Admiral

Ibok-Ete Ibas, yesterday,effected the redeployment of61 senior officers of flag ranks,even as he appointed newFlag Officers CommandingNaval Autonomous Com-mands and branch chiefs.

This is just as the NigerianArmy reiterated thatrecruitment into the service isfree, warning unsuspectingmembers of the public tobeware of fraudster who mayattempt to defraud them.

The appointments in theNavy affected 28 RearAdmirals and 33Commodores.

Rear Admiral R. O. Osondu,is now Flag Officer

Adefuye tobe buriedSept 18

THE family of lateProfessor Adebowale

Ibidapo Adefuye, formerNigerian ambassador tothe United States ofAmerica, who died onThursday, August 27, hasannounced the burialarrangements.

According to the burialprogramme signed by Mr.Babatunde Adefuye onbehalf of the family, therewill be a Christian wakekeeping on September 17at Harbour Point, 4Wilmot Point Road, offAhmadu Bello Way,Victoria Island, Lagos, by5p.m.

The funeral service willhold the following day atChrist Church Cathedral,Marina Lagos at 10a.m.,while interment followsimmediately at Ikoyi Vaultand Gardens.

The family, in a eulogy,said: “AmbassadorAdefuye’s life and livingwere akin to that of thepsalmist who wasinspired in one of hismany songs to say ‘Thelines are fallen unto mein pleasant places; yea, Ihave a goodly heritage’.

“Like a man with a trulygodly heritage, our lateson, husband, father,brother, uncle and cousinlived his life very much asa practical Christian inc o n s t a n tacknowledgement of hisCreator, in passionate andunstinting service tomankind and thepromotion of and supportto great causes, seekingalways to make the worlda better place. He was anexemplar in virtues.

“And so consoled by hisgood works and theGrace of God upon us,we reach out,respectfully, to you to joinus as we use thisopportunity of his rites ofpassage to appreciateand celebrate God for thebeautiful life he livedand to thank God formaking us a part of him.”

Commanding Western NavalCommand; Rear Admiral E. G.Offik is Flag Officer Comman-ding Logistics Command; RearAdmiral A. A. Osinowo, FlagOfficer Commanding NavalTraining Command, whileRear Admiral A. S. Abdukadiris Flag Officer CommandingEastern Naval Command.

A statement by CommodoreKabir Aliyu, Director of NavalInformation, said: “RearAdmiral S. U. Chinweuba,formerly AdmiralSuperintendent NavalDockyard Lagos, resumes asChief of Naval Engineering,Naval Headquarters, whileRear Admiral P. A. Agba,formerly Chief of Logistics, hasbeen appointed Chief of NavalTransformation.

“Read Admiral J. A. Ajani

has been moved fromDefence Headquarters toNaval Doctrine andAssessment Centre asAdmiral Superintendent,while Rear Admiral S. I.Alade, formerly Chief ofNaval Transformation, movesto National Defence Collegeas Commandant.

“Furthermore, Rear AdmiralA. A. Dacosta moves fromDefence Headquarters toNaval Headquarters as Chiefof Naval Safety andStandards; Rear Admiral K.B. Ati-John is now Directorof Plans, NavalHeadquarters.

“Rear Admiral B. A.Egbedina moves to DefenceHeadquarters as Chief ofAdministration from NavalTraining Command, where

he was Flag OfficerCommanding, while RearAdmiral M. M. Salami resumesas Director of Policy NavalHeadquarters.

“Rear Admiral O. C. Medani,formerly Chief of Training andOperations is now Director,Project Implementation,Monitoring and EvaluationDirectorate. Rear Admiral G. A.Anyankpele, formerly Chief ofAdministration is now Chief ofLogistics Naval Headquarters.

“Rear Admiral H. H. Babalola,former Flag Officer CommandingEastern Naval Command is nowChief of Training and Operationsat Naval Headquarters, whileRear Admiral A. L. Akintola isnow Admiral SuperintendentNaval Dockyard Ltd, Lagos.

“Rear Admiral J. K. Z. Ango,formerly Flag OfficerCommanding Western NavalCommand resumes as Chief ofAdministration, NavalHeadquarters, while RearAdmiral J. D. Michika resumesat Defence Headquarters asDirector of Logistics.

“Rear Admiral J. O. Okojie,formerly Admiral SuperintendentNaval Ordinance Depot, movesto Defence Headquarters asDirector of Plans.

“Similarly, Rear Admiral J. O.Oluwole resumes as GroupManaging Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, Navy HoldingsLimited.

“Additionally, Rear Admiral R.O. Osondu, formerly AdmiralSuperintendent Naval Doctrineand Assessment Centre, is nowFlag Officer Commanding,Western Naval Command, whileRear Admiral A. O. Odeh,formerly Managing Director,Naval Engineering ServicesLimited, resumes at the NavalShipyard Limited as AdmiralSuperintendent.

Rear Admiral U. E. Essienresumes at the NavalHeadquarters as Director ofOperations from the DefenceHeadquarters, while RearAdmiral S. O. Paul resumes asAdmiral Superintendent NavalOrdinance Depot.

Rear Admiral A. O. Suleiman,formerly Chief Staff Officer atNaval Training Command, is nowFlag Officer Commanding,Central Naval Command,Yenagoa.

Other affected are Rear AdmiralB. E. E. Ibe-Enwo, DeputyCommandant, AFCSC Jaji, RearAdmiral S. A. G. Abbah, Directorof Logistics, Defence IntelligenceAgency, Rear Admiral T. Dick,Director of Training, DefenceHeadquarters and Rear AdmiralD. O. Ajatoye, Commandant,Nigerian Navy EngineeringCollege, Sapele.

The redeployed senior officersare expected to resume in theirnew units in the third week ofSeptember 2015.

SHAKE UP IN NAVY: New FOCs, PSOsappointed; 61 others redeployed

By Kingsley Omonobi

ABUJA—WOMEN stillface various barriers to

economic advancement in mostparts of the globe, the WorldBank has said.

In its Women, Business andthe Law 2016 report releasedyesterday, the institution saidthat the womenfolk weremainly shut out ofopportunities to certain jobs,credit and unprotected fromviolence.

A statement by the banksaid: “The report, whichexamines laws that impedewomen’s employment andentrepreneurship, finds thatwomen face job restrictions in100 of the 173 economiesmonitored.

“For example, women are

barred from working in certainfactory jobs in 41 economies;in 29 economies they areprohibited from working atnight; and in 18 economiesthey cannot get a job withoutpermission from theirhusbands.

“Only half of the economiescovered have paternity leave,and less than a third haveparental leave, limiting men’sability to share childcareresponsibilities.

“In 30 economies, marriedwomen cannot choose whereto live and in 19 they arelegally obligated to obeytheir husbands. These and arange of other disparitiesmonitored by the report havefar-reaching consequences,negatively affecting not onlywomen themselves, but theirchildren, their communities,

and their countries’economies.

“The report counts nearly950 instances of genderinequality, under sevenindicators.”

Commenting on the re-port, bank’s President, Dr.Jim Yong Kim, was quotedin a statement by the bankas saying, “it is a grave in-justice when societies placelegal restrictions on wom-en’s ability to get a job, orparticipate in economic life.

“Women, like men,deserve every opportunityto fulfill their potential, nomatter where they live.

“These restrictions are alsobad economics as womenrepresent over half theworld’s population. Wecannot afford to leave theirpotential untapped.”

Women still face economicrestrictions globally— WORLD BANK

By Emma Ujah,Abuja Bureau Chief

Page 9: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—9

VISIT: Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State (left), presenting the state's emblem to National President, NigerianStatistical Association, NSA, Dr. Muhammed Tumala, during a courtesy call on the governor at Abere, Osogbo.

THE Nigerian NationalP e t r o l e u m

Corporation, NNPC,yesterday said it signedan interim OffshoreProcessing Agreement,OPA, contracts withthree of its Joint Venture,JV, companies.

The corporation in astatement issued uponVanguard enquiries onthe deal identified thecompanies to includeDuke Oil, Carlson andNapoil.

The statement said themove is meant “to boostthe supply of refinedpetroleum products,”adding that it “will lapsewith the advent of thefresh OPA contractsenvisaged to come intoeffect at the end of theongoing public tenderprocess.”

However, a Reutersreport said theCorporation signed aninterim crude oil swapcontract with fourcompanies that isexpected to last fromOctober to December2015.

Quoting insidesources, the report saidthat two of theagreements are withNNPC JV companies -one with Swiss trader,Vitol called Calson, andthe other withcommodities trader,Trafigura called Napoil.

The other two are withnon-incorporated JointVentures between oilmajor BP and NigermedLimited, and NNPC’strading arm, Duke OilCompany with SaharaGroup.

But NNPC’sspokesman, Ohi Alegbe,who could not explainhow the Sahara Group,which contract wasamong those revoked bythe Corporation re-entered the deal whencontacted by Vanguard,was then forced to issuethe statement.

He explained that theinterim agreement is ina bid “to sustain theprevailing unimpedednationwide supply anddistribution of petroleumproducts.”

NNPCapprovesinterim swapagreementwith 3subsidiaries

By ClaraNwachukwu &

Michael Eboh, withagency report

ABUJA—THE ongoing probeof the power sector from

1999 till date by the Senate adhoc committee wascharacterized by drama andconfusion yesterday, as theproceeding was disrupted bypower failure eight times.

Yesterday’s proceeding startedat about 11:30a.m. and endedabruptly at 4p.m. due to about15 minutes of power failure atintervals, for eight differenttimes, from 2p.m. when thePermanent Secretary, Ministryof Power, AmbassadorGodknows Igali, was making asubmission on behalf of thevarious electricity companies.

The situation forced operatorsfrom the power sector to makeuse of their phone light andvideo camera light to makepresentation before thecommittee.

Despite the situation, thelawmakers continued with theproceedings withoutmicrophones and otherelectrical appliances needed.The cameramen, on their part,had to use their camera lightsto capture the meeting.

Following the power outage,the committee had no choice butto resort to the use ofrechargeable lamps and cameralights

Chairman of the Committee,Abubakar Kyari (APC, BornoNorth) also had a dose of thepower failure as he wasinterrupted while commentingon issues raised by some of thestakeholders.

‘It's sabotage’Moved by the development,

Senator Kyari, after the session,

told journalists that the com-mittee would investigate whatled to the power outages dur-ing the session, alleging thatit was sabotage aimed at frus-trating the committee.

He vowed that the publichearing proper on the sectorwould hold in due course,adding “the power outagesexperienced here today(yesterday) furtherunderscores the relevance ofthis committee at this criticaltime, but we shall investigatewhether or not they aredeliberate.”

Other stakeholders of thepower sector, who were caughtin the power outage, whilemaking presentations, werethe Director-General of Bureauof Public Enterprises, BPE,Benjamin Ezreal Dikki;Chairman of NationalElectricity RegulatoryCommission, NERC, SamAmadi and some of theManaging Directors ofelectricity DistributionCompanies, DISCOs.

Investors statechallenges

Earlier, investors in the sectorin their various submissionslamented that they wererunning it at great losses onmonthly basis due to myriadof factors.

In his presentation, theManaging Director of EnuguDistribution Company, Mr.Robert Dickerman, who spokeon behalf of all DISCOs,disclosed that the entireindustry was being run at adeficit of N20 billion permonth, which he argued wasattributable to the fact that over50 percent of electricity

consumers were not meteredand about 30 percent were noteven on the billing system ofthe service providers.

He also alleged that theN100 billion subsidy injectioninto the sector promised by theFederal Government was notfulfilled.

The CEO, Ibadan ElectricityGenerating Company, AdeoyeFagbembi, who spoke onbehalf of the six GENCOs,said transmission lossbetween them and theelectricity distributors havebeen a big issue.

The BPE Director- General,Benjamin Dikki, in hissubmission, said the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, haspaid N5 billion of the N100billion promised by thegovernment, just as headmitted that the sector waspresently being run at a lossby the investors, adding thatthe losses at initial stages wereenvisaged as embedded in theperformance agreementreached with the investors.

50% of Nigeriansdon't use meter

In his own presentation,Chairman of NERC, Dr.Amadi, who refutedallegations that theTransmission Company ofNigeria, TCN, will soon beprivatized by the FederalGovernment, revealed thatover 50 percent of Nigeriansdo not have meters, therebyreducing revenue generationpotentials of distributioncompany.

Amadi noted that lack ofmeters, which was a majorproblem, had left manyNigerians saddened, saying

that one megawatt of powercost as much as $1 million.

... on power distributionHe said: “We are working

hard so that none of theDISCOs fail. Consumers arevery angry about lack ofmeter. Only less than 50percent of Nigerians havemeters. It is one of the majorproblems. In the past decade,we did not invest inmetering.

“A moderator brought theidea of paying for meter sincecustomers cannot wait for toolong; the customers can payfor their own meter but whenthe new owners came, theyhad to take some time tounderstand the way it goes.”

He agreed that metering isthe major problem in thepower sector because it ismore expensive although itwill help the country saverevenue.

According to him, “eachtime we hit 4500 megawatts,people always say that theelectricity has improved andthere is always a level ofcomfort. We also want to putmore pressure on thedistribution companies andthey want to see Mgbedegeneration.

“What has delayed many ofthese companies till now isbecause the licences couldnot get financed.

“In the next 20 years wewill be able to have about2000 megawatts.”

He concluded by sayingthat the power sector wasgetting better as there is needfor improvement in capitalinvestment, which shouldcome from the private sectors.

Drama as power failure disruptsSenate probe on power

By Henry Umoru

Page 10: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

10 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

FOREX: CBN foreign currency policies killingus — LCCI

By Naomi Uzor

VISIT: From left: Mr. Madhav Kolkar, Chief MG, Civil Engineering, Dangote Oil Refinery CompanyLtd; Brig. Abel Osemwota retd, Security Coordinator; Otunba Segun Jawando, Chairman, Lekki FreeZone and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, during the governor's visit to the firm as partof his inspection tour to Lekki Free Zone, in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Bunmi Azeez.

By Innocent Anaba

26 ships withpetroleumproducts,others arriveLagos ports

LAGOS—THE LagosChamber of Commerce and

Industry, LCCI, yesterday, saidthe biggest challenge facinginvestors currently is thedislocations caused by the recentforeign exchange policies of theCentral Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Speaking at 2015, third quarterpress conference, the President ofLCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said thechamber appreciates thechallenge of scarcity of foreignexchange as tough choices haveto be made, but that the chamberhas serious reservations over thepolicy choices of the CBN inmanaging the current crisis.

He said the CBN should put inplace policies that wouldencourage inflow of forex withoutnecessarily creating a tolerancefor money laundering, addingthat, the chamber believes this canonly be done throughintelligence.

“Significant disruptions,distortions and dislocations havebeen created in the businessenvironment by the CBN as aconsequence of the followingpolicy measures: restrictions onthe use of export proceeds, denialof access to foreign exchangemarket for 41 broad categories ofproducts, including critical inputsneeded in manufacturing andservice sectors, prohibition of cashlodgements into domiciliaryaccounts and tight exchangecontrols and admintrativeallocation of foreign exchange aretypically characterized by lack oftransparency, corruption andconsiderable abuse” he stated.

He noted that the economy isnow faced with a scenario wherethere is much greater pressureto move funds out of the economythan move funds into theeconomy.

“This can be likened to a runon a system. This is a typical

scenario which a confidencecrisis would create. Futureinternational trade transactions,financial and investmentrelations are now at risk. Roundtripping of forex has continuedto flourish because of thedisparity in the exchange ratebetween the official and parallelmarket. Inflow of forex into thetwo autonomous sources hasbeen adversely affected. It isworthy of note that Diasporafunds into the country was about$23 billion in 2013. The currentpolicy will discourage the inflowof such funds which normallyhelp to strengthen the supplyside of the foreign exchange” hesaid.

According to him, thesovereign risk perception ofNigeria has worsened over thelast months and several creditlines for Nigerian investors havebeen lost following the numerouscases of payment defaulted toforeign suppliers.

“Even reputable blue chipcompanies have defaulted for thefirst time in the several years of

business relationship with theirforeign suppliers. Considerabledamage has been done to theimage of many companies and thecountry in the international tradeand investment arena. A majorconfidence crisis has been createdfor investors,” he stated.

On the way forward, Bello said,the CBN should be compelled toengage with relevant economicministries in order to bring aboutcoherence in the management of

the Nigerian economy.“These other key ministries and

agencies include the NigeriaCustoms Service, Federal Ministryof Finance, National PlanningCommission and Federal Ministryof Trade and Investment.

''There has to be propercoordination between the keyministries and the CBN to give acredible direction to the economyand ensure a better quality ofeconomic management” he said.

LAGOS—26 shipsladen with

petroleum products, fooditems and other goodsare expected to arriveApapa and Tin-CanIsland ports in Lagosbetween yesterday andSeptember 20.

The Nigerian PortsAuthority, NPA, statedthis in its dailypublication - ShippingPosition - made availableto newsmen yesterday inLagos.

The documentindicated that theexpected ships containedgeneral cargo, fresh fish,truck heads, containers,bulk gypsum, bulk salt,bulk sugar, bulk wheat,empty containers, dieseland petrol.

NPA stated that 18 otherships had arrived theports, waiting to berthwith petrol, bulk gas andcrude palm oil.

The documentexplained that otherships were waiting toberth and dischargegeneral cargo, bulk rice,military equipment,frozen fish and steelproducts.

Twenty-five other shipsare in the portsdischarging bulk rice,fertilizer, container, emptycontainers, truck headsand a repaired vessel.

The document statedthat other ships weredischarging kerosene,bulk gas, petrol, bulk soyabean, bulk wheat, crudepalm olein, bulk wheat,frozen fish, and soda ash.

L AG O S — S E N AT O ROluremi Tinubu, of the All

Progressives Congress, APC,

Sen Tinubu counsels partymen over bribery, corruptionBy Charles Kumolu &Iheoma Nwanaynawu

She assured that the changethe nation desires would requirepatience, love, hardwork andselflessness to fully manifest,noting that adherence to the ruleof law would be meaningful tothe party’s pursuit of a betterNigeria.

Tinubu said this yesterday inLagos at a town hall meetingtitled: New Chapter, RenewedHope, convened to interface withthe members of her constituency.

The event which was the 15thedition, was a platform to updateher constituents on her activitiesin the Senate since the inceptionof the 8th Senate.

Tinubu at the forum whichwitnessed the presentation ofscholarships to beneficiaries ofher Post-Secondary SchoolScholarship Scheme, PSSS,

also gave an up to date accountof the constituency developmentprojects initiated in the seventhSenate.

Those at the event include;Majority Leader of the House ofRepresentatives, Mr. FemiGbajabiamila, Sen Maniru Muse,Lagos State APC chairman, ChiefHenry Ajomale, Deputy Speaker ofLagos State House of Assembly; Mr.Wasiu Eshilokun-Sanni, Mr. WaleEdun and Mr. Tajudeen Olusiamong others.

According to Tinubu: “Our themefor this town hall meeting is timelyand pregnant with meaning. We allcraved for a better Nigeria andworked towards it as manifested bythe result of the last generalelection, which saw our greatparty emerging victorious at thestate and national levels.''

LAGOS—A Nigerian firm,Owoeye and Owoeye

Nigeria Ltd, has described as falseand misleading, reports that apoliceman from Sango-Ota PoliceArea, Ogun State, killed anapprentice barber, Bidemi Akinde,on the instruction of one AlhajiMutairu Owoeye.

Public Relations Manger of theorganisation, Mr Alex Oni, in astatement, yesterday, in Lagos, said

that Bidemi was felled by bulletsfrom the barrels of the guns ofhoodlums and thugs in armyuniform led by a suspected leaderof the Eiye confraternity, simplyidentified as ‘One Hour’.

The statement said Owoeye’spresent travail started when hewas appointed an estate agentin respect of a vast expanse ofland at Oke-Ore in Ado-Odo,Ota Local Government area ofOgun State by the customaryowners of the land, who were alsoadjudged owners of the land byvirtue of judgment of court in suitno number HTC/392/05delivered by Justice MobolajiOjo on April 10, 2014.

He said that as the land wasoccupied by illegal occupants,Owoeye decided to inform theoccupiers of the judgement of thecourt in respect of the land as manymay not be aware of it and to thiseffect, he printed a public notice tobe pasted on the land as thedebtors in the judgement arepersons who have no respect forthe law and are prone to violence.

The statement added that“Owoeye decided to seek Policeprotection to avoid an unpleasantscene. He forwarded a letter ofassistance to the Police which wasapproved by the Inspector-Generalof Police, who directed the OgunState Police Commissioner to treatthe matter. The office of the OgunState Police boss equally directedthe Area Command at Sango toimplement the directive.''

Lagos Central, has admonishedthe members of her constituencyto shun corruption, noting thatsuch sacrifice is needed forthe APC to successfullydeliver on its mandate.

FORMER Concordnewspaper staff will Friday

honour their colleagues, TunjiBello, Femi Adesina, WaheedOdusile, Ohi Alegbe, Eric Osagie,Sani Zoro and Jide Orintunsin,who were recently appointedinto various positions at thefederal and state governmentand private sectors.

The event to be attended byboth editorial and non-editorialpersonnel of the defunct

publication, is holding at theLagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

Coordinator of the programme,Ogbeni Goke Odeyinka, stated;“The event is not just a receptionbut a reunion of all those who hadone-time or other served orworked in Concord Press,whether in editorial, advert,accounts, security, canteen and orany department to meet, interactand network after they werecompulsorily separated in 2001.”

Ex-Concord newspapers staff re-unite

How apprentice barber died, by firm

Page 11: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — 11

O S O G B O — T H ENational Judicial

Council NJC has queried aserving judge in Osun State,Justice Olamide FalahanmiOloyede, over her petition tothe state House of Assembly tocommence impeachmentproceedings of Governor RaufAregbesola and his deputy,Mrs Titilayo Laoye-Tomori forallegedly mismanaging thestate’s resources.

A committee was set-up bythe House of Assembly to lookinto the petition and the housesubsequently dismissed thepetition for lack of evidenceagainst the respondent.

But the Osun Civil SocietiesCoalition later petitioned theNational Judicial Council,NJC, alleging that the judgeover-stepped her limit as shefailed to conduct herself in sucha manner as to preserve thedignity of her office being animpartial and independentorgan, thereby exposing thejudiciary to ridicule anddisrepute.

The query lette,r which waspersonally signed by the ChiefJustice of Nigeria, JusticeMahmud Mohammed isexpected to be answered within14 days by the judge.

We’ll pay our workerssoon — Aregbesola

Meantime, GovernorAregbesola has disclosed thathis administration wouldensure the payment of workers’salary arrears before theforthcoming Sallah festival.

He disclosed this whileaddressing some workers andother stakeholders of the stateTuesday evening in Osogbo.

NJC queriesOsun judgeover petitionagainstAregbesola

By Gbenga Olarinoye

OSOGBO—A lecturer at LagosState University LASU, Professor

Dapo Asaju has warned that the nation’sdemocracy as presently constituted ishanging in the air.

Professor Asaju who is the first NigerianBishop Theologian, also said only religiousenvironment can produce right leaders forthe country.

While delivering a keynote address on thetheme: ‘Religion and the democraticsustainability in Nigeria’ at the openingsession of the 36th Annual Conference ofNigeria Association for the Study ofReligions, NASR, held at Oduduwa Hall ofObafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, theuniversity don said honest leaders are hardto come by in the country, the developmenthe said portends dangers for the country.

According to him, inability of PresidentMohammodu Buhari to form cabinet overthree months of coming on board, said tohave been caused by the search for peopleof impeccable character, tells much aboutthe total neglect of religion as a guidingprinciple in Nigeria’s democracy.

‘Nigeria’s democracyhanging in the balance'

By Gbenga Olarinoye

CONFERENCE: From left; Prof. A. A Amusan, representing the Vice Chancellor,Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile Ife; Bishop Dapo Folorunsho, Keynotespeaker; Prof Muiz Opeloye, LOC Chairman and Prof Celestina Ezeranum, keynotespeaker at the opening ceremony of the 36th Conference of Nigeria Asssociation forthe Study of Religions with the theme: Religion and DemocraticSustainability in Nigeria,held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, ile-Ife, yesterday.

Oba Almarouf Magbagbeola; Olufon of Ifon Osun (left) and Chief AbdulrasheedOlaolu, representing Timi of Ede at the conference. Photos by Dare Fasube.

Harassment of PDP leaders is Buhari’sachievement – FAYOSE

A D O - E K I T I —GOVERNOR Ayodele

Fayose of Ekiti State yesterdaytook a swipe at PresidentMuhammadu Buhari sayingthe only achievement recordedby the administration has beenthe harassment of leaders of thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In a statement, GovernorFayose commended thepresident for his efforts atending the Boko Haraminsurgency saying “I wish tocall on all Nigerians to supportthe President in restoring peaceto the Boko Haram ravagedNorth Eastern part of Nigeria.”

He, however, berated theBuhari administration for thealleged lopsided appointments,selective anti-corruptioncrusade and the recent invasionof the Akwa Ibom StateGovernment House by officialsof the Department of StateSecurity, DSS.

Besides, he said “As at today,the only achievement recordedby the President Buhari’sgovernment is the harassmentof leaders of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) andthose perceived as not on thesame political page with thepresident in his party.”

In addition, he said:“President MohammaduBuhari’s government is now 100

days and even though I alignwith most Nigerians, whoopined that 100 days is tooshort in the life of agovernment, it is important tomake some clarifications asregards the administration.This is more so that the AllProgressives Congress (APC)and some political jobbers thatare looking for appointmentsare praising the President,citing imaginaryachievements.”

