boko raram- obj blames jonathan

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61753

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012**

Mr & Mrs

•P.17

DEAR BUNMI•P. 38

Back to thetrenches

OBJ blames Jonathan

Continues on page 5

•P.19ROTIMI FASAN

OGAGA IFOWODO•P.19

"But my fear at that time is still my fear till to-day. When you have a sore and fail to attend to itquickly, it festers and grows to become somethingelse. Whichever way, you just have to attend toit. Don’t leave it unattended to".

BY SAM EYOBOKA

WARRI—FORMERP r e s i d e n t

Olusegun Obasanjo, yes-terday, blamed the in-cumbent presidentGoodluck Jonathan forallowing the Islamic sect,Boko Haram, to grow intoa monster that is now un-controllable by his failureto act on a report submit-ted to the government.

The former presidentwho spoke at a lecturedelivered by Professor

THE BOOK YOU MUST READPromoting Privatisation,Deregulation andLiberalisation

By Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

•Serial on

Pgs.36&37

NASS can'tcreate new

states— Ekweremadu

BOKO HARAM:

ANNIVERSARY—From left: Former Editor, Entertainment Magazine, Mr Olutade Makinde; former Editor-in-Chief,Nigerian Tribune; Mr Felix Adenaike; the celebrant; King Sunny Ade and Chairman Planning Committee, Oloye Lekan Alabiduring the "Media day" organised as part of activities marking the 35th anniversary of King Sunny Ade in music. Photo: DareFasube.

HALLIBURTON:How millionsof dollarsbribe moneywere wired

•P.7

ScammersfakeFashola'swife onFacebook

•P.9

•P.6

2 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012 — 3

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE


LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Boko Haram: OBJ blamesJonathanContinues from page 1

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a sin-gle candle, and the life of the candle will not beshortened. Happiness never decreases by beingshared – Buddha. Find someone to share some-thing with.

Give graciously and receive gratefully. Graceand gratitude are the energizing factors of giv-ing and receiving— Sandy Bidinger

IT is a phenomenal law. Whatever energy yougive will come back to you in an amazing way.

You may give away your time, for example, and itcomes back to you much later from an unexpectedsource in an unexpected form in a way that ben-efits you greatly. You cannot insist on a particularway and time it will come back to you, but you canbe assured it will come back in the best way foryou.

It is the energy behind the giving that matters,so do not give grudgingly. The law of cause andeffect guarantees that you shall receive plenty forwhat you give. Give what you have of your – time,money, smiles, love, compliments, anything. Andyou will get back what you do not have on you.By taking care of others, you take care of yourself.Share with and give to nature. It is the goose thatlays the golden eggs, and it needs to be protectedand nourished so that it can protect and nourishyou.

Bolaji Akinyemi to markthe 40th anniversary ofPastor Ayo Oritsejafor’scall to ministry at theWord of Life BibleChurch, Warri in DeltaState, also tasked Nige-rians to choose betweena strong leader whomight adopt unusualapproach to tackle aproblem or a weakleader who will leavethe problem to fester.

Answering a questionfrom a pastor from BornoState on how he couldforge any form of unitywith those who are per-petuating violence in thenorthern part of thecountry, Obasanjo wentemotional, saying: “BokoHaram is an ill wind thatblows nobody no good.”

He proceeded to nar-rate his experience whenhe went on a fact-find-ing mission to BornoState which was re-garded as the base ofBoko Haram.

He said: “They BokoHaram stated theirgrievances and I prom-ised to relay them to theauthorities in power, be-cause that was the bestI could do. I did report.But my fear at that timeis still my fear till today.When you have a soreand fail to attend to itquickly, it festers and

grows to become some-thing else.

“Whichever way, youjust have to attend to it.Don’t leave it unat-tended to. On two oc-casions I had to attendto the problem I facedat that time. I sent sol-diers to a place and 19of them were killed. IfI had allowed that tocontinue, I will nothave authority to sendsecurity whether po-lice, soldier and anyforce any where again.So, I had to nip it in thebud and that was theend of that particularproblem,” he said.

He was, however,careful to admit that allproblems might not re-quire that kind of treat-ment. According to him,“if you say you don’twant a strong leaderwho can have all char-acteristics of leadersincluding God fearing,then have a weakleader and the rest ofthe problem is yours.”

He argued that “thebeauty of democracy isthat power rests in thepeople, and everyelected person would

seek your votes to comeback; if you don’t wanthim, he won’t come back.He noted that people hadbeen saying that hebrought PresidentGoodluck Jonathan butwhat they have failed toadmit is that he didn’tgive all the votes thatbrought the man topower.

The erstwhile presidenttherefore charged Nige-rians to stand up and taketheir destinies in theirown hands, remindingthem of a Yoruba adage,“if you say it the way itis, you will die; if youdon’t say anything at all,you will die, why don’tyou say it and die?”

Akinyemiblasts formerleaders

Earlier in his lecture, ti-tled: “The Nigeria of myDream: Towards the con-solidation of nationalunity ”, ProfessorAkinyemi had, amongothers, said emphaticallythat the way we can havea consensus in the coun-try is to have a nationalconference.

The former External Af-fairs Minister was ap-palled by the hypocrisyshown by ex-presidentsand ex-heads of statewho had continued topreach what they did notpractice while they werein office. “How does oneexplain revelations thatfrom 1960, outflow offunds from Nigeria hadgot worse and yet thesanctimonious speechesabout anti-corruption con-tinue to rent the air,”Akinyemi asked, arguingthat current attempts toamend the constitutionwould not solve the socio-political problems trou-bling the nation.

According to him, “wewill continue to amendthe constitution and fur-ther amend and there willbe no solution until we allagree to sit down at around table to write a con-stitution that Nigerianscan truly identify with.”

The professor had ar-gued that if, “at inde-pendence in 1960, the

political elite hadreached a broad consen-sus on the fundamentalvalues that should be theoverriding principles ofgovernance in order tomake life more abundantfor all, to cater for thepoor, to increase oppor-tunities for all, to pro-vide safety net for thewidow and the orphanand to reduce the gapbetween the rich and thepoor, between the Northand the South and be-tween the haves and thehave nots, they wouldhave laid a solid foun-dation for stability inNigeria.”

Obasnjo opposeSNC

But Chief Obasanjodisagreed with the argu-ment people had oftenpreferred to canvas for asovereign national con-ference, saying therewould be no room bigenough to accommodateevery Nigerian at aroundtable conference tofind a national consen-sus, noting that hewould rather want to seea Nigeria where justice,fairness and equityreign supreme.

“Only a mad man willfail to acknowledge thatthere is high level cor-ruption in the country”,he said, stressing thatthe same World Bankthat is always releasingfigures about Nigeria’spoor state of economiccondition, recom-mended a structural ad-justment programme forthe nation and nearly allthe eggheads in thecountry bought it evenwhen the political lead-ers at the time said itwould be detrimental tothe nation.

Obasanjo argued thatthe World Bank had beentalking about corruptionin the country and “Ichallenged them to tellme the names of the Ni-gerians who hadstashed monies abroadbut they were not forth-coming except for thecase of the Abacha loot.We recovered a largechunk of that loot andthey told us there wasstill over $1 billion fromthat family but my suc-cessors did not pursueany further.

SAP made uspoorer — OBJ

“What I am saying isthat it is the same WorldBank that came to uswith structural adjust-ment and some of us saidit would make us poorer,you (Akinyemi) were in

government at the time.We went for structuraladjustment and we werepoorer. And then theycame up with an excusethat we didn’t do it theway they wanted us to doit. Many years later, theyaccepted that we wereright and they werewrong,” Obasanjostated.

Emphasising the needto tackle corruption inthe country, the ex-headof state narrated an ex-perience he had inAnambra State, sayingthe government signeda contract for turnkeyproject for carpets for$10 million, the moneywas paid but no job doneand when I asked theyreferred me to the termsof the contract.

“I called World Bank,they said go and look atthe agreement, and theagreement says they arenot responsible for howthe money is spent. TheWord Bank then told methat is the agreementand there is nothing wecan do.

“I don’t say that we arenot corrupt, we are. Butare we doing somethingabout it? Once, peoplesaid, the fear of Ribaduis the beginning of wis-dom. Then what hap-pened to Ribadu? Thenthere was no longer anywisdom,” he stated.

Obasanjo also disa-greed with Akinyemi onfederal character. Whilethe political science pro-fessor wants the nationto dump federal charac-ter as a means of choos-ing leaders, Obasanjowas of the opinion thatevery nation of theworld has its own pecu-liar way of addressingits peculiar problems.

“I don’t see anythingwrong with federal char-acter if we want towedge this country to-gether because if youwant to enter a placewhere there are 40 peo-ple and they requiresomebody and you areUrhobo and at the backyou find somebody

speaking Urhobo, thetendency is for you to gofor that man. It’s natu-ral. So there is someform of security in theapplication of federalcharacter,” he said.

On the location of stra-tegic and military assetswhich the lecturer ar-gued are located on theZaria-Kaduna axis outof mutual suspicion, andrecommended that thenation must adopt theSouth African model oflocating military forma-tions across the nation,Obasanjo said: “If youlook at the deploymentof troops and formationsin the country, it is fairlywell spread.

“When I joined thearmy, there were fivebattalions, Enugu,Abeokuta, Ibadan andtwo were stationed inKaduna. That was doneby the colonial masters.Immediately after inde-pendence, our politicalleaders decided thatthere must be a battalionin Jos, Lagos, but as attoday after the civil warthere is a battalion inWarri and some otherplaces.

“When we were doingthat, we took into accountthe strategic interest ofthis country and don’tforget that there are cer-tain types of trainingsthat you can get in cer-tain parts of the coun-try,” he pointed out.

Obasanjo, Akinyemiand the two otherdiscussants includingElder GamalielOnosode, and Prof. JimOmatseye extolled thevirtues of PastorOritsejafor, praying thatthe 40 years he hadspent in ministry wouldbe like the 40 years oftutelage of Moses.“Yourachievements in the last40 years must be re-garded as mostly time ofpreparations and nowyou are beginningagain. Those of yourflock who love you andbelieve in you will bewith you all the waythrough,” they said .

"Have a weak leaderand the rest of theproblem is yours.”

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

N-Assembly can't createnew states— Ekweremadu

Says our hands are tied54 requests receivedAs Senate gets c'ttee’s report March 2013

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — HOPES forthe creation of new

states at the end of theongoing review of the 1999Constitution by the Na-tional Assembly weredashed yesterday.The Deputy President of theSenate, Senator IkeEkweremadu speaking at apress conference to flag offthe forthcoming Senatezonal public hearing on thereview of the constitutionaffirmed that the NationalAssembly on its own can-not create new states.Senator Ekweremadu whois also chairman of the Sen-ate Committee on Consti-tution Review, SCRC saidthat those desirous of cre-ating new states wouldhave to kick-start the proc-ess carrying along otherstakeholders in the Na-tional Assembly, StateHouse of Assembly andLocal Government Areas inthe affected areas."So, I don’t think that theSouth-East will expect ei-ther myself or any personto announce that they aregoing to get a state tomor-row or next tomorrow be-cause that is not what theconstitution says. They willnaturally follow the provi-sions which the constitutionhas provided,”Ekweremadu said.

The Deputy Senate Presi-dent further explained thatthe National Assemblycould only advise on howmany states can possibly becreated based on what thesystem can sustain. He af-firmed that the constitutionspecifically in Sections 8and 9, ruled out any spe-cific power for the NationalAssembly in the creation ofnew states.

56 requests re-ceived

Ekweremadu neverthe-less disclosed that 56 re-quests had been receivedso far for the creation ofnew states, adding that 241memoranda have also beenreceived from Nigerians toupdate those carried overfrom the Sixth Senate.

He also assured that thework of the committeewould be concluded by thethird quarter of 2013 wellahead of politicking thatcould shape the 2015 gen-eral elections.

The Deputy Senate Presi-dent who noted that hav-ing held the national pub-lic hearing, the Senate wasnow moving the process tothe people with the publichearing simultaneously inthe six geopolitical zones.He said that the NorthCentral will hold inMakurdi; North East inGombe; North West,Sokoto; South East, Enugu;

South South, Calabar andSouth West, Lagos.

Senator Ekweremadu’sposition that theConstitution review will notcome up with new states, iscoming on the heels ofrequests from Nigerians forstate creation both at theNational public Hearingorganised by the Senate inAbuja last October and theone day public sessions or-ganised last Saturday at the360 Federal Constituenciesby the House of Repre-sentatives.

Constitutionreview won’t resultin state creation

Ekweremadu said: "onthe issue of state creation, Iwant to take the two to-gether. I was in Enugu onSunday where I met withmy constituents regardingthe constitution amendmentexercise and I made it clearto them that Nigerians areconfusing things and thatis why anyone cannot be-gin to expect that at the endof this exercise, somebodywill come up to announcethat states have been cre-ated.

"That is not going tohappen because theconstitution does not makesuch provisions. So, theissue of state creation iscompletely different fromwhat we are doing becauseif you look at sections 8 and9, they are two different is-sues.

"So, any group that wantsa state can necessarily startthe process without the com-mittee. It is something thatcan run its own course with-out involving the commit-tee.

"What is going on reallyis that Nigerians aremaking their requests forthe creation of states basedon the fact that they believethat these two committeescan come up with criteriathat will favour them. Weare supposed to make lawsfor the good governance ofthis country and in doingso, as part of this exercise,what we can naturally do isthat, we have 56 requestsfor state creation. As re-sponsible citizens of Ni-geria, we can advise ourcolleagues on how manystates that can possibly becreated and that the systemcan sustain.

"If, for instance, we say,well, in the circumstance,the Nigerian system cancontain maybe four states,three or eight states, we canpossibly advise on howthese states would be allo-cated to the various parts ofthe country.

‘’Then, naturally, the peo-ple who are requesting forstates will still go and gen-erate their requests andsubmit to the National

Assembly and then gener-ate resolutions of the req-uisite authorities, the coun-cil, the House of Assemblyand it will still come up tothe National Assembly, theSenate and the House willvote. Then, it will still go forreferendum after which itwill go to the House of As-sembly of all the states inNigeria.

State agitatiorsmust followprocedures

"So, even if you arerequesting for a state inSokoto, the House ofAssembly in Abia State willalso vote for it. I hope thishas afforded me the oppor-tunity to explain this so thatnobody will say I came backfrom Abuja without bring-ing a state. Anybody ex-pecting a state must followall the procedures and Ithink we need to do moreenlightenment for Nigeri-ans to understand this proc-ess clearly because if thoseaccusing any person of hid-den agenda understand allthese, they will not be wor-rying themselves. They willgo and do more home workbecause if you look at Sec-tion 8, it is like passing abig snake through the eyeof a needle. It is a cumber-some process and it just hasto pass through that proc-ess because that is what theconstitution says."

On Kwankwanso’sallegation

Responding to insinua-tions by Governor RabiuKwankwanso of Kano Statethat he had an agenda toimpose an additional stateof the South-East on hiscolleagues in the NationalAssembly, Ekweremadusaid : "I have addressed thisissue before and I don’t in-tend to join issues with my

From right: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; Professor Bolaji Akinyemi and Deacon Gamaliel Onosodeduring a lecture entitled "The Nigeria of my dream: Towards the consolidation of national unity" inhonour of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor's 40 years in the Ministry at Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, DeltaState, yesterday.

friend, the governor ofKano State. If I have differ-ences with him in respectof the conduct of what weare doing, I would like todiscuss that with him di-rectly but for the purposeof your question, weshould read Section 9 (1)on the process of constitu-tion amendment let us seeif it is something an indi-vidual can have his ownagenda.

"It is obvious that the proc-ess of constitution amend-ment is so rigorous that 109Senators are involved, 360members of House of Rep-resentatives are involvedand all the members of theState Assemblies in 36states are involved. So,there is certainly no way anindividual can come upwith an agenda and expectto market that agenda orget it through. It is practi-cally unthinkable.

Over 100m Nigerians can't be properlyidentified —NIMC

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI—THENational Identity

Management Commission,NIMC, has said that over100 million Nigerianscannot be properlyidentified as citizens due tonon availability ofidentification database inthe country.

This was disclosed,yesterday, by the Director ofInformation Technology atNIMC, Alhaji Aliya Aziz,at a one-day public forum,in Makurdi, the BenueState capital to sensitise thepeople of the state on thenew national identificationnumber project.

Aziz further said over 75per cent of the identification

cards in circulation inNigeria were fake as therewere no means ofauthenticating theirgenuineness.

He said: “Over 100million of Nigerians haveno identification either byphone or any other means;and of those we can beidentified, we discoveredthat 75 per cent of theidentification cards incirculation in the countryare fake because there areno means of authenticatingtheir genuineness.”

He, however, noted thatwith the new identificationproject, Nigerians would beproperly identified anddocumented irrespective ofage, sex, religion and socialstatus.

In his remark, DirectorGeneral of NIMC, MrChris Oyemenam, saidwhen fully implimented,the newidentificationproject would co-exist withthe old NationalIdentification Card adding:”But after a period of time,we will phase out theformer, and even directbanks not to render servicesto people who do not havethe national identificationnumber.”

In his speech, theGovernor Gabriel Suswamof Benue State, who wasrepresented by his deputy,Chief Steven Lawani,urged the commission toensure the establishment oftamper proof database forthe country.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012—7

Halliburton: How millions ofdollars bribe money were wired

Account numbers of prominent Nigerians involved uncoveredJulius Berger’s $26.5m yet to be recovered

ABUJA —FOLLOWING a

directive by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan thatthe $180 millionHalliburton bribery scambe reopened and theprincipal suspects re-arrested for prosecution,Vanguard has uncovereda list of some of theforeign banks throughwhich huge sums runninginto millions of dollarswere wired to prominentNigerians.

According to sources,such principal suspectslike a former military headof state (names withheld),used the AmericanExpress Bank Annex atthe Towers WorldFinancial Centre, NewYork, the Seaway NationalBank, Chicago, and theBank of New York to wireover $37.5 million of thebribe money.

Accounts used by theformer head of statebetween 2002 and 2003include A/C No 187765Chips VID 250517,Maizubi Holdings,Minna, A/C No0074952045, Rooting No071001216, FoundationInc. A/C No 9800263826Swift/Sort CodeGHBAGRAA001 and A/CNo 0039342923-21Rooting No 052001533.

Another principalsuspect through who the

British/Israeli lawyer,Jeffrey Tesler wired hugesums to prominentNigerians is Air ViceMarshal Abdul DominicBello and the banks/account numbers throughwhich over $68 millionwere wired are LloydsBank of London, A/C No736827, Tri-Star, Bank ofCredit and CommerceInternational, London,Tri-Star, American ExpressBank, A/C No2101653,Tri-Star, HSBC,A/C No 31505024, andLloyds Bank, A/C No0737041, Tri-Star.

It was gathered that thesehuge sums of bribe moneywere shared with the activeknowledge and connivanceof the Company Secretaryof the NLNG then, Mrs.Sena Anthony, hence herarrest, detention andinterrogation for daysduring the firstinvestigation andsubsequent conclusion thatshe is key to unraveling thecomplete list of the briberybeneficiaries.

Concerning anotherformer head of state(names withheld),Vanguard learnt that atotal of about $39 millionwas collected on his behalfby cronies over a periodof time using aconstruction giant as gobetween and purportingthat the huge sums ofmoney were invested in a

prominent political partywhereas, only a minutefraction actually got to theparty.

The source disclosedthat Malabo Oil owned bya former minister ofpetroleum benefitted fromthe bribery scam to thetune of about $2 million;Umaru Shinkafi, throughthe American ExpressBank in London and in aJoint account he operatedwith Ashiru Bisiji Aliyu,got wired $1. 65 million.

For the brother of formerhead of state, AbdukadirAbacha, various sumsamounting to about $13million through accountnames—Headway Eng.Ltd. A/C No 68579222;Strategic Ind. Ltd-A/c No76434366; and Action Invt.Intern Ltd.

Ibrahim Aliyu, a formerfederal permanentsecretary, among manyother transactions, usedUnion Bank Plc Londonoffice at Copt Avenue withaccount No 02101/01/010312/Swift AddressUBNIGB31A.

Mr. MG Bakari owner ofSHERWOOD used variousaccounts acting for himselfand a former head of stateto wire huge sums andthey include Bank HSBC,Euston Road, London, A/CNo 39067293 Sort Code 40-04-07, Swift CodeMIDOGB; A/C No024002112100; MonumentTrust, Channels Island,

Sherwood A/C No024002112001 throughwhich the sum of Euro 664,020. 83 were wired toSherwood.

Recall that the decision ofPresident Jonathan to orderthe re-opening of the caseof Halliburton briberyscandal involvingprominent Nigerians, forprosecution followed theinsistence by the USauthorities that the about$130 million presently inthe US government coffers,will only be returned toNigeria if the primesuspects are prosecuted.

Consequently, theInspector General of Police,Mohammed Abubakar,directed the office of theDeputy Inspector Generalof Police in charge ForceCriminal InvestigationsDepartment to resuscitatethe investigative report ofthe CP Ali Amodu-ledpanel that investigated thescandal and submitted itsreport in 2010.

Meanwhile, Vanguardgathered that thewhereabouts of the $26. 5million returned byconstruction giants, JuliusBerger, in a plea bargainarrangement, to avoidprosecution, is yet to belocated and handed over tothe police, as nobody,including the police, knowswhere the money was paidor deposited.

From left: Mr Jide Adeosun, Commercial Development Manager, Africa GSK; Mr Jimi Agbaje,Chairman of occasion; Mr Anselme Sahabo,Managing Director, Eris Ltd., Uganda and Prof. UdomaMendie, Guest Speaker during the launch Branded Generics in Africa by GlaxoSmithkline, in the Lagos,yesterday. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

East-West road: 2014completion datestands — FG

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA —

NOTWITHSTANDING therecent flood whichsubmerged the Ugheli-Patani section of the project,the Federal Governmenthas re-assured that theN350 billion dualisation ofthe East-West highwayproject will be completed byDecember 2014, as it saidthe funding hitches sufferedby the project were over.

Minister of Niger DeltaAffairs, Elder GodsdayOrubube, who gave theassurance while leading topofficials of the ministry onthe post flood inspectiontour of the highway projectsaid funding would notthreaten the 2014completion dateline of theproject.

The minister who as-sessed the impact of floodon sections I and II and partof section III, beginningfrom Port Harcourt, theRivers State capital, enrouteWarri, Delta State, toldjournalists at the worstaffected Ughelli-Pataniportions that the ministrydecided to devote more oftheir funds to fast track thespeedy completion of theproject, which he describedas flagship project of theministry.

According to him, theministry is on course and isset to deliver on the East-West Road project, at thestipulated time. Hedisclosed that to completethe project, the ministrymade extra efforts to securefunding from alternativesources as a result of thepoor budgetary allocation.

Nigeria has highest oil spillin the world —Senate

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — THE Senate,yesterday, disclosed

that Nigeria has the highestnumber of oil spillincidences among oilproducing countries withno penalty regime attachedto such oil spills.

It noted that the level ofspills in the country was areflection of the totaldisregard on ourenvironment and thedignity of our people.

Declaring open a publichearing on National OilSpill Detection andResponse Agency,NOSDRA, AmendmentBill 2012 in Abuja by SenateJoint Committee onEnvironment and Ecology,Chairman of theCommittee, Senator BukolaSaraki, said oil spill hadbecome an irresponsibleenvironmental behaviour

and reckless waste of thepeople’s wealth and benefit,adding that it was high timemultinational oil companiesin the country stopped oilspills.

Saraki said the move hadbecome imperative againstthe backdrop of itsdevastating effect on theenvironment andlivelihoods of the people,even as he lamented thatthe statistics of oil spills inthe country was “shameful”while the impact on theenvironment is “offensive.”

