Oil subsidy thieves must suffer — Jonathan

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61743

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012

**

Mr & Mrs

•P.17

DEAR BUNMI•P. 38

Un-Due

Process

•Says they must refund stolen money and be punished•Pressure mounts on senators to drop probe•Reps back Ribadu's findings

Oil subsidy thievesmust suffer — Jonathan

Continues on page 6

•P.19

ROTIMI FASAN

With one week to theU.S Presidential election,Vanguard newspaper isfully represented inGod’s own country tocover the procedureswith reports from theDeputy Chairman of theEditorial Board. MrNnanna Ochereome andPolitical Affairs reporter,Gbenga Oke

Vanguard covers US election

BY EMMA UJAH,OKEY NDIRIBE,

EMMAN OVUAKPO-RIE, HENRY UMORU& EMMA ELEBEKE

ABUJA —PRESIDENT Goodluck

Jonathan vowed, yester-day, that all those foundculpable in the fuel sub-sidy scam would be se-verely punished afterbeing made to refund thepublic funds they ille-

SUPERSTORM—Emergency workers rescue residents of Little Ferry, New Jersey, from flood waters brought by

Superstorm Sandy. Photo: Reuters.

•P 55

Chelsea starsswear refraciallyabused Mikel

•P.10

Ajimobidenieswife'sarrest

Third Mainland Bridge re-opens •P 49

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 — 3

CMYK


CMYK

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012—5

Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos opened by Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, yesterday. Photo:

Diran Oshe.

Anyaoku calls for restructuringof Nigeria�Says restructuring key to cutting huge recurrent expenditure

BY EMMA UJAH,ABUJA BUREAUCHIEF & EMMA

ELEBEKE

ABUJA — FORMERSecretary-General of

the Commonwealth,Chief Emeka Anyaoku,has advocated a majorrestructuring of nation’scurrent politicalarrangement, pointingout that the desired rapiddevelopment andstability would not beachieved without truefederalism or regionalautonomy.

Anyaoku spoke,yesterday, in Abuja, atthe launch of a bookentitled: “Reforming theUnreformable,” writtenby the CoordinatingMinister for the Economyand Minister of Finance,Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

He described thecurrent structure of 36states and the FederalCapital Territory asadministratively tooexpensive, with hugerecurrent expenditureand leaving only ameagre percentage forthe badly needed capitaldevelopment and thatthe current constitutionreview should form abasis for returningNigeria to truefederalism.

He said: “It is my viewthat the country ’schances of re-living itsd e v e l o p m e n topportunities will begreatly enhanced if itdoes a majorrestructuring of itspolitical architecture.Without doing so, one

can’t reduce therecurrent expenditure.

“When you lookaround, especiallyamong developingcountries, you willdiscover that theirrecurrent expenditure isfar less than their capital.In Nigeria, what we havebeen spending onrecurrent leaves us withtoo little for capitaldevelopment which weneed.

“The existing structureof 36 states and federalcapital territory with allthe paraphernalia andinstitutions ofadministration, as long aswe continue with that, weare not likely to achievethe level of reduction ofcost of administration thatwill enable us to developas we ought to.”

Canvasses strongerregions

Anyaoku, who calledfor stronger regions aswas the case in the pre-independence era, saidthe inordinate struggle forpower at the centre hadbeen mainly responsiblefor the ethno-religiousviolence that has engulfedthe nation.

His words: “I do notbelieve that the presentstructure we have will notaddress the destructivecompetition for the controlof power at the centre,while we sustain thelargely non-viable states.We have becomeaccustomed to the notionand practice of sharing thenational cake from thecentre.

“It is this destructivecontrol of power at thecentre that exacerbates theprimordial instinct in ourpeople and also fansreligious and ethnicdifferences with the resultthat rather than being asource of strength, ourpluralism has become aharbinger fordiscrimination anddisunity.”

The chairmanmaintained that thenation witnessed a moreaccelerated developmentwhen it was made up ofthe then semi-autonomous regions,which later became four.But that steady progresswas aborted with themilitary intervention ofJanuary 1966 and thelater creation of states.

His words: “There can’tbe no doubt in my viewthat Nigeria was makinga steadier progress indevelopment, when itwas a federation of threeregions andsubsequently fourfederating units, calledregions at the time.

“This progress wasreversed by the militaryintervention in ourpolitics beginning fromJanuary 1966 because itwas the militaryintervention that hasdone the erosion on truefederalism to what wenow described as unitaryfederalism.

“I believe that we mustreturn to true federalismif we are to achievestability and the level ofdevelopment that weaspire to. We canachieve all these with

the current effort to re-view the 1999 constitu-tion.”

Okonjo-Iweala,Nigeria’smost cherishedadverts to outsideworld

On the book, Anyaokusaid it “confirms whyNgozi Okonjo-Iweala isone of Nigeria’s mostcherished adverts to theoutside world,” addingthat it “gives a mostincisive analysis of thereforms needed to turnthe economy round.”

He added that the bookwas a candid and a bravenarrative of theimpediments theEconomic ManagementTeam under formerPresident OlusegunObasanjo had to battle asit battled to reform the civilservice and the NigeriaCustoms Service, amongothers.

Reviewing the book,Prof. Paul Collier ofOxford University warnedagainst the temptation ofreturning to the old pathof utilising a depletingresources, oil money,without investing in thefuture.

“Oil revenue isextremely volatile. Wehave seen it fall from $143per barrel in 2008 to $40per barrel,” he observedand stressed thatNigeria’s publicexpenditure “ will bechaotic” if the nationrelied entirely on avolatile revenue.

US govt writesPresidency, declaresinterest in BFIG

ALSCON SALE:

�To invest $200m in ImoRiver dredging

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH

ABUJA — FOR the firsttime since the sale of

Aluminium SmelterCompany of Nigeria,ALSCON, was marred bycontroversy, the UnitedStates Government hasopenly declared its interestin the matter, saying itwants the NigerianGovernment to hand overthe aluminium plant to theAmerican company, BFIGroup Divino Corporation,which won the bid topurchase the firm since2004.

The Bureau of PublicEnterprises, BPE,indicated last week that itwas ready to allow BFIGroup to move into the plantafter the RUSAL mighthave named the amount ofcompensation to be paid toit following a SupremeCourt order that the firmshould vacate the plantimmediately.

However, as thegovernment continues todelay the handing over ofALSCON to BFI Group, theAmerican Government hassaid it wanted the mattersorted out once and for allin the interest of the twocountries.

A letter by the USAmbassador to Nigeria,Terrence McCulley, to VicePresident Namadi Sambo,who heads the NationalPrivatisation Council ofNigeria, recalled theprocesses, which theAmerican firm had painfullygone through to emerge asthe preferred winner of thebid but was not allowed tocomplete the purchase.

The ambassador alsodrew Sambo’s attention tothe meeting between theBFI Group and AmericanCharge d’ Affaires, Lisa

Piascik, and late PresidentShehu Yar’Adua on thematter in November 2007and how the formerPresident promised toreview and resolve thematter.

The envoy noted in theletter, which Vanguardsighted last night, that itwas intriguing that morethan five years after themeeting, the matter was stillnot resolved.

He made it clear thateven with the passage oftime, the American firm wasready with the neededresources and technicalfacilities to undertake therehabilitation of ALSCONas well as the dredging ofImo River as contained inthe Shares PurchaseAgreement, SPA.

The ambassador alsodeclared that the firm wasprepared to commitbetween $180 million to$200 million towards thedredging of the river andhad secured the services ofPort of Los Angeles, one ofAmerica’s busiest ports, todo the job without delay.Vanguard learnt last

night that the Americangovernment was evenready to guarantee moresupport and funding for theBFI group following theresolution NigerianSupreme Court rulinggiving the ownership ofALSCON to the firm.

A source said, yesterday,that a delegation from theUS would soon arriveNigeria in preparation forthe formal handing over ofALSSON to BFI Group, asordered by the apex court.

The management ofRUSAL, which is yet tovacate the Akwa IbomState-based plant, declinedto comment on their exitdate, when contacted lastnight.

90 ships expected in Lagosports

LAGOS — THE NigerianPorts Authority (NPA)

said 90 ships were expectedto arrive in variousterminals in Lagos portsbetween October 30 andNovember 24.

The NPA disclosed this inits daily publication,“Shipping Position,” madeavailable to newsmen

yesterday in Lagos. It indi-cated that the ships con-tained fish, bulk wheat,rice, petroleum products,new and used vehicles,steel products, base oil, bulksugar and bulk malt.

The document indicatedthat 18 of the ships wouldsail in with petrol, diesel,kerosene and aviation fuel.

3RD MAINLAND BRIDGE REOPENS

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Oil subsidy thieves must suffer— JonathanContinues from page 1

YOU have to learn the rules of the game. Andthen you have to play better than anyone else

– Albert Einstein. Take time to learn and learn theappropriate way.

“Happiness means different things for differ-ent people and the habit of being happy is catch-ing. Sometimes, life with all its challenges can beover bearing, but if we can just pause in the mid-dle of everything and find something to be grate-ful for, it may be as simple as looking into theeyes of your child or someone you love. - E. R.Randle.-

IN the midst of the toils and challenges of everyday life, if we can be still and remember to

breathe deeply, we can surrender our pain in thatmoment and this could bring a profound knowingthat what may seem beyond our capability at themoment is only temporal.

We are never alone, and we are loved beyondbelief and expectations, in the mist of crisis, whenthe heart is in a tight knot from the pain of disap-pointments, it is okay to be sad but try not to dwellin this energy for long because, sometimes, it ishard to feel that we loved unconditionally. If yourheart can know and feel this love, it will illumi-nate right through the clouds and when the rainis over, the colours of love will bring the rainbowin to shine for you. Never give up, it is never toolate to start on that dream.

gally collected.Speaking through Vice

President NamadiSambo, at the launchingof ‘Reforming theUnreformable,’ a bookwritten by the Ministerof Finance, Dr. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, thepresident said that thosefound to have been in-volved in corruption andother economic crimesmust be punished.

President Jonathanspoke as Senators cameunder intense pressureto stop discussions onthe fuel subsidy probeand a member of theHouse of Representa-tives concurred with thefindings of the NuhuRibadu’s panel of megagraft in the oil industryin the last decade.

Said PresidentJonathan: “Nigerian andAfrican leaders must be-gin to write their own ex-periences. It deals withthe challenges of creat-ing jobs, fighting corrup-tion and other importantsartorial reforms thatneed urgent attention,which are crucial to thetransformation agendaof this administration.

“Let me assure youthat my administrationis not only committed toreform, we are buildingon some of the reformagents. Specifically, we

are consolidating onmacro-economic re-forms. We are going tofocus on the varioussectorial reforms, whichwill create jobs in oureconomy. On the gov-ernment front, we aregoing after those whocommitted various eco-nomic and corruptpractices with impu-nity.

“As you may beaware, government istaking every legalmeasure to ensure thatthose, who defraud thegovernment in the pe-troleum subsidyscheme are made to re-turn the money stolenand punished for theircrimes”.

Hope forNigeria

He described thebook as a demonstra-tion of Okonjo-Iweala’spatriotism, particularlygiven the fact that “thecentral message of thisimportant book is hope,hope that Nigeria canreform and grow to be-come one of the world’smost dynamic econo-mies”.

According to thepresident, “in the past,there was a lot of cyni-cism about Nigeria.Many people claimedthat the political and

public institutions in thiscountry could not be re-formed. It clearly arguedconvincingly that gradu-ally, Nigeria is undergo-ing reform.”

He said that one of hisobjectives was to buildstrong institutions; withthe kind of policies andreforms that would con-solidate on current reformefforts that could achievecredible development.

The President reiteratedhis administration’s com-mitment to ensuring anatmosphere of democracyand freedom and assuredthat he would “continueto work to ensure thatsound democratic princi-ples are applied in thiscountry.

“Ever since the 2011elections, adjudged to bethe freest and fairest inour nation’s history, wehave also conducted localand state governmentelections, which havebeen locally and interna-tionally applauded. Thisis a new dawn in our ini-tiative to achieve electoralreform. In all successfuldemocracies, leadershiptends to take on certainchanges, changes thatare tough”.

The president who gavehis commitment to addvalue to all areas of theeconomy, aimed at gen-erating employment andcreating wealth, observedthat the states and localgovernments must alsokey-into the federal gov-ernment efforts. “Thecontent of the book can-not only be implementedat the national level butalso at the sub-nationaland local government lev-els”, he said.

In her remarks, Dr.Okonjo-Iweala said shewrote the book to givehope to Nigerians on herconviction that Nigeriacould be returned to thepath of greatness andthat all that is required iscommitment of the peopleand political will on thepart of leaders.

According to her, fight-ing corruption is a toughbattle because, “whenyou fight corruption, cor-ruption fights you back”but she encouraged Nige-rians never to give up thefight against corruption,as according to her, “cor-ruption will never win”.

She added that she didnot write the book to makemoney but to share herexperiences with Nigeri-ans and the global com-munity on necessary re-form decisions and ac-tions needed to turn-around the economy for

the better.Chief Sunny Odogwu,

who was the Chieflauncher encouragedyoung Nigerians to keephope alive, as accordingto him, with commit-ment, the nation canreach the top 20 worldeconomy goal it has setfor itself. He said thatNigeria is in a transitionand that with the currentadministration, there ishope that the economywill get better.

Senators under pressure todrop subsidy probe

Meanwhile, more thana year after the Senatelaunched its investiga-tions into the implemen-tation of the fuel subsidyscheme, there are indi-cations that the legisla-tive chamber has comeunder pressure aimed atfrustrating the outcomeof the investigations.

The pressure, Van-guard learnt, is comingespecially from inter-ested stakeholders in theoil sector, who fear thatthe investigations couldcompound criminal in-vestigations launchedagainst them by theanti-graft agencies andthe Police.

Remarkably, some ofthose pressing the Sen-ate to drop the investi-gations include somewho were not indicted bythe investigations by theHouse of Representa-tives Ad-Hoc Committeeon Fuel Subsidy Imple-mentation led by Rep.Farouk Lawan.

Like Lawan’s commit-tee, Vanguard learnt,yesterday, that moneyand other inducementswere dangled before theSenate to drop the reportof its committee articu-lated by the SenatorMagnus Abe-led Com-mittee on DownstreamPetroleum.

The House of Repre-sentatives investigationsinto the subsidy pay-ments eventually be-came bogged down byallegations and counter-allegations of induce-ments from interestedmarketers. Lawan whoheaded the House com-mittee investigationsand the committee clerkeventually admitted re-ceiving $620,000 fromMr. Femi Otedola overthe investigations forc-ing Lawan to step downfrom the committee.

The Senate commit-tee’s report was pre-sented to the Senate onOctober 9, nearly a yearafter the investigationwas launched last No-vember.

The Senate adjournedlast week to resume No-vember 6 when it is ex-pected that the reportwould come up for con-sideration. However,hopes that the Senatewill consider the reporton resumption was lastnight put on probabilityas the upper legislativechamber is expected tostep down plenary forrigorous committee workon the 2013 budget pro-posals.

The investigation wassparked by a motion pre-sented before the Senateby Senator AbubakarSaraki, PDP, Kwara Cen-tral, who drew the atten-tion of the Senate andthe nation to the fact thatsubsidy payments hadmultiplied more than300 per cent over thebudgeted amount as atAugust, 2011.

Vanguard gatheredthat ahead of the delib-eration on the report,some marketers, import-ers and officials of theNigerian National Petro-leum Corporation(NNPC) and PetroleumProduct Pricing andRegulatory Agency(PPPRA), who may havebeen recommended forprosecution are leadingthe lobby effort to thwartconsideration of the Sen-ate report.

The Senator Abe-ledJoint Committee on Pe-troleum Downstream,Appropriations and Fi-nance was inauguratedin November 2011 to in-vestigate the N1.3 trillionsubsidy payments.

Several attempts to getSenator Abe on the de-velopments were abor-

tive, yesterday.Before now there were

suggestions that eventhe committee report likethe initial motion wouldnot be received by theSenate due to pressuresfrom interestedstakeholders.

Confronted by journal-ists before the Senateproceeded on break,Senator Abe told report-ers that the probe reporthad not been releasedbecause the committeewas still analysing thetons of documents andoral presentations it re-ceived during its publichearings, which endedin February.

According to him, theCommittee “ receivedbags and bags of docu-ments from each of thesesubsidy participants andwe needed to take ourtime to peruse these pa-pers as dispassionatelyas possible. The com-mittee is bound to takequite a bit of time,” add-ing that after the Houseof Representativesstarted its investigation,the Senate had to put itsown on hold and thecommittee didn’t resumeuntil the House finishedeverything it was doing.

He said: “Because wedidn’t want to create aconflict between bothchambers of the NationalAssembly since they hadresumed on a Sundayand had taken off, wedecided to hold on untilthey finished and thatwas what we did. So, it’sonly proper that sincethey finished first, theirreport would naturallycome in first before oursbut we are taking ourtime to see that as muchas possible, we do athorough job that weourselves would beready to own up to.”

Continues on page 7


Ribadu’s report tallies with Reps' findings

Meantime, Chairmanof the House Committeeon Petroleum (Down-stream), Hon. DakukuPeterside, has endorsedthe leaked findings ofthe Nuhu Ribadu-ledPetroleum Revenues TaskForce as a true reflectionof the huge corruption inthe nation’s petroleumsector.

Although, Hon.Peterside said he had notyet seen the full report,he insisted in a chat withVanguard that it was aconfirmation of the ear-lier findings of the Houseof Representatives,which investigated thenation’s petroleum rev-enues last year.

According to him: “Ihave not seen or read thereport, but going by sto-ries published by news-papers concerning thecontent of the report,there is nothing theRibadu-led Committeesaid in its report that hasnot been said before.These include the factthat the Nigeria NationalPetroleum Corporation(NNPC) was sellingcrude oil to itself belowthe international price;that NNPC was fixingexchange rates by itself;that it sells part of the445,000 barrels of crudeoil allocated to it becauseit refines at below 25 percent of installed capacity.

He continued: “Cor-ruption has become partof our body politic unlesssomething is genuinelydone about it. I don’t yetbelieve that we are seri-ous about fighting cor-ruption.”

He further explainedthat the House stumbledon the facts concerningthe huge corruption pre-vailing in the nation’spetroleum sector lastyear when it set up ajoint committee to probethe country ’s incomethrough the petroleumindustry.

Said he: “This actuallyhappened after the stategovernors refused to col-lect their states’ alloca-tions from the federationaccount on the groundthat it was far less thanwhat they expected. Itwas this committee thatunearthed all these di-versions of revenue fromthe federation account” .

It would be recalledthat the leaked report ofthe Ribadu-led panel in-dicated that Nigeria lostabout N4.64 trillion overthe last decade from oildeals struck betweenmultinational oil compa-nies and government of-ficials.

The Committee headedby Former EFCC chair-man Nuhu Ribadu wasreported to have submit-ted its report last month.It was set up by Petro-

leum Minister DiezaniAlison-Madueke lastJanuary to retrieve out-standing oil revenuespayable to the FederalGovernment.

Reuters news agencyhad earlier reported thatthe committee produceda 146-page report cover-ing the period 2002 to2011, providing new de-tails on long history ofcorruption in the oil sec-tor.

The report concludedthat oil companies madebumper profits from cut-price gas, while petro-leum ministers handedout licences at their owndiscretion. This did notfollow best practice ofusing open bids. The re-port also revealed thathundreds of millions ofdollars in signature bo-nuses on those dealswere also missing.

According to media re-port: “ The NNPC madeN86.6 billion over the 10-year period by usingoverly generous ex-change rates in its dec-larations to the govern-ment. There was no signof the money.”

The report showed thatbillions of dollars of rev-enue was missing in un-paid debts from signa-ture bonuses and royal-ties. Several oil and gascompanies were also in-dicted for paying thecountry for gas at cut-

down prices before ex-porting to internationalmarkets.

However, the reporthad also indicated thatwhereas there was nosuggestion that the oilmajors or traders haddone anything illegal, ithighlighted a lack oftransparency in theirdealings.

Already AllisonMadueke has reportedlyresponded to media re-ports on the develop-

ment by insisting it is adraft.

According to her “therewill be some areas wherethe government mayhave a slightly differentopinion and will put itspoint of view to the com-mittee.”

The Ribadu-led com-mittee was among sev-eral set up following aweek of nationwidestrikes against a rise infuel prices last January,which led to a campaignagainst oil corruption.

Continues from page 6

Okonjo-Iweala donates bookproceeds to flood victims

BY EMMA UJAH

ABUJA—THE Coordinating Minister

of Economy and Minis-ter of Finance, Dr NgoziOkonjo-Iweala haspledged to donate somepart of the proceeds fromthe public presentation ofher book, Reforming theUnreformable: Lessonsfrom Nigeria, to flood vic-tims across the country.

The minister’s SeniorSpecial Assistant on Me-dia and communication,Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu ina statement quoted Dr.Ojkonjo-Iweala as say-ing that she was makingthe donation because

“their plight reminds usthat the work of improv-ing the lives of our peo-ple is a never endingone”. The amount was,however, not stated.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala saidtime was ripe for the de-politicisation of oil pricebenchmarking, whilecalling for the establish-ment of a body of expertsto determine the appro-priate oil price bench-mark in the formulationof national budgets, ob-serving that the strategyhas worked successfullyfor Chile which earnshuge revenues from cop-per.

Those present at the

book launch include:Vice President NamadiSambo; Chief EmekaAnyaoku; Governor PeterObi, Anambra State;Governor Murtala Nyakoof Adamawa; ChiefSunny Odogwu; Pub-lisher, Vanguard News-papers, Mr. Sam Amuka;Vanguard Editor-in-Chief, Mr. GbengaAdefaye; Ministers ofLabour, Chief EmekaWogu; Works, MikeOnolememen; Com-merce, Dr. SegunAganga; Minister ofState FCT, OlajumokeAkinjide and Alh. AlikoDangote.

FG moves

to reduce

cancer

deaths

LAGOS—A NEWdata from the Na-

tional System of CancerRegistries has revealedthat no fewer than 7,000new cases of cancer wererecorded across 11 Terti-ary hospitals in the coun-try, the Minister of Health,Professor OnyebuchiChukwu has disclosed.

To this end, the FederalGovernment has begunthe procurement of twomobile cancer screeningvans, 10 radiotherapy andnuclear medicine equip-ment to drastically reducerising number of cancerrelated deaths as well asensure proper screeningand treatment even in thelocal communities.

Reeling out the meas-ures already mapped outby the Federal Govern-ment in his keynote ad-dress during the openingceremony of the 4th Inter-national Cancer week inNigeria, with the theme;“Together it is Possible toFight Cancer,” Minister ofHealth, ProfessorOnyebuchi Chukwu de-clared that the fightagainst cancer in thecountry was holistic.

Chukwu, who was rep-resented by the Director ofProcurement in the Fed-eral Ministry of Health,Engineer SamsonOpaluwah, said the 7,000new cases documented inthe new data carried outin collaboration with theInstitute of Human Virol-ogy, Nigeria, IHVN, cor-responds with the averageestimated 100,000 newcases of cancers reportedin Nigeria annually.

BY CHIOMA OBIN-

NA

SUBMERGED—Submerged communities along the flooded Port Harcourt - Yenagoa Expressway, Bayelsa State. Photo:

Abayomi Adeshida.

THE RAGE OF FLOOD


Three flood victims give birthat Bayelsa relief camp

Flood: FG under pressure todeclare state of emergency

PRESIDENT Goodluck

Jonathan has come un-

der pressure from interestgroups to declare a state ofemergency in the areas rav-aged by flood, Vanguardlearnt yesterday.

The pressure, according toinformed sources, is comingfrom Nigerian-based interna-tional development agencies,which strongly believe thatNigeria does not have the ca-pacity to cope with the dev-astation being caused byfloods nationwide.Vanguard investigations re-

vealed that the agencies hadalready met in Abuja andhave written a strongly word-ed letter to the Presidency ad-vising that Nigeria should im-mediately declare a state ofemergency following the un-precedented level of floodingthat has hit the country thisyear.

They contended that it wasonly through the declarationof the state of emergency thatthe United Nations and otherinternational aid agenciescould see reason to come tothe aid of Nigeria in contain-ing the havoc wreaked by thefloods.

The development agenciesare said to have pointed to thefact that current flooding inNigeria was the worst in re-cent history, having displacedover 1.3 million persons from30 states in the country andcaused untold hardship to thevictims, most of them peasantfarmers.

The agencies further drewthe attention of the Nigeriangovernment to the statisticsfrom Nigerian MeteorologicalManagement Agency that in-creased flooding in the monthof October would add addi-tional 431 deaths to the casu-alty figure and lead to the dis-

placement of 1,341,179 andinjury to 29,689 persons while610,806 houses would be de-stroyed and thousands offarmlands affected in 2,389communities in 231 local gov-ernment areas in the country.

One of the letters, whichVanguard sighted last nightsaid: “In order for the UnitedNations and other agencies,including development part-ners and donors, to respondto this crisis, the procedure isthat the Nigerian governmentneeds to declare a state ofemergency, and according toreliable sources, the govern-ment has been informed thatthis is what is required todraw international attention.

“The government has notdeclared the state of emergen-cy for reasons best known toit and has also not been ableto fully meet the needs of theaffected persons. Reportscoming from the field alsosuggest that Nigeria may beunder threat of food crisis in2013. Therefore, the interna-tional support required is bothfor the short and the longterm.

"There is the need for Ni-gerians to demand that thegovernment declares a stateof emergency for the reasonsabove. Ideally, the govern-ment and the UN should leadin coordinating a rapid andeffective relief operation.

“While we commend thegovernment for the funds ithas so far released and theefforts of NEMA in providinga rapid response, it is perti-nent that the UN and otheragencies step in to support theefforts of government as gov-ernment does not have thefull capacity to respond effec-tively to the demands of thisemergency."

BY SONI DANIEL

BY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

YE N A G O A —

THREE women whowere displaced by flood, yes-terday, gave birth to threebouncing baby boys at theSamson Siasia Stadium, oneof the many relief camps inYenagoa the Bayelsa Statecapital. The women, who deliveredat separate times, were report-edly attended to by camp doc-tors before they were trans-ferred to the Federal MedicalCentre for better medical at-tention. The women, who are report-edly doing well with their ba-bies, expressed gratitude toGod for safe delivery and alsolauded the state governmentfor providing them shelter. One of the nursing moth-ers, Mrs. Irene Amos, 26, anindigene of Biseni, inYenagoa Local GovernmentArea, said she moved into thecamp about a month agowhen flood sacked her fromher home and community,adding that she would name

her baby, “God is great” inappreciation of God’s inter-vention in her life. Also speaking, one of thecamp doctors who attended tothe women, Dr. RaymondDuru, described insufficientdrugs as a major challengefaced by the team of doctorsin the relief camp and calledon the state government toprovide beds, drugs, chairsand other working materialsat the treatment centres in thecamp. Meanwhile, Pastor DavidIbiyeomie, leader of SalvationMinistry Church, has donat-ed relief materials worth thou-sands of naira to the Internal-ly Displaced Persons, IDP, inBayelsa State.The Yenagoa branch of thechurch donated 30 bags ofrice, 18 bags of beans, six bagsof garri and five gallons ofpalm oil to the flood victimsat the Sports Complex,Y e n a g o a .Relief Camp One Coordina-tor, Nikki Maworuya said thechurch also donated treatedmosquito nets and blankets tothe victims.

DEWORMING EXERCISE FOR FLOOD VICTIMS: Group Managing Director/CEO, Em-zor Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Stella Okoli (3rd right) leading a deworming exercise for childrenat Father Joseph’s Secondary School, Aguleri, during the company’s visit to flood victims inAnambra State.


Michael Omolayole for Rotary’sforum in Lagos

FOREMOST INDUST-

rialist and formerChairman, Lever BrothersNigeria Plc, Dr. MichaelOmolayole, will, thisFriday, deliver thekeynote address at theinauguration of Forum ofPast Rotarian Presidentsof 2009-10 Rotary Year. According to a statementby Rotarian PastPresident, Oscar Ossai,the event, which holds at

Sheraton Lagos, will bechaired by formerExecutive Vice-Chairman, Texaco Africa,Engr. Dr. OlumidePhillips. Dr. Kamoru Omotosho,District Governor, anumber of past DistrictGovernors, as well asseveral Rotarians inRotary InternationalDistrict 9110 Nigeria, areexpected at the occasion.

Ocean surge may hitLagos in 7 days – LASG

HURRICANE SANDY:

.It’s not possible – Prof. Anyadike, climate expert

BY CLIFFORD NDUJI-HE, OLASUNKANMIAKONI & MONSUR

OLOWOOPEJO

LAGOS - FOLLOW-

the devastatingeffects of HurricaneSandy, currentlyravaging some parts ofthe United States ofAmerica, the Lagos StateGovernment, yesterdayalerted residents of apossible ripple effect ofthe hurricane such asocean surge on thestate’s coastal areaswithin the next sevendays. The alert was given bythe state Commissionerfor Waterfront andI n f r a s t r u c t u r eDevelopment, PrinceSegun Oniru;Commissioner forInformation andStrategy, Mr. LateefIbirogba as well asSpecial Adviser to theGovernor on

Environment, Mr.Taofeek Folami, at a jointmedia briefing inAlausa, Ikeja. It would be recalledthat an Ocean surgeoccurred on August 17 atKuramo Beach, VictoriaIsland and claimed 15lives. However, a professorof climatology at theUniversity of Nigeria,Nsukka (UNN),Professor RNCAnyadike, counteredthat Nigeria could notsuffer any ripple effectfrom the hurricane. Asked if Lagos couldsuffer ripple effects fromHurricane Sandy,Anyadike said: “It is notpossible. We don’t havehurricanes in WestAfrica. "Meanwhile, HurricaneSandy has already hitland, it will soondissipate. What kind ofripple effect are theytalking about? Do you

know how far we arefrom New York? "The only thing we arelikely to experience isheavy rainfall occasionedby climate change nothurricane.” Oniru attributed thelikely ripple effect of theHurricane to the locationof Lagos, lying parallel tothe South Americaregion. His words: “We want tolet Lagosians know whatis going on, and what toexpect, it is not to createpanic, they should becareful around the oceanand lagoon. In the lastfive to six days, aroundthe Caribbean, fromJamaica, Haiti, Cuba andHurricane Sandy has hitthe east coast of America. “Normally, when suchhappens, and themagnitude of it hits thatpart of the world, wealways have a rippleeffect in Lagos andaround the West Coast. Also speaking, Ibirogbaurged residents to bevigilant, assuring that thestate government’semergency responsesquad was on alert tomanage any likely surgecaused by the Hurricane. Special Adviser onEnvironment, Folamihowever, warnedresidents to refrain fromdumping refuse indrainages and canals.

Remaining missingbodies recovered

BOAT MISHAP:

AFTER SEVERAL

hours of thoroughsearch of the Imudecommunity lagoon,Otto-Awori LocalCouncil DevelopmentArea, LCDA, Lagos, theremaining three bodiesout of the 10 thatdrowned on Sunday,were finally recoveredyesterday by thecommunity search andrecovery team. Vanguard gatheredthat, one of the threemissing bodies wasrecovered from thelagoon by the team atabout 7:00 p.m. onMonday night. The two other bodieswere recovered from thelagoon yesterday. It would be recalledthat five bodies wererecovered immediatelyafter the incidentoccurred last Sunday.And on Monday, twoothers were recovered. Confirming therecovery, the Baale of

Imude community, Oto-Awori Local CouncilDevelopment Area,(LCDA), Chief AjayiAshade said that the tenbodies have beenrecovered from thelagoon, adding “the lasttwo were recovered fromthe lagoon at the earlyhours of today(yesterday). The leader of thecommunity search andrecovery team, ApostleKehinde Akerele saidthat they commencedtheir exercise as early as6:00 a.m., which hasbeen their practice sincethe ugly incidentoccurred in thecommunity. Akerele emphasisedthat the search andrecovery of the threeremaining bodies wasdone by his team late onMonday and at the earlyhours of Tuesday,commending theCommissioner for RuralDevelopment, Mr.Cornelius Ojelabi for

releasing the fund tosecure the services of aspeed boat to intensifythe exercise.

...Rituals start

Ashade said yesterdaythat the communitywould commencerituals to cleanse thecommunity and toappeal to the gods of theland in order not toexperience such anincident again.According to him, “therituals will take place atthe river bank. Withinthe nine days of therites, there will not berestriction of movementwithin in thecommunity."

Teenager remanded in prison over allegedrobbery

AN IKEJA

Magistrate court,yesterday, remanded ateenager in prisoncustody for an allegedrobbery of phones andcash valued N145,500.The defendant, LukmanMohammed, who is 18

year old, is facing a threecount charge ofconspiracy, stealing andarmed robbery. The police prosecutor,Inspector, SamsonEkikere, told the courtthat the accused andothers now at large, onSeptember 28 2012, at

about 8:30p.m. at AyoolaBus-stop, in AbesanEstate, Ipaja, in Lagosrobbed Tunde andTolulope Ashabi of theirphones and cash. Magistrate Akanni,then adjourned the casetill December, 3, forDPP’s advice.

BY ONOZURE DANIA

Subsidy scam: AhmaduAli’s son, others for trialNov. 12

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH & ONOZURE

DANIA

THE INABILITY ofthe Economic and

Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, tocommence trial in thecase against son offormer PDP NationalChairman, Ahmadu Ali –Mamman Nasir Ali andothers accused of subsidyfraud, stalled their trialyesterday before an IkejaHigh Court. At the resumed hearingof the case before JusticeAdeniyi Onigbanjo,counsel representing theEFCC, Francis Usani toldthe court that the trialcould not go on, becausethey were still expectingto join anotherd e f e n d a n t - S e u nOgunbambo. Ali was charged beforethe court alongside others

for alleged conspiracy,obtaining money underfalse pretence, forgeryand the use of falsedocuments. Others expected to facetrial before JusticeOnigbanjo alongside theformer PDP NationalChairman’s son,includes Nasaman OilServices boss, ChristianTaylor. Responding, Mr. ToyinPinheiro, SAN, who didnot object to thesubmission of the EFCCsaid, “We would wait forthe amendment of thecharge to be effected.Though I know thedefendants have no caseto answer.” Mamman Nasir Ali aswell as other directors ofoil-marketing firms inthe matter had earlierbeen arraigned andgranted bail.

From left: Dr. Taofeeq Folami, Special Adviser on Environment; Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, Commissionerfor Information and Strategy and Prince Adesegun Oniru, Commissioner for Waterfront InfrastructureDevelopment, during the press briefing on 'Awareness of Hurricane Sandy', in Lagos. Photo: BunmiAzeez


Why I exposed Salami, by ex-GovOniF

ORMER GOVER-

nor of Ekiti Stateand National ViceChairman, S-West, of thePeoples Democratic PartyPDP, Chief Segun Onihas told an Oyo StateHigh Court at Ibadanwhy he petitionedagainst Justice AyoSalami.

He said his petition toNational JudicialCouncil, NJC, and ThePresidency on thetelephone interactionsbetween the suspendedCourt of AppealPresident, Justice IsaAyo Salami and ActionCongress of Nigeria,ACN, leaders andcounsel was borne outof his patriotic duty toreport judicialindiscretions to therightful authorities.

Oni stated that it wasthe unethical behaviour,which he noticed inJustice Salami’s conductin the handling of theappeal of the candidateof the ACN against himthat informed his petitionto the NJC, upon which,along with otherunethical conducts,made the body torecommend thesuspension of JusticeSalami to the President.

This he said led to therecommendation of thesuspension which thePresident upheld, and isstill in force till now.

Oni’s aide, Mr. LereOlayinka, who made thisknown in a statementyesterday said; “Oni, inhis statement of defencefiled before the courtagainst a libel suit byChief Niyi Akintola,SAN, against him overhis petition to NJC on

Justice Salami'stelephone interactionwith some ACN lawyersand chieftains during thependency of the Ekitielection tribunal.

He stated that hisinvestigation establisheda proven incontrovertibleevidence of telephonecontacts (both voice and

text messages) betweenJustice Salami and somechieftains of the ACNand their counsel.

In the statement ofdefence filed through hisCounsel, Gani FaniyiEsq, Oni maintained thatas a responsibleNigerian citizen, whoseduty it is to assist in themaintenance of justice

and good governance, hepetitioned NJC, a bodyempowered by theConstitution to invest -igate and disciplineerring judicial officers.