Also, he said: “FormerPresident Goodluck Jonathanand those who worked withhim as well as PDP governorsand leaders are now targets ofharassment, and by this, thepresident is telling Nigerians

that it does not pay to behonourable. Dr GoodluckJonathan was honourable enoughto allow a peaceful transition andconceded to the president eventhough it was obvious that hisvictory was questionable. Visitingsuch a person and those whoworked with him with persecutionas being done now, is no doubt asad reminder of the reason wehave many sit-tight leaders inAfrica.

Interestingly, some of those whoworked with Dr GoodluckJonathan that the APC calledthieves are now being appointedto manage the affairs ofinternational organisations likethe World Bank and AfricanDevelopment Bank.”

Assembly approvesbailout package

Meanwhile, the Ekiti StateHouse of Assembly has permittedthe state governor, Mr AyodeleFayose, to obtain loans andexplore avenues to help thegovernment extricate itself fromcurrent financial crisis.

It resolved that the governorshould partake in the ExcessCrude Account (ECA)-backedloan being made available tostates facing challenges of financeto the tune of N10 billion.

In a statement by the SpecialAssistant (Media) to the HouseSpeaker, Stephen Gbadamosi, theassembly also passed a resolutionon the intention of the stategovernment to partake in theFederal Government bailoutpackage for payment of backlogarrears of workers’ salaries andbonuses.

The Speaker, Pastor KolaOluwawole explained that thestate governor had written a letterto the House seeking itsresolution over the matter.

About N19.6 billion loan will beaccessed by the state, apart fromthe N10 billion from ECA, thegovernment would accessN9,604,430,000 from Skye Bankon a 20-year repayment plan atnine per cent interest.

As Ekiti Assembly approves loan, bail-out package

By Dapo Akinrefon &Rotimi Olaleye

Page 12: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

12—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Oshiomhole drops four commissioners incabinet shake-up

By Simon Ebegbulem

CPEJ tasks FG on proactive measures against floodingBy Perez Brisibe 60 pupils get

Shell’sscholarships

Tight security at C-River Election Tribunal

By Emma Una

DELTA TRIBUNAL: Ogboru’s witness queriesnon-inclusion of ballot stuffing in petition

By Festus Ahon

BAYELSA GOVPOLL: Okoyawithdraws fromrace

SIXTY pupils fromprimary schools in

Bayelsa, Delta and Riversstates have been awarded fullsecondary school scholarshipsunder the ‘Cradle-to-Career’,C2C programme run by theShell Petroleum DevelopmentCompany of Nigeria Ltd,SPDC, operated Joint Venture.

They are the latestbeneficiaries in a scholarshipscheme that has placed 360bright children in topsecondary schools since theinitiative was launched in2010.

“The C2C approach marksa significant improvement inour portfolio of scholarshipschemes,” General Manager,External Relations, Mr. IgoWeli, said at the awardceremony which held in PortHarcourt, Rivers State.

“It is designed to bridgeeducational inequalitiesresulting from geographic andsocio-economic differences.SPDC and its joint venturepartners are proud of theachievements of the scheme,which has received local andinternational accolades,” headded.

BENIN—IN what seems tobe a mini-cabinet shake-

up in Edo State, GovernorAdams Oshiomhole,yesterday, sacked fourcommissioners in the state,saying that the decision waspart of efforts to strengthen theministries they headed.

The affected Commissionersare Chief Lucky James (LocalGovernment and ChieftaincyAffairs), Mrs. MaigidaBlessing, (Women Affairs), Mr.Patrick Aguinede, (BasicEducation) and Mr. ChrisEbare, (Energy and WaterResources).

A statement by the SpecialAdviser to the Governor onMedia and Public Affairs,Prince Kassim Afegbua, saidthe sack of the commissionerswas “In line withgovernment’s commitment tostrengthen the system towardsoptimal performance.

“They are directed to handover all government propertyin their possession to thePermanent Secretaries in theirrespective ministries. Thegovernor expresses hisappreciation to the former

commissioners for theirservices to the state andwishes them well in theirfuture endeavours.Thetermination is withimmediate effect.”

Vanguard learned that moreheads may roll in the stateexecutive council, following

the political interest of someof the commissioners aheadthe 2016 governorshipelection.

It was learned that some ofthem have been involved innocturnal meetings despitethe warnings by the governorthat the activities of his

administration must not bedistracted because of the2016 governorship election.

The sacking of the fourcommissioners could be aclear warning by thegovernor to others who maywant to distract hisadministration in the nameof politics.

UGHELLI—THE Centrefor Peace and

Environmental Justice, CPEJ,has urged the FederalGovernment to put adequatemeasures in place to avert animpending flooding in someparts of the country.

Addressing newsmen duringan interactive session inUghelli, Delta State, nationalcoordinator of the group,Sheriff Mulade, urged theFederal Government todialogue with theCameroonian and Guineanauthorities towards workingout modalities on how to tacklethe challenges of flooding intheir respective countries.

He said: “With the openingof Cameroonian and Guineandams coupled with the heavyrainfall experienced betweenMay and September, no fewerthan 20 states in Nigeria areaffected by flood. This,however, did not come withoutseveral warnings, yet thegovernment and peopletreated the warnings withlevity.”

Bemoaning the loss of livesand property as a result of theflooding, he explained thatsome communities affected bythe floods were yet to berestored to their pristinenature.

He reasoned that given theharsh socio-economic impactof the flood, it was essential

that explanatory andattenuating measures wereput in place to forestall

resurgence, stressing theneed for proactive ratherthan reactionary measures.

CALABAR—SECURITYwas unusually tight at

the Cross River State ElectionTribunal, yesterday, as SenatorGershom Bassey, the senatorrepresenting the Southernsenatorial district of CrossRiver State, testified before thetribunal.

The Murtala MuhammedHighway, Calabar, premisis ofthe state High Court, wherethe tribunal is sitting was

blocked to traffic and thosegoing into the tribunal werethoroughly frisked while alarge number of those whocould not give cogent reasonswhy they were going into thetribunal were sent back.

Though no reason was givenfor the tight security, a sourcesaid the tribunal was no longerprepared to allow overcrowding of the hall by peoplewho have no business in thecourt.

The tribunal on Tuesday

heard evidence fromProfessor Ikipbi, a forensicscientist, who said that therewere two types of forensicanalysis, the latent andpatent forensic analysis ofthumb prints. “The latentapproach to finger printanalysis focuses on a crimescene analysis where themarks of a suspected criminalare not visible but can bedetected with the use ofmachines while the patentanalysis focuses on visibleink mark on paper,” he said.

A S A B A — S H O C Kgripped the three-man

panel of the Delta StateGovernorship Election PetitionTribunal, sitting in Asaba, at itsresumed hearing, when one ofthe witnesses to Chief GreatOgboru of Labour Party, LP,expressed disappointment thatthe petitioner failed to mentionin his petition that ballot boxes

were stuffed with papers duringthe election.

Ogboru is challenging thevictory of Governor IfeanyiOkowa at the April 11 poll. Atthe resumed hearing in thematter, the petitioner's witness,PW5, Mr. Hero Inetiabor, whoclaimed to be LP localgovernment election agent andsupervisor, under-crossexamination, agreed with all thedepositions in his witness

statement on oath as a pollingunit agent.

Inetiabor said he feltdisappointed that LP andOgboru did not mention intheir petition that ballot boxeswere stuffed with papers,adding that as a party agent,he saw people carrying ballotpapers in their pockets butcould not clarify which partythey represented.

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—AHEAD ofthe primary election

of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, for the BayelsaState governorship election,one of the aspirants, ChiefReuben Okoya, haswithdrawn from the race.

In a statement, yesterdayin Abuja, Okoya explainedthat his decision becameimperative following recentdevelopments in the stateand the need to support theincumbent governor,Seriake Dickson to ensurethat the PDP retains theseat.

According to him, hewithdrew in deference tothe strong views andpositions expressed atvarious levels by topleaders and keystakeholders of the party.

He explained that theposition of leaders of theparty in the state is that theincumbent governor shouldfly the party's flag in theDecember 5 poll, a decisionhe said that becameapparent during thenational stakeholdersmeeting held at Yenagoa onSeptember 6.

VISIT: Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (right) and the new Commissioner ofPolice, Rivers State Command, Mr. Musa Kimo, during a courtesy call in GovernmentHouse, Port Harcourt.

CMYK

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—13

Invasion of A-Ibom Govt House aimed atkidnapping Emmanuel —A-IBOM ELDERS

By Tom Moses &Chioma Onuegbu

Rivers tocollaboratewith Britishgovt onsecurity, agricRivers Poll: No election in Tai LGA, Army tells tribunal

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

C-River APCwoosNdoma-Egba

A-Ibom gov poll free, fair, PDP witness tells tribunal

UYO—THE elders andpeople of Akwa Ibom

State, yesterday, raised alarmover what they described asunwarranted invasion of thestate’s Government Housecomplex by agents of theDepartment of State Security,DSS, last Friday.

President of Akwa IbomElders Forum, OtuekongIdongesit Nkanga, whoaddressed newsmen in Uyo,said that the invasion by DSSoperatives was carried outunder the pretext of routinesurveillance operation,whereas the real intension wasto kidnap Governor UdomEmmanuel.

“We see this action as a clearbreach of the immunity of thegovernor and a continuation ofthe programmed harassmentwhich the federal authoritieshave persistently visited onopposition elements after theelections.

“These actions are obviouslymeant to harass, intimidateand humiliate the governmentof the state and its people,otherwise, why are we beingconsistently visited by thislevel of crude action by a

federal agency in ademocracy?”

He decried the partisannature in which the DSS hasbeen interfering with normalprocedural matters andcalled for a stop to samebefore things get out of hand.

“The strong-arm showexhibited by the invadingteam which held the

Government House Complexand the adjourning areas ofUyo, the Akwa-Ibom Statecapital to ransom, is a clearevidence that the action wasnot just a routine surveillanceact but a calculated attemptto intimidateg the governorand his government with thefederal might.

“We are, therefore,

compelled to speak out andcondemn this emergingface of fascism before itconsumes our well-cherished democracy. We,the elders of the state, willnot keep quiet and watch ourcherished institutions beingraped and desecrated on thealtar of partisanship,” heinsisted.

ABUJA—THE NigerianArmy, yesterday,

testified before the Rivers StateGovernorship Election PetitionTribunal sitting inAbuja,maintaining that thegovernorship election did nothold in some parts of the stateon April 11, 2015.

An Army officer, CaptainGarba Sani, told the JusticeMohammed Ambrosa-ledtribunal that violence bypolitical thugs marred theelectioneering process, sayingthat he did not see whereelection took place in Tai LocalGovernment Area of the state,where he and his team weredeployed to maintain peaceand order on the governorshipelection day.

He told the tribunal that thequick intervention of his teamled to the rescue of someofficials of the IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC, whom hesaid were harassed by thugson that day.

The tribunal earlier overruledobjections by GovernorNyesom Wike, the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, andINEC, which sought to bar the

Army officer from mountingthe witness box, yesterday.

Sani, a subpoenaedwitness, who said he led 37other soldiers on a patrol ofthe entire Tai council, said heappeared before the tribunal,yesterday, on the directive ofArmy authorities.

Led in evidence by ChiefAkin Olujinmi, SAN, counselto the APC and itsgovernorship candidate inthe state, Dr Dakuku

Peterside, the witness,confirmed arresting some ofthe armed thugs andhanding them over to thePolice for further actions.

Under cross examination byChief Okey Wali SAN,counsel to Wike, the witnessinformed the tribunal that heled a team of 38 soldiersdeployed to the place by themilitary authority.

He denied insinuation thatthe military aided election

rigging, adding that thearmy was a disciplinedorganisation and would notindulge in such a crime ofaiding a political party torig.

Also under crossexamination by Dr OnyechiIkpeagu, SAN, counsel toINEC, the army officer saidthat he was not stationed atany specific place butmoved round in twoMilitary Hilux vans.

AWARD: From left, Massad Boulos, GMD SCOA Plc; Andy Isichei, MD, Cybernetics;Henry Imasekha, Chairman, Berkeley Plc, Helen Onyibe, MD, Trevira Travels/Tours andwife of awardee; Magnus Onyibe, Dir SCOA Plc and awardee; Henry Agbamu, ChairmanSCOA Plc and Ebube Onyibe, daughter of awardee.

A Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, witness,

Andrew Uwanta, has told theGovernorship Election PetitionTribunal for Akwa Ibom Statethat the April 11 governorshipelection in Etinan LocalGovernment Area of the statewas free and fair.

Uwanta, a pastor based inEtinan, gave evidence inAbuja, during crossexamination by the APCcounsel, Mr Solomon Umoh,SAN.

He said that the election wasconducted in a free, fair andpeaceful manner.

The witness told the tribunal

that he was the collation agentof PDP in Etinan council.

“My lord, Etinan had 11electoral wards and PDP hadcollation agents in all thewards and the election wasconducted peacefully. Otherparty agents were presentduring the collation, includingsecurity personnel.

“There was no issue ofhijacking of election materials,except for Etinam Urban WardII result, that came late around10:30 p.m., and the resultswere signed by IndependentNational ElectoralCommission, INEC and PDPagents,” he said.

The APC candidate, UmanaOkon Umana had draggedGovernor Udom Emmanuelto the tribunal, seeking thenullification of the April 11governorship election.

At the resumed hearing inthe case, the PDP hadpresented three witnesses totestify before the tribunal.

Among them were MrChris Okoriya and oneAnthony Ekpenyong.

Both witnesses testified thatthe election was conductedunder a peacefulatmosphere.

By IheomaNwanyanwu

THE Cross River Statechapter of All

Progressives Congress,APC, has urged formerSenate Leader, SenatorVictor Ndoma-Egba, to comeon board the party.

A delegation of the stateexecutive which visitedSenator Ndoma-Egba saidthe party had identified hisintegrity and character as avirtue and attributes that willmake him valuable to theopposition party in the state.

The delegation was led bythe Vice Chairman, Central,and Chairman of theStabilization andMobilization Committee ofthe APC in the state, CletusObun, who said that thedecision to woo Ndoma-Egba followed a resolutiontaken by the party, addingthat he was targetedfollowing the ill-treatment hesuffered in the hands of theruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in the state.

PORT HARCOURT—RIVERS State

Government has expressed itswillingness to collaborate withthe British government toenhance security, agricultureand the education sector in thestate.

Governor Nyesom Wike,who spoke, yesterday, whenhe played host to the BritishDeputy High Commissioner toNigeria, Mr Ray Kyles, saidthere was still room forimprovement in the securitysituation of the state, notingthat there were several Britishinvestments in the state.

Earlier, Mr Kykes thankedthe governor for the reception,describing the state as thefuture economy of the country.

By Jimitota Onoyume

CORRIGENDUM

ON page 13 ofVanguard of

Wednesday, September 9, itwas erroneously noted thatthe Deputy Governor ofAbia State is Chris Akomasinstead of Sir Ude OkoChukwu, FCA.

The error is regretted.

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14 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

TOWN HALL MEETING: From left; Chief Henry Ajomale; Hon. FemiGbajabiamila; Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Chief Kemi Nelson and PrinceTajudeeen Olusi, during the Lagos Central Senatorial District Town HallMeeting at the Muson Centre, Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Biodun Ogunleye.

THE Management of the NigerianPorts Authority (NPA), is set to

double its revenue, to boost the nation'seconomy and meet the financesexpectations of the FederalGovernment.

NPA’s Executive Director, Finance andAdministration, Mr Olumide Oduntansaid in a chat with Vanguard that, withthe full automation of the operationalprocess of the NPA, its revenues from theports would exceed its projections basedon the positive efforts of its management.

The official said the overall budgetperformance for 2013 and 2014 showedthat NPA was doing fine. He said with

the Port reforms management of the NPAhad been able to monitor the activitiesof the terminal operators to ensure strictcompliance and track revenues throughthe several automation platforms theyhave introduced.

"With the introduction of RevenueInvoicing Management Systems(RIMS), the current management ofNPA under the leadership of MallamHabib Abdullahi will be able to trackwhere the revenue is leaking and itwas based on his commitment thatthey have been able to achieve over95 per cent of their annual budget inthe last three years."

NPA moves to shore up revenue

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—15

How 4 dead female bodies were found inroom in Anambra

By Vincent Ujumadu

A W K A — D E T A I L Semerged, yesterday, on

the discovery of four femaledead bodies in a room in Ifitearea of Awka, the AnambraState capital.

The Anambra State policecommand discovered the deadbodies in a room occupied by acouple on Olisa OnyekaCrescent near theCommissioners’ quarters inAwka GRA.

Two of the dead bodies weresaid to be holding Holy Bible atthe time they were discovered andthey might have gone to pray withthe tenant of the room when theymet their death.

One of the victims and a tenantin the building, Mrs. Chinwe Obi,a Grade Level 14 officer with theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, hailed fromUruagu, Nnewi. Until her death,she was the electoral officer forOnitsha South Local GovernmentArea.

It was also gathered, yesterday,that the husband of Mrs. Obi, whoreturned to Nigeria from Cotonou,Benin Republic, died about aweek ago in the same room andthe body is still in the mortuary.

The state Commissioner ofPolice, Mr. Hosea Karma said thatfollowing volunteeredinformation, he went with his mento the scene and discovered the

bodies after neighbours triedMrs. Obi’s telephone lineseverally without any response.

According to Karma, thedecomposing bodies of thewomen had been taken to thehospital for autopsy.

The CP said: “A report came tous that a woman was beingcalled on phone without anybodypicking it for two days and wehad to mobilize to her residence.

On getting there, we had to forcethe window open and saw thebodies lying on the floor.

“The bodies found in that roomwere without bruises which wasan indication that there was noattack from anyone.”

Karma said that the other threewomen, whose identities had notbeen known, were beingsuspected to be her churchmembers who came to

sympathize with her over thedeath of her husband.

The police commissioner said,however, that the policediscovered a generating set anda remnant pot of soup suspectedto be carbon monoxide or foodpoison respectively.

The commissioner disclosed thatthe soup as well as their bodieshad been taken to mortuary forexamination.

Cultists on rampage in Obosi: 5 injured, 2 arrested.They want to dethrone our monarch, frustrate his Ofala festival —Victim

By NwabuezeOkonkwo

ONITSHA—SUSPECTEDcultists numbering about

30, yesterday, allegedly went onrampage, attacked and injured atleast five persons at Obosicommunity in Idemili NorthLocal Government Area of

Anambra State, after which twoof their members were arrestedby the police.

Their first victim to be injuredwas the Chairman of Obosi LandManagement Council, Mr.Ezeugo Zion, who theyallegedly beat up and machetedhis skull near in his own office.

The rampaging cultists alsowounded four other victims who

were with Zion.They were immediately rushed

to a nearby hospital where theyare currently responding totreatment.

Speaking to newsmen from hishospital bed, Zion said: “Justbecause I am not their memberand I was picked as the chairmanof Obosi Land ManagementCouncil, the cultists numbering

about 30, who have continued toterrorize our community, stormedmy office to kill me and theysucceeded in cutting my headwith a machete."

He accused a communityleader of sponsoring the cultists,adding that two of them werearrested with the concerted effortof the local vigilante group ledby Arthur Ilongwu and theSpecial Anti-Cult Squad, andtaken to Enugwu-Ukwu.

According to him: “God was sokind, they could not kill mebecause my land committeemembers prevented those thatwere butchering me and four ofthem were equally injured in theprocess. I managed to called thepolice,” he disclosed.

He accused a retired AssistantInspector-General of Police, AIG,from the community and somewealthy people of sponsoring thecultists.

Also speaking, one of thevictims, Mr. Chukwudi Ilobi said,“the cult group members are from22 fraternity. They hit me with aclub on my mouth when I wasdefending our chairman.

“What they are planning is tofrustrate Ofala festival of HisRoyal Highness, Igwe ChidubemIweka and possibly dethrone himand install their member asIgwe.”

Poly lecturersprotest FrOsuagwu'sdeath

Police denystormingMASSOBleader’sresidence

IT IS no longer newsthat an Obowo-born

Claretian priest of theCatholic Church, Rev. Fr.Dr. Dennis Osuagwu, wasmurdered by yet-to-beidentified assassins.

Unable to bear the loss,as well as the likelihoodthat their own lives were notsecure, members of theAcademic Staff Union ofPolytechnic, ASUP, of theinstitution, trooped into thestreets of Owerri, to protestthe murder of theircolleague, Rev. Fr.Osuagwu.

The protesting lecturerscalled for justice over whatthey termed “the gruesomemurder” of their colleague,as well as to intimate thestate government of theheightening insecurity atUmuagwo, which isharbouring the institutionand its adjoiningcommunities.

Addressing the obviouslyangry lecturers, the DeputyChief of Staff( A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ) ,Government House,Owerri, Mr. Uju Chima,who spoke on behalf ofGovernor RochasOkorocha, said the death ofFr. Dennis Osuagwu wasnot only painful to thePolytechnic community, butalso to the stategovernment.

Stories by ChidiNkwopara

O WERRI— IMOState Police

Command has denied thatits officers and men stormedthe Owerri residentialhome of the leader of theMovement for theActualization of theSovereign State of Biafra,MASSOB, Chief RalphUwazuruike.

The Commissioner ofPolice, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu,who stated this yesterday,during his maiden pressconference at the PoliceHeadquarters, Owerri, alsodenied that the Police HighCommand specifically senthim to Imo to exterminateloyalists of MASSOB.

Explaining what actuallyhappened, the CP said thatChief Uwazuruike wassummoned by the AssistantInspector General of Police,AIG, adding thatUwazuruike responded.

"In respect of the so calledraid, I state clearly that it issheer propaganda,"Lakanu said.

Police presence at Nkpor women Augustmeeting averts crisis

By NwabuezeOkonkwo

ONITSHA—THE presenceof heavily armed

policemen and vigilanteoperatives, yesterday, saved whatcould have led to a crisis at Nkporcommunity in Idemili North LocalGovernment Area of AnambraState during this year’s annualwomen August Meeting, atNkpor Civic Centre.

The meeting was nearlydisrupted following anannouncement by a hired towncrier, who went around thecommunity the previous nightwith a loud speaker, saying that

the meeting would not hold, forsecurity reasons.

The town crier noted that thetraditional ruler of the town, IgweChristopher Ibegbunam andothers, who, he said, identifiedthemselves as stakeholders, haddecided that the meeting shouldnot hold as a result of fragilesecurity in the area arising fromthe crisis rocking the NkporDevelopment Union, NDU.

The town crier also noted thatIgwe Ibegbunam was particularlysad that the community ratherthan conducting an election thatwould usher in a democraticallyelected executive committee ofNDU, is still being ruled by anInterim Management Committee,

IMC, set up by the stategovernment some years ago.

However, after the town crierhad finished the announcement,the Chief Ngozi Anyakora-led incumbent Interim ManagementCommittee of NDU swunginto action and invited thepolice and the vigilanteoperatives to maintainsecurity at the meeting,insisting that there was noinsecurity in the town.

Eventually, with thepresence of heavily armedpolicemen from Ogidi PoliceDivision and vigilanteoperatives, the meeting wenton peacefully.

PRESENTATION: From left, Ebonyi State Deputy governor, Kelechi Igwe, Governor DavidUmahi, his wife, Rachael Umahi, during the swearing-in-ceremony of chairmen, vicechairmen, secretaries of the 13 Local Government Council Caretaker Committees, andpresentation of staff of office to the new traditional rulers, in Abakaliki, yesterday.

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16—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

PRESENTATION: From left, Sales and Distribution Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr.‘TsolaBarrow, Winner, MTN Best 11 Retailers Promo, Mrs. Shittu Kafayat and Frank Edoho,during the cheque presentation of the MTN Best 11 Retailers Promo, in Lagos.

Anambra govt officials escape death forallegedly locking up Onitsha marketBy Nwabueze Okonkwo

ONITSHA—OFFICIALSof Anambra State Urban

Development Board, ASUDEB,

yesterday, escaped death bywhiskers as angry traders fromthe Electronics InternationalMarket threatened them forallegedly locking up threeaccess gates leading into the

market.It took the timely intervention

of the market leaders to rescuethe ASUDEB officials from thehands of the angry traders whohad already organized

themselves into a mob to dealwith their unwanted visitors.

According to the source, theASDUDEB officials led by itsGeneral Manager, Mr. Nathan Enemuo and the officerin-charge of Ogbaru LocalGovernment Area, Mrs NgoziAtisele had stormed the marketin the early hours of yesterdayand allegedly embarked on thelocking up of the three gateswhich the traders used as accessinto the market located near thebridge-head, along the Enugu/Onitsha expressway.

Confirming the development,the Secretary of the market,Comrade Damian Ogudike andits Public Relations Officer, PRO,Ikechukwu Onwuama blamedthe General Manager and hisofficials for being biased in lockingup the gates, adding, “he mighthave been bribed by those at Ogboefele market and OrangeDrug, our close neighbours andthat could be the reason theofficials did not lock-up their owngates.

“We call on Governor WillieObiano to investigate the illegalactivities of the ASUDEB GeneralManager and his officials beforethey run into trouble or else wecan’t guarantee their safety nexttime they come into the marketfor this kind of illegality,”Ogudike and Onwuama warned.

According to the duo, “theGeneral Manager and his teamwould have been lynched by thetraders.

Govt appointments must reflect federalcharacter —IWA...says 2nd Niger Bridge needs priority attention

By Emeka Aginam

THE APEX Igboorganization in Diaspora, the Igbo

World Assembly , IWA, has faulted therecent appointment by the currentadministration, saying that it must bereversed to maintain the FederalCharacter as enshrined in Section 14 ofthe Constitution of Federal Republic ofNigeria.

Calling for priority attention on thesecond Niger Bridge, the President ofIWA, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze in hiskeynote address at the just concludedWorld Igbo Congress (WIC) 2015Convention held in Los Angeles,California, the United States of Americasaid that the present governmentappoint- ment lacks gender balance andregional equity, adding that theappointments must be reversed for abetter Nigeria.