He said that the Billtitled: “An Act to amend theNational Oil Spill Detectionand Response Agency(NOSDRA) establishment,etc, Act 2006 and for othermatters connectedtherewith” was designedamong others to redress thelegal loopholes in theexisting Act.

Lagos-Ibadan expressway: FGokays Bi-Courtney’s work

BY EMEKA MAMAH

LAGOS — THEFederal Government

has asked the Bi-CourtneyHighway Services Limited,the concessionaire of theLagos-Ibadan Expresswayto ensure that the ongoingreconstruction work on theexpressway reachesappreciable level before theChristmas saeson, whenthe road normally witnessessignificant increase in

traffic.The government’s

delegation which said itwas satisfied with the paceand quality of the ongoingwork on the road, Monday,however, expressedoptimism over the timelycompletion of the project.

The governmenthowever, assuredNigerians that it would offerBi-Courtney all thenecessary support neededfor a successful delivery.

8 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2012

WARRI—THE crisisrocking Ugborodo

Community over leader-ship tussle between two fac-tions, both respectively lay-ing claim to the UgborodoTrust Board has deepenedas the Eghare-Aja ofUgborodo, Chief Welling-ton Ojogor, has been re-portedly kidnapped, yes-terday, in Warri.

The two factions layingclaim to leadership arethose led by Mr. DavidTonwe, a former Chairmanof Warri South-West LocalGovernment Area in DeltaState, while the other fac-tion is led by Chief ThomasEreyitomi.

Vanguard gathered thatthe group led by ChiefEreyitomi has the backingof a top member of DeltaState Government, whilethe group led by DavidTonwe has its support basefrom the elders of UgborodoCommunity, which includethe Eghare-Aja and PaJ.O.S Ayomike. Fewmonths ago, Pa Ayomike bya whisker escaped the as-sassin's bullets.

Ugborodo leadership tussle deepensas Eghare-Aja kidnapped

Speaking to Vanguardthrough the telephone, yes-terday, Pa Ayomike con-demned the the kidnappingof Eghare-Aja and said:"First they came to kill me,and God saved me and nowthey have kidnapped theEghare-Aja. God will saveEghare-Aja also.

"These incidencts arestrange to Ugborodo Com-munity. Once governmentgets itself involved inUgborodo leadership tus-sle, this is the result."

In his reaction, Chairmanof Ugborodo Trust Board,Mr. David Tonwe con-

demned the kidnapping ofthe Eghare-Aja, saying thatthese "merciless acts of brig-andage cannot dampen theresolve of the Ugborodopeople to independentlychart their course."

He called on the police tofish out the perpetrators.

LAGOS—AIRLINEoperators in Nigeria

have been given sixmonths to install AutomatedFlight Information Report-ing System, AFIRS, thenewest safety device inaviation, in their aircraft orface sanction.

Director-General of Ni-gerian Civil Aviation Au-thority, NCAA, Dr. HaroldDemuren, who issued theultimatum to airlines in aninterview with journalists,shortly after the presenta-tion of his paper at the on-going Airbus Industry

Airlines get six months to installsafety gadget

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU Workshop Training for in-digenous airline operatorsin Lagos, yesterday, said itcost NCAA about $30,000to acquire and install theequipment in its head-quarters in Lagos .

He noted that all the air-lines currently operating inNigeria were interested infixing the equipment intheir airplanes and that itwould cost them more.

He, however, said theycould pay in installment tothe manufacturer of theequipment after the initialpayment of about $60, 000on each aircraft.

Demuren said: “I thinkwe are giving them sixmonths to install the gadg-ets in their airplanes. Weneed to give them some-time. It is not a thing youcan do in one day.

Fuel subsidy scam: Ubah'stravail injustice to Ndigbo—S-East CAN

E N U G U — C H A I RMAN of Christian

Association of Nigeria,CAN, South East zone,Bishop EmmanuelChukwuma, yesterday, con-demned in strong terms therecent attack launchedagainst Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah,Managing Director of Capi-tal Oil and Gas IndustryLimited by the PresidentialCommittee on Fuel Sub-sidy.

He said the developmenthad again exposed the in-justice against Ndigbo andtheir economic interest.

Calling on the FederalGovernment to dissolve the

BY TONY EDIKEPresidential Committeeheaded by Aig-Imoukhuede, which he ac-cused of being biased, hav-ing engaged in what hecalled “selective negli-gence,” Chukwuma, whois Anglican Bishop ofEnugu Diocese, said avail-able evidence had shownthat “there is an act of in-timidation and attempt toruin the business of IfeanyiUbah.”

The CAN chairman, alsofrowned at the refusal of theChief Justice of Nigeria,CJN, Justice AlomeMukthar to swear in Jus-tice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo asJustice of the Court of Ap-peal.

DTHA lifts resolutions against DESOPADEC chair

W A R R I — D E LTAState House of As-

sembly, DTHA, has liftedwhatever uncomplimentaryremarks in its resolutionsmade against the Chair-man of the Delta State OilProducing Area Develop-ment Commission,DESOPADEC, Mr.Oritsuwa Kpogho, in the

BY EMMA ARUBI process of the dissolution ofthe former board as it per-tains to his professionalcompetence.

Mr. Kpogho who wasgrilled by the lawmakers forforty-five minutes during hisscreening for the job for asecond time was, however,successful in clearing all al-legations made against himin the former board but ac-

cepted responsibilities forthe lapses observed duringhis first one year before theboard was dissolved as thehead of the Commission,saying that he holds theHouse in very high esteemand would ensure greaterand regular communica-tions with the legislatorshenceforth if offered theposition again.


Lagos govt gives festivalcontractors 4 -day ultimatum

SUBSIDY SCAM:

Tukur, Alao’s sons discussingwith EFCC over charges

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH with agency

report

IKEJA — TWO oilmarketers, MahmudTukur and AbdullahiAlao yesterday informedan Ikeja High Court thatthey were in discussionwith the Economic andFinancial CrimesCommission, regardingthe charges preferredagainst them.

Tukur and Alao werecharged to court for analleged N1.8 billion fuelsubsidy fraud.

The defendants are sonsof Alhaji BamangaTukur, the NationalChairman of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP)and prominentbusinessman, AlhajiAbdulazeez Arisekola-Alao, respectively.

They were arraignedalongside OchonogorAlex and Eternal Oil andGas Plc before JusticeAdeniyi Onigbanjo of aLagos High Court.

The defendants hadpleaded not guilty andwere each granted bailin the sum of N20million.

At the resumedproceedings yesterday,the defence counsel,Chief Wole Olanipekunand Prof. Taiwo Osipitan(both Senior Advocatesof Nigeria), hinted thecourt of the talks betweenthe parties.

Olanipekun said:”Wehave studied theprocesses filed by theprosecution.

“We as senior counsel,owe it as a duty to ourclients to enter intodiscussion with theprosecution regardingthe charge.

“That is why we did notchallenge the chargewhen it was filed.

“We are, therefore,asking the court to giveus more time to engagein this discussion, so thatthe matter can be

speedily resolved”.EFCC counsel, Mr.

Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) alsoconfirmed that bothparties were talking.

The judge acceded totheir request andadjourned the matter toDec. 15 for mention.

Meantime, an oilmarketer, Rowaye Jubriland his firm, BrilaEnergy Limited wereyesterday arraigned on a

13- count charge of ob-taining money by falsepretense, uttering andforgery.

According to the chargepreferred against themby the Economic andFinancial CrimesCommission, EFCC,before Justice LateefatOkunnu, they areaccused of allegedlyswindling the FederalGovernment of N963.7

From left: Mrs. Uta Bergmann, CEO, Raumplus Germany; Mr. Adelakun Adeyanju, CEO, RaumplusNigeria; Mr. Carsten Bergmann, MD, Raumplus Germany and Mr. Femi Fabuyi, MD, Raumplus Nigeria,at the official opening of Raumplus Nigeria's new showroom, on Victoria Island, Lagos, weekend.Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

Group calls for Christian governor for LagosNKIRUKA NNOROM

A NON— political andreligious organisation,Concerned Citizens ofLagos State, has calledfor a Christiangovernor in Lagos Statecome 2015.

Speaking after theirgeneral meeting inBadagry, the State

Coordinator of the group,Buraimoh MustafaOjora, said that since thedawn of the presentdemocracy in 1999, thegovernors have beenMuslims.

He said that thoughthey have nothingagainst Muslims, Lagosis a plural state, sayingthat good conscience

demands that powershould be rotating amongthe two major religiousorganisations so thateverybody would have asense of belonging.

Ojora, therefore,advised all the politicalparties that wouldcontest for thegovernorship election inthe state to field

Christians as candidates.He commended the

harmonious relationshipexisting betweenChristians and Muslimsin Lagos, adding that forthe interest of equity andjustice, Christians shouldbe given the opportunityto produce the nextgovernor of Lagos Statein 2015.

LAGOS — THELagos State

Government hasordered contractorshandling projects forthe 18th National SportsFestival to hand over bySaturday.

The Deputy Governor,Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, gave theultimatum on Tuesdayin Lagos afterinspecting the MobolajiJohnson Sports Centre,Yaba and the Universityof Lagos SportsComplex.

The 18th National

Sports Festival, tagged“Eko 2012”, with thetheme 'Igniting the Spiritof Friendship' isscheduled to start onNov. 27 and end Dec.9.

“Majority of thecontractors had said thatthey will round off byThursday.

“But we are givingthem till Saturday tovacate the premises andvenues so that we canassign the facilities to theFacility and Venue Sub-committee of the LOC,”she said.

Orelope-Adefulire, whois also the LocalOrganising Committee(LOC) Chairman, saidthat she wouldpersonally visit thecentres on a daily basisto ensure the contractorsdelivered on schedule.

“Part of the preparationinformed our visit to theGames venues.

“I think so far, we aremaking progress and Ican say that we are readyto host and receive ourvisitors.

“And as the torch ofunity is still movinground, I call on allLagosians to host withus our visitors with theenthusiasm that we areknown for,” she said.

Ore lope-Adefu l i reassured participants thatthey would enjoy theirstay during the festival.

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

Fashola raises alarm over wife’s impersonation in Facebook

LAGOS — GOV.Babatunde Fashola

of Lagos State, yesterdaydenied the involvementor existence of any

Facebook account for hiswife, Abimbola, the FirstLady of the state.

According to astatement by the SpecialAdviser to the Governoron Media,, Mr. HakeemBello, the First Lady of

the state does not operatea Facebook, Twitter orindeed any social mediaaccount

“Perpetrators of thecriminal act shoulddesist henceforth orshould be ready to face

the music when the longarm of the law catches upwith them.,”the SpecialAdviser warned.

D e s c r i b i n gimpersonation as acriminal offencepunishable by law,

Hakeem warnedunsuspecting membersof the public shouldavoid falling victims off r a u d s t e r simpersonating the FirstLady on the facebook orany social media outlet.

“For the avoidance ofdoubt, the First Lady ofLagos State, DameEmmanuella AbimbolaFashola does notoperate any Facebook,Twitter or indeed anysocial media account,”he stated.

The warning becamenecessary following therecent alert over theactivities of impostorsposing as the wife of theGovernor of Lagos State

DIVORCE SUIT: Court jails 'adamant' husbandLAGOS – AN Agege

Grade ‘A’ CustomaryCourt yesterday in Lagossentenced a man, EdemAsuquo, to two monthsimprisonment forcontempt.

The president of the

court, Mr. EmmanuelSokunle, said Asuquoshould be kept behindbars for flouting asubsisting judgement.

Asuquo’s wife, Grace,had filed a suit seekingthe dissolution of her 13-

year-old marriage on thegrounds that herhusband wasthreatening her lifebecause she waschildless.

Forty- two-year-old

Grace, who lives at No.4, Thompson St.,Ishaga, a Lagos suburb,had been sent out of thehouse by the husband.

However, in his earlierruling, the court’s

president ordered theman to allow his ex-wifeto pack her belongingsfrom her matrimonialhome, but the adamanthusband refused.

Sokunle said:“I gave ajudgement on Oct. 30and I ordered the womanto go with somepolicemen to pack herproperty from Asuquo’shouse, but he refused.

“He insisted that hewould not leave thewoman even afterjudgement was givenand this is tantamount tocontempt of court.

“Asuquo is herebysentenced to two monthsimprisonment forcontempt of court”.

In his defence, Asuquo,51, who lives at No. 4,Ikokoyi Close, Iju WaterWorks, urged the courtnot to dissolve hismarriage.

He said his wifeaccused him of batteryand threatening her lifeand that attracted thecourt’s sympathy.


From left: Senator Felix Ibru, former Governor of Delta State; Mrs. Stella Ugbona, former President,International Federation of Women Lawyers [FIDA]; Mr. Goodie Ibru, chairman of of the occasion andMr. Victor Oyolu, Managing Partner, Avis Oyolu &Associates, during the Seminar on the Law ofDefamation entitled: The challenges of the Law of Defamation in the Face of Rapid Development inInformation and Communication Technology,' at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: KehindeGbadamosi

Congratulate Mimiko, Afenifereadvises Ondo guber candidates

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE – THE Pan-Yoruba Socio-

Political Group, Afeniferehas advised candidateswho lost in the October20 governorship electionin Ondo State to learnfrom the United States ofAmerica (USA)’s electionand accept defeat ingood faith.

The group said thecandidates should rathercongratulate the winner,

Dr. Olusegun Mimiko asthe loser of the USelection congratulatedthe winner, PresidentBarrack Obama.

Secretary General ofAfenifere, Chief SeindeArogbofa, speaking inAkure asked thecandidates of the partiesthat lost to focus on theirnext political futureinstead of crying overspilt milk.

Arogbofa said the

margin through whichthe winner of theelection, Dr. OlusegunMimiko defeated hisopponents was too widefor anybody to challengethe outcome of theelection.

He said that the“People should learnfrom America’s election.These candidates shouldstop unnecessaryquarrels. The gap was sowide that they should be

thinking ahead.Also speaking in

another development,the Deputy Chairman ofLP in the state, ChiefDele Akinyele saideverybody in the stateknew that Mimiko wonthe election free and fair,adding that all relevantorgans of governmentthat conducted theelection attested to thecredibility of the election.

8,000 Osun PDP members join ACNBY GBENGA OLARI-

NOYE

OSOGBO – Ahead ofthe 2014 governorshipelection in Osun State,the camp of the mainopposition party in thestate the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,was yesterday furtherdepleted with the massdefection of about 8,000members of the party tothe ruling ActionCongress of Nigeria,ACN.

The defectors were fromall the 30 LocalGovernment Areas of thestate including Ife EastArea office, Modakeke-Ife.

At the rally held at theGovernment TechnicalCollege, Osogbothousands of PDPsupporters led by ChiefAdekunle Oluawo, aformer Chairman of theState Water Corporationunder the administrationof former Governor

Olagunsoye Oyinlola,said the administration ofGovernor RaufAregbesola motivatedthem to move en masseinto ACN.

Governor Aregbesolawho received thedefectors to the party,said his administrationhas within the last twoyears transformed thestate with his Six-PointIntegral Action Plans,which according to himare aimed at abolishingpoverty in the state.

He saluted the courageof the former PDPmembers and assuredthem of equal treatmentin the party, stressingthat there would not bepreferential treatmentfor the new comers, asthe ACN and the presentadministration in thestate are prepared tocarry everybody along intheir transformationalagenda.

Acting Chairman of theparty, Mr. Adelowo

Adebiyi said it was timefor members of theopposition parties in thestate to put sentimentsapart and rally round theprogressive governmentof Aregbesola in theinterest of the state.

Leader of thedecampees, Chief

Oluawo said he andother members of thePDP who decamped tothe ACN left the party onprinciple, adding thatthe PDP lacks discipline,transparency andaccountability, which hesaid contributed to theruin of the party.

Fayemi’s wife, others reject constitution reviewoutcome

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

ADO EKITI – Wife ofEkiti State Governor,Erelu Bisi Fayemi andother women leaders inthe state have rejectedoutcome of the publichearing on the proposedconstitution amendmentheld in the state lastSaturday

The women leadersoperating under theumbrella of Ekiti WomenStakeholders Forum,

EWSF, in a statement inAdo Ekiti yesterdayfaulted the method andtiming adopted by thelaw makers for theconduct of publichearing

The women, however ,demanded the insertionof 35 per centrepresentation of womenat all levels ofgovernment in theproposed newconstitution.

In a statement jointly

signed in Ado Ekitiyesterday by thePresident of the statechapter of theInternational Federationof Women Lawyers, Mrs.Rita Ilevbare and herNational Council ofWomen’s Societiescounterpart, Mrs. NikeObatayo, on behalf of theEWSF, described thepublic hearing as ‘hastily’ arranged

The group describedthe activities of theparticipants at the

public” as not the truerepresentation of theviews of the majority ofthe citizens of Ekiti Stateon many of the complexissues debated duringthe session.

“The Ekiti WomenStakeholders Forum, onbehalf of the vast majorityof Ekiti women, totallydissociate ourselves fromthe purported outcomesof the November 10, 2012meeting, which tookplace in Ekiti.

Ogbomoso ACN divided overAjimobi’s leadership choice

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN – BARELYfour days after the

death of the Oyo Stateleader of the ActionCongress of Nigeria,Alhaji Lamidi Adesina,crisis is already brewingamong three factions ofthe party in Ogbomoso.

The crisis wasoccasioned by thenomination of ChiefMatthew Fasola as theInterim Chairman ofOgbomoso South LocalGovernment by GovernorAbiola Ajimobi.

The ExecutiveCommittee and theelders of the party in aletter sent to the Houseof Assembly rejected thenomination of Fasola whowas chosen to replaceMr. Isaac Olajide andasked the NationalChairman Chief BisiAkande, and NationalLeader of the party,

Asiwaju Bola AhmedTinubu to intervenebefore the crisis assumesan unmanageableproportion.

The party elders basedtheir objection on theground that thenomination contravenedthe spirit of generallyagreed sharing formula.

They explained thatthere were three factionsof Action Congress ofNigeria in OgbomosoSouth at the inception ofthis administration.

Under the sharingformula of positions, theelders who spokethrough Prince SobalojuOlorode and ChiefAyoade Ayandele, said afaction was givenchairmanship of the localgovernment, and theANPP masquerading asACN members had sixmembers in the interimcommittee while PDPwho worked for ACN hadtwo members.

BY OLA AJAYI

Oyo Assembly holds sessionfor Lam Adesina

IBADAN — THE OyoState House of Assemblywill hold a specialsession to honour theformer Governor of thestate, Alhaji LamidiAdesina who died in theearly hours last Sunday.

The Speaker of theHouse, Hon. MonsuratSunmonu, disclosed thisyesterday.

According to her,Governor Abiola Ajimobi,members of the StateExecutive Council andclose associates of theformer governor will beexpected to witness thespecial session.

She explained furtherthat the special session

was to appreciate thei m m e a s u r a b l econtributions of theformer governor to thesocio-political andeconomic development ofthe state.

Sunmonu said in astatement that “Adesinawas a member of theHouse of Representativesin the Second Republic.He was outspoken andstood by the people”.

In addition, thelegislative arm put onhold its sittings forTuesday and Thursday.

This, the Speaker saidwas to observe sevendays of mourning whichGovernor Abiola Ajimobihad earlier announced.


Uduaghan lauded for appointingUroye Warri South boss

Bayelsa pensioners threaten legalaction over N3.5bn gratuity debt

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Jesse riot: 6 shot dead, 25 injured

....As Delta House urges Uduaghanto intervene

Government College Ibadan,Class of 1947 mourn Harriman

PRESENTATION: Mr. Pope Ejiofor (left); Chief of Staff to Bayelsa Governor, Chief Ikhiogha (mid-dle) and the Secretary to Bayelsa State Government, Professor Edmund Allison-Oguru, during thepresentation of food items and other relief materials to flood victims in the state by James JephathahFoundation.

THE Class of 1947,Government Col-

lege, Ibadan, hasmourned the death ofChief Hope Harriman,describing him as onewho lived and died fight-ing for a better educa-tional structure and sys-tem in the country.

National President,Government College OldBoys Association, Abio-dun Jolaoso, who statedthis in a tribute to thedeceased, said: “Wehave lost our preciousHarriman but he has leftus with living Hope.Hope lurks in our breasts

for a better GCI and abetter Nigerian educa-tional structure and sys-tem for which ideals helived till he breathed hislast.

“His stature loomedlarge in GCIOBA wherehe was a member of ourBoard of Trustee. Hiscontributions to thegrowth of our Associationcannot be measured. Hewas passionate aboutGCI, Nigeria and hisnative Warri. In his cho-sen profession – EstateSurvey and Manage-ment, he was a pioneer,pillar and frontrunner."

BY EMMA AMAIZE,FESTUS AHON,

GODWIN OGHRE &AKPOKONAOMAFUAIRE

BY EMMA AMAIZE &FESTUS AHON

JESSE—SECURITYagents shot dead six

persons and left about25 others critically in-jured yesterday morningat Idjerhe (Jesse) King-dom in Ethiope-West Lo-cal Government Area ofDelta State.

Vanguard was in-formed that soldiersopened fire when villag-ers who wanted to lyncha suspected ritualiststoned and preventedthem from taking awaythe suspect from the pal-ace of the monarch forinterrogation.

In a reprisal attack,irate villagers razed thepalace of Ovie of Idjer-he, His Royal Majesty,Erhikevwe I, who, theysuspected, invited thesoldiers.

A source said: “Threepersons were killed atfirst, but the death tollincreased later, as theyouths continued theirattack on soldiers.”

Soldiers, however,whisked the embattledmonarch away from thepalace to save his life.

As at 9.00 am whenVanguard visited Jesse,the palace was still burn-ing.

“Jesse is on fire, sol-diers are everywhere,there is tension, nobodyknows what is going tohappen next. This is dis-astrous,” a concerned vil-lager told Vanguard.

The palace itself was a

no-go area, as soldiers,who cordoned the bas-tion, refused our report-er access.

Spokesperson of thePolice in Delta State, Mr.Charles Muka, told Van-guard: “Please, give mesome time, we are stillgathering information onwhat happened.”.

At about 2.00 pm,Muka called to confirmthat three persons wereshot dead, one hospital-ised and 12 others arrest-ed in connection withthe incident, adding thatthe Police did not shootanybody.

Trouble supposedlystarted when the villag-ers seized a man, sus-pected to be a ritualist,and brought him to thepalace of the king, ex-pecting that he wouldauthorise them to carryout jungle justice on thesuspect.

For two weeks running,a source said, ritualistshad been on the rampagein the area, killing aboutnine persons, a develop-ment that made the mon-arch to set up a commit-tee to probe the develop-ment.

It was gathered that thevillagers mounted asearch party and the ef-forts reportedly paid offwhen one of the suspect-ed ritualists was nabbedin the bush and broughtto the palace.

The monarch, however,resisted the pleas of hispeople to lynch the sus-pect and consequentlyinvited security agents tohandle the matter.

He urged the people toallow security agents tointerrogate the suspectand get more informa-tion about the activitiesof his gang.

His subjects, particular-

ly the youths, were an-gry that soldiers came totake away the suspect forinterrogation and stonedthem.

“They tried to stop thesoldiers who came law-fully take away the sus-pect and that made thesoldiers to shoot indis-criminately, gunningdown about three per-sons in the first instance,another person laterdied,” the source stated.

Hell was let loose inJesse when the peoplesaw that some personshad been shot dead.

“That was what madethem to attack and setthe palace ablaze,” headded.

As at 10.00 am, soldiershad taken over thestreets of Jesse, whilesome of those injuredwere seen being taken tothe hospital for treat-ment.