Oni also stated that inthe exercise of hisconstitutional rights, heforwarded andcommunicated samepetition to PresidentGoodluck Jonathan.

Heavy downpour renders Ibadanresidents homeless

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN — THE

heavy downpour insome parts of IbadanMonday evening hasrendered scores ofresidents in Oyo Statehomeless while propertyworth millions of nairawere destroyed.

Though, no life waslost in the incident at thetime of filing this report,Vanguard gathered thatover a hundredbuildings had their roofsblown off.

Also the rainstormravaged Apata,

Alexander, Oke Ayo,Obafemi Awolowo roadand parts of North Westand South West LocalGovernment areas of thestate.

According to somesources, the rainstormaffected almost 11 localgovernment areas withinIbadan.

Also, electric poleswere felled by the heavydownpour.

As a result of theblockages on the roads,there was a serious hold-up on major roads in themetropolis.

Commuters mostly

traders who closed latefrom their shops endedup trekking to theirdestinations.

However, as serious asthe rain was in someplaces, there was noteven a drizzle in someplaces like Ologuneruand in some outskirts ofthe city.

The Principal PublicRelations Manager ofIbadan ElectricityDistribution Company ofthe PHCN, Mr. JideOyenuga said their staffwere trying hard torestore the damagedelectric poles.

Nigerian envoy becomes Ekiti regentBY GBENGA ARIYIBI

ADO EKITI —Af o r m e r

Commissioner forWomen Affairs in EkitiState and Nigeria’scurrent Ambassador tothe Republic of Congo,Princess JolaadeOnipede, was yesterdayformally installed theRegent of Ilasa Ekiti inEkiti East Local

Government Area of EkitiState, even as she hasvowed to send criminalsparking in hercommunity

Speaking with thenewsmen after theinstallation yesterday,the regent said she wasdetermined to work intandem with the wholecommunity and the nextruling house to instal anew monarch in the town

in the next six monthsOnipede who was clad

in native apparel andother regalia as a symbolof her new status, usedthe opportunity to dispelthe rumour that therewas crisis over the choiceof a regent in the town.

The ambassador usedthe opportunity to warnthose selling hard drugsin the town to desist or

face the wrath of the law.The stool became

vacant following thedemise of her father, ObaAbel Ajibola, a couple ofmonths ago. He ruled thetown for 63 years.

The Ambassador calledon the king-makers inthe Community to fast-track the process ofselecting a new monarchin the town.

Agba Akin Kehinde Olaosebikan in the midst of the children of Oluyole Cheshire Home , celebratinghis golden jubilee anniversary with the less privileged.

Ajimobi denies wife'sarrest

CONTROVERSY

SWIRLED aroundthe Oyo State’sgovernment yesterdaywhen news filteredaround the media thatthe governor’s wife hadbeen arrested in london.

The Government whiledenying the allegationpromply slammed aN1billion suit againstthe evening newspaper.The Governor's wifeyesterday evening spokefrom London denyingthat she had beenarrested.

No mention was made,however, of when thesuit was filed and whotheir lawyer is.

Special Adviser onMedia to Governor, Dr.F e s t u sAdedayo.disclosed thefiling of the suityesterday

According to therelease, the governmentof Oyo State had theresponsibility to ensurethat the media does notbecome an instrument inthe hands ofblackmailers for suchacts.

“We want to stateunequivocally that thisreport is not only wicked,it is the figment of theimagination of thewriters. Mrs. Ajimobiwas never arrested forany offence whatsoever.

"Even though ourinvestigations haveshown that this is thework of somearrowheads of theopposition, it was donein such an amateurishway that beats theimagination of anyresponsible reader,” therelease said.

The government saidthat though it had a lotof respect for the media,there was the need todrag the runners of thesemedia to court to explainthe details of theirreports to the rest of theworld.

Meanwhile thegovernor ’s wife

reportedly spoke fromLondon, saying thereport was concocted bypolitical opponents ofher husband

Mrs Ajimobi, said; “Idon’t know what they aretalking about; I don’tknow where they got theinformation from. I leftNigeria on Sunday andI was not arrested. Idon’t know where theygot that information from.

“No, I was not arrestedby police. I came backwith my daughter onSunday. Now I amgetting ready to comeback home. I had notbeen invited by thepolice and I don’t knowwhat all this is about.”

Explaining further, Shesaid, “I have a 14-year-old daughter who hasbeen there for sevenyears. She has been heresince 2007. She came toNigeria for two weeks;we left Nigeria Sundaymorning. That is mymission here”.

Asked if she knewabout the story, sheanswered in affirmative.

“I read the report herein England. I wasshocked. I read it butthere is no iota of truthin everything they wrote.I’m sure it is oppositionand I am surprised thatsome people candescend so low to writefalsehood.”

According to her, thewriter of the storypandered to the dictatesof some people andallowed himself to beused.

She also denied theallegation that hercurrent trip was the 52ndtime she traveled sinceher husband assumedoffice as the governor ofthe state.

She responded, saying,“It then means I am notliving in Nigeria then.Maybe, when I travelback, I will show you mypassport to count howmany times I havetraveled,” she said .

“I have an underagedaughter that has beenschooling in Londonsince 2007. If you look atmy passport since 2007and compare the way Itraveled then with theway I travel now, youwill discover that I travelless now”, sheexplained.

“My daughter iscomplaining that I amnot regular there. I makeher come to Nigeria morebecause I can’t afford tospend 10 days or moreover there.”


Crisis brews in Edo ACN over

dissolution of LG caretaker c'ttees

BY SIMON

EBEGBULEM

BENIN—CRISIS is

brewing in ActionCongress of Nigeria,ACN, in Edo State, fol-lowing the dissolution ofcaretaker committees inthe 18 local governmentcouncils of the state by theState House of Assembly.

The lawmakers an-nounced the dissolutionof the committees afterthe House declared thatthe caretaker committees'continued stay in officewould amount to illegali-ty.

They also described thetenure of chairmen of thecouncils as a “child of cir-cumstance.”Vanguard learnt that

the leadership of the ACNmet at the residence of atop party leader in thestate, where the issue ofdissolution of the councilswas discussed and it wasagreed that the Housecould only dissolve thecouncils when the issue ofElectoral Act and cases incourt were resolved.

It was also agreed at themeeting that a date forelections into the 18 localgovernment councilswould be announced bythe lawmakers after thedissolution of the House.

But, contrary to theagreement reached at themeeting, the lawmakersdissolved the councilswithout declaring a datefor elections into the coun-

cils.A chieftain of the party

who craved anonymity,described the dissolutionas senseless and an at-tempt to cause unneces-sary crisis in the party.

He said: “The agree-ment was that we had tosort out the suit which theformer Edo State Inde-pendent Electoral Com-mission, EDSIEC, filedagainst the state govern-ment on the constitutionof a new EDSIEC by the

governor, then the issueof Electoral Act which willguide the conduct of theelection.

“But these things havenot been done and theywent on to dissolve thecouncils. The lawmakerswere supposed to an-nounce a date for electionat once.

“What they have donenow is to put a lot of peo-ple out of job withoutputting in place a date forelection.”

WARRI—THE Niger Delta Indig-

enous Movement forRadical Change, NDIM-RC, has warned all thoserooting for the sack ofPetroleum Minister, Mrs.Diezani Alison-Ma-dueke, as a result of theoil sector probe, to desistor be ready for unpleas-ant consequences.

The group said: “Thecall for the removal of thePetroleum Minister, Mrs.Diezani Alison-Ma-dueke, is unacceptableto us and those at theforefront of the campaignshould desist now. Shehas brought pride to thepeople of the Niger Del-ta in particular and thecountry in general andwe will mobilize for herto retain that position till2020.”

The group noted thatthose calling for Alison-Madueke's removal ac-cused Ministers of Petro-leum Resources between2008 and 2011 of alleg-edly handing out sevendiscretionary oil licenc-es, while $183 million insignature bonuses was

missing from the deals.It said they further al-

leged that three of the oillicences were awardedsince the current minis-ter came into office in2010.

But NDIMRC, in astatement by its Presi-dent, Nelly Emma, Sec-retary, John Sailor andPublic Relations Officer,Mukoro Stanley, made acase for Mrs. DiezaniAlison-Madueke andkicked against calls forher sack.

Describing Mrs. Ali-son-Madueke as the bestPetroleum Minister everto emerge in the country,the group said she mustnot be sacked by thePresidency, saying theRibadu report was notbeing fair to her.

“The Petroleum Minis-ter should be commend-ed for her transparencyin the industry and en-couragement of indige-nous companies. She hasbrought sanity into theoil industry since shecame on board as Petro-leum Minister, the groupsaid.”

Group warns against calls forPetroleum Minister's sack

Reconstituted Edo guber electionstribunal begins sitting today

BY GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE

BENIN—THE re

constituted EdoState Governorship Elec-tions Petition Tribunal,h e a d e dby Mr. Justice Mu-hammed Pindiga, will beinaugurated today inBenin. Other members of thetribunal are Justices C.M. A. Olotoregun Isho-la and A. I. Kutigi. Vanguard gatheredthat the reconstituted tri-bunal is expected to hearthe petition filed by thePeoples Democratic Par-ty, PDP, candidate in theJuly 14, governorshipelection, Major Gen.Charles Airhiavbere(rtd), challenging the re-election of Governor Ad-ams Oshiomhole. It would be recalled

that the former tribunal,headed by Mr. JusticeSuleiman Ambrusa, withJustices Esor Teetito andDanlami Senchi as mem-bers, was dissolved bythe National JudicialCommission, followinglack of confidence ex-pressed by the PDP gov-ernorship candidate. General Arhiavbere ischallenging the outcomeof the July 2012 electionon two major grounds,namely the academicqualification of GovernorOshiomhole and allegedirregularities in the elec-tion which he claimedwas a contravention ofthe Electoral Act 2010.The Justice SuleimanAmbrusa led tribunalhad in its first ruling,held that the tribunalhad no jurisdiction toadjudicate on the PDPgovernorship candi-date’s petition.

VISIT: President Goodluck Jonathan (left) being welcomed by Nigerian women and children at theNigerian High Commission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monday.


BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU

C-River budgets N151.4bn for 2013

CALABAR—CROSS

River State Gov-ernment has budgetedN151.37 billion for 2013fiscal year, and put itsForeign Direct Invest-ment at $1.5bn(N232.5bn).

Governor Liyel Imoke,who stated this whilepresenting the 2013budget proposal tagged‘Budget of Commit-ment’, to the state Houseof Assembly for approv-al, said the FDI portfoliowas expanded from $750million to $1.5 billion in2012.

The budget, tagged“Budget of Commit-ment”, is a five percentimprovement on lastyear ’s estimate of

...as FDI hits $1.5bn

‘Bayelsa not planning to annexfive oil-rich Kalabari communities'

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

N144.62 billion.A breakdown of the

budget shows that mon-ey allocated for capitalexpenditure fell slightlyfrom N84.62 to N80.23billion, while N71.14 bil-lion was earmarked forrecurrent expenditureagainst the N60.04 bil-lion for 2012.

Imoke said: “In thisbudgetary circle, we arecommitted to intensify-ing our efforts at meet-ing our recurrent obliga-tions by exploring thevast potential availablefor Internal RevenueGeneration, ensuringthat we leverage on thecomparative advantagewe enjoy in agricultureand tourism to create jobopportunities for ourgrowing youth popula-tion.”

YE N A G O A —BAYELSA State

Government, yesterday,described as misleading,claims that it was plan-ning to annex five oil richcommunities in KalabariKingdom in Rivers Stateand called on the latter totender an unreservedapology to her and Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathanover the unguarded, andmischievous statements,aimed at disparaging thePresidency and incitingviolence between the sis-ter states.

This came as the Presi-dency, also last night, dis-sociated President Good-luck Jonathan from theborder dispute betweenboth states.

Kalabari National Forumhad, Monday, protestedalleged surreptitiousmoves by some federalgovernment officials to ex-cise 5 oil producing Kala-bari communities of Riv-ers States and give themto Bayelsa State for po-litical reasons.

Bayelsa dismissesclaims

But the Bayelsa StateGovernment, in a state-ment by the Chief PressSecretary to the Governor,Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Mark-son, dismissed the al-leged move to forcefullyannex any territory orpeople into Bayelsa, say-ing that Ijaw strategic in-terest demanded thatIjaws wherever they were,should be supported andstrengthened and notforced into Bayelsa State.

It described the pur-ported claim as an attemptby detractors of the Ijawnation to create unneces-sary strife and hostilitywithin the Ijaw ethnicfamily to Ijaw nation’s col-lective disadvantage.

The statement whichwas issued last night inYenagoa, read: “The at-tention of Bayelsa StateGovernment has beendrawn to media reportscredited to chiefs andelders of some Ijaw clansof Kalabari extraction inRivers State, alleging at-tempts by some persons toforcefully annex commu-nities and ancestral landsas well as oil facilities andinstallations in Kalabari-land to Bayelsa State forthe purpose of claimingderivation entitlements.

No such move

”The government ofBayelsa State wishes toreact as follows: Firstly,we assure our Ijaw kithand kin in the Kalabariclan of Rivers State thatthere is no such move toforcefully annex any ter-ritory or people intoBayelsa State. We furtherwish to state that the Ijawstrategic interest demandsthat Ijaws wherever theyare should be supportedand strengthened and notto be forced into BayelsaState.

“That the purportedclaim is an attempt by de-tractors of the Ijaw nationto create unnecessarystrife and hostility withinthe Ijaw ethnic family toour collective disadvan-tage.

Presidency dissociatesJonathan from imbroglio

Meanwhile, the Presi-dency has dissociatedPresident GoodluckJonathan from the imbro-glio, saying attempt to in-volve him smacked of ir-responsibility.

The Presidency said ina statement: “Our atten-tion has been drawn to apublication in some news-papers today about a pro-test staged by the KalabariNational Forum and somemonarchs in Abuja, inwhich the so-called pro-

testers accused PresidentGoodluck Ebele Jonathanof interfering in a bound-ary dispute between Riv-ers and Bayelsa states.

“The protesters allegeddirectly and through in-nuendoes, that there areplans to 'cede five RiversState oil communities toBayelsa with the conniv-ance of various FederalGovernment agenciesunder the watchful eyesand supervision of hisExcellency, Mr. Presidentwhose home state, mostingloriously, is the directbeneficiary.'

“We consider these alle-gations irresponsible andmost unfortunate consid-ering the status of the per-sons who reportedlychampioned the protest.The statutory agenciesbeing referred to by theprotesters do not take or-ders from the President;they are independent bod-ies. Besides, there are laiddown procedures for re-solving inter-state bound-ary disputes.

“In this particular case,the dispute between Riv-ers and Bayelsa statespredates the Jonathanadministration, and hasbeen a matter for consid-eration by the NationalBoundary Commission,the Revenue MobilisationAllocation and FiscalCommission (RMAFC)and other relevant agen-cies, long before now."

...as Presidency absolves Jonathan


DR. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA'S BOOK PRESENTATIONIN ABUJA, YESTERDAY. PIX: GBEMIGA OLAMIKAN.

From right: Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard Newspapers, Mr GbengaAdefaye; Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Publisher, Vanguard Newspa-per, Sam Amuka and Chief Onyema Ugochukwu.

Director-General, DMO, Dr Abraham Nwankwo,(left) and Accountant-General, Jonah Otunla.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji(left) and Minister of Labour and Productivity,Chief Emeka Wogu.

From left, Mr Tony Elumelu, Adamawa State Gov-ernor, Murtala Nyako; former Minister of Informa-tion, Frank Nweke, and former Minister of Indus-try, Chief Kola Jamodu.

From left: Mr. Jide Adeniyi, former NDDC ManagingDirector, Hon. Emmanuel Aguariawodo and Mr. SegunAwolowo.

From left: Former Minister of Information and Com-munication, Prof. Dora Akunyili; Director-General,SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh and Chairman, Visafone, Mr.Jim Ovia.

From left: Professor of Economics, Oxford University, Paul Collier; Minister of Fi-nance, South Africa, Pavin Gordhan; Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; formerCommonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku (chairman of event), and VicePresident Namadi Sambo.

Presidential Adviser on National AssemblyMatters, Senator Joy Emodi (right) and Ms. Com-fort Obi.

Chief Sunny Odogwu launching the book Re-forming the Unreformable –Lessons from Nigeria.

The author, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala field-ing questions from reporters.

From right: Managing Director, Access Bank, Aig-Imoukhude; President, Nigerian Stock Exchange,Aliko Dangote and Deputy Governor of CBN, Mr.Tunde Lemo.


Abia govt shuts 100 illegal schools

BY ANAYO OKOLI

WARRI—CHAIRMAN of Warri Na-

tional Council, WNC,Chief Brown Mene, hassaid that the Itsekiri Edu-cation Trust was inaugu-rated to create a solid plat-form that would not onlyhave the capacity for pro-viding quality education,but also outlive the presentgeneration and still be rel-evant for successive gen-erations.

Chief Mene, who is theOgwa-Olusan of Warri, saidthis at the inauguration ofItsekiri Education Trust atthe Olu of Warri Palace inWarri, Delta State.

He said the Itsekiri Edu-cation Trust “has the man-

Why we inaugurated Itsekiri Education Trust — WNC

date to acquire, build, equipand run institutions of learn-ing at all levels in suchplaces as available re-sources would allow.”

Mene said the trust wassaddled with the responsi-bility of assisting indigentItsekiri children in their aca-demic pursuit,noting thatdoors will be opened fornon-Itsekiri children to beenrolled into the institutionsthat will be acquired by thetrust.

In a message, Delta StateGovernor, Dr. EmmanuelUduaghan, described theinitiative as one whichwould reduce burden fromthe state government. Thegovernor, who was repre-

sented by Commissionerfor Basic Education, Prof.Patrick Muoboghare, ex-pressed optimism that theproject would be a success“because of what Itsekiriare known for.”

Speaker of Delta StateHouse of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Victor Ochei, whowas Chairman of theocassion, described theItsekiri ethnic nationalityas one of the first to em-brace Western educationand pledged to be part ofthe trust.

The Olu of Warri,Ogiama Atuwatse II, whoadministered oath to the10-man Education Trust,noted that with their inau-

guration, no child wouldhenceforth be left untouchedin their quest for educationand prayed for members ofthe trust to succeed in theirassignment.

The 10-member workingcommittee which is chairedby Dr. Mark Ogharaerumihas former Vice-Chancellor,University of Benin, Prof.Grace Alele-Williams, Prof.Doris Afejuku, Chief Nel-son Utieyione, Prof. J.NOmatseye, Mr. WilliamKpere Daibo, Prof. GabrielYomere, Mr. GbesimiAkperi, Mr. Alex Neyin asmembers, while Mr. Law-rence Ukubeyinje will serveas Secretary.

UMUAHIA—IN itsdetermined effort to

improve the standard ofeducation, Abia State gov-ernment has closed downover 100 illegal nursery,primary and secondaryschools across the state.

To show its seriousnessover the matter, the govern-ment announced that thepremises of all the illegalschool had been sealed offand that a tribunal wouldbe set up to try the opera-tors of the schools.

Commissioner for Educa-tion, Mrs. Monica Philips,who disclosed this to news-men at a briefing inUmuahia yesterday, saidthe illegal schools wereused to perpetrate examina-tion malpractices in thestate.

She said despite previ-ous warnings to illegal pri-vate schools and advice thattheir operators upgradethem, they refused hencethe decision to closed them.

Philips did not, however,

AWKA—THE memberr e p r e s e n t i n g

A n a o c h a / N j i k o k a /Dunukofia federal constitu-ency, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife,has urged politicians tolearn to display spirit ofsportsmanship wheneverthey were rejected by theelectorate.

According to her, the ideaof wasting resources to pur-sue unrealistic legal battle

�Threatens exam administrators

disclose the exact numberof schools affected by theclosure, but noted that theywere hundreds.

She said officials of theministry were still goinground the state to identifyother illegal schools.

The commissioner alsosaid only teachers or exami-nation administrators whoundergo training on exami-nation ethics will be allowedto participate in the conduct

of examinations in thestate.

Philips said only thosewho participated andpassed the examinationadministration Integrityand technical certificateworkshop held recently inthe state by the ministry, inconjunction with Exam Eth-ics Marshal International,would be involved in theconduct of school examina-tions in the state.

According to her, themeasures are part of gov-ernment’s effort to ensurethat the standard of educa-tion in Abia remains high.

She said GovernorTheodore Orji was in sup-port of the ministry’s effortto ensure that examinationsconducted in the state werecredible and reliable, add-ing that the governorwanted the policy of zerotolerance for examinationmalpractices maintained inthe state.

Ekwunife urges politicians toembrace spirit of sportsmanshipBY VINCENT UJUMADU after an election is not good

for democracy. Reacting to the judgment

of the Court of Appealwhich dismissed the appealfiled by Mr. DozieNwankwo, candidate ofAction Congress of Nigeria,ACN, Ekwunife, who waselected on the platform ofAll Progressives Grand Al-liance, APGA,, observedthat unnecessary legal bat-tle often distracted the per-son who was elected.

BY TONY EDIKE

FG begins repair of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway

ENUGU—THE Federal government

through the Road Mainte-nance Agency, FERMA,has commenced major re-pairs on the long aban-doned 200 km Enugu/Port-Harcourt Expresswayto make the ever-busy roadmotorable before the festiveperiod.

Four contractors havebeen engaged to handledifferent sections of the road

UMUAHIA—ABIAState government

has said there was nogoing back on on itsplans to demolish illegalstructures in Aba.

According to the gov-ernment, no less than1800 illegal structureswill be demolished in thecommercial city.

Chief Press Secretary to

....Insists on demolition of illegalstructures in Aba

BY ANAYO OKOLI

BRIEFING: From left: Director: Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Emeka Oparah;Director: Regulatory Affairs & Special Projects, Osondu Nwokoro and Chief Technical Officer, AwadheshKalia at a briefing by the firm on recent developments that impact Telecoms operations in Nigeria inLagos, yesterday.

with a mandate to carry outthorough repair of the failedportions, and not total re-construction of the roadwhich had been under de-plorable condition andcausing nightmare for roadusers.

Managing Director ofFERMA, Mr. GabrielAmuchi, who inspected theon-going maintenance jobon the road, yesterday,noted that it had hadchallenges for over fouryears.

the Governor,Ugochukwu Emezue,dismissed insinuationsthat the government hadjettisoned the idea, say-ing structures markedfor demolition were builton drainage channels.

He said the govern-ment would want toproperly monitor thedemolition to ensureunscrupulous elements

did not take advantage ofthe exercise to get at theirenemies.

Emezue said Aba wasdear to the heart of Gov-ernor Orji, explainingthat as the reason hewouldn’t abandon thecity.

He quoted the governoras desirous of leavinglegacies in the state, in-cluding Aba, before leav-ing office in 2015.

Uduaghan gets AMALGUNaward

WARRI—GOVERNOR Emmanuel

Uduaghan of Delta State,will on November 8, be con-ferred with the award ofGrand Patron of Africa Mu-nicipal and Local Govern-ment Workers Union’s Net-work, AMALGUN.

President of NigerianUnion of Local GovernmentEmployees, NULGE, DeltaState Chapter and a senior

BY EMMA ARUBI

official of the continentalbody, Comrade DavidOfoeyeno, disclosed this atbriefing in Warri, yesterday.

He said the honour is inrecognition of Uduaghan'sstrong advocacy for finan-cial autonomy for local gov-ernment system in thecountry.

Comrade Ofoeyeno saidAMALGUN will be offi-cially inducted on Thurs-day, November 8, whenthe governor is billed to re-ceive his award as theGrand Patron of the body.


Constitution review: NBA

insists on referendum

FCTA pays localcontractors N43.4bn

ABUJA—FEDERALCapital Territory Ad-

ministration, FCTA, haspaid local contractorsN43.4 billion for jobs ex-ecuted in the FCT, be-tween January and Sep-tember 2012.

FCT Minister, SenatorBala Mohammed, ex-plained in Abuja that thegesture was in line withthe cardinal principles ofthe TransformationAgenda of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan.

Mohammed, who re-called that the FCT Statu-tory Budget was only ap-proved in May 2012, dis-closed that the paymentswere for second and thirdquarters.

He also revealed thatthe administration paidN21,413,885,417.16 in thesecond quarter, whileN21,981,877,314.77 waspaid for the third quarter,t o t a l i n gN43,395,762,731.93.

The Minister explainedthat some of the jobs done

by the local contractorsinclude provision of infra-structure, building ofclassrooms, supply of fur-niture to schools, hospitalequipment and other sun-dry services.

Mohammed specificallynoted that all contractorsowed N50 million andbelow with matured billswere paid June 2012.

According to him, FCTAwas awaiting matured cer-tificate to effect any re-quired payment as thegovernment is more thanever determined not toallow any local contractorface undue hardship.

He reiterated that FCTAwas desirous of changingthe face of contract admin-istration in the countryand encouraged local con-tractors to take the lead.

Mohammed assuredthat his administrationwas ready to settle localcontractors to supportthem to take on biggerdevelopmental projects,thereby effectively com-peting with foreign con-tractors, both in fundingand expertise.

BY FAVOUR

NNABUGWU

Orubebe threatens Melayewith court action over N29bn

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA—MINIS-TER of Niger Delta

Affairs, Elder GodsdayOrubebe, has threatenedto drag a former memberof the House of Repre-sentatives, Dino Melaye,to court over allegationsthat the ministry awarded

fictitious contracts to thetune of N29 billion.

Melaye, Executive Sec-retary of Anti-CorruptionNetwork, had at a pressbriefing in Abuja, Mon-day, alleged that overN29 billion had been si-phoned through ficti-tious contracts by theministry.

He said the contractsinclude land reclama-tion/shoreline protectionand canalisation.

He alleged further thatthe ministry was in-volved in payments forphantom projects, over-budgeting and violationof Bureau of Public Pro-curement, BPP, guide-lines for the award ofcontracts.

However, in a reactionto the allegations, yes-terday, Elder Orubebedescribed the allegationsas false, a fallacy andunfounded and an at-tempt to bring to disre-pute the good image hehad built for himself overthe years.

He said: “I have alsoconsulted my lawyersand I hope that DinoMelaye will also beready to meet me in courtbecause I am heading tothe court.”

Orubebe, who said theprojects in question werelocated in communitiesand could be verified atanytime, listed the con-tracts to include Canalisa-tion/River Training ofFoupolo-Bulou NdoroCreek in Burutu; canali-sation at Odoubou, Ogba-Bagbene Burutu andLand Reclamation/Shore-line Protection Project atOgbobagbene, Burutu.

ABUJA—NIGERIANBar Association,

NBA, yesterday, ex-pressed its reservationsabout the ongoing proc-ess for amendment of the1999 Constitution, stress-ing the need for a refer-endum to be conductedacross the federation.

The legal body, whichequally described plansby the House of Repre-sentatives to hold publichearing simultaneouslyin all the 360 FederalConstituencies in thecountry on November 10,as a ‘wild goose chase,’insisted that “referen-dum is the ultimate con-sultation with the peopleof Nigeria, not a one-day gathering in FederalConstituencies.”

NBA, through its Na-tional President, ChiefOkey Wali, SAN, toldnewsmen in Abuja yes-terday: “The ongoing

process does not appearto be very orderly. Thereis no clear agenda orknown methodology.

“Various governmentstructures like the Sen-ate Committee on theReview of the 1999 Con-stitution, the House ofRepresentatives Com-mittee on the Review ofthe Constitution, theHon. Justice Belgore’sPresidential Committeeon the Review of theConstitution (whoseWhite Paper is yet to bereleased), the NigeriaGovernors’ Forum, andso on, are all workingtowards the said amend-ment.

“In fact, the House ofReps will be holding apublic hearing simulta-neously in all the 360Federal constituencieson Saturday, November10.

“Our first instinct wasnot to be a part of this be-cause we did not think

that a one day gatheringin 360 Federal Constitu-encies would be produc-tive towards reasonableamendment of the 1999Constitution.

“But on a secondthought, we decided toattend but without preju-dice to our reservationson the inadequacy of theprocess and on any at-tempt to any claim to le-gitimacy if Nigerians arenot given opportunitiesin the future to effec-tively participate in theamendment of the 1999Constitution.

“We will continue tocall for a referendum, atthe final stage of theprocess, thereby givingthe average Nigerian, asay in the amendment.Only then could any le-gitimate claim be madeto it being a constitutionby ‘we the people of Ni-geria’.

“Nigeria is currently atthis crucial trajectory.

The NBA is of the viewthat the 1999 Constitu-tion, as it is, cannot sus-tain our present democ-racy. The 1999 Constitu-tion contains good pro-visions; however, it alsocontains weak and ob-noxious provisions andequally admits of severallacunae.”

Meanwhile, NBA, yes-terday, inaugurated twocommittees on constitu-tion review and law re-form, as well as commit-tee of the NBA rule oflaw action group.

Inaugurating the com-mittees, Wali said: “Forus in NBA, the chal-lenge is to move fromconceptual definition ornotion of Rule of Law, topractical implementationof the components; amove from concept to re-ality.

“It was no surprise thatthe 2007 Brookings Re-port classified Nigeria as‘critically weak’.”

BY IKECHUKWU

NNOCHIRI


On the recent Kaduna bomb attack

PEOPLE SPEAK08102479985By Bartholomew Madukwe

([email protected])

Survivors of Kaduna blast

recount ordeal

Pope appoints Kukahinto Pontifical Council

IF government cannotprovide security forChristians in the

North, then they shouldstart looking elsewhere forresidence. Only the livingcan shout “Praise theLord.” There are otherparts of the country thatstill respect Christians.—Mr. Emmanuel Iyoke,Businessman.

WELL, last Sun-day’s genocidecarried out by

extremists’ sect againstChristians shows that theissue transcends cultureor religion. This is why Ithink the governmentshould address the issuewith intense serious-ness.— Chief MorahEkwunoh, Lawyer.

SUCH an act is bar-baric and againstthe Islamic reli-

gion. The Federal Gov-ernment should set up acommittee, so as to find alasting solution to theseattacks. Religious fanaticsshould adhere to theteaching of the Quran orBible.— Mr. DanielAnyibema, Student.

I think governmentshould do somethingquickly to stop the

rising cases of bombing.One of the things gov-ernment can do is to im-prove on their intelli-gence gathering. Thegovernment needs to beproactive on situationslike this.— Mr. RalphNwoke, Lawyer.

THESE bombingsare more politicalthan religious. At

this point, I expect theNational Assembly to usethe constitution to checkthe executive arm andensure that lives andproperty of Nigerians areprotected. It is impor-tant.— Mr. QudusMumuni, Lawyer.

IT is devastating tohear about such attacks despite the sup-

posed level of security inthese places. Why arethey bombing Christiansand their places of wor-ship? This is one ques-tion that we need to ask.We need God’s interven-tion.— Miss BunmiBalogun, Student.

ABUJA, barely a weekafter the appointment

of Archbishop JohnOnaiyekan as fourth Nige-rian Cardinal after late Car-dinal Dominic Ekandem,Pope Benedict XVI hasappointed Bishop Mat-thew Hassan Kukah,Catholic Bishop of theDiocese of Sokoto, as amember of the PontificalCouncil for Inter-reli-gious Dialogue, VaticanCity.

The 13-member Coun-cil is the highest decisionand policy-making bodyfor the Council for theHoly Father.

In May, the Presidentof the Conference ofBishops of English andFrench Speaking West

Africa, announcedKukah’s appointment asthe Chairman of theCommission on Culture,Inter-religious Dialogueand Ecumenism.

In February, he waselected Chairman of theCommission on Inter-re-ligious Dialogue for theCatholic Bishops’ Con-ference of Nigeria.

Bishop Kukah had ear-lier served the Council ina five-year tenure, whenHis Eminence, FrancisCardinal Arinze, servedas the President of theCouncil.

He was a delegate atthe just-concluded Synodof Bishops for the NewEvangelisation in theVatican.

RCCG sets up vocationaltraining for flood victims

KADUNA—WITHmore victims of Sun-

day bomb attack on St.Rita’s Catholic Church,Badarwa, Kaduna, beingtreated and dischargedfrom hospitals, survivorsare still haunted by theexperience with one say-ing the sound of explosiondenies him of sleep.

Security was tight at the44 Army Referral Hospi-tal, Kaduna, where 35members of the church,among them 21 children,were being treated. Buta nurse at the hospital,who did not want to bementioned, informedVanguard that six vic-tims were treated andcertified fit to go home.

She said: “Many ofthem will be dischargedby tomorrow. Only a fewmay stay here longerthan a week. They areresponding wonder-fully.”

‘I want to forget this'A wife of one of the vic-

tims, Mrs SarahShindong, who spoke toVanguard outside theward, where her hus-band was being treated,said he had lacerationson his head, but that theman wanted to go home.

She said: “My husbandis not happy stayinghere. I believe that ifthey allow him to gohome and be returningfor treatment, he will getbetter. The children aregetting sick without himand the family is neverthe same if he is not athome.

“They restrict visitshere, and the childrenare so close to their

daddy. He eats, speaksand walks.

“I wish he gets out ofhere so that we can putthis thing behind us. Ihave not slept for fourhours since last Sunday.”

At the St. Gerard Catho-lic Hospital, where 14wounded worshippers arereceiving treatment, someunconfirmed number of thewounded had been al-lowed to return home. MrsRita Ejiro and her four chil-dren, all below the age ofeight, were among the vic-tims being treated at thehospital.

‘I can't sleep'Mathew Kayit, a 21-year-

old student of Kaduna Poly,told Vanguard: “I still hearthe sound of the blast each

time I try to close my eyesand sleep.

“I think my chest stillhurts. But I feel safe andbetter here with the doctorsalways coming around tosee and talk to me. Thenurses and everyone arejust good.

“Yesterday, the governorcame and we shook hands.They care about us here verywell. I am very grateful.”

At Garkuwa Hospital,Vanguard gathered that outof the 16 receiving treat-ment, four were dis-charged.

However, most of the sur-vivors treated at the hospi-tal did not speak to news-men and the Medical Di-rector was not on seat whenVanguard visited.

‘Can man dothis to humans?'

Father of one of the vic-

tims, who said his nameshould not be men-tioned, told Vanguardthat he was shockedthat a human beingwould want to kill peo-ple he did not know andhad no issues with.

He said: “I thank Godthat my daughter isalive and is respondingto treatment. May Godshow us the wisdom tolive with one another.”

At the Multi-ClinicsHospital, where Rev.Father Mike Bonni wasbeing treated, a hordeof sympathisers gath-ered but were barredfrom seeing him by apoliceman, who said hewas acting on instruc-tion.

It was, however, con-firmed that he was fast re-covering and may be dis-charged before weekend.

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

Bauchi civil servant docked

over Facebook comments

A 30-year old civilservant, Abbas

Faggo, detained byBauchi State Governmentfor allegedly posting aFacebook account of al-leged monumental corrup-tion in the state, was yes-terday arraigned before amagistrate court over al-leged injurious false-hood and defamation.

The prosecution ac-cused Faggo of using hismobile telephonenumber to forward amessage on hisFacebook profile on Sep-tember 4, alleging thatthe state funded the wed-ding of the state gover-nor ’s son, which tookplace at the Azare area

of the state on Septem-ber 8.

Faggo had commentedon his Facebook on thealleged extravagantfunding of GovernorYuguda’s son, Idris’ wed-ding. The case gener-ated comments from over500 people, includingpoliticians, the Civil Lib-erties Organisation,CLO, prompting the Ni-gerian Bar Association,NBA, to indicated inter-est in defending the ac-cused person.

In his ruling, the pre-siding Magistrate,Adamu Madaki grantedbail to Faggo.

According to the bailconditions, Faggo mustproduce two sureties, whomust sign a bond of

N500,000 each and thenadjourned the case toNovember 15, to enablethe prosecution get law-yer to address the issuesraised by the defence thathad obviously renderedthe charges on the FirstInformation Report, FIRdefective.

Police prosecutor, Ser-geant Mohammed Gaba,had earlier told the CourtIII, that the state PoliceCriminal InvestigationDepartment, SCID, re-ceived a request from thestate Attorney-Generaland Commissioner forJustice, Mr. Al-MustaphaSuleiman, to investigatethe offence against Faggo,which was contrary to Sec-tions 393 and 394 of thePenal Code.