Describing the appointment asviolation of federal character law,Anakwenze said that under theprovisions of the Constitution, thegovernment must ensure “the principlesof proportional sharing of allbureaucratic, economic, media andpolitical posts at all levels.

“We, therefore, call on PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to adhere strictlyto the demands of our constitution withrespect to the Federal Character clauseand to the wellbeing of all Nigerians.“President Buhari should be remindedthat the change promised should be apositive change, not a change driven

by a pattern of bigotry, religious or ethnicchauvinism. We call on Nigerians to joinhands with us in ensuring that allNigerians are treated as equals and notas vassals to imagined ruling class,” headded.

The Diaspora group,among otherthings, further demanded that theNational Confab decisions must behonoured and implemented, as well asconstruction of the Federal roads in theSouth-East and South-South zones,construction of the airports and seaportsin the South-East and South-Southzones, which are also to be completed.

President Mohamadu Buhari’s previosappointment, he said weredisproportionate for a nation that holdstogether six geopolitical zones, 36 statesand a federal capital territory, 774 localgovernments and over 250 differentethnic nationalities, adding that recordshave showed that only 25 per cent ofthe president’s appointments were fromthe south while an overwhelming 75 percent are the north.

According to IWA President, who hadbeen in the vanguard for a better Igbostate, said that Buhari’s appointmentsso far havd not been encouraging tomost Nigerians, particularly to those inthe south.

“What President Buhari is doing is notnew. It is the re-enactment of thenorthernization policy of the late SirAhmadu Bello, who canvassed andpractised the policy where all goodpositions were occupied by thenortherners.

NNPC signsinterim crudeswapagreement

By Michael Ebohwith Agency Report

THE NIGERIANNational Petroleum

Corporation, NNPC, hassigned an interim crude oilswap contract with fourcompanies that is expectedto last from October toDecember 2015.

According to reportsobtained from Reuters, twoof the agreements are withNNPC Joint-Venturecompanies — one withSwiss trader Vitol calledCalson and the other withcommodities trader,Trafigura called Napoil.

The other two are withnon-incorporated JointVentures between oil majorBP and Nigermed Limitedand NNPC’s trading arm,Duke Oil Company withSahara Group.

The contracts, accordingto industry sources and asource inside the NNPC,were entered into toreplace those cancelled lastmonth.

The sources said thecancelled deals will runthrough September beforebeing replaced by theinterim offshore processingagreements, OPAs.

FIRST 100 DAYS:

APC faultsPDP in Delta

ASABA—THE AllP r o g r e s s i v e

Congress, APC, in DeltaState, has condemned thestate chapter of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, forcelebrating the first 100days of Governor IfeanyiOkowa administration,claiming that “everyone inDelta knows there isabsolutely nothing tocelebrate, but much tolament.”

Addressing newsmen,yesterday, in Asaba, DeltaAPC Senior Media Adviser,Ogbueshi Sam Abumujor,faulted various claims ofachievements by Okowa’saides, supporters and partyfaithful, while describingthe Okowa administrationas “a colossal failure in itsfirst 100 days.

Insisting that what thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, government,hadconstituted in the state wasa “cabalistic agglomerationof largely recycled dailybread politicians that havewoefully failed the statebefore,” the APC claimedthat “this madness willcome to an end once,O’tega Emerhor of APCemerges governor.”

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Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — — — — — 1717171717

CMYK

ON Thursday, August27, 2015, I joined a long

list of Nigerians in Lagos, for thehour-long flight to Douala,Cameroun, a city and country Ihave not visited in about 21 years.A few days earlier, I had receivedan invitation from Aliko Dangoteto the commissioning ceremonyof the $250 million dollar, 1.5million metric ton cement plant,located at the Base ELF, Douala.

It was certainly a very importanteconomic development initiativein Cameroun, because it was themain story in English and French,on radio most of that afternoon.But in a sense, the story of theday, was not even the ceremonyitself, but the way natureexpressed itself, because wevisited during the Central Africanrainy season and the rains hadwelcomed us into Cameroun, andas we discovered, the approachto the marquee laid up for theceremony was also soaked up inknee height water, so getting outof the bus was a real feat! But therains didn’t dampen theenthusiasm of the communityreceiving such a huge economicboost from Africa’s richest man,nor washed away the fact that, inhis inimitable way, Aliko Dangotewas, in a manner of speaking,cementing his way (no punintended!) right into the granddevelopment of the Africancontinent.

On the same day, THEGUARDIAN newspaper reportedthat Dangote Cement had signeda $4.34billion deal with a Chineseconstruction firm, SinomaInternational EngineeringCompany Limited, to buildintegrated cement plants in 11countries in the next two years.

Cementcomplex

They include Nepal in Asia(3million tons); Ethiopia (2.5m);Kenya (1.5m); Zambia (1.5m);Senegal (1.5m); Niger Republic(1.5m); Mali (1.5m); Cameroun(1.5m); Cote D’Ivoire (1.5m) andGhana (1.5m). And just lastweek, I saw a report andaccompanying pictures of his visitto Zimbabwe and the plan tobuild a huge cement complex inthat country.

A couple of weeks earlier, the$400million Dangote cementcomplex had been commissionedin Ndola, Zambia. And with amarket capitalisation of $14billiondollars, the Dangote Group hasthe largest production complex onthe African continent and it hasalso set eyes on expansion intoAsia. This is an incredible storyof a conscious effort at developingAfrica’s productive forces, sincecement is central to theconstruction process that canunlock Africa’s economicpotentials. Remarkably, anAfrican entrepreneur is at theheart of these stunninglyprogressive developments.

I have not sat down with him toexplore the man’s mind andwhat really drives him, but AlikoDangote has taken pan-Africanism to a different height;and he is confronting thechallenge of Africandevelopment, with the cementfactories that he hascommissioned or is planning to

set up all over Africa. Jobopportunities are directly createdwith these new factories and they

Aliko Dangote: Cementing Africa's economicdevelopment

have an immediate impact on theeconomic potentials of hostcommunities in the Africancountries while there are alsomultiplier effects on what they callthe entire value chain. TheAfrican economies certainlybecome better and theremarkable fact that an Africanentrepreneur is directing thesedevelopments, challenges thedominant patterns of capitalistrelationships of the centre-periphery, between imperialismand the neo-colony, that has beenthe hallmark of Africa’srelationship with the West forgenerations. These are veryimportant developments of aprogressive strain of“Africapitalism”.

TWO issues of dressing havetriggered this piece today.

First was a picture newspaperscarried a while ago, of theleadership of the NigerianFootball Association (NFA)visiting President MuhammaduBuhari. Each member of thedelegation was dressed inbabanriga, including thechairman, Amaju Pinnick, wholooked very much like aNortherner.

It was an expression of thepowers of symbolism: a newleader is at the helm and he isNorthern, therefore, the newbecomes reality reflected indressing. The second picturecame from the All NigerianEditors’ Conference that held inYenagoa, Bayelsa state. The newPresident of the Nigerian Guildof Editors, GarbadeenMuhammed, wore a Niger Deltadress, with a “Resource Control”hat in tow. Jocularly, I phonedhim to say I had edited his name,from Garbadeen Muhammed toGarbadeen Godswill GodspowerGovernment Owei Muhammed!The symbolism was also very apt;

I had written critical pieces inthe past about Aliko Dangote,especially when he first emergedin the Forbes’ Billionaires List. Iargued then, against thefetishism being made ofDangote’s personal capitalistsuccess. It was good to be abillionaire I said, but if there wasno social purpose to the moneyhe made, then it was not relevantto society. To his credit, AlikoDangote took our criticisms onboard and since then, he hasestablished the DangoteFoundation that is putting a lot ofmoney into socially worthy causesall over Nigeria. That must beacknowledged along with theincredible work that he does withhis pan-African development of

industrialisation at a level thatshould shame the colonialpowers. In centuries of colonialdomination, they plundered ourcontinent; left underdevelopedand often broken societies, thatsucceeding elites ran, ascaricatures of the dictatorship ofcolonialism, with dominantlyarrested developments andkleptocratic, personalised power.This is the old trend that AlikoDangote’s industrialisation drive,with the cement companies, ischallenging all across Africa. Heis creating wealth and a newAfrican working class, and insettings that can only redound tothe benefit of our continent. WhenAliko Dangote made the transitionfrom importing finished consumercommodities to industrialisation,he made an important transitionfrom what Chinese Communistsused to call a Compradorbourgeoise into a genuineindustrialist, a real nationalbourgeoise, but he has even takendevelopments into the pan-African scene and he isexpanding into Asia. Those whoset up the Bandung Conferenceof African and Asian countries inApril 1955, on the eve ofdecolonisation, would have beenproud of Aliko Dangote’sindustrialisation process today. Ithink we should welcome whatAliko Dangote is doing all overAfrica: cementing Africa’seconomic development!

Nigerian Editors were meeting inBayelsa, so the president dressedin solidarity with the hostcommunity. Nigerian politicians,especially those contesting forpresidency, normally produceposters with pictures targeted atdifferent parts of the country:Northern dresses target theNorth; the Yoruba ‘power shiftcap’ is worn to appeal to theSouthwest, while a red cap andbeads will target the Southeastand the dress with the goldenchain and golden buttons with anaccompanying ‘resource control’hat will be looking to harvestSouth-south votes.

In the lead to the last election,President Muhammadu Buharihad an incredible makeover,dressed in ways that he did not,in previous attempts at theNigerian presidency. He reflectedthe “Federal Character” ofNigerian dressing as he movedfrom one part of the country to theother! The Saraki family used tohave a rather unique approach.There would be posters thatemphasized their Yoruba rootsand their names (Olushola for the

late father and Bukola for the son)for posters in the Yoruba speakingregion, while Abubakar will beprominent in posters distributedin Northern Nigeria. In the longrun, it was all about the extractionof mileage out of the power ofsymbols.

During the Second Republic,1979-1983, the long Shagari capwas very much the dominantsymbolic wear and Nigeriannewspaper cartoonists neverstopped drawing caricatures ofthe cap. And who cannot see thesymbolism of the glasses that BolaTinubu wears and theassociational intentions with ChiefObafemi Awolowo and even thecontinued popularity of the Awocap amongst Yoruba politicianswho lay claims to the Awoisttradition? The vestment is verymuch part of the myth makingoften exploited for political orideological advantages.

Ideologicaladvantages

In 1999, a strong politicalcurrent swept President Obasanjoto power. The annulment of theJune 12, 1993 elections had badlyshaken Nigeria and one of thepoints of elite consensus that tookNigeria away from the brink, wasthe political decision to field onlyYoruba candidates for thepresidency. General Obasanjofaced off with Chief Olu Falae.When Obasanjo came to power,the good old Yoruba cap becamethe symbol of the new period of‘power shift’. Nigerian politicianstook a cue from Obasanjo. Thesame pattern was reflected in theyears that President GoodluckJonathan was at the helm with the‘power shift’ hat; even former Vice

President Namadi Sambo worethem quite regularly to showloyalty to his boss. In politicsclothes and caps represent a verypowerful expression of values.

But there even older symbolicexpressions associated withreligion in Nigeria. Islam cameto the land that became Nigeriaover a thousand years ago andpart of the baggage is a traditionof dressing which expressesentrance into the world of Islamand its symbols all over the oldWestern Sudan. In the same way,there are patterns of dresses,which are directly related to thecommencement of Christianmissionary activities in Nigeria.These are still dominant in theways and manner that eachreligious community continues toreflect its origins.

In 1324, the famous Emperor ofMali, Kankan Musa performedthe pilgrimage to Mecca and onhis return journey, came homewith a famous architect that wascommissioned to design the greatmosque of Tombouctu. It set astandard of design andconstruction that was copied andreproduced, or inspired relatedefforts all over West Africa.

So when I told my friend,Garbadeen Muhammed, that Ihave added a few Izon (Ijaw)names to his original name, givenhis conversion to “ResourceControl” dressing two weeks agoin Yenagoa, I was merelyattempting to show the verystrong symbolic powers ofdressing in the political space ofNigeria. There is no politician thatwill underrate the power ofsymbols and dresses and oftenexpress those symbols in a verypowerful and politically relevantmanner.

The political symbolism of dressing

WHEN Nigerian bankspublished a long list of

their debtors a couple of weeksago, Sam Nda-Isaiah, thepublisher of the LEADERSHIPgroup of newspapers, was atroubling presence on that list.

Those of us who know Sam werenaturally worried but he was ascombative about protecting hisname and protesting hisinnocence, as ever. And hisvindication came eventually,because on August 31, 2015,Heritage Bank wrote him a letter

which acknowledged that it erredby including Nda-Isaiah’s nameon their list: “We wish to stateregretfully that the inclusion ofBanana Republic Limited, yourname and that of your wife on thelist was done in error”, accordingto Heritage Bank.

It added that it “holds you, yourfamily and Banana Republic inhigh esteem. Again, we regretwhatever insinuation or publicharm done to your person”. I amvery delighted that Sam Nda-Isaiah has been vindicated!

Sam Nda-Isaiah: Vindicated

Those who set up theBandung Conferenceof African and Asiancountries in April1955, on the eve ofdecolonisation, wouldhave been proud ofAliko Dangote’sindustrialisationprocess today

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OPINION

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Senate and shenanigans of a unity forumBy Nwobodo Chidiebere

*Mr. Chidiebere, a political analyst,wrote from Lagos.

SENATE Unity Forum was formed as apolitical pressure group made of

Senators elected under the platform of AllProgressive Congress, APC, for the solepurpose of bargaining for political powerand influence peddling in the 8th Senate.Since the unprecedented emergence ofSenator Abubakar Bukola Saraki asSenate President and Senator IkeEkweremadu of the opposition PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, as Deputy SenatePresident of the 8th Senate against thepermutations of APC leadership, thingshave fallen apart for the Senate UnityForum, which campaigned vigorously forthe aborted ambitions of Senators AhmedLawan andGeorge Akume of the APC. Bothmen threw all they had at their disposalin the ring of political contest for SenatePresidency and Deputy Senate Presidency,respectively.After the constitutionally certifiedelections of Senators Saraki andEkweremadu as Senate President andDeputy Senate President, respectively,Senate Unity Forum, instead of towing thepart of honour, which is in line with spiritof sportsmanship to congratulate thewinners of the elections, resorted tomudslinging and blackmailing byalleging that the Senate Standing Rulesused in the conduct of election of principalofficers of the 8th Senate was forged.

Yet, this group of Senators went ahead tosubmit themselves to the same Senateleadership, which they accused ofemerging via “forged” Senate Rules forswearing-in. Some of them have alsoaccepted and are carrying out adhocCommittee assignments from the sameleadership. This is hypocrisy number one.After licking its wounds of defeat in theelection of Senate Presidency and dueconsultations with its “oracle” in Lagos,Senate Unity Forum embarked on anotherwild goose chase where the selfish interestof a godfather was packaged and brandedas party supremacy, with which theyintended to use to foist the remainingprincipal officers of Majority Leader,Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip andDeputy Chief Whip on the entire 8thSenate. For the first time in the history ofdemocracy anywhere in the world, apolitical party sent a letter of list ofaccolytes for Senate leadership positions.But thanks to the wisdom of theindefatigable Senate President BukolaSaraki who saw the hypocrisy in the partysupremacy mantra and stood his groundto safeguard the independence of the 8thNational Assembly and long-susbsisting

tradition of allowing various partycaucuses to elect preferred senators foreach position alotted to them.In order to blackmail Senate leadershipinto accepting the list of senators endorsedby APC leadership for the above mentionedprincipal officers positions, Senate UnityForum allegedly hired the services ofimmediate past Senate CommitteeChairman on Ethnics, Rules and BusinessSenator Ita Enang, who incidentally wasa PDP Senator of 7th Senate but left for theAPC when his bread was no longer beingbuttered by his former party, the PDP toexecute henchman’s job by writing abaseless petition adopted by the Forum tothe police alleging forgery of SenateStanding Rules of 2015. It isincontrovertible that Senator Enang wascompensated for consulting for SenateUnity Forum. Ironically, Senator Enangis coming to work on behalf of the Presidentwith the same Senate leadership he hasbeen antagonising. Senator Enang’sappointment exposed the poor advisePresident Buhari has been getting withregard to the legislative arm ofgovernment.After painstaking and water-tightinvestigations of the allegation of forgeryagainst current Senate leadership by thepolice, the petition was thrown into wastebin where it belongs, not mindingpropagandist noise deplored the media toarm-twist the Nigerian Police into

indicting Senate leadership in its report. AsSenate Unity Forum was busy working hardto invalidate the elections that broughtSenators Saraki and Ekweremadu in, themaster strategist, Senate President Sarakinailed the political coffin of the forum byannouncing the names of Principal Officersas presented by each geo-political on thefloor of the Senate ,which ran contrary todashed expectations of the Senate UnityForum. Seeing that their party supremacyjargon could not hold water, Senate UnityForum dragged Senate leadership to Courtwith two major prayers: stopping Saraki-ledSenate from constituting Committees andnullification of elections that broughtSenators Bukola Saraki and IkeEkweremadu, respectively.On Thursday 27, August 2015, politicalearthquake shook the already foundationof the APC, which collapsed political talldreams of some of its stakeholders, whohitherto were expecting to be announcedas Kitchen Cabinet of PresidentMohammadu Buhari-led administration.The unprecedented lopsided appointmentsmade by President Buhari withoutconsultation with the party hierarchy;made mockery of the so-called partysupremacy championed by bewilderedSenate Unity Forum; violated Sections of1999 Constitution as regards to FederalCharacter and deflated over bloated ego ofsponsors of Senate Unity Forum.On August 27, 2015,

political earthquakeshook the alreadyfoundation of the APC

Imperatives of DredgingCalabar Port

FAILURE of the Federal Governmentand Nigeria Ports Authority to dredgethe Calabar port channel is adverselyaffecting economic activities the port wasmeant to sustain. Previous efforts todredge the port ended without im-provements in the capacity of the portto take bigger vessels.

More than 30 years ago, the CalabarPort was envisaged to serve the SouthEast, parts of central Nigeria and theNorth East, for which a train service wasplanned. Also, vital projects by theCross River State Government designedto create wealth and jobs (such as Tina-pa, and the Export Processing Zone, afederal project) are among the projectsthat the poor depth of the port has af-fected.

The Calabar port in its current poorstate cannot attract investments.Businesses, like cocoa and palm pro-duce exports that boomed through ithave ground to a halt. The higher costsof importing through Lagos alone, andthe congestions that imports meant for

other parts of Nigeria that are forcedto pass through Lagos have created, areamong reasons why the port in Cala-bar needs immediate attention.

By extension, the congestions in La-gos ports mostly accounts for thedevastations that the Apapa-OshodiExpressway faces. It is therefore dis-turbing that the federal authorities havecontinued to undermine the strategicimportance of the port, which is closerto the big commercial centres and citiesin the eastern flank of Nigeria.

Shippers finally abandoned the Cala-

bar Ports after considering the extracosts of using smaller vessels to trans-load cargo to the port. A dredgedCalabar port would admit bigger ves-sels, which would make

shipping to the destination cheaper.It could, with its proximity to Equatori-al Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe,compete as a hub in the Central Africanoil and gas industry.

The on-going construction of the two-lane bridge over the Cross River at theCameroun - Nigeria border (Ekok/Mfun) coupled with the Bamenda-

Mamfe-Ekok-Abakaliki-Enugu Roadwould create more users forthe CalabarPort and spur the establishment ofancillary developments in those areas.A working Calabar Port would serveas a trans-shipment hub for Nigeria’slandlocked neighbours of Chad and Ni-ger. Even the planned re-constructionof the North East would benefit from afunctional Calabar port.

Calabar’s challenges centre on ab-sence of a channel management policyunlike ports in Lagos, Onne, and PortHarcourt, with channel managementpolicy that ensured their dredging andmaintenance even after concessioningof the port terminals.

We call on the Federal Governmentto dredge the Calabar Port and unlockthe economic potentials of theagricultural, commercial and tourismbusinesses that thrive in that flank ofNigeria.

Further delays in dredging the portwould result in continued waste ofgovernment and private investments inthose zones.

CMYK

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Send Opinions & Letters to:[email protected]

Compensating the Victim: Agenda forLegislative actionOUR Justice System as currently

structured is patently unjust andleaves much to be desired. The thought ofany change here must begin with acritical examination of the relationshipbetween society, the criminal and thevictim. For now, Nigeria is one countrywhere the victim counts for nothing.Elsewhere, people have realised thatsociety has no justification whatsoever tokeep taking from the victim withoutgiving back to him.

Originally, crime was regarded as awrong done to the individual, in whichcase, the victim and his family could seekvengeance in any way deemed necessary.Over time, government stepped in,ostensibly to act as the agent to the victim,and of course, with promises to provideuniform treatment for cases.

With every effort made, the victimbecame further alienated becausegovernment soon converted its protectiveefforts into some money-spinning venturefor itself.

The separation of civil and penalfunctions introduces a serious defect to thesystem of fines, which go entirely to theState, while the injured victim suffers allthe hardships of the civil process. Today’svictim cannot seek satisfaction on his ownsince the State forbids him from takingthe law into his hands.

Yet, our laws operate to make the victimof crime a loser all the way. Besidessuffering the loss or injury, he soonbecomes a state witness where he mustwaste his time and money going to courtto witness for government. At the end ofthe trial, the offender is either set free,sentenced to prison or he pays a fine.

Where the offender is set free, he returnsto the same community with his victim –now better equipped and more

experienced to deal with his accuser, thevictim. It is even worse for the victimwhere the offender returns to thecommunity after paying some fines to thecourt. If the offender goes to prison,government wins for itself, free labour forthe duration of his sentence. And nothinggoes to the victim!

The point being made here would bebetter appreciated within the context of aconcrete case: In the 1960s, Citizen Okohwas a big-time yam farmer at Oghada,some 60 kilometres, East of Benin City.At the end of every year, Okoh took hisyams to Benin for sale. In one of thoseexpeditions, Okoh lost the entire proceedsfrom his sale to some swindlers, the areaboys of that age.

The swindlers were subsequentlyarrested and charged to court. The casedragged on. Okoh must travel fromOghada to Benin to appear in court onevery adjournment date. He eventuallybecame impoverished because at a point,he sold all his seed yams to be able tofinance his journeys to Benin.

One day, Okoh returned home,jubilating that he had won the case – twoof the offenders paid some fines while twowere sentenced to prison. We all joined inthe wild celebration where palm wine and“Krola” (the soft drink of that era) flowed

freely. Therewas plenty of“orhue” (nativechalk) for thebody.

What didOkoh reallywin? What aP y r r h i cvictory! Hismoney was

gone; his farm was gone; and his wealthhad evaporated! On the other hand,government had reaped a windfall whereit sowed nothing – it pocketed the fines ofthe two offenders and acquired anenhanced labour-force by an additionaltwo able-bodied men.

With the criminal aspect over, thevictim is on his own. Our twisted systemnow tells him he can kick-start the civilaspect with all the attendant odds. First,he is totally worn-out by the rigour of thecriminal proceedings. Second, manyoffenders are judgment-proof in the sensethat they are too indigent to afford thevictim’s claims; and in any case, wherethe offender is sent to prison, the victimmust wait for him to return before civilproceedings can start.

The victim should no longer be satisfiedwith just seeing the offender cast intoprison. In addition to the protection of lawand order in the abstract and reform ofthe criminal; the victim’s claim torestitution should be a third element ofpunishment.

In the more humane societies, they havethe type of restitution, which is civil incharacter but intermingled with penalcharacteristics and awarded in criminalproceedings.

There is another form of compensatoryfine, where the court asks the offender topay to the victim an amount over andabove the actual loss he occasioned. Thispractice can be found in manyjurisdictions in the United States ofAmerica.

Brand Buhari’s encounter withDiogenes

I WAS enthusiastically lookingforward to the public unveiling

of President MuhammaduBuhari’s declared assets, and Iwill tell you why. Buhari is oneof the most intensely brandedpolitical leaders in Nigeria’shistory. Since he started runningfor president in 2003, aconsistent mental image of himhas been monogrammed in theminds of millions of Nigerians,such that even his foes oftenaccept his portraiture as “MrIntegrity”. In the North, theycall him: Mai Gaskiya (Manreputed for telling the truthalways).

Here is a man who, even in theheat of the 2003 presidentialcampaign, was absolved byformer President OlusegunObasanjo of the $2.8 billion“missing” NNPC fund. Buhariwas Minister of Petroleum underObasanjo’s tenure as militaryhead of state. Buhari is probablythe only known public officer tobe openly vouchsafed by theusually self-righteous Otachicken farmer. It was aspectacular testimonial forObasanjo to do so even whenBuhari was his major opponentat the 2003 presidential election.

I covered the 2007 presidential

election in Katsina State, beingthat two of the foremostcontenders, Buhari of the AllNigerian Peoples Party (ANPP)and Governor Umaru Yar’ Aduaof the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) came from there. Onpolling day, we visited Buhari inhis country home in Daura onthe border with Niger Republic.Before he appeared to talk to thevisiting media team, one of hisaides, Alhaji Zakari Ya’u Darazo,disclosed that the former head ofstate was squatting in the homeof a relation. The roof of his ownhumble bungalow next door wasblown off by a storm and he couldnot afford the cost of mending it!

Add this to the story whichmade the rounds in 2012 thatthe then former presidentialcandidate of the Congress forProgressive Change (CPC) wasejected from his N20 millionrented home at 11, QueenElizabeth St, Asokoro, Abuja overhis alleged inability to pay hisrent, even when the cost wasreduced to N15 million. Fancythat: a former PetroleumMinister, former Head of Stateand ex-Executive Chairman ofthe defunct Petroleum TrustFund (PTF) not having acomfortable home in Abuja! It

sounds unbelievable, even unfair,when you juxtapose him with hisfellow win-the-war former militaryrulers such as Generals Obasanjo,Ibrahim Babangida, AbdulsalamiAbubakar, TY Danjuma and even(to a much more modest extent)General Yakubu Gowon, whoremain firmly rooted as theoverlords of the Nigeriancommonwealth.