... as angry villagers raze monarch’s palace

A S A B A — D E LTAState House of As-

sembly, yesterday,passed a resolution urg-ing the governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan, todirect the Commissionerof Police and other secu-rity agencies in the stateto move into Jesse andrestore order to the trou-bled community.

Six persons were feareddead in the community

and the palace of themonarch was razed byan angry mob over theking's refusal to allowthem to lynch a suspect-ed ritualist.

The motion, which wasmoved under matters ofurgent public importanceby the member, repre-senting Ethiope WestLocal Government Area,John Nani, was unani-mously adopted by thelawmakers.

He said there was totalanarchy in the area be-

cause of the incident,adding that the orderwas to allow for properinvestigation.

Majority Leader, ChiefMonday Igbuya, KestonOkoro, Dennis Omovieand others, who spoke infavour of the motion,stressed the need for im-mediate action to avoida spillover of the crisis.

Deputy Speaker, BasilGanagana, who chairedthe session, agreed thatthe situation should bebrought under control.

W A R R I — O N E -TIME Chief

Whip of Warri South Lo-cal Government Council,Legislative Arm, Mr.Griftson Omatsuli, hascommended GovernorEmmanuel Uduaghanfor appointing formerSecretary to Warri SouthLocal Government, Dr.Austin Uroye, as Care-taker Chairman of theLocal Government.

Omatsuli, who madethe commendation short-ly after receiving Associ-ation of CommunityNewspaper Publishers ofNigeria, ACNPN, DeltaLeaders of Excellenceaward, enjoined Dr.Uroye to see the appoint-ment as a call to service

and a challenge to devel-op the communities, andentire local government.

The former lawmaker,and present Secretary toWarri South Local Edu-cation Authority, advisedthe new council boss notto rely solely on month-ly federal allocations inhis quest to develop thelocal government, butrevive the internal reve-nue generation drive ofthe council.

It will be recalled thatOmatsuli was among 25distinguished Deltans,including the State Dep-uty Governor, Prof. AmosUtuama, who receivedthe recent ACNPN maid-en award of excellencein Asaba, Delta State.

Y E N A G O A —PENSIONERS in

Bayelsa State havethreatened to drag thestate government tocourt over the continuedfailure of the latter to paytheir gratuities whichthey put at N3.5bn. The aggrieved pen-sioners warned that theymight be forced to em-bark on a peaceful pro-test on the streets of thestate capital at the end ofthis month, if the govern-ment failed to pay them,adding that they wouldsubsequently later takelegal action against thegovernment. State chairman of Ni-geria Union of Pension-ers, Chief EmmanuelNamatebe, who made the

disclosure at a mediabriefing in Yenagoa, not-ed that pensioners in thestate were living in pen-ury after their retirement. Though he admittedthat Governor SeriakeDickson had promised toeffect payment of thepensioners’ gratuities,after the submission ofthe report of a committeeset up by the state gov-ernment to look into thecomplaints of the pen-sioners, he said nothinghad been done. He said: ”To be pre-cise, as at March, 2012,after the submission ofthe report of the commit-tee headed by Mr. PhilipDaunemugha, GovernorSeriake Dickson gaveassurance that all thatwas due us would becleared which was veri-fied to the tune of N3.5billion.”


Oghenekaro passes on

Amaechi, Senate hold sessionon review of 1999 Constitution

Kidnappers demand N10m to releaseVanguard reporter’s wife

Dangote to establish N300bnfertilizer plant in Edo

E K U — K I D N A PPERS of Mrs.

Marian Onoyume, wifeof Vanguard corre-spondent in Rivers State,Mr. Jimitota Onoyume,have made a demand ofN10 million ransom torelease her.

She was kidnappedlast Monday at Eku,Ethiope Local Govern-ment Area of Delta State.

Mr. Onoyume said in atext message, yesterday:“They called me with mydaughter ’s number atabout 7.00 pm yesterday,(Monday) demandingN10 million.

“I pleaded with themthat I had never heldN1million in my life, butthey said I have an SUV,that I am a rich man.

“I, again, begged themthat the SUV was boughtfairly used and it is 1995model of Pathfinder. I

begged them to pleaserelease my wife, that Iam a reporter.

“Journalists are notknown to be rich, we maybe seen on television,but we are only doingour job. They later said Ishould send MTN air-time, which I did.

“My wife’s car has beenrecovered. It was aban-doned at Abraka, Ethi-ope –East Local Govern-ment Area of Delta State.

“I am begging the kid-nappers to have mercyon us. They should re-lease my wife; we do nothave money, I am a re-

BY EMMA AMAIZE porter.”Spokesperson of Delta

State Police Command,Mr. Charles Muka, toldVanguard when contact-ed on the matter, yester-day, that he had receivedinformation that the kid-nappers were asking forN10 million ransom.

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

B E N I N — T H Egroundbreaking

ceremony of a $2 billion(about N300 billion ) fer-tilizer plant, the biggestin Africa, which will besited in Agenebode, EdoState, will be done beforethe end of January, nextyear, President of Dan-gote Group, Alhaji AlikoDangote, has said.

Disclosing this at a re-ception in Benin City,Monday, as part of activ-ities to mark the 2nd terminauguration of Gover-nor Adams Oshiomhole,Alhaji Dangote said ar-rangements had beenconcluded for the cere-mony this December orbefore the end of Janu-ary 2013.

He said the fertilizerplant was expected to bethe biggest in the coun-

try.Alhaji Dangote, listed

by Forbes magazine asAfrica’s richest man, saidthe company, which isexpected to employ morethan 10,000 people di-rectly and indirectly, willbe completed in threeyears.

He said: “Yes we willbuild the biggest fertiliz-er plant in Africa here inEdo State. Comrade Os-hiomhole has deliveredon road, infrastructure,but now he’s going todeliver on job creation.

“We will partner withhim to make sure hegives us a conducive en-vironment to create jobshere in Edo State .

“He has already men-tioned that we will set upa fertiliser plant here inEdo State. I am sure hewants me to reaffirm that.Yes, we will build thebiggest fertilizer plant inAfrica here in Edo State.

“It is a commitment andI am reassuring you,your excellency, by thisyear, either in Decemberof January, next year, wewill perform the ground-breaking ceremony inEdo State . It will be at acost of $2 billion."

RIVERS State Governor, Mr.

Chibuike Amaechi, andthe Senate will todayhold a state public ses-sion on the review of1999 Constitution.

The session will bechaired by Justice Adol-phus Karibi Whyte, JSC,while lead speakers areProf. Nimi Briggs, Prof.W. O. Wotegbe-Weneka,Prof. A. O. Ijeoma Gabrieland Prof. Obianime.

A statement by theChief Press Secretary tothe Governor, Mr. DavidIyofor, said civil societyorganisations, profes-sional bodies, trade un-ions and associations,

IMMUNISATION: From left: Mrs. Roli Uduaghan, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State;Mr. Enrico Liggeri, Country Manager, Nigeria and East Africa Region, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and Mr.Kodjo Soroh, Medical Director, Nigeria and East Africa Region, Pfizer Biophatmaceutical Businesses,during an immunisation at ICE flood camp, Asaba. Photo: Nath Onojake.

political groups, tradi-tional leaders and royalfathers, opinion leaders,women groups, youth or-ganisations and all oth-er relevant stakeholderswere expected to atendthe session.

The statement furtherstated that the eventwould commence at10.00am at the MainBowl of Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre, PortHarcourt.

Iyofor advised allgroups or individualswho have papers topresent at the forum tocome early and registerat the front desk of theCivil Centre Main Bowlfrom 8:30am.

Navy allegedly burns boat loadedwith stolen diesel in Delta

REV. Canon J. AO g h e n e k a r o

(rtd), of Owhrodi, in UduLocal Government Area,Delta State, is dead. Hedied on September 27,2012.

A statement by the fam-ily said funeral ceremo-nies will take place in hishometown on December

27 and 28.

Late Oghenekaro

BY EMMA AMAIZE

WARRI—PANDEMONIUM broke

out in three communitiesin Warri, Delta State, inthe early hours of yester-day, when residents sawa smoldering boat loadedwith illegally refined die-sel, allegedly set ablazeby Navy personnel, float-ing on the waters.

Vanguard learnt thatresidents of Firewood vil-lage, Ogbogbebene and

Sandfill villages ran hel-ter-skelter because of fearthat the fire might engulftheir communities.

It was learnt that Navypersonnel, at about 5.00am, intercepted the boatladen with illegally re-fined diesel, suspected tohave been brought forsale in Warri by oilthieves.

The suspected oilthieves probably jumpedinto the river to escapearrest, but men of the

Navy, who intercepted theboat, reportedly set itablaze.

The blazing boat, withno pilot, glided towardssome harboured house-boats, near Nigeria PortsAuthority, NPA, Warri,which also caught fire.

A human rights activist,Comrade Austin Ozobo,who condemned the atti-tude of the Navy in set-ting the boat ablaze, said:“What they did is harm-ful to the environment."

A LEBANESE INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT

BELONGING TO MR. TANNOUS KHATTAR,

A LEBANESE NATIONALE, IS MISSING. THE

PASSPORT NUMBER IS RL2011355,

ISSUED IN BEIRUT, LEBANON.

LOSS OF INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT

IF FOUND, PLEASE CONTACT

MR. TANNOUS ON 08138074030.


Minister, NTI boss argueover SMASE 2012 budget

FG launches oral health policy

ABUJA—DRAMA en-sued at the Ministry

of Education, yesterday,between the Minister ofState for Education,Nyesom Wike and Direc-tor-General of NationalTeachers Institute, NTI,Dr. Ladan Sharehu, overthe disparity in Strength-ening Mathematics andScience Education,

SMASE, proposedbudget.

The minister andSharehu had, in Abuja onMonday, argued over theproposed budget ofSMASE which Wike saidwas N87 million, but theNTI boss, who also servesas Chairman of the Min-isterial Committee on theReview of the Implemen-tation of SMASE Nigeriaproject, claimed it wasN100 milion that was pro-

posed for the project, forwhich only N34 millionwas released.

The minister stood hisground, insisting it wasN87 million that was pro-posed and not N100 mil-lion as stated by the NTIboss.

Wike said: “I rememberthat in your proposal, itwas N87 million and notN100 million. Where didyou get that from? Youwant to add N13 millionmore?

“What you could not getfrom the door, you thinkyou can get it from thewindow?”

However, Sharehu in-sisted that a proposal ofN100 million was submit-ted to the minister, out ofwhich only N34 millionwas given.

He, however, appealedto the minister to inter-vene in the 2013 budget,adding that if funds werenot released, nothingmuch would be achieved.

Sharehu further argued

that the committee couldachieve little results dueto inadequate funds fromthe Federal Government.

Wike then told the Min-isterial Committee to makefunds available for theproject through counter-part funding.

He said: “I have di-rected that it should be in-cluded in the counterpartfunding to promote theteaching of science andMathematics in the coun-try.”

Wike, however, warnedheads of parastatals, whowere in attendance, todesist from nonchalantattitude typical of civilservants.

Members of the commit-tee include Prof.Muhammad Junaid, Prof.Godswill Obioma, Prof.Charles Onocha, Prof.Adewale Solarin and Dr.Ahmed Bello and Engr.Micheal Ofor, who wasdropped yesterday be-cause he was absent fromthe meeting.

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU

FCT targets 10,000 for employment

ABUJA—FEDERALGovernment, yester-

day, launched a NationalOral Health Policy, with apromise to equip 12 fed-eral tertiary hospitals withbasic dental equipmentacross the federation.

Also, the Senate Presi-dent, David Mark, as theNational Oral HealthChampion for Nigeria,promised to use his officeto ensure that all existingPrimary Health Care Cen-tres had functional den-tal clinic soonest.

Minister of Health, Prof.Chukwu Onyebuchi, atthe launching supportedby maker of Oral-B prod-uct, Procter and GambleCompany, said: “The tar-get of the policy is to haveat least 50 percent of allPrimary Health Care,PHC, Centres with func-tional dental clinic by theyear 2015.”

Areas covered by thepolicy are oral healthpromotion, training,service delivery, oralhealth financing, re-search and oral healthinformation system.

BY CALEB AYANSINA

ABUJA—FEDERALCapital Territory, FCT,

has targeted employment of10,000 women through itsSubsidy Reinvestment andEmpowerment Pro-gramme, SURE-P, beforeDecember 31.

FCT Minister of State,Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide,

said in Abuja, yesterday,while receiving FCT chap-ter of the National Councilof Women’s Society, led bythe President, Mrs. NancyBulus, in her office.

Akinjide explained thatthe FCT Administrationhad established a ProjectImplementation Unit for theprogramme towards em-powering and trainingwomen and youth in differ-

ent skills and vocation.She said: “The adminis-

tration of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is gen-der-friendly and has initi-ated some programmes toeconomically empower ourwomen and youths.

“One of the pro-grammes is the SURE-P,which was established tooversee and ensure theeffective and timely im-

plementation of projects tobe funded with the savingsaccruing to it from partialremoval of subsidy on pe-troleum products.

“There is going to bemassive employment ofwomen and youth in theFCT before the end ofthis year. We are employ-ing about 10,000 womenand youth under theSURE-P.”

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU


LECTURE: From left— Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, GuestLecturer; Mr. Segun Aina, President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria,CIBN, Chief Host; Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of State, Guest of Honour, and Otunba (Mrs)Debola Osibogun, 1st Vice President, CIBN, at the Institute's annual lecture on The New AgriculturalTransformation in Nigeria: Opportunities for Banks and Other Stakeholders in Economic Diversificationin Lagos. PHOTO: Diran Oshe.

NOA launches campaign

Varsity lecturer, 2 others killedCourt dismisses formerAdamawa PDP exco's suit

MRS. OghenevwaireObaro, the Okpako

Re Ewheya (most seniorwoman) of Erhobaro-Orogun, in Ughelli NorthLocal Government Area ofDelta State, is dead.

She was aged 132 years.Service of songs holds

Friday, November 23, fol-lowed Saturday by inter-ment at her home inErhobaro-Orogun, after afuneral service on thesame day, at St Peter’sAnglican Church,Erhobaro-Orogun.

She is survived by manychildren, grandchildrenand great-grandchildren.

Transition

Late Obaro.

M A I D U G U R I —TWO people in-

cluding, a lecturer withthe University ofMaiduguri, UNIMAID,and a Deputy Director inBorno State Ministry ofLand and Survey were,yesterday, killed bysome gunmen suspectedto be Boko Harammembers.

The UNIMAID lecturerwith the Department ofGeography, Mr.Babagana Kolo, wastrailed by his assailantsto his house inUmmarari Ward ofMaiduguri metropolis at5pm, Monday, and shotdead, while the DeputyDirector, Mallam Yerimawas equally trailed to hishouse in Galadima areaat 7:30am, yesterday,and killed.

This was even as sus-pected armed robbers,yesterday afternoon,raided the popular WapaBereau de-Change inKano State, killing ateenager and cartedaway huge amounts inforeign and local curren-

cies.Eyewitness told Van-

guard that the robbersstruck at 1pm, whenMuslims were observingtheir midday prayers.

The Joint Task Force,JTF, spokesman inMaiduguri, Lt.-Col.Sagir Musa, said he wasnot in Maiduguri, but atthe Defence Headquar-ters in Abuja for anofficial assignment.

JTF sourceHowever, a top security

officer attached to JTF,who spoke on thecondition of anonymity,confirmed the separatekillings.

He said: “Monday atGaladima area ofMaiduguri MetropolitanCouncil, one Yarima, aDeputy Director in theMinistry of Land andSurvey, was shot dead athis residence by unknowngunmen suspected to beBoko Haram members.

“Yesterday, at UmarariFlour Mills area of themetropolis, oneBabagana Kolo, a lec-turer in the Departmentof Geography,UNIMAID, was shotdead at his residence by

suspected Boko Haramsect members.”

Robbers in KanoMeanwhile, in Kano

State, a source said somearmed robbers who weredressed in police uni-form had arrived thescene on four motorcy-cles and two utility vehi-cle.

The sourcesaid: “Theirbarrage of gunshots senteveryone around scamp-ering for safety.”

According to the source,the bandits made straightto a particular stall, wherethey shot and killed ateenager and made awaywith both foreign andlocal currencies alreadystocked in sacks.

Wapa Bereau de-Change is located at theheart of the Kano Busi-ness District, sur-rounded by two militarycheckpoints and a Divi-sional Police Station. Butthe area had witnessedseveral violent incidentsin recent time.

Yesterday ’s attack,however, triggered pan-demonium around thecity, forcing people toclose their shops tempo-rarily at the adjourning

Sabon Gari Market.

Security agentsbooed

Security agents weresaid to have arrived thescene of the incident afterthe robbers had fled thearea, leading to their beingbooed and yelled at bythose around.

Confirming the story, theacting Police Public Rela-tions Officer, Kano StatePolice Command,Mustapha Abubakar saiddetails of the incident weresketchy, adding that a pressstatement would be issuedon the matter later.

Abubakar further notedthat the Command, work-ing in concert with other se-curity agencies, had ex-tended their dragnet toarrest the fleeing robbers.

BY ABDULSALAMMUHAMMAD &

NDAHI MARAMA

NO fewer than 200children were

screened for type-1 diabe-tes in Lagos by the LionsClub International District404B Nigeria.

The screening, precededby an awareness talk, wassaid by the District Gover-nor, Lion Stella Agbogu, tohave been informed by therise in cases of amputation,sudden blindness, hyper-tension, heart failureresulting from bad manage-ment of diabetes.

Chairman, Diabetes

Awareness CampaignCommittee, District 404B,Lion (Mrs.)AzighodeIdoko, decried an up-surge in diabetes at theexercise, which was alsoin commemoration of theWorld Diabetes Day today.

She said: “If we could cur-tail type-1 diabetes throughmanagement, preventionor imbibing in children achange of lifestyle before itdevelops to type-2, wewould have less problemsin future because diabetesis one of the most danger-

Lions mark WorldDiabetes Day

EMINENT personali-ties, yesterday, joined

the National OrientationAgency, NOA, in its cam-paign for Nigerians to ‘’dothe right thing,’’ at thelaunch of the ‘Campus Fo-cus’ aspect of the pro-gramme at the Universityof Calabar, UNICAL.

Those who spoke in-cluded the immediate pastVice President of the WorldBank, Mrs. ObyEzekwesili; the Manag-ing Director of theGuardian Newspapers,

Emeka Eluem-Izeze; Di-rector-General of NOA,Mike Omeri; Minister ofCulture, Tourism andNational Orientation,Chief Edem Duke andProfessor of PoliticalStrategy, FemiOdekunle.

Others included Sen-ate Leader, Senator Vic-tor Ndoma-Egba; Profes-sor of Law at ABU, Dr.Abubakar Ladan; SeniorSpecial Assistant to thePresident on Students’Matters, Mr. JudeImagwe; human rightsactivist, Mr. Ene Ede.

BY VICTORIA EDEMA

YOLA—AN AdamawaState High Court sitting

in Yola, yesterday, dis-missed the case filed by theformer executives of thestate chapter of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP.

The former executives,led by MijinyawaKugama, had ap-proached the court, ask-ing it to nullify the deci-sion of the party’s Na-tional Working Commit-

tee, NWC, which dis-solved the state executiveand replaced it with a care-taker committee headed byUmar Damagum.

Kugama and his groupasked the court to nullify thedecision of the NWC anddeclare it illegal.

However, the court pre-sided over by the state Act-ing Chief Judge, JusticeBobboi Umar, said helacked jurisdiction to enter-tain the case as it was an“an intra-party affair.”

BY UMAR YUSUF

Lawmaker's mum, 24 others injured as PDP, ACN supportersclash in Benue

M AKURDI—NOfewer than 25 per-

sons, including themother of a federal law-maker in Gboko, were re-ported to have been seri-ously injured in bothGboko and Makurdi, inBenue State, when sup-porters of Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, and Ac-tion Congress of Nigeria,ACN, clashed in the two

towns.Eyewitnesses told Van-

guard that suspectedthugs from both politicalparties clashed at AmacoHotel, Gboko where theirmembers held separatemeetings, Mondayevening setting part ofthe hotel ablaze.

The sources also saidthat hoodlums had ear-lier attacked theresidence of the memberrepresenting Gboko Fed-

eral Constituency, MrJohn Dyegh, injuringsome of his aides andmother as well as apopular Benue gospelsinger, Mike Jerusalembefore proceeding to theAmanco Hotel, venue ofthe meeting.

The source said: ”Mostof those injured are re-ceiving treatment at theGboko General Hospitaland the Makurdi FederalMedical Centre.”

Meanwhile, barely 24hours after the Gboko

clash, a similar crisis alsoerupted between sup-porters of the two politi-cal parties in Makurdiyesterday.

The thugs reportedlybesieged the WurukumRound About and dis-rupted free flow of trafficfor hours while residentsof the areas and commut-ers scampered for safety.

Sources who witnessedthe mayhem said one ofthe political parties wason campaign for theforthcoming local gov-

ernment elections in thestate when another rivalparty attacked the cam-paign train which re-sulted in the fight thatleft two vehiclescompletely damaged bythe hoodlums.

Confirming the story,the Police Public Rela-tions Officer, PPRO, forBenue State, Deputy Su-perintendent of Police,Daniel Ezeala, said thatthe vandalised vehicleshad been taken to the po-lice headquarters.

BY PETER DURU

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012————— 1717171717

,,

OPINIONBY ALEX AYEWOH

*Mr. Ayewoh, a public affairs commentator, wrotefrom Abuja.

Continues on pg. 18

SINCE the altercation between the Chairman of thePetroleum Revenue Special Task Force, Mallam

Nuhu Ribadu, and his deputy, Mr. Steven Oronsaye,over the report of the committee which it submitted toPresident Goodluck Jonathan on Friday, 2 November,2012, it has been a rain of criticism and invectives onthe latter in the media and other fora for publicdiscourse. There is hardly a day one does not get toread one article or comment in the print or social mediacastigating the former Head of Civil Service for daringto disown the report of the committee of which he wasdeputy chairman. While some threw caution to the dogsand descended to name-calling, others took thepopular path of reading meaning to his words andactions and summarily declared him guilty of playingthe spoilsport, of allowing himself to be used by thosein authority to discredit the report of the committee.

This type of media mob action against Mr. Oronsayeis fast becoming typical of the Nigerian society whereit appears most citizens are just lurking around waiting

The Ribadu/Oronsaye tangofor anyone on whom to hang the toga of a villain andthen proceed to visit him with their own version ofjustice. The curious and dangerous aspect of this trendwhich is fast becoming a culture is that when situationslike this arise, there is almost always a conspiracy ofsilence from everyone, even among those who shouldknow better.

It is true that corruption has grown to assume a lifeof its own in Nigeria to such a level that everyone isyearning for a monument of deterrence, a drasticpunitive action against some members of the‘untouchable’ class to serve as a signpost to warn othersto desist from the evil. Noble as this yearning seems,it has bred a mob sentiment which tends to makepeople see every other person as the, villain, the rogueor robber who should be crucified. Anyone who daresto raise a voice of caution is automatically branded atraitor, an enemy of the public or an accomplice whodeserves to die with the ‘villain’.

That is what the Ribadu vs Oronsaye imbroglio hasbrought out in stark relief. His dissention with thereport of the committee of which he was deputychairman is seen as an act of treachery for which he isbeing pilloried. The overwhelming urge to catch andpunish the ‘fat’ thieves in the oil and gas sector hasdrowned the voice of caution which Oronsayerepresents. It is not that he does not want the ‘fat’thieves to be punished as insinuated by many of thecommentators. Nothing he said at that occasionsuggests or connotes that. He only dissociated himselffrom the report on the ground that the process ofarriving at the report was flawed and that he wouldnot want to be associated with a report that did notfollow due process.