WARRI—THE Re-deemed Christian

Church of God, RCCG,Delta Province 5, hasconcluded plans to setup vocational trainingcentres in all resettle-ment camps in DeltaState with a view to en-gaging the flood victimsto enable them start upbusinesses.

Head of I Care forFlood Victims— Floodedbut not defeated, Mr.George Orogun, madethe disclosure atOkwagbe, Ughelli SouthLocal Government Areabefore leading othermembers of the I CareUnit of the church to do-nate consumables andother basic amenities tothe internally-displacedpersons.

Items donated include30 bags of rice, two bagsof beans, 25 cartons of

Gala, 350 buckets, 400pairs of slippers, 450drinking cups, 50 cartonsof Indomie noodles, twobags of sugar, two bagsof salt, insecticide,drugs, disinfectants,three bags of garri, yam,plastic mats and 30 bagsof new and fairly-usedclothes.

According to Mr.Orogun, who is also anaide to Delta State gov-ernor, the donation wasmade possible with thesupport of corporate or-ganisations like UnitedBank for Africa and ananonymous Muslim,who contributed N2 mil-lion.

13,835 flood victims atthe Oleh resettlementcamp, including 40 nurs-ing mothers, also receivedrelief materials worth mil-lions of naira from the unitlast Saturday.

BY SUZAN EDEH

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012— 17

,

,OPINION

Mimiko’s victory in perspectiveBY SOLA FASURE

*Mr. Fasure, a political analyst, wrotefrom Osogbo, Osun State.

Continues on pg. 18

GIVEN the circumstances, it is verytempting to have a complete

misreading of the outcome of the October20 governorship election in Ondo State inwhich the incumbent, Dr Olusegun Mimiko,was declared the winner. More foreboding,the significance on Yoruba politics anddemocracy in general could easily be lost.

Some people have erroneously proposedthe election as a direct contest betweenAsiwaju Bola Tinubu and his lieutenants likeOsun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola onone hand and Governor Mimiko on theother.

To begin with, neither Asiwaju Tinubu norOgbeni Aregbesola was a candidate in theelection. Rotimi Akeredolu was thecandidate of their party, the Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN. What they did was to deploytheir political and campaign skills intoAkeredolu’s governorship project. It was thesame way Edward Kennedy poured himselfinto the Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential

campaign. What they did for Akeredolu wasno different from what they did for AdamsOshiomhole in Edo, Abubakar Audu in Kogi,James Akpandohehe in AkwaIbom andSteve Ugbah in Benue State. It’s the sameintensity, panache and wits. There is nothingunusual and nothing to be ashamed of.

If Aregbesola threatened that he wasgoing to drive out Mimiko from office priorto the October 20 election, it was a legitimatepolitical statement consistent with hisstanding as a leader in ACN. What wouldhave been bizarre would have been for himto promise to support Mimiko for a secondterm when his party was going to field acandidate for that election.

The first duty of a political party is tocontest electoral offices by fieldingcandidates and seeking to win. A politicalparty stands for something in terms ofideology, values, tradition, programmes,development agenda, etc. When people votefor a candidate of a political party, they are

indeed buying into these. The ACN, forinstance, stands for progressivism. This isthe tradition directly descended from ChiefObafemi Awolowo, the father of progressivepolitics in Nigeria. It is a tradition of Fabiansocialism with its hallmark ofegalitarianism, human development andsocial welfare. In contrast, a party likePeoples Democratic Party, PDP, is descendedfrom a tradition of hierarchy, big money,plutocracy and neo-feudalism.

When these parties campaign, this is whatthey try to sell and those who vote for themhave wittingly or unwittingly bought theseproducts, assuming that the election is freeand fair. The tendency though is that a partylike PDP will see democracy as a system ofpower, rather than a platform for providingchoice for the people and would thereforenot have the slightest compunction inrigging and manipulating election as longas it serves the purpose of either getting itsmembers into power or keeping them in it.

Nevertheless, it is the raison d’etre of apolitical party to contest elections, seek towin where it was excluded from power andconsolidate on where it holds sway.

This point is very important in light of thenegative campaign of the Mimikocampaign team and a section of the mediawho either don’t know what democracy isabout or have conveniently forgotten thatparties seek to win election and wereaccusing ACN of seeking to extend itsinfluence to Ondo State.To put the recordsstraight, ACN had sought to expand itsreaches to other places and narrowly lost inplaces like Anambra and otheraforementioned states where itsgovernorship candidate is now a senator ofthe Federal Republic.

It simply beggars belief how supposedly

“Price, (n). value, plusa reasonal sum for thewear and tear ofconscience in demandingit.” -Ambrose Bierce.

THE nation is beingreminded that the

interests of politicians issuperior to all institutions,rules and processes,including the publicservice and procurementprocesses. Events areunfolding which explainwhy our politics in Nigeriais so anti-people, and howpoliticians are running oureconomy aground. Justwhen you thought that themurky waters thatswallowed formerMinister of Power, BarthNnaji may have recededto reveal slightly morelevel grounds, verypowerful Governors areopening up a new front ina fight involving poorly-masked personalinterests. By the time thisdrama is concluded, thevital interests of Nigeriancitizens in the pivotalprivatisation of the powersector may have beenfurther compromised. Theintegrity of the exercisewill be questioned, and itis very likely that otherquarrels over the processof selecting firms wouldbe heard in the nearfuture.

The crown jewel in thereform process is indanger of being pluckedby a dispute over what isthe most appropriateprocess to follow inprivatising distributioncompanies. Governors ofEdo, Delta and Ekiti lastweek complained that thecompany they havebacked, SouthernElectricity DistributionCompany, which lost at acritical stage of thebidding process, has beenunfairly assessed.Therefore, it is in dangerof losing out in the finalanalysis to Vigeo PowerConsortium, whichemerged as leadingbidder. Although theprocess was at that stageincomplete, the Governorscame, guns ablaze, todenounce the entireexercise, and threaten thatthey will prevent Vigeofrom taking over powerdistribution in their areas.

Un-Due Process

new in Nigeria, but it willsink the entire powersector privatisationprogramme.

As things stand now, itis difficult to see howconfidence over thisprocess can be sustained.The governors of thestates appear to havedealt a very serious blowto it. If their weightyallegations are false, itwill take more than Mr.Peterside or even theVice president todiscredit them effectively.This has to be done byPresident Jonathanhimself, or his flagshipwill be torpedoed bypowerful governors in aregion which is hisstrongest politicalconstituency. WillPresident Jonathan takeon the governors of Edo,Ekiti, Delta and Ondo,and will they blink first?In the event that theentire process cannot besalvaged by thepresidency owing tooverpowering politicalpressures, the House ofRepresentatives shouldstep in and conduct athorough and openinvestigation over theentire privatisationprocess.

Dispute overappropriate process

The disputes over whatis the appropriate

process to follow inmatters where vital publicinterest is involved andmassive resources are atstake is central to thequality of governance.Isolating the process fromvery narrow interestswhich compromise it anddeprive the people ofhuge benefits is one of themost important ways tofight corruption. Theworld over, this is not easyto achieve; but in Nigeria,it has never been morenecessary. The on-goingprivatisation of the powersector is a key test overwhether PresidentJonathan has the politicalwill to push throughdifficult, but ultimatelyrewarding policies.Nigerians should watchthe outcome of the disputeover the Benin Disco withkeen interest.

They insisted that theyhad invested heavily ingenerating infrastructure,and they would ratherhave the company theypreferred, which hasextensive knowledge and,presumably, their clout tooperate in the zone.Nigerians took note of“area boys” mentalityamong state governors,and were sadly remindedof the intimate linkagesbetween political power,corruption and violence.

Weighty accusations

Stung by weightyaccusations that the

entire ongoing processesof privatising the powersector was fraught withcorruption, Chairman ofthe National Council onPrivatisation, Mr. AtedoPeterside, with themandate of the VicePresident who is chairmanof the National Council onPrivatisation, followed upon the Bureau for PublicEnterprises’ repudiationof the claims of theGovernors with a detailedrebuttal. He blasted theGovernors for crying foulover an in completeprocess, perhaps becausethey feared that theirpreferred company willlose. But he said more.The appearance of a “pre-emptive” strike by theGovernors may have beena ploy to cover what Mr.Peterside said wasevidence of abuse of theprocess by the governors’preferred company whichmay lead to itsdisqualification. Mr.Peterside insists the entireprocess is being informedby the highest possiblestandards of openness,technical competence andtransparency. Thegovernors do not agree.They say they haveevidence that Southernbeat Vigeo in evaluationscores, and the methodbeing adopted by the NCPis untested and nottransparent. The nationtook note of thefoundations forwidespread disputes overthe entire elevendistribution companiesscattered all over thecountry.

These disputes over

power distributioncompanies are severelydamaging for anadministration which putsout power sector reformsas its flagship, and aboutthe only area in whichNigerians desperatelyhope the administration’swords would be kept. Ithas not been without awhole cupboard full ofskeletons either. Itsuffered loss of credibilityin the dismissal of theformer Minister of Power;on questions raised overthe divestment proceeds(N400 billion); over thehigh profile nature of theNigerians backinginvestors; on concernsover politics and theprocess; over pronouncedregional sentiments and

persistent claims thateven those who overseethe process have deeppersonal interests in keyoutcomes.

Bellicious demands

These questions aroundthe process, genuine

or contrived, may haveinformed the bellicousdemands of the governorsto have their owncompany, qualified or not.Will they get what theywant in the end, as acapitulating politicalconcession, and out of thefear that they will makelife difficult for any othercompany to operate in thearea? If one the one handthe process refuses toyield to the demand of the

governors, and stands itsground to operate abovepolitical interests, it couldvery well award the Discocovering Edo, Ekiti, Deltaand Ondo to Vigeo. Whatthen would the governorsdo? If on the other hand,the process is stampededby political pressure,compromises key indicesand hands over the BeninDisco to Southern, it couldvery well open thefloodgates to similardemands from other geo-political units which willdemand that they havepreferred bidders of theirown. It will taint theentire process, and leaveonly one conclusion:political muscle andb a r e l y - c o n c e a l e dpersonal interests are still

vital elements of theprocurement process inNigeria. This will not be

Gov. Mimiko of OndoGov . Uduaghan of Delta

Gov. Fayemi of Ekiti Gov. Oshiomole of Edo

As thingsstand now, itis difficult tosee howconfidenceover thisprocess canbe sustained.Thegovernors ofthe statesappear tohave dealt avery seriousblow to it

CMYK

OPINION


Okada riders are Nigerians not animals (2)

*Mr. Udegbe, a lawyer, wrote from Lagos.

Continued from yesterday's pg.17

Concluded

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

TILL now,they violate every known trafficlaw with impunity.Police attempts to

curb their excesses made little or noimpact.They became ungovernable.Try Mile2 to LASU along Badagry Express way, andthe Isolo to Ejigbo road, to see how unrulythey have become. They take no notice ofLASTMA along these and other roads!

Men and even boys who came down fromnorth of Africa in pursuit of security jobswhich we call “Meguard” joined the Okadariders. People from Niger, Sudan, Somalia,and other troubled nations of North Africa,became Okada riders, and introduced moreviolence, crime, and abuse into the business,leading to the increasing outcry against thebusiness. We, with our open eyes created themonster which we must learn to tame andmanage. Now that the party with theirpolitical fathers is over, the politicians havewoken up, and can see more clearly now andthey want to flush out a business and sourceof livelihood of millions of Nigerianswithout providing a carefully thought outplan and programme to give these onesanother means to sustain their livelihood.We need to sieve the wheat from the chaff instopping the Okada. It is estimated that overfive million families depend on riding Okadaand Keke NAPEP for livelihood, which inessence means that over a conservative 10million Nigerians live on Okada. Okada

riding accounts for up to N20 billionbusiness in this country. In Imo State,university and tertiary institution graduates,own and ride Okada as their means of livelyhood. This applies to many other states,including Lagos. A half-hazard ban on theoperation of Okada, therefore, will pushthese persons who are living on the edge oflife into crime. This can be so wrong and ill-advised at this time when national security andcrime management have becomemonumental challenges. We, as a nation andpeople, must change our attitude towards oneanother; we must begin to attach values to thelives and livelihood of Nigerians. Some of thesebans and restrictions are just politically-motivated because the leaders of the Okadagroup are relating with the opposition party ina state .No state government is known to havecarried out a study in which the impact of theban and the attendant income displacementhave been critically assessed.

His Excellencies may want us to believe thatthe bans on Okada are in the over all interest ofall, and we agree. But in states like Lagos andImo, for example, where over three millionpeople commute to work daily on Okada, howmany can 700 taxis carry per day? If each taximoves four persons in 30 runs per day, you havea total of only 84,000 persons moved per day.How will the remaining over two millionpeople move? Where are buses to help and howmany are provided by the states governments?

What is the plan for movement from villagesto cities and vice versa ? We must accept thatin a democracy, our leaders are not to seethemselves as rulers but servants of thepeople and that our overall welfare and careare squarely their responsibilities.

Why, for example, can two ACN statesnot come together to power the

establishment of an assembly plant for smallbuses like the Suzuki 6 Seater bus, or theDahaitsu Small buses given the huge marketfor commuting within towns in Nigeria.TheSuzuki buses are effective in Festac Town,while Dahaitsu buses are popular in Ondoand Ekiti states.

Why will any two PDP states not worktogether to manufacture small buses,especially in the South South and South Eaststates where the funding seem to beavailable?

These buses could be introduced in otherstates and across the nation, as a moredignifying means of moving or transportingpersons from one point to the other. In acountry where our national transport policyseems to be dying, and confused, what is theoffer on the table for the ordinary man?

The intra-city transport plans of some statescannot easily be noticed among the people.There are no plans for trams, or better andsafer means of mass movement within the cities.Even in Lagos State where such a surface train

plan seems to be in the pipeline from Orile intoLagos Island, the slow pace of constructionalong the Lagos Badagry expressway is killinglife and business along the Badagry axis. Acareful look at the railway plans offers nothingto the people. If properly planned, these smallbuses should be used to replace Okada andKeke which to me are grave representatives ofextreme poverty.

On the eve of the elections in Ondo Staterecently, newspapers reported Asiwaju AhmedTinubu as saying that he invested billions ofNaira in Ondo State election campaigns. Iplead with ACN to deploy part of these hugefunds in providing means of commuting fromthe villages to the cities and within the cities tothe people from henceforth. Our governorsshould replace Okada and Keke with smallbuses, thereby upgrade the life and livingstandards of their fellow country men. What isworth doing at all is worth doing well, and thatis why the time has come for buses to replaceOkada all over Nigeria.The FederalGovernment may even provide the lead in thisdirection. But until they come up with analternative plan, governments should bear inmind that Okada riders are humans, Nigerians,and have their right to care, concern andprovisions from their leaders. We really cannotwish them away, but must give them a betterlife.

SENATE President David BonaventureAlechenu Mark makes sure he says thingsimportantly. States would be created, hesaid. It sounds like a fait accompli. Hemust have figured it out, the States andadded the political cost of creating them. “Creation of additional States can only

make government closer to the peoplecontrary to the view in certain quarters thatwe do not need additional States in thefederation,” Mark said in Ijebu-Ode,where he was attending a festival.His thesis is wrong. States do not make

governments closer to the people.Governments are not close to the peopleeven in the state capitals wheregovernments are located. Are the localgovernments close to the people?Closeness of governments to the peoplederives from a decision of those in chargeto relate to their people, notice theirchallenges and tackle them. It is not anissue related to number of States. If 774local governments are not close to thepeople what difference would more Statesmake?Many governors and legislators (even in

the local governments) live in Abuja. They

States, States, MoreStates

occasionally visit their States. Members ofthe National Assembly ignore theirconstituency offices in the States. Everyonethinks of operating from Abuja, as if thepeople and their challenges must beshunned.How would the creation of new States solve

these problems? How would it addressmarginalisation, when new States throw upnew minorities? Most importantly, wouldcreation of States consider the increasingcosts of governments?New States come with new capitals,

bureaucracies that replicate poverty of theformer State, new layers of wastes. Are theyaffordable? For an economy in distress, how

would new States enhance its recovery?Politicians are wonderful people. They have

answers without the questions. If they needStates, they would create them to satisfyprospective governors, new godfathers andexpand the political sphere forappointments and elections. New Stateswould serve the interests of politicians, whoare anxious about their future.There are implications from new States.

Cost of governance would rise at theNational Assembly which could see increasein membership to reflect the circumstances.We are complaining of too many Ministers,we would have to appoint more, since eachState should have a Minister. We may haveto create more Ministries to accommodatethem. There would be senior specialassistants and ministerial aides. The contestfor power at the centre would become moreunwieldy.There were more than 66 requests for

States. How many would be created to makegovernments closer to the people?State creation would be an expensive

decision. There are better options, beforethe National Assembly, which it shouldexplore.


,

,

CMYK

,

,

THINGS seem to beh a p p e n i n g

in our country at such pace asmakes it difficult to keep track ofthem all. The best one can do isto select from a wide range ofissues and hope that what onedoesn’t see others would see. Buta few issues wouldn’t just keepand so I decided to take a quicktrip, metaphorically, aroundNigeria in an attempt to look atsome of the things making thesetimes some of the most harrowingfor our country people. Myjourney takes me first to the flood-ravaged parts of the homeland.From up North where all we wereused to hearing are cases ofdrought and the encroachingdesert, people, literally hundredsof thousands, are being sackedfrom their homes by floods. Notjust the Niger and Benue riversare flooding their banks; smallerrivers are doing their bit to bringbitter tears into many homes.From Taraba to Benue, Kogi toKwara states people are wringingtheir hands in agony. As if thatwas not enough in a regionalready held prostrate by terroristonslaughts of different kinds, the

Desperate times...desperatemeasures

floods have simultaneously foundtheir way to different parts of theSouth. Worst hit are the South-South states in the Niger-Deltaand other parts of the South East/South West. Farmlands arewashed away and homes aredevastated in the manner of thedespoliation caused by themindless prospecting for oil thathas made this part of Nigeria theenvironmental nightmare thatcaused some to heed the call toarms. Suddenly we see vastwilderness of waters in placeswhere people once had theirhomes. Reptiles and othercreatures of the wilds now sharespace with human beings. Surely,this is timely warning for theauthorities to prepare for worseseasons ahead. The fact of globalweather change and its adverseeffects might be coming home tous tragically and no matter howoverwhelming the situationmight be for us now, things couldbe much worse next time. Letthose used to stealing whatshould be used in thedevelopment of the country knowthat times are getting moredesperate and it’s a matter of

enlightened self interest for thosewho lead to lead right. Or therewould be no peace for them intheir assumed havens.

And while Nigerians might beliving down the euphoria of thelast Eid celebrations after the longholidays, they couldn’t haveforgotten and must not forget thecase of one of the alleged terroristkings that was arrested in thehome of a top shot- one of thosewho make laws that their familymembers make no effort torespect. Shuaibu Bama, one of thecowards running amok indifferent parts of the North, killinghundreds of innocent peopleunder the aegis of the foolishterrorist group that claims to hateWestern education, was pickedup in the home of Khalifa AhmadZanna, a senator of the Nigerianstate.

Zanna admits Bama is anephew of his, a drug-

crazed fiend who, according tohim, used to live with him duringwhich time he turned his childreninto punching bags andthreatened everybody in the

house, including the senator. Butthere is no record anywhere tosuggest that Senator Zannamade any report concerning hisobservation of his wayward and,perhaps, murderous nephew.This fellow was let loose to prowlunobserved while the landgroans under the heavy hand ofhis terror group. Mr. Zannaclaims the house in which Bama,who probably knew his was a lifenot worth living anyway and sosought to destroy others- was notcaught in his house but in thehouse of former governor of BornoState, Ali Modu Sheriff who hegoes on to say is working withthe Joint Task Force personnelthat arrested Bama to frame him.Well, frame up or not, what thisarrest confirms is the long heldsuspicion that the seeminginvincibility of the terrorist groupBama belongs in resides in thesupport it gets from influentialmembers of the Northern rulingclass. Those who have criticisedthese leaders for their silence inthe face of this group’s activitiessurely know what they are saying.The same people protecting thelikes of Bama were the ones whoprovided the leg room for KabiruSokoto to escape from custodybefore he was re-arrested. Whatshould be our concern now is whatAbuja intends to do about Bamaand others arrested before him;the top shots trading accusationand indeed the larger group towhich Bama belonged. All shouldbe made accountable...

One wouldn’t know if there hasbeen any confirmation of thatreport that former president,Olusegun Obasanjo, hasconfiscated a couple of BRT busesin retaliation for the seizure of anSUV vehicle belonging to hisfarm. According to this report, theformer head of state took thisunprecedented step after his effortto get his own vehicle releasedyielded no result. There’s no

doubt that some of those uniform-wearing officials one finds allover Lagos- from KAI to LAWMAand LASTMA- have moralshardly better than those ofcommon miscreants. Many timesa few of them behave likeuniformed thugs, former jailinmates that are yet to be fullyrehabilitated into society. Butthen, a former president wouldhardly be doing his former officeor his present status in societyany good when he resorts to self-help in the manner reported.While such action might beaccommodated in a commonagitator or activist out to make apoint, it is a stain on the personof a ruler- past or present...

We may not know who islearning from whom but like theObasanjo case, Okada riders alsowent on rampage in Lagos asthey barricaded roads and setBRT buses alight in protestagainst the new Lagos Statetraffic law banning them fromsome roads or parts of the State.It’s been really tough times for theOkada riders whose means ofsurvival is no longer guaranteedas they now have to watch theirbacks against arrest as theytraverse sections of the city fromwhich they have been banned.The law banning the Okadaoperators from the roads seemsin order when viewed from thepoint of safety. But in terms ofconvenience for certain categoriesof road users, it looks like a badlaw, especially when the wholething is presented like a revenue-making strategy for the State.Perhaps, it’s the way state officialshave gone about the laws thatgives this impression. But in itsdrive to make Lagos a liveableplace, the state authorities mustbe careful not to give theimpression that only the rich andeconomically buoyant deserve tolive/work in Lagos.

MILLIONS of pounds sterling.

T h a t ’ show much Bola Tinubu, former

senator, former governor of Lagos State,former democrat of NADECO fame(I willexplainat the end of this column), sayshe “spent on” OlusegunMimiko, gov-ernor of Ondo State. Note, his preferredcurrency: pounds, not naira. He did notspecify the exact figure but we can as-sume a minimum of two million pounds.Which, at the rate of N250 to a pound, isabout N500 million spent on an “un-grateful” and traitorous “godson.”Howmuch did he spend on all the governors,senators, representatives and assembly-men in the states where his Action Con-gress is in power or a player in the grandcasino game called politics in Nigeria?

Let us assume a conservative one mil-lion pounds for each of the current ACgovernors and not bother with the cashhe doled out for legislators’ races. Sim-ple arithmetic suggests that, all told,Tinubu has spent around N1.8 trillionon governors, excluding himself sinceall of this began after he became a polit-ical godfather;a status he justifies withscripture: “god fatherism is biblical,” hesays, which is “why Christians refer toGod as their father.” Oh, the man hasanother flourishing career waiting ifever the ingratitude of political godchil-dren were to make him quit politics. Hecould become a Man of God, trade Asi-waju for Daddy Bishop, and continue totalk in millions of pounds. After all, whatessential difference between prosperitychurches and come-chop parties?

I will not ask the obvious questions:How did Tinubu come about the millionsof pounds he claims to have spent on

Bola Tinubu’s ‘Millions of Pounds’bid to buy Mimiko

Mimiko? Could Senator Tinubu haveboasted of spending millions of naira,never mind pounds, even on his owngubernatorial candidacy? He may havean answer to both questions, more cred-ible than the one he gave in defence ofhis claim to have earned a certified pub-lic accountant’scertificate from ChicagoState University.

To be fair, Tinubu sees himself as a holygodfather, though not the less behold-en to mammon if he spends millions ofpounds for just one governorship race.“I play god-fatherism… for the good ofour people,” he says. And what betteroccasion to declare such selflessnessthan a campaign rally. Strangely, how-ever, he spoke entirely in the first per-son, his pronouns only “I,” “me” and“my”: “Mimiko claimed that I did notspend money when he had problemswith his mandate … He came to me andbegged me to support him, rolling onthe ground. … He collected money fromme. I spent millions of pounds sterlingbut he betrayed me. … I play god-fa-therism in the South-West for the goodof our people. My godfatherism is forprogress ... I have brought developmentto Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo andOgun,” and on and on in absolute self-regard. Ever heard of narcissism andegomania writ larger?

But Tinubu’sgodfatherismis no self-sacrificing endeavour. His words reveala rather questionable reason forthe as-tronomical sums he spent to elect a gov-ernor only to turn fiercely against him.He had been warned,he says, that Mim-iko was “a serial traitor.”So why did henot heed the counsel? Obviously, Tinu-bu is both the party and the people, and

install his hand-picked replacement in-stead. Makes me long for the brutal hon-esty of Lamidi Adedibu, the late doyenof godfathers: it is “amala politics,” hesaid. Translated as unfettered access tothe state’s treasury; specifically, a guar-anteed portion of the security vote. Andpreferential treatment in the award ofcontracts. Above all, blind loyalty. Theonly way to replenish the staggeringsums invested in elections. For no per-son would wager a fortune earnedthrough hard and honest labour on anelection unless it was understood as ahigh-yield venture with guaranteed re-turns. It is why all hell is let loose whena godson tries to break his fetters; whyAdedibu and Chris Uba would unleash

the people andthe party Tinu-bu.

Which is whyhe did not careto disclose thenature of thebetrayal to thepeople he ral-lied to sweepMimiko out ofthe governor’slodge and to fire and brimstone on Oyo and Anam-

bra states. Forget what William Congrevesaid about scorned women;hell, I say,hath no fury like a Nigerian political god-father scorned!

As it happened, Tinubu, despite play-ing the strongest hand in this brand ofpolitics—that armed with bags and bagsof money — lost his second bid to buythe Ondo State governorship and a po-litical slave. Tinubu tried to boost his egoby publicizing his attendance in theUnited States at the convention of theDemocratic Party that took place lastmonth. The lie and ridicule of his claimthat President Barack Obama had per-sonally invited him to the event aside,he no doubt heard of the progress KarlRove and the Republican Party oligarchsare making in their bid to buy the USpresidency. I can’t help thinking that thisencouraged Tinubu, onhis return home,to boast of spending millions of poundsto buy a governorship.Which is why Icall him a former democrat.By his ownadmission, Tinubu is now a plutocrat,the proper name for one who believesin the power of money and not of thepeople; in government by and for thehighest bidder. In the name of thepeople,Mimiko must prove that he is not“a liar,” or if he really received millionsof pounds from Tinubu, say how theprice of the Ondo governorship was setand what the great good was that hebetrayed.

The fact of globalweather changeand its adverseeffects might becoming home to ustragically and nomatter howoverwhelming thesituation might befor us now, thingscould be muchworse next time

I call him a formerdemocrat; by his ownadmission, Tinubu isnow a plutocrat, theproper name for onewho believes in thepower of money and notof the people


Debate of the masses

Much ado about Okada ban

BY EBELE ORAKPO

madness has stopped,”exclaimed Mercy at theMile two Bus-stop whenabout 15 okada ridersrode at their usual mad-dening speed despiteriding against traffic, anoffence in Lagos State.

“Yes, they were bannedfrom major roads,” re-plied Kachi.

“So Oshodi-Apapa Ex-pressway is not a majorroad?” asked Mercyaghast.

“Maybe these ones arethe untouchables. Almoston daily basis, they knockdown innocent passers-by because they take thewrong lane and on veryhigh speed. And whenyou dare complain aloud,they abuse you thorough-ly as if you were the onebreaking the law. Thewhole thing is just crazy!”said Tunde.

“But why are they com-plaining if they were onlybanned from plying ma-jor roads? That is the rightthing to do. They are tooreckless,” noted Izzy.

“Honestly I thoughtthey were banned fromoperating completely inLagos State,” said Mer-cy. So what is their prob-lem?”

“No, just from the ma-jor roads. But even if theywere banned completely,is it a crime? After all,they have been banned inso many states and theyall trooped down to La-gos to continue their busi-ness. It would have beenokay if they operated bythe rules, but no, they area law unto themselves.Just visit Igbobi and seethe havoc they havewreaked on the peoplethey are supposed toserve,” stated Tony.

“Ehn, no problem.When they send all theircustomers to the ortho-paedic hospital, thentheir business will end,”said Kachi, tongue-in-cheek.

Reported Henry: “I sawabout 50 Hausa Okadariders loading their mo-torcycles into a trailer atMile 12. I asked one ofthem where they were

going and he said; “Wedey go home. Gaskiya,you, I don tire por Lagos.Wahala e too much.Haba! Eberyday, dem godistop us. E don dogaskiya.”

“No mind dem jare.Dem go return very soonwhen hunger wire them,”said Tunde.

Said Kachi: “But on amore serious note, whyshould they be bannedfrom the lucrative routes?After all, the Governorused them during hiscampaign and securedtheir votes. So it is uneth-ical on his part to justdestroy their means oflivelihood.”

“Grammar! I don’t seeany wrongdoing on thepart of the Governor. Heis just protecting the citi-zenry,” said Izzy.

“The problem with ourgovernments is that theydo not provide alterna-tives. Banning them isgood but what plans didhe put in place for them?If we are not careful,armed robbery will in-crease and it will be pen-ny wise, pound foolishbecause it is the same cit-izens he is trying to pro-tect that will suffer,” saidTJ.

“You are right. At leastthey should provide themwith Keke Napep.

“Dat one no be okadatoo? Glorified okada. Infact, they are becoming asnotorious as okada rid-ers,” stated Mercy.

“Keke Napap can nev-er take the place of oka-da in Lagos. Okada isfaster in the usual Lagostraffic,” said Jude.

“The only solution is forgovernment and peopleto provide enough vehi-cles for the people andgood roads and rails,”said Mercy.

“Agreed. But no matterthe number of vehiclesand the quality of roads,nothing will change if wedon’t change our mind-sets,” said Tunde.

“Many of these okadariders don’t know jackabout motorcycles or traf-fic rules so what do youexpect? Let governmentprovide them with alter-natives,” said TJ, adding:“But the roads they areallowed to ply are stillmany so what’s reallytheir grouse?”

Lamentations of ex-Senator: Help,my elder brother still in the morgue•No land to bury him, no church to conduct funeral service

*AChief Ogoro’s house surrounded by flood. INSET: Aki and Pawpaw being welcomed to the camp bydisplaced persons

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA, Asaba

THE disturbing issue offlooding in the country, es-

pecially in the coastal areas ofDelta State, has curiously beenengendering mixed feelings ofsadness and joy in some quarters.Whilst some of the flood victimsare counting their losses, for someothers, it is an opportunity to hugthe limelight as they get to meetcertain important personalitiesthey have long nursed the expec-tations to encounter in more aus-picious circumstances.

ICE camp comes alive, cour-tesy of Aki and Paw Paw:

A typical example occurred onMonday when displaced personsat the ICE rehabilitation camp inAsaba had cause to cheer in the-atrical fashion when two re-nowned Nollywood actors, Chin-edu Ikedieze and Osita Ihemepopularly known as Aki and PawPaw, respectively appeared at thecamp to stir up their spirit. Theirarrival at the camp created a lotof excitement, with both youngand old, especially children visi-bly over joyous as the two actorsthrilled them.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghanhad, while inaugurating the Jus-tice France Tabai-led Post-flood-ing Rehabilitation Committee,explained that when he person-ally visited the ICE camp at about11 pm few days before invitingthe TV actors. The displaced per-sons were at the time engrossedon the television programmewhich incidentally featured Akiand Paw Paw.

“I tried to to attract their atten-tion . Some looked at me (Gover-nor) and greeted me but they

turned to continue watching thetelevision. When I looked at thetelevision, I saw it was Aki andPaw Paw and Ibu that they werewatching. That was why I invitedthem (Aki and Paw Paw) to go tothe different camps as motivation-al speakers because the victimsrequire a lot of motivation”.

Uduaghan had a week ago cel-ebrated his 58th birthday with thedisplaced persons at the campwhich elicited similar joyous out-pouring.

Why my elder brother cannotbe buried:

But while there seems to be atemporary, even dramatic relief forthe displaced persons to ease ten-sion, the traumatic experience ofthe flooding is one which a formerChief Whip of the Senate, Sena-tor Stella Omu is yet to come toterms with. She told VanguardMetro, VM, that “as we are talk-ing about flood victims there aresome people who have lost lovedones. And as I am talking to younow my elder brother, my brotherChris Ogoro, a giant in electricalengineering, is still in the mortu-ary because there is no land tobury him; even no church to takehim to as everywhere is sub-merged. But we are still prayingthat as the flood recedes so thatwe will be able to give him a be-fitting burial”.

We are in a dilemma:Stella Omu further said that: “In

all these areas there are a lot ofyouths. Remember during theamnesty thing, most of the Isokoyouths were not benefitting fromthis high profile amnesty becausethey are law abiding citizens; theywere not in the arms struggle and

you know if you are not registeredwith your arms, you will not benefitfrom the amnesty thing. And we hada lot of them who were going aroundsaying, ‘Oh, you mean it is becausewe did not carry arms that is whywe are not being taken care of. So,some of us have to go into appeal-ing to them. Take for example nowlike General (her husband).

“He is into fishery, piggery andso on. He produces a lot of finger-lings. We have to encourage theseyouths and said okay instead of go-ing into arms and so on, start a fishpond, start your poultry. A lot ofthem are into fishery, poultry, pig-gery. Unfortunately, all these aregone because the flood wiped alltheir poultry, fish farms; wiped awayall their piggery along with thefingerlings and hatchery; every-thing has been wiped out.

“So, we are even in a dilemmanow. It means we are going to be-gin again. How to assist theseyouths again to come up. Unfortu-nately, if the flood did not come thisis the time the activities would bein high gear because they have tostart growing fish, chicken, piggeryfor the Christmas. But now there isnothing, so we are going to be introuble. We now have to sit down tore-calculate on how to handle theseyouths. As I said, we are farmers,all the cassavas are gone and Iwonder what will happen to thewomen and the people from thatarea when the flood recedes whilewe should now try to look at how toget seedlings, cassava stems, fin-gerlings, piglets . All these thingshave to be put in place which meansthere is a lot of work from the Min-istry of Agriculture in order to getour youths back into action, in or-der to get the women back into ac-tion. It’s a lot of work and we areworried” .

“AH, ah! I thoughtall this okada

CMYK


Lottery, key toeconomicempowerment,job creation— Lottery Board

THE Lagos StateGovernment has stated

that organizations engagingin lottery operations withofficial permits from theState Lottery Board willdirectly increase theeconomic power of thepeople and createthousands of jobs in thestate.

Chairman of the StateLottery Board, Mr. LanreGbajabiamila made thisassertion at the openingceremony of ISIS Gamingwhile urging otherentrepreneurs to contact theBoard which encourageseveryone.

Gbajambiamila also notedthat ISIS has been approvedby the Board and will beclosely monitored whichwill have a lot positiveimpact in the lives ofLagosians.

According to theExecutive Director, ISISGaming, Mr. Kofi Sagoe,the lives of people willchange for good with theemergence of the Lotterybecause its in a technicalpartnership with a companythat has a combinedexperience of over 80 yearsin the gaming industry.

He said, “All over theworld, Lottery is been usedto improve the economy aswell as better the lives ofpeople, so we at ISISGaming want to empowerthe government to providemore quality basicamenities, fromTransportation, Educationand other infrastructures.

Seven firms bid forre-development of BoI building

BY MIKE EFFIONG

Seven firms are bidding forthe re-development of the

former Bank of Industrybuilding at Broad Street,Lagos; that was gutted by firesome years ago andsubsequently demolished.

Commissioner for PhysicalPlanning and UrbanDevelopment, Lagos State,Mr. Olutoyin Ayinde, whodisclosed this, noted thatproposal from differentarchitects have beensubmitted to the authority.

He said the firms, who aremembers of the Association ofConsulting Architects ofNigeria (ACAN), are biddingfor the re-development of thesite.

According to him, theproposed ultra- moderncomplex would befit the siteand add value to the citycentre, adding that theproposed building is to becarried out through a PrivatePartnership Participation(PPP) scheme.