Juxtapose these, also, with thecases of the first elected Presidentand Vice President of Nigeria,Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagariand Dr Alex Ekwueme,respectively. When Buhari cameto power on December 31st 1983and started the War AgainstIndiscipline (WAI), he set up thevarious Military Tribunals forrecovery of government fundsand property from “corrupt”politicians. President Shagariwas put under house arrest, andaccording to elder statesman,Alhaji Tanko Yakassai in a recent

Channels Television interview, thewindows of Shagari’s glorified cellwere painted black to prevent thesunshine and daylight fromentering the house, therebymaking it impossible for him tosee the world outside.

He was even luckier, because hisDeputy, Ekwueme, was whiskedaway to Kirikiri Maximum Prison.They were both accused ofcorruption. But much later, aJudicial Panel headed by JusticeSampson Uwaifo which lookedinto the Gestapo-like militarytribunals of the Buhari era notonly cleared them, but alsodeclared Ekwueme not onlyinnocent of corrupt charges butthat he actually came out ofgovernment poorer than he wentin! Till today, Buhari has not foundit fit to apologise to these two gentsfor the miscarriage of justice of hismilitary days. Instead, the nowfamous “body language” of the“new sheriff in town” shows hewould do it all over again.

The truth of the Shagari/Ekwueme matter is that theywere the only former leaders whocame out of their tenures aspresident and vice presidentwithout buying up blue-chipcompanies, oil wells andbecoming fabulously rich afterpublic office at the presidentiallevel. In my ardent wait to seeBuhari’s declared assets, I wasanxious to decide if he fitted intothis Shagari-Ekwueme moldgiven the contrary indicationswe often get to sow seeds of doubtabout him. As my president andleader, I want to be able to knowjust how far I can rely on Buhari’sbrand reputation, alwaysbearing in mind, however, thatno man on this mortal plane iswithout his own fair share ofblemish.

Coming further to the just-

concluded presidentialcampaigns, we were also treatedto another round of BrandBuhari’s alleged impecuniosityin spite of the juicy high publicoffices he has occupied in the past.This helped in buying over a lotof young people, especially thechange-demanding electorate toBuhari’s side during thecampaigns. Buhari’s campaignteam “leaked” a story saying thepresidential candidate of the AllProgressives Congress (APC) hadto borrow the N20 million for thepurchase of his presidentialnomination from a bank. Hiscampaign team also adopted theBarrack Obama strategy andsent out a request for Buhari’ssupporters to contribute to hiscampaign fund.

I am not sure if the team hasrendered an account of howmuch was realised from thateffort as Obama did, and whathas happened to the left-over, ifany, as former President Yar’Adua did when he made publichis assets declaration in July2007.

With this consistent brandingover the years, Buhari’s pledgeto fight corruption soundedcredible, and even the mainopposition, the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP) hascommitted to supporting hisanti-graft war.

On Monday, we will turn theother side of the coin becauseevery coin has two sides: theobverse and the reverse sides. Iwill tell you the story of Diogenesthe ancient Greek philosopher.We will see where PresidentBuhari and Diogenes meet andwhere they part ways. Make it adate.

Till today, Buharihas not found it fitto apologise tothese two gentsfor themiscarriage ofjustice of hismilitary days.Instead, the nowfamous “bodylanguage” of the“new sheriff intown” shows hewould do it allover again

Another form of compensatory justiceis where the State sets up a pool of fundsfrom which it compensates victims of somepeculiar crimes. This type ofcompensation, which is civil in nature butawarded in criminal proceedings existedin pre-Castro Cuba. Here, the State stepsinto the legal shoes of the offender andundertakes to indemnify the victimfollowing the decision of the court.

In yet another form of compensation,which is neither civil nor criminal inprocedure and which applies where theoffender is judgment-proof, the victimapplies for the intervention of the stateand as soon as his application is approved,he is compensated to the extent of theinjury occasioned by the crime. Thissystem has existed in Switzerland since1937; in New Zealand since 1963; and inthe United Kingdom since 1964.

The foregoing experiences from otherlands are instructive and will come handyin the overall reform of our justice system.Meanwhile, charity must begin at home.We are reminded of those cases of brazenlystolen electoral mandates, which arediscovered by our tardy tribunal processessometimes after three years into a four-year tenure. All we need now are lawsthat would compel the offender to refundto the victim all the salary and allowanceshe collected for the three years. Apartfrom curbing the natural propensity forelection rigging, this practice is also in fullaccord with the principle of reward andpunishment.

All we need now are lawsthat would compel theoffender to refund to thevictim all the salary andallowances he collected forthe three years

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Ex-NNPC manager seeks closer ties between mgt, labourBy Victor Ahiuma-

Young

FORMER President ofthe Petroleum and

Natural Gas Senior StaffAssociation of Nigeria,PENGASSAN, andimmediate past EmployeesRelations Manager,Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation,NNPC, Dr. BrownOgbeifun, has called on bothmanagements and oilworkers to collaborate tostay afloat amidst the globalchallenges especially dropin crude oil prices.

Speaking at a socialgathering organised by theOil Producers’ Trade

NDIC carpets banks over contract staff,unreasonable targets for female workersBy Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau

Chief

THE Nigeria DepositInsurance Corporation

(NDIC) has carpeted thenation’s Deposit Money Banks,DMBs, over the unwholesomepractice of engaging contract oroutsourced staff in the industry.The Managing Director of thecorporation, Alh. UmaruIbrahim, told Council Membersof the Chartered Institute ofBankers of Nigeria, CIBN, inhis office in Abuja, that thepractice was detrimental to theoverall health and soundness ofbanks.

A statement by NDIC’s head ofCorporate Communications, Mr.

Haddi Birchi, yesterday quiotedthe MD as saying that bankexamination reports had indicatedthat the high incidences of fraud andforgeries in the banking system hadbeen linked to outsourced or contractstaff.

According to Alh. Ibrahim, “In asmuch as regulators appreciated thenecessity for banks to cut costs, it isincumbent on all stakeholders tofashion out capacity building andother strategies to motivate allemployees to contribute positivelyrather than engaging in criminalacts that impact adversely on theentire banking system”.

The NDIC CEO also expressedconcern about the plight of femaleemployees in the banking industry.

He noted that banks oftenengaged female employees and set

for them very high targets ondeposit mobilisation and otherasset creation ventures, which putundue pressure on the femaleemployees.

According to him, although someimprovement had been recordedwith regards to the situation, therewas still need to provide a moreconducive working environment inorder to attract and retain a talentedfemale workforce in the sector. Inhis response, the President of theInstitute, Otunba (Mrs) DebolaOsibogun admitted that over 75 percent of fraud cases in the sector hadbeen traced to outsourced bank staffwho were neither professionals normembers of the CIBN.

She regretted that the Institutehad no control over the banks butdisclosed that a Committee of the

Institute was already workingwith heads of operations of bankson the challenges being posedby the outsourced staff andwould soon submit its reportto the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) for consideration.

The CIBN President alsosaid the Institute had beenmandated as the agency forcompetency framework forbanking industry by the CBN,adding that the CIBN hadvisited banks’ academies andhad issued accreditationcertificate to the academies ofthe First bank, Access bank andGuarantee Trust Bank.

To further strengthenprofessionalism in the sector,Otunba Osibogun said that theInstitute had harmonised the

of the general society, notedthat unfolding events in theglobal oil market were sourcefor concern and warrantedboth managements and labourto develop strategies ofsurvival.

According to him, “Theslump in the global oil prices,the entrance of some countriessuch as Iran into the oilmarket, the glut and entranceof the United States of America(USA) and Australia into theglobal gas market coupledwith local problems of crudeoil theft, continuous pipelinevandalism and corruptionhave greatly impacted on theindustry.

There was need forunions andmanagements tothink outside thebox to explore waysthat couldguarantee theirorganisation’sfuture

From left, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ 2nd Vice President, Mr. Dapo Adekoje, ActingPresident, Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe and Registrar/Chief Executive, Mr Adedeji Ajadi during pressinteractive session in Lagos.

World Economic Forum selectsWaltersmith as global growth firms

THE World EconomicForum (WEF) has an-

nounced the selection of Wal-tersmith Petroman Oil Limited,a wholly indigenous Nigeriaexploration and productioncompany as a member of theforum’s Global Growth Compa-nies (GGC).

According to Olivier Schwab,head of business engagementat WEF “when choosing en-trants to our community of glo-bal growth companies, we as-sess companies on their busi-ness model, annual revenuesand growth rates, executiveleadership and market position.Waltersmith is a dynamic com-pany with a clear potential toshape the future in its relevantbusiness sectors and so is a per-fect fit to our GGC community

With the selection, Walter-smith becomes a member of agroup regarded as the most dy-namic, high-growth companies,which are trailblazers, sharpersand innovators, committed toimproving the state of the world,Waltersmith Petroman oil limit-ed was incorporated in 1996 asa joint venture between Walter-smith associates limited, a Ni-geria investment company, andPetroman oil limited of Cana-da, to operate as an oil explo-ration and production compa-ny. In 2001, Waltersmith becamea wholly indigenous companyafter the divestment of Petromanoil.

Global growthcompanies

Responding to the honour, thecompany’s chairman/CEO, Mr.Aldurazaq isa said: Waltersmithis delighted and proud to beselected as a member of the glo-bal growth companies of theworld economic forum. This isclearly recognition of the giantstrides the company has madein the past 10 years in the real-isation of its long term goalsand objectives. Waltersmith isfocused on creating a resilientand robust enterprise with clearvision of being an integratedenergy company, with interestsin gas, power and petroleumrefinery. The emergent Walter-smith will have a significantimpact on employement whilemaking important contributionsto the national GDP.”

With almost 400 members fromabout 65 countries, the economicforum believe each GGC has thepotential to become a leader inthe global economy arising fromtheir business models, growthrecords and unique markets.

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL

CBN Exchange Rate as at 09/ 09 /15

$48.49 -1.03

$3,226.00 58.00

$11.31 -0.24

DOLLAR 196 196.5 197POUNDS 302.0948 302.8655 303.6361EURO 218.8928 219.4512 220.0096FRANC 200.3066 200.8176 201.3286YEN 1.6342 1.6383 1.6425CFA 0.3137 0.3237 0.3337WAUA 274.0281 274.7271 275.4262RENMINBI 30.7746 30.8536 30.9325RIYAL 52.2569 52.3902 52.5235SDR 275.0664 275.7681 276.4698KRONA 29.3268 29.4016 29.4765

45.07 -0.787

116.20 0.35

Section, OPTS, to mark hisretirement as the Manager,Employees Relations (ER)NNPC, Ogbeifun said thecollaboration was necessaryfor operating companies inthe nation’s oil and gas toweather the storm of thedwindling business as aresult of slump in oil prices.

He said there was needfor unions andmanagements to thinkoutside the box to exploreways that could guaranteetheir organisation’s future,noting that whilemanagements shouldevolve a system ofinclusiveness and reach theunions with truth, the union

should also consider the theirmanagements and prevailingglobal situation in their actions.

The former PENGASSANPresident, who emphasisedthe need for service to the good

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Buhari’s 100 days in office

FOR a government that is yetto deliver any spectacular

benchmark against its self-imposed messianic mission andthe wellspring of support thatheralded its rise to power, it isunderstandable that Nigeria’sPresident Muhammadu Buhari’sfirst 100 days in office has beenmired in controversy.

It need not have been so. Thecontroversy arose largely from thedivergent views expressed by thePresident and leaders of his party,the All Progressive Congress(APC) on the matter. While theAPC leaders had confidentlyasked Nigerians to wait forBuhari’s scorecard after his first100 days , the President had leftno one in doubt that he did notsubscribe to any form of jamboreeto showcase his performance.

The crux of the argument is thelegitimate expectation that aleader should be able to establishthe benchmarks of hisadministration after 100 days inoffice. In other words, a leaderwho is still groping for a roadmapafter 100 days risks beingdismissed as ill-prepared for thetask.

Constitutionof the cabinet

Paradoxically, people arebeginning to regard the BuhariAdministration in that lightparticularly with his failure toconstitute his cabinet, a groupwhose membership he shouldhave known even before beingelected. Nigerians are not excitedby the argument that he is lookingfor ‘saints’, the unblemishedextra- terrestrials whose monk-like distaste for material thingswould accord Nigeria respect onthe global transparency index.

At the other end of theassessment, it is tempting tosubscribe to the argument thatoperating without a cabinet (aviolation of the Constitution?)gives him the opportunity to runthe country as a sole administratorwhile implementing some hiddenagenda.

Let us look at the matterdifferently: not as the oppositionPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP)would see it but from our ownperspectives as voters andcitizens. So how has he fared inhis first 100 days? We should beable to assess his first 100 daysagainst the background of hiselection promises and ourexpectations from the mandatefreely given to him. And that iswithout prejudice to whether hesubscribes to the principle of first100 days or not.

Let us recall that Buhari hadhinged his voter appeal on threecardinal premises: waging a waragainst corruption, rolling backterrorism and revamping theeconomy to create jobs. Fullpower supply and such othereconomic indices were allembedded in these broad

categories. We can proceed toexamine his performance againstthese parameters.

However, before we go anyfurther, it is remarkable that inspite of the bitter campaign thatpreceded his election, it has notoccurred to the President tounambiguously benchmarknational reconciliation or healingas an important and urgentnational challenge.

Nationalchallenge

Most Nigerians heaved a sighof relief when, at hisinauguration, he stated that hewould be President for all.However, it will appear that theapplause went off too early:indeed, it is a source of immenseanguish that in his first 100 days,President Buhari has, through hisutterances and appointmentsdeepened the religious andethnic divides that have been thebugbear of national life inNigeria.

When he made the tacitreference about discriminatingagainst those who did not votefor him, many had thought that itwas a slip of tongue. But thosewho know Buhari very well hadno doubt whatsoever that hemeant every word of his. Thatexplains the fact that out of all hisappointments so far, he hasconveniently ignored the southeast geo-political zone as if it doesnot exist.

Some have argued that it is athrowback to his first coming asmilitary head of state when therewas no military officer of southeast extraction in the firstSupreme Military Council heconstituted; others have pointedto the low coverage of the southeast when he was chairman of thePresidential Task Force (PTF)during the reign of General SaniAbacha.

To make matters worse,statistically, it can be argued that,going by the appointments hemade in his first 100 days, Buhariregards the entire south as a meresupporting cast in the Nigeriaproject. It is not surprising,therefore, that the south west zonesees Buhari’s action as a betrayal,taking into account the game-changing contribution of the zoneto his electoral victory. Thisinexplicable failure to run aninclusive government within his

first 100 days casts a huge sluron the integrity of the BuhariAdministration.

Yet there is a sense in whichBuhari’s efforts have become thevindication of Goodluck Jonathan:the inability to dismantle BokoHaram was not for lack of tryingby the former president.

What has emerged is that theinternal and external conspiracyto undermine Jonathan’s effort,all in a bid to send hisadministration packing, allowedBoko Haram to acquire a life ofits own. Buhari now wears theshoes and to the dismay of all,contrary to his promise to securethe release of the Chibok girlsonce elected, nothing has beenheard of them. Meanwhile BokoHaram is still with us!

Nigerians expect the APCpropaganda machinery to provideconvincing explanations for thisglaring failure to honour an

Board. Besides, theadministration needs to convincethe public that limiting the anti-corruption fight to the Jonathanera meets the tenets of fair playand does not amount to a witch-hunt or selective justice.

Not with scandals likeHalliburton and Siemens still veryfresh in our minds and beggingfor resolution. To be seen to befair, Buhari should throw hissearchlight back to 1999. That’snot too far back: the records of oilreceipts, power and road sectorprojects as well as theprivatization process are stillavailable.

As a matter of fact, it has beensuggested that to give his anti-corruption fight greater credibility,the President should start byprobing the sources of funds forhis campaign. Sure PresidentBuhari is familiar with the adagethat to come to equity, one must

do so with clean hands! We canonly wait and see how this dramaplays out.

Meanwhile, it is too early in theday to pass a verdict on theeconomic programmes of thegovernment. But critics are quickto point out that his promise tofirm up the value of the Naira hasnot been fulfilled. Such criticsargue that failure to anticipate thecollapse in oil price is indicativeof a weak economic team and aclear danger that we are in for agovernment by guess work.

Inescapableconclusion

What about the improved powersupply situation? Nobody expectsBuhari to take credit for this. Forthis is one sector where hisadministration is yet to take anymajor step in its first 100 days.What we are left with is theinescapable conclusion that thecountry is beginning to reap thedividends of the sustainedimplementation of the powersector road map even into thedying days of the JonathanAdministration.

To acknowledge thiscontribution will not, in any way,diminish the stature of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari, a staturethat has been adroitlydemonstrated in his commandingpresence in the West African sub-region in the past few months.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—25

By Daminabo Franklin

President Buhari

whose candidacyfor president of theA f r i c a nDevelopment Bank(ADB) wasspearheaded byM u h a m m a d uBuhari served theJ o n a t h a nAdministration asminister ofagriculture. Forsure, Buhari wouldnot havecampaigned for acorrupt person torepresent Nigeriaon such a sensitivei n t e r n a t i o n a l

e l e c t o r a lp r o m i s einstead ofpor t ray ingvirtually all thepublic officerswho servedu n d e rJonathan aslooters of thetreasury evenbefore beinga r r a i g n e dbefore a courtof competentjurisdiction.

What onef i n d sparticularlybaffling is thecontradictionthrown upthese past 100days. On theone hand,Jonathan isheld up as ap a t r i o t i cNigerian whosaved thecountry fromdisintegrationand the WestAfrican sub-region thefrighteningogre of adestabilizingrefugee crisis.On the otherhand he isdemonized asa villain whosuperintendedover a corruptgovernment.

Yet, Dr.AkinwunmiA d e s i n a

•Franklin wrote in from PortHarcourt, capital of Rivers Stateof Nigeria.

What about theimproved powersupply situation?Nobody expectsBuhari to takecredit for this

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PG. 28

PG. 29Continues on Page 27

THE establishment ofprivate universities in

Nigeria dates back to 1979 wheneducation was placed on theconcurrent list in the nation’sconstitution, permittingindividuals and organisations toestablish private universities.

Within a period of four years,24 of such universities wereestablished in the country. Someof the universities were hurriedlyestablished without properplanning. It was observedduring this period that the threatto qualitative universityeducation was so real that itssubsequent devastating effect in

Nigeria would be irreparablehence the promulgation ofDecree No. 19 of 1984 and 16 of1985 to sanitise the system.

The growing increase in thenumber of prospectivecandidates for admission intouniversities and increasinginability of existing publicuniversities to cope with theincrease in demand for universityplacement, necessitated a reviewof the 1984 ban.

Privateuniversities

The review led to the enactmentof Decree No. 9 of 1993, whichallowed individuals,organisations, corporate bodiesas well as local governments toestablish and run privateuniversities upon meeting laiddown guidelines and obtainingapproval of government.According to Prof. PeterOkebukola, the NUC scribe, thedecree stipulated the conditionsthat must be met to enable theNational UniversitiesCommission (NUC) assess theadequacy or otherwise ofapplications for government’sapproval.

Six years after the promulgationof Decree 9 of 1993, the first setof private universities werelicensed. These are IgbinedionUniversity, Okada, BabcockUniversity, Ilishan-Remo and

Madonna University, Okija.Thereafter, five others were

licensed between July 31, 2001and May 28, 2003. In 2005, 15private universities wereestablished and the rate hadmaintained a slow and steadyclimb bringing the total to 61 asat September 2015.

Thus, North-East geopoliticalzone has two private varsities,North- Central has 10, North-West has one, South-East hasnine, South- South has 11,South-West has 28, bringing thetotal number to 61.

The increasing number ofsecondary school leavers angling

for limited university spaces wasa key factor in the Obasanjo'sadministration, giving room toprivate university providers.

The expectation was that notless than 20% of enrolment in theuniversity system will beascribed to the private university

By Dayo Adesulu

Alarm, as private varsities can't enrolenough students•Despite huge admission deficit, private varsities are losing appeal

More on the65 illegaltertiaryinstitutions

Six scientistssimulate lifeon Marsliving in atiny dome

WINNERS: From left; former governor of Lagos State and guest speaker, Babatunde Fashola; Bishop Peace Okonkwo; second runner up, Jonathan Iherijika of KingsCollege, Lagos; Bishop Mike Okonkwo; winner of the 2015 Bishop Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition, Chisom Emeto of Port Harcourt International School, Rivers State;first runner up, Asuquo Mirabel of Redeemers International Secondary School, Port Harcourt, River State and the event Chairman, Chief George Obiozor at the 16thBishop Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture to mark the 70th Birthday of Bishop Mike Okonkwo held at Muson Centre on Thursday in Lagos.

Rank INSTITUTION TOTAL

1 COVENANT UNIVERSITY, CANAAN LAND, OTA 31442 BABCOCK UNIVERSITY, ILISHAN-REMO, 19853 AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY , ADO-EKITI 12474 MADONNA UNIVERSITY, OKIJA 5875 BOWEN UNIVERSITY, IWO 5666 AL-QALAM UNIVERSITY, KATSINA 5587 IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY, OKADA, BENIN CITY 3738 BAZE UNIVERSITY, FCT, ABUJA 3429 BENSON IDAHOSA UNIVERSITY, BENIN CITY 30610 BINGHAM UNIVERSITY, KARU 292

39 GREGORY UNIVERSITY, UTURU, ABIA STATE 1940 OBONG UNIVERSITY, OBONG, NTAK 1641 PAUL UNIVERSITY, AWKA 1442 SAMUEL ADEGBOYEGA UNIVERSITY, OGWA, EDO STATE 1143 EVANGEL UNIVERSITY, AKAEZE, EBONYI STATE 1044 RHEMA UNIVERSITY , OBEAMA, RIVERS STATE 945 RENAISSANCE UNIVERSITY, OJIAGU-AGBANI, ENUGU 646 SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, OKUN-OWA, OGUN STATE 647 WELLSPRING UNIVERSITY, IRHIHI/OGBANEKI, BENIN 548 KWARARAFA UNIVERSITY, WUKARI 3Source: JAMB

Private Universities Application Statistics 2015Top 10 and Bottom 10

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—27

Continues from Page 26sub-system, according to Prof. OkebukolaIn the early days, especially between 2000and 2004, the private universities that weregranted licences, had respectableenrolment, raising the hope of attainmentof the 20% target by 2015.

The factors which accounted for thechoice of private universities in the earlydays included their credentials ofproviding more conducive environmentfor learning and the non-traditionalcourses which they offered. The factor ofpreference of parents for small class sizethat the private universities offered andthe possibility of individualised attentionto their children and wards was alsostrong.

Perhaps, the most important of thefactors was the notoriously unstablecalendar of public universities. Between1992 and 2001, the public university systemsuffered protracted strikes for a cumulativeperiod of 37 months which led to the lossof three academic sessions.

Strike-freeenvironments

The private varsities offered a strike-freeenvironment and a guarantee ofgraduation in normal time. Therefore,candidates, inspired by their parents,headed for private varsities.

Not long after, at least three factorsconspired to reverse the upward swing inenrolment. First was the relative stabilitywhich has returned to the public universitysystem. By 2002, apparently weary ofstrike actions, the staff unions took a longbreak from the usual national strikes andacademic calendars were hardlyinterrupted for long spells. The pull backto public universities gained momentumand application to private varsities took aplunge.

Secondly, the number of privateuniversities grew and this caused areduction in the total number of applicantsto each university. The third factor wasthe increase in the national poverty rateswhich hindered parents from generatingenough resources to pay the high tuitionfor private university education. It got sobad that some private universities had lessthan 10 applicants for their degreeprogrammes in 2015.

The data below shows the private varsityapplication statistics of 2015, top 10 andbottom 10.

By 2014, and to the dismay of universityplanners, the private varsity sub-systemwas only able to attract less than 6% of thetotal enrolment in the Nigerian universitysystem. The 20% anticipated enrolmentflopped. Today, even with theencouragement by JAMB that candidatesshould apply to private universities withinand outside their geopolitical zones, theresponse has been largely negative. Ourinvestigations confirm that the key factorshaping interest or otherwise, is the highfee regime of most private varsities.

If the aspiration to get at least 20% of thecandidates enrolled is to be achieved, whatstrategic options should we explore? Inits quest to proffer solution to the imminentcollapse of private varsities, Prof. PeterOkebukola during his speech at themaiden convocation lecture of SamuelAdegboyega University, Ogwa, gave fewsuggestions.

He said: "Lowering the cost of educationto be borne by students or their parents inprivate universities is a promising option.This cannot be ordered by governmentalfiat but induced through financial supportsystems and tax incentives. Governmentalfinancial support is applied to publicuniversities through the Tertiary EducationTrust Fund (TETFund). The enabling lawof the Fund partials out privateuniversities in the regular support system.Strong opinions for and against the

Lowering the costof education to beborne by studentsor their parents inprivateuniversities is apromising option

Alarm, as private varsities can't enrolenough students

MEETING: From left; Dr Ayo Ogunsan, Chairman, Executive Trainers; MrDavid Lubowa, Admission Officer, Paris Business School; Mrs Ajoke Ogunsan,MD Executive Trainers and Prof Finck Guillame, Dean, Paris Business Schoolduring the contract signing meeting at the Business School in Paris, France.

errors in the original business plans."The counter arguments of those who

believe that TETFund should provide aplace for private universities in itsintervention net are equally strong andconvincing. There are three strands ofarguments. Over 70% of the intake intoTETFund is from taxes of privatecompanies. Excluding private universitiesfrom benefitting from what its sector hasamassed is adjudged inequitable anddiscriminatory.