“It is a good thing to follow the FirstLaw of Holes; if you are in one, stopdigging.”- Denis Healey, 1983

THE President’s men are busyputting out lengthy repudiations of

allegations and suspicions that he hasan agenda to scuttle the numerousinitiatives towards arresting corruptionand waste in our oil and gas sector.They say he has no personal interestor agenda in the outcome of thevarious investigations into the subsidyregime, recovery of funds,reorganisation of the sector, or theprosecution or other punitive actionagainst proven fraud. The media blitzis intended to repair major damagearising from the publicised fall-outover the report submitted by MalamNuhu Ribadu and his colleagues, andwhich was ambushed and trashed bySteven Oronsaye, (a member of thecommittee who did not participate inits work), and a member of the Boardof the NNPC and the CBN. Thepresidency must also be doing a goodjob feeling the pulse of the nationregarding many other developmentsover which there is rising frustrationover seeming lethargy or indecision,or over moves to scuttle progressearned only through massive publicoutcry.

If the men who have responsibilityfor evaluating their public relationsoutings do their jobs well, they shouldknow that they are fighting a lostbattle. Indeed, the frantic efforts toassure Nigerians that reforms of theoil and gas sector are on track, andPresident Jonathan’s commitment isbeyond question are evidence of someawareness that most Nigerians feelthat they have lost all the advantagesthey gained through one of the mostpopular acts of resistance againstentrenched corruption and impunityaround the Nigerian state by citizens.The national uprising against theremoval of subsidy provided a rareopportunity to subject the entire sectorto a most rigorous scrutiny andgenuine reform. The nation watchedas the President set up committees withpeople of registered levels ofcompetence and integrity, and set inmotion reforms towards improvingtransparency and accountability in anindustry which had resisted reforms fordecades. Additional costs of petroleumproducts were tolerated on the basisof arguments that the long-termbenefits will be well worth the painsof the removal. Doubts regarding thecredibility of an exercisesuperintended by some of the verypeople that had overseen the industrywere assuaged by assurances thatPresident Jonathan himself will takecharge of reforms.

It did not take long before cynicsbegan to be proven right. The strategicPetroleum Industry Bill became subjectof intense debate, and its many

Back to the trenches

variants were still being influenced bythe awesome powers of industryplayers and even foreign nationsdirectly. As we speak, the NationalAssembly is set to conduct publichearings on it, and no one should holdtheir breadth over its outcome. It isalmost certainly going to be a rehashof the same arguments over itsweaknesses and limitations from keyindustry players; and the need to verifyits authenticity and implement it bycivil society groups and labour unions.

The Farouk Lawal-Otedola briberysaga which is still being investigatedhad all the hallmarks of an ambush,and appears to have succeeded intainting the efforts of the House ofRepresentatives to isolate and submitmassive fraud around subsidy to thedemands of the law. Then the battlemoved to the heart of government

itself: skirmishes involving powerfulministers of finance, justice andpetroleum over what steps to takeagainst which people suspected, beinginvestigated, or proven to havereceived illegal payments for importingrevenues threatened to scuttle thewhole exercise. Persons who havebecome intimately involved with thepolitical fortunes of the administrationfaced threats of being hung out to dry,and therefore began to manipulate themany fault lines in the supply chainthey are extremely familiar with. Whenthe state threatened to lean hard onthem, they pressed buttons whichinstantly created long quenes, or ranto shadowy, powerful power-brokersfor relief. Token attempts at prosecutionof a few importers became spectaclesas expensive legal firms battled tosecure bails and stall commencementof trials.

Bewildering summersaults

In the midst of all these bewilderingsummersaults, budgets began to

bear hallmarks of the past. Amountsbudgeted for payments for subsidyshowed little gain from removal,whichever figure was used. Queuesbegan to emerge and then disappear.Refineries worked and failed, andNigerians in most parts of the nationbought petrol at anywhere betweenN120 to N150 per litre. Governmentsays it is exporting more crude than ithas ever done, and admits that crude

theft is now the biggest organisedcrime, depriving the nation of billions.Benefits of the removed subsidy showlittle impact, and youth unemploymentin particular was spectacularlyhighlighted by the engagement ofdoctorate degree holders as drivers byDangote.

Just when you think things couldn’tget worse, they do. Governmentspokesmen now say that StevenOronsaye’s denunciation of NuhuRibadu committee’s report asincomplete and unreliable is its officialposition. There is a lot of apprehensionover the outcome of the House ofRepresentatives’ investigation into theFarouk-Otedola bribery saga, with anew twist added when Otedola suedthe Speaker recently. Carefully craftedinsertions into newspapers as newsstories hint at serious in-fighting at thetop achelons of government overdirections of policy and strategy for theentire industry. Personal security ofkey ministers is reportedly an issue,and there are planted stories of seriousresistance from colleagues againstattempts by some ministers to affectreal change in the sector.

Civil society groups mobilise

Now civil society groups arebeginning to mobilise and reclaim

lost ground. They believe that theyhave the high moral ground to say thatthe administration of PresidentJonathan is insincere and undeservingof any more trust from Nigerians. Ifthey do succeed in generatingsufficient interest and support to re-engage the presidency and theNational Assembly on any scaleapproximating the popular resistanceof January 2012, then the nation is infor another bruising, but quite possiblymore prolonged encounter. For anation already face-to-face with an

expanding insurgency, various threatsto life and property and dwindlingopportunities for employmentparticularly among the young, massaction against the administration onany issue at this time will bedisastrous. The nation is back in thetrenches, but there may still be time tosalvage the benefits which were wonwith lives, blood and sweat around thistime last year.

For a nation already face-to-face with anexpanding insurgency, various threats to lifeand property and dwindling opportunitiesfor employment particularly among theyoung, mass action against theadministration on any issue at this time willbe disastrous

President Goodluck Jonathan

Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke

OPINION


The Ribadu / Oronsaye tango (2)

*Mr. Ayewoh, a public affairs com-mentator, wrote from Abuja.

Continued from pg.17

BY ALEX AYEWOH

Concluded

I HAVE not met Oronsaye in person,but those who know him closely say

he is a forthright person. His words andaction at the report submission ceremonywere consistent with that reputation.

It takes a forthright person to insist thatthe right and proper thing be done anddue process be followed when his bosssays otherwise. Oronsaye’s argumentwas simply that even if the President hasdirected that the report of the committeebe submitted to him on a particular date,the committee should have been boldenough to request for extra time toensure that due process is followed incompiling the report so that all loose endsare tied before submitting the report.

It is easy to understand how a rationalposition like that from a man known forbeing a stickler for due process andexcellence could be misconstrued as asign that he has been compromised tomake the report look bad so as to givethe government a reason not toimplement its findings andrecommendations. For one, the pervasivenature of corruption in the land andespecially the oil and gas sector, and theurgent need to stem it has put a lot ofpeople in a thief-catching mode. Then,

Ribadu, being a former police chief andanti-corruption crusader, is naturallyimbued with the zeal to catch thieves andcriminals. So when Ribadu raises thealarm through the report of thecommittee that thieves abound in the oiland gas sector, everyone is bound to rushout with clubs to catch the thieves andlynch them. Thus, anyone who comesout at that point to caution that dueprocess was not followed in arriving atthe conclusion that thieves actuallyabound in the sector (just like Oronsayedid) could easily be dubbed a spoilsportby the mob.

But what a rational and civilized mindwould do is to ask if there is some truthin Oronsaye’s assertion that due processwas not followed so as to avert houndinginnocent people. Unfortunately, many ofthe people who are writing andcommenting on the issue have not readthe report to verify Oronsaye was actuallylying.

A close look at the reports (both theleaked version and the one submitted tothe President) would reveal to anyobjective reader that the committee wasactually in too much of a hurry,apparently driven by the zeal of its

chairman, to nail the thieves that itjettisoned due process which could haveensured that a water-tight case is madeagainst any person or agency indictedin the report. For instance, in its coverletter to the report, the committeeadmitted and stated:“The data used inthis report was presented by variousstakeholders who made submissions tothe Task Force in the course of ourassignment at various dates which havebeen discussed in relevant sections ofthe report.

Due to the time frame of theassignment, some of the data used

could not be independently verified andTask Force recommends that governmentshould conduct such necessaryverifications and reconciliations.’’ Whatthis simply means is that because of timeconstraint, the committee could notfollow the due process of independentlyverifying the data submitted to it by thevarious agencies. The wider implicationof this is that the figures and allegationscontained in the report are not to betaken as facts until they are verified.

This clearly highlights the absence ofdue process that Oronsaye pointed out.

What due process was supposed toachieve is to cast the report on the solidground of facts so that no one can easilyimpugn it. Because at the end of the day,it is one thing to catch a thief, it is quiteanother to prove that he stole and gethim/her convicted.

The committee, by its own admission,did not succeed in catching any thief asit tried to make Nigerians believe.Perhaps, if it had followed due processas suggested by Oronsaye it we wouldhave been celebrating the imminentarrest and prosecution of some thievesas the ground for their indictment wouldhave been cast on concrete.

At the end of the day, the Ribadu/Oronsaye imbroglio is a bold contestbetween raw zeal and propriety, and itis not difficult to say, in this case, whichwins. And the question that ultimatelycomes to the fore is: If you wereOronsaye, would you endorse a reportthat disclaims itself the way the RibaduCommittee did?

ANYONE who listened attentively toformer President Olusegun Obasanjo wouldthink that the challenge Nigerianpoliticians faced was the absence of partymanifestoes to guide their relations with theelectorate.“In Nigeria, manifestoes are prepared,

read and thereafter thrown away afterelections. Worse still, in other instances,some political parties do not even havemanifestoes. How then do we hold politicalparties accountable?,” Obasanjo asked at aconference the National Assemblyorganised on “Party Politics and Election inNigeria,” at the National Institute ofLegislative Studies. “We rarely findpolitical parties delivering services to thepeople to justify the confidence reposed inthem by the electorate.”At the root of Nigeria’s political and social

problems is poverty and low access toeconomic opportunities. The improvementin the well-being of Nigerians is theultimate objective of the PDP’s economicpolicy, to make accessible to every Nigerianthe basic needs of life. The focus would beto create a market-based economy drivenby small and medium scale businesses and

We Need More ThanManifestoes

regulated by a reformed public sector. At the very foundation of the above

objective of the party is the pursuit of astrong, virile and diversified economy builtto stem rural - urban migration throughinvestment in modern agricultural methods.PDP’s economic policy is centred on peopleand seeks to realize the MillenniumDevelopment Goals while aiming to: i. Develop a middle class driven by small

business owners, professional class withaccess to credit. ii. Create easy access to transferable

property rights in urban and rural areas. iii. Protect the weak and poor through

initiatives that is designed to integrate themin the economy. i v. Improve investment in physical and

social infrastructure.The PDP aims, altogether, at establishing

the leading economy in Africa and one ofthe 20 leading and largest economies in theWorld by 2020; an economy that experiencesrapid and sustained growth of not less than10% per annum.Obasanjo expressed concerns that in

reality, most of the current political partiesin the country are fledging and hardly ableto stand on their feet, while many othersexist mainly on paper, and were floated toattract the financial subventions, which the1999 constitution hitherto guaranteed them.According to him, even the big parties,

which control various executive andlegislative arms of government, are oftenmired by internal convulsions, lack ofcohesion, indiscipline and glaring absenceof internal democracy. These problems,Senate President, David Mark said havebeen the bane of party politics in Nigeria.He described as unfortunate the term that

lobbying has come to acquire a pejorativeconnotation, despite its many inherent andpositive benefits, noting that this is duelargely to the abuse to which it is oftenliable.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012—————1919191919,

,

,

,

WHICH of the following statements,in your opinion, best reflects

President Goodluck Jonathan’s “honest-to-God” attitude to corruption? (A) The “Idon’t give a damn” outburst provoked bythe simple demand that he declare hisassets publicly? Or (B) this, from hisinauguration speech: “The bane ofcorruption shall be met by theoverwhelming force of our collectivedetermination, to rid our nation of thisscourge” and in which he declared anewa war against corruption in order to ensurethat “the limited resources of this nationwill be used for the growth of ourcommonwealth?” In answering the abovequestion, did you consider his rejection ofthe report of the Nuhu Ribadu special taskforce on petroleum revenue?

I thought as much: Statement A. And,yes, you are both amused and mortifiedby the latest scene from Jonathan’sabsurdist drama entitled "My War AgainstCorruption". A truly funny war; one that ismore metaphor than marching armies. Itdoes not require men of character, of probityand proven moral courage, which is whypublic assets declaration has no place init. Only words, spoken by him or writtenin the reports of countless probe panels,committees and special task forces. In thelight of the unfolding drama around theRibadu report, of Jonathan’s determinationto “rubbish” it, as the Punch headline ofNovember 9th aptly put it, I am remindedof the words spoken by Jonathan fourmonths ago, on July 1, 2012, throughReuben Abati, his special adviser on mediaand publicity. In that despatch from thewar front, Abati assured us that the warwas being bravely fought and won by hisboss. Yet, instead of an account of themounting casualties, of the many corruptenemies either socially dead or mortallywounded or in panicked retreat, Abati

Once again, Ribadu plays the fool!

sought only to dismiss the notion that theCommander-in-Chief is “soft oncorruption.” The allegation of tardiness inthe prosecution of the war, said Abati, is“aimed at creating the totally falseimpression that the Jonathanadministration is not doing enough to curbcorruption.” For the true picture of thebattle-field showing the army of the corruptin disarray, we must first “be wary of thosewho seek to heat up the polity by politicizingthe issue of corruption in the pursuit oftheir selfish personal and sectionalagenda.”

In other words, if you believe thatJonathan is not doing enough to “curb” -let’s not even speak of combating -corruption, then you are selfish. Pursuinga sectional interest. And heating up thepolity (wish we had one to heat up!), asmuch as or far more, perhaps, than BokoHaram’s bombs and bullets. Abati hadgone on to recite Jonathan’s many warvictories, among them, his appointment of“a tried and tested corruption investigatorto head the EFCC,” his decision not to“swear in a nominee for the chairmanshipof the ICPC when questions were raisedby the public” (so he gives a damn aboutthe public?) “about the propriety of hisnomination and clearance by the Senate,”his referral of the report of the House ofRepresentatives ad-hoc committee on fuelsubsidy to the EFCC, the pending reviewof the report of the Aig-Imoukhuedecommittee to verify fuel subsidy payments,and his directive that “the report of thetechnical committee which reviewed thePetroleum Industry Bill be speedilyevaluated and appraised by relevantgovernment ministries and presented tothe Federal Executive Council for approvalbefore being returned to the NationalAssembly for speedy promulgation.” Justthe way wars are fought, not so?

determining and verifying upstream anddownstream petroleum revenues. Thistime, it fell to the self-styled “attack lion”,Doyin Okupe, to send the war despatch.Ribadu and his fellow task force members,he says, did a shoddy job. Expectedly, theywere hindered by personal and politicalinterests. “It was a job handled badly andonly political and personal interests werebandied,” says Okupe, the clumsy dictionbetraying his intent to mislead. But whendid the government discover that Ribaduwas not up to the task, given that the sixthterm of reference mandated him to “submitmonthly reports for ministerial review andfurther action?”

And how could Ribadu have failed tosee this coming? Can he have

forgotten so soon how he was butt-kickedout of the EFCC and hounded after hisexit? Constrained to go after only thosehighly placed treasury looters that

happened to be “enemies” of formerpresident Obasanjo — who, lest Abati andOkupe forget, declared the first war againstcorruption, bandied about the phrase “zerotolerance” and swore to know no “sacredcows” — Ribadu had nonethelessmanaged to arouse hope and qualifiedoptimism that with just enough sinceritythe corruption monster might be chained,if not slayed outright.

Now that another president has made afool of him once again, it should be clearthat the greatest error any one can makeis to believe a single word of Jonathan’santi-corruption drivel. “Certainly, nothinghas been done or left undone under thePresident’s watch to justify the labellingof his administration as 'soft on corruption',”says Abati. Well, here is one thing thathas been left undone, not minding thingsnot done: Jonathan’s public declaration ofhis assets. If he won’t do this very simplething to prove his determination by deedand not mere words, thereby striking fearin the hearts of all who bleed the countryto death with their thieving, he shouldspare us the constant aggravation byconfessing what the world already knows:that he does not give a damn.

Corruption is eating us alive and wecannot be patient. We cannot settle for themere hope that “ultimately” the namedand yet-to-be-named thieves robbing usto death will be tried and punished underthe law. For as John Maynard Keynesfamously put it in a different context,ultimately, meaning in the long run, “weare all dead.”

And so with thewar going so well,Jonathan had noqualms rejectingthe report of aspecial task forcehe constitutedthrough hisp e t r o l e u mminister, the oilgoddess DiezaniAlison-Madueke,for the principalpurpose of

EVEN if it still continues withits destruction of properties

and killings in different partsof the North in a mindlesscampaign of terror that is boundto end in its defeat, there isevery indication that theterrorist group that has beenhiding under the veneer ofreligion and avowed hatred ofWestern civilisation to commitunspeakable atrocities isrunning out of steam. Andnothing proves that more thantheir lame attempt at calling fora truce with Abuja andchoosing Muhammadu Buhari,a retired General and formerhead of the junta that oustedthe Shagari administration, tolead its peace talk with thegovernment. The confusion thathas entered the operations ofthis group that is apparentlynow in factions united by theircommon blood lust manifests inthe infighting that has seenthem turn on one another withthe various factions pointingaccusing fingers at one another.What the internal bickering hasalso revealed is theundercurrent of disagreementamong Northern politicians,

Buhari as spokesman forterror?

especially those in the North-Eastern states, as fuelling theactivities of the terrorists. Likein the case of the Niger-Deltawhere thugs and other criminalelements in the pay ofpoliticians who abandonedthem on getting into officeturned the arms in their care toother criminal purposes whileclaiming to be fighting againstthe marginalisation of theirregion, the killer squads ofpoliticians in the North are inthe centre of the many terrorattacks in the region. Theaccusations and counter-accusation between AhmadKhalifa Zanna, a servingsenator, and Ali Modu Sheriff,a former governor of BornoState, following the arrest ofShuaibu Bama, allegedly in thehouse of Zanna, illustrates thepoint I’m driving at. Bama, anephew of Zanna, is aconfirmed member of the terrorgroup in these parts of thecountry. While Mr. Sheriffidentifies Zanna as a sponsorof the terror group, Zannaclaims Sheriff is the owner ofthe house in which Bama wasarrested and is a sponsor of the

terror group. The murder ofMohammed Shuwa, a retiredGeneral of the Nigerian Armyand leader of one of the majorparties in Borno, opens anotherdimension to the matter. In itscall for peace, one of thedemands of the terror group isthat Ali Modu Sheriff bearrested and prosecuted- forwhat really?

It should be rememberedthat before now, there have

been accusing fingers pointedat some politicians in theNorth-East on account of theirquestionable links to membersof the terror group. Indeed aserving commissioner in one ofthose states was said to havebeen an active member of thegroup. The tendency of some ofthese politicians to defend theactivities of the terrorists or keepsilent in the face of theirmurderous activities provestheir link with the group. Whatremains to be seen is how Abujaresponds to thesedevelopments. From the

foregoing, it should be clearthings are fast falling apart inthe camp of the terrorists. Theyare in disarray and their call forpeace is a way to prevent adisorderly retreat and give theiractivities a cover ofrespectability. Which shouldexplain why they choseGeneral Buhari as theirrepresentative in their proposedpeace talk. There shouldn’t beany doubt about their intentionwhich is to launder their tatteredimage. What they’ve presentedto Buhari is a poisoned chalice.It’s, therefore, no surprise thatthe General has rebuffed theoffer. For one Buhari, far fromhis military antecedent, is nowa practising politician, one whohas thrice presented himself aspresidential candidate, twice onthe platform of his Congress forProgressive Change, a partywith wide following in theNorth. His apparentlyinflammatory comment after hislast defeat by incumbentPresident Jonathan in the 2011election was viewed as incitingas presumed followers of hisparty went on rampage indifferent parts of the North,killing and maiming in thename of defending theirprincipal’s position. Buhari thendefended the right of therampaging people to expresstheir displeasure in a mannerthey thought fit. But manyNigerians saw this as unseemlydefence of sectional interestwhich is unbecoming of aformer head of state and onewho still nurses the ambition ofreturning to the highest officein the land.

Thereafter Buhari kept hisdistance from the government,content to make periodicstatements and observations onthe administration- an attitude

he took up following his firstdefeat by the PDP governmentunder his former boss, GeneralObasanjo, in 2003 and the lateUmar Yar ’Adua in 2007.Beyond this, there has beennothing linking General Buharidirectly to this or any terroristgroup in the country. GeneralBuhari has not consciouslypresented himself as achampion of Northern interestbut he exudes an attitude thatgives him away not only as suchbut also as an Islamist with afundamentalist bent. Thisreading of him might have ledto his being chosen asspokesperson for the terroristsin their fire fighting talk withAbuja. Yet, it can be said thatfor all his rigid and sternoutlook on many issues,General Buhari remains aprincipled person who can betrusted to act on his beliefs.Should he find it necessary tosupport a terrorist group, hewill very likely not hide his facein the cowardly manner of theterror group menacing theNorth. His choice by the terrorgroup is certainly a slander inthe circumstances before us. Forwhile he might give the groupa respectable face, should he goahead to speak for them, hewould definitely havedestroyed his record as aNigerian leader and would beopen for possible prosecutionfor aiding and abetting aterrorist group.

For a group that claims to acton principle then, is it notsurprising that not one personhas come out to openly identifywith it? Even now that itproposes peace talks, it turns toothers with no known links to itto speak on its behalf.

His choice by theterror group iscertainly a slanderin thecircumstancesbefore us; shouldhe go ahead tospeak for them, hewould definitelyhave destroyed hisrecord as aNigerian leader

We cannot settle forthe mere hope that“ultimately” the namedand yet-to-be-namedthieves robbing us todeath will be tried andpunished under the law


Debate of the masses

,

,Lagos International Trade Fair ofsadness and joy...Traders reap fortune, commuters lament traffic jam

BY BOSE ADELAJA

THE 26th Lagos International Trade Fair as

organised by LagosChamber of Commerceand Industry, LCCI, mayhave come and gone butthe memory lingers onamong many Lagosians,especially those on La-gos Island given theproximity of the venue,Tafawa Balewa Square,TBS.

To some, the 10-day fairwhich began on FridayNovember 2 and endedlast Sunday, was a bee-hive of activities as itplayed host to peoplefrom diverse fields. Butto others, it was the larg-est meeting point for anall-inclusive participa-tion by all stakeholdersin the business, invest-ment and commerceworld, especially in theWest-African sub-region.

The fair was shiftedfrom its traditional TradeFair Complex venue onthe Lagos-Badagry ex-pressway to TBS due tothe on-going construc-tion works on the ex-pressway. According toreports, this year’s eventwith the theme: “Promot-ing Trade for a Sustain-able Economic Transfor-mation” attracted over500,000 foreign and lo-cal exhibitors.

But the fair was almost

marred by the fact thatmany people were forcedto trek several kilometresto the venue and backhome as the roadsleading to the TBSwitnessed a glut ofhuman and vehicularactivities, especiallyduring VanguardMetro’s visit last Thurs-day. Places like AwolowoRoad, Onikan, Obalendeand the popular Marinawere no exception as somuch man hours werelost to the resulting grid-lock.

Some participantswho spoke to VM

said the trade fair was fullof fun but called on theorganisers to take stepsto ensure better perfor-mance in future. ChiefExecutive Officer of amanufacturing companyin Lagos, Alhaji LateefOdekunle, said the fairwas an avenue to meetnew faces in the sector.“It was a period when mycompany usually recordsa boost in business. Forinstance, we recordedabout 75 per cent salesduring the period,” hesaid, beaming withsmiles.