He said, “On completionof the complex, it

would house luxuryapartment, offices and shopsof different categoriesbecause of the peculiarity oflocation. It will accommodateparking space of not less than100 vehicles at a given timewhile it would also put intoconsideration, all necessaryinfrastructures.

Ayinde explained that at thecompletion of the project, itwould give a befitting designto the aesthetics of the area,the Commissioner noted.

He went further to sat thatthe state government hascarried out series of projectsin the state among which isthe completion of the firstphase of the Oluwole market,

re-designing of existingroads, as well as drainages.

He noted that Tinubu squareand Balogun market werecompleted few years ago, hestressed, whilst saying, “ what

From left: Mr. SeniAdetu, MD/CEO;Mr. BabatundeSavage, Chairman,Guinness Nigeria Plcand Mr. SesanSobowale, CorporateRelations Director,during the GuinnessNigeria Plc Pre-Annual Generalmeeting pressbriefing in Lagos.Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

BY MICHAEL EBOH

THE six South-South States of Bayelsa,Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo

and Delta, under the auspices of theBRACED Commission, have commissioneda team of environmental experts to visitthe six states to conduct impact assessmentof pollution on the communities, in a movedesigned to tackle the issue ofenvironmental degradation and improvetheir agricultural sector.

According to Director-General of theCommission, Ambassador Joe Keshi, theteam would for 10 days collate informationand under ation of sites as well as proffersolution on how to mitigate these impacts.take, where possible, an on-the-spotassessment of the level of environmentaldegrad

He explained the research would form areference document on the environmentand a guide to potential investors.

According to Keshi, the 10- dayenvironmental impact assessment studywould take the experts to the BRACEDstates to assess and compile data on thestate of the flora and fauna in the region.

He said, “They will also assess andcompile data on the human environmentand the bio-diversity of the region takinginto cognisance the lakes, fresh andbrackish water bodies, forest reserve(mangrove and rain forest), wildlife

we are waiting for is to seetheir design and financialmodels, this would convincegovernment of their level ofseriousness, competence andfinancial capability.

(endangered, extinct and non-extinctspecies), wetlands (endangered andnon-endangered), potable water sources/saline water intrusion problems), oceanand coastal (fresh and brackish), industryand the environment (crude-oil,pollution impacted sites, industrialeffluents sources, landfill, flood anderosion problems, environmental impactof quarrying activities, infrastructuraldevelopment; roads, telecommunication,power amongst others.

It is expected that this study wouldhelp the region to tackle its huge

environmental problems and theattendant food security, persistentpoverty, climate change adaptation andmitigation challenge, ecosystem andbiodiversity degradation, all of whichwould help the BRACED states fast-tracktheir quest for sustainable development.

Continuing, Keshi disclosed that in abid to address the issue of food security,the BRACED Commission would fromOctober 31 to November 2, 2012 hold athree-day meeting of agriculture expertsand commissioners for agriculture toconsider potential areas of cooperationin agriculture particularly, in thecultivation and production of oil palm,rice, cassava, rubber, banana/plantainand aquaculture. The meeting wouldhold at Songhai Farms in Rivers State.

BRACED states target agric

sector devt, to tackle pollution

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 30/10/2012

109.10 -0.45

85.54 -0.74

157.35 -0.40

2,385.00 +2.00

19.31 -0.04

DOLLAR 154.76 155.26 155.76

STERLING 248.4517 249.2544 250.0571

EURO 199.5785 200.2233 200.8681

FRANC 165.0597 165.593 166.1263

YEN 1.943 1.9493 1.9556

CFA 0.2855 0.2955 0.3055

WAUA 236.9205 237.686 238.4514

RENMINBI 24.7841 24.8646 24.9451

RIYAL 41.2649 41.3983 41.5316

KRONA 26.7543 26.8407 26.9721

SDR 237.6804 238.4483 239.2162


FIRST City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc has recorded

a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N12.1 billion in its unau-dited International Financial Reporting Standard-compli-ant group financial results for the nine-months ended Sep-tember 30, 2012.

The bank, also announced the completion of its mergerwith FinBank, a wholly owned subsidiary it acquired onFebruary 9, 2012.

According to a press statement from the bank, the unau-dited Group results for the nine-months showed steady im-provement in year-on-year performance of the bank. TheBank’s profit before tax went up by 23 per cent to N12.1billion, with annualized Return on Equity (ROE) also risingby 45 per cent in September 2012 to 11.0 per cent from 7.6per cent for the corresponding period of 2011. This was en-abled by the improved balance sheet leverage.

The Group Net Revenues for the same period went up by36 per cent (year-on-year) to close at N34.5 billion whilenet revenue grew by 11 per cent (quarter-on-quarter) comingfrom better margins that saw net interest income rising by13 percent in the third quarter 2012. Non- interest revenuestood at N6.6 billion indicating an eight percent growth.

The Group’s operational expenses (year-on-year) went upby 60 per cent. The growth in operating expenses, accord-ing to the bank was due to the consolidation of FinBanknumbers for the first time in 2012 though it witnessed adecline by seven percent (quarter-to-quarter) coming pri-marily from the realization of cost savings from the pre-merger rationalization exercise conducted in the first halfof the year.

The bank also recorded loan loss provisions of N1.3billionin the third quarter period against the write-back ofN0.8billion it recorded in the second quarter. This, it saidcame from a recovery of previously-provisioned assets fromboth FinBank and FCMB.On the balance sheet side, thebank’s capital adequacy and liquidity ratios remain strongin spite of risk asset growth at 22 per cent and 56 percentrespectively. Low cost deposit mix was 58 percent, repre-senting an improvement of four percent (year-on-year) and14 percent (quarter-on-quarter).

The growing liquidity of the bank was evidenced by the14 per cent (quarter-on-quarter) growth in balances withother banks to N126.4 billion. Net interest margin alsoimproved to 7.6 percent in third quarter from 6.8 percent inthe corresponding period, enabled by a better deposit mixand continued growth in retail loans.

OVER N1.74 trillion pen

sion funds has been in-vested by operators in Feder-al Government securities theNational Pension Commis-sion, PenCom has said.

Head, Research and Corpo-rate Strategy, PenCom, Dr.Farouk Aminu, who disclosedthis in Abuja, said the amountrepresents over 61 per cent ofthe N2.9 trillion so far contrib-uted by workers.

He noted that over N370 bil-lion (13 per cent) has been

Over N1trn pension fund investedin govt securities—PenCom

invested in money market,while N335 billion (12 percent) was invested in ordinaryshare and real estate gotN167.89 billion (six per cent).

Aminu said state govern-ment securities got N109.24(four per cent), corporate debtsecurity got N72.10 billion(two per cent), unquoted se-curities N24.67 billion (oneper cent) and other investmentportfolio N23.49 billion (oneper cent).

He noted that the regulationon investment of pension fundassets was revised to expand

the allowable investment out-lets to include alternative as-set classes such as private eq-uity funds, infrastructure fi-nancing (Debt instrumentsand funds), supranationalbonds, amongst others.

He said the commissionwould continue to review in-vestment regulations, addingthat multiple funds would beestablished and ethical fundintroduced. He noted thatguidelines on offshore invest-ment being worked out to en-courage operators explore for-eign investment windows.

THE management of

Guinness Nigeria Plcsaid that not withstanding adecline in profit after tax, PAT,in its 2012 full financial year,the company’s outlook remainsvery positive.

In a press briefing heraldingits forthcoming Annual Gener-al Meeting slated for Friday,the company said it could haveachieved a better performanceif it had the same enabling ca-pacity in its second half finan-cial period compared to its sec-ond half period.

The company’s revenue grewby 2.1 per cent to N126.288 bil-lion in 2012 from N123.663billion in its 2011 financialyear; while its profit after taxfell by 18 per cent to N14.671billion in 2012 compared toN17.928 billion in the previousyear.

Mr. Seni Adetu, Managing

Director of the company, saidthat the on-going N52 billionexpansion projects would as-sist in materially improving thecompany’s capacity.

He said, “While the result wejust announce suggest a de-cline, we believe so much inour business strategies and wewill ensure a competitive rootto market, ensure a right tal-ent in place, and embeddingthe right controls and compli-ance in the market. We believethat all of these together willposition us to win year in yearout. We are very confident inour business model.

“On the N52 billion expan-sions we announced two yearsago, we are half way into com-pletion which will materiallyimprove our capacity. A lot ofthat will go into plant expan-sion and improving packagingcapacity. In the end, we willhave between fifty-six to sixtyper cent expansion comparedto what we have today.”

“We believe we could havedone better if we had the ca-

pacity in the first half of theyear. In the second half of ourfinancial year, the economyslowed down. Obviously, thefuel subsidy struggle para-lyzed the economy for abouttwo weeks, and our business isa business of daily consump-tion. So, it negatively impact-ed on performance of our fi-nancial year.

On capacity building, Mr.Seni said the company experi-enced capacity shortfall in thefirst half of the year.

“We were stripping downsome few things in the 1st halfto continue the investment weannounced two years ago. Youwould recall we invested N52billion two years ago in capac-ity building. The capacitybuilding started in the 1st halfof the last financial year; thatmeans we have to strip downon few things to work on theexpansion. So, in the contextof that, it is a nice performance.

“Ours is a business whichfundamental is very strong.The outlook for Guinness Ni-geria Plc is very positive.”

Guinness outlook positive despitefall in PAT — MD

BY LAZARUS IBE-

ABUCHI

From left: Mrs Gloria Young , guest; Mr. Alex Goma, Managing Director, Family Care PZCussons Nigeria Plc and Mr. Edward Bamidele, Customer Marketing Director at theunveiling of the New Morning Fresh with the Zest Lemon variant, in Lagos. Photo: DiranOshe.

By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

AS part of efforts to further encourage the culture of sav

ings, Unity Bank Plc has rewarded its customers inthe South, Port Harcourt in Rivers State.The bank rewarded its customers during the third zonal drawof its “Aim, Save and Win” promotion.

Coordinator of the Unity Bank promo and host of the event,Mr. Dominic Chukwurah beckoned on the un-banked andthose willing to participate in the draw, without a Unity Bankaccount, to go ahead and keep saving hence they stand achance of winning in the soon coming National Draw.

Chukwurah commended the customers, saying, “The Aim,Save and Win Promo which started on the 22nd March 2012,had so far given out over three hundred gifts at the firstzonal draw, first national draw, second zonal draw, secondnational draw, which took place in Lagos, final zonal drawand the final national draw will be giving out three brandnew cars to three lucky winners, one million naira to fivekids and many other consolation prizes.”

Earlier in her welcome address, Zonal Director of UnityBank, South Region, Pat Iwaiwu explained that the promo isan opportunity for the bank to show appreciation to its nu-merous customers, pointing out that it is not a gamblingaffair but to appreciate and reward customers.

The promo divided into two categories A and B, categoryA for those who have saved N5, 000 for forty-five days, com-prising of a star prize of an LCD 32 inches TV, two genera-tors for first and second runner ups, three bicycles for third,fourth and fifth runner ups, and ten mobile phones for sixthto fifteenth runner ups.

The second category B was for those who have savedN75000 for forty-five days. It comprised of a star prize of amotor-cycle, two generators, three refrigerators and tenmobile phones.

FCMB records N12.1bn profitin Q3

Unity Bank rewards PH customers

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH


DIARY

PreviewNew inventions

shaping life and living

Select ICT events

EDITED byAdekunle Adekoya

INSIDE

�LTE North America2012. Holds 14-15 No-vember 2012 in Dallas,Texas, USA.

�Advancing Innova-tion & Profitability for aDigital Africa. Holds 14 -15 November 2012 @ CT-ICC Cape Town, SouthAfrica.

� AfricaCom 2012.Holds14-15 Nov 2012 inCape Town, South Afri-ca.

�Opportunities in theEvolving Cloud Dynam-ics. Holds 4-5 December2012 @ Dubai WorldTrade Centre, Dubai,UAE.

�Digital TV Summit2012. Holds 4th – 5th De-cember 2012 in LondonUK.

.

Continues on page 26

The Kinetic Chargerturns mechanical move-ment into electricity, let-ting you power yourphone by taking a walk.

Designed by TobyBlake, the concept de-vice features a microflu-idic device that movesnano-droplets of liquidthrough channels em-bedded in a thin film,which produces an elec-tric current. It clips to abelt or pocket where itharnesses the motion ofthe wearer to generateand store up to 4 wattsof energy, and connect-ing the devices togetherwill increase the charg-ing capacity.

Kinetic chargerturns motion to

power

BY EMEKA AGINAM

ISPON NATIONAL

SOFTWARE

CONFERENCE &

COMPETITION:

From left: Dr ChrisUwajem, ISPON

President; CEO, MainOne, Ms Funke

Opeke; NCS President,Sir Demola

Aladekomo; CrossRiver State Governor,Senator Liyel Imoke;

NITDA boss, Prof.Cleopas Angaye;

ComTech Minister, MrsOmobola Johnson, and

former EVC of NCCand Chairman of

Openmedia Group, DrErnest Ndukwe, andothers at ISPON'sNational Software

Conference & Exhibi-tion at Tinapa BusinessResort, Calabar, Cross

River State. CrossRiver State

Government is hostand sponsor of the

software event. Photo:Emeka Aginam.

Worry over data security,infrastructure at ISPON meet

C L O U D C O M P U T I N G:

The cloud economy is fastbecoming a reality andfuture generations willexperience its awesome

power when the emergingdesign and architecture ofour planetary digital spi-

der-wed is complete

UNLESS issuesaround data security, infra-

structure, jurisdiction andlegislation, compliance,ownership of data, amongothers were resolved ur-gently, Nigeria’s quest forthe adoption of cloud com-puting in the 21st centuryknowledge society mayremain fjust that — aquest.

These were the fearsexpressed by participantsat the just concluded In-stitute of Software Practi-tioners of Nigeria, (IS-PON) national conferenceand competition held atTinapa Business Resort,Calabar, Cross R Majorconcerns of the stakehold-ers was who owns the datain the cloud, even as pol-icy implications of the newtechnology may appear

endless but given the po-tential impact of cloudcomputing, these ques-tions, according to theparticipants will not re-main unanswered. Thequestion, according to theparticipants is when andhow.

Although cloud comput-ing offers enormous stor-age with improved scala-

bility and elasticity withmuch cheaper solutionsto deploy IT services,speaker after speaker dur-ing panel session at theevent with the theme, ‘thecloud and future of soft-ware Nigeria’ that attract-ed capacity audience es-pecially from the studentcommunity noted that thecountry must be well pre-pared before adopting thenew technology which is

becoming the toast of ITcommunity.

ISPON President, ChrisUwaje, earlier in his wel-come address told thegathering cloud comput-ing was here even withmany challenges.

Cloud as battle fieldThe solution distributed

on the internet, accordingto Uwaje may be the be-ginning of the greatshape of things to comeand indeed the basis ofthe very interactive web2.0. According to him, asthese tools become morepowerful, they were play-ing an increasingly im-portant role in our lives.This he said, makes thecloud perhaps the mostcritical knowledge battlefield and survivabilitystrategy for mankind inthe 21st century.

“The cloud economy isfast becoming a realityand future generations

will experience its awe-some power when theemerging design and ar-chitecture of our planetarydigital spider-wed is com-plete. And by extension,the interfacing links touniversal intercloud ofplanetary information sys-tem activated and put inmotion. It is something wemust embrace as time isrunning out,” he said.

In his remarks, Gover-nor of Cross River State,Senator, Liyel Imoke re-stated his commitment tobuilding capacity for stu-dents, adding that ade-quate regulatory frame-work must be put in placeto ensure safe adoption ofthe new technology. Ac-cording to Imoke who as-sured that the state willhost the software compe-tition for five years run-ning, regulatory frame

Back topolicingNigeriawith ICT

Microsoft joinshardware bizwith Surfacetablet

Symantec warnsof growing cyberthreats in Nigeria

NITDA saysYES to YouthICT empowerment


CMYK

Back to policingNigeria with ICT

EARLY this year, achange was effected in the lead-

ership of the Nigeria Po-lice Force; Alhaji HafizRingim stepped aside forAlhaji M.D. Abubakar. Inthis column, I welcomedthe new IG and indeedcommended a paradigmshift in policing to him,which the opportunity ofhis ascension affordedthen. In a two-part columnheadlined ICT Challeng-es for new IGP, I wrote,inter alia:

“Cyber Platform salutesand welcomes IGP MDAbubakar to the oneroustask of policing Nigeriawith all its complexitiesand espe-cially, re-cent chal-l e n g e s .However,our peoplesay newb r o o m ss w e e pclean, morethan theirworn pred-e c e s s o r s .MD’s as-cension af-fords thechance fora newbreath offresh air re-g a r d i n gm a n a g e -ment of security opera-tions.

The fresh air I am writ-ing about has to do withmassive infusion of ICTinto Police operations inNigeria, and MD can usethe opportunity of his freshascension to bring abouta paradigm shift that willeffectively bring NigeriaPolice into the 21st centu-ry.”

Not being privy too theinner workings of the Po-lice but its external mani-festations, I must say thatafter eight months in of-fice, I am yet to see signsthat ICT will be infusedinto Police operations inthe near future, but I standto be corrected

I am forced to return tothis issue because of whatI saw in an emerging mar-ket like ours, but one thatis far more realistic in itsdevelopmental efforts.Mid month, from October14-18, the InternationalTelecommunications Un-ion (ITU) convened theITU Telecom World in Du-bai, United Arab Emir-ates. I was a media dele-gate to the event.

Monday morning, as Iwaited in the lobby of myhotel in the Bur Dubai

area for transport to theevent centre, I picked acopy of Gulf News, one ofthe few English languagenewspapers the hotel hadfor its guests, and brows-ing through, my eyes fellon a headline: Dubai Po-lice launch new app toreport crime.

I settled down to read,and here is an extract fromthe story:

“ ‘Al Ameen service ofDubai police haslaunched on Monday anew smartphone applica-tion that allows residentsto report cases that canthreaten the safety andsecurity of the society andthe country and also to

make querieson police re-lated issues.

“ ‘The freeapp will allowusers to con-tact AlAmeen serv-ice who willdeal withpublic com-plaints, makequeries, re-port criminalcases andaccess differ-ent servicesof Al Ameen.

“ ‘We areencouragingpublic to com-m u n i c a t e

with our service, AlAmeen to report seriouscases that could affect thesecurity of the country,”Brigadier MohammadSaeed Bakhit, Director ofElectronic Services De-partment at DubaiPolice,told Gulf News.....”

That is what brought meback to the issue of ICTin policing. If we haveICT services units in ourPolice commands, regularpolicing will become eas-ier, and the CommunityPolicing project of the NPFwill succeed faster. Thesedays, more people areusing smart phones andas they move about, canuse their devices to reportwhat they see as abnor-mal in civilized societies.I will not bother to reportwhat I saw of how theDubai Police do theirwork; evidence is in theability of people to moveabout at any hour of dayor night. People who havebeen to Dubai will agreeit has a robust, boisterousnight life, something thatis almost extinguishedhere. Nigeria is ours, let’sdo all we can to make itsecure as we seek foreigninvestors to help us de-velop.

African channel, we havefound a thirst for local con-tent among users in Eastand West Africa, as wellas other parts of the con-tinent. As pleased as weare with the first year’sgrowth, we are only justgetting started.

“With 46 million internetusers in Nigeria and 10million in Kenya – num-bers that are growing allthe time – there is hugepotential to expand in Af-rica and to provide a plat-form for brands that wantto market their productsand services to the conti-nent's fast-growing mid-

AN African web portal, Howzit MSN is

partnering with Ad Dyna-mo, a South African ad-serving firm to help mon-etize the growing webtraffic in Nigeria.

The company said thepartnership is aiming tosell premium advertisinginventory that reachesHowzit MSN users inNigeria and to brandslooking to address thecountry’s dynamic andfast growing consumermarket.

Speaking at the officiallaunch of the solution, theGeneral Manager, Howz-it MSN, Mr. MarcusStephens, said sincelaunching a dedicatedAfrican channel at the be-ginning of the year, theportal has amassed morethan 1million unique us-ers and northwards of18mllion page viewsacross the continent out-side of South Africa. Asubstantial portion of theuser base comes from Ni-geria with a healthy por-tion from Kenya.

“Since launching our

dle-class. We are lookingforward to growing thisfootprint with Ad Dynamoin the months to come, hesaid.”

Also speaking, the Glo-bal Business Develop-ment Manager of thecompany, Nicole Hard-ing, said that Ad Dynamohas been expanding glo-bally, with offices in SouthAfrica, Nigeria, UK,Netherlands and Brazil,and is partnering withMSN to be its premiumsales hub in Nigeria, add-ing Ad Dynamo uses itscontextual advertisingplatform serving more

than a billion ads permonth across over 28websites – to target userswith display advertisingthat benefits brands, withprofit ranging from expo-sure to relevant African,Nigerian and MSN con-tent portal which includea transparent, cost effec-tive and measurable wayof reaching the market.

Howzit MSN is ownedby Kagiso New Media,one of South Africa's larg-est web portals and the of-ficial South African part-ner for Microsoft's MSN.

According to Hardingthe brand is aiming toquickly establish itselfwith presence in the Afri-can digital publishingspace and now reachesEnglish-speaking read-ers and advertisers acrossthe continent.

With this solution, Har-dling said Microsoft is re-directing African trafficfrom its global MSN prop-erty to the Howzit MSNAfrican channel which al-lows users to find localisedcontent in business,news, travel, lifestyle andtechnology.

Howzit MSN, Ad Dynamo partner for low cost ads

In a gimmick to demon-strate the tablet's durabil-ity, Panay dropped thedevice from shoulderheight to the stage toshow how tough its glassand magnesium case was.He also displayed a pho-to of Windows chief Ste-ven Sinofsky standing ona Surface outfitted withwheels to make a skate-board.

The Surface has a kick-stand and its back camerais angled in such a waythat when it's leaning on

MICROSOFT willbe releasing its

own tablet computer forthe first time when thenew version of Windowscomes out Friday, as thesoftware company tries tochallenge Apple Inc. andits dominant iPad.

The initial version ofSurface will run a modi-fied version of Windows8 called RT. That meansSurface won't run stand-ard Windows programs,only apps designed for itand obtained throughMicrosoft's new onlinestore.

The device will start at$499, the same as themost recent, full-sizediPads. The display is 10.6inches diagonally, slight-ly larger than the iPad's.

The Surface goes on saleFriday. The only place toget them is at Microsoft'sretail stores and its web-site. The earliest shipmentfor new online orders isnow one to two weeksaway.

A Surface with Windows8 Pro and the ability to runregular Windows pro-grams will come a fewmonths later. Microsofthasn't disclosed the price.

At the launch event lastThursday, Microsoft de-scribed Surface as an ex-tension of Windows,though the company not-ed that it's about extend-ing other Microsoft prod-ucts, too. Panos Panay,general manager of theSurface team, demonstrat-ed watching movies andlistening to music on theSurface. He also streamedaudio and video from theSurface to a nearby Xbox.

the stand, it shootsstraight out, not towardthe table.

The cover for the Surfacecosts $100 extra for thebasic, $499 device. Itcomes free with the $699version. On the inside ofthe cover are printed"keys" for typing. Panaynoted that the cover ispressure-sensing, so ifyou just rest your handson it, it's not going to starterratically typing.

The cover also folds backand can act as a support

Microsoft joins hardware bizwith Surface tablet

for the device's kickstandif you're placing it on yourlap, although using it thisway appeared to make itdifficult to type.

As previously disclosed,the Surface will come withfully functioning versionsof Office 2013 software forword processing, spread-sheets and other businesstasks. Other tablets run-ning Windows RT, thelightweight version of theoperating system, willalso come with a versionof Office for free. — AP

If we haveICT servicesunits in ourPolice com-

mands, regularpolicing will

become easier,and the Com-munity Polic-ing project ofthe NPF will

succeed faster

Mike Angiulo, Corporate Vice President of the Planning and PC Ecosystemteam at Microsoft, displays the Surface tablet computer, and detachable key-board, at the launch of Microsoft Windows 8, in New York last Thursday. WithAngiulo is Microsoft Vice President Julie Larson-Green. AP Photo.

BY EMMA ELEBEKE

From left, Nicole Harding, Sean Riley, and WayneOlwagen, all of Ad Dynamo during the event.

From left: The Symantec Territory Manager for Ocean Islands, West, East& Central Africa, Mr. Sheldon Hand; the Symantec Regional Director forAfrica, Mr. Gordon Love and the Symantec Territory Manager for West Africa,Mr. Oseme Osobase during the Symantec Breakfast Media Roundtable at theFederal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

Symantec warns of growing cyber threats in Nigeria

STORIES BYPRINCE OSUAGWU

MTN strikes Microsoft Windows Phonedevices deal in Nigeria, other African markets

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 31, 2012 — 25

AS a growing andvibrant economy,

Nigeria is on the spot-light in the world market.This also makes busi-nesses from the countryprimary targets for bothsupports and collabora-tions.

However, these do notcome without a price, asSymantec’s regional di-rector for Africa, Mr Gor-don Love, at the week-end warned Nigeriabusinesses to adopt strictsecurity measures andbest practices or face theconsequences of vulner-ability to cyber attacks.

Love who visited thecountry weekend andinteracted with major Ni-gerian ICT media pro-fessionals said that Ni-gerian businesses are onthe radar of cyber crimi-nals due to the fast pacethe Nigerian economy isgrowing.

He warned that thealarming rate with whichmalicious cyber attacksare increasing and thesophistication the attack-ers are giving to theirtrade, any company thatcompromises on securi-ty will face dare conse-quences.

According to him, “be-tween 2010 and 2011, thenumber of malicious at-tacks increased withabout 81 percent andalarmingly, it is becom-ing very advanced instyle. In the last twelvemonths, over 20 millionthreats were releasedand the more these arereleased, the more vul-nerable, systems becomeworldwide.

“Credit card informa-tion in most developedeconomies are soldcheaper than a bottle ofsoft drink, meaning thatattack on personal infor-mation is becoming aseasy as anything. Butthe real danger, howev-er, is that cyber attack isfast approaching the es-pionage era. Attackersare devising means ofgetting information andescaping without any-body noticing their ac-tions. So for growingeconomies like Nigeria,security should be a pri-ority” he added.

Best practice

However, Lovepointed the way

…. Charges businesses on modernised data protection

out for any serious busi-ness. He advised thatbusinesses must alwaysstrive to create an Inter-nal Corporate SecurityTask Team to work with atrusted security vendorto mobilize a team of se-curity specialists andperform a detailed anal-ysis of the current risk.

*Review security oper-

ations process and infra-structure, and designand implement an indus-try compliant SecurityOperation Center.

*Integrate a breachprevention and responseplan into the day-to-dayoperations of the securi-ty team. Run Vulnerabil-ity and Malicious Activ-ity Assessments in addi-

tion to penetration teststo determine currentweakness for externaland internal exposure.

*Procure products andservices for all requiredsoftware and infrastruc-ture to implement criticalrecommendations anddeploy optimized protec-tion to secure all busi-ness environments.

*Implement a Man-aged Security Service(MSS), supplementedby senior resident re-sources. Part of the MSSwill be the implementa-tion of a 24/7 global in-telligence monitoringservice.

*Ensure infrastructuresecurity across all end-points including mobiledevices, ensure securityproducts are up to dateand avoid pirated soft-ware.

*Have a disaster recov-ery plan in place; it isimportant to have databacked up, encryptedand secure.

*Protect and educateusers with identity andaccess control, two-factorauthentication and con-duct security awarenesstraining.

Backupappliancesfor Nigeria

Love also announced that his company

has decided to release itsnew backup appliances -

NetBackup 5220 andBackup Exec 3600 to Ni-geria to help businessesstay afloat and healthy.

These backup appli-ances will help mid-sized and large enter-prise organizations, re-mote offices and datacenters to modernisetheir backup infrastruc-tures and accelerate newinitiatives around virtu-alisation with greaterease and reliability. Tout-ed with easy deploy-ment of just about fewminutes, Symantec ap-pliances enables organ-isations to protect infor-mation, in physical orvirtual environments,and to de-duplicate dataacross the board to im-prove efficiency whilereducing costs.

According to Love, “forthe first time in Nigeria,Symantec will be offeringan all-in-one, scalablebackup appliance formidsized to enterpriseorganizations. These in-novative solutions in-clude Symantec’s con-tent-aware deduplica-tion, which can decreasebackup storage up to 50times and bandwidthconsumption up to 99percent, eliminatingbackup window problemsand enabling cost-effec-tive replication of data toother sites for businesscontinuity.”

For many customers,the challenges with pro-tecting virtual and phys-ical servers have beenheightened by the prolif-eration of different back-up solutions in a singleenvironment and the in-tegration problems be-tween the hardware andsoftware. Symantec’sbackup appliances deliv-er an end-to-end inte-grated backup device forservers, storage, andsoftware.

“While many solutionsrequire the IT team tointegrate multiple solu-tions for tape, disk, de-dupe, physical, virtualsnapshots and backup,Symantec appliances aretypically installed in lessthan 30 minutes and de-liver integrated hard-ware, software and de-dupe storage, providingcustomers with simplici-ty and performance fromone vendor. Appliancesoffer a modern approachto backup,” continuedLove.

MTN has struck adeal with Micro-

soft to become one of thekey providers of toprange phones poweredby its windows 8 operat-ing system in Africa.

By that alliance, MTNwill deliver WindowsPhone 8 and Windows 8devices to its customersin South Africa in No-vember and Nigeria,Ghana in December.

This will give its sub-scribers in these coun-tries the opportunity tobe among the first usersin the world to experi-ence the Windows 8 andWindows Phone 8 oper-ating systems. Windows8 and Windows Phone 8provide users with a uni-fied experience acrossthe PC, phone and tab-let. CEO, MTN Niger-ia, Mr Brett Goschen,said the launch of the op-erating systems in MTNmarkets is integral toMTN’s aim to offer cus-tomers a rich and dynam-ic digital services userexperience.

He said: “MTN is par-ticularly excited aboutthe alliance with Micro-soft as it ties in perfectlywith our customer-cen-tricity approach. Ourcustomers have become

dynamic consumers ofdigital services and wantimmediacy. Windows 8and Windows Phone 8allow us to offer themjust that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Micro-soft’s Senior Director,

Operator Channels, forMiddle East and AfricaOran Dror, said that “Mi-crosoft is delighted tocollaborate with MTN tomake Windows Phone 8and Windows 8 availablein Africa. With Windows

8 and Windows Phone 8,MTN customers will havea fast and fluid experi-ence that comes to lifewith exciting hardwareand applications and in-teroperability with thecloud.”

From left: Omotayo Ojuta-layo, SeniorRegionalManager, MTN,presenting aprize to AkitiCharles, one ofthe lucky win-ners of MTNSME Bonanzaand SharafadeenMohammed,Manager SMESegment, MTNat theprize presenta-tion to winnersof MTN SMEBonanza.

work must meet interna-tional standards so as toprotect security of data.

He said that Cross Riv-er was determined to bethe ICT hub of Nigeria,adding that necessary in-frastructures were beingput in place to make thiswork. According to him,his government is com-mitted to building a cred-ible and sustainableframework for softwaredevelopment in Nigeria.

ChallengesAcknowledging that the

conference will help todiscover local softwaretalents among the stu-dents, the Minister ofCommunication Technol-ogy, Mrs. Omobola John-son in her address duringthe event said that theNigerian software indus-try has grown over theyears to produce local andregional brands like Hu-manManager, Xceed,Progenis and Symbolsamong others.

She was optimistic thatwith proper legislation,infrastructure among oth-ers, Nigeria will join therest of other economies toreap the benefits of cloudcomputing but added thatthere should be IT gov-ernance model to ensurea secured computing en-vironment.

Jurisdiction and regu-lation

For the Director Gener-al, National InformationTechnology DevelopmentAgency, (NITDA), Pro-fessor Cleopas Angaye,cloud computing couldnot have come at a bettertime than now when theNigerian ICT sector isgrowing at a rate of 30%but noted that since thetechnology transcends lo-cation of both processingand storage, many ques-tions abound on wherethe boundary is betweencloud and users and howdo we regulate. Accord-ing to the NITDA boss,cloud privacy and securi-ty law must be put inplace, otherwise user data

may fall into hands of theirenemies. He told the gath-ering that the technologyis good for Nigeria justlike other countries areadopting it but expressedconcerns over the dangersassociated with it.

Ownership of dataThe cloud model, ac-

cording to Angaye, hasbeen criticized by someprivacy advocate compa-nies hosting the cloudservices control.

“Instances such as secretNASA program workingwith AT&T and which re-corded over 10 millionphone calls betweenAmerican citizens, causesuncertainty among priva-cy advocates and thegreater powers it gives totelecommunication com-panies to monitor user se-curity” he said, addingthat using a cloud serviceprover can complicate vir-tualization for cloudprocessing and cloud stor-age used to implement.

Compliance:In order to comply with

regulations, Angaye fur-ther informed that cloudcomputing users mayhave to adopt communityor hybrid deploymentmodels that were typical-ly more expensive andmay offer more restrictedbenefits.

Infrastructure:While students at the

conference raised issue oflack of internet facilities attheir campuses, theChairman of the panelsession, Dr Ernest Nduk-we who is also the Niger-ia software ambassadorraised alarm saying thatthere was need for everyNigerian institution ofhigher learning to havebroadband infrastructurefor a better cloud comput-ing environment.

According to Ndukwe,the future of cloud com-puting lies with theyounger generations,whom he believed are theleaders of tomorrow.

Noting that that thetechnology represents abreakthrough develop-ment strategies which hasthe potential of revolution,Ndukwe who is passion-ate about youth empower-ment told the gatheringcloud computing muststart with the student com-munity. Any governmentthat fails to make broad-band access as a prioritymay not survive theknowledge economy, headded.

According to Ndukwe,the cloud environment canonly be sustained ifbroadband internet facili-ties were deployed acrossthe country especially, inthe institutions of higherlearning.

As the Chairman of thePresidential Committeeon broadband, he assuredthat Nigeria will over-come the challenges asso-ciated with broadband.

Worry over data security,infrastructure, at ISPON meet

Continues from Page 23

26 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 31, 2012

NITDA says YES to Youth ICT empowerment

OVER TIME, thecriticism of the

National InformationTechnology Develop-ment Agency, NITDA,has been that as an agen-cy of government em-powered in 2007 to de-velop parameters forICT growth in Nigeria, ithas been lacking on theduty.

The agency’s DirectorGeneral, Prof CleopasAngaye, has always triedto fault these criticismswith the explanation thatthe agency was rollingout different develop-ment programmes tai-lored at not only boost-ing the Nigerian econo-my but also enhancingthe use of ICT for posi-tive changes in the soci-ety, without making somuch noise about them.

Last week, however,the agency took its devel-opment projects to theyouth, rolling out a youthdevelopment pro-gramme tagged ICTYouth EmpowermentScheme, YES. The ICTyouth sensitization pro-gramme is aimed at sen-sitizing Nigerian youthson ICT career opportuni-ties as well as develop-ing ICT human capitaland entrepreneurshipskill among youths.

The programme has theobjectives of exposingNigerian youths to em-ployment and economicopportunities in formaland informal jobs whilecatering for global andlocal demand; develop-ing globally competitiveyouth populationthrough human capitaldevelopment in nichearea of ICT; break barri-ers to human knowledgeand socio-economic de-velopment; creating highpotential for entrepre-neurship; empoweringbest students during thetraining programme byproviding them withtools to practice whatthey have been trainedand supporting thegrowth of indigenousICT industry to facilitatethe production, and dis-tribution of IT products,goods and services in allthe sectors of the econo-my.

The training which wasflagged off simultane-ously at the DigitalBridge Institute in Abu-ja and Lagos penulti-

mate Monday has over200 participants sharedequally between the twocenters Abuja and La-gos.

NITDA targets to createabout 3,700 jobs everyyear from the pro-gramme, even as it plansto replicate the trainingin the six geo-politicalzones of the country af-ter this pilot phase.

At the end of the train-ing programme, about 30trainees who performedexcellently would beempowered with seedmoney and some digitalequipment to start theirown entrepreneurship.NITDA says the idea be-hind the training was todisabuse the mind of Ni-gerian youths that theonly way to survive wasto take up paid employ-ment. According to theagency, in other climes,wealth is created by peo-ple who take their desti-ny in their own handsand those who move fromconceptualisation to ex-ecution of their heart de-sires. The YES pro-gramme was to createthat concept and as we’llthe platform to execute it.