From their point of view, private varsitiesshould be apportioned larger share of theTETFund revenue. The second line ofargument is that all graduates from theuniversity system whether from public orprivate varsities are prepared to serve thenational economy. The national economywill be severely hurt peradventureproducts of private varsities end up beingof lesser quality than the public.

If the goal is to produce qualitygraduates regardless of the source (publicor private), then private varsities need tobe equally served by TETFund in itsintervention. Champions of the argumenthave often asserted that the chief executiveofficers of former ETF and now TETFundhave been from the northern part ofNigeria where private universities aresparse and where the belief to slow downthe south from further outpacing the northin educational development is prevalent.There is no empirical proof for thisassertion.

"It is not impossible, though will be time-taking, to amend the TETFund law to offera line of support for private universities.Even within existing law which supportsonly public universities, it should bepossible to indirectly support privateuniversities. How this can be achievedshould be creatively explored.

The answer to improving enrolment intoprivate universities rests largely onTETFund support which will translate tosignificant lowering of the fees which inturn will attract a larger proportion ofcandidates than currently witnessed. TheTETFund offer should support provisionof teaching and research equipment,

training (capacity-building) of lecturersand infrastructure development. Its annualrenewal should be based on positiveinspection reports and evidence ofjudicious and transparent use of funds.Such grant-aiding of private institutionsis not new. The 1882 Education Ordinanceand the 1890 Education law make explicitprovisions for grant-in-aid to privateschools. Government of the Colony ofLagos as well as the Southern andNorthern Protectorates instituted thegrant-in-aid scheme to ensure thatprivately-owned schools, especially thoseowned by missionary bodies did not fallbelow established quality standards.

"While awaiting the realisation ofTETFund intervention to privateuniversities, there are a number of actionsthat the managers of these universities cantake to boost enrolment. Intensive publicityis one such way. Newspaper and radioadverts will hardly do the trick. Big gainscan be achieved by a more sonorous chorusacross the country and outside of it.

Great dealof fluency

Relatively new British universities haveattained a great deal of fluency in theenterprise of selling their schools. Theyrun fairs as a consortium in Abuja, Lagosand Port Harcourt and in other cities inWest Africa. Their harvest is usually rich.Private universities in Nigeria can learn alesson from this model. SamuelAdegboyega University can enter into amarketing consortium arrangement witha number of private and public universitiesin Nigeria to undertake roadshows,exhibitions and fairs in choice locationsin Nigeria and some neighbouring WestAfrican countries. In a couple of years, theharvest of candidates will be bountiful.

"Equally worth adopting is publicitythrough activities of the university and itsstaff. Public lectures organised by theuniversity or a particular department orfaculty should be accorded huge mediapublicity. Laurels won by students and staffshould be celebrated in the press. The VCshould honour invitations to academicevents outside the varsity and use theopportunity to sell his or her university.Radio and TV discussion programmes areother avenues which the VC should takeadvantage of to publicise the university.With the name of the university madepopular in the media, prospectivecandidates will have increasing awarenessof the existence of the university and thiswill raise the volume of application foradmission.’’

Continues on Page 28

A PROFESSOR at theDepartment of English,

University of Nigeria, Prof.Akachi Ezeigbo has urged theFederal Government toimmediately reinstate theteaching of history in thesecondary school curriculum sothat Nigerian children can enjoythe benefits of a mediatedlearning of history.

She stated this at the 16th

Annual Mike Okonkwo Lecture,to mark the 70th Birthday ofBishop Mike Okonkwo. Thetopic, The Nigeria Political Classand the Citizens' Quest for GoodGovernance, was delivered by

Reinstate history into curriculum, donurges FG••As Mike Okonkwo 2015 essay competition winners emerge

the immediate past governor ofLagos State, Mr. BabatundeFashola (SAN) held at theMuson Centre, Lagos.

Prof. Ezeigbo who was theexaminer of the Mike Okonkwo2015 essay competition in herreport and recommendationsrevealed that “many participantsin this year ’s competitionengaged the topic (the lecturetitle) from the point of view ofhistory to show how the quest fora political class that woulddeliver good governance hasbeen a long and abiding questin our national history.

“It means that even thoughhistory as a subject is no longer

taught in secondary schools, ourchildren have through self-effort,come to understand theimportance of engagement withhistory. They have started to teachthemselves how to read andinterpret history since thegovernment ‘unwisely’ deletedthe subject from the secondaryschool curriculum. If students canshow the level of skill we haveseen in their self-taughtinterpretation of Nigerian history,then we can leave to theimagination what they will do ifthey receive expert guidance inthe endeavour.” She noted.

The Don who revealed that a

By Kelechukwu Iruoma

provision have beenargued. Those infavour have hingedtheir argument on thesimple logic thatbeing privatep r o v i d e r s ,government has nobusiness in offeringfinancial support inany form to privateuniversities. After all,the argumentcontinues, the ownersof the universitiesparaded a businessplan to the NUCclaiming to have thefinancial muscle tocarry the load ofdelivering qualityvarsity education ifgranted licence. Thesame individuals orgroups cannot turnround few years downthe road to claim

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28—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

“The National Universities Commission, NUC, has released a listof illegal degree awarding institutions operating in the country.”VANGUARD, Friday, August 28, 2015, p 6.

ORDINARILY, one would have commended the NUC foridentifying and publishing the names of the illegal tertiary

institutions. But, this is an extra-ordinary development and it mighthave been inspired by the fear that President Buhari would notcondone the acts of corruption which had made it possible for somany illegal institutions to get established and flourish in the firstinstance. The truth is, many of those illegal universities, as well asthose considered legal, had been allowed to admit students only forthem to discover, years after, that they have laboured in vain andtheir funds had been taken from them by 419 institutions while theNUC turned a blind eye to their predicament.

Several of them have been operating for more than eight years.Some of them were discovered by the NUC and ordered to closedown – only for them to move to other locations even extend theirillegal operations to other places. The questions Nigerians shouldbe asking Professor Julius Okogie is: why wait until the figure reachedsixty-five to announce a blanket shut-down and promise to prosecutethe offenders now when the NUC was aware of their existence yearsago? Certainly, Professor Okogie must have heard of the old adage,“A stitch in time saves nine.” Why were the proprietors of the firstillegal institutions to be identified not prosecuted in order to send astrong message to anybody else wanting to attempt the crime that itwould not pay?

Let me provide one answer which should not shock most Nigerians,

More on the 65 illegaltertiary institutions

on for years. Permit me to limit the discussion to one for now. Accreditation exercises are supposed to be conducted with integrityand dispassionately. The university authorities present to the panelwhatever is honestly available, in terms of human and materialresources, in the university and the panel decides whether they have met the minimum requirement for accreditation of the course(s) onoffer. Unfortunately, that straight forward process had been subvertedby the Nigerian Factor. Irrespective of who pays for the transport andaccommodation of panel members, there is always an “envelope” atthe end.

Generally, the university favours an all-male panel. Invariably, thereare members of the accreditation panel wanting to be “entertained”with “Bush Meat”. Falsification of reports become easier if the leaderof the delegation is the one most disposed to “entertainment”. Tofacilitate the corrupt transactions which will follow, almost all the staffof the university attending to the august visitors are females, youngladies “dressed to entice”, and giving the impression they are“available”. From that corrupt beginning, everything else followslike clock work.

One of our staff at VANGUARD who resigned his appointment tojoin one of the private universities, as well as a close associate at theNigerian Institute of Management, NIM, told me of their experiencewith two universities. There was a great deal of similarities betweenthe two experiences. For instance, the two universities borrowedlaboratory equipment from complaisant universities in order to beefup their accreditation results. They also paid heavily for establishedProfessors to be listed among their faculty even when it was understoodthat those luminaries would never teach in their universities. Oncethe panel departs, the laboratories take their real shape and thecompromised and compromising professors disappear into thin air.

Permit me to close this article by focusing on one university listedamong the 65 – University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.

The first shockcame when the“hand-outs” werebrought to me. Theywere full oftypographical andother errors whichshould not havebeen made bysecondary schoolteachers handlingCommerce

thorough knowledge of historycould help in preventing ethnic,religious and political polaritiesamong Nigerians stated, “Moreimportantly, in a nation whereethnic, religious, economic andpolitical parties are so firmly andconstitutional entrenched, ifstudents are left to their owndevices in coming in terms withour history, it would be extremelydangerous”.

Prof. Ezeigbo who frowned atthe use of the internet in learningand studying history said, “Theinternet is a repository of allmaterials and it is not wise to letour children get all theirknowledge of our history fromthat source. Consider forexample the negative uses thatyouths in the Middle East andother parts of the world aremaking with the knowledge ofchemistry and physics, whichthey often acquire freely from theinternet. We need to re-inserthistory in the secondary schoolcurriculum urgently.” She said.

She, however, urged teachersand parents to avail to thestudents the materials andequipment needed to accessinformation on the internet tomake learning easier, adding thatteachers and parents must createlimits as to how the internet canbe accessed, in order to avoidstudents ‘copying and pasting’

works gotten from the internetand presenting them as theirown. She also advised parentsand teachers to avoid writingassignments for the students.Rather, they should guide themto do the assignment themselves.

On the other hand, the guestspeaker, Mr. Fashola in thelecture revealed that “education(formal education and publicenlightenment), participation ingovernance, rule of law andapplication of science are the fourways in which any governmentcan achieve good governance.According to him “the purposefor which government exists isto provide good governance.”

Goodgovernance

Adding “quality education,provision of water supply, regularpower supply, welfare, securityetc are what constitute goodgovernance and everygovernment must ensure thatthese are met for the bettermentof the society”.

He, however, urged citizens toalways participate fully ingovernance by voting duringelections, paying their taxes andobeying other rules andregulations, adding that with thehelp and support of the citizens,good governance will beachieved. He therefore

described Bishop Okonkwo whoalso marked his 70th birthday asa dependable man who impactedmillions of youths both in Nigeriaand Diaspora.

The chairman of the event, Prof.George Obiozor, formerAmbassador of Nigeria to theUnited States, described BishopOkonkwo as one of the mostinspiring Nigerian alive. In hiswords “he is a pan Nigerian, anationalist, a philanthropist, acosmopolitan, a pan African anda humanist.” Adding, “Hisselfless service and inspirationhas been an influence to manyNigerians.” He said.

Furthermore, awards weregiven to the essay competitionwinners. Chisom Emeto, astudent of Port HarcourtInternational School, PortHarcourt, Rivers State emergedthe winner of the 2015 essaycompetition and was awardedwith an accolade, a brand newlaptop and a cheque of N100,000.

Mirabel Asuquo fromRedeemers InternationalSecondary School, Port Harcourtcame second and was awardedwith an accolade and a chequeprize of N75, 000 while JonathanIhejirinka from Kings College,Lagos State, came third and wasawarded with an accolade and acheque prize of N50, 000.

PRESENTATION: Staff of Save Our Needy, representatives of the Shoprite CommunityNetwork, representative of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), headteachers of Progressive School and parents during the presentation of teaching materialsto Progressive School, Festac, Lagos.

Continues from Page 25

Reinstate history into curriculum, don urges FG

SON partners Shoprite to boost students' learning

THE Chief ExecutiveOfficer, CEO, Save Our

Needy, Marvella Odili hasreiterated her commitment topromote early childhooddevelopment and encouragebasic education amongdisadvantaged children.

Speaking during Shopritefacilities donation to ProgressivesNursery and Primary School,Festac Town, Lagos, Odili whoexpressed a deep concern forvulnerable and disadvantagedchildren said: “We believe thatevery child no matter theircircumstances has thefundamental right to qualityeducation.’’

She posited that the efficiencyof pupils’ learning is dependenton their environment.

According to her, owing to this,Save Our Needy and Shopritepartnered to make learningconditions better for all thechildren of Progressives Nurseryand Primary School.

Her words: ‘’We believe inchildren as the future of Nigeria.We believe in education for all.

We are therefore, doing all wecan within our means to make lifebetter for every undeserved childin Nigeria.

‘’It is obvious that thegovernment cannot do it all ontheir own. They need our support.We cannot abandon these

children because we expect thegovernment to take care of all theirneeds.

Meanwhile, Shoprite BranchManager, Festac, Olajide Amadewho spoke with Vanguard saidthat education empowerment isthe cure point of development inyouth. ‘’We want to let the peoplein the environment feel our impactas a corporate organization as weimprove the community aroundus,’’ he said.

On her part, the Head Teacherof Progressives Nursery andPrimary School w Mrs Ajaitie whoreceived the donation with thankspromised to monitor students andteachers to ensure good use ofthe equipment.

By Dayo Adesulu

and if he is honest with himself,should not come as surprise toOkogie himself. The answer isCORRUPTION. The NUC hadbecome increasingly corrupt andhad allowed institutions inNigeria to evolve a culture of“anything goes”. ProfessorOkogie will almost develop aheart attack if some of the topofficials of the NUC were forcedto declare their assets publicly.To be quite candid, he heads oneof the most corrupt organizationsin Nigeria today. The suddeneffort to sanitize the NUC isnothing but a face-saving devicefor the Commission.

Before Okogie and his topofficials cry “foul” they need tobe reminded of some criminalactivities which had been going

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—29

Research & Devt

By EBELE ORAKPO with Agency reports

BEFORE men are sentto Mars, NASA began

funding a research at theUniversity of Hawai'i (UH), theHawai'i Space ExplorationAnalog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission aimed atsimulating or imitating longduration space exploration.

Volunteers: So last Friday, sixvolunteers - German physicist(Christiane Heinicke); Frenchastrobiologist (Cyprien Verseux);American engineer/pilot(Andrzej Stewart); soil scientist/crew commander (CarmelJohnston); architect (TristanBassingthwaighte) and doctor ofmedicine/journalist (SheynaGifford), went into isolation in an11-meter wide, six-meter tallsolar-powered dome on theslopes of the 4,000-meterMauna Loa volcano in Hawai'ito simulate a manned mission toMars.

Aim: According to reports, thevolunteers will live in the domefor one year literally crampedtogether.

This is the longest HI-SEASmission yet in the project and itwill focus on crew memberscohesion and performance. Theresearchers are working todevelop effective teamcomposition and supportstrategies to allow crews tosuccessfully travel to Mars andback, an estimated three years

Six scientists simulate life on Mars living in a tiny dome

journey."The crew will be monitored

using cameras, body movementtrackers, electronic surveys, andother methods.

UH Mânoa researchers andtheir collaborators will bestudying the group’s cohesionover time, gathering data on awide range of cognitive, socialand emotional factors that mayimpact team performance," saidthe report.

“The longer each mission takes,the better we can understand therisks of space travel,” said KimBinsted,HI-SEAS principalinvestigator and UH professor of

THE earth has supported life forms for millions of yearsbecauseit has features that set it apart from others. "The most impressiveattribute of the Earth is the existence and amount of liquid wateron its surface. No one knows why it has the exact amount ofwater it does, which is relatively small considering that watermolecules outnumber silicate molecules in the galaxy," saidGeoffrey Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California,Berkeley.

"The Earth is remarkable for its precisely-tuned amount ofwater, not too much to cover the mountains, and not so little thatit's a dry desert, as Mars and Venus, our 'sister' planets," he said.Unfortunately, man has almost succeeded in making the Earthvirtually uninhabitable so scientists are seeking alternative abodein other planets and the Red planet, Mars, seems to be the mostsuitable. Others like Jupiter and Saturn have strong gravity, highpressure, strong winds (225 miles per hour to 1000 miles perhour) and freezing temperatures of -270 degrees to +32degrees. So the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), US government agency responsible for civilian spaceprogram as well as aeronautics and aerospace research, hasplanned a manned mission to Mars.

Excerpts:

*The volunteers

Top row, from left: Tristan Bassingthwaighte, Sheyna Gifford andChristiane Heinicke. Bottom row, from left: Carmel Johnston, CyprienVerseux and Andrzej Stewart. (Photos: University of Hawaii)

Konga sponsors 10 motherless childrento AudaxCode School

*One of the volunteersin front of the dome.

TEN motherless childrenwho were sponsored by

Konga have graduated fromthe Audax Code School whichspecialises in fostering longlasting interest in technology-based careers and developingvital problem solving skillsthat will be essential in thefuture.

These beneficiaries wereexcited and privileged to beamong the 93 kids whograduated from the 2015summer classes. During theperiod of the training, theywere exposed to real lifepracticals and allowed todevelop personal websitesand design their own gamesin addition to teaching themthe place of coding in the fast

By Amaka Abayomi

Information andComputer SciencesDept. “We hope thatthis upcomingmission will build onour currentunderstanding of thesocial andpsychological factorsinvolved in longduration spaceexploration and giveNASA solid data onhow best to select andsupport a flight crewthat will workcohesively as a teamwhile in space,” headded.

Feeding:"Althoughthe volunteers eachhave a tiny room withenough space for a

desk and a sleeping cot, theyneed to wear a spacesuit everytime they go outside. They do notalso have access to comfort foodand have to bear consumingfoods that are no longer freshsuch as powdered cheese andtuna, the report said.

The experiment is deemedimportant as NASA wants toknow what conflicts can emergewhen people live together withvery limited privacy in such a

very small space. The Universityof Hawai'i said that theexperiment focuses on thecohesion and performance of thecrew, which could help identifythe best way to travel to and fromMars.

Previous experiments: It isn’t thefirst time that this experiment wasconducted. Two teams havealready been sent to live in thedome. The first team stayed forfour months and the other teamstayed for eight months. The

latest mission would be thelongest.

“We hope that thisupcoming mission willbuild on our currentunderstanding of the socialand psychological factorsinvolved in long durationspace exploration,” saidBinsted.

Human nature:R e s e a r c h e r sacknowledged that inter-personal conflicts areexpected to happen in suchlong-term missions evenwith the best people.

"The eight-monthmission was marked withinter-personal issues albeitthe members managed tosolve them and made surethat the mission would

push through as planned," saidthe report.

One of the volunteers, SheynaGifford, described the experimenton her blog, LivefromMars.life as"six people who want to changethe world by making it possiblefor people to leave it at will."

The location was chosenbecause the only scenery aroundthe dome is reddish volcanic rock,which creates the impression ofbeing on the Red Planet.

growing digital age.Happy to be part of this

initiative, Konga’s MarketingAssociate, Nneka Obiano, atthe

graduation and presentationof certificates to thegraduands, said Konga washappy to invest in the futureof these young ones eager tolearn how to use technologyto solve problems in the nearfuture.

She said “As a tech-basedcompany empowering thenext generation of tech mindsout of Nigeria, this initiativenaturally aligns with ourfocus. We are particularlypleased to have been part ofempowering these motherlesschildren to acquire the webskills like their peers in thesociety.

“We believe that the countryhas many children with thepotentials of being among thebest in the world in the areaof information technology ifgiven the right exposure andencouragement, and webelieve that these childrencould be part of this number.”

Appreciating Konga for itsfinancial commitment, AudaxSolutions’ Business Director,Emeka Onyenwe, noted thatAudax Code School came tobe as a result of thechallenges facing websolutions companies sourcingpersonnel in Nigeria.

He added that the schoolaims at training children inweb programming so thatbefore they get to adulthood,they would have honed theseskills to a satisfactory level.

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30—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

By Samuel Oyadongha &Emem Idio

COMMERCIAL andgovernmental activities

were on Tuesday brought to astand still as Bayelsansbesieged the Samson SiasiaStadium to witness the formaldeclaration of Governor SeriakeDickson to run for second termin the forthcominggovernorship election on theplatform of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP.

The occasion attractedprominent Bayelsa elders andtop PDP members led bychairman of the PDP GovernorsForum, Olusegun Mimiko ofOndo State; Nyesom Wike ofRivers State; Deputy Governorof Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro;Abia, Chris Akomas; Ebonyi,Kelechi Igwe and Kogi, YomiAwoniyi among others.

The former President, Dr.Goodluck Jonathan, wasaccompanied by his wife, DamePatience Jonathan, whoreceived a thunderousapplause when her name wasmentioned.

Jonathan said though hisdecision to endorse the secondterm bid of Governor Dicksonhas attracted some reactionsthrough bulk SMS incirculation, the action wasbased on the conviction that the

SECOND TERM:

incumbent has performed in theareas of prompt payment ofworkers’ salaries, propermanagement of state resourceswithout recourse to borrowing,improved infrastructuraldevelopment and roadconstruction.

He said: “I have stayed ingovernment for 16 years. Istayed with Chief DSPAlamieyeseigha for six yearsand stayed in the Presidencyfor another six years. And inall those years, I think I knowmuch about what some stategovernors have done.

Declaring forsecond term

“I may not know all that stategovernors do. And I also maynot known all they don’t do.And I know what pained thepeople too. When he told methat he wants to declare forsecond term, I said he shoulddo it. As I said, he should do itsome people were asking mequestions through bulk SMS.

“But I want to tell him that Iwould also be here when he ispresented with the flag of theparty. One of the thingsworrying the FederalGovernment is the issue ofworkers money in the states.Dickson has done well in thataspect. Also, another issue is

that of borrowing. Dickson hasdone well. On infrastructureand development, Dickson hastried.”

In his goodwill message,Olusegun Mimiko said thedecision to call for Dickson's re-election was based onnoticeable development trendin the state, adding, ''when youhave a governor that has liftedhis people, there is need forhim to return. Some people are

Abuja based giants andnewspaper giants in terms ofpolitics. Dickson is a man ofaccomplishment.”

He added that a meeting ofthe PDP Governors Forum,held on Monday night, alsodwelled on the rising anddangerous incursions made bythe All Progressive Congress(APC) led administration intothe PDP controlled states of theSouth-South.

“The South-South people cannot allow the APC to trampleon the states. More than 50 percent of the governors in theAPC are products of the PDP.For us in the PDP, there is noshaking. We know that the truthwill come out one day,” hedeclared.

Also speaking, the pioneerexecutive governor of the state,Chief DiepreyeAlamieyeseigha described thegathering of PDP stalwarts atthe event as an indication ofvictory for the party comeDecember 5.

The event, according to him,is nothing but a pre-electoralvictory celebration for the party.

In his declaration, GovernorSeriake Dickson said thedecision to run for second termwas a call for his team ofadministrators to re-dedicatethemselves to the stability anddevelopment of the state.

•Nigeria’s immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (2nd R), Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson (2nd L), PDP BoT member, SenatorStella Omu (L), and a former Speaker, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Boyelayefa Debekeme (R), acknowledging cheers from a mammoth crowd,shortly after the former President officially endorsed the governor for second term, at Otuoke.

According to him, “somepeople came here sometimeago to say the PDP is finishedin Bayelsa, the gathering heretoday is that the PDP is incharge of the state.

Politicaloffices

“Of all the political offices inthe state, the opposition partyhas only one at the stateAssembly.

“Out of all the 105 councillors,they have none. From 1999 tilldate, we have had fourgovernors and three are still inPDP. “Only one went astray. Itshows that this is anunshakeable party. Bayelsa hasno room for any other party.The other party has no messagefor us.

“It is not because they havefederal might behind them butbecause we have you, thepeople of the state.

“The good news is that theyare not on ground in the stateand they are not our match. Thegood news is that unknown tothem, they are another arm ofthe PDP. After their primaries,we will appoint for theminterim party executivecommittee and we will shutthem down gradually.”

One of the thingsworrying theFederalGovernment is theissues of workersmoney in the states.Dickson has donewell in that aspect

And Jonathan steps out for Dickson

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VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—31

2015: KOGI DECIDES

THE Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, Kogi State

has denied the allegation thatit was behind the recentprotest at the APC NationalSecretariat in Abuja by someangry youth over thecandidature of PrinceAbubakar Audu as the APCcandidate for the November21 governorship election.

Kogi PDP chairman, Engr.Sam Uhuotu, described theallegation made to that effectby one, Abdulkadiri Ahmedas mischievous and acalculated attempt to smearthe integrity of his party(PDP).

The chairman, who spokethrough the party PublicitySecretary, Hon. BodeOgunmola said APC hasformed the attitude of alwayspinning their problems onothers, “The APC has formedthe attitude of always lookingfor scapegoat even when it isresponsible for its ownproblems. We advised that theAPC come to terms with thereality that it has made anunpopular choice which ispresently threatening to tearthe party into shreds.

“The APC allegation is theranting of a drowning party.We advised them (APC) to

We're not behind yourtravails, PDP replies APC

By Kingsley Fanwo

•Wada: Incumbent governor

GOVERNOR Idris Wadahas begged delegates to

vote for him in the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,primary election.

Wada who made this knownthrough a message he sentyesterday to party memberssaid the PDP ticket will enablehim to contest for second term;which, if he wins will enablehim to consolidate andcomplete all his ongoingprojects.

The message read: “Dear

THE Governor of KogiState, Capt. Idris Wada,

has declared his readiness forthe November 21 governorship poll, if giventhe nod by the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP) to flyits flag, saying he is battleready to defeat any opponent.

Wada, who is vying for asecond term, disclosed thisduring an interactive sessionwith journalists in Abuja.

According to the governor,he has prudently managedthe resources of the state inthe face of dwindling revenuefrom the federation account tothe state for policies andprojects with direct bearing onthe people.

Wada said the people of thestate will assess him based onthe available resources at hisdisposal to provide service tothe people, saying that heoffered himself to the serviceof the people to make lifemeaningful for them.

His words: “This is the onlyreason I am here. For me,

By Boluwaji Obahopo

channel their energy towinning the confidence of theelectorate, who, have sincelost every modicum of respectfor them for wanting to foist aman they have rejected fourtimes in the past.

“It was not the PDP thatasked the APC to field acandidate that is standingtrial with the anti-graft agencyover allegation bordering onfraud. Failure at the November 21governorshippoll stares the APC on theface because of the choice ithas made”.

leadership is about service tothe people. Once you areselfless, the people will bewith you.”

When asked if he is scaredabout facing a formergovernor in the November21 governorship poll, Wadasaid he is prepared for anyopponent in the election.

“I am certainly not scared ofanybody. We have done itbefore during the lastgovernorship election. Wemust remember that powercomes from God and he givesit to whom he pleases”.