Another participantMadam Maria Okoriesaid the annual event isusually an avenue to re-late directly with somem a n u f a c t u r i n gcompanies. “I use the

opportunity to get orig-inal hair products;adulterated productsare everywhere but thefair has enabled me todeal directly with themanufacturers. That iswhy I come all the wayfrom Matori,” she said.

However, Okorie la-mented shortage ofparking space around

the trade fair complex,decrying the N500 shepaid for using the carpark.

Superintendent ofPress, TBS, Mr. Okeo-ma Ugochukwu, saidthe trade fair complexcan no longer cope withthe volume of humantraffic to the event. “The

trade fair usually attractsa huge crowd; as a re-sult, traffic jam is theorder of the day. TBS istoo small for this type ofevent because it involvesmany companies,” henoted.

With a gate fee ofN200, the trade

fair has enabled somepeople to explore newideas or mix and inter-act with others. For in-stance, a resident of On-ikan, Mrs. ArowoloMojisola, said the tradefair has helped her putfood on her table. “I lostmy job with a new gen-eration bank since Jan-uary but I was able to uti-lise the trade fair to thefullest. I rented a spacenear the complex whereI sell drinks and snacksand by the grace of God,I was able to put food onmy table compared withwhat obtained since Jan-uary,” said Arowolo.

A marketer with aherbal company, whosimply gave his name asMafia, said he recordeda daily profit of aboutN2,000 at the fair. “Istayed at the bus-stop tohawk the products whichwas well patronised. Iwork on commission ba-sis and was able torecord a minimum ofN2,000 daily profit,” heinformed.

Nigeria: Great nation,creative people

BY EBELE ORAKPO

N i g e r i a n swill nevercease to amazeand amuse me.Very creative,i n g e n i o u s ,highly intelli-gent, justname it; we’vegot it in abun-dance. Theycan never becaught nap-ping. If youthink you aresmart, they are

sure to outsmart you,”enthused Tosin, a pas-senger in the commuterbus heading to Mile-2from Oshodi this Mon-day morning.

“Of course! We know allthat,” agreed Ojo.

“Hmm, peacocks, napride go kill una. So withall your ingenuity andsmartness, what haveyou got to show?” Julieasked with a sneer.

“Ehn, if you don’tpraise yourself, no onewill do it for you,” notedOjo, to which Tundereadily agreed. “That’strue Bros. After all, theAgama lizard fell from atree, looked right andleft and when it saw thatno one was ready topraise it, it began to nodto itself in praise of thatgreat feat.”

“By the way, whatwere you raving about,”asked Abel, looking atTosin.

Replied Tosin: “Oh, Isaw the photo of a youngman, probably an ex-okada rider who con-verted his okada to afour-wheeler.”

“What do you mean?”asked Abel and others,mouth agape inamazement.

“The vehicular objectlooked like an okada ina wooden barrow withfour wheels, lights, etc,and the guy was rubbingshoulders with other ve-hicles in the traffic,” ex-plained Tosin.

“Oh my God! Una nogo kill person oo,” saidJulie as all the passen-gers erupted in laugh-

ter.“Yes nah! You wan

hunger to murder theman and his family? Hehad to devise a means ofsurvival. I don’t blamehim at all. With this, nooverzealous policemanwill harass him. I’m surein his heart, he will bedaring the policemen toarrest him if they could,”stated Mercy.

“They no fit. He hasnot contravened any law.The vehicle has fourwheels like others on theroad,” replied Uzo.

“Oh, I like that!” ex-claimed Mercy.

“The problem with ourleaders is that althoughthey have good inten-tions, they do not givethe people to be affect-ed by their policies anyalternative. You ban oka-da in a state withoutcreating alternativemeans of livelihood forthe millions directly orindirectly involved inthe business. For God’ssake, it’s unfair,” saidNancy.

“But wait oo, so humanbeings will board thatvehicle?” asked Uzo.

“Before nko? Na ani-mals go board am?asked Tosin in reply.Maybe you have neverbeen stranded before,otherwise, you won’t beasking this question. Isit not in Lagos that AreaBoys ferry people ontheir bare, sweaty backsacross flooded areas fora fee? If you are tooproud to climb theirbacks, you risk drown-ing.”

“

The tradefair usuallyattracts ahuge crowd;as a result,traffic jam isthe order ofthe day; TBSis too smallfor this typeof event be-cause it in-volves manycompanies

*Strange vehicularcontraption?...It beats Okada

*A crowd of shoppers inside the TBS during the just ended Lagos International Trade Fair Pix byDiran Oshe

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 13/11/20127

DOLLAR 154.75 154.25 154.75STERLING 245.7121 246.506 247.2999EURO 196.6563 197.2917 197.9271FRANC 163.1351 163.6622 164.1893YEN 1.948 1.9543 1.9606CFA 0.2804 0.2904 0.3004WAUA 235.6144 236.3756 237.1369RENMINBI 24.8418 24.9225 25.0032RIYAL 41.2634 41.3967 41.53KRONA 26.3665 26.4516 26.5368SDR 236.3961 237.1599 237.9237


From left: Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Mr. SteveAmase; Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom and CEO, Blue Dia-mond Logistics Limited, Festus Mbisiogu during the minister’s visit to China InternationalTrade Fair.

investment policy that wouldprovide a level playingground for genuine investorsand necessary support andincentive that would maketheir business succeed whenthey invest.

On his part, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Blue DiamondLogistics Limited, FestusMbisiogu, who was in Chinawhile lending his weight tothe minister’s request, urgedthe Federal Government toaddress some of the factorsaffecting investment climate in

Agriculture: FG woos Chinese investors By CHIOMA OBINNA

AS part of strategies forNigeria to attain its

projected growth by 2020 andtackle the high rate of youth’sunemployment, the Ministerof State for Trade andInvestment, Dr. SamuelOrtom, has called for strongertrade relations betweenNigeria and China in the areaof agricultural investment.

According to Ortom, Chinabeing one of the world’sfastest growing economy with

an estimated growth rate ofabout 10 percent in the past30 years, investing in thecountry’s agriculture wouldprovide Chinese investors theopportunity to tap from thepotentials vested in thenation’s agricultural sector.

Speaking at the just-concluded China Trade Fair inGuangzhou City, Ortomposited that such investment,apart from boosting foodsecurity in Nigeria, would alsoenhance the economy of bothcountries.

“Investment, particularly, in

Nigeria such as multipletaxation, epileptic powersupply, lack of access roadsand general infrastructuralproblem staring the nation inthe face. Maintaining thatNigerians in diaspora werealso ready to come home andinvest in agriculture and othersectors of the economy, heopined that involvement ofthese Nigerians would ensurethe attainment of the presenta d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ stransformation agenda andthe vision 20:2020.

the areas ofimportation ofindustrial rawmaterials for Chinaand the exportation ofsame by Nigeria willenhance the economyof both countries.”

Assuring Chineseinvestors of enablingenvironment, theMinister noted thatNigeria is blessed witha lot of investmento p p o r t u n i t i e s ,regretting that out ofthe 88million arableland in the country,only about half is beingutilised.

Ortom said theFederal and Stategovernments werealready workingtowards developing as e c t o r - s p e c i f i c

109.33 -0.07

85.31 -0.23

153.05 +3.15

2,390.00 +32.00

19.35 +0.29

THE Economic andFinancial Crimes

Commission (EFCC) and theIndependent CorruptPractices and other RelatedOffences Commission (ICPC)have said that as an effort totackle corruption in thecountry, they are ready toprosecute any printing firm inNigeria which engages inproduction of fake documents.Both Anti-graft agencies saidthey are going to work handin hand with the CharteredInstitute of ProfessionalPrinters (CIPPON), whichregulates printing in the

EFCC, ICPC to prosecute printing firmsover fake documents

By ONOZURE DANIA country to identify printerswho are not registered andengage in crime.

EFCC Chairman, IbrahimLamorde, and his ICPCcounterpart, Ekpo Nta, saidthis at the Nigeria 52ndIndependence AnniversaryLecture organised byCIPPON and the FederalMinistry of Information, whichwas tagged, ‘TransformationAgenda: Fighting againstCorruption and GeneratingEmployment throughPrinting’.

Larmode, who wasrepresented by Mr OsitaNwajah, said the fight againstfake documents printing

began with the raiding of theOluwole market onSeptember 1, 2005 where over40,000 fake internationalpassports, 50,000 assortedbank cheque books, thousandsof travelers’ cheques and fakecertificates, among otherswere seized.

He said that fraudstersdestroy the country’s imageabroad; urging CIPPON toreport to security agenciesonce it has reasonablesuspicion about questionableprint job orders. “The EFCCis ready to work with you inensuring that the problem offake documents iseliminated,” he said.

partner with the stategovernment on the new roadtraffic law signed into law onAugust 2nd in the state.

According to the governor,who was represented by hisdeputy, Mrs. AdejokeOrelope-Adefulire, “Thereason why we seek thepartnership of LCCI is thatthe present administration inLagos State knows theimportance of the chamber asthe umbrella body for businessin the country, especiallyLagos state.”

“And because of this, LCCIis one body that is in a betterposition to help the stategovernment in developing asustainable business plan thatwould accommodate all theokada operators who by virtueof the new law may not be ableto engage in the businessagain.

“We need a sustainablebusiness plan for theseresidents of the state. This isbecause okada is not asustainable means oftransportation for any state,especially Lagos State, whichhas a megacity status.”

“Before the restriction ofokada in the state, the numberof orphans, widows andwidowers was increasingdaily, and hospitals in thestate were being congestedwith victims of okadaaccidents.

The governor emphasisedthat since the restriction, thestate has recorded a drasticreduction in the number ofaccidents and crime across thestate.

Traffic Law: Fashola tasksLCCI on new business planfor Okada riders

By MONSUROLOOWOPEJO

GOVERNOR BabatundeFashola of Lagos State

has urged the Lagos Chamberof Commerce and Industry(LCCI) to urgently design anew business plan that wouldengage commercialmotorcycle operatorspopularly called Okada riderswho were recently restrictedfrom plying 475 roads in thestate.

Fashola made the appeal atthe weekend at celebration ofthe 2012 Lagos State day andthe closing ceremony of the2012 Lagos State Trade Fairand Exhibition held at theTafawa Balewa Square, (TBS),Lagos.

Fashola said that this is theonly way the chamber can


BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

THE Nigerian StockExchange, NSE, has

warned that any stockbrokerthat dares institute courtaction against it shall besuspended from participatingin the stock market pendingthe determination of such suit.

According to the updatedrules and regulations guidingthe activities of dealingmember firms obtained fromthe NSE’s website, it alsowarned dealing membersagainst carrying out businessfor clients/investors who arein default to another dealingmember.

It said, “No dealing membershall institute legalproceedings to enforce aclaim against another dealingmember or a member arisingout of any stockbrokingtransaction without firstexhausting all procedures setout for dispute resolution inaccordance with these rulesand regulations.

“No dealing member shallinstitute legal proceedingsagainst the Exchange withoutfirst exhausting allprocedures set out for disputeresolution in accordance withthese rules and regulations.”

It continued, “It is the dutyof every dealing member tonotify the secretary the nameand circumstances of every ofsuch default. Thecircumstances of each defaultshall be submitted to thecouncil, which may at itsdiscretion cause the name tobe in a list to be kept by thesecretary for purpose ofcirculating the name ofdefaulters to all dealingmembers and members of the

Exchange. The council mayfrom time to time cause anyname to be deleted from thelist.”

The NSE also stated that nodealing member is permittedto engage in any businessother than securities tradingand related businesses.

It noted that the rules weremade pursuant to theMemorandum and theArticles of Association of TheNigerian Stock Exchange andare subject to the provisionsof the Investments andSecurities Act (ISA) of 1999.

It further stated that it is the

duty of each dealing memberto act as watchdog on othermembers by reporting breachof any part of the rules inwriting to the NationalCouncil of The Exchange, orthrough the Branch Councilsto the National Council of TheExchange.

“Any dealing member, beingaware of any breach on thepart of another dealingmember and failing to reportthe same to council asaforesaid, shall himself/itselfbe guilty of a breach of theserules and regulations,” it said

Some parts of the rule read:

“With respect toactivities on theExchange, no dealingmember shall withoutspecial consent of thecouncil, and subject tosuch conditions as thecouncil may impose,enter into partnership orany agency or profitsharing agreement orany association of whichthe Council may notapprove, with anyperson, firm or limitedliability company who orwhich is not a member ofthe Exchange.

Capital market rule barsstockbrokers from suing NSE

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

MANAGING Director/Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Aso Savings and Loans Plc,

Mr. Hassan Usman, has said that he isassured that the N5 billion rights issueembarked on by the mortgage bank will bewell subscribed to, going by huge patronagethat greeted it.

The company had recently embarked onright issue to raise N5 billion from existingshareholders in order to restructure andconsolidate its leading position in themortgage industry.

With the company’s shareholders’ fundsat N3.5 billion, the N5 billion fresh capitalis expected to increase it to about N8.5 billionand well over the minimum N5 billionstipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) for mortgage banks.

Usman explained that the company willlikely embark on a further capital raisingexercise from other sources so as to exploitthe huge business opportunities in themortgage and housing sector of the Nigerianeconomy.

Guinness recordsN2.6bn PBT in Q12012

GUINNESS Nigeria Plchas announced a N2.6

billion profit before tax in its2012/2013 first quarterfinancial year.

The company in a statementsaid the highlight of thefinancial results endedSeptember, 2012 showedrevenues at the same level asthe same period last yearwhile cost of sales went downyear on year by three percentdespite double digits inflationfigures as the companybenefited from increasedproduction efficiencies.

Its gross profit was also upby four percent but profitbefore tax stood at N2.6billion following increasedspending on advertising andpromotion to support itsbrands and financing costs asa result of its ongoing capacityexpansion programme.Mr. Seni Adetu, theManaging Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, GuinnessNigeria Plc said: “Our yearon year growth was flat versuslast year in a quarter whichwitnessed an overall declinein the beer and malt marketand continued pressure ondisposable income.

Shonekan to chairICC 2012 AnnualDinner

FORMER Head of State,Interim National

Government of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, ChiefErnest Shonekan, will chairthe 2012 Annual Dinner/Dance of the InternationalChamber of Commerce (ICC)Nigeria.

ICC is the world businessorganisation, a representativebody that speaks withauthority on behalf ofenterprises from all businesssectors in every part of theworld. The fundamentalmission of ICC is to promotetrade and investment acrossfrontiers and help businesscorporations meet thechallenges and opportunitiesof globalisation.

Nigeria became a member ofthe ICC about 30 years ago,sequel to the realisation of thebenefits which Nigerianbusiness community couldderive from joining theinternational organisation.ICC Nigeria is focused on itsvision of projecting Nigerianbusinesses to theinternational community byensuring that its members tapinto international businesspractices and opportunitieswithin the broad ICC networkof 120 countries worldwide.

He said that the company has not raisedcapital from shareholders in the lastthree years, noting that many changeshave taken place that warranted freshcapital to remain ahead of competition.

“We have been there without raisingcapital for the last four or so years from theshareholders. There are many developmentsin the mortgage market. There are newentrants in our market. The market placehas increased significantly. What we cando in the market is a function of ourshareholders’ funds. We are therefore,raising capital to be able to service largercapital market,” he said.

Usman disclosed that the managementand board of Aso Savings are alwaysinnovating ways to remain a leader in theindustry, adding that the company iscurrently going through a restructuring.

“We are looking at what we are doing ondaily basis and see what we can do better.We are now going through a restructuringthat will lead to a stronger platform so thatwe can deliver better services for ourcustomers and returns for shareholders.

From left: Taiwo Joda, Head, Food, Beverages/Agriculture; Segun Esho, Head, Performance Management; IrunnaEjibe, Head, Learning & Development, Napoleon Esmudje, Chief Human Resources Officer, all of Fidelity Bank andDr. (Mrs) Adesua Atanda, representative of Industrial Training Fund, ITF, at the ITF 2011 Award ceremony recently

Aso Savings optimistic onsuccess of N5bn rights issue


DIARYDIARYDIARYDIARYDIARY

PreviewPreviewPreviewPreviewPreviewNew inventions

shaping life and living

Select ICT eventsSelect ICT eventsSelect ICT eventsSelect ICT eventsSelect ICT events

INSIDE

LTE North Ameri-ca 2012. Holds 14-15November 2012 inDallas, Texas, USA.

Advancing Inno-vation & Profitabilityfor a Digital Africa.Holds 14 -15 Novem-ber 2012 @ CTICCCape Town, South Af-rica.

AfricaCom 2012.Holds 14-15 Nov2012 in Cape Town,South Africa.

Opportunities inthe Evolving CloudDynamics. Holds 4-5December 2012 @Dubai World TradeCentre, Dubai, UAE.

Digital TV Summit2012. Holds 4th – 5thDecember 2012 in Lon-don UK.

,

,

Continues on page 26

Exhale ceilingfan uses no

blades

BY ADEKUNLE ADEKOYA & EMMA ELEBEKE

The assembly line at Omatek Engineering, an indigenous computer maker. The PC ownership scheme will help businesses likethese and more in the coming months.

IT penetration: Ourthree-in-one strategy,by Johnson

Our preference of inter-national or global brands

who have much bettermarketing, research andproduction capacity hasled to the poor capacityutilisation of these as-

sembly plants

TO fast-track ITpenetration in thecountry, the Min-

istry of CommunicationsTechnology has perfecteda three-pronged strategythrough the Student PCownership schemelaunched last week by theMinister, Mrs OmobolaJohnson. The student PCownership scheme is thefirst leg of the strategy, theother two being reversalof poor acceptance of lo-cal computer brands andpoor capacity utilisation ofindigenous PC assemblyplants. It is hoped that thestudent PC ownershipscheme will trigger actionin the desired direction.

Speaking at the launch-ing of the scheme lastThursday in Abuja, MrsJohnson noted that “wehave a fairly well estab-lished device assembly

industry. Some of thecompanies that you seerepresented here todayare over 20 years old andhave operations in coun-tries other than Nigeria.Unfortunately, our prefer-ence of international orglobal brands who havemuch better marketing,research and productioncapacity has led to the

poor capacity utilisation ofthese assembly plants.Federal and state govern-ments have been theirbiggest customers whichmeans that they are de-pendent on the most un-certain world of govern-ment supply contracts."

As a result, she said herministry and the imple-menting agency, NITDA,“saw a very clear windowto literally kill the two

birds of poor PC owner-ship by students and pooracceptance of local brandsand poor capacity utilisa-tion of our PC assemblyplants with one stone. Asyou well know, our youthtend to be most critical,vocal and demanding ofgoods and services theyprocure. Once they aresold however they will bethe greatest advocates ofthe brand and will dem-onstrate loyalty well be-yond their student years.Providing them with com-puters that are built toexacting world classstandards, designed withNigeria in mind and aes-thetically pleasing will goa long way to earning thisloyalty.”

To actualise this desire,the Ministry and NITDA,in partnership with orig-inal equipment manufac-turers, OEMs, Intel Cor-poration and Microsoft

launched a students PCownership scheme for stu-dents in 12 selected uni-versities in the country.

The scheme hopes todeepen PC ownershippenetration in Nigeria,empower local brands bycreating an active marketfor them and aid Nigeri-an students to achievebetter certificates throughintegration into the digit-al and information com-munity. The scheme wasaimed at creating a brandloyalty and patronage forlocal computer assemblersthrough a minimum nongovernment subsidy butwith quality assurancefrom Intel and Microsoftas active partners to sus-tain the programme.

The minister added thatthe current three percentPC penetration in Niger-ia is very disgraceful and

PC forstudents:ThePresidentmustintervene

The Exhale bladelessceiling fan creates anindoor breeze that’ssmoother and quieter—and safer for cats.

Currently seekingfunding on Indiegogo,the Exhale fan was in-spired by Nikola Tesla,and features a stack ofspinning discs that takeadvantage of the scienceof laminar flow to moveair throughout the room.The air is directedaround the room in a360° horizontal flow,moving with a smooth,uninterrupted streamand mixing the air in theroom to eliminate hot orcold spots. The Exhalefan is currently seekingfunding on Indiegogo

FUT Minna wins2012 ISPONSoftware cup

Toyota testscars thatcommunicatewith each other

EDITED by Adekunle Adekoya

Johnson

ISPON 2012Conference: A

Europeanperspective

24—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 14, 2012

PC for students: ThePresident must intervene

LAST Thursday,something verygood happened to

Nigeria and Nigerians,though many of us maynot immediately capturethe import of the develop-ment.

The Federal Ministry ofCommunications Tech-nology, through the Na-tional Information tech-nology DevelopmentAgency, NITDA,launched a Student PCOwnership Scheme. De-tails of the scheme areavailable on the page pre-ceding the one you arereading.

What makes the devel-opment a good one is thatif implemented with pa-triotic zeal,that initia-tive alone iscapable oftriggeringtransforma-tions thatcan rapidlytake thisnation toh e i g h t sthat had re-mained atthe levels ofrhetoric formore thanhalf a cen-tury.

Five in-d igenousdevice mak-ers — Zi-nox, Omatek, Brian Sys-tems, Veda Computers,and Beta Computers,working in tandem withIntel Corporation which isexpected to supply proc-essors and Microsoftwhich will supply soft-ware — have been pro-vided with a golden op-portunity to compete withglobal computer brandsthrough the scheme. Eve-ry year, some 1.5 millionstudents apply throughJAMB for placement intothe higher institutions,though there are admis-sion spaces for only onethird of that number. Thatmeans there is potentialto sell that many comput-ers every year to individ-ual students.

The implication of thisscheme is more employ-ment generation in the ITsub-sector, and given theflexible payment struc-ture, a guaranteed mar-ket. So far, so good.

However, the journey isstill long, in fact severalmiles ahead. For me, thegoal, the aim, and the ob-jective should be the all-Nigerian computer. Greatwill be the day when eve-rything needed to make acomputer function well ismade here in Nigeria,

globalization or not. If, fornow, we can’t make proc-essors here, I do not thinkwe completely lack capac-ity in terms of software.

The Minister of Com-munications Technologywas at the recently con-cluded ISPON confer-ence and software compe-tition, and surely is awareof developments in thatdirection.

To quote Mrs Johnson:“As you well know, ouryouth tend to be most crit-ical, vocal and demand-ing of goods and servic-es they procure. Oncethey are sold howeverthey will be the greatestadvocates of the brandand will demonstrate loy-

alty well be-yond theirs t u d e n tyears. Pro-viding themwith comput-ers that arebuilt to exact-ing worldclass stand-ards, de-signed withNigeria inmind andaestheticallypleasing willgo a longway to earn-ing this loyal-ty.”

As thescheme is be-

ing implemented, I thinkit is in our best nationalinterest to be futuristic andbegin to see how the stu-dents’ PCs will run on lo-cal software, for as theminister remarked lastThursday quoted above,that will be a very goodway to build brand loyal-ty.

Overall, it is a com-mendable initiative, see-ing that telcos are expect-ed to connect the PCswith bandwidth, proces-sors from Intel, softwarefrom Microsoft, creditfrom the banks. Obvious-ly a lot of work has goneinto preparing thescheme. The minister andher team are to be com-mended. One thing,though. The price range(the first level is fromN48,500; the second lev-el is N70,500 and thethird level is N85,000-N100,000) grossly under-estimates the level of pov-erty in this country. I thinkMr President ought tolook at the scheme per-sonally and see how theFederal Government cansubsidize the scheme byat least fifty per cent. Thatwill be five-star nationalservice.

tion.”According to the spon-

sors, Patrick Baudry, aFrench astronaut born inDouala, Cameroon and amember of the fifth NASADiscovery mission, is ex-pected to chair this year’sjury.