Declaring the trainingopen, Angaye, who wasrepresented by his Exec-utive Director, Dr Eme-ka Ezekwesili, said that

the deployment of thebest ICT infrastructuresin any society does notnecessarily or automati-cally translate to achieve-ment of the desired re-sult without adequatelyequipping the Nigerianyouths who constitutethe largest percentage ofour population on theuse of technologies

For him, “it has there-fore become highly im-perative to fully integrateICT in our educationalsystem in order to em-power them for the chal-

lenges of the global in-formation’ society drivenby technologies. It is ex-pected that knowledgemanagement in thecountry will lead to anenvironment whereknowledge creation isencouraged, nurtured,rewarded and exploitedin order to achieve youthempowerment, value re-orientation, employmentgeneration, wealth crea-tion and improvement inthe sub-region’s eco-nomic indicators”.

Stories by PRINCEOSUAGWU

*Angaye: DG NITDA

BY the first week ofNovember, 2012,

stakeholders in the Ni-gerian ICT sector wouldgather in Sheraton Ho-tel, Ikeja, to brainstormon the NigComSat Billnow before the NationalAssembly.

The one day forum slat-ed for November 8, is atthe auspices of the ICTPublishers Alliance – agroup made up of fore-most Nigerian ICT tradejournal publishers.

The forum is designedto create awareness onthe Bill among all stake-holders and the generalpublic with a view to rais-ing public awareness onthe formation of the lawon NigComSat as con-ceived by the Bill.

The Bill which seeks toestablish NigComSat asa Corporation has beenreceived by the House ofRepresentatives as atMarch 2012. The Bill isnow set for deliberation

at the Senate before itwill eventually be sent tothe President for assent.

If the bill eventuallybecomes an Act, all as-sets and liabilities of Ni-gerian CommunicationsSatellite (NIGCOMSAT)will be inherited by thenew corporation.

NigComSat Limited isa government ownedcompany with the man-date to launch and man-age Nigerian Communi-cation Satellites. Thecompany already has aCommunication Satellite,NigComSat 1R in orbitand plans to launch twoother Satellites, Nig-ComSat 2 and 3.

NigComSat 1R is Afri-ca’s first communicationsatellite in space withfootprints over the entirecontinent. It is designedto provide backbone con-nectivity bandwidth forNigeria and Africancountries.

Expected at the Forum

are stakeholders fromthe private and publicsectors of the economyincluding heads ofMDAs, CEOs of ICTcompanies, telecom an-alysts, lawyers, the me-dia, trade industry asso-ciations and members ofthe academic communi-ty.

ICT stakeholders to discussNigComSat bill in Lagos

*Ahmed Rufai: MD, NigComSat

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 31, 2012 — 27

sure it will make for a bet-ter tomorrow’, she noted.

She however dedicatedthe award to her share-holders, particularly theseed investors in the de-velopment company,Main Street Technolo-gies, whom she describedas writing the chequeswhen the company hadnothing.

Opeke emerges CNBC Africa Businesswoman of the yearBY PRINCE OSUAGWU

CEO of Main OneCable Company,

Ms. Funke Opeke, hasbeen adjudged the 2012CNBC All Africa Busi-nesswoman of the YearAward (AABLA) winner.

Opeke received theaward amid thunderousovation at a ceremonythat held at the Voda-dome in Midrand, SouthAfrica at the weekend.

The event in South Af-rica was the grand finaleof the annual award,which features regionalwinners across Africa whohad been previously se-

lected. The AABLA isan initiative of CNBCAfrica which serves as aplatform to discover busi-ness leaders that are cre-ating a culture of entrepre-neurship, developing bestpractices and carvingpowerful and sustainablebusiness models in theAfrican and global econ-omy.

Ms. Opeke was the onlyNigerian winner on thenight as she edged outJeniffer Barassa, CEO ofTop Image Ltd, Kenya forthe coveted award.

Speaking on the award,she described the recog-

nition as a reflection of thepioneering work thatMain One has done to-wards transforming theNigerian and Africanbroadband landscapesince it commenced oper-ations.

According to her, “MainOne Cable company wasfounded five years agowith a passion to bridgethe digital divide by im-proving Internet accessand reducing cost in WestAfrica, especially foryoung people. Since ourcable was launched in2010, we have startedmaking tremendous im-

pact on businesses andcommunications in Niger-ia, Ghana and other mar-kets. However, we are notthere yet and we will keepworking towards realiz-ing our vision of a better-connected Africa. We are

CNBC Africa, organis-ers of the award congrat-ulated Opeke and otheraward winners, sayingthat it was important torecognise business lead-ers across Africa who aremaking giant strides intheir respective areas to-wards achieving econom-ic development and em-powerment of Africa.

NCC: A whistle blowerputs the system in peril

EARLY this month,tales shot up in the

media about the regula-tor of the telecommunica-tions sector, the NigerianCommunications Com-mission, NCC, allegingcorruption in the sales offrequency. Pursuing theangle of corruption fur-ther, the tale bearers toldof a waiver given by Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathanto an organization wherethe man at the head of theregulatory commission,Dr Eugene Juwah oncehad interest, but not fail-ing to add however, thatthe President had no pow-ers to give such waiversas the money whichshould have been paidinto the Federation ac-count could only be ap-proved for withdrawal bythe National Assembly.

The regulator, unable topersuade the tale bearersto reflect its point of view,had to publish advertori-als in several dailies, ex-plaining point by pointthe various steps thatwent into awarding thecontentious frequencyband. When the anarchyexpected to befall the reg-ulator did not happen thereal tale-teller unmaskedhimself in several news-papers and some onlinepublications.

What is very discernible in the in-

terview and in the sever-al publications is the atti-tude of an individualplayer on the prowl, dis-daining the ability of oth-ers and the institution andarrogating every speck ofachievement of an organ-ization to his own self,who is very self-righteousand clothed away inwhite, far from the mire ofothers reeking with mag-gots. This individualknows the Nigerian storyand the kind of insalubri-ous tale that would fasci-nate the people. Sampler:Efforts by the federal gov-ernment to rein in the ac-tivities of the Boko Har-am sect and curtail othercrimes across the countryhave been thwarted be-cause the Nigerian Com-munications Commission(NCC) has sold the fre-quency spectrum belong-ing to the Nigeria PoliceForce to a private compa-

BY ZOGBOBIANATHANIEL

ny, Open Skys Ltd…..Getting tangled in some

very technical issueswhich it least understoodbut fueled by fraudulentsubmissions from the taleteller, the media allegedNCC was under-valuingthe band and giving it outcheaply because the reg-ulator failed to do an auc-tion which would have at-tracted higher prices.

Finally responding inadvertorials, the regulatorexplained that there wasno cast-iron method ofcarrying out frequencysales, explaining that sev-eral methods are availa-ble — First Come FirstServed, Auction, BeautyContest/Comparative,Administrative/FixedPrice, or a combination oftwo or some of the above.In one of the tale teller’sconcoctions concerningthe ITU, he said it is un-fortunate that he was be-ing persecuted for bring-ing benefits to Nigeria —adding he was able to de-liver results for Nigeriawhich has not beenmatched by anyone in the145-year history of theITU. He further said thathis interventions have re-sulted in Nigeria gettingspectrum that should gen-erate billions of dollars inrevenue (part of which isnow being sold at ridicu-lous prices). He capped itby saying he worked toensure that Nigerianswere elected to ITU posi-tions that we merit as acountry.

This is the hubris of atale teller who is

ready to pull everybodydown, including institu-tions only if his name canbe glorified. Even if hewere superhuman heshould give little credit tothe institution that sendshim out and the individ-uals that make up histeam. Pray, what is theconnection between theITU and the Ministry ofCommunication Technol-ogy because this writer isknowledgeable enough toknow that the ITU recog-nizes ministries and notregulators and that in factcountries are representedby teams which includeand headed by the Com-munication Ministry, gov-ernment agencies, and inthe Nigerian situation, theNCC, NBC, National

Continues on Page 30

CMYK

28— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012

CMYK

Mikel vs Clattenburg:Ramires ready to testify

...Police step into investigation

Chelsea midfielder,Ramires will be the key

witness in the John Obi Mikeland referee Mark Clattenburgracial abuse saga, currentlyrocking the English premierleague.

Ramires and fellowBrazilian Luiz were said tohave heard Clattenburg callMikel “Monkey” after theNigerian star confronted himon the sending of FernandoTorres in the vexed matchbetween Chelsea andManchester United at theStamford Bridge.

According to reports Mikelhad confronted the refereewho booked him for dissent.Ramires and Liuz heard himcall Mikel “Monkey”. Mikelwho did not hear the refereemake the remark, was latertold about the racial slur byClattenburg and Mikelreported the matter toChelsea coach Roberto DiMatteo.

After the final whistle

Clattenburg and his assistantswere confronted in theofficials’ dressing room by aChelsea delegation of chiefexecutive Ron Gourlay, DiMatteo, his assistant EddieNewton and Mikel andmatters quickly becameheated.

It was gathered that Chelseaapparently thought long andhard before making theirallegations.

“It is understood thatseveral senior playersinitially felt uncomfortableabout the club making such aserious allegation, repeatedlyasking Mikel if he was surethat Clattenburg had used theword he thought he had

heard, and even questioningwhether their team-matecould understand thereferee’s Durham accent.

“Mikel’s conviction and thestrength of feeling among histeam-mates won the day,however, leading Chelsea toconclude that they had nochoice but to make a formalcomplaint.”

The referee, his assistantsand fourth official areunderstood to have beenstunned by the claims, withMichael McDonough, SimonLong and Michael Jonesdenying hearing anything ofthat nature over the officials’microphone link-up.

London’s MetropolitanPolice said yesterday they

were investigating allegedracist comments made by thereferee during last weekend’sPremier League matchbetween Chelsea andManchester United.

Scotland Yard said they werelooking into the allegationsagainst Mark Clattenburg,who refereed Sunday’s clashat Stamford Bridge in westLondon. Visitors United won3-2, with Chelsea having twoplayers sent off.

“An investigation has beenlaunched into allegedcomments made during afootball match betweenChelsea FC and ManchesterUnited FC at StamfordBridge,” a police statementread.

Officers from the localborough were in touch withChelsea and the FootballAssociation, the sport’sgoverning body in England,it said, adding that neitherparty had made a complaint.

Scotland Yard said they wereworking with the Blues andthe FA “in order to considerany allegation that is made inrelation to the reportedevents”.

Clattenburg is alleged tohave used “inappropriatelanguage”, reportedly of aracist nature, towardsChelsea’s Nigeria and Spainmidfielders John Mikel Obiand Juan Mata at the westLondon club’s StamfordBridge ground on Sunday.

The 37-year-old official, whohas vowed to co-operate fullywith any probe and reportedly

denies the allegations, hasbeen stood down frommatches for a week, pendingan FA investigation.

Radamel Falcao’s future atAtletico Madrid depends

on factors outside his control,the in-form Colombia strikersaid in a Spanish televisioninterview on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old is one of thehottest properties inEuropean football and hasmade a prolific start to theseason scoring in 11consecutive matches for cluband country helping unbeatenAtletico to join Barcelona atthe top of La Liga.

“I don’t even know what I’mdoing tomorrow.” Falcao, whois nicknamed ‘el tigre’ (thetiger), said when asked whathe was going to do at the endof the season.

“I am happy here andenjoying things at present. Iam not thinking aboutleaving, only in playing thisseason and I hope everythinggoes well.”

Falcao, who was named onthe shortlist for the FIFAWorld Player of the Yearaward on Monday, has puthimself on the radar of manyof Europe’s top clubs afterscoring a brace when Atleticowon the Europa League finalin May.

Falcao doubts future at A. Marid

He also netted a hat-trick intheir victory over Chelsea inthe European Super Cup backin August.

“The club has needs and itdepends on certain results,”he said. “There are manyfactors. The economy of theclub, entering the ChampionsLeague.

“Later, Atletico and the

responsible people will decidewhat to do with my future.Many times the players arethe last to know.”

Atletico finished fifth inSpain last season to re-enterthe Europa League, butcurrently lie second in thestandings behind Barca ongoal difference with 25 pointsfrom nine games.

Falcons’ coach, Kadiri Ikhana hasdisclosed that his wards will play

weeping girls of group B, Ethiopiawith all seriousness as he isdetermined to seal his place in thefinal of the African WomenChampionship happening inEquatorial Guinea.

The Falcons emerged victoriousMonday in a hard fought openinggame against Cameroon, while Cote‘d Ivoire battered Ethiopia 5-0. TheSuper Falcons are currently secondplaced in the group and Ikhanastated that nothing short of generouswin will do for his team.

“We have now seen the competitionand we know how tight it is. No

AWC: We won’twith kid gloves


CMYK

Musa tops award list of junior playerst treat Ethiopia— Ikhana

games will be easy and we willapproach the game againstEthiopia like we did withCameroon. We must win that gameto book our place in the semi-finals,” said the coach.

The Falcons on a waterloggedpitch out played Cameroon, theteam that punctuated their longstanding tradition of representingAfrica at the Olympics. Nigeriaopened scoring in the first halfthrough defender, OhadughaOyinnyechi. Cameroon drew levelfrom the spot just after the break,before Perpetua Nkwocha roundedoff proceedings with a divingheader five minutes to full time.

Lionel Messi has made it clear that he isnot interested in joining Paris Saint-

Germain and says he is happy with life atBarcelona.

The Argentina international stated onMonday that he dreams of staying at theBlaugrana until the end of his career, andnot even a lucrative offer from the Ligue 1giants would tempt him to move on.

“Paris Saint-Germain’s project tempting?No, no! I have the best teammates in theworld at Barcelona. We fight for trophiesevery season,” Messi was quoted as sayingby France Football.

“Barcelona is a beautiful city and Barca arethe club where I was raised. I can honestlynot even imagine leaving Barcelona.”

PSG lured players such as ZlatanIbrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezziand Gregory van der Wiel to the Frenchcapital in the summer transfer window, butMessi is unsure whether the team cancompete with the big teams in Europe thisterm.

“I don’t know whether PSG already havethe means to challenge the big teams in theChampions League this season,” heexplained.”I think that they can win theLigue 1 title with all the players who can bedecisive. But it takes time to build a team.

He added, “Their situation reminds me a

Messi dismisses PSG link

bit of Manchester City. It’s not easy to build ateam when you have players coming from allcorners of the world.”

Les Parisiens currently sit atop of the Ligue1 table and second in their Champions Leaguegroup.

Ahmed Musa is up fornomination as one of the

best footballing talents in theworld under the age of 21 tosucceed Mario Gotze - theBorussia Dortmundplaymaker.

The CSKA Moscow attackeris on the list for the secondconsecutive year and hisexploits with the Russian teamcoupled with his goals for thenational team would havehelped him into the list of thecontenders given byTuttosport.

The winger originally fromKano Pillars has scored goalsat whatever club he hasjoined. He was the leadingscorer in the Nigeria Premier

League with 16 goals in 2009,before joining VVV Venlo ofthe Netherlands where healso excelled scoring 10 goalsin 37 matches in two seasons,primarily as a winger beforegetting his big move to theformer UEFA Cup champions.

This season, he has beenasked to play further forwardafter Serge Doumbia pickedan injury and has beenscoring frequently since.

Musa, 21, is considered asone of Nigeria’s brightestfootball talents and he isexpected to be a part of theSuper Eagles that willcompete at the next AfricaCup of Nations tournamentthat is coming up in South

Africa next year.Other notable nominees are

David Alaba of BayernMunich, Thibaut Courtoisfrom Atletico Madrid,Philippe Coutinho from InterMilan, Stephan El Shaarawyfrom AC Milan, ChristianEriksen from Ajax, MarioGotze from BorussiaDortmund, Ola John fromBenfica, Iker Muniain fromAthletic Bilbao and JonjoShelvey and Raheem Sterlingfrom Liverpool.

The award will be given outin Turin in December and thewinner will be picked by thevotes of respected journalistsfrom some of Europe’s mostrespected newspapers.

Efe Ambrose worth every penny,says Celtic coach

Celtic of Scotland coach, Neil Lennon said that Efe Amborsewas money well spent as he praised the contributions of

the Super Eagles defender to Celtic.The 25-year-old Ambrose arrived from Israeli side FC Ashdod

in August for 800, 000 euros (about N168m) and hasimmediately made an impact at his new club.

He recently scored his first goal for them in their 5-0 victoryat St Mirren. But it’s at the other end of the pitch where he hasreally shown his quality, most notably starring in theirChampions League tie at Barcelona last week.

“We were delighted to get him. As soon as Johan Mjallbyand I looked at him we decided to bring him in. At 800,000Euros or so, it was a no-brainer. Money well spent,” gushed adelighted Lennon.

“Efe has hit the ground running. He is a hungry boy fromhumble surroundings and is very mature for his age.Defensively he makes the game look easy. He is a huge asset.”

Sergio Ramos insists RealMadrid has not given up

Chasing Barcelona keepsReal going — Ramos

on the Liga title just yet, andhas made it clear that the clubis determined to catchBarcelona.

Los Blancos currently sitfourth in the league table,trailing joint leadersBarcelona and AtleticoMadrid by eight points, butRamos has insisted that thetitle race is by no means overyet.

“We are motivated by thechallenge to catch up withBarcelona. We’re going tofight for the league title rightto the end and we expect tobe in with a shout,” Ramoswas quoted as saying byMarca.

He added, “Right now thereare two teams on top of theirgame, Barcelona and AtleticoMadrid, but if we keepwinning our games we’ll putthem under a lot of pressure.

Maritime Authority,among others and secu-rity agencies? What is thecontribution of these oth-er organizations?

An occurence will helpshape the portrait of thisindividual in question,who unilaterally reo-pened operators illegallyusing frequencies not al-located to them, and jus-tifying it by saying thatNCC took no decision toshut down any company,saying it is the case of ajunior staff of the commis-sion going on rampage,shutting down companieswithout recourse to theprovision of the Nigerian

Communications Act 2003and License Conditions,as well as Section 36 ofthe Constitution of theFederal Republic of Ni-geria. Again this charac-ter had to step in to savethe Commission andCountry some embarrass-ment!

In response to anotherquestion about being onthe side of mobile opera-tors when they were sanc-tioned for poor quality ofservice, this character saidhe opposed the sanctionsagainst the operators pay-ing a penalty of N1.17bn,because he believed thatthe way and manner thefines were applied was

not in conformity with theQoS Regulations. Thischaracter, the tale teller,doesn’t seem to have anyidea what it takes to workin a system where he isnot in charge. Evenamong friends there isseniority, among lawmak-ers voted into office thesame day there is senior-ity, hence there is the Sen-ate President and theHouse Speaker, as exam-ples.

In pursuit of ambition,every chief executive hasbeen the foe of this taleteller, but it is time he re-alized that he still needsmore education in demo-cratic processes and col-

lective responsibility. Try-ing to sell himself as a lat-ter-day telecoms messiahwon't wash either, becausethe real heroes of thecountry’s telecommunica-tions industry are Nigeri-an media practitionerswho virtually wrote the in-dustry into existence andmaintained faith in thesystem when most peopledidn’t. They are the realcurators of the country’s tel-ecommunications sector,not any tale teller workinghard to pull down his ownhouse in a myopic bid to at-tain heights for which he isjust not equipped.�Nathaniel writes from

Lagos.

CHAIRMAN, AfricaICT Alliance, (AfIC-

TA), Dr. Jimson Olufuyeat the just concludedUnited Nations Commis-sion on Science and Tech-nology for Development(CSTD) open consulta-tion on enhanced cooper-ation on public policy per-taining to the Internetheld in Geneva, Switzer-land has said that en-hanced cooperation oninternet governancewould encourage digitalinclusion of Nigeria andrest of the African sub-re-gion.

According to the formerPresident of InformationTechnology Association ofNigeria, (ITAN), en-hanced cooperation (EC)was about encouraging,deepening and enrichingcooperation and collabo-ration through dialogueon diverse public policyissues pertaining to theInternet.

Enhanced cooperationWith enhanced cooper-

ation, developing econo-mies like Nigeria, he saidwill be able to climb upthe ladder of developmentthrough a stable, predict-able, secure and sustain-able Internet governancemade possible by in-creased North–South,South-South and North-North cooperation inmany areas including re-moval of bottlenecks toaccess through increaseddialogues with all stake-holders on for exampleIPv6 adoption, encour-agement of innovation bypromoting reward sys-tem, plugging gaps in thesecurity of the Internetthrough increased Re-search and Development,enthroning the rule of lawon the Internet therebymitigating increasingcrime waves on the Inter-

NCC: When a whistle blower puts the system in perilContinues from Page 27

InternetSpeech debuts voiceinternet browser technology

BY EMMA ELEBEKE

DETERMINED tobridge the digital

and language gap in theNigerian telecomindustry, InternetSpeechInc and Adamu Consult-ing in collaboration withICT University of BatonRouge, Lousiana lastweek introduced an au-dio/voice internet phonetechnology into Nigeria.

Unveiling the technolo-gy, Dr. Emdad Khan of In-ternetSpeech Inc said thetechnology involves de-ploying the voice inter-net technology and serv-ice infrastructure to Nige-rian consumers, business-es and governments.

On how the web brows-er phone works, he said‘‘access is provided viaany phone to informationon any website, whetheror not that site has beenvoice-enabled.’’

According to him, Inter-netSpeech uses an intel-ligent agent that performskey tasks which includeautomating communica-tion between a telephoneand the internet andthereby extracting key in-formation from a web

page.Also speaking, the Man-

aging Director of AdamuConsulting, Dr. HarounaAdamu described the in-novation as a mile stonethat will effectively bridgethe digital and languagedivides in Nigeria.

‘’The company focusesin three rapidly growingbroadband segments, con-sumers, businesses andgovernments. Our strate-gy is to remain the leaderin this rapidly growingvoice internet market, pro-vide voice internet infra-structure technology anddeploy the technologythrough channel part-ners,’’ he added.

The patent Voice Inter-net technology uses anIntelligent Agent, thatperforms the task of auto-mating communicationbetween a telephone andthe Internet, extracts keyinformation from a webpage and excludes non-essential information, in-terprets the contents of aweb page and renders vis-ual website contents tovery user friendly, con-cise, easily navigable andmeaningful audio con-tents.

Olufuye seeks enhanced cooperation on internet governance

BY EMEKA AGINAM

net through collaborativeenforcement and admin-istration of justice, crea-tion of Internet based jobsto tackle massive unem-ployment in the develop-ingworld through in-creased adoption of eAp-plications, eGovernment,eHealth, eBusiness,among others.

According to him, EC

should have ramificationsnot only at the regionaland international level butmost importantly at thenational level where lawand policy issues emanatein tandem with the bot-tom up, multi-stakehold-er approach to InternetGovernance.

MandateHe told the gathering

that the his submissionscabove were premised onthe World Summit on In-formation Society (WSIS)Tunis agenda paragraph34, 35 and 70.

“The WSIS Tunis Agen-da directs that the en-hanced cooperation proc-ess should include partic-ipation by relevant inter-national organizations,including inter-govern-mental, multistakehold-er and private-sector ledorganizations.

“It is the position of theWorld Information Tech-nology and Services Alli-ance (WITSA), (the voiceof the global ICT indus-try) that dialogue amongall stakeholders takesplace continuously to sus-tain the momentous im-pact of the Internet on theglobal economy” he add-ed.

ImplementationHe said that so far, at

least 10 international or-ganizations handling In-ternet Policy issues havebeen playing leadingroles in demonstratingenhanced cooperation intheir operations and pol-icy making as facilitatedby the Under-Secretary-General for Economic andSocial Affairs and the De-partment of Economic andSocial Affairs through itsDivision for Public Ad-ministration and Devel-opment

ManagementThe ten organizations

he said are not limited toInternet Corporation forAssigned Names andNumbers (ICANN), ITU,World Wide Web Consor-tium (W3C), Council ofEurope, Internet Society(ISOC), OECD,UNESCO, WIPO,Number Resource Organ-ization (NRO) and Inter-net Engineering TaskForce (IETF).

New Horizons is Microsoft's

2012 Valued Partner

NEW Horizons Nigeria, a franchise of

New HorizonsWorldwide, the world’slargest independent ITTraining organisationwith offices in 80countries and six conti-nents of the world hasemerged Microsoft 2012Valued Partner, puttingthe organization in thetop five per cent of Mi-crosoft’s ecosystem glo-bally.

The Microsoft compe-tency differentiates or-ganizations such as NewHorizons in the businessworld and enables theorganization to capitaliston market opportunitywith tailored benefitssuch as eligibility for adirect relationship withMicrosoft, customertechnical sales and advi-sory services, and prior-itized exposure on theMicrosoft customer mar-ketplace.

The MD/CEO of NewHorizons, Nigeria, MrTim Akano, said thispartnership is an addedadvantage to New Hori-zons, which is a fastgrowing organizationwith strong interest inthe growth and devel-opment of the informa-tion technology and E-business aspect of Niger-ia’s economy, as it willincrease the Nation’s

BY EMEKA AGINAM

opportunity to have moreMicrosoft Certified Pro-fessionals.

Furthermore, he saidNew Horizons will con-tinually use its unparal-leled knowledge gath-ered in its 30 years ofoperations in 80 Coun-tries and six continentsof the world to ensurethe best IT and E-busi-ness trainings for Nige-rians.

New Horizons Niger-ia empowers about50,000 Nigerians yearlyin Universities, Schools,Military, and CorporateOrganizations. Akanosaid “With our robust re-lationships with Micro-soft, EC-Council,Oracle,Cisco, Certiport,CBP, Linux and SAP thefuture is bright for theNigerian IT Profession-als”.

�Olufuye

Windows 8 available in 140

countries

MICROSOFT hasannounced the

global availability of thenext version of its best-selling Windows operat-ing system, Windows 8.

The new solution, Mi-crosoft assured offers cus-tomers a no compromisecomputing solution thatbest fits their needs, onthe device that works forthem and with the featuresthey want, Windows 8 isnow available for pur-chase.

Already, Windows 8starting from the week-end is now available for

consumers in more than140 markets and 37 lan-guages in two primaryversions including Win-dows 8 and Windows 8Pro, as well as Windows8 Enterprise for large or-ganizations.

Also available is Win-dows RT, including Sur-face for Windows RT. De-signed for ARM-basedtablets, Windows RT willbe available pre-installedon new devices. In addi-tion to the wide range ofnew Windows devices,existing Windows 7 userscan upgrade their devic-es in more than 140 mar-kets.

BY EMEKA AGINAM

30 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 31, 2012

M D / C E O , N e wHorizons, Nigeria, MrTim Akano.

CMYK


FOCUS

Peter Tosh didn't fightagainst Jamaican govt —Son

BY FREDRICK OKOPIE

THE youngest son of Jamaican reggae

legend, Winston Hubert McIntosh, AKA

Peter Tosh, Jawara McIntosh, chatted with

Vanguard Newspapers on his musical career

and an insight of the Tosh’s family including

the mysteries surrounding his father’s death.

What is your positionin Peter Tosh’s family?

My father had 10children, five boys andfive girls, I am the 9thand my younger sister ishis last.

Your father is knownfor militant and revolu-tionary songs, are youtaking after him?

Yes.

How many singles oralbums have youreleased since youstarted music?

I have only officiallyreleased “get up standup” which is a single...aswe have been workingon building up thecapital and putting ateam together so that themusic can be properlypromoted and marketed.Otherwise the music fallson deft ears.

Are your songsaccepted in Jamaica?

Yeah, Jamaica lovesthat I incorporate hip-

hop in my songs as wellkeeping the tradition ofmy father alive by alsoperforming his songs. Ihave been told manytimes, that when they seeme they see my father!

Are all your siblingsinto music?

Yes, but only myself andmy elder brother Andrew

do it professionally.I will also be

collaborating withAndrew on the Album“Death to the Shistem”

Recently, your fatherwas given a posthumousaward of the Order ofMerit from the Jamai-can government hefought against why he

was alive, is that not abetrayal from the familyto receive such award onhis behalf?

Peter did not fightagainst the JamaicanGovernment, he foughtagainst injustice all overthe world. For him to behonoured with the Orderof Merit by the JamaicanGovernment is simply

testament to his GreatWorks. So is thisbetrayal, absolutely not!

What was therelationship betweenBob Marley and PeterTosh before Marley’sdeath?

Don’t know. I was tooyoung, Marley diedwhen I was a year old.

Lastly, tell us thewhere about of DennisLepo Lobban, the killerof your father and otherc i r c u m s t a n c e ssurrounding his death?

Dennis Leppo Lobbanis in prison in Jamaica,sentenced to life. To thisday, he denies killing

my Father, althoughthere are witnesses thatsurvived the atrocity. Myfather was a true Soldierfor Jah Rastafari and hegave his life for what hebelieved and I am hereto see his words fulfilled.The Blood of the saintscry out unto JAH forvengeance and the Lordwill soon have his Fill.Just a little while and the

wicked shall be no more!

Jawara McIntosh, thelast son of Peter Tosh.

Peter Tosh children and grand children afterreceiving the posthumous award of Order of Meritfrom the Jamaican government.

The late Winston Hubert McIntosh, aka, Peter Tosh.


From left: Rosemary Allison-Anaba of Domestic Bank, Zone 4, Abuja; winner of the firstmonthly draw of the Win Big With Ecobank Promo, Bashir Musa Bashir and Branch Manag-er, Ecobank Hotoro, Kano, Hawa Musa, during the presentation of the prize to the winner atthe Abuja Regional Office.

OVER 90 per cent ofborrowers in the

microfinance bankingsegment give fictitiousaddress, said GeorgeAdetokunbo, ManagingDirector, Ipman SatelliteMicrofinance BankDelivering a lecture on ‘fraudand forgeries in MicrofinanceBanks (MfBs), he said this isdone in collaboration withinsiders in the bank.

He spoke at a capacitybuilding programmeorganized by NationalAssociation of MicrofinanceBanks (NAMB) South WestZone to enlighten its memberson the incidence of fraud andforgeries.

Adetokunbo described fraudas a conscious and deliberateaction by a person or group ofpersons with the intension ofaltering the truth or fact forselfish personal gain.

Adetokunbo pointed out thatfraud in the sub-sector cutsacross the entire spectrum.

He warned staff of MfBS todesist from accepting freemeals from customers whoborrow from their banks as thiscan serve as an excuse whenthey default in paying backloans granted to them.

“The rate at which MfBs aredying today is higher than thedays of community banksbecause everybody is floodingthe sector,” he said.

The capacity buildingtraining is one of the sevenpoint agenda of Mr. OlufemiBabajide, Chairman NAMBSouth West Zone.

Commenting on thetraining, Babajide said “Wewant to use this capacitybuilding programme toeducate our people about theincidences of fraud andforgeries. We want to remindthem that this sector is highlyregulated and if you commitfraud, you cannot move toanywhere in this countrybecause as employees wehave captured all your data,your hometown, birth-date,among others, so you cannotreally move to anywhere in theworld.”

Meanwhile, the CBNreceived about 10,845

mails on financial crime,particularly the advance freefraud in 2011.

Senior Examiner, OFSID,CBN, Mr. David Adelanadisclosed this, stating that thenumber of forgeries and fraudwhich increased in value in2010, declined in 2011.

Adelana identifiedopportunity as the basis for

Over 90% of borrowers givefictitious address —MfB CEO

By PROVIDENCE OBUH fraud, advising managementof banks to l imitcircumstances that allow staffto carry cash withoutrestrictions.

”Opportunity is created byweak internal control throughthe provision of fund by theinternal auditor. ManagingDirectors’ should conductproper checks by monitoringthe activities of theiremployees

“You cannot change themotivation of a fraudperpetrator, but the only thingyou can change is theopportunity, close everyopportunity you fill can causefraud, identify all the possibleopportunities and beware ofdomineering staff,” hepointed out.

Microfinance Banksoperating under the umbrellabody of the National

Association of MicrofinanceBanks (NAMB) South WestZone has embarked ontraining programmes toeducate members on thedangers of indulging infraudulent activities. Thetraining identified as ‘capacitybuilding programme’ toaddress the incidence of fraudamong staff and operators ofMicrofinance Banks operatingunder the zone.

INDIA’S central bank hasruled out the possibility of

cutting interest rates due toinflation, which remains on asticky path.

The Reserve Bank of Indiais due to hold a monetarypolicy meeting on Tuesdayand is under pressure frombusiness leaders to cut rates,but a report released on theeve of its meeting suggestedotherwise.

“Notwithstanding thegrowth concerns, inflationremains significantly abovecomfort levels,” the reportsaid.

“Monetary policy needs tobe cautious in the interim,focusing on inflation whileusing the available space tosupport growth to the degreeit can.”

India’s inflation hasaccelerated to a 10-monthhigh, hitting 7.81 percent inSeptember, spurred by a risein state-controlled dieselprices to reduce fuelsubsidies.

While several central bankshave slashed rates in recentmonths to spur growth in theireconomies, the RBI has keptits focus on fighting inflation.

The central bank cut rates inApril to kick start growth — itsfirst such move in three years— but has since kept monetarypolicy steady despite pressurefrom businesses.

The once-booming Indianeconomy grew just 5.5percent from April to June, itsslowest quarterly expansionin three years.

India’s central

bank hints at

rates freeze

THE InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) has

advised the Gulf Arab oilexporting countries to cutgovernment spending tomake their budgetssustainable.

The Fund warned that thecurrent level of spending, ifsustained, might turn thecombined surplus of the statesin to deficit by 2017.

While expansionary fiscalpolicies helped the regionweather the global financialcrisis, given the healthyeconomic expansion currentlyunderway, the need forcontinued fiscal stimulus isdiminishing, the IMF said inits latest report. “Most GCCcountries should thereforeplan to reduce the growth ratein government expenditure inthe period ahead,” the reportcautioned.

“Along with continuedincreases in governmentspending, fiscal and externalsurpluses are, with

IMF advises Gulf States to cut govt spending

AGENCY REPORT

unchanged policies, projectedto decline in 2013 and beyond,with the combined fiscalsurplus turning to deficitaround 2017,” theWashington-based Fundwarned.

Under its baseline scenario,the GCC’s combined, publicexternal assets are projectedto exceed $3 trillion by 2017;in the downside scenario, theywould be $2.2 trillion but stillabove a projected $1.9 trillionat end-2012, the IMF said.

In 2011 those assets, whichinclude sovereign wealthfund holdings and centralbank reserves, were estimatedat about $1.6 trillion or over110 per cent of GDP, the reportshowed.

Early this month, IMFManaging Director ChristineLagarde praised GCC

governments for helping tostabilise the global economy bymanaging crude exports.

In 2011, total state spendingin the six GCC economiesjumped by some 20 per centin dollar terms, the IMF said.Governments wereresponding to unrest in theMiddle East by boosting socialspending.

The fund estimated that theGCC’s combined fiscalsurplus reached 13 per cent ofgross domestic product lastyear. It is projected to remainat roughly that level this year.

But the leap in spendinglifted the oil price levelsneeded to balance budgets torecord highs, making thecountries more vulnerable toa downturn. Oil exportreceipts account for over 80 percent of government revenue in

the region.“Along with continued

increases in governmentspending, fiscal and externalsurpluses are, withunchanged policies, projectedto decline in 2013 and beyond,with the combined fiscalsurplus turning to deficitaround 2017,” the IMF said.Observing that the outlook foroil prices was extremelyuncertain, the report said arapid deterioration in theglobal economy could bringabout developments similar towhat the region experiencedin 2009, including a sharp fallin oil prices and disruptionsto capital flows. The IMF, in adownside scenario, assumeda $30 oil price drop that startedin 2013 and lasted through themedium term. “The GCC inaggregate would under thedownside scenario go intodeficit by 2014, and all GCCeconomies would run fiscaldeficits by 2017,” the reportsaid.

CMYK


BRIEF

From left: Michael Akinwale, FXTM PR Manager; Konstantin Zakharov, Head, InvestmentSupport, FXTM Russia; Abiola Akinyele, FXTM Director and Adetomi Adekunle, FXTMConsultant at the FXTM Nigeria Electronic Traders conference in Abuja.

Pencom, IFC, World Bank plan capacitybuilding for stakeholders

NATIONAL Pensioncommission (PenCom)

says it is planning capacitybuilding with support fromthe International financecorporation, IFC, and WorldBank for all stakeholders inthe pension sector.