A SOCIO-POLITICALgroup, Smart Adeyemi

Forum has absolved theformer Senator of plottingagainst the interest of theparty.

Speaking to pressmen inLokoja, the spokesman of thegroup, Suleiman Ibrahim saidSen. Adeyemi remainscommitted to the victory of theparty in the November 21governorship election.

According to him, thosepeddling the rumour thatAdeyemi is working against

By Boluwaji Obahopo

••Why I need second term— Wada

THE PDP yesterdayannounced the

postponement of Kogi State

esteemed members of ourgreat party, PDP, you havesupported me through thickand thin. Together, we haverecorded progress in peace,health care, roads, watersupply, education, agricultureand youth development,among others.

“There are many projectsthat are yet to be completed.There are new ones to bedone. I need a second term tofinish what I have started andto do new ones. Please votefor me at our primary electionon September 14, 2015. Godbless you.”

Group absolves Adeyemi of working against PDP

By Kingsley Fanwo

PDP TICKET: I'm not scared of anyopponent — WADA

•Audu: APC gov candidate

PDP postpones primary to Sept 14

By Henry Umoru &Kingsley Fanwo

governorship primaryelection by four days.

The party in a statementissued by its NationalPublicity Secretary, ChiefOlisa Metuh, atttibuted thepostponement to logisticsconstraints, saying theprimary earlier slated fortoday will now hold onSeptember, 14.

Metuh said: “Thepostponement is with regardto some logistic issuespertaining to the exercise.

“The NWC reassuresmembers of the party andother critical stakeholders,particularly the gubernatorialaspirants, of a transparent,credible, free and fair primaryelection.

“The NWC has approved anew date of Monday,September 14, 2015 for theprimary election and directsall members to be guided bythis.”

Before the postponement,delegates from across the

•Secondus: PDP actingchairman

the PDP are mischievous andignorant.

“Our leader, Sen. Adeyemiis currently at the tribunal toretrieve his mandate and sofar, we give glory to God thatthe case is going on well. Ifthe tribunal orders a rerun,Sen. Adeyemi will definitelyhave to work with the party tosecure victory.

“Whatever speculationspeople might be peddlingnow is dependent on anumber of political variablesand dynamics. As a leader inthe party, the former Senatorwill always put the interest of

the party first.“In the past few weeks, we

have heard a lot ofspeculations. But I want toassure all that Adeyemi is notfighting anyone and at theend of the day, the party’sposition will be the supremedecision.”

•Adeyemi

state had started arrivingLokoja for theprimary.Indications to thepossible postponement earlieremerged when the StatePublicity Secretary of theparty, Prince Bode Ogunmolacancelled a press conferenceby the State Chairman, Mr.Sam Uhuotu.

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CMYK

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34—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

PEOPLE SPEAK By Bartholomew Madukwe(08102479985)

[email protected]

Buhari should begin hisprobe from the time of

Obasanjo’s first coming, upto General Abacha days,Gen. Gowon and Abdusal-ami administrations. Heshould particularly probethe PTF N26 billion overpayment scandal, then wewill know he is serious withthe fight. Mr. Femi Fos, DJ

Thorough battle withcorrupt public officials

meets the yearning of allpatriotic Nigerians. Thor-ough, means subjecting todue process, not arbitraryprocess. It must sweepthrough the period of mili-tary dictatorship cum occu-pation of Nigeria. -Mr.Adesoji Shiyanbola, Busi-nessman

Will the Buhari weknow succeed in

this corruption battle? TheBuhari Nigerians know issly, vindictive, sectarian andtoo much of an ethno-religious jingoist. If PDPpeople will be there APCpeople too should beprobed. -Mr. PappAlumona, Lawyer

Many have comeout with the

weird proposal that thereshould not be probes, butchange, and have notgiven how change willoccur without containingor curbing or eliminatingthis monster calledcorruption. -Mr. TankoKokwain, Civil Servant

Buhari’s governmentwould be of no

significance, if corruption isnot fought, if Jonathan’sgovernment was notprobed severely. Themasses that voted for“change” and the “change”to us from our view is forsome loot to be recovered.-Mr. Demmy Akintunde,Worker

The only way PMB willprove that his hands

are clean and makeNigerians happy is not justto fight corruption, but toprobe one or two publicly,including stripping them ofall their loot. Even if hewants to rule till death,Nigerians will grant him. -Mrs. Morayo Simeon,Worker

NASS PROTEST: We stand by Ajaero NLCfaction —NUPENG

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

LAGOS—NIGERIA Unionof Petroleum and Natural

Gas Workers, NUPENG,yesterday, in Lagos, said itsmembers fully stood by thedecision of the leadership of theJoe Ajaero-led faction of NigeriaLabour Congress, NLC, not toparticipate in today’s anti-corruption protest beingorganised by the NationalAssembly in collaboration withAyuba Wabba faction of NLC.

In a statement by itsPresident, Mr. Igwe Achese,NUPENG said NLC should bemore concerned with thepayment of backlog of unpaidsalaries and allowances toworkers, lamenting that publicsector pensioners had also notbeen paid their arrears.

It would be recalled that theAjaero faction had over a weekago declared that “to collaboratewith the National Assembly toprotest against corruption whenthey have not allowed theirsalaries to fall in line with theminimum wage, is wrong. If wedo that, that is hypocrisy at itshighest level.

"We are saying this withoutmincing words. The two NLCfactions can still meet and agreeon a date to protest in support

of the anti-corruption fight byPresident Muhammadu Buhari,but not to be hypocritical aboutit.

"Before we do that, we mustcleanse our house; we mustmake sure that the allegationsover the Kriston-Lally Housingissue, over the Labour CityTransport, and NLC electionrigging and all others that havebeen destroying labour arecleared.

“Part of the issues thatComrade Oshiomhole andothers looked into and which weall agreed to, was that we mustgo through the ethics of themovement, the rule of law andprocedures in handling issues.

"If we have not gone into all

these ones and we want toplay to the gallery that we areprotesting in support of anti-graft efforts, we think the publicwill mock us and that is not thekind of NLC some of us wantto see.

"The issue is that the otherparty (Wabba faction) did notconsult with us. They weresupposed to consult before weeven take certain decisions inthe spirit of reconciliation.

"No party was supposed to fixa date to take an action withoutthe two factions rubbing minds.But if one party goes out andtakes a decision, it may be agood decision, but that may notbe in line with the ideals of theother faction.”

Account for LG funds, Awka bridge contract,others, PDP tells Obiano

By Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA—THE AnambraState branch of the

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,yesterday, called on GovernorWillie Obiano to make public thestatement of account showingincome and expenditure of the21 local government areas of the

state since the inception of hisadministration.

The state chairman of the party,Prince Kenneth Emeakayi, in afour-point demand also urgedthe governor to declare publiclythe total contract sum of the on-going three overhead bridgeprojects in Awka, as well as tellthe people of the state how theruling All Progressives Grand

Alliance, APGA, acquired thevast land where it is buildingits secretariat in the statecapital.

Similarly, it requested thegovernor to, without delay,direct the Anambra StateIndependent ElectoralCommission, ANSIEC, toconduct the inconclusiveelection of chairman for Ihiala

local government area andchairman and councilors for NnewiNorth Local Government Area, incompliance with various courtdecisions on the matter.

According to Emeakayi, thegovernor ’s response to thedemands would restore theconfidence of Ndi Anambra in hisadministration, adding that itwould also show the people thathe is ready to subject himself toaccountability as enshrined in the1999 Constitution and the Freedomof Information Act.

He alleged that following hisletter to the governor on the issueslast month, there were threats bysome members of APGA, notingthat PDP’s aim was to ensure thatAnambra State was moving on theright track.

He said: “While we have chosento remain focused and to engageonly on issue-driven andconstructive opposition, we wish toassure the governor that no amountof threat, harassment, intimidation,personality attacks and name-calling by over-zealous andignorant APGA officials and stategovernment agents can distractand deter us from exercising ourfundamental rights as guaranteedby the 1999 Constitution of theFederal Republic of Nigeria.”

Arrears of salaries to be paid this week—Okorocha

By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—THE Imo StateGovernor, Chief Rochas

Okorocha, has promised to clearthe salary arrears owed civilservants and members of theCommunity GovernmentCouncils, CGC, before the endof this week.

Okorocha, who made thepromise while addressingmembers of the CGC in Owerri,

however, disclosed thatpensioners whose take homepay is more than N50,000, willbe paid much later.

“All pensioners with amonthly take home of less thanN50,000 will receive the arrearsthis week, while those whosepensions are more thanN50,000 will be paid later”,Okorocha said.

Although the Governor didnot explain the rationale for the

dichotomy in the payments, he,however, assured the citizenry thathis administration would not scrapthe CGC

He restated his belief that theCGC system, which he establishedin the state, “is the best system ofgovernment in Africa”.

It was the considered opinion ofOkorocha that the CGC practicallydemonstrates the principle ofdemocracy.

MASSOBcharges Igboon favoursfrom Buhari

By VincentUjumadu

A W K A — T H Esplinter group of

the Movement for theActualization of theSovereign State of Biafra,MASSOB, has told thevarious Igbo groups inthe country to stopdemanding politicalfavours from PresidentMuhammadu Buhari,arguing that no amountof pressure would makethe president change hismind in view of hisalleged dislike of the Igbonation.

The movement’s directorof information, Mr.Uchenna Madu listed theIgbo groups that havebeen calling for politicalrecognition and agitatingfor appointments toinclude OhanaezeNdigbo, Ohaneze YouthCouncil, political,traditional, religiousleaders, among others.

In a statement in Awka,yesterday, Madudescribed Igbo people asthe architect of theirpolitical humiliation inPresident Buhari’sadministration because ofwhat he termed “theirindividual selfishness,personal ego and lust formoney.”

The statement read inpart: “President Buhari isjust paying Ndigbo backin their own coin as theydid not vote for him or hisparty, the APC becausethe Igbo men openly andshamefully campaignedfor Goodluck Jonathanwho politically deceivedthem."

CMYK

On Buhari’s anti-corruption warOn Buhari’s anti-corruption warOn Buhari’s anti-corruption warOn Buhari’s anti-corruption warOn Buhari’s anti-corruption war

Page 35: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

SWEARING-IN: Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State (right) congratulating hisSpecial Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam after administeringoath of office to the aide at Government House, Sokoto...Tuesday

Ortom sanctions LG chairman overmissing N40m

A BUJA—NATIONALleadership of Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP yesterdayannounced the postponement of Kogi State governorship primariesby four days, saying the processwould be free, fair and transparent.

This came on a day GovernorIdris Wada of Kogi State beggeddelegates to vote for him in thegovernorship primaries, whichwould have taken place today.

The party in a statement signedby National Publicity Secretary,Chief Olisa Metuh, said theprimaries earlier scheduled tostart today would now holdSeptember on 14.

The statement read: “Thepostponement is with regard tosome logistic issues pertaining tothe exercise. The NWC reassuresmembers of the party and othercritical stakeholders, particularlythe governorship aspirants of atransparent, credible, free and fairprimary election.

“The NWC has approved a newdate, Monday, September 14, forthe primary election and directsall members to be guided by this.”

Mean while, Governor IdrisWada of Kogi State has beggeddelegates to vote for him intoday’s Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, primary election.

Wada, who made this knownthrough a message he sentyesterday to party members, saidthe PDP ticket would enable himto contest for second term which,if he won, would enable him toconsolidate and complete all hisongoing projects.

The message read: “Dear

esteemed members of our greatparty, PDP, you have supportedme through thick and thin.Together, we have recordedprogress in peace, health care,roads, water supply, education,agriculture and youthdevelopment, among others.

“There are many projects thatare yet to be completed. There arenew ones to be done. I need asecond term to finish what I havestarted and to do new ones.Please vote for me at our primaryelection on Thursday, September10, 2015 (today) God bless you.”

M A K U R D I —G O V E R N O R

Samuel Ortom of Benue State hasdirected the probe of newlyappointed Caretaker Chairman ofGwer Local Government Council,Mr. Godwin Uzuku, for thealleged misappropriation of overN40 million.

Vanguard learned that themissing money was part of theN68 million monthly allocationto the council for the paymentof local government staff

salaries and overhead.Speaking to reporters on the

issue yesterday in Makurdi,Governor Ortom said theembattled council chairman wasspecifically directed to pay theJuly salaries of workers, addingthat he defied the order.

The governor said: “He onlyutilized N28 million of the N68mallocation for the month of Julyto pay workers’ salaries becausehe fell back to a paymentvoucher of 2011, when theN18,000 minimum wage wasnot being implemented.

“When we got wind of what hedid, we asked him of the balanceof N40 million and he could notexplain the where about of themoney. I issued him a query whichhe answered.

“The matter has been referredto the Benue State House ofAssembly, though we have alsorecommended sanctions becausehe could not provide answers toquestions put before him and alsocompletely disregarded ourdirectives on the payment ofsalaries.’’

The governor, who urgedmembers of the public to blow thewhistle whenever there wassuspicion of fraud in any sector of

the state, said he would continueto run a government that wasanchored on core values oftransparency, accountability,probity and due process.

MRS Veronica TitilayoAliyu, a veteran

broadcaster with Kogi StateBroadcasting Corporation,Lokoja, has passed on.

The deceased, a devoutChristian and Gospelmusician, was also a unionistand an activist.

She attended AmuroCommunity Secondary Schooland the University of Ilorin.

Her commendation service isscheduled to hold at the lateElder J.K. Obaro’s residence,beside Diato Hotel, Lokoja,while Internment will followimmediately at AdankoloCemetery, Lokoja.

Thanksgiving service is alsoexpected to hold on the sameday at The Apostolic Church,Ajara, Lokoja.

She is survived by awidower, children andgrand children, among whois Fanwo KingsleyOlorunfemi of Vanguardnewspaper, andgrandchildren.

BAUCHI—A formercommissioner in the

immediate past Isa Yuguda’sadministration in Bauchi State,Alhaji Ahmed Barau, yesterdayexplained the circumstancesthat landed the state’s aircraft,marked 145 5N-BJM, inMorocco, saying it was ferriedto the North African country forchecks, for which $600,000 waspaid.

He said that the aircraft whichwas purchased in 2007 byformer Bauchi State Governor,Ahmed Mu’azu administrationand inherited by Yuguda andsubsequently by Abubakaradministration, was initiallyleased to Messrs IRS Airlinesand subsequently for safekeeping.

Alhaji Barau recalled that theaircraft was also leased toMessrs Hamsal Air Service ona monthly rental fee of N15million before the companywithdrew from the agreementin 2011.

He said: “The outstandingrental fee of the airline for themonths of August, Septemberand October 2011 was N45million. Bauchi Aircraft was inNovember 2011 leased toAssociated Aviation Limited on amonthly fee of N17 million.

“Hamsal ferried the aircraft toOgma facility in Portugal for 5 “A“checks in March 2012 duringwhich the aircraft also became duefor “C” checks, but the companyrequested the Bauchi Stategovernment to assumeresponsibility of maintenancein line with the provision ofthe lease agreement.''

L O K O J A — K O G IState University,

Anyigba has been ranked 12thbest of the 125 universities inNigeria.

This was contained in theAugust 2015 NationalUniversities Commission’sresult on the accreditationreport which also ranked theinstitute as the 1st best amongall existing state universitiesin Nigeria.

The Vice Chancellor of theuniversity, Professor HassanIsah, who disclosed thisyesterday at the 5th pre-convocation press conferenceactivities preluding theSeptember 19, 2015,convocation ceremony for2012, 2013 and 2014 sets, said24 of the 32 programmes runby the university had receivedfull accreditation, while eightreceived interim accreditation.

According to him, no coursewas denied by the NUC.

“The result of the NUC wasbased on the quality of thecourses being runned, thestandard of the academicworkforce and infrastructuralas well as academic facilitiesin the university,’’ he said.

By Peter Duru

Yuguda’scommissionerclears air onBauchi aircraft

By Suzan Edeh

PDP postpones Kogi gov primaries

...As Wada begs delegates for 2nd term

By Henry Umoru &Boluwaji Obahopo

Mrs Aliyu is dead

.Late Mrs. Aliyu

A B U J A —DETERMINED to

run an effective administrationthat will impact positively onthe affairs of political parties,the new leadership of InterParty Advisory Council, IPAC,has constituted the Technicaland Standing StrategyCommittees to enforce theagency’s code of conduct.

This development followed theinauguration of the new IPACleadership under the

chairmanship of Chief PeterAmeh on August 25, 2015, whenit was agreed by the generalassembly that people should beappointed into the committees.

Consequently, the NationalChairman of Labour Party, AlhajiAbdulkadir Abdulsalam hasbeen appointed as theChairman of the StandingStrategy Committee, with theNational Chairman of APGA, Dr.Victor Oye as member.

Others members of thecommittee are, Mr BenjaminEmeka Igwe of PDC, Senator

IPAC sets up conduct enforcement committees

KSU convocationholds Sept 19

By Boluwaji Obahopo

Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa of AD,Onwe S. Onwe of PDP andOluwadare Falade of MPPP,respectively.

Members of the TechnicalCommittee, headed by ChiefRalph Nwosu, the Nationalchairman of African DemocraticCongress, ADC, include, AlhajiGani Galadima, Nationalchairman of ACPN, Manga S.Asha of ACD, Rev. OlusegunPeters of DRC, Senator TundeKelani of Action Alliance, AA,Abdullahi Dan Azumi of DPP andIdris Adamu of NCP.

By Chris Ochayi

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — 35

CMYK

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36 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

MEETING: From left—Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, BarnabasBantex; Rev. Haruna Gaga, and Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi, at the Zone 3 townhall meeting in Kafanchan, Kaduna State. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi.

DEEPER LIFE CRUSADE: From left—Group Pastor, Ikeja Groupof Districts, Deeper Life Bible Church, DLBC, Pastor Steve Obidi; GeneralSuperintendent, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM, Pastor WilliamKumuyi, and Lagos State Moderator of DLBC, Pastor Joseph Fasanmi, at theflag off of Lagos City-Wide Crusade by DCLM in conjunction with ChristianAssociation of Nigeria, CAN, and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigerian, PFN,at Police College, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

ANNIVERSARY: From left— Head, Client Service, Taiwo Agboola; ChiefExecutive Officer, Steve Babaeko, both of X3M Ideas; Chief Executive Officer,Camara Studios, Yetunde Babaeko; President, ASAAN, Kelechi Nwosu, and HeadCreative, X3M Ideas, Oje Ojeaga, at the celebration of Steve Babaeko's 20thanniversary in advertising at BlackHouse Media.

HEALTH WRITERS: From left— Scientific and Regulatory AffairsManager, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, East & West Africa, Mr. Fred Chiazor;Consultant and Senior Lecturer, Department of Community Health, College ofMedicine, LUTH, Dr. Kemi Odukoya; Senior Research Fellow, Nigeria Instituteof Medical Research, NIMR, Yaba, Dr. Bartholomew Brai; Country Representative,International Confederation of Dietetic Association, Dr. Chika Ndiokwelu; HealthEditor, The Sun, Azoma Chikwe, and Director, Public Affairs & Communication,Coca-Cola Nigeria, Clem Ugorji, at the 2015 Health Writers Workshop in Lagos.

FRIESLAND: From left— Operations Director, Mr. Doyin Ashiru;Corporate Affairs Director, Mrs Ore Famorewa, and Human ResourceDirector, Mr. Tominiyi Oni, all of Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria, at thecompany's 1000 days of zero accident in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: JoeAkintola, Photo Editor.

NEW 5 ALIVE: From left— Country Commercial Director, NBC,Matthieu Segun; President/CEO, Transcorp, Emmanuel Nnorom; One-Waypack dealer, Mushin, Tosin Ojuri; Operations Marketing Manager, Coca-ColaNigeria Ltd., Peter Ekunkoya, and Stills & New Business Director, NBC,Prahlad Gangadharan, at the unveiling of the New 5 Alive Puply Orange inLagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Akeem Salau.

VISIT: From left— Mrs Rose Okobiah; Mrs Josephine Johnson; House ofRepresentatives member for Amuwo Odofin, Mr. Emma Egoh; Mrs Tare Ugulahand President, South-South Women Organization, Mrs Vickie Djevwudu, duringa courtesy call on the lawmaker in Lagos.

DONATION: From left— Secretary, Nigerian CommunicationsCommission, NCC, Mr. Felix Adeoye; Acting Rector, Rivers State Polytechnic,Nekede, Engr. D. M. Princewill; Deputy Director, Policy Competition, NCC,Dr. Henry Nkemadu, during the donation of ICT/telecommunication andengineering books to the polytechnic.

Page 37: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015—37

FORMER Enterprise Bank,now Heritage Bank, has

apologized to Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah for erroneously includinghis name, his wife’s (Zainab)and Banana Republic Ltd. in thelist of debtors published by thebank in two national dailies.

Nda-Isaiah is the Chairman ofBanana Republic Ltd.

The bank, in a letter to Nda-Isaiah, dated August 31, said:“We wish to state, regretfully,that the inclusion of BananaRepublic Limited, your nameand that of your wife on the listwas done in error.

“We hold you, your family and

Banana Republic in highesteem. Again, we regretwhatever insinuation or publicharm done to your persons.”

The apology is coming on theheels of a petition by Nda-Isaiah to Governor of CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr.Godwin Emefiele, over thedefamation of his character byEnterprise Bank Limited.

The commercial bank had onMonday, August 10, publishedBanana Republic Limitedamong its delinquent debtors.

However, Nda-Isaiah, in apetition to the CBN governor,called for an investigation into

the loan granted to him by thebank.

The petition explainedextensively how BananaRepublic Limited applied fora facility of N80 million for anew branch in Maitama andthen engaged an internationalconsultancy company tocommence feasibility study ona five-star hotel project.

He insisted that EnterpriseBank had impugned hisreputation and that of hisfamily, stressing that all hislife, he had tried to be verycareful.

He said: “I have built a

public image and a brand,which I cherish and protectjealously. I will not just sit byand watch such a brandrubbished because of theincompetence andunfathomable motives ofsome people.

“I am, therefore, suingEnterprise Bank. They aregoing to have their day incourt and I promise to givethe proceedings maximumexposure.

“I also request that youinvestigate my claims. I shallbe available for furtherdetails.”

DEBTOR LIST: Bank apologises to Nda-Isaiah POWER:Controversyreigns as BPEhands overAba, Ariariato Afrigem

CUSTOMERS in Abia, Ariaria and its

environs may be in for arough ride as far as electric-ity supply and distributionis concerned, as the Bureaufor Public Enterprises, BPE,officially hands over the dis-puted Ring Fence Zone toAfrigem Integrated UtilitiesLimited, today in Abuja. Thematter is however a subjectof litigation as Enugu Elec-tricity Distribution Com-pany, EEDC has draggedAfrigem before a FederalHigh Court, Abuja claimingN10 billion for alleged in-ducement of breach of con-tract.

The Ring Fence Zone in-cludes the Aba area,Owerrinta, Osisi Oma, OgborHill, Factory Road, and PortHarcourt Road in Aba, AbiaState, which according tothe BPE has been under “asubsisting Lease Agree-ment” since April 29, 2005.

Consumers in the zonehave been plunged into con-stant darkness for the pasttwo years, since the end ofthe power privatisationprogramme, when the EnuguElectricity Distribution Com-pany, EEDC, was sold to pri-vate investors, InterstateElectricity.

In this regard, a formerMinister of Power, Prof.Barth Nnaji, blamed the lin-gering controversies on theFederal Government/BPE,who sold the EEDC with theRing Fence Zone, which al-ready had a lease agreement.

However, amid the contro-versies which bother ontechnical issues on distribu-tion, commerciality and costof power to consumers in thezone, the BPE in a letterdated August 24, 2015 in-sists on the official handoverof the ring fence.

N100bn investmentsThe development comes

as industry regulator, theNigerian Electricity Regula-tory Commission, NERC,disowns investments worthabout $500 million or overN100 billion claimed to havebeen made by the promot-ers of the ring fence, as thecosts have not yet been veri-fied by it.

According to the NERCChairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, ina telephone interview withVanguard, “We don’t knowhow much of the budget($500 million) is prudent.

“We need to verify if thesecosts are prudently incurredand if they are relevant to thelease agreement, otherwisethey will be discounte-nanced.

Besides, the NERC bossreiterated that the operatorsof the Ring Fence Zone mustwork with the owners of theEEDC under agreed commer-cial terms, in which cost ofelectricity to the consumersmust not exceed what is cur-rently being charged by theEEDC.

By Clara Nwachukwu

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38—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Continues on page 40

CMYK

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria, CBN, fixingtime limits

for Resolution of Customers’Complaints is morally and legal-ly wrong, unlawful, unconstitu-tional and against the currentprevalent mood of the nation inits fight against corruption.

In the first place, CBN has nopower to make subsidiary legis-lation on this subject of banksnegligently, recklessness orfraudulently over charging itscustomers in various clever waysincluding but not limited to:•Excess interest charges;•Excess management feescharges;•Excess Team Loan Repaymentcharges;•Fees charged above Bankerstariffs;•Excess charges on restructuredteam loans;•Excess penal interest charges;•Excess COT charges.

This is because these acts ofbanks amount to civil wrongs,criminal offences and constitu-tional breaches of the rights oftheir customers.

It is a civil wrong and amountsto breach of contract if thesecharges are not in accordancewith the terms of the facilitiesgranted the customer.

Offence ofstealing

It is criminal in many ways as itamounts to an offence of stealingunder the Criminal Code CapC38 Laws of the Federation ofNigeria. Section 383 provides:

383. “(1) A person who fraudu-lently takes anything capable ofbeing being stolen, or fraudulent-ly converts to his own use or tothe use of any other person any-thing capable of being stolen, issaid to steal that thing.