Speaking on behalf ofthe jury, Patrick said: “Weare committed and pas-sionate about the devel-opment of high-tech skillsfor young people and hon-oured to play a role inshaping young mindsand encouraging ambi-

DSTV Eutelsat StarAwards, the pan-

African competition spon-sored by MultiChoice andEutelsat Communications,records a milestone asover 1,000 entries fromhigh school studentsacross Africa were re-ceived for this year’s edi-tion of the contest. Thecompetition, now in itssecond year, is designedto provoke thinking onhow innovation and sat-ellite technology can pro-pel Africa into the future.

MultiChoice Africa’sRegional Director EastAfrica, Stephen Isabokesaid he welcomed thechoice to host the awardsin Dares Salaam:

“We are privileged tohost these awards in Tan-zania. It will be a proudmoment at the galaawards function when twoof Africa’s brightest starswill take the world stageand represent the conti-nent overseas as theymake their way to alaunch site for an incred-ible opportunity to watcha rocket go into space andto visit Eutelsat’s headoffice and satellite facili-ties. We wish the finalistsall the best in the laststretch of the competi-

tion. We look forward tojudging the ideas andcreative thinking by thefinalists in Dar-es-Salaamon 22 November and toassigning this year ’sprize.”

“We are astounded bythe talent we see emerg-ing through this competi-tion. As founding spon-sors of this initiative withMultiChoice, we are de-lighted to showcase a newgeneration of African cre-ativity and to see lastyear’s winning poster byMichael Yeboah go into

space on the Ariane rock-et flying our latest satel-lite,” said Joaquim Perei-ra de Lima, RegionalSales Director for Africa atEutelsat. With the closingof entries for the year, thegrand finale will hold inDar-es-Salaam, Tanzaniaon November 22.

Eutelsat Communica-tions is the holding com-pany of Eutelsat S.A. With29 satellites covering Eu-rope, Middle East, Africaand parts of Asia and theAmericas, it is a leadingsatellite operator.

DSTv Eutelsat tasks students on innovation,satellite technology

Managing Officer Mori-taka Yoshida said Toyotasees preventing colli-sions, watching out forpedestrians and helpingthe driving of the elderlyas key to ensuring safetyin the cars of the future.

"We offer the world's top-level technology," he toldreporters.

Toyota Motor Corp. istesting car safety systemsthat allow vehicles to com-municate with each otherand with the roads theyare on in a just complet-ed facility in Japan thesize of three baseball sta-diums.

The cars at the Intelli-gent Transport System sitereceive information fromsensors and transmittersinstalled on the streets tominimize the risk of acci-dents in situations such asmissing a red traffic light,cars advancing from blindspots and pedestrianscrossing the street. Thesystem also tests cars thattransmit such informationto each other.

In a test drive for report-ers last Monday, the pres-ence of a pedestrian trig-gered a beeping sound inthe car and a picture of aperson popped up on ascreen in front of the driv-er. A picture of an arrowpopped up to indicate anapproaching car at an in-tersection. An electronicfemale voice said, "It's ared light," if the driver wasabout to ignore a red light.

Toyota officials said thesmart-car technology it isdeveloping will be testedon some Japanese roadsstarting in 2014. Similartests are planned for theU.S., although detailswere not decided. Suchtechnology is expected tobe effective because halfof car accidents happen atintersections, according toToyota.

All automakers are work-ing on pre-crash safetytechnology to add valueto their cars, especially fordeveloped markets suchas the U.S., Europe andJapan. But the strongestsales growth is comingfrom emerging marketswhich are eventually ex-pected to show more in-

Toyota tests cars thatcommunicate with each other

terest in safety technolo-gy.

Toyota's Japanese rival,Nissan Motor Co. recent-ly showed cars that weresmart enough to stop ontheir own, park them-selves and swerve awayfrom pedestrians whosuddenly jumped into thevehicle's path. — AP

Even coun-tries that

have unin-terrupted

power sup-ply do not flycables over-head care-lessly theway we do,

Toyota's Lexus LS stops automatically in front of a dummy during a demon-stration of the pre-collision system (PCS) at its Higashi-Fuji Technical Center inSusono, southwest of Tokyo, Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. The PCS, one of the auto-maker's pedestrian accident countermeasures, watches out for pedestrians toavoid collisions with them. AP Photo

From left: Dr. Wesley Okei, University of Lagos; Segun Fayose, MultiChoiceNigeria; Mrs. Aderonke Bello, MD, Innovative Technology Literacy ServicesLimited and Prof. Folorunsho Falade of University of Lagos at the final judg-ing exercise of the 2012 DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, in Lagos.

BY EMMA ELEBEKE

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 14, 2012 — 25

FG begins $15m software incubation in Lagos, Calabar...targets 6 more states by 2015

NIGERIAN quest to become an ICT

capable country in theknowledge economy hasstarted yielding expect-ed results as the Fed-eral Government onMonday announcedplans to invest about$15m in the softwareincubation centers inLagos and Calabar inthe first phase respec-tively.

While targeting 6 more

centers across the nationincluding Kano, Enugu,Abeokuta, Ife, Abujaamong others,by 2015,the Minister of Commu-nications Technology,Mrs. Omobola Johnsonat a stakeholders sessionheld in Lagos on Mon-day, told the gatheringthat software incubationcentres will go a longway in accelerating thedevelopment of a com-mercial software indus-try by ensuring that ap-propriate support andfunding was availableto software and other IT

entrepreneurs.The project, the Min-

ister disclosed will havesix months pilot phasewhile implementationphase will have dura-tion of 18 months.

By December 2012, theMinister assured that thecapacity building pro-gram would have beenestablished, adding thatprivate sector partner-ship was essential..

According to her, theMinistry has looked atother countries includ-ing India, Egytp, Kenyaamong others where it

has worked as a modelWith optimism, she

said that software incu-bation centres will en-able indigenous softwaredevelopers in thenation• fs burgeoningInformation Communi-cation Technology (ICT)landscape, tap into themufti-million dollar glo-bal applications devel-opment market.

With the intention ofraising software devel-opment capabilities ofthe nation, the Ministersaid that the

Nigeria youths would

STORIES BY EMEKAAGINAM

not only be able to de-velop the necessaryskills that would enablethem innovate and cre-ate software applicationsto be reckoned with, butwill also enable themestablish IT businessesthat can thrive and makea difference in theirlives.

The future belong tothe youths. We need tobegin now to grow them.We need to supportthem. We need to trainthem to be able to com-pete with their peers atthe global stage. The in-cubation centers will actas a hub of innovationthat will supports soft-ware development. En-terprise software devel-opment, linguistic soft-ware, mobile softwareapplication, business in-telligence among otherssge said were the pro-gram focus , she added.

With huge fundingfrom the National Infor-mation Technology De-velopment Agency,(NITDA) the incubationcenter, she said wouldattract funding from theinternational donors.

This framework will in-clude minimum IT infra-structure requirements, the creation of a technol-ogy innovation venturecapital fund, avenues forthe commissioning of be-spoke software by thebusiness community, in-stitutional support forincubates in the form ofbusiness services and astrong mentoring frame-work by successful busi-ness entrepreneurs anda transparent and credi-ble process to select in-cubates.

• gThe youth of Nige-rian are innovative, dy-namic, creative , hard-working, entrepreneurialin nature and hungry fortechnology. If given thechance and the enablingenvironment to developtheir inherent skills,they will not only thrivebut will make Nigeriansand Africans proud.

• gWe have seen the re-sult of what exposure toICT can do with the re-markable achievement ofsome of our youths whohave excelled in severallocal and internationalsoftware competitionsespecially the justISPON software cup andthe Microsoft Imaginecup, • h the ministersaid.

Unfolding details ofthe software incubationcenters, the programmanager of the capacitybuilding project, Mr.Helen Anatogu, dis-closed that the FederalGovernment was seed-ing N500m for technolo-gy venture capital fund..

We expect $3m fromNigerian informationdevelopment fund. Ad-ditionaL $12m will comefrom other sourcesh sheadded.

According to her, thecenter will also cater forthose who are not privi-leged to be students butwho have the passion forsoftware development..• gWe do not want to ex-empt those that are notstudents. Any youth whohave the skills for soft-ware can come and de-velop solution. Businessskills and entrepreneur-ial training are wherethe students will comein• h she added.

COMMITTED to ex- cellent customer

service and reduction ofhigh percentage popula-tion of unbanked adultsin across the country,First Bank of Nigeria Plc.In partnership withComputer WarehouseGroup (CWG) have in-troduced FirstmonieMobile Money Service,an innovative productthat enables customersto access financial andother value added ser-vices offered by the bankthrough their mobilephones.

Firstmonie mobile mon-ey service was birthed aspart of First Bank’s dy-namic innovative driveto drastically reduce therate of unbanked adultsin Nigeria while provid-ing “convenient and safebanking” for the “underbanked “and the“banked” to access theirbank account throughtheir wallet and transferfund from their bank ac-count to wallet and viceversa using their mobilephone.

Aware of the value thisfinancial solution willadd to the individualsand the economy atlarge, FirstBank andCWG team have success-fully deployed the First-monie Mobile Services

First bank launchesmobile money service

in order to provide costeffective and excellentservices to FirstBankcustomers.CWG hasworked with FirstBankright from the pre-ap-proval stage through tothe approval in principlestage to the final stageof license approval fromCBN up to this momentin the capacity of mobiletechnology solution pro-vider and hosting part-ner.

According to Chu-maEzirim, Group Head,E-business, First Bankof Nigeria Plc, “We areexcited at being at theforefront of supportingCBN initiatives for finan-cial inclusion and confi-dent that this solutionwill add value not onlyto our operations but toour existing customersand prospective custom-ers as it is our custom toput our customers first.”

He said that this is amovement from the tra-ditional bank accountopening where the cus-tomer has to visit thebank to open an accountand carry out other bank-ing transaction to a tech-nology trend that pro-vides cost-effective andconvenience of self-ser-vice to the customer withmobile phone as the onlyinfrastructure to be pro-vided by the customer.

CMYK

added. What we done isthat we are the enablerand this project will takea life of its own. The eco-system will work for thesustainability of it. It willtake a life of its own andsustainability will nolonger be an issue,” sheadded.

She also called on par-ents, guardians to supportthe scheme by sponsoringyoung Nigerian studentswhose parents may not beable to buy them compu-ter and to fast track PCpenetration in the coun-try.

In his remarks, the Di-rector General of NITDA,Prof. Cleopas Angayesaid the student PC own-ership scheme was bornout of the dire need to in-crease PC penetrationamong the students ofhigher learning especial-

ly in Nigerian universi-ties.

He said that the schemewas designed to ensurethat students have accessto learning resources, pro-mote local content anddevelop competenciesand capacities among theyoung people. The twelveuniversities were selectedfrom each geo politicalzone at a random.

The NITDA boss alsosaid the scheme was alsoa means of challengingthe licensed OEMs toboost their productive ca-pacities, which is expect-ed to have a multiplier ef-fect in job creation, pov-erty reduction and in-crease their market sharein the global competitiveeconomy.

“What we are witnessingtoday is just the beginningof some of the govern-ment policies targeted to-wards ensuring increasedaccess to information tech-nology resources andyouth empowerment,” hesaid.

He challenged OEMs todevelop, train and employmiddle level manpower toensure that the systemsare adequately main-tained for after sales serv-ices that are competitivewith international stand-ards and urged them tocollaborate with the com-puter science/informationtechnology departmentsin the tertiary institutionsfor the management andmaintenance of the PCs,this according to him, willassist in building the nec-essary capacity and ex-periences in the institu-tions to create the neededsynergy between thehigher learning and theindustry.

The selected universitiesfrom the six geo politicalzones of the country wereselected at random. Thescheme has three entrylevels agreed by the stake-holders so that studentscan have an option tochoose based on the ca-pability of their sponsors.The first entry level is fromN48,500; the second lev-el is at the price ofN70,500 and the third lev-el goes at the price ofN85,000 to N100,000.

NITDA would be the pro-gramme managerthrough quality assuranceand managing sustaina-bility while Intel wouldsupply processors andMicrosoft will supply soft-ware. Other programmefacilitators are banks, uni-versity administrators, in-surance companies andministry of Communica-tion Technology sponsor-ing and monitor success.OEMs will champion lo-cal brands and while tel-cos will provide aggregatebandwidth.

Benefitting universitieswill play the role of vali-dating and authenticatingthe students, support theprogramme across all theinstitutions, provide aca-

Continues from Page 23

26 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER, 14, 2012

ISPON 2012 Conference: AEuropean perspective

BY MATTHEW HERREN

INITIAL impressionof Nigeria and Lagos

For the first six years ofmy life I lived in Nigeria(Ibadan), but arriving onOctober 26, 2012 markedthe first time that I’ve beenback in the country in 23years. It was clear instant-ly, right from the airport,how much had changed.As I last remembered,flights were much fewer(and some big names ofthe day then, such as AirAfrique – no longer exist.But, I was immediatelytaken aback by, not justone, but two, US airlinesdirectly serving the air-port.

Junior Pius Ekeh greet-ed me at the airport, andwe immediately devel-oped a close rapport,which I hope will be fol-lowed by a long friend-ship. We drove to our La-gos hotel where I met IS-PON President ChrisUwaje, whose dedication,commitment, generosityand friendliness areamongst the highest I’veever experienced, andwhose logistical abilitiesare, I think, unparalleled.At the hotel I also met Pro-fessor William Megalosand Daniel Molina for thefirst time. They too, I be-lieve would have devel-oped relations that willexist for years to come.While I have been head-ing a game developmentcompany for some time, Ihad not really thoughtabout how much the fieldsof television/film sharewith the field of games.(In my defense, I’ve nev-er sold myself off as gamedesigner – technical ar-chitecture, concept andproduct managementsare where my time is bet-ter spent.)

Tinapa and Cala-bar (C-River State)

To say the least Tinapaand Calabar were com-pletely unlike either whatI had expected them to beor imagined they could be— in terms of the scenery,

the development and (cer-tainly not least) the peo-ple. When governmentofficials were describingCalabar as the most envi-ronmental state in Niger-ia, we drove along scen-ery that left no doubt to thestatement. The governorof Cross River State, HisExcellency Senator LiyelImoke, has made strongcommitment to buildingthe types of infrastructurethat is conducive environ-ment for technology-driv-en companies, and resultsof some of these stand tes-tament to the resolve ofthese commitments. Thatsaid, there is still more tobe done. I do believe thatwith follow-through inthis regard Tinapa surelyhas the potential to devel-op into the Silicon Valleyof Africa. As someone whohas gone through the ar-duous process of startingtwo companies, I believethat most important fur-ther steps for Tinapa(and, indeed, most applyto Nigeria as as whole)are as follows:

Connectivity: In orderto develop into a hub fortechnology innovation,and the base of a vibrantcommunity of young start-ups, both internet band-

width and reliability ofcell-phone communica-tion must be radically im-proved. To a certain ex-tent this process has al-ready started, as evi-denced by the sponsor-ship of conference by com-panies such as MainOneCable and Airtel (and theparticipation of Mrs.Funke Opeke, CEO ofMainone Cable Companyand Tobe Okigbo, Direc-tor of Airtel Nigeria).

Mains Electricity: Al-though we did not expe-rience any power breakswhile in Tinapa, many ofthe people I talked tomentioned that one of thebiggest impediments toTinapa’s realization of its(vast) potential is insuffi-cient and unreliable elec-tricity.

Start-up Incubation: Inmy opinion, this is per-haps the most fundamen-tal challenge that needs tobe overcome. In the fewdays that I was in Tinapa,I was fundamentally sur-prised at the numberyoung Nigerians withfirst-class technical skills,most of which had beendeveloped into functionalsoftware. However, thetransition from having agroundbreaking concept,

or even a functional prod-uct, into being a success-ful company with profita-ble product (or line ofproducts) is — in myopinion — a significantlymore challenging phase.I think that one of themost promising ways inwhich Tinapa can fullyrealize its calling as a‘Knowledge City’ is toprovide the necessary re-sources for entrepreneursgoing through this proc-ess. I would point to suchincubators in the US suchas Y-Combinator or theUnreasonable Institute.They have similar con-cepts: both provide hous-ing, office space and a sti-pend to the entrepre-neurs, but most impor-tantly, coaching andtraining, and vitally, asmall round of seed fi-nancing. They also serveas networking hubs, con-necting entrepreneurs totheir peers, future clients,and further investors. Thebest part about these (es-pecially Y-Combinator) isthat this is not done (sole-ly) out of benevolence ontheir part. In return forwhat they provide, theytake (reasonably-sized)stakes in the companies.Some of the biggest‘stars’ of the Web 2.0 erawere hatched in theshared workspaces of Y-Combinator.

The conferenceIn general, I view my

participation at the con-ference as having two el-ements – the first was inthe meeting rooms, whereI delivered a presentationon how CodeSustainabledesigns and develops so-cial games, and the sec-

,One of the most promis-ing ways in which Tinapacan fully realize its callingas a ‘Knowledge City’ is toprovide the necessary re-sources for entrepreneurs

IT penetration: Our three-in-one strategy, by Johnson

should not be allowed tocontinue if Nigeria mustmove ahead in realizationof its goal of becoming adigital and knowledgebased economy by year2020. Her words:

“What is happeninghere is a collaboration ina way that PresidentJonathan’s administrationis structured and oper-ates. We do not work inisolation. We have beenworking with other stake-holders to birth a pro-gramme that will benefit

our students. The objec-tive of this programme isabout PC penetration. Thethree percent PC penetra-tion for Nigeria is dis-graceful. That is not ac-ceptable to us and weneed to address it.

“We want our studentsto participate meaningful-ly in the digital economyand graduate studentsthat use PC to learn andinteract and contributewell in the global commu-nity. Again, we want toincrease local capacitiesand create jobs. For eve-ry local original equip-

ment manufacturer,OEMs, so that any youngperson can start up hisown company and com-pete with the rest of theworld; building capacityand creating jobs foryoung Nigerians is ourgoal,” she said.

On sustainability, shesaid “the sustainability webrought into this schememakes it different fromprevious and similarschemes that failed. Whatyou see here is a chainand any of these links thatgrows weak is going toaffect this project. That is

why we are not leavingany link behind at ensur-ing that we succeed.”

She then charged all thepartners not be the weaklink in the chain, so thatthe scheme would sur-pass the set target to-wards building a digitaleconomy.

“This programme willtranscend us and every-body that has contributedto it. We will make surethat government play therole it should play as agardener and enablerand a catalyst and not con-tracting anything, she

ond was all the ‘informal’discussions that I hadwith participants (espe-cially the students) dur-ing the time. I found bothto be highly rewarding. Iwas particularly surprisedhowever at intense focuson the topic of security-focused application de-velopment, especially inlight of high barriers toentry in such a market (asituation even more pro-nounced when your com-pany is a small, ‘new-born’ startup. I think thatthe proliferation of AppStores on the various mo-bile platforms totally rev-olutionized the start-upindustry, and chances ofsuccess for small compa-nies with big dreams. Iwould strongly encourageNigeria’s entrepreneursto focus more on it. It willbe to your benefit!

Future prospectsI would be honoured to

continue sharing ideas,mentoring and doingwhat I can to help the in-credible talent that I wit-nessed in Nigeria. At apoint, doing this througha forum hosted on the IS-PON website was men-tioned. In addition, Iwould be most eager toexplore the opportunitiesfor collaboration betweenCodeSustainable andpeople and companies inNigeria to design, devel-op and launch mobile ap-plications for the Nigeri-an market. I believe thisjourney is only begin-ning, and I whole-heart-edly look forward to it.Once again, many thanksto all the organizers, theamazing group of pre-senters, and the futuretycoons of Nigeria that Imet. It would be remiss ofme to not once call outISPON's Chris Uwaje,and thank him for theamazing opportunity,and salute him for a won-derful conference.

Matthew Herren, Co-Founder and ExecutiveDirector of CodeSustain-able wrote in from Zu-rich, Switzerland. Continues on Page 30


After a keenly contest-ed software competitioninvolving 17 schoolsfrom Nigerian tertiaryinstitutions last week atthe African knowledgecity, Tinapa, Calabar,Cross River state, twosoftware innovators fromthe Federal University ofTechnology, Minna, Ni-ger State won the 2012

FUT Minna goes home with ISPONsoftware cup 2012, gets N3.25m prize

*Winners represent young generation of entreprenuers, says Imoke

BY EMEKA AGINAM national software Inno-vation competition orga-nized for students in Ni-gerian tertiary institu-tions.

The second nationalsoftware conference andcompetition with thetheme: “Cloud Comput-ing and the future of soft-ware Nigeria” was orga-nized by the Institute ofSoftware Practitioners ofNigeria, (ISPON) and

hosted by the Cross Riv-er State government.

The software code war-riors, Mr. Olofu Markand Oguntade Temitopefrom the departmentMathematics and Com-puter Science and Elec-trical and Computer En-gineering respectivelyhad during their presen-tation before panel ofjudges showcased inno-vative solution titled :

One School, a one-stopsolution that providesgeneric and unified so-lution to support e-learning, e-teachingand e-school adminis-tration.

Apart from the two mil-lion naira from theCross River State gov-ernment won by theteam for emerging theoverall winner, theteam also received ad-

ditional one million nairafrom the state governmentfor winning Prof. CleopasAngaye Cup as the bestOpen Source SoftwareDeveloper of the Year.

Similarly, the team alsowon Prof. Cleopas An-gaye Cup for the bestOpen Source SoftwareDeveloper of the Yearworth two hundred andfifty thousand naira to beawarded by the Director-General of National Infor-mation Technology Devel-opment Agency, (NITDA).This brings the total prizeaward to three million twohundred and fifty thou-sand naira.

Additionally, the CrossRiver state governmentgave the first runner-upand every category win-ner of the competition onemillion naira each.

According to ISPON,Software licenses are ma-jor challenges to both soft-ware industry and theend-users. It is thereforeimportant that consciousefforts are made to devel-op solutions that are pro-gressively made free tothe society irrespective ofthe users’ platform. Thiscategory of award recog-nizes the best solutiondeveloped using non-pro-prietary platform.

With excitement theGovernor of Cross RiverState Government, Sena-tor Liyel Imoke while pre-

senting the award toldthe gathering on Tuesdaynight that the winnersrepresent a young gen-eration that can competewith anybody in theworld. “Everyone whoparticipated in this pro-cess is a champion” theGovernor said. This isgreat hope for the future.We see no industry thathas propelled economicgrowth than software.There is no greater infra-structure you can devel-op like human being.

“Today provide youwith real opportunity toexpress yourselves. Welook at you as generationof hope. No matter howbrilliant you may be insoftware development,that brilliance must beput to use to the benefitof mankind. You are thefuture bill gates. You areour great leaders.Through you, Nigeriacan be the great; leadingtechnology of the world”he said.

For the ISPON Presi-dent, Chris Uwaje, thesoftware code warriorsrepresent new Nigeria.“Go into the internation-al job market and bewhat you want to be”.ISPON and Cross RiverState Government areproud of you. Nigeria isproud of you. Your futurebegins here” the Oraclesaid to the students.

FOR enhancing student success through

innovative use of technol-ogy in the classroom, thesoftware giant, Microsoft,yesterday announced that18 educators from Nige-ria, Ghana, Jordan, Mau-ritius, Oman, Pakistan,Lebanon, Qatar, Turkey,South Africa, Egypt, UAE,Lesotho, Saudi Arabia,Uganda and Morocco willrepresent the Middle Eastand Africa in the Partnersin Learning Global forumwhich will take place inPrague, Czech Republicfrom November 28 to De-cember 1 2012.

The 18 educators had 15project winners and a rec-ognized top Moroccanhost country project. Theprojects were selectedfrom 90 projects, havingpreviously competed atnational Forums in theirhome countries.