Head, Research andCorporate Strategy ofPenCom, Mr. Farouk Aminu,who revealed this in Abuja,said the capacity buildingwill also be done inconjunction with Securitiesand Exchange Commission,SEC,and the Nigeria StockExchange, NSE, to stimulateincreased activities oncorporate bond in theNigerian capital market.

He pointed out that thecommission is working onthe regulation on investmentof pension fund Assetswhich was revised to expandthe allowable investmentoutlets to include alternativeasset classes such as privateequity funds, infrastructurefinancing (debt instrumentsand funds), as well as bonds.

Farouk said the industryhas continued to consolidateas four marginal playershave taken over otherpension fund administrators,PFAs, the four marginalplayers include, PALstandard Alliance, Signa-Amana, Evergreen and Crib-Royal trust.

PFAs, IGI and CITI Trustwere issued letters ofintention to revoke their

licenses for their inability tomake up the capitalrequirements.

According to him, guidelinefor fund accounting has beenissued in order to streamlinerecord keeping in theindustry, issued regulationson transfer of RetirementSavings Account, RSAs,already available on theindustries website.

Under compliance andenforcement in the industry,he noted that the industry hascommenced issuing ofcompliance certificate, andthe industry has issued over

643 compliance certificates.He added that framework

had been developed andagents have been appointedto recover outstandingpension contributions withalongside penalties.

On the challenges faced bythe industry, Farouk saiddelays in remittance ofcontributions occasioned byNon-submission of nominalrolls by the MDAs.

“Non submission ofupdated and completenominal rolls indicatingchanges in grades and levelsresulting in non-remittance of

right contributions into RSAs”He added that low level of

monthly pension is anotherchallenge to the industry,substantial increases insalaries, especially with theintroduction of consolidatedsalary after the enactment ofPension Reform Act, PRA’04.

Another challenge is themultiple registrations andlack of clear identification ofRSA holders, lack of adequateknowledge about theworkings of the contributorypension scheme, CPS, andpoor service delivery by PFAsare militating factors facing bythe industry.

BY RITA OBODOECHINA

BY ROSEMARY ONUOHA

CHIEF Operating Officer,

Alliance & GeneralInsurance (A&G) Plc says thesum of N1.2 billion has beenpaid to Nigeria College ofAviation Technology ’s(NCAT)as claims for itsaircraft that crashed in 2010.

It will be recalled that aplane belonging to NCATcrashed during the process oflanding by a trainee pilot,however, there was nocausality but the plane, amodel, TAMPICO TB9 planewas wrecked with many of itscomponents totally bruised,including the propeller, theengine, the sliding gear, thefartewells, the wings and theplane curling.

A&G also said it spent overN250 million on one of theAviation College’s mostprestigious aircraft, 5N-CAGthat crash landed months ago

A&G pays NCAT plane crash claims

to be ferried to Denmark forrepairs.

He said that the aircraft isready; that Nigeria CivilAviation Authority (NCAA)has gone to inspect and willsoon issue a ferry-permit toallow the aircraft to bereturned to Nigeria.

He noted that the crash isindeed pathetic but “Weshould give glory to God thatno life was lost in the process.Our company is ready totackle this issue with highlevel of urgency requiredbeing the only traininginstitute for pilot in Nigeria.”

He said “Our consistency inthe payment of claims hasstrategically placed us as awell established andreputable insurance companywith high level of integrityand whose word remains herbond.”

Onipede reaffirmed thecompany’s desire to settleclaims, adding that the

aviation mishap that tookplace in NCAT, Zaria will bea thing of history as thecompany is on ground to fulfilall its commitment.

“It is in our character to facechallenges of this nature as itcan be seen in our records in

the insurance industry.”He also announced that

A&G is trying to restructureits business in line with thestandards expected of them inthe industry in accordancewith regulatory provisions.

CHI paysover N600mclaims in Q3

CO N S O L I D A T E D

Hallmark Insurance plc(CHI) has paid claims worthover 600 million, as at the endof third quarter its ManagingDirector Eddie Efekoha, hassaid.

He disclosed this at theofficial presentation of GroupAccident Insurance Cover tomembers of the NationalAssociation of InsuranceCorrespondence (NAICO) inLagos, adding that thecompany is committed tomeeting policyholders’expectation.

Efekoha said the companytakes payment of claims aspriority because of how muchit values its clients. He notedthat the company will alwaysensure that it’s underwritingis healthy and professionallyhandled.

Besides, he believes that thebusiness of insurance isdriven by referrals andcustomers’ recommendation.

He said: “For us as acompany, we recognise thatwe are in business to payclaims. Therefore, we mustoperate and ensure we do notfail. When we do that,satisfied clients willrecommend themselves andother people to us. So it’s abusiness that is built onreferrals such that existingclients will refer you whenyou have done well and wewill continue to do that in themist of changingenvironment.”

He noted that despite theharsh business environmentand challenging regulatoryregime, the company hascontinued to witness upwardmovement in growthfundamentals.

He said the company ishappy with where it is, havingachieved a very modestgrowth, stressing that the keydriver of its business from thestart is its people includingthe staff and the board.

Brokers need smarter data processing — Kelly

BROKERS and insurersmust streamline their

process of transmittingclients’ information, SteadfastChairman Robert Kelly says.

He told the Finity nicheinsurer conference in Sydneythat more automation isneeded to let brokers respondto increasing cost pressuresand changing marketconditions. “We need to dobusiness smarter and moreefficiently but at the sametime mitigate the risks,” hesaid.

Kelly says better use oftechnology will cut the cost ofbusiness for brokers andinsurers but automation willnot replace relationships ordiscussion with clients.

“The role of the broker is tohave a personal and directrelationship with the clientand that would not change.But the role of marketing theclient’s information – theinformation required to placebusiness – from client tobroker and broker tounderwriters who may bid for

the business needs to beautomated.”

Kelly says data will becomecrucial over the longer termand US insurers make muchbetter use of their data banksto select and price risk. Hesays Australian brokers’ staffcosts are increasing rapidly.When he started in insurance40 years ago wages were 25per cent of the cost ofproduction compared with 55per cent now, whilecommissions were 30 per centbut have fallen to 20 per cent.


NITA members may loose 10,000 jobs if…

NIGERIA IndependentTobacco Association

(NITA) has said that about10,000 jobs will be at risk inNigeria if the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) goesahead with its proposal atthe World Tobacco Growers’Day. International TobaccoGrowers Association, (ITGA)will be using the occasion to

mark the first World TobaccoGrowers’ Day to call on worldgovernments to oppose pro-posals by the World Health Or-ganization’s (WHO) Frame-work Convention on TobaccoControl (FCTC), that willthreaten the livelihoods ofmore than 30 million tobaccogrowers worldwide. The pro-posals will be voted on in aforthnight at the WHO’s meet-ing in Seoul, South Korea.

Celebrating the World Tobac-

co Growers’ Day, in Iseyin,Oyo State, Rasheed Bakare,Chairman, NITA, in commem-oration of the World TobaccoGrowers’ Day requested worldleaders to give the Associa-tion an opportunity to contrib-ute to the growth of the Nige-rian economy.

According to Bakare, “Tobac-co growers of the world will notstand idly and watch as theirfates are sealed. Governmentsmust understand that these

issues will have consequenc-es not only for us, but for thecommunities we live in.”

”As we celebrate the benefitour farms bring to our commu-nities, we are also asking ourleaders to stand by us, hear ourvoices and to give us the op-portunity to work together toprotect our way of life,” saidBakare.

¡°Should these measures be-come law it will have a graveimpact on the livelihoods of 800

growers in Nigeria and the overN500,000 million we contrib-ute to the local economy annu-ally. The Chairman stated thatNITA supports the original in-tent of the FCTC¡¯s arti le 17treaty, which was to provide¡°technical and financial assis-tance to aid the economic tran-sition of tobacco growers andworkers¡± as a decline in tobac-co production consumption re-sulted in lower demand for ourcrop.

SONA Group of Companieshas unveiled a new mem-

ber christened Techblow Ni-geria Limited.

Techblow is to cater forindividuals and organisationsin need of blow mouldingplastic products. Thecompany is is situated atIjako, Sango-Ota in OgunState.

Techblow is formed fromShongai Packaging IndustryLimited which specialises inplastic crate production,Injection moulding, crateprinting and label printing.The blow moulding divisionof Shongai Packaging wascarved out to improve onproduct and service deliveryand to ensure businessgrowth.

Speaking on the company,Mr. Ajai Musaddi, Director ofIndustries, said the demand forblow moulding products likebottles and jerry cans for thelubricant industry has seen avery huge increase. Techblowis fully geared up to meet thedemands from the lubricantscompanies and othermanufacturing sectors such asfood and pharmaceuticalindustries with new state of theart blow moulding machinesfrom Europe that guarantee theproduction of up to 60,000pieces of 4 litre capacity jerrycans per day.”

Techblow has recentlyprocured four brand newmachines from Uniloy, Italy tomanufacture blow mouldedproducts with each having acapacity to produce 15,000pieces of 4 litre jerry cans perday in addition to nine othermachines dedicated to theproduction of other blowmoulding items.

Sona Groupunveils newmember,Techblow NigeriaLimited

SAMSUNG has climbedthe ranks in Interbrand’s Best

Global Brands Report for 2012,ranking 9th among the top 10brands for the first time in itshistory, rises 40 percent in brandvalue.

George Ferreira, Vice President/COO for Samsung ElectronicsAfrica, said “The market growthwitnessed by Samsung over theyear is underpinned by its abilityto constantly re-invent its productofferings and its ability to innovateand adapt to the changing needsof the global and African market.Being recognised as one of the Top10 Best Global Brands is evidenceof our success.”

Asked on what was responsible

Samsung ranks 9th on Interbrand’s 2012 report

...rises 40% in brand value

for the leap, Ferreira said, “We haveexpanded our presence on thecontinent from 15 to 42 countries andwe are working hard to buildproducts and programmes for Africa’sunique needs, resources andconditions which to our mind havetruly set the brand apart from ourcompetitors. Our focus is one ofcommunity and commercial benefit,building both with equally significantimportance,” adds Ferreira. “OurBuilt for Africa products are premiumproducts that really speak to theunderstanding that Samsung havearound the challenges our Africanconsumers face – from limitedresources, electricity and water forexample, to needing true innovationthat works with the geographicallandscape.”

Continuing, he stated, “Samsunghave and will continue to focus onsuccessfully building products for theneeds of Africans, from a Businessto Business, Business to Governmentand Business to Consumerperspective. We are exceptionallyproud of this recognition, whichreinforces our brand strategy ofmapping global brand equity to localoutreach - demonstrating thatSamsung are not

Applauded as one of the biggestsuccesses of 2012, marked by animpressive 40 percent rise in brandvalue, substantially higher than theindustry average of 16 percent,Samsung have steadily climbed theInterbrand Best Global Brandranking since 2002, jumping 8 placesfrom 17 in 2011 to 9 in 2012.

From left: General Manager, Nokia West-Africa, Mr. Chris Brown; Chief Marketing Officer,Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Olu AKanmu and Head, Sales Operations, Nokia West Africa, Mr. LadiOyatayo, at the promotional launch of Airtel special consumer promo on the Nokia Lumia900,710 & 610 Smartphones, in Lagos.

Tropika boosts fruit juicemarket

The juice in orange, pineapple, mango peach, Cocopine and apple variants wasunveiled at the EleguishiPrivate beach in Lagos wherethe General Manager ofClover West Africa, JohanVoigt, said that the companyintroduced the drink into theNigeria beverage market toenable consumers share aunique drinking experienceunlike any other in the marketcurrently.

“Tropika will become a partof life for a consumer who islooking for a smooth tastinghealthy drink to relax andcelebrate life every day,anywhere” he noted.

Tropika, he said was madefrom real dairy skimmed milkand fruit juices. “Theuniquely smooth taste is sureto refresh and relaxconsumers.” He assured.

The General Manager,pointed out that the juicewill become a part of life fora consumer who is lookingfor a smooth tasting healthydrink to relax and celebratelife.”

A NEW fruit juicechristened, Tropika from

the stable of Clover industrieshas entered the Nigerianmarket.

By ESTHER ONYEGBULA

Stories ByPRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

CMYK

MIDWEEK

SERMON

w i t hSAM EYOBOKA

[email protected]


BRIEFLY...

MGPN prays for Nigeria

Equip Police, there'll bepeace, says Emmanuel

What is your reaction to thespate of bombings of

churches and other worshipcentres?

The incidents are most un-for-tunate as they have jeo-par-dized the work of evang-elism.These incidents can be blamedon ignorance, a fall-out of afailed society. I call on allChristians to continually lookup to Jesus Christ, the authorand finisher of our faith and notbe deterred by these events. Weshould encourage one anotherand build the bond of fellowshipin love amongst ourselves andothers of diverse faith where itis welcome. These are thechallenges of our time, be theyethnic, political, religious or asa result of socio-economicmalaise. We should as a church,continue in prayers for oursafety and peace and for wis-dom for our leaders. TheChristians who lost their livesare the true martyrs of our faithand should be remembered fortheir eternal sacrifice while thechurches, CAN or PFN shouldset up a body that will identifythese victims with a view toimmortalizing them and assist-ing their families and lovedones.

Are you satisfied with thereaction of CAN so far?

CAN’s reaction has alwaysbeen spontaneous as oneshould expect. Honestly, CANleadership has readily express-ed its feelings and I am verysatisfied with the concerns theyhave continued to show overthis matter and at the levelsthey have expressed such. Ifone look at reactions in termsof assistance to victims andchurches where these incidentshave occurred, one will say, yes,CAN has responded with careand welfare even though morecan be done. Then again, if youconsider the utterances of CANpresident, Papa Ayo Oritsejafor,one may say he has often beenmisunderstood or misquoted. Ibelieve this senior man of Godis not agitating for revenge aspeople have misinterpreted.Papa is a very vibrant man whohas brought this divine charis-matic attitude into the characterof the leadership of CAN andyou need to have depth in thespirit to flow with him. I thinkthrough his bold and persuas-ive concern, CAN has reallysensitized Christians in theNorth and elsewhere to beproactive in ensuring theirsafety and standing up indefence of their faith.

I believe his tenure is ord-ained for these trying times theChurch is facing and if you lookcarefully, these incidences aretaking a downward turn inspread, frequency and numberof casualties. I would want touse this medium to congratulatethis outstanding leader of ourfaith who still has so much

vigour and vitality, in his 40years of effective ministry as hecelebrates Christ in him and goahead to say, well done to CANand to God be all glory. Amen!

Will you advise Christiansto fight back or not?

The core life of every Christianis to show love and preachpeace. Its from love we draw ourstrength to have mercy andforgive those who offend orhurt us so we can obtain graceto live a life of faith as over-comers we are. We are not in awar situation so I will continueto ask that we employ allmeasures for social or publicsecurity and mobilize ourselvesto defend our faith and theinstitutions of our faith withouthaving to fight back. It will takewisdom to do this and wecertainly have this wisdom inChrist. Amen!

How can we tackle thesecurity challenges in

Nigeria?I have always said that all

challenges upon the face of thisearth will answer to divinewisdom and instructive pray-ers. Our present case in Nigeriais not an exemption. All thesecurities agencies especiallythe Police and SSS must be welltrained and constantly retrain-ed to be responsive to theirduties. They must be properlyequipped with modern tools,gadgets and equipment foreffective service and renum-erated well enough to encoura-

ge them. Above all, we must beand remain a praying nation asthis is the only way to get God’sattention over us.

Some people are currentlyclamouring for a Sov-

ereign National Conference.What's your stand?

I ask: can you have a SNCwhen democratic institutions ofgovernment are still in placeand functioning? I think not! Weare not arguing our sovereigntywith anyone except of course weare saying that the presentdemocratic setting does notrepresent the common goodwillof all.

Where do you thinkNigeria is heading?

It is not an issue of who is thepresident or his or her person-ality but an outcome of divinetime. We are certainly headingfor a better future under thepragmatic leadership of Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan. Mosttimes people have associatedhis name “Goodluck” with whatthey hope to see but let me tellyou that his name carries whatchallenge he will have to dealwith!

But then again, look at it thisway, what lies ahead of us? Ohsure, challenges, trials, tempta-tions. If you watch very care-fully, it is as if all the problemsof Nigeria over the years arenow being deposited on thepresent leadership. You candescribe his administration asa major sewage channel---itsmells awfully and has a lot ofdebris in it but yet its the onlyreason why the environment isclean, safe and healthy. This ishis predicament but I wouldsay, a good one at fulfillingGod’s purpose. It is enormousbut grace is available to triumphover these challenges and justthis will Jonathan do.

THE Ministers of God Prayer Network International, a non-denominational Christian organization recently held her an-

nual “Lagos State Prayer Conference for Nigeria at 52” themed“The Glory of God” at Goodnews Bible Church, Alasia, Oshodi,Lagos.

The senior pastor of Trinity House, Victoria Island, Pastor ItuahIghodalo, co-ordinated the programme that paraded notableChristian leaders from across the country in attendance.Highlights of the event included uplifting prayer for theforgiveness of our sins as a nation and God’s mercy for LagosState, Nigeria and her leaders.

The first Bible reading was taken from Romans 13:1-6 and readby Primate Akinsola on behalf of the Lagos State governor, Mr.Babtunde Raji Fashola.

In his brief charge, Bishop Bankole Jefferson, the presidingbishop of Mercy Tabernacle, Lagos said, “the ability to win andconquer is in the glory and if the glory is taken away, theninstruction will be far from you”.

National co-ordinator of MGPN, Rev. (Mrs.) Bola Oyegbamisaid the future of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians and withfervent prayers, Nigeria will attain her desired glory.

She therefore appealed to Nigerians not to relent in praying forrestoration and stability of Nigeria as a nation.

In his contribution, the senior pastor of Trinity Church, Lagos,Pastor Ighodalo assured that there is hope for the futuregeneration, but enjoined youths to pursue righteousness.

He called on the Federal Government to improve on the securitysituation in Nigeria for sufficient protection of the Nigerian youth.

THE name GodsElect Buchi Emmanuel may not be very familiar but the 43-year old cleric pastors a church in Owerri, the capital of Imo State known asAngelhearts Christian Mission. In this interview with SAM EYOBOKA, he lenthis voice to the certain happenins in the nation. Excerpts.....

I think through hisbold and persuasiveconcern, CAN hasreally sensitisedChristians in the

North

From left: Bishop Bankole Jefferson, Primate Akinsola, Pas-tor Ituah Ighodalo and Rev. (Mrs.) Bola Oyegbami at the prayerconference for Nigeria.

DIRECTOR of Society forVocation Support (SVS),

Rev. Fr. Stephen Ogbe hasurged Nigerian parents to givepriority attention to the morallyand spiritually upbringing oftheir children and wards.

Rev. Ogbe lamented thatNigerian youths easily engagein immoral acts becausemajority of such youths do nothave solid foundations fromtheir homes, noting that mostparents do not inculcate goodmorals into their children.

The cleric spoke at the reunionof Society for Vocation Supportbenefactors, patrons and thelaunching of N50 millionDominican vocation endowmentfund which took place at St.Dominic’s Catholic Church,Yaba, Lagos.

“Most problems we are facingas a nation come from thefamily. Most parents do nothave time for their children. Ifchildren have a solid foundationfrom home the society will be abetter place. If parents can trainup their children in the way ofthe Lord there won’t be muchchallenge in the society. Theyshould know that God will askeach to give account of howthey train their children,” hesaid.

The reunion which is a yearlyevent was titled; “God’s Project2012” attracted participantsfrom various Catholic churchesin the state who all recommittedtheir pledge in sponsoring andfinancing Dominican Provinceof St. Joseph the Worker(Nigeria and Ghana).

Corroborating the cleric'sstatement, the chairpersonOrganizing Committee of SVS,Dame Felicia Okoli encouragedmothers to inculcate disciplineinto their children at home rightfrom childhood until they aregrown up, stressing that child’straining not tied to God’s wordwill tantamount to wastedefforts.

Reminding mothers of theirrole as teachers in their homes,Dame Okoli said if they fail toplay that role such mothershave failed. She also called onSVS members and public-spirited Nigerians to redoubletheir efforts in contributing tothe work of God and towards thepropagation of the gospel of theLord.

In her words: “SVS membersare wonderful people who havebeen committed to their call butI am calling them to renew theirefforts in their partnership withGod and I am very sure thatGod will reward themabundantly.”

Cleric tasks women onchildren’s upbringing

By OLAYINKA LATONA

*GodsElect Buchi Emmanuel


By CHIOMA OBINNA

Stroke management: Healthy eating is key

HOW bad is your stroke?

Do you know that eatingwell after a stroke is key to re-covery? Experts say choosinghealthy foods can help controlblood pressure, body weight,reduce a person’s risk of hav-ing another stroke, and mayhelp with the demands of stroketherapy and other daily activi-ties.

A stroke happens when thereis a disruption of blood flow andoxygen to the brain. There aredifferent types of stroke, eachdefined by its root cause. Re-gardless of the root cause,stroke is an extremely seriouscondition that requires imme-diate attention.

Symptoms of stroke include:Difficulty talking or under-standing, numbness on oneside, extremely intense, pain-ful headache and trouble see-ing out of one or both eyes.

Thanks to science as amazingfindings by researchers showthat preventing another strokeand staying healthy can beachieved when an individualtake appropriate steps to makehealthy food choices, controlweight and blood pressure.

Dietitians say vegetables andfruits that contain antioxidantshelp stroke victims recoverfaster due to the anti-inflammatory properties.These anti-inflammatory prop-erties can reduce nerve cellinjury and death and mayspeed recovery time for strokevictims. Recent study showedthat one way to start improvingones heart health immediately isto increase intake of vegetablesand fruits.

Eating four to 10 servings ev-ery day may help reduce risk ofheart disease and stroke.Vegetables and fruit offer a hostof heart-healthy nutrients.

Studies conducted on ratsshowed amazing findings.These rats were divided into fourgroups and each group were fedrespectively rat food supple-mented with blueberries, spin-ach, spirulina and the last groupwas given plain rat food.

Four weeks after, the rats wereinduced to an ischemic stroke.The stroke size of the rats whoreceived the blueberry andspinach supplemented rat foodwere half the size as those re-ceiving plain rat foods. Stroke le-sions in rats receiving spirulinasupplements were 75 percent

smaller than those who did notreceive a supplement. These ratsalso recovered movement afterthe stroke faster than the non-supplemented rats.

Experts have found that manyvegetables and fruit are particu-larly rich in vitamin C and in beta-carotene, which is a form ofvitamin A. These work asantioxidants in the body, help-ing to slow down or prevent ath-erosclerosis by reducing thebuild-up of plaque from choles-terol and other substances in thearteries.

SOME call it one of the

most powerful plant foodson the planet. There’s some evi-dence it may help reduce risk ofheart disease, cancer, diabetes.Flaxseed (Egusi) the tiny seedthat’s been around for centuries:is found in all kinds of foods, fromcrackers to frozen waffles to oat-meal.

Although flaxseed contains allsorts of healthy components, itowes its healthy reputation pri-marily to three ingredients. Oneis Omega-3 essential fatty acids,“good” fats that have beenshown to have heart-healthy ef-fects.

Each tablespoon of ground flax-

Flaxseed prevents, treatshormone-associated cancers

*EAT a variety of foods each day because no single food can provide the body with all of thenutrients it needs for good health.

*Eat a rainbow of colourful foods at each meal. In order to reap the health-protective nutrientsfound in fruits and vegetables, it’s important to choose a variety of colorful foods at each meal. Gofor a rainbow approach by choosing an array of fruits, vegetables and legumes – dark reds, orang-es, vibrant yellows, deep greens, blues and purples. By choosing a rainbow of colour you will besure to take in a wide range of nutrients.

*Choose five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Research shows that the bestway to reap the benefits of a healthy diet is to bump up your fruits and vegetables. So, in addition,make sure you eat a minimum of five servings each day.

Reading food labels is a great way to learn more about the foods you are eating. By law, mostfoods must have nutritional information listed in a standard way. When selecting foods for reducingyour risk of stroke, focus on the following information on the food label for each serving; calories,total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium etc.

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

Since beta-carotene gives fooda distinctive dark-orange, red ordark-green colour, you can eas-ily spot the best sources, such ascarrots, tomatoes, squash, pinkgrapefruit, sweet potatoes.Benefits of tomatoes are enor-mous. Apart from containinghigh doses of Vitamin C, toma-toes also known to contain lyco-pene, an antioxidant that expertssay can protect from stroke.Study has found that tomatoes,a rich source of lycoprene mayhelp reduce the risk of sufferinga stroke by half or more.

8 strategies to reduce risk of a stroke

Quick tips on dietary intervention:* The greatest dietary culprit in stroke causation is meat and dairy products. Consumption of these

products result in excess production of mucus, plaque, and other hardened substances that obstructarterial blood flow throughout the body in general, the brain in particular and resulting in ischemia.

* A vegan diet and/or raw foods diet is best for healing and optimal health purposes. Vegetable juiceswill greatly help to remove accumulated arterial plaque and debris in the body. Juice plenty of greenvegetables like Celery, Parsley, and Spinach.

The greatest single herb you can take for prevention or remedy of a stroke is “Periwinkle.” Periwinkle,botanically known as “vinca major,” is a plant that naturally improves the blood flow to the brain area. It

•Eating 4-10 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday helps reduce risk of heart disease and stroke.

helps to arrest all excess bleeding disorders and isuseful for haemorrhaging, excess menstrual flow,nosebleed, bleeding gums, and all other bleedingdisorders.

All circulatory enhancing herbs will help preventor remedy a stroke. Calcium is very important inrectifying all circulatory diseases and disordersincluding stroke.

Because calcium is the most alkaline mineral inthe mineral family, it helps to counteract acidity andbust up accumulated debris that stick to the arterialwalls and thus open up clogged and obstructed ar-teries.

seed contains about 1.8 grams ofplant omega-3s. Another is Lig-nans, which have both plant oes-trogen and antioxidant qualities.Flaxseed contains 75-800 timesmore lignans than other plantfoods.

Third is fibre. Flaxseed containsboth the soluble and insolubletypes. Studies have suggestedthat flaxseed may have a protec-tive effect against cancer, partic-ularly breast cancer, prostate can-cer, and colon cancer. At least twoof the components in flaxseedseem to contribute.

In animal studies, the plant

Beans, lentils balance blood sugar

EVIDENCE has emerged that

regularly eating beans, len-tils, and other legumes can helpeffectively promote and sustainhealthy blood sugar and choles-terol levels, suggesting that dietalone may be all that is neededfor many diabetics to properly

manage and even cure their con-dition.

Legumes are good proteinsources, and proteins tend todampen the blood glucose re-sponse and they lower bloodpressure," said Dr. DavidJenkins, lead author of a studyfrom St. Michael's Hospital inToronto, noting that eating beanswas enough to help diabeticsdrop their hemoglobin A1c lev-els into the healthy 6s range."They are also good sources offibre and that tend to be associ-ated with lower cholesterol."

Jenkins recommended that thepublic should be doing somepreventive strategies usingfoods like legumes.

omega-3 fatty acid found in flax-seed, called ALA, inhibited tu-mor incidence and growth.

Further, the lignans in flaxseedmay provide some protectionagainst cancers that are sensitiveto hormones without interferingwith the breast cancer drugtamoxifen. Some studies havesuggested that exposure to lign-ans during adolescence helpsreduce the risk of breast cancerand may also increase the sur-vival of breast cancer patients.

38—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012

Share your problems and releaseyour burden. Write now to

Dear Bunmi,Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B

1007, Apapa, Lagos. [email protected]

My girl's no longer interested in sex

I want sex and not astable girl

Will he hurt me a second

time?

Will he ever get over the loss of his wife?

Dear Bunmi,I’M the general manager of

a fairly big supermarket andI’m currently tempted to straywith some of my sales reps assex with my girl is virtually non-existent. We’ve been togetherfor about three years and at thebeginning, we couldn’t getenough of each other.

Much as I didn’t expect thatkind of frenzy to last for ever

; I

didn’t bargain for it to be nearlyextinct either. It looks as if I’mthe one doing all the runningand I get nothing in return.

When I try to get her in themood, she’s full of excuses.She’s either too tired or justdoesn’t feel like it. Then weargue and she sulks.

We currently live togetherand I keep telling her I want

Dear Bunmi,MY current boyfriend com-

pares me to his late wife ineverything even sex. I’m 29and he’s 38 and he tragicallylost his wife four years agothrough a car accident. He hasthree children aged betweenfour and 10. We met a year af-ter he lost his wife and havebeen discussing marriage inthe last six months. As a result,I virtually live with him thoughI still have my flat. I now helplook after his children with thehelp of a relative of his,

I thought he was over herdeath but it seems I’m wrong.He’s talking about her morethan ever.

The worst time is when we’vejust had sex. I find oral sex abit off-putting but he talks abouthow she loved it and the thingsshe used to do. It is awful. Thetrouble is I feel I can’t now com-plain since I’d kept quiet for awhile now. As things are, Ihave to put up with a large pic-ture of her in the bedroom too.

He says it’s for the kids andI’d feel guilty if I asked him toremove it. He’s told me that hestill misses her and sometimesfeel guilty for starting a rela-tionship soon after her death.I’m starting to feel like noth-ing but a glorified baby-sitterto his children.

Henrietta, by e-mail

Dear Henrietta,This is a tricky problem but

your man needs to separate hissense of loss from your relation-ship. It’s only natural he shouldhave fond memories of a wifewith whom he had three chil-dren. But you need to agreetimes when he can talk about

Dear Bunmi, I’M 32 and in-between girl-

friends. My first girlfriendwas so troublesome, it was arelief when she finally lefteven though we have a son.She’s put me off a permanentrelationship for now and I’mthinking of going to a prosti-tute whenever I need a quickfix. Like the saying goes: bodino be wood!

A friend has promised totake me to a joint where youmeet ‘decent’ girls and as longas I play safe by using a con-dom, and don’t get emotion-ally involved, what’s theharm? It’s become a bit of anobsession with me and thelonger I put it off, the more itstays on my mind. My onlyfear is that if I start, I mightbe hooked to the point of notwanting a good relationship.

Patrick, by e-mail

Dear Bunmi,I’M a 28-year-old single

mother of an adorable son. I’mcurrently involved with a manwho is very nice to me and myson and I love him. The problemis that my ex has come back intomy life. He was my first true loveand we were together for overfour years, we had the child to-gether. Now he wants us to getback together and I’m afraid Imight love him more than mycurrent boyfriend.

The problem is that he has twosides, he’s loving, caring and alot of fun to be with most of thetime, but he’s also a skirt-chaser.I’m really confused as I don’twant to make a mistake by get-ting back with him, only to re-

our relationship to be full ofintimate moments. But there’sstill no change. I get plenty offlirtatious remarks from mysales girls, so it would be easyto help myself. I must admitthat I’m tempted to, purely forsex.

The fear of mixing businesswith pleasure is the current hin-drance. Unfortunately, my girldoesn’t think we have a prob-lem.

How can I make her realise Ineed intimacy in our relation-ship? I’m 30 and she is 27.

Dipo, by e-mail

Dear Dipo,Your girl must know in her

heart that things aren’t rightwith your sex life, especially

since it was once active. Herproblem could be that she’s notsure of how to tackle the prob-lem. Do you think she’s gettingenough fun and satisfactionfrom sex with you?

Maybe it’s about time you putmore efforts into pleasing her.Have a talk with her thatdoesn’t result in a shoutingmatch to see if this can be re-solved.

On the other hand, it couldalso be that you’re focusing onthe sex without realising thatgetting a girl in the mood startswith doing your share of thingsin the house.

You’re both too young to behaving relationship problems,especially in the sex depart-ment.

Dear Patrick,You’re kidding yourself and

you know it. If it is a quick fixyou really need, the answerlies in your own hand.

Masturbating should do thejob nicely but as you’re al-

ready obsessed with the ideaof visiting a prostitute, thereis a strong chance that afterthe first ‘fix' you might gethooked. Not to talk of thedanger you might be expos-ing yourself to if your condomsplits.

I would keep my distancefrom your type of friend if Iwere you.

In the meantime, give your-self time to get over your cur-rent resentment over womenenough for you to appreciatethe joys of a meaningful re-lationship.

I needed to humiliate mydaughter

DearBunmi, MY 30-year-old daughter

has taken herself into theworld of the high and mightyto such an extent that I hardlyknew her any more. She’s mar-ried to a very successful car mer-chant and lives in a very bighouse on the Island in Lagos.She has high-achieving friendsand is talking like them. This wasthe same person who gave mehell when she was growing up.

By the time she was 20, she’shad a couple of abortions and wasalways hanging around men,drinking and smoking. She’s ob-viously brushed all these underthe carpet now. The last time shewas at my place, she went on andon about wanting more children.She already has two and her hus-band wants more.

I was so fed up with her moan-ing that I asked if her failure toget pregnant didn’t have some-thing to do with her past wild lifeand the abortions she had in thepast. If looks could kill, I wouldhave died instantly from the lookshe gave me. Now I’m very up-set by the rift between us. She’smy daughter, but her phony life-

style is cracking me up.Chi, by e-mail

Dear Chi,Your problem definitely is dif-

ferent! Why shouldn’t yourdaughter leave her mistakes be-hind and start again?

Teenagers are sometimes tear-aways who make mistakes be-cause of their raging hormones.Most of them quickly get overtheir wild days and tow the line.Who then wants to be remindedof a mis-spent youth? Aren’t youproud she’s made something ofherself? What’s so phony aboutbeing such a success?

Are you in any way jealous ofyour daughter’s achievements?Why else would you even thinkof humiliating her to her face?You need to get bigger than yourresentment and be happy foryour daughter and the wonder-ful grandchildren she’s givenyou. She hasn’t ended in thegutter where you were obviouslyexpecting her to be. You need tobe proud of who you are too.

If there are some things lack-ing in your life to make you feelthis resentment about a daugh-ter you gave life to, this is thetime to put her right.

"I was so fed up withher moaning that I asked

if her failure to get pregnantdidn’t have something to do withher past wild life and the abor-

tions she had in the past"

his wife and times when heshould focus on the two of you,especially during intimate mo-ments in the bedroom.

If you find her picture in thebedroom intimidating, why notsuggest he puts it in the chil-

dren’s room? You need to meethim half-way with his sexualpreference.

If you find oral sex revolting,maybe you should encouragehim to teach you how to be com-

fortable with it.

gret it.Jacqueline, by e-mail

Dear Jacqueline,A woman in love with two men

needs to be extremely careful.

Allow yourself to get to know thisnew man in your life better butencourage your ex to have agood rapport with his son.

As time goes on, it will becomeclear whether he can love youunconditionally or not. Just asyou once had to accept that he’dplayed away with other women,he will need to accept that youcontinue to sleep with your man.

But is this what you reallywant? In the end, you might dis-cover that you love neither ofthem in any way that will last.Deep love is committing to onlyone person, unconditionally.

"The problem is thathe has two sides, he’s

loving, caring and a lotof fun to be with mostof the time, but he’salso a skirt-chaser"

CMYK

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY


VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

YOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING

Send your date and place of birth to the AstrologicalCounselling, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

The sin of

laziness — 1IS laziness a sin?

If you are still

doubting this, let me

illustrate: Supposing

you have a child and

you spent all your

resources on him. You

trained him from

primary school to the

university level and at

the end he got his first

degree. Thereafter,

you send him back to

read for his Masters

and PhD (Doctor of

Philosophy) degrees.

At the end of it all, you

asked him to come

and work in your firm.

Alternatively, you se-

cured employment for

him in the bank or in

an oil company. Yet, he

refused to work

whether in your firm

or any other one. Now

has this son of yours

not sinned against

you? This is how we

are to God, our creator.

LIBRA; If you back your financial plans with concrete andpositive actions things’ll go according to your desire. Ifyou fail to realise importance of your spouse you wouldwork your way into avoidable trouble; aren’t you tired ofcrisis?

SCORPIO; Your intelligence, competence and level ofconcentration may today bring you envy, which you don’tdeserve within your working arena in a negative form but.