(2) A person who takes or con-verts anything capable of beingstolen is deemed to do so fraudu-lently if he does so with any ofthe following intents-

1. an intent permanently todeprive the owner of the thing ofit;

(b) an intent permanently to de-prive any person who has any

By Charles Mekwunye

When any bankunlawfully debitsthe customer’s ac-counts and takesaway (money)which is a propertycapable of beingstolen with intent todeprive the custom-er of it, it is stealing

CBN can'tlegislate oncustomers'complaintstimelimit

special property in the thing ofsuch property;

(c) an intent to use the thing asa pledge or security;

(d) an intent to part with it on acondition as to its return whichthe person taking or convertingit may be unable to perform;

(e) an intent to deal with it insuch a manner that it cannot bereturned in the condition in whichit was at the time of the taking orconversion;

(f) in the case of money, an in-tent to use it at the will of the per-son who takes or converts it, al-though he may intend afterwardsto repay the amount to theowner.”

(3) The taking or conversionmay he fraudulent, although it iseffected without secrecy or at-tempt at concealment.

(4) In the case of conversion, itis immaterial whether the thingconverted is taken for the purposeof conversion, or whether it is atthe time of the conversion in thepossession of the person whoconverts it. It is also immaterialthat the person who converts the

property is the holder of a powerof attorney for the disposition ofit, or is otherwise authorised todispose of the property.”

When any bank unlawfully deb-its the customer’s accounts andtakes away (money) which is a

property capable of being stolenwith intent to deprive the custom-er of it, it is stealing.

Economicsabotage

That it is done by a bank andnot an individual makes nodifference – as a bank is in law, alegal person and the CriminalCode simply says “a person”. Itwill certainly amount to financial/economic crimes under the EFCCAct, and other Acts that EFCC isempowered to enforce, particular-ly where the customer is a Gov-ernment – Federal- State – Localor their parastatals, it couldamount to a greater offence of eco-nomic sabotage of the develop-mental efforts of the Government.

When the bank’s unlawful ac-tions are done with the conniv-ance of the government officialsof a particular time, for anypecuniary benefit of suchgovernment officials, it willamount to aiding and abetting acrime – corruption.

Therefore setting a time limit

like CBN has done is really dan-gerous and it will shelter, encour-age and protect the perpetratorsof these crimes – bankers andgovernment officials - because weall know that some elected officialshave two terms of 4 years each,that is eight years. Therefore anelected official may connive withbank officials to fleaze the gov-ernment confers with excessivecharges on facilities (shared withthe bank) in the first 2 years ofhis tenure, knowing that his im-munity will cover him during histenure and when he has left of-fice and his immunity has ex-pired, CBN’s time limit will con-tinue his protection.

It is also unconstitutional be-cause, Section 44 of the Consti-tution provides 44. “(1) No move-able property or any interest inan immovable property shall betaken possession of compulsorilyand no right over or interest inany such property shall be ac-quired compulsorily in any partof Nigeria except in the mannerand for the purposes prescribedby a law that, among other things

*CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

EDITORIALTEAM

Innocent Anaba( Head)

Wahab AbdulahIkechukwu Nnochiri

Dayo Benson(Supervising Editor)

[email protected]

Page 39: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

BY next week, a new legalyear would start. What are

your expectations?The legal industry is going

through a process ofimprovement for the better. In thespeech of the Chief Justice ofNigeria, CJN, Justice MahmudMohammed, at just concludedNBA Conference, he unfoldednew criteria for appointingjudges. The way is now open forJudges to be appointed from lawpractice to the Court of Appeal andeven the Supreme Court. This isremarkable.

Also, in the presentation ofJustice Zana of Borno State, hetalked about the implementationof electronic process for service ofcourt processes. This is also verygood and innovative. Thejudiciary is not impervious, thebar is not impervious, and itlistens to the opinion and viewsand yearning of people.

Implementationof innovations

So I am very optimistic. We willsee the implementation ofinnovations and it will affect theservice delivery and output of ournational social life. I am veryoptimistic. Law is my professionalconstituency and I believestrongly in the progress of thesector.

At the just concluded NBAconference, President Buharireportedly urged lawyers not todefend corrupt clients, thoughthe NBA President clarified theissue. What is your reaction tothis?

It is a constitutional issue.Everyone is presumed innocentuntil proven guilty by a court ofcompetent jurisdiction. Thereforefrom the perspective of theconstitution, the allegedly corruptclient is not corrupt until the courtpronounces him so.

The law affords every citizen theright to a legal representation bylawyer. It will be unconstitutionalto deny a citizen that right ofrepresentation and defense. Theallegedly corrupt person shouldhave his day in court and if foundguilty, he/she will be convicted. Iam sure PMB was quoted out ofcontext.

I am sure he was not talkingabout legal representation in thelaw courts; maybe he was talkingabout conniving with perceivedcorrupt persons to perpetrate

•Hon. Sergius Ogun

Nigeria, beingthe largest blacknation in theworld, has nobusiness import-ing commoditieslike milk...

Innovations at NBA Conference will affectservice delivery — Ogun

By BartholomewMadukwe fraud. In that case, it is a case of

being an accomplice to a crimeand that is a different ball game,for which, the police is very wellequipped to deal with.

Some experts in the Nigerianoil and gas industry havecalled on the leadership of thenew National Assembly to reviewthe Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB), what would you say aboutthat?

The Petroleum Industry Billeasily comes to mind. Stalling thisbill is costing Nigeria severalbillions of dollars. I am particularlyinterested because it affects mepersonally and challenges my vastyears of experience. The essenceof experience is to put them towork.

I intend bringing my over 25years’ experience in the Oil andGas sector to bear in thisregard. As a member of thehouse and an experiencedindustry player, Nigerians will seethe extent I will invest in thesubject. I expect difficulties in allramifications; we might have toeducate our colleagues on thedanger of not passing the bill oradvice the ministry of petroleumresources to rework the bill foreasy passage. I have alwaysknown that nothing is easy in thisworld; this knowledge guides meproperly and prepares me to braceup for any challenge.

What is your view on thefluctuation in global oil price?

It is unfortunate that Nigeriansare surprised about thefluctuations in the price of crudeoil. As a practitioner in the oil andgas sector, I understand that thisoccurs every now and then.

Foreignexchange

So the question is, “how comeNigerians were not prepared forit?” Nigeria, being the largestblack nation in the world, has nobusiness importing commoditieslike milk and other food items thathave cost the nation billions inforeign exchange. For thisreason, I am interested inagriculture.

We have arable and fertile landwithin my constituency withfavourable weather condition. Wehave supported farmerspreviously and the solemnpromise is to do more. Throughmy agents, I guided them onmodalities for applying forFADAMA loans. This was oftremendous benefit to some of thefarmers.

At the federal level, I willexplore avenues to source forgrants and intellectual support toimprove their farming activities.This can be in form ofagricultural extension support,provision of improved seedlings,simple farm implements andwhere possible, mechanizedfarming to improve productivity.

I recall a chat with a young manin my constituency last year,wherein I was informed thatbetween 2012 and 2014 over 200people died in a particular ward.He suggested that this could beas a result of elevated blood

pressure levels. It is commonknowledge that due to theagrarian nature of most of myconstituents, staple foodconsumption is common practice.Their dieting is not stringent orhealthy and unfortunately, for lackof information, they may beinadvertently consuming fooddetrimental to their health. A casein question is a diabeticconsuming starchy food, if hedoes not know of his medicalstatus; he may continue indulgingin unhealthy dieting.

Unhealthydieting

There is a plan to sensitize myconstituents through medicaloutreaches. This I have engagedin previously, I recall instancesin Ugboha in 2012 and anotherin Obedu, 2014, which was donein synergy with anotherfoundation, flyers, handbills andoral dissemination ofinformation were done. Liaisonwith political leaders on thesubject turned out to be incredibleand quite revealing.

The medical outreach whichcomprised of mobile testing unitshelped to inform people of theirmedical status and profferedinterim care. This proved a hugesuccess and one that should beconsistent.

Unemployment is having acorrosive effect on our

economy. Do you have any planfor the unemployed graduates inEdo State?

There is a concrete plan to starta dairy farm as we speak. We haveheld positive discussions withpartners in Ireland. This wasfacilitated during my visit toIreland last year where I saw alot of farms. I engaged a group toexplore areas of mutualpartnerships, this culminated ina meeting in Abuja with a positiveagreement. We intend making aformal presentation after whichwe make progress. This has apotential to employ a goodnumber of graduates and otherdownstream individuals formarketing adverts. We intend tobenefit from the ready market inNigeria.

We have several varieties ofcassava, a staple crop whichthrives well in all of ourcommunities. These days, betterimproved varieties are availablewhich can be cultivated withproper management up to threetimes in a season.

The market for cassava islimitless, and interestingly it isused for Cassava flour, andglucose syrup-a veritableingredient for confectionaryindustries like Nestle and others.The market for cassava syrup isalmost wholly international(imported). This is a useful vistafor encouraging youths andunemployed graduates to go intoserious farming.

Seriousfarming

Like I have mentioned, with thekind of support we intend toprovide, we will create a robustenvironment needed for them toexcel in Agriculture, which willfurther drive down the rate ofunemployment in theconstituency and Edo State ingeneral.Many youths, today,seem to have lost hope in thecountry.

Do you see this NationalAssembly make any meaningfulimpact in the lives of Nigeriayouths?

Teach a youth how to fish andyou have solved a long termproblem. We have industriousyouths who can benefit from skillacquisition. This is another areawhere attention is needed.

It is disheartening that due to adearth in expertise, our peoplestill go to Togo and other foreignnationals for their semi-skilledjobs. Good enough, we have anInstitute of ConstructionTechnology in Uromi, Edo State,which is in my constituency andthey advertise short termprogrammes.

Their aim is to train people ontiling and fittings, diagnosticmachines, automobile repairs,plumbing and close circuittelevision system connections. Ihave a foundationcalled Sergius Oseasochie Ogun Foundation(SOOF).

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—39

HON. Sergius Ogun is a lawyer and member of the House ofRepresentatives representing Esan North-East/South-East FederalConstituency in Edo State. He is a practitioner in the oil and gassector, including youth empowerment in his state.

In this interview, he spoke on the implementation of innovationsfrom the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference,need for government to focus on education and effects of stallingthe Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Excerpts:

CMYK

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Continues from page 38

EU-UNODC-NIALS TEU-UNODC-NIALS TEU-UNODC-NIALS TEU-UNODC-NIALS TEU-UNODC-NIALS Training Courraining Courraining Courraining Courraining Course fse fse fse fse for Pror Pror Pror Pror Prosecutosecutosecutosecutosecutorororororsssss40—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Clement Onwuen-wunor is a Senior Advo-cate of Nigeria (SAN). Inthis interview he spoke onelection petition tribunalsacross the country, needto review the Electoral Actand challenges of legalpractice in the country.

Excerpts:

WHAT is your assessment of the

on-going cases at theelection petition tribunalsacross the country?

One of the greatest ben-efits of democracy is theability to go to court to chal-lenge an election whenyou feel that you have beenrobbed of your victory. Andthe Nigerian law evenmade provisions for it inthe 1999 Constitution andspecifically in the Elector-al Act 2010, as you wouldsee that election resultswere being challengedacross the country.

This is an opportunity forthe growth of our democ-racy to be able to have un-restricted access to come tocourt to complain that thisperson has compromisedthe result of the election. Iam at present handlingabout five election mattersand already I have had twodecisions from the trial tri-bunal; one have beenruled in my favour beforethe Ondo State House ofAssembly election petitiontribunal, while the otherone is in Lagos State whichwas actually ruled againstus. We are very dissatisfiedwith that, and we cannotaccept the reason for strik-ing out our application. Wefelt the petition was wrongin law and already issues

Electoral Act needs to be amended— Onwuenwunor

By Jane Echewodo

are been put together toknow the next line of ac-tion to take before the gracefor appeal expires. We areworking on that seriouslyand by the grace of Godwe shall have a report onthat very soon.

Electionpetition

I have been privileged tobe involved in senatorialelection petition in DeltaState and that also hasgone on very well becausethe tribunal there isworking very hard. Thethree other ones we havein Lagos have been pro-gressing very well and wealmost concluded the trialin one of the petitions. Weare still at the interlocuto-ry stage in two others, andwe expect that before theend of next month weshould conclude most, ifnot all, the petitions.

What steps are you tak-ing in those election peti-tions that were ruledagainst your clients?

The law provides that ifyou are not satisfied withan election petition tribu-nal or any court, you areentitled constitutionally toproceed and appealagainst such decision andunder our law; once a de-cision is given in a tribu-nal and you are notsatisfied you can appealagainst it at the Court ofAppeal. The one we wonin Ondo State of cause,there is an appeal alreadypending before we takethat decision. And the onethat was ruled against ushere in Lagos like I saidbefore, we are putting ev-erything together to knowthe next line of action to takebefore the expiration of ourtime to appeal.

*Clement Onwuenwunor

EU-UNODC-NIALS recently held a trainingfor legal practitioners across Nigeria

( L e f t ) P r o f .A d e d e j iA d e k u n l e ,D i r e c t o r -G e n e r a l ,NIALS, and MrK e l l yCavanaugh, USS t a t eDepartment.

From left: MrAyodele Ale,UNODC, MrSunday Mbona,NDLEA Head ofLegal andP r o s e c u t i o nServices. Prof.A d e d e j iAdekunle, NIALSDirector-General,Mr KellyCavanaugh, USS t a t eDepartment, Dr.Uwem Eteng, AG.I n s t i t u t eLibrarian ofNIALS and MrJames Bathnna,I n s t i t u t eSecretary ofNIALS.

From left:Mr SundayM b o n a ,NDLEA Headof Legal andProsecutionServices andProf. AdedejiA d e k u n l e ,N I A L SD i r e c t o r -General.

(Right)M rI b u k u nA j o m oa n danotherofficial.

1. requires the promptpayment of compensationtherefore and

2. gives to any personclaiming suchcompensation a right ofaccess for the determina-tion of his interest in theproperty and the amountof compensation to a courtof law or tribunal or bodyhaving jurisdiction in thatpart of Nigeria”

(2) Nothing in subsection(1) of this section shall beconstrued as affecting anygeneral law...

(i) relating to limitation ofactions”.

Therefore no one can bedispossessed of hisproperty movable/immovable – and money isproperty – without due pro-cess. Therefore if any bank

has unlawfully debited intoa customer’s account somemillions or billions of naira,the customer has the rightto complain under Section44 of the Constitution andCBN has no right to limitwhen the complaint can bemade, inspite of theprovision of section 44(2)(i) of the Constitution, asCBN is not the National /State Assembly.

The CBN is also acreation of statute, the CBNAct. It can only exercisepowers granted to it underthat Act and under theBanks and Other FinancialInstitutions Act. These stat-utes give CBN limitedpowers to issue subsidiarylegislations to regulatebanks. This right does notinclude right to limit therights of Companies and

individuals who are cus-tomers of banks. Theirrights are more thanbanking rights. Some ofthese rights are constitu-tional, some are civil likecontract or torts.

It is trite that any subsid-iary legislations that isoutside, beyond or ultravires the CBN is null andvoid and of no effect what-soever, which is the fate ofthis latest CBN regulationon time limits. There areseveral decisions of theappellate courts on this po-sition. It suffices to refer toone of the latest NNPC v.FAMFA OIL LIMITED(2012) LPELR -7812(SC)where the Apex court held

“It is the principal lawthat provides subsidiarylegislation the source of itsexistence.

CBN can't legislate on customers' complaints time limit

To be concluded

CMYK

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Vanguard,THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—41

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42 — Vanguard,42 — Vanguard,42 — Vanguard,42 — Vanguard,42 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

ABOUT a year ago,Nigeria’s Gross Domestic

Product, GDP, after rebasing ofthe economy was put at $510 bil-lion, thus making Nigeria thelargest economy in Africa and26th in the world. Ordinarily,this should be cheering newsto the working masses of thecountry and a great boost to theeconomic profile of our country.But our social realities have notbenefited from documented eco-nomic improvements.

In a manner characteristic ofthe immediate past administra-tion, Dr. Ngozi Okojo-Iweala,the controversial former Minis-ter of Finance and Coordinat-ing Minister for the Economyhad boasted that Nigeria's econ-omy had recorded tremendousimprovement and that morethan 1.5 million jobs had beencreated.

But, in reality, the conditionsof the Nigerian working peoplehad become more miserable.More than two million workershave lost their jobs largely dueto either retrenchment or clo-sure of factories in the same pe-riod. The challenges of risinginflation and naira devaluationhave further pauperized theNigerian workers as real wag-es keep falling notwithstandingthe nominal increases in sala-ry.

Statisticalfundamentals

In terms of the statistical fun-damentals, the Nigerian econ-omy is growing but the growthis not impacting on the wellbeing of the people. As theeconomy grows, so is the gapbetween the rich and the poor.Unemployment and poverty in-dices at 23.9 per cent and 70per cent respectively confirm ourretrogressive reality.

This disconnect between eco-nomic growth and people's wellbeing is creating a state ofanomie in many parts of thecountry and no genuine foreigninvestor would invest in a coun-try where security of lives andproperties are lacking.

Government must create thenecessary macro-economic en-vironment for investment in val-ue added manufacturing tothrive. It is only through indus-trialization that we can addressthe challenges of unemploy-ment and poverty.

Industrial development willnot happen by accident, the gov-ernment must address the pow-er supply, stabilize the naira ex-

change rates and addressquickly infrastructure deficit.

Notwithstanding the hugedollar revenue from crude oilsales, basic infrastructure likeelectricity, roads, security, rail-ways, water supply among oth-ers remain in a poor state. Econ-omy which according to themis improving is not propelledby value added activities. Wecannot continue to run voodooeconomy, an economy that doesnot benefit the mass of our peo-ple.

The serial attacks on the wel-fare of the poor and the work-ing class is increasing in thisera of neo-liberal economic pol-icy and there is nothing to sug-gest that the present adminis-tration will embrace a new eco-nomic paradigm.

Economicparadigm

The Social Welfare Bill whichis to cater for the up keep of theaged, unemployed and theyouths suffered another majorsetback before the National As-sembly on, September 29, 2014.This is not the first time the Billwill experience setback from theNational Assembly as it equal-ly experienced same in 2012.We are waiting to see how thisadministration will address itselectoral campaign promise ofwelfare for the aged.

The Nigeria Labour movementmust unite and rise up to chal-lenge the destructive wave ofneo-liberalism and exploitation

of the working class. Neo-lib-eralism thrives on experimen-tal policies with destructive im-pact on the economic and so-cial fabric of many third worldcountries. Policies such as de-regulation, privatization, com-mercialization, civil service re-forms etc. are forced on devel-oping economies by the richnations through IMF and WorldBank to consolidate their stronghold on the world economy tofurther enrich their self – serv-ing interests and improve on theprofit margin of trans-nationalcorporations. We are in an erawhere big businesses are rich-

er than many nations of theworld.

The overwhelming control ofthe world economy by the im-perialist is becoming difficult tosustain as a result of the severepoverty inflicted on the work-ing class. For instance, morethan 70 percent of Nigerians areliving below $2 per day. Thissimply means workers and thepoor lack the purchasing pow-er to make meaningful impactin a market driven economy.When workers lack the real pur-chasing power, goods and serv-ices suffer low patronage.

Purchasingpower

In advanced economies,workers are pushed to borrowand when they reach a pointthat they are not able to repaythe loan, that leads to the worldeconomic crisis.

This global economic crisiscreated by the capitalist classwhich the class itself is tryingto avoid led to all sorts of re-forms and rationalization beingput in place by the class to fightback in order to continue theprofit making trend. The goalof capital is profit and not peo-ple's welfare.

The Nigeria local capitalists inthe last sixteen years of the na-tion’s democratic dispensationhave contributed to the poorstate of the economy. In fact,virtually every sector has beenparalyzed, there is high rate ofunemployment, health delivery

system is in comatose, insecu-rity of lives and properties dom-inate national discourse, edu-cation is in shambles, infra-structure are in decay. Our woesand agonies are endless. We arefaced with tragedy of misgov-ernment, mismanagement andclueless government.

The Labour movement mustbrace up to develop an agendafor engagement with the newGovernment. It should be clearthat as the Afro beat singer Felaanikulapo Kuti would say, noone will dash the people theirhuman right, it has to be foughtfor and earned.

We must recognize that noth-ing has significantly changedand nothing will change exceptthat that we clamour and fightfor. PDP under PresidentJonathan and the new Govern-ment of APC under PresidentBuhari are of one side of thesame coin (Capitalist class).

The Labour movement mustagitate for decent work withdecent pay while unfair labourpractices such as casualization,out sourcing child labour e t c,must be eradicated.

Beyond this, Labour move-ment must be ready to contendwith impending massive jobloss as a result of factory clo-sure, privatization of public en-terprise, decline in socialsecurity\infrastructural devel-opment, low wage, retrench-ment and other anti-poor agen-da in a neo liberal economy.

Neo-liberaleconomy

Organised Labour must em-bark on massive training to ed-ucate members at all levelsthrough programmes to raiseclass and trade union con-sciousness, stand firm for thedefense of workers’ rights, runopen, transparent and account-able administration, fight for theprotection of the sanctity of col-lective bargaining agreements,participate in the process ofenacting laws that will protector promote workers’ rights andalso be acquitted with the in-dustrial relations issues.

Finally, Labour must drawagenda for the new governmenton the road map to industrial-ize the country which will notonly boost the economy but willequally guarantee job opportu-nity for thousands of youthsseeking employment.

The Labour movement shouldknow that the working massescannot continue wallowing inabject poverty in the midst ofplenty. We need change tomove the nation forward, but thechange we need is not just re-gime change or party changebut system change.

•Comrade Olusesan, is theVice Chairman Nigeria LabourCongress, Lagos State Chap-ter

The serial attackson the welfare ofthe poor and theworking class isincreasing in thisera of neo-liberaleconomic policiesand there is noth-ing to suggest thatthe present admin-istration will em-brace a new eco-nomic paradigm

Labour movement, Nigeria’s economyand the promise of change

By Rufus Olusesan

Ayuba Wabba Joe Ajaero

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Vanguard,THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015—43

NATIONAL Unionof Electricity

Employees, NUEE, hasalleged that almost50,000 disengageddefunct Power HoldingCompany of Nigeria,PHCN, workers have notbeen paid their benefits.

The union claimed theunpaid benefits arosefrom one and half yearsof uncalculatedemoluments to othersundry issues.

NUEE in a statementby its General Secretary,Mr. Joe Ajaero inresponse to the ongoingSenate probe of thePower Sector, said “wewonder if this probe willbe fruitful as expected.From the revelations sofar, we also believe thatthe respondents havebeen economical with thefacts. It is noteworthy thatalmost the 50,000disengaged defunctPower Company ofNigeria, PHCN, staff

FG owes 50,000 disengaged PHCNworkers—Union

Ex-SMIT workers seek FMLP intervention overunpaid benefits

Stories by VictorAhiuma-Young have not been paid their

benefits arising from oneand half years ofu n c a l c u l a t e demoluments to othersundry issues. The 10%equity share holding ina privatized PHCN dueto workers as containedin Electric Sector PowerReform Act, EPSRA, 2005is yet to be allotted tostaff.

Point ofintention

“The wholeprivatization process wascharacterized by fraudand indecent activities. Itis equally imperative tofind out that the processbehind the sale of PHCN,because some of thereasons they gave at thepoint of intention toprivatize were to attractForeign DirectInvestment, FDI, whichhave been grosslymissing at the end of thetransactions.

Government did not

sell off everything andfrom availabledocuments, theGovernment stillmaintains about 40% ofshares of the privatizedPower Sector while theInvestors control about60%. However, theGovernment has evenunofficially relinquishedeverything to theInvestors.”

NUEE added that it felt“perturbed about theefficacy, fruitfulness andpotency of this probepanel, given the historyand how such probeshave always ended. Werecall, the House ofRepresentative took upthe probe of the samePower Sector. TheCommittee headed byHon. Ndudi Elumelu didand submitted theirReports but nothingcame out of it. It is ourprayer that this SenateProbe of the Power SectorReforms will not beanother wishfulexercise.”

TWO formeremployees of

SMIT (Nig) Limited,Ogbeide Pius andAmoma joseph, havepetitioned the PermanentSecretary, FederalMinistry of Labour andProductivity, FMLP, Dr.Clement Illoh, seekingthe Ministry ’sintervention over unpaidbenefits since six yearsago.

In the petition routedthrough the Lagos officeof FMLP dated August24, 2015 and wasreceived on August 25,2015, the petitioners said“The company iscontracted to Nigerialiquefied Natural Gas,NLNG, in bonny for itsvessels to berth and castoff loaded NLNG shipsfrom their jetty.

It also operates withChevron NigeriaLimited, CNL. We werelegitimately employed bythe company. Our lastsalary payment was inFebruary, 2008 whichwas paid on March 30,2009.

“Ogbeide Pius wasemployed on 25/08/2005and Amoma Joseph on12/07/1999. Sometimeago, some of the

employees were paid offbut we were retainedunder the pretext thatwhen their new vesselsarrive for operations, wewould continue with ourservice. But we havebeen denied thatcontinuation of theservice. After severalunanswered phone callsand un-replied letters,

we have no otheralternative than to writethis petition to you forhelp. We are requestingthat you use your officeto ensure that ouraccumulated salaries andentitlements are paid infull to us. Also without apay off letter, we cannotbe paid our NigeriaSocial Insurance TrustFund, NSITF monthlydeductions from oursalaries.”

Fullentitlements

The petitioners addedthat “We have waitedpatiently to be paid off bythe management ofSMIT Nigeria Limited,but nothing of such hastaken place. We will begrateful if you use yourgood office to ensure thatwe are paid our fullentitlements toameliorate the untoldhardship that we havebeen going through.”

Attempts to speak withmanagement of SMITproved abortive.

Text message to theExecutive Director'sGSM phone, afterseveral unansweredcalls, was not replied toat the time of this report.