A distinguished panel ofregional judges includingrepresentatives from Ni-geria, Saudi, Egypt,Oman, South Africa,Lesotho, Jordan, Turkey,Indian Ocean Islandsand Morocco — evaluat-ed the 90 educatorprojects.

31 Middle East and Af-rica finalists were an-nounced followed by theaward to the 15 winningprojects.

Meanwhile, the inno-vative educators are notlimited to the following:Ayodele Odeogbolafrom Abeokuta GrammarSchool, Nigeria for Res-cue Mission, Sarah Adeifrom Ghana for ChildLabour; A Child’s Per-spective, Ghadeer Obai-dat and Rania Obaidatfrom Jordan for Glimmerof Hope, Deoranee Sun-no from Mauritius forScience for Eco- Learn-ers, Jamila Al Ghafrifrom Oman for Tell me astory, Munazza Riazfrom Pakistan for AquaCrunch, Yosser Alchidi-ak from Lebanon forWarak Warak Method,Tamer Farghaly fromQatar for Robots in mathand science, OzlemPak-er from Turkey for Com-munications and theDigital Natives, CharliWiggill from South Afri-ca for Braille MemoryGame and Toys for theBlind, Tamer El Kadyand Walid Ibrahim fromEgypt for One Human,One Planet, PraveenAfroaz from UAE forWorld Wild Web, LucilleKabelo Mahlatsi fromLesotho for Literature atour fingertips, MonaAlkhodairi from SaudiArabia for Save the Plan-et and.

18 educators from Africa,Middle East for Microsoftpartners in learning


Obafemi Martins and goalkeeperAustin Ejide will be considered tolead Nigeria against Venezuela on

Wednesday, according to officials.Both skipper Joseph Yobo and his

assistant Vincent Enyeama are not availablefor this game, while Chelsea midfielderMikel Obi opted out of this friendly whichwill serve as a warm-up to the Eagles 2013Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

The Eagles spokesman Ben Alaiya toldMTNFootball.com from Miami, USA, that

MarMarMarMarMartins, Ejide ftins, Ejide ftins, Ejide ftins, Ejide ftins, Ejide fight fight fight fight fight forororororEagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles captaincycaptaincycaptaincycaptaincycaptaincy

*Martins *Austin Ejide

either Martins or Ejide will be given theresponsibility to lead the team out againstLa Vinotinto, as the Venezuela team areknown by their fans.

“The captain and his assistant as wellas Mikel are not here, so the captain’sarm band will be given to ObafemiMartins or Austin Ejide considering theirexperience with the team,” Alaiya said.

“That decision is yet to be taken, but Ican tell you it will be between theseplayers.”

Levante striker Martins is staginga return to the team after a longabsence, while Israel-based Ejide hasbeen part of the national team setupsince 2001.

This will be the second clashbetween Nigeria and Venezuela at fullinternational level after both countries firstmet in a pre-2002 World Cup warm-up forthe Eagles.

The Eagles won that game in Londoncourtesy of an Austin “Jay Jay’ Okocha goal.

It is not only Nigeria that will befielding a make-shift team inMiami, USA when the Super

Eagles take on Venezuela tonight,almost all the countries participatingin international friendlies today andtomorrow will be missing the servicesof most of their regulars in theirsetups.

England manager Roy Hodgsonwill go to Sweden on Wednesdaywith a squad stripped of a number ofkey players.

Theo Walcott is out after limping outof Arsenal’s draw against Fulham onSaturday, joining Wayne Rooney whohad to come off after taking a knockwith 11 minutes left to play inManchester United’s win over AstonVilla.

Jonjo Shelvey, Kyle Walker andAaron Lennon are also now unableto play, prompting Hodgson to callup Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson,Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zahaand Tottenham Hotspur midfielderTom Huddlestone.

Caretaker Scotland manager BillyStark has been hit by ninewithdrawals for the friendly inLuxembourg on Wednesday, butHibernian striker Leigh Griffiths hasbeen given his first call-up.

Goalkeeper David Marshall,defender Phil Bardsley, midfielders

Today ’s latest round of internaround 30 games, the pick of wold European rivals: Italy-France a

Also catching the eye on a day when cwithout the pressure of having to collectSlovakia’s visit to neighbours Czech Repuband Panama’s home game with world and

Italy-FranceSix years on from facing off in the Fina

Germany™, Italy and France meet again into continue their recovery after disappointin

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has opened thand opted for a more expansive style of plback into the top five of the FIFA/Coca-Coowe their recent recovery to former worldDidier Deschamps, the former’s successor

Prandelli will pair bright young things MShaarawy in attack for the first time in ParmPirlo to supply the bullets. As for France, Dtheir recent 1-1 Brazil 2014 qualifying drawhe believes “something big happened” formonths, Yoann Gourcuff could well make h

Netherlands-GermanyWith illness and injury ruling out Mi

respectively, coach Joachim Low has takencredentials of U-21 captain Lewis Holtby aSebastian Jung, who received a call-up foralso be looking to continue his exceptionalimportant run-out against their neighbouselecting his squad on the basis of form, Nehas left out Wesley Sneijder, who has oninjury.

Global sGlobal sGlobal sGlobal sGlobal sfriendliefriendliefriendliefriendliefriendlie

After getting his internationalclearance to appear for theNigerian national team,

Shola Ameobi has revealed his

Ameobi wants to be Nigerian heroAmeobi wants to be Nigerian heroAmeobi wants to be Nigerian heroAmeobi wants to be Nigerian heroAmeobi wants to be Nigerian heroexcitement at getting the call to playagainst Venezuela on Wednesday inan international friendly match.

“I’m really excited about it andhopefully I can go and meet up withthe rest of the guys and see wherewe go from here,” Ameobi told theDaily Mail.

“My focus right now is gettingthrough this week and really lookingforward to the game next weekendagainst Swansea,” he added.

The 31-year old also revealed hislingering desire to make aninternational career.

“You’d be a fool if you didn’t want toplay at the very highest level andcertainly I’m no fool.

“I want to play at the top as everyother player does - that’s what drivesme and that’s why I’m still herewanting to play in the PremierLeague.

“Newcastle United will always beNo 1 for me, that is the bread andbutter so that is something we’ll lookat.

Club chiefs, acting on the instruction ofowner Roman Abramovich, have made itclear to Falcao that they want to activate

the release clause in his Atletico Madrid contract.Goal.com understands that the Colombian

striker has responded to the interest by tellingChelsea that he wants to move to StamfordBridge in the winter window.

Despite competing enquiries in the 26-year-oldfrom Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain,Falcao is now destined for a switch to StamfordBridge at the turn of the year.

The deal is a complex one because of third-party ownership issues - with super agent JorgeMendes part of a consortium holding an interestin Falcao - but Chelsea have intensified theirefforts to land the front man in recent weeks in abid to ensure the transfer can be completed inJanuary.

The European champions have made Falcao acontract offer and it is believed that personal termshave already been agreed on a deal that is likelyto make the striker one of the highest paid playersin Premier League history.

Chelsea closein on •60mFalcao


ManciniManciniManciniManciniManciniready tready tready tready tready tooooosellsellsellsellsellBaloBaloBaloBaloBalotttttelliellielliellielliManchester City will explore the possibility of selling

Mario Balotelli in January if he does not heed thelatest wake-up call from manager Roberto Mancini.

Balotelli watched Sunday’s win over Tottenham from thestands after he was left out of the squad altogether for whatMancini described as a ‘technical’ reason, and then flew backto Italy for Wednesday’s international against France amidfresh speculation over his future in England.

It is understood that Mancini wants to see a dramaticimprovement from the 22-year-old striker whose impact onthe pitch – just two goals in 13 appearances this season – nolonger justifies the distraction he causes.

Balotelli was spotted partying by City fans the night beforethe Spurs game. He was seen entering the Panacea Restaurantand Bar in Alderley Edge at 1am — with City kicking off at1.30pm against Spurs that afternoon.

Balotelli had been axed from the City squad the previousday and told he was not required at the team hotel that night.

Although Balotelli had not officially broken any rules bybeing out as he was not in the squad, the latest indiscretionhas not gone down well.

Crystal Palace co-owner Stephen Browett says interestedparties would have to pay £20million for Wilfried Zaha.

The 20-year-old winger has been linked with a step-upinto the Premier League for some time, having impressedon a consistent basis in the Championship.

A big-money move in January has been widely touted for aman drafted into the latest senior England squad.

Browett insists Palace have no intention of allowing Zahato leave, but has made it clear that were their hand to beforced, it would take a sizeable fee to land the youngster.

“If you finish last in the Premier League you get £60m andwith parachute payments over four years you are guaranteed£100m,” he said, with the Eagles pushing hard for promotion.

“The figure of £20m has been talked about and that has letinterested clubs know we are serious.”

PalacePalacePalacePalacePalacewantwantwantwantwant£20m£20m£20m£20m£20mfor Zahafor Zahafor Zahafor Zahafor Zaha

With one last lunge of 2012, Novak Djokovic sent anastonishing backhand pass down the line, over thehighest point of the net, to leave Roger Federer

flailing despairingly in defeat.If there is a signature for the current golden era of men’s

tennis it is the 25-year-old Serb’s extraordinary ability to coverthe court and deliver winners from anywhere, and this is theimage that will linger as the sport heads into its brief off-season.

That parting shot sealed a 7-6, 7-5 victory over the indoormaster himself, who brought his best game to the court andhis Barmy Army to the O2 Arena.

DjokDjokDjokDjokDjokooooovic,vic,vic,vic,vic,simplysimplysimplysimplysimplythethethethethebestbestbestbestbest

James Morrison, Shaun Maloney, Charlie Adam,Matt Phillips, Barry Bannan and strikers StevenFletcher and Jamie Mackie have all pulled out.

Germany will be missing the services ofinfluential midfielder Mesuit Ozil while Hollandwill also do battle without prolific scorer, Robbinvan Persie.

*Van Persie *Rooney

*Mikel

national friendlies featureswhich are meetings involvingand Netherlands-Germany.oaches can perm their playerst valuable qualifying points areblic, USA’s match-up with Russia,European champions Spain.

al of the 2006 FIFA World Cupn Parma, with both sides anxiousng showings at South Africa 2010.e door to the country’s youngsterslay, which has seen them climb

ola World Ranking, while Franced champions Laurent Blanc andr in the dugout.Mario Balotelli and Stephan El

ma and ask the evergreen AndreaDeschamps is looking to build onw away to Spain, a game in whichr his team. Frozen out for severalhis return to Les Bleus’ line-up.

iroslav Klose and Mesut Oziln the opportunity to examine thend Eintracht Frankfurt defenderr the first time. Mario Gotze willl recent run of form in what is anurs and long-time foes. Despiteetherlands coach Louis van Gaalnly just returned from his thigh

spotlight falls onspotlight falls onspotlight falls onspotlight falls onspotlight falls oneseseseses

MassMassMassMassMasswithdrwithdrwithdrwithdrwithdrawawawawawals hitals hitals hitals hitals hitinternationalinternationalinternationalinternationalinternationalfriendliesfriendliesfriendliesfriendliesfriendlies

2006 Wolrd Cup final between France and Italy

30—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER, 14, 2012

IT penetration...

demic studies of the stu-dents and include up todate payment as part ofthe procedure. Universi-ties will also ensure thatstudents coming into thisare regular students andgenuine.

The whole process willbe managed by a porter,as it is going to betechnology driven andinformation driven. Theconsortium assured thatthe prices were negotiat-ed with OEMs and thatthe products will be com-parable with those in themarket and payment willmade over a period of 15to 18 months.

Also speaking at theevent, the Executive Sec-retary of Nigerian Univer-sity Commission, NUC,Prof. Julius Okojie de-scribed the scheme as alaudable project saidpledged the willingnessof NUC to partner withthe stakeholders to ensurethe success of the scheme.

He however, called forthe expansion of thescheme to other tertiaryinstitutions in the countryto boost the PC penetra-tion and enhance learn-ing process.

“This is a good project,the NUC buys into it.NUC will ensure qualityeducation in Nigeria andwould not hesitate to sup-port anyone working inthis direction. The CTministry is a worthy part-ner.

This project would helpto address the challengeof poor access toinformation and technol-ogy. I lend my voice insaying that this should notbe limited to the 12 uni-versities alone. It will beuseful and meaningful ifthe project is expanded tocapture the entire univer-sity system. This shouldbe the drive because whatis good for these pilot uni-versities will be good forothers. You have done theuniversity system a lot ofgood,” he added.

Speaking on behalf ofthe OEMs, ManagingDirector of VEDA Com-puters, Bode Pedro saidthe OEMs were glad forthe opportunity giventhem to showcase theircapacity and boost theirmarket share in the coun-try. He assured theirreadiness to work withinthe given guidelines andspecifications.


BARING any inter- vention from the fed-

eral government Nigeriansmay soon pay different pric-es for using telephones de-pending on which part ofthe country they live or dobusiness at.

This is because the tele-com operators have decid-ed to hike call and other ser-vices tariffs to recoup someinvestments they describeas unwarranted becausesome states allegedly takelaws into their hands to in-troduce double taxes andforcefully, illegally closedown telecom facilities.

The operators complainedthat having done every-thing to see that these ob-noxious acts stopped to noavail, it has decided to upits service prices in stateswhere such acts are perpe-trated to recoup such extraspending.

Giving backing to the in-tended action, Chairman ofthe Association of LicensedTelecom Operators of Ni-geria ALTON, Engr Gben-ga Adebayo, said that sub-

Why telecom tariff may soondiffer between states BY PRINCE OSUAGWU scribers in states that were

hostile to service providersthrough tax administrationwould pay more for tele-coms services.

For him, “What we aregoing to do is to adjust themeter so that people mak-ing calls from such statespay more than what othersare paying,”

Adebayo who addressedjournalists in Lagos, week-end on the issue, beratedthe continued indiscrimi-nate closure of telecom sitesand said that operators haddecided not to reopen anysite closed down by stategovernments without acourt order but will visit thesituation with discriminato-ry tariff regime.

He regretted the poortelecom services witnessedacross the country in recenttimes but blamed it on twofactors – natural and manmade disasters.

Man made andnatural Disasters

According to him, “inSeptember 2012, we hadsignificant attacks and

destruction of telecom-munications Base Trans-ceiver Stations (BTS)and other infrastructurein some parts of North-ern Nigeria. The attacks,which occurred in theearly hours of the 5th,6th 7th and 8th of Sep-tember 2012 and otherincidences afterwards,resulted in severe servicedisruptions in the areasprimarily affected and byextension other parts ofthe country. The attackshave since limited theability of millions of Ni-gerian subscribers to ac-cess telecommunicationsservices.

Floods“In recent times some

parts of the country wit-nessed unprecedentedflood due to high waterlevels, one in the histo-ry of the country. Thisflood in some cases com-pletely destroyed Tele-com Transceiver sites(BTS) along its pathleading to significantservice disruption in the

affected areas, with con-sequential impact on ser-vice availability in someother parts that were notaffected by the flood.

Other than disruptionto services, our membershave lost equipmentworth several billion ofNaira to the flood disas-ter across the Country.Over additional 300 BTSsites were affected by theFlood.

Closure of telecomfacilities

“In addition to theabove issues faced byour industry, we contin-ue to face closures offunctional sites by Agen-cies of Government, andwe hereby draw the at-tention of the FederalGovernment and thegeneral public to thecontinuous incessantand unlawful closure oftelecommunication facil-ity sites by some individ-uals, communities andindeed State authorities,in spite of the disastersthat we face”.


Prof. Akin Osibogun, Chief Medical Director, La-gos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH (left); MrOla Ijimakin, GM, Marketing, Fidson HealthCarePlc and others during the Walk For Life to markthe 50th anniversary of the Hospital in Lagos. Photo:Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

From left: Mr. Akinfela Akoni, President, Oxford and Cambridge Club of Ni-geria; Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of ForeignAffairs, representing President Goodluck Jonathan; Mr, Paul Kagame, President ofthe Republic of Rwanda/guest speaker and Ms Omobola Johnson, Minister of Com-munication & Technology, at the 2012 Spring lecture, organised by the club.

Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, Nigeria House of Representatives(right) and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, during thelaunch of Africa Municipal and Local Government Unions Network andconferment of award of Grand Patron of AMALGUN to the governor inAbuja. Photo: Henry Unini.

From left: Mr. Song Wei, Director, Star Time Mo-bile Television; Mr. Aminu Muritala, Technical Man-ager, and Mr. Yomi Badejo, Managing Director CMCCornect, at briefing in Lagos. Photo: KehindeGbadamosi.

Chairman, Amuwo Odofin LCDA, Mr. AyodeleAdewale (2nd left) and others during the inspec-tion of on-going construction of Asiwaju BolaTinubu legislative building (Freedom House) inLagos.

THE VANGUARD STAFF WALK

From right: CSP Lanre Ogunlowo, DPO, Kirikiri Police Station, Apapa, Lagos,Mr Sola Ogundipe, Health Editor, Vanguard; Vanguard Corporate Affairs Man-ager, Mr Victor Omoregie; Mr. Hassan Balogun of Vanguard,and Mr Soji Olawale,Vanguard Business Manager. Photos: Diran Oshe.

From right: Mr Sola Ogundipe , Health Editor. Vanguard; Mr VictorOmoregie, Vanguard Corporate Affairs Manager, and Mr. K. O. Adigunof Federal Road Safety Commission, Apapa, Lagos.

The walk being led by Vanguard staff and other participants. Cross section of Vanguard Staff.


BRIEFS‘Pension contribution can provide long termfunds for developmental projects’

AS contributions into thenew pension scheme

continue to grow,stakeholders are canvassingthat part of the fund shouldbe set aside for repairing thecountry’s decayedinfrastructure. In thisinterview, Managing Directorof Stanbic IBTC Pensions, Mr.Demola Sogunle, said thatutmost care should be takenin making such investment soas not to waste pensioners’money.

What role do you thinkpension funds can play inbridging Nigeria’s financingrequirements?

A common challenge inNigeria has been matchinglong term developmentalgoals with short term capitalfunding. The pension fundsprovide an opportunity tomatch long-term projects withlong-term funds; however thefiduciary responsibility of allstakeholders must be met toensure that at the end,everyone is better off. Thework to be done now is settingup the institutional frameworkthat ensures people’spensions, 10 -30 – 40 yearsfrom now don’t get swallowedin projects. It is alsoimportant that fixed incomesecurities, floated to financelong term projects such asinfrastructure, are structuredin such a way as to protect thecontributors against inflation,which can erode the realreturns on such instrumentsin the long term.

Do you feel enough isbeing done by keystakeholders to raiseawareness and enlightenpeople about pension mattersin the country? What morecould be done?

A lot is being done already,but more can be done. Justbeing here and talking to youis one way of doing more.Basically, as manycommunication channels aspossible must be used tospread the message about thenew scheme. Probably, thevoices of religious andtraditional leaders will lead tomore awareness; that is oneavenue yet to be fullyexploited.

Stanbic IBTC PensionManagers has been inoperation for less than adecade, what have been thekey drivers of your rapidgrowth?

We can attribute that to a fewfactors; firstly, people. Frominception we have beenfortunate to assemble a worldclass team of professionals,their ideas, commitment andenergy is one of the keydrivers of the business today.The second factor is vision; the

,

,

Niger InsuranceNiger InsuranceNiger InsuranceNiger InsuranceNiger Insurancegets award forgets award forgets award forgets award forgets award fordynamism,dynamism,dynamism,dynamism,dynamism,excellenceexcellenceexcellenceexcellenceexcellence

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

Niger Insurance Plc hasreceived the Best

Enterprise award, aprestigious European awardon quality and management,given to reputableorganisations with niche forexcellence.

The award was given toNiger Insurance by EuropeBusiness Assembly (EBA) forthe company’s dynamism andreliability.

During the award ceremonyin Oxford, United Kingdomrecently, the company ’sManaging Director, Dr. JustusUranta, was also presentedwith an award as the “BestManager of the Year” andgiven a personal certificate.

EBA’s Director General, Mr.John Netting, pointed out thatthe company’s receipt of theinternational prize will extendthe business frontier of NigerInsurance and attract positiveattention of world businesssociety to the organisation.

He further explained that byvirtue of the award, NigerInsurance’s data will beplaced in the official catalogueand the dynamic companies’European list; while the dataof the company ’s ChiefExecutive Officer will beplaced in the official catalogueand the successful managers’European list.

InsuranceInsuranceInsuranceInsuranceInsuranceindusindusindusindusindustrtrtrtrtry ty ty ty ty to geto geto geto geto getdirectdirectdirectdirectdirectorororororyyyyyThe insurance industry

would soon get adirectory to boost the ongoinginsurance awarenesscampaign.

The Insurance DirectoryProject, a baby ofInspenonline, has beenendorsed by the insuranceregulator, National InsuranceCommission, and all the tradegroups in the industry -Nigerian Insurers Association(NIA), Nigerian Council ofRegistered Insurance Brokers(NCRIB) and the CharteredInsurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN). The Editor ofInspenonline, Mr. Chuks UdoOkonta, said the process ofproducing the directory hascommenced, and collection ofrelevant data from operatorsand ancillary professionals inthe industry. He said theproject has become necessarydue to the depth of awarenessabout insurance operations inthe country. He noted that theproject when completedwould bring insurance closedto the public and help stemthe rate of fake insurances.

From left: Mr. Wale Onaolapo, guest speaker at the education seminar of theChartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, and Mr. Wole Adetimehin,President of the CIIN.

board and management havekept faith with the core visionof the business. It is a visionfounded upon strongconvictions that avenues doexist in our nation for wealthcreation and preservation.Also, sound professionalsexist who can midwife suchportfolios for the entire stretchof 10 to 50 years. Being partof the Standard Bank Groupreinforces that belief of 150years of service and wealthcreation in Africa.

What is your take on

Delayed and irregularpayment of retirementbenefits and what is StanbicIBTC Pension Managersdoing to ensure prompt andeasy access to retirementbenefits by its customers?

We keep introducing newways to ensure that at thepoint of submitting theapplication all documents andissues are ironed out. Thedocumentation process andcalculations done at the pointof submission is vital, mostdelays can be avoided if theright sets of documents aresubmitted at the right time,however different companieshave several ways of

handling staff retirement anddisengagement, so some ofthese internal companyprocesses do not align withthe pension laws. Suchorganisations are notified ofwhat is required andamendments are graduallybeing made. Also ifbottlenecks do arise, weimmediately contact the clientthrough multiple channelslike SMS, phone calls andemails. This way the issuesare quickly addressed.

How is Stanbic IBTC

Pension Managers able toovercome this challenge?

The information is in thepublic domain, there isnothing hidden. The fundperformance of PFAs is shownon their respective websitesand on the PenCom website.Annually, PFAs and PFCs arestatutorily required to publishthe financial reports of theirRetirement Savings AccountPortfolios. The industry istransparent. In SIPML, we doall these without fail

What differentiates StanbicIBTC Pension Managersfrom other Pension FundAdministrators?

I would say it is the people.

operations in Nigeria,considering its StandardBank heritage?

Yes, we are leveraging ourparentage to introduce arobust IT platform forimproved operations andservice quality. In addition,we have rode on the mobileelectronic banking platform tointroduce multiple remoteaccess points for our clients tomake enquiries and checktheir RSA balances via email,cell phone, short code and thelatest cardless transaction onATM

Although Stanbic IBTCPension Managers isamongst Nigeria’s foremostPFA, what goals have you setfor the company in themedium and long-term?

Beyond our borders, SIPMLhas served as a reference pointfor similar businesses in WestAfrica. Hence, in the longterm we aim to be Africa’sreference point for pensionmanagement. Thedemographics andinstitutional architecture ofmost African nations are verydifferent from Europe, Asiaand America; hence how wemanage pensions in Africashould be slightly different.Also, we aim to out-performour past in terms of deliveryof quality service. Wehonestly believe there aremany things that could bedone better regardingturnaround time for payments,communication with clientsand sensitising employersabout the need to participatein the scheme.