SAGITTARIUS; The Moon highlights your Solar secondhouse of money which is good but, if you try to buy truelove with money, you’ll be disappointed

CAPRICORN; The. Moon in your Star sign’ll gives younew confidence and with new supports from the powers-that-be, it’s like you are now un-stop-able. But be cautious,especially with the veterans within your base of operation

AQUARIUS; Better days are ahead of you but, you willtoday need to do away with non-productive argument and/or agreement. Try to be more diplomatic now.

PISCES; If what you’re doing today ’ll depend ontomorrow’s event it’s better you’re more careful now. Eventhings may not go according to your personal plans today.Yet it’s important you plan both your immediate and farfuture carefully now

ARIES; If you take to aggression, your ego would bedeflated by your superior colleagues, but your being co-operative in a civilised way’ll prevent trouble

TAURUS; Those willing to put you to shame one way orthe other’ll be disappointed with the turn of things today.It’s good to secure support of your spouse.

GEMINI; You’ve had enough of fun in the recent timesand it’s now time you settle down for hard work in order toprevent avoidable trouble. Be patient please.

CANCER; Your concentration level and determinationare the pillars of your success today. Yet you’ll need torespect your senior colleagues and protect your image

LEO; It’s true you’re willing to work harder but you justhave to drop both aggression and mental arrogance toallow things to roll accordingly. Then, you’re accidentprone within your working arena. Respect the law and itsagents today.

VIRGO; Serious thought may be giving to matters of theheart but it’s better you tarry a while. Joint ventures ofshort duration today may be an invitation to avoidabletrouble

Dear Joshua,

I am interested in your Astrological counselling. Kindlytell me everything about myself, especially my finance andcareer; would I be rich eventually, if yes what should I doto make it happen quickly.Rabiu Enugu.

Dear Rabiu,

There are indications of financial success for you but youcan not change what Almighty God Has designed for youtalking about the timing (the quickness you talked in yourletter) Certainly however no failure for youMercury –the planet of education and Accountancy,together with mighty Sun at positive angle to planets inVirgo (another Accounting Star sign) attracted you to bothAccountancy profession and the academic world. Truly youdid not make wrong choice of career.Money will eventually come along this line but it’ll not beas faster as if you take to OIL RELATED BUSINESS. BecauseNeptune (the planet of OIL) was very comfortable when youwere born. It will not be out of place if you have fillingstations as time goes by, because you are basically a GASPERSON. Another money spinning vocation for you includewriting either along your line or for film making industry; itis important you exhibit the higher quotient of creativity inyour inner-self. Yes your dream of becoming A Professor willcome to reality. Politics is another area you are not lookingat now but will surely come. Do you say why? BecauseAquarius is equally politicalVenus that was powerfully placed when you were born is allabout MONEY. Thus you have special ability to make money.And as it was at positive angle to disciplined Saturn, youare not giving to serious frivolity. One major challenge hereis envy by others but you will eventually overcome. Anothersource of challenges is your love life which looks not totallybalanced.Basically you are a family minded person. You are equallyloving and caring. But sometimes your love of freedom getbetter off you to the resentment of your closer partner(s).Thensome other times it is other party’s fault making love-businessvery interesting. And unless you are more careful anddetermined you may marry more than once.

Success for me?


MEDICAL CONFAB: Dr. Osahon Enabulele, President, Nigeria MedicalAsociation (2nd left) and Dr. Jacob Akoh, Transplant Surgeon in UK, andothers at the 23rd annual scientific conference of the Medical Association ofNigerians Across Great Britain, MANSAG, in Leeds, United Kingdom.

EXHIBITION: From left— DG NTDC Otumba Runsewe; wife of Cross River StateGovernor, Mrs Obioma Liyel-Imoke; First Princess, Carnival Calabar Odera; Mr.and Mrs Ikechi Uko, Akwaaba initiators, and Mrs Ify Mega, GM Consumer Protec-tion Unit of the NCAA, at the Akwaaba Travel Market exhibition in Lagos.

Economists fault Okada ban

Ughellimonarchdonates toflood victims

ICT expert tasks Nigerianson partnership with govt

NIGERIANS havebeen charged to

partner with governmentsat all levels to invest inmeaningful areas and cre-ate job opportunities.

This was said by a Lon-don-based InformationCommunication Technol-ogy, ICT, consultant, Mr.Olufemi Aluko, at thededication of an ultra-modern hospitality busi-ness in Lagos.

The ICT expert enjoinedgovernment at all tiers tocreate investment-friendly

environment that willmeaningfully assure thedetermined potential in-vestors of a good returnon their investment.

He charged leaders inposition of authority to for-mulate policies thatwould promote and pro-tect investment and in-terests to create pocket-friendly products andservices that would facili-tate and accelerate socio-economic expansion andspeedy growth of theeconomy.

‘Tuodolor should be inJonathan's team'

Northern Brotherhood flays bombings,lauds CAN

INSTITUTE of Char-tered Economists of Ni-

geria, ICEN, has de-scribed the ban of com-mercial motorcyclists, oth-erwise known as Okada

or Achaba, by some stategovernments and the Fed-eral Capital Territory, FCT,as unjustified and uncon-scionable.

ICEN Coordinator inthe South-South Zone,Friday Udoh, who saidthis in a statement yes-terday, added that thereasons adduced for ban-ning the operations ofcommercial motorcycleswere untenable sincevarious institutions wereavailable to check suchalleged illegalities.

ICEN said instead ofoutright ban, routesshould have been as-signed to reduce unem-ployment and frustra-tion.

Udoh said: “Instead ofresorting to blanket ban,the affected state govern-ments should have as-signed routes for com-mercial motorcycles op-eration.

“They can also set upoperational standards andmonitor same throughvarious instruments of thestate such as police, Fed-eral Road Safety Commis-

sion, FRSC; Lagos StateTransports ManagementAgency, LASTMA, andVehicle Inspection Offic-ers, VIOs, among others.

“The ban by the Lagos

State government was themost scandalous becausethe ACN governmentgave out some of the mo-torcycles and helmets aselectoral handouts.

“It appears that the gov-ernment merely de-ceived them just to wintheir votes, hence theuproar being generatedby the operators.”

BY PROVIDENCE

OBUH

BAUCHI—BAUCHIState-based Northern

Brotherhood Movement,NBM, has said the inces-sant bombings of someparts of the North were giv-ing Islam a bad name as areligion of violence, whichwas not true in any form.

Leader of the group,Alhaji Aminu Danmaliki,made this known in his Ed-el Kabir message to Nige-rians across the country.

Danmiliki said bothChristians and Muslimshad demonstrated that thetwo religions can unite tofight against threats topeaceful co-existence of allNigerians irrespective ofreligious affiliation.

He said: “We need a newbeginning towardsstrengthening ties of kin-ship among the adherentsof Islam and Christianity,which the spirit of sacrificein Eid-el-Kabir symbolises.

“This has become neces-sary due to the securitychallenges facing Nigeria,particularly Northern re-gion that has led to theloss of lives and propertyof both Muslims andChristians.

“NBM, having realisedthat the issue of ensuringpeace, unity and securityshould not be left in thehands of the three tiers ofgovernments alone, wis-hes to thank the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria,CAN, for its responsibleand Godly decision not toattack Muslims in retali-ation of the bombings ofchurches in the North.

“This decision has notonly shamed the perpetra-tors of these heinouscrimes, who want the vio-lence to escalate, but alsoportrays CAN as a peace-loving association.”

BY SUZAN EDEH

3 fake soldiers nabbed

UGHELLI—OVIE ofUghelli kingdom in

Ughelli North Local Gov-ernment Area of DeltaState, Oharisi III, HRM,Wilson Ojakovo, yesterday,donated money, clothesand other clothing materi-als worth over N500,000 toflood victims in the area.

He made the donationsafter providing breakfast forthe over 300 victims fromthe Ughelli camp, who vis-ited his palace to protestagainst inadequate feedingarrangements in the camp.

He said he would liaisewith the Commandant andother leaders of the campin to resolve the matter.

He advised the flood vic-tims to put security meas-ures in place, in conjunc-tion with security opera-tives, to ensure that vehi-cles leaving the camp donot carry away food andrelief materials.

BY FESTUS AHON

ABA—FORWARD Op-eration Base, FOB, 144

Battalion of the NigerianArmy, Aba, Abia State, saidon Monday that it had ar-rested three suspected fakesoldiers, who stole NITELunderground cables.

Capt. Chris Nwogu, Of-ficer-in-Charge of the base,told newsmen in Aba, thatthe suspects included a dis-missed lance corporal fromthe Army HeadquartersGarrison, Abuja, and a ci-vilian.

Nwogu said the suspectsparaded themselves as sol-

diers.He said a man, who

claimed to be a cadet witha fake Nigerian DefenceAcademy, NDA, identitycard, was also arrested.

Nwogu said the suspectswere part of the syndicate,which had been draggingthe image of the military inthe mud by their nefariousacts.

He said: “We are advis-ing unsuspecting Nigeri-ans to be at alert. Thesemen would wear the mili-tary uniform to rob and per-petrate all sorts of crimes.”

PRESIDENT of RotaryClub of Ikoyi, Mr.

Jimmy Evboumwan, hasdescribed as alarmingthe amount of debris andhazardous materialsdumped in the nation’sbeaches.

Evboumwan spoke inLagos duirng the beachclean-up exercise carriedout in collaboration withClean Coast NigeriaLimited.

He said: “A continued

clean-up exercise by allstakeholders is neces-sary to mitigate the dan-gers posed by the contin-ued pollution of the sea.”

He lamented the poorstate of the nation’sbeaches and the dangersto the environment, point-ing out that much neededto be done to ensure thatthe indiscriminate dump-ing of refuse and danger-ous materials into thebeach are prohibited.

Rotary makes casefor beaches clean-up

MOVEMENT for Actualisation of the

Dreams of Niger Deltans,MADND, has called onPresident GoodluckJonathan to appoint FelixTuodolor into his cabinet.

A statement by Mr. JosiahOyakoghan, Chairman ofMADND, said the call wasimperative as Jonathanmoves towards the secondhalf of his tenure.

The statement read:“Some persons in Presi-dent Jonathan’s cabinetfrom the Niger-Delta re-gion had disappointed thepeople and need to be

replaced with vibrant per-sons like Felix Toudolor.

“The only person whohas distinguished himselfin terms of performance isthe presidential Adviseron Amnesty Programme,Kingsley Kuku, becausehe has made sure that theaims and objectives of theamnesty programmewere achieved.

“If others from the NigerDelta region, who are inthe cabinet, are workinglike Kuku, the regionwould be a better place,hence the call for Tuodolorto be in team.”

Benue needs N17bnfor water project

MAKURDI—BENUEState government

has said it requires N17 bil-lion for the reticulation ofwater projects in Makurdiand its environs.

The state Commissionerfor Water and Environment,Mr. John Ngbede, said thison Monday during the in-spection tour of the GreaterMakurdi Water Worksproject by the Good Gov-ernance Team.

He said the Makurdi wa-ter plant, which was com-missioned by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in

March, had the capacity topump 50,000 cubic metresof water daily.

He said the pumping ca-pacity of the plant sur-passed the actual waterneeds of the town, whichwas 47,000 cubic metresdaily.

Ngbede said althoughthe plant was built accord-ing to international stand-ards and was one of the bestin Africa, the state stillneeded to carry out reticu-lation of the pipelines to en-able it to function accord-ing to design.

CMYK


CMYK


BRIEFS

US secretary of state,Hillary Clinton has

urged Algeria to supportan Africa-led military in-tervention in northernMali.

Clinton’s visit to Alg-iers on Monday cameamid mounting interna-tional pressure on Alge-ria over the crisis in Mali,where a March militarycoup was followed by arevolt that has seen Tuar-eg fighters, some linkedto al-Qaeda, seize controlof the northern two-thirdsof the country.

A senior US official saidafter the talks, that Clin-ton argued strongly thatcounterterrorism efforts inMali could not wait for apolitical resolution toMali’s problems. “Thesecretary underscored ...that it is very clear that apolitical process and ourcounter-terrorism effortsin Mali need to work inparallel,” the official said.

“We have an awful lotat stake here, and an aw-ful lot of common inter-ests, and there’s a strongrecognition that Algeriahas to be a central part ofthe solution.” The US of-ficial’s remarkscame before Clinton’stalks with Algerian Pres-

US urges Algeria to support intervention in Maliident Abdelaziz Boutefli-ka.

Africa’s biggest country,and a top oil and gas ex-porter, Algeria shares a2,000km border withMali and sees itself as themajor regional power,wary of any outside inter-ference. It fears militaryaction in Mali could pushal-Qaeda back into south-ern Algeria as well astriggering a refugee andpolitical crisis, especiallyamong displaced MalianTuaregs heading north tojoin tribes in Algeria.

Algeria repeatedly hasadvocated a diplomaticsolution to the Mali cri-sis, and ruled out inter-vention itself. AlthoughAlgiers would not be ableto veto an interventionoperation by other coun-tries, it would be diplo-matically risky for Africanstates backed by Westernpowers to intervene inMali without its consent,especially as the conflict

could drag on for manymonths.

Clinton’s visit to Algierscame after a high-levelmeeting in the Maliancapital, Bamako, on Oc-tober 19 that brought re-gional and international

players to the negotiatingtable, and after whichFrench and Algeriansources said Algeria had“tacitly” agreed to inter-vention.

France, the region’sformer colonial power,

drafted a UN SecurityCouncil resolution urgingMali to engage in dia-logue with Tuareg Mus-lim rebels Ansar Dine ifthey cut links with radi-cal groups, a move thatsatisfied Algeria’s callsfor dialogue.

•Hillary Clinton meeting Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in Algiers.

CRIMINAL investigators from France

will exhume YasserArafat’s remains nextmonth to try to find out

Arafat’s body to be exhumed next monthhow the Palestinian lead-er died, a French officialsaid Tuesday.

The official said theteam from France will ar-rive sometime betweenNov. 24 and Nov. 26 inthe West bank city of Ra-mallah.

Palestinian authoritiesconfirmed the timetableand said a separate Swissinvestigative team wouldalso arrive in Ramallah atthe same time. All officialsspoke on condition of an-onymity because the in-vestigation is ongoing.

However, Darcy Chris-ten, a spokeswoman forSwitzerland’s Institute ofRadiation Physics that isexpected to conduct theautopsy for the Swissteam, said no date hasbeen confirmed yet.

The push to re-examinecircumstances surround-ing Arafat’s November2004 death came after a

Swiss lab recently discov-ered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactiveisotope, on clothes said tobe his.

The discovery revivedsuspicions of poisoning.The immediate cause ofArafat’s death was astroke, but the underly-ing source of an illness hesuffered in his final weekshas never been clear.

Investigators from

•Late Yasser Arafat

France and Switzerlandare to conduct parallelprobes into Arafat’sdeath, acting separatelyon behalf of Arafat’s wid-ow Suha Arafat and thePalestinian Authority,who each had misgivingsabout the other’s investi-gation. Suha Arafat for-mally asked for a Frenchinvestigation into hisdeath this summer.

While their probes areseparate, the French andthe Swiss are to visit thegrave together and will onlybe allowed one chance todraw samples, according toPalestinian officials.

Earlier in October, thePalestinians said the pro-cess of digging out Arafat’sremains will be conductedprivately.

But keeping the event asecret will likely be achallenge since Arafat liesin a giant mausoleumoutside government head-quarters in a central areaof Ramallah.

POLICE in South Africa say they have

fired rubber bullets, tear-gas and stun grenades inclashes with hundreds ofstriking Anglo Americanplatinum mine workerswho barricaded roads out-side Johannesburg.

About 12,000 Amplatsworkers in northwesternRustenburg, who weredismissed early thismonth for going on an il-legal strike, were givenan option to return towork on Tuesday morn-ing if they wanted theirjobs back.

“Police used teargas,stun grenades as well asrubber bullets,” to dis-perse around 1,000 strik-ers, Dennis Adriao, saidpolice spokesman, said.

He said the strikers hadblocked fire engines froman Amplats mine powersub-station that was sus-pected of being set alightby striking workers in apre-dawn attack.

The deal was brokeredin negotiations last weekby the main NationalUnion of Mineworkers

S/Africa miners face anotherpolice fire

(NUM) in talks with Am-plats last week.

But the workers refusedto go back to work untiltheir pay demands weremet.

•President Zuma

AS Sandy causes

havoc throughout theeastern US, the fullextent of the storm’sdamage is justbeginning to emerge inthe Caribbean nation ofHaiti. The UN is warningthat flooding andunsanitary conditionscould lead to a sharpincrease in cases ofcholera, while aidworkers are worried thatextensive crop damage

Hurricane Sandy: Haiti faces food crisis

will mean that foodprices will rise.

Extensive damage tocrops throughout thesouthern third of thecountry, as well as thehigh potential for asurge in cases of choleraand other water-bornediseases, could meanHaiti will see the dead-liest effects of Sandy inthe coming days andweeks.

Haiti has reported the

highest death fromSandy so far, as swollenrivers and landslidesclaimed at least 52 lives,according to the coun-try’s civil protection of-fice. More than threedays of constant rain leftroads and bridgesheavily damaged, cut-ting off access to severaltowns and a key bordercrossing with the Domin-ican Republic.

A senior Syrian airforce general has

been killed by rebels incentral Damascus, statetelevision reports.

Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi was shot deadlate on Monday in thecapital’s Rukn al-Din dis-trict, it said.

The attack appears to bethe latest in a string ofrebel attacks on high-lev-el figures from PresidentBashar al-Assad’s admin-istration.

In July, a bomb killedthe country’s defenceminister and Mr Assad’sbrother-in-law, AssefShawkat.

“As part of their cam-paign to target nationalpersonalities and scien-tists, armed terroristgroups assassinated AirForce General AbdullahMahmud al-Khalidi inthe Damascus district ofRukn al-Din,” the broad-caster said.

It added that he wasone of Syria’s foremost ex-perts in aviation. He wasalso a member of the Syr-ian Air Force command,Agence France Pressereports.

Rebels killSyrian airforce general

THE income of whiteSouth African

households is six timeshigher than black ones,new census figures re-veal. President JacobZuma said the censusshowed the black majori-ty is still at the “bottom ofthe rung”, 18 years afterwhite minority rule end-ed.

The statistics showedthat while the income ofblack households had in-creased by nearly 170%in the last decade, theystill earned the least.

The population nowstands at nearly 52 mil-lion, 79% of whom areblack people. It has risenby seven million since2001. The 2011 censusstatistics showed thatchildren below the age offive number nearly 11 mil-lion, making them thelargest age group.

“It could be that HIV[infection] rates have lev-elled out and fertility hasbegun to recover,” saidStatistics South Africa’sdemographic analysisexecutive director, DiegoIturralde.

S/Africa’scensus revealscontinuingracial divide


Obama’s lost messagein sloppy campaignBY HUGO ODIOGOR,with agency report

ANNOUNCING arecord $5.7 billion

profit for the third quar-ter, JP Morgan Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Jamie Di-mon sounded unexpect-edly upbeat about theU.S. housing market.And increasingly, votersare not so sure which can-didate would do the bestjob on economic issues.But Obama’s recent risein the polls suggests thatAmericans’ voting prefer-ence is based on a rangeof issues, not just theeconomy. And the pub-

. The rise beat econo-mist’s expectations for a0.6 percent increase lastmonth. When adjustedfor inflation, consumerspending rose 0.4 percentafter edging up 0.1 per-cent in August. Apartfrom the predictions fromlocal economists, the In-ternational MonetaryFund’s latest World Eco-nomic Out look projectsthat the United States willbe the strongest of theworld’s rich economies.U.S. growth is forecast toaverage 3 percent, muchstronger than that of Ger-many or France (1.2 per-cent) or even Canada (2.3percent). Increasingly,the evidence suggests

Continued from yesterday

that the United States hascome out of the financialcrisis of 2008 in bettershape than its peers —because of the actions ofits government. Ben Ber-nanke understood thedepths of the problemearly and responded en-ergetically and creative-ly. Romney’s two mostprominent academic ad-visers, Glenn Hubbardand Gregory Mankiw,seem to recognize this,but Romney apparentlydoesn’t. As recently asAugust the Republicanpresidential nominee re-peated his criticisms ofthe Fed and promised toreplace Bernanke at itshelm.

Obama has left the es-sential message he has tocommunicate and is busyreacting to shadows be-ing chased by Romney.

Obama has left the essential mes-sage he has to communicate and isbusy reacting to shadows beingchased by Romney ,

,

lic’s views of the person-ality traits of the two can-didates may be every bitas important as the issuesin choosing betweenObama and Romney.

As stated earlier, Con-sumer spending rosestrongly in September,putting the economy ona firmer footing headinginto the fourth quartereven though householdshad to pull back on sav-ing to fund purchases.The Commerce Depart-ment said yesterday thatconsumer spending rose0.8 percent, the largestincrease since February,after an unrevised 0.5percent gain in August.

Spending accounts forabout 70 percent of U.S.economic activity and lastmonth’s increase offereda strong hand off from theJuly-September period tothe current quarter.

•Romney•Obama

AS Americans go tothe polls in a week,

there have been worriesover what happens if thePresidential race be-tween Obama and Rom-ney ends in a dead lock.

There are 270 electoralvotes for grabs and fromall indications, the raceending in a tie cannot beoverruled because thepolls conducted so farhave shown a very tightrace even in swing stateswhich President Obamawon in 2008. From all in-dications, a Romney/Biden running the WhiteHouse for the next 4 yearshas been anticipatedamong Americans if therewas a tie in the presiden-tial race.

How does that come toplay?

Investigations into whathappens if a Presidentialrace ends in a dead lockshow that the House ofRepresentatives would bethe one to decide who ac-tually becomes the Presi-dent of the United Stateswhile the Senate decideswho becomes the Vice-President. Under the Ar-ticle 2 of the United StatesConstitution, the USHouse of Representativeswill be responsible forbreaking the tie.

According to the inves-tigation, each state dele-gation in the Housewould have one vote, soa candidate would needto get 26 votes to win. As

How Americans resolve

electoral deadlock

it is presently, the Repub-licans are in control of theHouse and an ElectoralCollege tie automaticallymeans a victory for MittRomney.

However, if there is alsoa tie in the House of Rep-resentatives which is notlikely, Mitt Romney stillbecomes the President. Inthe case of who becomesthe Vice-President, the USSenate would be the de-cider if there is a tie in thePresidential race. If a tie

happens eventually inthe Presidential race, JoeBiden automatically be-comes the Vice-Presidentsimply because the Dem-ocrats have the majorityin the Senate.

The numbers of demo-crats in the Senate out-numbered Republicansand that would see Bidenbecome the vice-Presi-dent while Romney willbe President by majorityvote in the US House ofRepresentatives.

So how could a tie oc-cur? According to New

York Times, one possiblescenario that could giveeach candidate 269 voteswould be if PresidentObama wins the follow-ing states; WashingtonDC, California, Oregon,Washington, Hawaii,New Mexico, Minneso-ta, Michigan, Illinois, Wis-consin, Ohio, Pennsylva-nia, Maryland, Delaware,New Jersey, New York,Connecticut, Massachu-setts, Rhode Island, NewHampshire, Vermont andMaine. Under this sce-nario, Mitt Romney willwin all other states andwin other battlegroundstates as well which in-cludes Florida, Iowa, Vir-ginia, Colorado and Ne-vada to tie with PresidentObama.

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

BEING the largesthurricane ever re-

corded in the Atlantic,Hurricane Sandy hascaused some of the larg-est industrial losses in along while according toagency reports.

Over 70 people havebeen killed when the hur-ricane cut through theCaribbean earlier thisweek and 60 people arestranded in fire islandclose to NewYork.

It’s been extremely dif-ficult to get an accuratenumber because of thedistances and pandi-mouim caused by the hur-ricane.

The estimates includedamages to residentialproperty, commercialproperty, energy produc-tion and the interruptionof business and model-ling firm Eqecat expectsinsured losses to rangebetween $5 and $10 bil-lion and economic lossesof $10 billion to $20 bil-lion.

US counts cost of Hurricane Sandy

Currently 2011’s Hurri-cane Irene is the tenthcostliest at $4.3 billion.Irene affected many of thesame areas Sandy is ex-pected to affect. Howev-er, Irene was downgrad-ed to a tropical storm be-fore it reached the North-east. Sandy was expect-ed to stay a Category 1hurricane at landfall,with wind gusts up to90mph.

If damage from Hurri-cane Sandy reaches thehigher end of estimates,the storm would become

known as one of the fivecostliest US hurricanesever. The estimate ex-cludes flood damage.Flooding is insured bythe federal governmentand could push damagecosts up to $20 billion ormore, according to theanalysis.

The report further stat-ed that it is impossibleto know ahead of timejust how much destruc-tion the storm will do, thepotential is there for loss-es to exceed the $20 bil-lion.

PRESIDENT BarackObama said on

yesterday the federalgovernment would do allit could to help localauthorities cope withdamage caused by themassive storm Sandy.

The president, speak-ing at the national head-quarters of the AmericanRed Cross, said the storm,which slammed into someof the most densely pop-ulated areas of the east-ern United States onMonday, was “not yetover” and that there werestill risks.

“It is still movingnorth,” he said. “Thereare still communities thatcould be affected. So Iwant to emphasize there

Obama issues emergency declaration

are still risks of flooding,there are still risks ofdowned power lines,risks of high winds.” Thestock market was closedfor a second straight dayon Tuesday as cash equi-ty trading was canceledin the wake of HurricaneSandy.

yesterday’s shutdownwas the first time weatherhad resulted in a two-daymarket shutdown sincethe Great Blizzard of1888. Exchanges expectto reopen on today.

Meanwhile, PresidentBarack Obama will stayin Washington today tooversee the response toHurricane Sandy,canceling another day ofcampaigning roughly aweek before Election Day,

the White House said onyesterday. Obama will bein Washington to“monitor the response toHurricane Sandy andensure that all availablefederal resourcescontinue to be providedto support ongoing stateand local recoveryefforts,” White Housespokesman Jay Carneysaid in a statement.

“As a result, the presi-dent will not participatein the campaign eventsthat had been scheduledin Ohio tomorrow.”Obama had alreadyskipped political eventson Monday and Tuesdayto be in Washington forthe storm and its after-math.

•Residents of New York.


CMYK


CMYK


BY EMMA AMAIZE,Regional Editor, South-South

A stitch in timeBUT for the intervention of

a non-governmentalorganisation, Rural HealthAfrica Initiative, RAHI, whichset up a reprieve camp forflood victims in Patani andsurrounding communities inDelta and Bayelsa states inparticular, the FederalGovernment would have hada major health disaster in itshands because of impropermanagement of thedevastating flood.

The governments of Delta,Bayelsa and Anambra statesalso have the NGO to thankfor its role in providing freehealthcare and food for morethan 3,000 internallydisplaced persons, IDPs, fromthe three states, who werecut-off from the rest of thecountry, by the ravaging flood,which turned the East-WestRoad into a river.

Vanguard Metro, VM, learntthat more than 100 personswould have lost their lives tomore than a few healthcomplications arising from theflood, but for the medicaloutreach programme of thegroup that placed doctors,nurses and food at thedisposal of IDPs free- of-charge.

Some of the flood victims arefarmers from Anamcommunity in Anambra State.They are sheltered in RAHI’sCamp B. IDPs from Kaiamaand other Bayelsacommunities in Sagbama areaare also in the RAHI FloodVictims Camp, morepopulated by victims fromPatani axis of Delta State.

NEMA yet to access PataniWhen VM last visited the

relief camp, housing over3,000 flood victims, located atNew Town, Patani, along theEast-West Road, the NationalEmergency Relief Agency,NEMA, had not been able toaccess the swampedcommunities in the areabecause of the submergedEast-West Road. Officials ofRAHI were, however, seendistributing waterproofswhich double as roofingsheets for the makeshifthomes that leaked in the rainof the previous night.

Flood: Disturbing health challenges ofcommunities cut-off by East-West Road...RAHI to the rescue

No road to bring reliefmaterials

It was gathered thatdesperate efforts had beenmade to reach NEMA, but theofficials said there was noroad to come to the camp, asEast-West Road was cut off.

Neither the Delta nor theBayelsa state governmentshave also been able to sendfood to the victims because ofthe same problem.Communities in Bayelsa Stateaffected by the flood, whichcould not access Yenagoa, thestate capital, ran to the RAHIcamp for succour.

In fact, Bayelsa is standingalone now, having been cut-off from Rivers, Cross Riverand Akwa-Ibom on one sideand Edo/Delta states on theother side. Patani itself andother adjoining towns in DeltaState are also cut-off fromother parts of the state by theflood on the East-West Road.Therefore, for medical care,there was no other body to runto, but RAHI.

When VM got to the campon October 23, after passingthe “River Jordan” and “RedSea” on the East-West Roadwith boat, it was discoveredthat the camp’s clinic has beenconverted to a sickbay forpeople in the area becausethere was no governmenthospital to turn to.

Even the dead were notspared

In fact, the GeneralHospital, Patani, which wouldhave provided medicalattention for the victims, wassacked by flood. The morguewas not spared either, ascorpses were swept away. Ittook the sagacity of inventivemorgue attendants to retrievethe corpses and create anemergency platform, betweenthe ceiling and roof of thehospital, to stack the corpses.

was actually in New York,United States, when the floodstarted. I wanted RAHI tocarry out its humanitarianwork in Asaba because thatwas axis that was first hit inthe state. Government hadalready set up a relief campthere.

“We had spoken with somegovernment officials when itspread to Ndokwa area andwe said our NGO would go

to meander through the floodon East-West Road before Ifound myself in Patani,” hesaid.

“An overnight floodcompletely dissected the East-West Road and split the region.People could not come in orout except by boat. By the timeI arrived, some people werestill commuting with mercedezbenz trucks since cars wereout of it. But now, no vehiclecan access this area, exceptboat, or did you come by air,”he asked VM.

Health disasterforestalled

Confirming our findings thatthere would have been a majorhealth disaster if not for theintervention of RAHI, he said:“Yes, it is true, we attend to atleast 100 persons daily in ourclinic here in Patani camp forflood victims. It is not onlypeople in the camp that weattend to, non-victims alsocome because there is nofunctioning clinic around theycan go to, except here”.

Ekiyor added: “We have afunctional clinic with amedical ambulance as you cansee. RAHI mobilized to Pataniwith drugs worth N4 million,70 bags of rice, 20 bags ofbeans, 3,000 blankets, 3,000mosquito treated nets, whichwere all surplus from ourprojects of period years.

“We attend to the floodvictims and outpatients from9.00 am to 4.00 pm daily. Werefer complicated cases to theFederal Medical Centre,Yenagoa, and even thoughthere is no road, we usevehicle, motorcycle and boat,depending on the one that isapplicable to the terrain to rushthem.

“Initially, we had a very bigchallenge of water; there wasno water here. My youngerbrother, Theo Ekiyor, anengineer, brought a trailerload of sachet water before mywife dug a borehole for thecamp. We ran a soup kitchenin the first three days, but now,we ration food because thepopulation has more thantripled and we do not haveenough to go round.

“Ours is a stop-gap measure,it is not supposed to bepermanent and that is why weare unhappy that havingstayed here for over 22 days,

How we beat the East-West Road ambush

Coordinator of RAHI, Dr.Chris Ekiyor, a formernational president of the IjawYouth Council, IYC, whoseresidence in Patani was alsounder water told VM that theNGO was able to beat theEast-West Road conundrumbecause it mobilized earlyenough and moved intoPatani.

“We moved in here onOctober 2 and set up themulti-purpose camp you areseeing here by October 5. I

to that area since there wasnobody attending to them yet,but Patani was overrun at thesame time. All what I amtalking about are happeningin a space of 48 hours.

“So, on the plane from NewYork to Nigeria, I directedthat RAHI should move toPatani since I am already avictim. They were able tomove in before I came in fromPort-Harcourt end, where Iwas forced to strip to mytrousers, abandoned myvehicle with my driver inAhoada area of Rivers State,

An overnight flood completelydissected the East-West Road andsplit the region; people could notcome in or out except by boat; novehicle can access this area, exceptboat

Continues on page

,

,

*Displaced persons feeling at home in the camp

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 —47

helping government tomanage a very delicatesituation, government, whoseresponsibility it is to do whatwe are doing, has not come totake over”.

Enlightenment campaignHe asserted, “When the

flood started, even with thecorpses of drowned animals,human excrete and corpsesfrom the General Hospital,Patani, that were initiallywashed away, people werestill bathing, cooking andfishing in the body ofcontaminated waters, whichthey took as their normalriver”.

“We had to carry outenlightenment on the dangersof such practices and theailments that some arepresenting are indicative of

Flood: Disturbing health challenges

such harmful practices. Wehave seen much of diarrhea,but in cases of cholera, wequarantined the victims andtreated them. That has helpeda lot in saving many lives,who had nowhere to turn to”,he added.

Overall, he disclosed that 10babies were in the camp,while an 82-year- old manthat was known to be sickbefore he was affected by theflood died a day beforeVanguard Metro came to thecamp.

According to him, “Wefumigate the camp every threedays against mosquitoes,reptiles and the sanitarycondition is okay because wenow have a functionalborehole”.

“Some people, including

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa,Deputy Speaker of the stateHouse of Assembly, Hon. BasilGanagana, Niger-Deltaactivist, Chief GovernmentEkpemupolo, SetracoCompany and Mr. Bribe Kebohave also donated drugs andother relief materials to theflood victims.

“We cannot run this placewithout electricity, we arespending an average ofN10,000 daily to buy diesel toprovide electricity here from6.00 pm to 7.00 am daily andthe police have also deployedeight policemen to take careof security in addition to theyouths that are on patrol”,Ekiyor stated.

Call for aid

His words, “RAHI is rightnow doing her best to assistflood victims in the NigerDelta.”

In Patani, RAHI team hasbuilt a temporary camp andproviding emergency reliefmaterials to victims, RAHI isgiving free health careservices to displaced floodvictims.

“At RAHI, we do what wecan to stabilize the situationin emergencies, but today’schallenge is overwhelming,we are, therefore,. appealingto all well meaningindividuals to support us. Weare about setting up anothercamp for the Odi area andBomadi axis, this can only bepossible if we get support aswe are already

“You are not farmers; youare agricpreneurs.” -ObiomaLiyel-Imoke, wife of theCross River State Governor.

It’s really interesting theway new words come outof different people and

in different locations. In thiscase it was all the way in PortNovo, Republic of Benin.

Obioma was invited to co-chair a three-day workshop,titled: “The Women and Youthas Catalyst in Agribusiness”,

Day Cross River metSonghai

BY ENUMA CHIGBO

*A part of the 6000 hectares corporate quarters of the Songhai farms

perhaps a first of its kind. So,accompanied by her ProjectDirectors, Commissioner forWomen Affairs and someother senior officials, all roadsled to the Republic of Benin.The journey was via the ever-bustling commercial city ofLagos, through Badagryknown for its infamous slaveroute. The Seme Border,which is the boundarybetween Nigeria and theRepublic of Benin is not far

off. It’s a tiny border butthings happen there, trade indifferent commodities beingthe most prominent of themall, and that then marked thecross over into BeninRepublic.

In this country, the roadslook the same and so do thepeople. And then you wonderwhy there are two differentcountries and not one - untilyou speak and get blank staresin exchange. Indeed in this

near but faraway land, you getto realise that it is not businessas usual. “Good morning,”somewhat finds its way to theback burner and is replacedwith “Bonjour,” and “Que-estque ce” immediately replaces“What is this?” It goes on andon...

Fortunately at this landmarkevent interpreters were onhand for the linguisticallychallenged. That meetingcould best be described as amelting pot of nations.Thirteen African countrieswere represented, some ofthem being Nigeria, Ghana,Republic of Benin, and TheGambia. They were there toaddress a very seriousproblem - women and youthunemployment.

“This is a serious problem,”said UNIDO’s RegionalDirector, Patrick Kormowa. “Ifnot addressed there will bemajor problems in Africa.”

The UN systems officescame up with the idea ofstakeholders to organise thisforum, the project combinesresearch on successfulagribusiness enterprises suchas the Songhai model withstakeholder consultations -ultimately aimed atdeveloping policy guidelinesfor formulating agribusinessprogrammes as well asnational policies that arefocused on improvingemployment opportunities foryoung people in theagricultural sector.