The company iscontracted toNigeria liquefiedNatural Gas,NLNG, in bonnyfor its vessels toberth and castoff loadedNLNG shipsfrom their jetty

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44 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

ONE of the major problemsfacing the promotion of cul-

ture is bad economy and thequest for riches which has forcedmany parents to abandon theirtraditional role of bringing up thechildren, leaving them in thehands of teachers in the schools.But the presentation last weekby the participants of the 6th edi-tion of the Children/teens Crea-tive Session workshop organisedby the National Troupe of Ni-geria, a culture parastatal sad-dled with the mandate to pack-age, sustain, promote and handit over to the younger ones forsustenance was a clear messagethat all is not lost. The childrenfrom ages five to 18 who under-went two months of rigoroustraining in music, drama anddance, came out with a boldstatement that the culture will notdie.

It was indeed an evening ofreal entertainment, educationand fun as the National Troupeof Nigeria (NTN), organisers ofthe programme hosted parents,guests to series of dance, musicand the command performanceof a play to draw the curtains onthis year’s edition of childrenand teens’ creative station work-shop.

The cinema hall 2, venue of theevent which wore a glamourouslook courtesy of one of the spon-sors, telecommunications giantMTN came alive with severalsuperlative displays of what theyhave learnt with colourful cos-tumes that attracted intermitentapplauses from the audience .

Intermittentapplauses

It started with a welcome songby the children glad with theirMTN yellow colour who dem-onstrated their singing ability,and their a young rapper whotook everybody by surprise wasdiscovered. After that, the chil-dren through dance, took an ex-cursion into all the tribes of Ni-geria, the Nigerdelta Ijaw dance,Acrobatic dance of the east(Ngbokiti), Egwuomumu, Fulanidance and the body twistingdance of the west where theydeomonstrated what they learntwith local instruments, drums,bata etc.. Thereafter, the childrenalso brought the other side oftheir voice when they performedsome songs to the delight of theaudience.

Chief of the performances wasthe staging of the playAkrifa(Amazons Empire), writ-ten by Mike Anyanwu.

The play is said to be set in 1807,weeks after the abolition of slav-ery act in Great Britain, as it re-volves around a slavery expedi-tion by a band of British slavemerchants who attacked the peo-ple of Akrifa at the height of theirannual thanksgiving festival withother events following.

Meanwhile, the thematic thrustof the play includes slavery, hu-man trafficking leadership crisis,gender empowerment and reviv-ing the agricultural potentials ofthe African continent. And aswould be expected, the play alsobrought to the fore the variousaspects of slavery to the knowl-edge of the children.

The creative station workshopwhich held for five weeks, July27 to August 30 and broughtabout 140 participants, accordingto the initiator and director incharge of drama to the NTN,Josephine Igberaese, is aimed atbringing children and teenagerstogether to learn in a fun wayduring the holiday. As they weretrained on singing, contempo-rary and traditional dance, act-ing, creative writing, debate etc.

Creativewriting

The special command perform-ance is a product of the onemonth intensive training work-shop. The children’s creative sta-tion project is to encourage andnurture talents in young childrenor youths who otherwise may nothave an avenue to develop theirtalents outside the walls of a for-mal school.

Speaking about the perform-ance of the children, art collec-tor/promoter, Engr Prince YemisiShyllon who was the chairmanof the day commended the chil-dren and the organisers of theprogramme. "Nigeria is a greatcountry with a lot of resourcesand potentials taht are yet un-tapped. We have a lot to offer tothe world, we need to develop it

to encourage those coming be-hind us. The advanced countriesare well developed technically,the only area we can beat themis through art. Tourism providesgreat opportunity for our coun-try. So we must do anythingwithin our resources to developthe young ones."

For an elated Akin Adejuwon,artistic director of the Nationaltroupe, who was very glad theprogramme is getting the de-sired attention said I am happyto present the children after thetwo months workshop. He how-ever stated that despite the prob-lem of funding, they were ableto hold the sixth edition.Though, there was an improve-ment in this year's programmingas it received support from par-ents, guardians and some cor-

porate organisations.On her part,Mrs Kehinde

Kamson, Managing Director ofSweet Sensation, one of thesponsors who was thrilled withthe performances described thethem as great children and ahope for Nigeria said, "when Isaw these children, I feel likegoing back to the labour room,but you don't have to go into thelabour room, but you pick a childand bring them up. I am happythat Nigeria children can stilldemonstrate such at a tenderage."

Josephine Igberese, who wasincharge of the workshop speak-ing on the growth of the initia-tive and its objectives, she saidthat the workshop overtime hashelped built relationships and

put away class discrimination.Her words; “The creative stationhas metamorphosed into a fam-ily. From what I hear the interac-tions among the children contin-ued beyond the station which isone of our objectives of breakingbarriers and social class. I callthem children without borders forthe singular reason.”

Singularreason

Commenting on the theme ofthis year’s play, she said that;“This year we explored slavery,Trans Atlantic Slave Trade whichspan a period of 300 years, mostof the slaves taken were from WestAfrica and Nigeria in particularfrom the various sea ports.

“In our time, slavery has a newname, human trafficking, childand forced labour, child marriage,kidnapping and caste system,these are all other forms of slav-ery. It is our desire to bring to theconsciousness of our children theissues they may face as possibleleaders of tomorrow.”

Advising parents, the co-ordinator urged them to alwaysallow their children explore theirtalents during the break so togrow into productive adults.

NTN Childrenrekindle hope forsurvival of culture

ALL is now set for the pub lic presentation of a new

book on the Nigerian media andits leading figures over the past75 years.

The book, which focuses on thecontributions, challenges andexploits of Nigerian media lead-ers on the scene for more thanseven decades, titled NigerianMedia Leaders: Voices Beyondthe Newsroom will be launchedon September 22, 2015 at the EkoHotel & Suites, Lagos.

The four volume book editedby Richard Ikiebe, a mediascholar at the School of Mediaand Communication, Pan Atlan-tic University, Lagos features con-versations with more than 80media leaders across print,broadcast and the academia. .

The research is a collaborativework between the NigerianGuild of Editors and the School

of Media and Communication,Pan Atlantic University (PAU).

Ikiebe said he was motivatedto undertake the work to fill thegaps in the study of Nigerianjournalism since the pioneeringwork of Alfred Omu’s Press andPolitics in Nigeria, 1880-1937published in 1978.

“It became imperative as manyof the pioneers have passed onwithout sharing their experi-ences and know-how,” he added.

Significantcontribution

The book represents a signifi-cant contribution to the knowl-edge of the media. It consists ofinterviews with 75 media play-ers in the Nigerian print andbroadcast media, spanning 1935to 2010; and covers variousthemes of media leadership and

NGE, PAU book on 75 years of Nigerian media for launchmanagement, circulation anddistribution, readership, chang-ing media landscape, media andmilitary, as well as the effects ofsocial media and changing de-mographic patterns. Those fea-tured in the work include SamAmuka, Patrick Dele Cole,Christopher Kolade, VincentMaduka, Segun Osoba, GarbaShehu, Tony Momoh, LadeBonuola, Ray Ekpu, KevinEjiofor, Muhammed Haruna,Adamu Ciroma, Doyin Abiola,Areoye Oyebola, Ted Iwere andLaban Namme.

Others are John Momoh,Frank Aigbogun, Femi Kusa,Kabir Yusuf, Idowu Sobowaleand Festus Adesanoye .

Ikiebe who serves as a SeniorFellow and Director of the Cen-tre for Leadership in Journalismat the PAU, also serves as Vice-Chairman and Director of Cor-nerstone Insurance Plc.

• Nigerian children at their best, a scene from the play, Akrifa

• The children singing in their MTN colour

Nigeria is a greatcountry with a lot ofresources andpotentials that are yetuntapped, we have alot to offer to theworld, we need todevelop it toencourage thosecoming behind us

Stories By Japhet Alakam

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VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 — 45

Dream Team

in the second half ofthe game, which wasNigeria’s openingmatch after Egyptpulled out its soccerteams from the event.

Ghana who are thedefending championshardly troubled theUnder-23 Eagles. Bothteams fought fordominance of the game,but it was Nigeria witha better teamunderstand thatdominated. Junior Ajayicalmed the nerves of theteam, when he coollyfinished off a cross byEtor Daniel in the 55minutes.

There was no seriousfight back from theGhanaians, and the

Continues from BPEagles pressed on toconsolidate their lead.They sealed their victorywith a goal, which cameoff the boots of Sokari inthe dying minutes of theencounter. It was froman excellentcombination withCaptain IkechukwuAzubuike whose passbrought Sokari face toface with Richarcd Oforiin goal for Ghana.Sokari chipped the ballover the on rushingkeeper to kill off thegame.

Nigeria is topping thegroup, while Ghana andSenegal have a pointeach. Nigeria will playSenegal in the nextgame to determine whotops the group.

the national sportscommission and itsaffiliate sportsfederations embark onany sports developmentwithout putting in placethe entire requisitecomponents of sportsdevelopment in place.According to him, theseinclude sports science,training of coaches,discovery and groomingof young athletes andbuilding infrastructure.

Amao, was speakingagainst the backgroundof Nigeria, with apopulation of over 150mhaving to rely on onlyone athlete to perform atmajor internationalevents.

“We are only justscratching the surface inNigeria. There are somany things we aredoing wrong and we arethinking of getting goodresults.

“Sports science is onecrucial aspect we are notlooking at. This is one of

Akin-AmaoContinues from BP

the major reasons ourathletes are not doingwell physically andpsychologically. Take alook at the performanceof Blessing Okagbare,we may ask why she isdoing well at smallermeets and then at thebig occasions, she failsto show up when itmatters.

“Physically, she ismore endowed than theJamaican runner, ShellyAnn Fraser Pryce. Butthe difference is that theJamaican lady has a verygood start and mentallyshe is tough. These arethe things lacking inOkagbare. If we had oursports scientistsworking, she and indeedother growing athleteswill do well.

“We have highperformance centres, butthey are not functioningthe way they ought tobe. Go to South Africanand see what they aredoing there,” Amaostated.

Journalists

Committee just can’tget it right.

Majority of thejournalists covering theGames are doing so,without accreditation.And in gaining access tothe event centres, theyare made to pay thenormal gate fees, beingcharged by the localorganizing committeeCOJA. As if that is notenough, the mediacentres are nonfunctional, the onlything going on, is theWIFI network at themain office of COJA.

“It has been anightmare covering thisevent. Nothing seems tobe working and theANOCA officials arepretending as ifeverything is ok,” roareda Kenyan journalisthere.

“And can you imagine?They told us that wehave to wait till nextweek Friday, when theGames will close beforewe can get our tags.They probably want us to

Continues from BP

go home with it assouvenir.”

A group of Nigerianjournalists led byPresident of the SportsWriters Association ofNigeria, Seidu Abubakarand chairman of theLagos State chapter,Fred Edore wereprevented from enteringa hall where thevolleyball contest wastaking place.

“We haven’t got ouraccreditations, and wecannot just moveanywhere. We can getinto the buses going toKintele, the main venueand transport fare downthere is exorbitant,”lamented YinkaAdebayor.

A Congolese official incharge of accreditationstated that the processwas reversed by theindividual that wasawarded the contract.“We have to jettison theonline registration andmake do with what wehave. Now we have runout of cards.”

with their noses infront after they chalkedup four points from twomatches and won thehonesty test thatthreatened to smear theNUJ Games.

The match againstBusiness Plus provideda test case for the NUJGames, but officials rosewith one voice tocondemn evil and followthe right way. Adheringto the rules of the Game,Vanguard producedplayers with identitycards while theiropponents came withquestionable playerswho could not mentionthe names of theiremployers. The hiredprofessionals displayedstark ignorance, noteven knowing the nameof their Editor. It was adrama that Nollywoodstar Mr Ibu would havebenefited from. And theTechnical Committee ofthe Games did not wastetime in hauling them outof the Games andawarding three goalsand three points to thespotless KirikiriWarriors.

The victory broughtback memories of whatSophocles said; ‘’Iwould prefer even to fail

Kirikiri Warriors

Continues from BP

with honour than win bycheating’’.

‘’It’s not a do or dieaffair. We’re in theGames to enjoyourselves and to play tothe rules. We’re happythat truth prevailedagainst cheats’’, coachPrince Osuagwu,Vanguard’s HeadHitech desk said.

Chapel Chairman,Innocent Anabacommended theuprightness of theTechnical Committee ofthe NUJ.

Overwhelmed by thevictory andsteadfastness of theteam, WeekendVanguard EditorOnochie Anibeze, NewsEditor Kayode Mathew,Political Editor EmmaAziken, Crime EditorEmma Nnadozie, andPolitical correspondentCharles Kumolurewarded the teamhandsomely but beggedthat their donations benot announced for fearof EFCC andkidnappers.

The Vanguard KirikiriWarriors will be on themarch again todayagainst The Sourcemagazine. Venue isLegacy pitch of theNational Stadium,Surulere, Lagos.

We’ll come stronger against Egypt – MusaSUPER Eagles

stand-in captainAhmed Musa has saidNigeria should expect amuch improvedperformance from the teamin their next 2017 AFCONqualifier against Egypt inMarch.

Nigeria will first welcomethe Pharaohs betweenMarch 23 and 26, beforethey travelling to Cairobetween March 26 and 29.

Musa, who openedscoring for the Eagles fromthe penalty spot in a 2-0 winover Mena of Niger onTuesday in Port Harcourt,said the new team coachSunday Oliseh is buildingwill strike a betterunderstanding before thedouble header againstEgypt.

“I am very happy that webeat Niger Republic andplayed better than we didagainst Tanzania. Thoughit was a friendly, I am sureit served the purpose ofgetting us to player betteras a team,” CSKA Moscowstar Ahmed Musa toldAfricanFootball.com

“Nigerians shouldtherefore expect to see abetter Eagles by the time weplay against Egypt in ournext Nations Cupqualifiers next year.

“We are on track andimproving as a team.”

On why he celebrated hisgoal with Oliseh, the flyingforward said: “Just to saycongratulations to the coachthat we are on our way toour first victory for the newcoach.

“The goal is for my lovelywife Jemila, who alwaysencourages me and keepsthe home safe when I amaway.”

CAPTAIN'S STUFF: Ahmed Musa in action for Nigeria.

OFFICIALS havedisclosed the

Super Eagles willresume training campat the end of the monthahead of a series offriendlies in Europe aswell as a 2016 CHANagainst Burkina Faso.

“The team willresume training at theend of the month,which will be in threeweeks, to prepare for aCHAN qualifieragainst Burkina Fasoand a number offriendlies in Europe,”an official informedyesterday.

“The players from thedomestic league will

Eagles resume training in 3 weeksform the preliminarysquad with the foreign-based stars to join up inEurope.”

The Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF) arealready in discussionswith Cameroon FA,FECAFOOT, for afriendly during theFIFA-free window nextmonth.

The home-basedEagles will also

welcome their BurkinaFaso counterparts in a2016 CHAN qualifierbetween October 16-18with the return legbetween October 23and 25 inOuagadougou.

The overall winners ofthis tie will qualify forthe African NationsChampionship inRwanda next year.

CMYK

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46 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Shun Africa Games, forget Rio Olympics•Yakmut tells Okagbare, others•Okagbare may run in Congo•Amata to get $5000 for shunning DiamondLeague•Nigeria will abandon drugs cheats

BY JOHNEGBOKHAN

THE Director-Generalof the National

Sports Commission(NSC), Al Hassan Yak-mut has opened a win-dow of opportunity toembattled Beijing Olym-pics bronze medalist,Blessing Okagbare tocompete at the ongoingAll Africa Games, with astern warning that failureto run in Brazzaville willend her dream of racingfor Nigeria at the 2016 RioOlympics.

Speaking to the finalbatch of athletes andwrestlers set to depart forBrazzaville today, Yak-mut, a former nationalvolleyball player, clarifiedthat the NSC has notbanned the 100m trackqueen from the Gamesbut was not going to hes-itate from wielding thebig hammer on any err-ing athlete, who took thenation for granted.

“Let me use this forumto clarify that the NSChas not banned Okagbarefrom the Rio Olympics.She remains our athletebut if she does not showup at the All Africa Gamesin Congo, she should for-get about the 2016 Olym-pics. The same rule ap-plies to other Nigerianathletes who take thiscountry for granted. It isthe directive of the feder-al government that anyathlete who fails to rep-resent the country in in-ternational competitionswithout cogent reasons,should forget about theOlympics.

“It is very wrong for ath-letes to make u-turn very

close to the Games andwe would not toleratesuch an act of indisci-pline”, Yakmut added.

And we gathered lastnight that Okagbare mayyet reconsider her deci-sion to drop out of the AllAfrica Games.

A usually reliablysource who spoke to theCommonwealth Gamesdouble gold medalist saidthat “she seems inclinedto running for Nigeriaand we hope that shecomes to Brazzaville”.

And for shunning thelast Diamond League,Yakmut has promised toreimburse Doreen Amatawith the the $5000 ap-pearance fee which she

missed at the athleticsmeeting.

Yakmut also said thatthe era of giving foreigntraining grants to eliteathletes are over, notingthat all athletes would betreated equally hence-forth by the NSC.

“It is until you make itinto the team that we willstart giving traininggrants. The era of differ-ent pay for different ath-letes, which to me ishighly discriminatory isover””, said Yakmut, whowarned the athletes not toenhance their perfor-mance with drugs, warn-ing that “Nigeria willabandon any athlete whouses drugs in Congo””.

Nigeria miss out of swimming medals

EGYPT and SouthAfrica dominated

the swimming eventsyesterday, leaving noth-ing for Nigeria at the on-going All African Gamesin Congo Brazzaville .

Nigerian swimmerswere obviously not pre-pared for the Games.They were initially ruledout, only for the Nation-al Sports Commission toreinstate them afterPresident MohammaduBuhari had tasked theNSC to ensure Nigeriacompete for the swim-ming medals alongsidethe continent’s heavy-weights.

In yesterday ’s con-cluding events Le ClosChad of South Africacame first in men’s 50m

butterfly with a time of0.64 , bringing the finalrecord to 23.51 to beatEissa Omar of Egypt tosecond position with atime of 0.67 to a finalrecord of 24.18.

In the 50 metresB r e a s t s t r o k ewomen,Tatjana of SouthAfrica returned a time of0.70 to a final record of32.49 to beat Atif Mali ofEgypt to second posi-tion.

South Africa andEgypt again won theGold and Silver in the200 metres Backstrokemen, 100 metres Freey-style men, 4x100 me-tres Freeystyle womenand 4x200 metres Freey-style men .

Zimbabwe CoventryLeigt Kirsty won theGold medal in the 100metres Backstroke wom-en with a time of 0.64 toa final record of 29.69 tobeat Prinsloo Karin ofSouth Africa to secondposition .

“We were told that ourswimmers will not par-ticipate in the Games;this was after we campedthem. However, we hadonly two on standby, butthe when the NSC toldus another thing, wehad to bring in anothertwo. The whole thingwas very confusing to theswimmers,” said a topmember of the swimmingfederation.

BY BEN EFE,Brazzaville, Congo

•Amata — ready to go.

•Nigerian swimmers

NIGERIA will battleTunisia, Sudan,

Botswana and Namibiain group two of men andwomen team events oftable tennis at the ongo-ing All Africa Games inCongo.

The women team willalso battle Tunisia, Mau-ritius and Botswana fora place in the secondround of the tourna-ment.

Defending championEgypt is in group onewhile host Congo Braz-zaville and Algeria arein group three and fourrespectively.

Matches will com-mence today with themale team taking onNamibia while the fe-male will open theircampaign againstBotswana.

Speaking on the event,team captain w statedtheir intention was towin all the gold medalsavailable. “Our aim hereis to dominate the eventsand we are on course.”

Oshonaike:We’ll clear alltable tennisgold

•Oshonaike

Declare national fitness day – ABBFN tells BuhariBY JACOB AJOM

THE Amateur BodyBuilding and Fitness

Federation of Nigeria hascalled on President Mo-hammadu Buhari to se-lect a day in the month ofMay every year and de-clare it a national fitnessday.

In an open letter toPresident Buhari, signedby the President of thefederation, Soye Elekimathe federation observed

that although there wasremarkable advancementin modern medicine, itwas sad to note that therewas a corresponding in-crease in deaths resultingfrom preventable, non-communicable diseases.

“The health situation inNigeria is frightening asthere is a sharp rise inpreventable deathscaused by diseases suchas heart diseases, strokeand other cardiovasculardiseases,” the letter

reads, pointing that un-less there was a deliber-ate policy-driven plan tochange people’s habitstowards healthy living,the scourge will continue.

“While some peoplehave come to appreciatethe fact that physical fit-ness training actuallygoes a long way in solv-ing such problems andaccord people more ful-filling life. Fitness train-ing helps to improve andprotect the heart, bones,

skeletal frame, immunesystem and balance bloodand sugar levels.”

The federation thereforeurged President Buharito “Proclaim/adopt a Na-tional Fitness Day in themonth of May every yearwhich observance is al-ready customary in coun-tries such as the UnitedStates of America, UnitedKingdom, Australia,South Africa, among oth-ers.”

CMYK

Page 47: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — 47

Serena Williams the greatest female player of all time, says Venus

•Serena

VENUS Williams believes her sister Sere-

na is the best female play-er of all time, with or with-out the calendar grandslam.

Serena beat Venus 6-2,1-6, 6-3 to reach the USOpen semi-finals and nowstands two victories awayfrom becoming the firstplayer to hold all four ma-jor titles in a year since Stef-fi Graf in 1988.

It was the 27th all-Wil-liams clash but, despite amid-match lull where Ve-nus staged a fightback,Serena proved why shehas been the dominant

force in recent years with aruthless display.

The world No1 managed12 aces, 35 winners andthree breaks of serve un-der the lights of ArthurAshe Stadium and, on thisform, it seems inconceiva-ble she will not be writingher name into the historybooks after Saturday’s fi-nal.

“I think that would behuge, not just for me, butfor my family, just for whatit represents and how hardwe have worked andwhere we come from,” Ve-nus said.

“So it would be a moment

for our family. But at thesame time, if it doesn’t hap-pen it’s not going to makeor break you. We don’thave anything to prove.She has nothing to prove.She’s really the best ever,so what are you going todo? Just try to make it. Ifyou don’t, then that’s thatand go to the next one.”

Serena would be only thefourth female player toachieve the calendargrand slam and success atFlushing Meadows wouldalso see her tie with Graf’sOpen era record of 22 ma-jor titles.

Page 48: Chibok girls dispersed, some married off— BUHARI

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 01-4544821. Abuja Advert Hotline: 09-2921024. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

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

How to Play Sudoku

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

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

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

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS: 1, Fair 4, Cad 6, Tart 9, Ape 10,Distance 11, Stab 14, Dim 16, Berth 19,Demeaned 21, Beret 23, Disabled 24, Dwell27, Ten 31, Jolt 33, External 34, Tie 35, Deer36, Pad 37, Deem.

ACROSS4 Tally (5)7 Snare (6)9 Sorrowful (3)10 Through (3)12 Clear (5)13 Insect (4)15 Repulse (5)17 Come (619 Argument (4)20 Womaniser (5)22 Consume (3)24 Warned (7)27 Sheep (3)28 Pointed (5)31 Unaccompanied (4)33 Meal-course (6)35 Roost (5)37 Lofty (4)38 Stitched (5)39 Spike (3)41 Material (3)42 Moaned (6)43 Started (5)

DOWN1 Calf (6)2 Rivulet (6)3 Knock (3)4 Masculine (4)5 Grown-up (5)6 Hairstyle (8)8 Fairy (4)11 Respect (9)14 Region (4)16 Fuel (4)18 Part (4)21 Disused (8)23 Rip (4)25 Pitcher (4)26 Food (4)29 Ungenerously (6)30 Cheat (6)32 Entertainment (5)34 Melt (4)36 Paradise (4)40 Managed (3)

DOWN: 2, Avid 3, Rite 4, Confined 5, Deep6, Taste 7, Apt 8, React 12, Edged 13, Amaze14, Dab 15, Merit 17, Reply 18, Handy 20,Deserted 22, Tan 25, Wrote 26, Later 28,Help 29, Prod 30, Safe 32, Lie.

•Whip Ghana 2-0

AAG: Dream Teamrestore Nigeria’s pride

•Yakmut tells Okagbare, others•Okagbare may run in Congo•Amata to get $5000 for shunning Diamond League•Nigeria will abandon drugs cheats

Shun Africa Games, forget Rio Olympics

Our sports need totaloverhaul — Akin Amao

ONE of Nigeria’s foremost sports medicinepractitioners, Dr. Akin Amao has called for

a total overhaul of Nigerian sports industry, if thecountry were to rediscover its sports process.

He argued that it will be an exercise in futility, if

STORIES BY BENEFE,Brazzaville, Congo

•Okagbare

Continues on Page 45

Journalists, guests groanover chaotic GamesIT is a week into the All Africa Games, yet the

organizers COJA and the franchise owner ofthe event, the Association of Africa National Olympic

Med-view/NUJ Games:Kirikiri Warriors win againDEFENDING Champions of the Med-View/

NUJ Media Games, Vanguard’s KirikiriWarriors held their heads high yesterday and walked

Continues on Page 45

Continues on Page 45

FOUR days after theSuper Eagles

poor showing in anAfrica Cup of Nationsqualifier against theTaifa Stars of Tanzania inDar es Salaam, thenational U-23 team,handled by SamsonSiasia, yesterday inCongo restoredNigeria’s pride

The Dream Team VIquest to dominate the AllAfrica Games soccerevent remains on courseas the coach SamsonSiasia led squad beattraditional rivals Ghana2-0 in yesterday’s groupB match at the KinteleStadium.

Junior Ajayi andKingsley Sokari scoredContinues on Page 45•Siasia

CMYK