Venue for this event was the6,000-hectare corporateheadquarters of the Songhaifarms, reminiscent of theancient Songhai Empirewhich then extended to someparts of present day Republicof Benin and Nigeria. TheSonghai Empire is a medievalcivilization thought to havestarted in the ninth century asa small principality in WestAfrica, located on both banksof the Niger River. In the 16th

century, it became the largestpre- colonial empire ever to becreated in West Africa.

“The solution tounemployment isagriculture,” said Fr GodfreyNzamujo, Director of theSonghai Centre in hiswelcome remarks. Theorganisers of the event notethat a vibrant rural sectorgenerates local demand forlocally produced products andservices. Recognisingsmallholder farms asagribusinesses, irrespective oftheir size or scale, is animportant first step in makingthe sub-region’s rural sector aviable choice for youngpeople. The challenge is tocreate a vibrant rural economyby making agriculture moreproductive, efficient,remunerative and competitivewith the view to creatingemployment for young people.

“This is a fantasticworkshop,” said Obiomaduring her presentation on thefirst day. “I have an NGO andour first focus is on agriculture.Of the state’s 3.2 millionpeople, about 75% aresubsistent farmers living inrural communities. However,the state like the rest of Nigeriaand other countries in theworld is facing the problem ofrural urban migration and anaging farmer population. “It istherefore imperative thatwomen who are theacknowledged mainstay ofmany families, and youngpeople who are the idealcatalyst for significant changeshould be encouraged to adoptfarming as a profession.”

However, there arechallenges, she noted, someof which are poortransportation and powerinfrastructure, particularly inthe rural areas; inadequateaccess to market and linkages;unfavourable price fixing bymiddlemen; perceived stigmaattached to young farmers andtheir desire for white collaremployment as opposed toa g r i c u l t u r a lentrepreneurship; low levelsof financial literacy;competence, self esteem andnegotiation skills, lack ofeducation, particularly of thegirl child, the challenge ofcollateral provision; gendergaps in land and otherproperty ownership, thuslimiting ability to secureborrowing, uncoordinatedand/or ineffective Governmentsupport efforts; poorcoordination between publicsector, private sector anddonor agencies.

Participants were then takenon a tour of the SonghaiCentre amongst them wasCynthia Umoru, CEO ofFarmshoppe also known asthe “pretty farmer.” Accordingto her, the world population isexpected to grow from thecurrent 6.5billion to 8 billionin 2050. “How do we feed theworld then? Young people aremigrating from Africa togreener pastures but Africaholds the potential to becomethe food belt of the world.

“Where there is a will thereis a way,” Obioma concluded.

Continued from page


BY VERA SAMUEL

ANYAGAFU

Migration and its consequences

AN analysis ofnarratives by somedeported Nigerians andthat of those who arepresently resident indifferent parts of SouthAfrica, presents a statisticthat shows over 85 percent of Nigerians living inSouth Africa live astandard worse than whatthey had in Nigeria.

A spare parts dealer atASPANDA, Trade FairComplex Lagos, who oncemade a trip to South Africaand came back home whenhe felt all hopes to makemoney in South Africawere lost has since foundhis feet and paints apicture of what life is likeliving in South Africa.

Mr. James' aim oftravelling to South Africawas to join friends andbusiness counterparts wholeft Nigeria to SouthAfrica. His plan was tostart sending money downto Nigeria to growbusinesses they had leftbehind in Nigeria and atthe same time, live inopulence.

Unfortunately for Mr.James, things neverturned right as he wasmet with the rudest shockupon entry.

First, he was welcomedto an environment inSouth Africa that cannotin any way be comparedto where he lived inNigeria in terms ofcleanliness andbehavoural attitude ofneighbours.

That was not all becausehe further explained that,“I was also introduced toother migrants fromdifferent nationality,including Nigerians andSouth Africans who wereinvolved in all kinds ofdistasteful businesseswhich speak volume of theheight of indecency andthe fact that indeed, SouthAfrica is the last place anyspirit filled youth wouldever consider migrating tofor any reason at all.”

Continuing James said,“ Almost all of them toldme that I cannot survivein South Africa, unless Iam ready to join thewagon of drug dealers orarmed robbers, and mustvisit the Home Affairs fourtimes in a year in order tocollect refugee paper soas to enable freemovement on the streetsof South Africa.”

He recalled the firsttime he went to Hill brow,South Africa, where thereis a concentration ofNigerians, and how heshed tears on seeing some

Nigeria Nationals whoare decent enough not tosoil their hands withindecent businesses dyingof hunger. Manyhomeless ones sleep inclubs, because of lack ofshelter, but at 4am in themorning when the clubsclose business for the day,they drive them away tostand in cold till morning.

The worst case here hesaid is that most of themhad squandered the littlemoney with which theycame to South Africa,thereby, making it almostimpossible for them toreturn to Nigeria, sinceone must have about 1500rand Travel Cost (TC) tobe able to pay for flightback home.

A few other Nigerianshad been robbed by SouthAfricans while others werejilted by their women,who after sucking themdry under fake loveprophecies, push themout to get ready their nestfor another catch.

After being unable todeal with the dilemma hefound himself in, Jamessaid “ I quickly made upmy mind there and thenthat come what may, Ishall never ever think orbe part of any decisionthat will take a Nigeria

not want to become likeone of those who out ofnothing to live on, turnedstreet boys, drug pushers,armed robbers in a foreignland and more so, a placelike South Africa.”

There is a saying thatwhen one has labored allday, home is the onlyplace to go and rest, thusgoes to all Nigerians indiaspora and so, from theexperiences Mr. Jameshave shared, we shouldbe mindful of the thingswe intended to ventureinto. Not weighing themerits and demerits ofyour intended adventuremight just be a matter oflife and death.

Also, a senior bankManager in one ofNigeria reputable banks,Benson( name withheld), is of the opinionthat fellow compatriotsabroad, who for somepersonal, internal orexternal reasons arefinding it difficult to returnto Nigeria, is leavingbehind the impressionthat they are cowards.They do not want to leavecomfortable and relativelyconvenient life in theforeign countries wherethey reside to enter intothe harsh environment oftheir own country, but thefact remains that all thoseenjoyable amenities areobtainable if one begins torealise that he or she ismost probably more usefulto his or her people thanforeigners.

Migrating andnationalizing abroad ismaking us lose ouridentities in a swift, givingroom for our children totake up foreign cultures,thereby losing the valuesto which we respect.

In as much as Jamesand others are entitled totheir opinion, manyNigerians disagreed withthem and argued that it isa global world, and thatin this age and time,boundaries and barriersare breaking down, andpeople have the right todo as it suits them. Theyhave the right to livewhere they choose, haveright to take up anycitizenship they dimmedfit, yet, the question is towhat good will all thatadventure bring to theCountry because if allNigerians in diasporaremain in the comfort offoreign lands who wouldbring back to Nigeria, allthose fresh and innovativeideas, skills, knowledge,abilities, commitments,capabilities and honestyto make positive change.

To be continued

national outside Nigeria,because what I saw inSouth Africa does notworth the mental action ofenvying an individualbecause he or she ismaking waves inmonetary terms .

You never can tell thekind of businesses thesituations in thoseCountries they havemigrated to have madethem venture into, inorder to get daily food.

After serious study ofthe whole situation, Idusted my return ticketand entered plane back toNigeria. That is the wisestdecision I have ever takenin my life because I did

Migrating andnationalizingabroad ismaking us loseour identities ina swift, givingroom for ourchildren to takeup foreigncultures,thereby losingthe values towhich werespect

Govs meet today on securitychallenges, others

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA —GOVERNORS of the

36 states under the aegis,Nigeria Governors’ Forum,NGF, will today meet aheadof tomorrow’s NationalEconomic Council, NEC,meeting.Vanguard gathered that

President GoodluckJonathan will attend theNEC meeting where he isexpected to brainstorm withthe governors especially onthe 2013 budget

NEC is always chaired byVice President NamadiSambo, but Jonathan, asource told Vanguard, maypreside to push thegovernors to agree with thegovernment on thecontroversial oil benchmarkfor next year.

The Federal Government

had pegged it at $75 perbarrel as benchmark for the2013 budget, but the Senateraised it to a higher rate of$78 per barrel while theHouse of Representativesput it at $80 per barrel.

Also part of the agendafor today’s meeting is thesecurity challenge in thecountry as well asdeliberations on a finaldecision to withdraw orcontinue with the suit theyinstituted at the SupremeCourt against the FederalGovernment on the excesscrude controversy.

At the end of the meeting,the governors are expectedto adopt a common positionand then present it to NECtomorrow.

A source also disclosedthat governors of Edo,Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states

will present before othergovernors the unresolvedcase of the BeninDistribution Company(DISCO)to gather supportfrom their colleagues aheadof tomorrow’s NECmeeting, which will ratifythe privatisation ofelectricity distribution in thecountry.

The governors will alsotake a resolution on theexcess crude issue whichhas for a long time nowbeen generating heateddebate between thegovernors and thePresidency. At the hearingof the suit instituted by thegovernors against theFederal Government at theSupreme Court, it wasagreed that the mattershould be settled out ofcourt.

�Warns those selling above N97 per litre

FG has not increased priceof petrol —Okupe

ABUJA — THE FederalG o v e r n m e n t ,

yesterday, decried theincrease in pump price ofpetrol in many fillingstations across the country,warning that any petrolstation found to be sellingabove the normal pumpprice of N97 per litre wouldbe tagged a saboteur andsuch station will be sealed.

In an interview withVanguard, Senior SpecialAssistant to the Presidenton Public Affairs, Dr DoyinOkupe, said governmentwas doing everything tocheck the trend.

He was reacting to thesale of petrol in manyfilling stations above theofficial price of N97 per litre.

According to Okupe, “theofficial price is N97. Anyone who sells above that isa sabotoeur. The FederalGovernment will continueto seal off outlets wheresuch happens. Very soonthe Federal Governmentwill clamp down on thosewho hoard.

“We also appeal to thosehiking prices and hoardingto stop. It is wrong and theinterest of the massesshould be considered. TheFederal Government isdoing everything to stop thetrend. Nigerians areassured there is no hike inpump price any where.”

Explaining why somemarketers sell above theofficial price, chairman ofthe Independent PetroleumMarketers Association ofNigeria, IPMAN, Delta

State, Mr. AkpoviriEdafevwotu, who spoke toVanguard said: “We sell atgovernment approvedprice of N97, but theproblem at the moment isunavailability of theproduct.

“Sometimes, people buyfrom owners of privatedepots and the landingprice is N110. By the timeyou put together all thelogistics expended andunder such a situation, it isdifficult to sell below whatyou purchased.”

Edafevwotu, however,said filling stations that getsupply at official pricenormally sell at N97, addingthat in PPMC, they mightprogramme that they wouldload 50 trucks, but at theend of the day, only five tosix trucks are loaded andthe scarcity remains.

The Delta IPMAN bossexplained that on theaverage, an independentmarketer spends about N3million to buy a truck of fuelwith a profit margin ofbetween N5-N6 per litreallowed by the NNPC. “

He said: "His total profiton a truck of petrol is aboutN180,000 and he sells atN97 per liter because hebought at the official price,but when the petrol issourced outside PPMC athigher price, it becomesdifficult.

“That is where theproblem is. If you go tosome private depot owners,I do not want to mentionnames, but whatever

names I mention is verifi-able, they sell at N100 perlitre to independent market-ers. Therefore, an inde-pendent marketer cannotbuy at that price and sell atN97 after incurring otherexpenses. He then ap-pealed to the governmentto ensure that more refin-eries come on stream tomeet the demand for petrolin the country.

Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer of MatrixEnergy, Warri, Mr.Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu,denied the allegation that,as a depot owner, hiscompany was selling aboveN100 to independentmarketers. His words, “Wehave not sold abovegovernment price to anyperson”.

He, however, made adisturbing revelation whenhe said: “Matrix has notsold petrol since August.That was the last time wegot product from PPMC."

An industry source toldVanguard: “You canimagine what it means if amajor depot owners gotsupply last in August."

Mr. Aliu said: “We soldour last product at N87 andthe last time we importedpetrol into the country wasin May. We have stoppedimportation for now and thesame goes for most othercompanies because of non-payment of subsidy for theones we purchasedpreviously.”

,

,


EXTRA

Third Mainland Bridge re-openedBY KINGSLEY

ADEGBOYE

THE Federal Govern-ment yesterday for-

mally reopened theThird Mainland Bridgebarely three months af-ter it was partially closedfor intensive repairworks at eight expan-sion joints on both sidesof the longest bridge inAfrica. It is11.8 kilome-tre-long. Sources saidthe repair gulped aboutN1.5 billion.

Minister of Works,Mike Onolememen, anarchitect, in his addressat the official reopeningof the ever busy bridgenoted that the federalgovernment had keptfaith with the promisethat the repair worksthat commenced on Au-gust 10, 2012 would becompleted about No-vember 6, 2012, as it hadcome to pass.

Onolememen addedthat not only were the re-pair works completedabout 10 days ahead ofschedule, they were alsocompleted at the award-ed contract sum withoutvariation.

He said at the com-mencement of the re-pairs on behalf of thefederal government thateverything possiblewould be done to cush-ion the frustration and

inconveniences thatwould be caused to roadusers due to the partialclosure of the bridge,pledging to complete theproject ahead of sched-ule.

The Minister at yester-day's event thankedPresident GoodluckJonathan for his supportand sustained funding ofthe project, just as hecommended GovernorBabatunde Fashola ofLagos State "for his won-derful cooperation andcollaboration not just onthis project, but on allfederal projects in thestate".

According to the Min-ister, “the project em-ployed specialised tech-nology which is notreadily available in thecountry.

"The materials utilized,hydro-demolition ma-chine, as well as techni-cal expertise to executethe works were all im-ported.

"With the completion ofthe repair works on thethree joints on the LagosIsland bound carriage-way and five expansionjoints on the Oworonsho-ki bound carriageway,the contract for the repairof the Third MainlandBridge has been success-fully completed. "Theworks have been com-pleted before the sched-

uled date of November6, 2012”, Onolememenstated.

The longest bridgelinking Lagos Islandwith the Mainland waspartially closed to trafficon Sunday 8 July, 2012while repair works com-menced on it on Mon-day, 9 July, 2012.

Initially, commercialactivities were almostparalysed at Idumotaand many other parts ofLagos Island as the clo-

sure of the bridge creat-ed a lot of hardship forcommuters and motoriststraveling from the Main-land to the Island.

At least 700 officers ofthe Lagos State TrafficManagement Authority,LASTMA, were de-ployed to areas close tothe bridge to amelioratethe plight of motoristsand commuters.

Lagos State Commis-sioner for Transportation,Kayode Opeifa, after yes-

terday’s re-opening saidthe repair was complet-ed and the bridge wasready for use since Sun-day.

Speaking further on theproject, the Minister ex-plained that the dynam-ic investigation reportwhich was completedand submitted to his min-istry indicated that oneexpansion joint with ver-tical gaps greater than 10mm at Axis 10-11, 13-14,

16-17 and 25-26 alongthe Lagos bound car-riageway were in verycritical state and requiredimmediate repairs, point-ed out that seven jointsat Axis 55-56, 57-58 and64-1along the Lagosbound carriageway and13-14, 22-23, 34-35 and43-44 along Oworonsho-ki bound carriagewayhad vertical gaps be-tween 4-10 mm which onborder line.

He further noted that16 joints on the inboundand 19 joints on the out-bound carriagewaysequally required regularcleaning, stressing thatFERMA would be direct-ed to add this to theirmaintenance pro-gramme. He said jointsat Axes 13-14, 19-20, 16-17 and 25-26 were re-stored in an earlier con-tract executed in 2006 bythe ministry using thesame contractor.

The minister who stat-ed that traffic diversionplans and programmeshad been implementedwith the relevant stake-holders to minimise traf-fic congestion and incon-veniences to the popu-lace during the period ofpartial closure of thebridge from July 6 to Oc-tober 30, 2012, addedthat actual demolition ofsections of the bridgedeck affected at Axis 64-1 for the restoration of thejoints had been complet-ed and reinstated.

Traffic on the bridge after the re-opening ...yesterday. Photos: Diran Oshe.

•The repaired Third Mainland Bridge before re-opening.


withEMMANUEL AZIKEN

POLITICAL METABOLISMTHE vacillation of theAction Congress of

Nigeria, ACN to come to gripswith its third place finishingin the Ondo Stategubernatorial election isbewildering.

After the party shored up itsvotes from a miserly 30,000+in 2007 to more than 145,000votes penultimate Saturday,the party elders do not wantto believe that they haveachieved anythingremarkable.

The leaders of the party aftera formal review of the electionlast Monday said they wouldcontinue to review the conductof the election and would filean election petition to reviewthe outcome should they finda loophole. Meanwhile, it canbe said that no smoking gunhas been found to launch apetition.

The dithering of the party isnot totally surprising. TheACN had set for itself whatnot a few considered as a ‘tallorder’ in its determination tosweep Governor SegunMimiko away from office inthe election.

At the end, the party came arespectable third in a verycompetitive election that has

continued to puzzle many,including yourcorrespondent.

Once the results came outpenultimate Sunday, the firstshock was that the ACN camethird. Never mind that thedistance between the ACNand the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP which was second,was not much. It was notsupposed to be.

The second shock for manywas the amount andproportion of votes theincumbent governor, Dr.Segun Mimiko who flew theLabour Party, LP standard got.

Mimiko’s proportion of thevotes fell from a respectable55 per cent of the total votes

in 2007 to an estimated 40percent. It was so shockingthat when this correspondentcalled one of the foot soldiersof the Labour Party that nightto tell him that his boss didnot do as much as expected,he did not believe it.

Engrossed in thecelebration, it seemed as ifone was about to truncate anice dream. Given theacclaimed achievements ofDr. Mimiko in his first term,was it that his supporters everexpected him to lose theelection?

That is a hanging questionone has been trying tograpple with.On the other hand, many are

also asking whether the ACNand its supporters reallybelieved the message thattheir leaders drummed upprior to the election that theywere going to sweep Mimikoout of office? In analysing theelection many, especiallythose in the ACN, gave theimpression of havingunderestimated theexperience of Dr. Mimiko inthe Ondo political arena.

With the probable exceptionof Asiwaju Bola AhmedTinubu and Chief BisiAkande, many othersdeployed by the ACN in thecontest were no politicalmates of Dr. Mimiko.Dr. Mimiko, it is easilyrecalled, has devoted almostall his life to politics; more toit than his professionalcalling in the field ofmedicine.

Since he left medical schoolhe is reported to have fullyengaged in politics since thethird republic and has a goodpolitical map of the lengthand breadth of his state.Engaging him in his ownbackyard was never expectedto be an easy task. That he didnot win the majority of thevotes cast is really shocking.

The ACN must congratulateitself for doing well in theelection and articulate a morefitting response to match withthe democratic inclinations itso much ventilates.

It is welcoming that theparty has promised toestablish a vibrant oppositionmachine to monitor andmeasure the actions of theMimiko administration.

That is a welcomedevelopment. Indeed, theparty must move beyondOndo State and activate thesame monitoring mechanismin every other state where itis in opposition.The party has commendablywon for itself adulation for itsrigorous and robust check onthe PDP Federal Government.

But it also must furtherendear itself to democracyenthusiasts by at leastconceding victory to Labourin Ondo. There is no shameto it.

After all, the party fought agood fight.Conceding today will win itthe plaudits and positivepublic image it would need toenter the next battle. Ekiti andOsun coming next will beanother story!

ACN’s vacillationon Ondo guber poll

South eastern roads worst in thecountry — Rep Azubuike

CHAIRMAN, House of Representatives Committeeon Public Petitions and member representing AbaFederal Constituency, Hon. Uzo Azubuike is sad overdeplorable state of roads in the South-East and wantsurgent action from the Federal Government, as hedeclares in this interview with journalists. Excerpts:

BY JOHN BULUS

*Azubuike: The S/East is the most commercialized region ofthis country.

ON state ofinfrastructureespecially roads in

South-EastThe state of road

infrastructure in the South-East, which the FederalGovernment allowed to get tothe sorry state it is now, is oneof the major concerns we have,because it is affectingeverything we do in that partof the country.

The South-Eastis the most commercializedregion of this country. Thatalone should compel theFederal Government to alwaysensure that the infrastructure inthat region are functional sothat the people can go abouttheir commercial activitieswithout any inhibition and ofcourse more revenue will beaccruing to the government.The state of road in thesoutheast is an issue thataffects everybody.

On the Aba road challenge

and neglect by successivegovernments?

I represented Aba Central inthe Abia State House ofAssembly for eight years. NowI am representing Aba FederalConstituency in the House ofRepresentatives. I am not anAbuja-based representative.Anytime I have no businessbeing in Abuja, I am in Abawith my people.

That means that I share in allthe sufferings of Aba peopleand indeed Abia and South-East. I have been raising theissue of lack of, not just roads,but lack of federal presence inAba, one of the majorcommercial nerves of Nigeria.Most African countries buyfrom Aba. Aba-made goods areexported to other countries ofthe world. That means that Abais a city that ordinarily shouldbe important to the FederalGovernment.

If properly harnessed, Abaalone can drive the economy ofNigeria. In January this year, Iraised a motion on the floor ofthe House on the state of theroad at the entry point into Aba,

particularly on the imminentcollapse of Ogbor Hill-waterside on Aba/Ikot Ekpene

bridge, and the House took thematter so seriously that itmandated the committee on

Federal Emergency RoadMaintenance Agency(FERMA) to immediately visitAba to see the level of thedeplorable state of the road.

The committee went to Abawith the former leadership ofFERMA and they saw the stateof the Aba-Ikot Ekpene road.

The Aba-Ikot Ekpene road isan international gate way intoNigeria from Cameroon. Itleads to Akwa-Ibom, CrossRiver down to Cameroon, it isan international highway.

Everybody that went on thatvisit felt so bad on the state ofthe road and the Houserecommended that FERMAshould immediately embark onrehabilitation of the bridge, andthe chairman of the committee,Hon. Ofor, said that a goodbridge on a bad road is useless.He said it is necessary to fix theroad together.

Before then, Hon. UzomaAbonta also raised a motion onthe state of road in Aba; helamented on the bad state of theAba-Port Harcourt road, Aba-Oweri road and Aba-IkotEkpene road, these all federalgovernment roads, and urgedthe House to move that theroads be repaired.

It was adopted and up tillnow, nothing has happened.I saw in the 2012 budget,where they provided forOwerri-Aba-Ikot Ekpene roaddual carriage, this is a road ofnot less than 200 kilometers,they provided only N20 millionfor it, this is a project that willtake about N5 billion, but thebudgetary provision is justN20 million!


CMYK



CMYK


Williams sisters in Nigeria for women’s rightsBY JOHN

EGBOKHAN,

with Agency Reports

AMERICAN tennissuper-stars, Serena

and Venus Williams havesaid that their visit toLagos, as part of a two-nation tour that will seethem play exhibitionmatches and train kids,was to promote women’srights.

The sisters are bothcounted among theworld and United States’most successful athletes,sharing 22 majorwomen’s singleschampionships betweenthem.

Their trip is aimed atpromoting “the role thatwomen play in shiftingperceptions ande n c o u r a g i n gdevelopment at all levelsacross the Africancontinent,” said astatement from theBreaking The Mouldinitiative they arerepresenting.

Serena, 31, and Venus,32, are to meet theGovernor BabatundeFashola of Lagos state,hold a tennis clinic at theIkoyi Club, visit apuberty education classfor girls and play anexhibition match beforeheading to South Africa

on November 2.“They are coming to

Lagos to encouragemore women to breakmoulds that have stoodbetween them and theirpotentials,” thestatement said.

Gender disparity is anacute problem inNigeria, Africa’s mostpopulous country ofroughly 160 millionpeople, with the mostglaring divides existingin the mainly Muslimnorth.

Worldwide, Nigeriaranks 118 out of 134countries on the GenderEquality Index, aBritish Council studyreleased in May said.

Always backs Williams Sisters tour

ALWAYS, a brand ofProcter & Gamble

Nigeria, is supportingthe visiting WilliamsSisters to empowerwomen and young girlsto believe in themselvesin a bid to achieve theirfull potential in life.

On 1 November 2012,the duo will partnerwith feminine hygienebrand Always for a jointgirls empowermentevent at the GovernmentSecondary School inOsborne, Ikoyi.Together, Always andthe Williams sisters aimto empower girls and

inspire them to live theirlife to the fullest by:stressing the idea ofsisterhood and that girlsteaming up andsupporting each othermay achieve greatthings; teaching younggirls the value of hardwork, passion,determination and self-belief and leading bybest example thatneither colour or gendershall be reason enoughto hold girls back andkeep them from wantingthe best in life andsucceed.

. The William sisters

will attend an Alwayspuberty education classand talk to the girlsbefore performing withthe schoolgirls theAlways song “Little BigSteps” to empower themthrough a sharedsinging and dancingexperience.

“Always’ strong brandawareness andestablished social mediafootprint will help toglobally drive awarenessfor ‘Breaking TheMould’ and the messageof girls’ empowerment”,says Temitope Iluyemi.

Oracene: Greatest

tennis mum of all time!

ORACENE, the mother

of the famous tennis

sisters is a very, very

unique lady. Soft spoken

and extremely articulate.

Oracene is the engine that

drove and drives the

success of all her

daughters, especially the

tennis megastars, Venus

and Serena. She appears

to always speak in

whispers and on a scale of

one to 10, I have never

heard her voice raised

above four. Oracene is a

bundle of fun and mischief

and at 60 can easily pass

for her older daughters’

friend.

But she is also as tough

as nails, discerning, very

perceptive and always tries

to be politically correct. She

has been described by some

tennis writers as

“unflappable and calm.”

Oracene’s first marriage

to the late Yussef A. K

Rasheed, a full blooded

American who like Cassius

Clay (Mohamed Ali)

adopted a muslim name,

produced three daughters

– Yetunde (1972 – 2003),

Leandra and Isha. Her

strength of character

manifested in the naming

of two of the first three

daughters.“It was my decision to

give Yetunde and IshaAfrican names because Iwanted to stay connected tomy roots.” The adorabletennis mum said. LateRasheed, a lecturer at theMichigan University couldnot have agreed more.

With a degree fromWestern MichiganUniversity and nursingqualifications, Oraceneremarried to the nowfamous Richard Williamsand had Venus and Serenathat they “programmed tobe Wimbledonchampions.”

To achieve this goal,, shebrought all her education,exposure and knowledgeto impact on the girls’tennis career. As a mothershe kept the girls groundedand focused anddisciplined. As a nurse shepatched up the girls whenthey had injuries that hadto be kept away from theiropponents and the publicdomain and prepared themfor matches.

•Oracene,

LIVE IN LAGOS: Venus and Serena celebrate

•Source: Tennis AfricaMagazine


Throw sports festival open

Continues from B/P

‘This NFF is not corrupt’

The present ExecutiveCommittee of theNigeria FootballFederation is not in anyway corrupt, as it hasworked assiduously toreposition Nigeriafootball, according to theChairman of NFF Mediaand Publicity Committee,High Chief EmekaInyama.

“It is in line with themission anddetermination to takeour football to higherlevels that drove theBoard to the various re-engineering processesthat have yielded theresults we are nowwitnessing in ourLeagues and thedifferent age-gradeNational Teams, as wellas the Super Eagles.

“At this period, what

the Aminu Maigari-ledBoard needs is massivesupport from Nigerians,not distraction. We arenot there yet, but werequest for total supportfrom Nigerians in allramifications to take ourfootball to greaterheights,” Inyama saidon Tuesday.

•Inyama.

Keshi invites 24 forVenezuela friendly…Camp opens November 4

Super Eagles coach,Stephen Keshi hasinvited 24 home-basedplayers for theNovember 14international friendlyagainst Venezuela inMiami, United States .

The camp will openNovember 4. The gameis one of the friendliesthat has been lined upto toughen the Nigerianside for the Nations Cupchampionship.

Super Eagles

spokesman Ben Alaiyaquotes Team Scribe DayoEnebi Achor, as advisingall invited players toresume at the BoltonWhite Apartmentunfailingly on Sunday,November 4. They are toreport with theirinternational passportsand two passportphotographs (embassysize).

The list consist of twogoalkeepers, ninedefenders and 13midfieders and strikers.

Chelsea stars swear ref racially abusedMikel

OUTRAGED Chelseastars have given swornstatements claimingNigerian star, John ObiMikel WAS raciallyabused by ref MarkClattenburg.

They are prepared togive evidence to the FAinquiry set up toinvestigate theaccusations after the 3-2 defeat by ManchesterUnited.

The statements weretaken from severalsenior players at theclub’s training groundyesterday when theyreported for a warm-down. It is also allegedClattenburg called JuanMata ‘a Spanish t**t.’

The row took a furthertwist last night when theMetropolitan Policebecame involved afterthe Association of BlackLawyers reported theincident as a “racially-aggravated offence”against Mikel andMata. Police chiefs willnow have to decidewhether a criminaloffence was committed

Doping latest: Chukwuemeka faceslife ban

BY BEN EFE

by Clattenburg.FA chiefs are

determined to deal with

the explosive allegationsas a matter of urgencyafter being accused of

Shot Putter, VivianChukwuemeka is facedwith a life ban after herB samples turned outpositive.

The athlete was said tohave failed a dope testat the All Nigeria/CrossRiver Championshipslast June, but shecontested the result,suggesting that her Bsample will proveotherwise, but that didnot happen as analysisat the lab in South Africaconfirmed that there wasindeed dope in hersystem, when she madea famous comeback atthe Calabar cham-pionship, after a two-year dope relatedsuspension.

“Well, they did the Bsample and it tested thesame thing. But I do notbelieve in Nigerian

children theopportunity to know ourgreat athletes at a closerange.”

Uduaghan stressedthat the event was not anational event competingwith the similar one heldin Abuja last week butpurely for the state todevelop its athletes tonational andinternational stars.

The summit was well-attended with theJamaican athletics coach,Bertland Cameron andSouth African Rowingcoach, Roger Barrow, asspeakers.

A former international,Chief AdokieAmiesimaka, Olympicgold medallist, EniofokUduobong, Prof Emma

Ojeme, Mr Paul Bassey,Ejiro Omonode, andIkeddy Iziguzo alsopresented papers at theevent which also had athree work sessions.Uduobong called forbetter funding of sportsand wondered whyNigeria spent N2.8bn onLondon Olympic Gameswhile Great Britain spentN68.9bn.

Governor Uduaghanpresented a cheque of$20,000 to Delta swimmerSamson Opuakpo for hisgallant efforts at London2012 while it was alsolearnt that the governorgave an undisclosed sumof money to BlessingOkagbare as take offgrant to prepare for theworld Championshipholding next year.

Williams sisters in LagosContinues from B/P

the arrival lounge ofthe Murtala MohammedInternational Airport(MMIA), Ikeja.

Her sister, Serena, whohas just clinched theWTA title which justended in Istanbul,Turkey, was due toarrive last night

From the airport,Venus was led straightto a waiting convoy ofvehicles and driven toFederal Palace Hotel,Victoria Island whereanother group of

Journalists had alsoassembled to receive thetennis queen.

Looking visibly excitedabout her coming toLagos, she wasaccompanied by hermanagers, who however,did not allow her toentertain any questionsfrom the journalistssaying, Venus andSerena will speak to themedia elaborately on thepurpose of their visitduring a MediaConference, holdingtoday.

dragging their feet overthe John Terry case.

dope testing because it iscorrupt.

“How is it that I testedpositive in Nigeria andnot at the AfricanChampionships in Beninafter one week ofretesting. I heard Dr.Ken Anugueje say thesamples in Benin werenot tested. He liedbecause one SouthAfrican girl testedpositive,” saidChukwuwemka.

She stated that she wasrepresented by her

cousin during theopening of the B sampleadding that it took someeight hours before thetest could be concludedand her cousin did notwait to get the result.

•Vivian

2013 Afcon: Eagles hit S/AfricaJan 4

NIGERIA haveannounced that the

country ’s finalpreparation for the 2013AFCON will be in SouthAfrica from January 4.

Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF)general secretary MusaAmadu disclosed that theEagles final phase ofNations Cup campingwill begin on January 4.

“It’s a known fact thatclubs would not releaseplayers for the AFCONuntil two weeks to thetournament. What thismeans is that coachStephen Keshi has atleast two weeks forintensive training. So,with that in mind theEagles would begin finalpreparation on January4,” Amadu said.

NFF technical committeechairman Chris Green,who is just back fromSouth Africa where theyinspected training sitesand facilities ahead of nextyear ’s Africa Cup ofNations, disclosed that thefederation plan to first setup a training camp inEurope before the teammove to South Africa.

“We are thinking ofassembling the players inFaro, Portugal, beforeproceeding to SouthAfrica for the team’s finalphase of camping. Theidea is to begin the campin Faro with players from

the home front, then havethe foreign-based joinup,” he said.

“We have put severalfactors into considerationone of which is weather.”

Nigeria are drawn inGroup C in Nelspruitalong with defendingchampions Zambia,Burkina Faso andEthiopia.

The Eagles trainingcamp opens this weekendin Abuja ahead of afriendly againstVenezuela in Miami,United States of America,on November 14.

Super Eagles in camp.

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

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

e-mail: [email protected]

How to Play SudokuTHE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, OCT0BER 31, 2012

TODAY'S PUZZLE

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS

1 Headdress (5)5 Broadcasting (6)8 Surpass (5)10 Paint (6)11 Tart (4)14 Powerful (6)15 Eat (7)18 Girl (3)19 Huge (3)21 Gaelic (4)23 Yielded (5)24 Adroit (4)27 Lair (3)29 Ballad (3)31 Renewed (7)32 Stripped (6)34 Too (4)35 Thoroughfare (6)38 Sound (5)39 Appear (6)40 Hillock (5)

DOWN

2 Tavern (3)3 Careless (6)4 Hatchet (3)5 Smack (4)6 Squirm (6)7 Mild (6)9 Ascended (7)12 Lettuce (3)13 Caribou (4)16 Formerly (4)17 Sea-duck (5)20 Widespread (7)22 Certain (4)24 Oust (6)25 Insect (4)26 Higher (6)28 Dinner-jacket (6)30 Aye (3)33 Bird (4)36 Vigour (3)37 Vase (3)

ACROSS: 1, Scrape 5, Deal 8, Sited 9, Bet 10,Lees 11, Pick 12, Apart 13, Unfair 16, Dear 18,Save 20, Wed 22, Via 23, Spy 24, Wide 25,Edge 28, Expand 30, Rebel 32, Neat 33, Nice34, Ewe 35, React 36, Bred 37, Stature.

DOWN: 1, Subdue 2, Ratified 3, Pallid 4,Disparage 5, Depress 6, Edit 7, Like 8, Sea14, Reverence 15, Ivy 17, Aid 19, Apparent20, Win 21, Deleted 26, Expect 27, Adhere29, Snub 30, Rare 31, Lit.

Throw sports festival open— Uduaghan

Williams sisters in Lagos


BY TONY UBANI,

Asaba

Chelsea stars swearref racially abusedMikel — P.55

THE Delta StateGovernor, Dr.

Emmanuel Uduaghan,

yesterday at the Grand

Hotel, Asaba,

advocated an open

system for the National

Sports Festival in the

Keshi invites 24

— P.55

Mikel (r) withClattenburg

country.

Uduaghan was

speaking at the one-day

Delta Sports Summit

titled “Developing the

Nigerian sport

potential.”

The governor stressed

that it was better for thecountry to have her elitesports meet open to allNigerians all over theworld every year.He said, “The sportsfestival should be anevent we look up to yearlyand not the All Nigeria

Track and field. If it isopen every athlete willprepare for it and ensurethey make a statementduring the event. Whatwe have now is almost ajamboree whereby theathlete there or thestandard attained is nota true reflection of thepotential the country canboast of.

“Sports festival will bemore competitive andinteresting if it is open toall. It will also afford our


•Venus receivesflowers on arrival inLagos yesterday.

BY JOHN

EGBOKHAN

History was made inLagos yesterday as oneof the Williams’ sisters,Venus Williams, finallyarrived in Lagos, aswidely expected. Venus,the older of the twoworld’s renowned tennisicons, arrived in Lagos,Nigeria’s commercialcapital about 3:35pm,aboard a Delta Airlineflight.

She was welcomed tothe hands of officials ofConnect MarketingServices Ltd and scoresof journalists, who hadwaited anxiously outside

CMYK

Documents

Oil subsidy thieves must suffer — Jonathan