If you takethe same setof peopleinto a newb u s i n e s stoday andgive themthe sameamount oftime, youwill probablyget the sameresults moreor less. It isall aboutcommitment.

Are thereany lessonsfrom otherm a r k e t swhere thecontributoryp e n s i o nscheme hasworked thatS t a n b i cI B T CP e n s i o nManagers isbringing tobear on its

Probably, the voices ofreligious and traditionalleaders will lead to moreawareness; that is oneavenue yet to be fullyexploited

34— Vanguard,WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

BY VERA SAMUELANYAGAFU

OWING to thei n c e s s a n t

complaintsfrom Nigeriansresident in several countriesaround the globe,intending Nigeriaapplicants who seek entryinto different countries forvarious reasons shouldendeavor not to take suchdecision in a hurry.

It is imperative that theycarry out properinvestigation, concerningcountries of interest and ifthe desired countries haveinstituted laws that may notbe foreigner friendly, theyshould reconsider theirplans. This is to avoiddeportation, leaving themworse than they were,while in Nigeria

Health implicationsSome countries

experience severe climateconditions and when anapplicant declines his/herhealth conditions and getsexposed to a weather thatis unfriendly to his health,the effect is alwayshazardous and in mostcases could lead to death.

Those who are promised

How not to offend the law in foreign landmillions of dollars to traffic/smuggle drugs throughseveral healthcompromising routes,should have it at the backof their minds that there is99% chance that it could putan end to their lives,because it is like a timebomb waiting to explode.

Therefore, you arepromptly advised not to, forany reason put your health/life on the line for anyamount of money, if you arecaught in possession ofeven the least quantity ofdrug in some countriesabroad, it is death sentence.

Work typeHaving prior knowledge

about the kind of work,business or study that youintend to indulge in, isinstrumental toexperiencing a better stayin countries of choice.

Most Nigeria womenhave become trapped inforeign land for the fact thatthey failed to get themselvesproperly equipped withinformation concerningcountries they intend tomigrate to, thereby, falling

victims of circumstance andbearers of distorted dreams.

It is noted that bothNigeria men and womenare desperately seeking anescape from grindingpoverty, yet the conditions

THE US consulate lastweek in Lagos, held a

lecture in support of theglobal importance attachedto urban development.

The lecture by USspeaker Shawn Strange onUrban Planning and PolicyAnalysis for stakeholdersand professionals in sectorssuch as; Policy Makers,Consultants, TownPlanners, Architects,Engineers, civil society,Real Estate Developers,e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t s ,infrastructure providersand Public PrivatePartnership Collaborators

US partners practical Habitat on urban developmentUS partners practical Habitat on urban developmentUS partners practical Habitat on urban developmentUS partners practical Habitat on urban developmentUS partners practical Habitat on urban development

BY PRISCA SAM-DURU

they are made to go throughin foreign lands can not beexchanged for the freedomin their home country, nomatter the cost.

In order to pay for theirtravel, many of them incur

massive debts, with lustfulhopes that a lucrativeregular job awaits them atthe other end.

And in a case wherebytheir dreams were on thenegative, they get

themselves prepared toundergo various illcommitments so as to makesure they repay the moneyon pain of death or insanity.

All these excess practicesto acquire wealth, is in factnot justifiable.

was organized incollaboration with Practicalhabitat Ltd, a leadinghousing solutionscompany.

The program was alsodesigned to serve as astrategic workshop toDevelop dynamic andpractical Regional andUrban Planning policies toprotect the interests of allkey stakeholders from theGovernment at all levels,citizenry, developers,financiers as well asmortgage providers.

Speaking on thesignificance of theworkshop, Mr. Shawn M.Strange, Program Managerof the SustainabilityEducation and Economic

Development (SEED)Center, an initiative of theAmerican Association ofCommunity Colleges(AACC), Washington, DC,provided a model that canbe utilized whenapproaching solutions tocritical issues.

He spoke extensively onGeographic InformationSystems (GIS) in additionto their quantitativecapabilities and qualitativeopportunities. Strange alsodiscussed how these toolscan be used in displayingdata on migration oreconomic activity as well asmore complex datacompositions such ascommunity resilience,some political and socialindexes, and climate

modeling data, adding thatsuch a model can exposeareas of climate insecurityand vulnerability at acontinental level.

Mr Strange who furtherdivided his research intoAcademic, civil society,private sector and localgovernment partnershipsnoted that the model canidentify common issues inspecific geographiclocations that make the useof mapping tools valuabledue to their inherentrepresentational naturestressing that through thismodel, a facilitated processemerges for all participants,particularly at the academiclevel with the contributionof local government andcommunity input.

MIDWEEKSERMON

withSAM EYOBOKA

[email protected]


Okposo, Ayefele, Ekiyefor Oritsejafor's triple ju-bileeIn no time, Boko Haram'll become history— OsasuyiMost (Snr) Apostle Joshua Osasuyi (JP, MFR)

is the Spiritual Leader/General Overseer,Christ’s Chosen Church of God with headquar-ters in Benin City, Edo State. In this interviewby GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE the man of Godwho is preparing to celebrate his 50th anniver-sary in the Lord’s Vineyard, he spoke on con-temporary national issues.

On the state of insecurity in the country, heblamed the emergence of the Islamic Sect, BokoHaram on certain individuals who do not wishthe country well, insisting that no religionpreaches violence. He prophesied that BokoHaram would soon fade away in the history ofthe country.

While lamenting the poor handling of theBakassi Peninsula issue by the Federal Gov-ernment, he appealed to the government to im-mediately resettle the displaced people just ashe described the suggestion that churchesshould pay tax to the government as satanicand from the pit of hell.

Excerpts:

Nigeria has just cele-brated its 52nd Indepen-dent Anniversary. What isyour assessment of thejourney so far?

I wi l l say so far, sogood. We have had ourcha l l enges a s soc ia t edwith any developing so-ciety. The good news isthat in spite of our differ-ences, we are still a peo-p le un i t ed under onecountry and God.

One of the major prob-lems facing the countrycurrently is the state ofinsecurity caused by theactivities of the Islamicsect, Boko Haram. Whatis your comment on this?

I have mentioned in sev-eral fora that Boko Haramis the creation of somepersons who are ignorantand do not mean well forNige r i a . No re l ig ionpreaches violence. Islamand Christianity are an-chored on one great man,‘Abraham’ or is it ‘Ibra-him’. If this is true, howcan brothers and sistersbe f ighting and kil l ingthemselves? I prophesythat in no time, the name“Boko Haram” sha l lbecome history.

How do you see the kill-

ing of Christians in theNorth with Muslim lead-ers looking the otherway?

I just gave you the an-swer: ignorance, lack ofunderstanding and illiter-acy. No educated youthwould d ie fo r ano therwithout cogent reasons.If any leader pushes thechild of another to die,

death would await in amost tragic manner hisown because it is what aman sows that he reaps.

What is your comment

on the Federal govern-ment’s handling of the

What is your view on the

handling of the currentflood disaster by NEMA,Federal Government andthe affected states?

Well, no one thought itwould take this dimen-sion. I believe that all theorgans o f governmenthave done their best . Ibelieve they would notrest until succor is givento all the victims. I call onother well-meaning Nige-rians to also assist our fel-low brothers and sisters.

How do you think that

future occurrences canbe averted?

Dams should be con-s t ructed and the RiverNiger be dredged.

There is the call that

churches should now paytax to the government.What is your take onthis?

The church is a charita-ble organisation made upof people who pay theirtaxes to government. Anysuch suggestion that the

you with a national award.What is your comment onthis?

I feel great that the Fed-eral Government recogn-ised what we are doinghere. We bless God for thehonour bestowed on thechurch.

And also a Benin-based

newspaper, Merit MediaLtd nominated you as manof God of the year 2012represent ing South-South of Nigeria. What isyour reaction?

Again, the reaction isthe same. If I am nominat-ed from among al l thegreat men of God in theregion, then we must ap-preciate Him for this ho-nour which I believe is formy church and God.

By Januaryyear, you

will be celebrating 50years as a Minister ofGod. What is the journeyso far?

We thank God for Hisgrace. The journey hasbeen ve ry in t e re s t ingf i l led with chal lenges ,landmines, obstacles andproblems. In all, God hasbeen faithful making mean overcomer. To be in theministry for half a centu-ry can only be possible byHis Grace and mercies.

What is your comment

on the involvement ofchurches in running ed-ucational institution?

Ordinarily, the church-es ought to take charge ofthe running of education-al inst i tut ions so as toproperly mold our futureleaders to respectable andGod-fearing ci t izens. Ithink the church shouldbe more involved.

What is your assess-

ment of Governor Oshi-omhole’s achievements infour years in office andyour advice for his secondterm?

Simple, he has done hisbest as a human being andthis was appreciated bythe number of people whovoted for him in the justconcluded gubernatorialelect ion. My advice tohim is that on this secondterm, he should remainfocussed and beware ofsycophants, political job-bers who sing hallelujahtoday and crucify him to-morrow.

Messages to Nigerians

as Christmas approach.As Chr i s tmas i s ap -

proaching, it is my prayerthat all Nigerians wouldcelebrate in peace. Youmust avoid rancor, ill-feel-ing and violence. Christ isthe P r ince o f peace .Therefore, as we celebrateChristmas, we must allshield our swords and beour brothers’ keeper.

Bakassi Peninsula issue?Nigeria had the opportu-

nity to appeal against thejudgment of the Interna-tional Court of Justice atThe Hague. The govern-men t took th ings fo rgranted. It is painful thatwe have lost part of ourterritory. For now, I canonly advise the govern-ment to properly resettleour brothers and sistersdisplaced.

church should pay tax issatanic and from the pit ofhell. It would also amountto double taxation. How-ever, when churches havecommercial outfits likeschools , hosp i ta l s andprinting press, then suchoutfits should pay leviesnot the church.

Recently, the Federal

Government honoured

Most (Snr) Apostle Joshua Osasuyi

Benue First Lady urgeswomen to pray for peacein Nigeria

BY PETER DURU,MAKURDI

B ENUE State FirstLady and Chairperson

of the Northern Governor'sWives Forum, Mrs. YemisiSuswam has urged Nigerianwomen to rise up to thesecurity and developmentalchallenges facing the coun-try by raising their voices incry and prayers to God forpeace to reign in Nigeria.

Mrs. Suswam who spokein Makurdi at the 36thmonthly Breakfast PrayerFellowship with the theme:"The enemy of the womanand her seed" which sheorganised for women of Be-nue State.

She urged them to set upaltars in their homes andcontinually pray for thecountry and the leaders.

She said: "Our prayers aswomen avails much. So Ienjoin women of our state

and country to pull them-selves together and go downon their knees because if weas women cry unto God Hewill definitely heal our land."

She urged Nigerians not tobe their own enemies butensure peaceful coexistencewherever they find them-selves, adding: "We, Nigeri-ans, cannot afford to contin-ue to be our own enemies.We must eschew all acts thatcreate bad blood, violenceand crisis in our country.

"We must all join hands asa people who were broughttogether by destiny and up-hold the unity of our coun-try so that peace andprogress can reign in ourcountry."

Mrs. Suswam further en-joined women to always re-spect and honour their hus-bands to engender peace inthe family and the largersociety.

Martins urges youths torejoice in spite of all odds

THE Archbishop ofMetropolitan See of

Lagos, Most Rev. AlfredMar t ins has urged theyouths not to be despairirrespective of uncertain-t i e s , pa ins and s t r e s sprevalent in the society.

He made the call duringthe Ca tho l i c You thOrganisation of Nigeria(CYON) 2012 NationalRetreat with the theme:“Rejoice in the Lord Al-ways” at Sacred HeartCatholic Church, Apapa,Lagos.

Martins who was repre-sented by Msgr. AnthonyErinle , Dean of ApapaDeanery and Pa r i shPriest, St Charles Cathe-dral Church, Olodi Apapa,Lagos, said: “Unfortu-na te ly, many o f theyouths of this generationand age find little or noreason to rejoice especial-ly when one considers thespirit of the time they livein. They are surroundedby a secular world thathas lost the sense of sinand God. They are facedwith the problems of poore d u c a t i o n ,unemployment, poverty,corrupt ion, unfulf i l leddreams and other sundrynega t ives tha t pa in t ab leak p ic tu re o f thefuture.

“They are buffeted andbesieged by the modernculture and promotes ab-so lu te f r eedom, f r ee -thinking, relativism and‘anything goes’ way oflife. They are browbeaten

by the virus in informa-t ion t echno logy tha tdrains their brains, viti-ates their potentials andglorifies sexual promiscu-ity. As a result of escapeand in pursuit of ‘lasting’happiness they resort toall kind of wrongdoingsranging from anarchicaladven tu res , v io lence ,drugs, alcoholism, immo-rality, felony, to countlessunwholesome behav-iours.”

The cleric, therefore,urged the youths to re-joice in the Lord because"only in God in whom welive, move and have ourbeings, is our hearts atpeace."

On his part,NBationalPresident of CYON, MrDavid Dzalla, condemnedthe continued inhumanetreatment "on fellow citi-zens by members of BokoHaram sect.

According to him, "wesay unequivocally, thatno th rea t i s s t rongenough to d issuade usfrom our Catholic faith. Wes t rong ly be l i eve andknow that the menace ofBoko Haram can bechecked i f au thor i ty,particularly, our nothernelite will thread the path ofsincerity.

"The aspirations of ourpromising youths are sacri-ficed on the altar of unguid-ed quest for power. We canno longer travel within ourcountry without having ourhearts in our mouth due tounannounced kidnappings,bombings, manslaughter asin Ebonyi, Port Harcourt andMubi."

BY ETOP EKANEM

PromotingPrivatisation,Deregulation,andLiberalisation

Although successfulmacroeconomic stabilisation was

necessary to restore economic growth,it was not sufficient. To get to the 7percent per year growth rate targetedin NEEDS and sustain it, we needed tocomplement macroeconomicstabilisation with a set of micro economicreforms designed to change thedirection and structure of the economyand lay the basis for longer-term growth.We focused on sectors and areas thatour analysis showed were large drainson public finances or were blockingprivate-sector activity and in whicheconomic activity tended to be marredby corruption and the role of the statewas a hindrance rather than a help toeconomic growth.

We targeted deregulation andliberalisation of the telecommunicationssector, the downstream petroleumsector, and the power sector;privatisation of hundreds of public-sector enterprises; reform of the civilservice; reform of the trade, tariff, andcustoms regime; and restructuring andconsolidation of the banking sector.

Liberalising importantsectors of the economy andprivatizing public enterprises

Between 1973 and 1999, the FederalGovernment of Nigeria invested theequivalent of about US$100 billion in590 public enterprises, 160 of themcommercial, in virtually every sector ofthe economy, from petroleum refineries

to flour mills, from telephone andelectric power companies to radiostations, from oil palm plantations to carassembly plants. By the early 1980s, withoil revenues dwindling, the financialburden of maintaining these enterpriseshad become overwhelming.

The fiscal unsustainability of the publicenterprises was an indication of broaderproblems. Often they were not onlypoorly managed but were also hotbedsof corruption, resulting in severeinefficiencies in operation and poorservice delivery.

State-owned enterprises dependedpredominantly on financial support fromthe government, which came throughseveral direct and indirect means. Theseincluded direct subventions from thebudget for workers’ payments, annualgrants awarded for capital accumulation,discounted loans, guaranteed third-party loans to enterprises, import dutywaivers, exemptions from taxesapplicable to comparable privatecompanies, and monopoly privileges.But there were further drains on theTreasury, in the form of their very lowrates of return - O.5 percent, on average- forgone taxes on profits,mismanagement of assets, and baddebts. Between 1992 and 1999, publicenterprises consumed an average US$3billion per year in direct and indirectsubsidies, the Bureau of PublicEnterprises estimated.

Nigeria was not the only country thatcreated state-owned enterprises. In the1960s and the 1970s, many of the newlyindependent African countries did thesame. In those years, the view of therole of the state was vastly different.There was a much more interventionistideology that saw the state not just asan enabler or a regulator of privateenterprise but as a producer of goodsand services. First, the government wasseen as the primary driver of economicdevelopment, and it was expected toprovide critical infrastructure and

services such as power, transportation,and telecommunications at affordableprices to support economic activity inthe economy. Second, given the relativeweakness of the existing private sectorafter independence and the limitedprivate capital available for investments,the government also participatedactively in other sectors, includingmanufacturing, finance, and hospitality.Government spending and investmentwere expected to produce multipliereffects in various sectors of the economy.Third, against the backdrop ofnationalism, the government wanted toencourage indigenous enterprises inthe place or absence of those run by thecolonial powers. Fourth, by promotinglocal production of goods and services,the government sought to reduceimports, in line with the prevailingimport-substitution theory of the time.

The government proved to be a badmanager of businesses, however, and a

poor and inefficientdeliverer of basic ser-vices. Most publicenterprises were per-sistently in a precar-ious financial posi-tion, generating sig-nificant debts andlosses. Often unableto pay workers’ sala-ries, they also hadhuge pension liabili-

ties - more than a trillion naira (US$8.3million) in 2003.

Moreover, the enterprises sufferedfrom a great deal of political interfer-ence in the running of their affairs.More than 5,000 board seats were saidto have been created, conferring enor-mous patronage powers on politicalleaders. Board members often sawthemselves not as responsible for over-seeing the organisations for the benefitof the Nigerian public, but as benefi-ciaries of financial payback for theirpolitical contributions. Managementdecisions became infected with personaland political agendas costly to the econ-omy. Four examples of poor perfor-mance and poor service delivery illus-trate this state of affairs.

Electric Power

NEPA, the Nigerian Electric Power Au-thority - also said in Nigeria to standfor Never Expect Power Always - was agiant public utility responsible for gen-erating, transmitting, and distributingelectricity. It consistently delivered oneof the lowest levels of average per cap-ita electricity production in the world.In 1999, when President Obasanjo tookoffice, a review of the sector showed thatno new plants had been built and nomajor overhauls of existing plants hadtaken place for a decade, that only 19 of79 generating units were in operation,and that no transmission lines had beenbuilt since 1987. One-fourth of the av-erage start-up cost for a business wasfor private power generation, and vir-tually all Nigerian manufacturing firmsand small and medium size enterpris-es had back-up generators.!

Telecommunications

The Nigerian Telecommunications com-pany (NITEL), a 50-year-old govern-ment telecommunications monopoly,had been able to provide only 450,000land lines to Nigerians by 1999, whenPresident Obasanjo first opened thesector for licensing of new mobile pro-viders. NITEL’s mobile telephony arm,MTEL, has never been able to compete.

Oil and Gas

At the center of Nigeria’s complex oiland gas sector is Nigeria’s giant petro-leum company, the Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation, which controlsboth the upstream sector (that is, ex-ploration and production) and the down-stream sector (including four refineriesthat scarcely function despite repeatedinvestments in turn-around mainte-nance). Because of the country’s mori-bund refineries, very little of the refin-ing is done in the country; almost allthe refined products are imported.Moreover, prices of refined petroleumproducts were heavily subsidised, withsubsidies running close to 40 percent

A bookbookbookbookbook you must read

Continues on Page 37

•Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

Yesterday...Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, formerManaging Director of the WorldBank Group and Nigeria'sCoordinating Minister of theEconomy and Minister of Financewrote about Nigeria being one of themost volatile economies of the worldand highly undiversified

DAY 3:

By Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala ,

,

NEPA, the NigerianElectric PowerAuthority - also said inNigeria to stand for NeverExpect Power Always - wasa giant public utilityresponsible for generating,transmitting, anddistributing electricity. Itconsistently delivered oneof the lowest levels ofaverage per capitaelectricity production inthe world


of the international price at the time ofthe reform program in 2003. A combi-nation of inefficiency, corruption, andunsustainable subsidies led to frequentshortages of refined products, with longlines and rationing at gas stations near-ly every day in the world’s eighth-larg-est oil exporter. Government had to stepin to bear an annual financial burden ofabout US$l billion in subsidies - out ofa federal budget of around US$10 bil-lion as of 2004 - to keep petrol priceslow at the pump.

PortsThe Nigerian Ports Authority, responsi-ble for the operation of the country’sseven ports, was also extremely ineffi-cient. Thousands of tons of importedgoods slated for manufacturers wereheld up at the ports, resulting in high-er costs for the businesses. Nigerianport charges were high even by WestAfrican standards. In addition, Nigeri-an ports were grossly overmanned.Corruption was endemic in the ports,organised crime was rife, and securitywas lax.

In addition, the Nigerian RailwayCorporation, the Nigerian GasCompany, and dozens of commerciallyoriented enterprises were all operatinginefficiently, running up debts, andincurring losses that were contingent ordirect liabilities on the budget. The scaleof the inefficiencies, the staggeringfinancial losses, and the poor ornonexistent service delivery to theNigerian public and the Nigerianeconomy meant that Nigerians werepaying twice over for these publicenterprises. A solution was needed.

In 1999, the democratically electedgovernment of President Obasanjorelaunched and reinvigorated theprivatisation and commercialisationprogramme, including the modificationof Decree 25 on privatisation and itsenactment as the Privatisation Act. In aJuly 1999 speech at the inauguration ofthe National Council on Privatisation,Obasanjo accused public enterprises of“gross incompetence andmismanagement, blatant corruption,and crippling complacency.” TheBureau of Public Enterprises, under theleadership of Mallam Nasir El Rufai andlater (2005-2007) Irene Chigbue, wasstrengthened, and a methodology andan institutional framework were put inplace to guide the privatisation,commercialisation, and liberalisationprogrammes. As prominent members ofthe Economic Team, and with thesupport of team members, El Rufai andChigbue fought many battles to keepthis important part of the NEEDSagenda moving.

Telecommunications

The biggest and most successful pushhappened in the telecommunicationssector. Decree 75 of 1992 liberalised thatsector and opened it up to competition.The National CommunicationsCommission (NCC) was established asthe regulatory authority, and thenational telephone company NITEL wascommercialised. A number of privatecompanies received licenses, but notmuch happened to transform the sectoruntil 2001, when the NCC auctionedthree digital mobile licenses to operatorsEconet (now Zain), MTN, and MTEL.

The use of mobile telephony inNigeria began to explode. In 1999,NlTEL had an installed capacity of

450,000 telephone lines in the entirecountry. By 2007, owing to the mobilenetwork, this number had increased to38 million, making Nigeria the countrywith the world’s fastest-growingteledensity. By April 2010, the numberof mobile phone lines had increased to85 million, with many peoplesubscribing to multiple lines. Thetransformation of thetelecommunications sector was a hugesuccess.

This explosion was enhanced by theTelecommunications Act of 2003,

which strengthened the role of the NCCand encouraged still more entry andcompetition in the sector. New nationalcompanies (including Glo, a Nigerian-owned mobile operator) also came onthe scene. The NCC estimates that therewere new investments of about US$37.5billion in the years 2003-2007, creatingabout 100,000 direct jobs and about 5million indirect jobs. The sectorcontinues to be one of the mostprofitable for investors in Nigeria, whileopening up hitherto unavailableservices to Nigerians everywhere butespecially in the rural areas. Mobilephones improved access to marketinformation for farmers and traders,facilitated banking transactions, andimproved connectivity amongcommunities and families in both ruraland urban areas and with the expansiveNigerian diaspora. Experts believe thatthere is still a potential for expansion,and many applications are still to beexploited. This will be enhanced bybringing the relatively high unit costsof services down, and by improvingquality.

While the liberalisation andderegulation of the sector was verysuccessful, the privatisation of NITELand its mobile arm MTEL did notachieve the same success, and atvarious times met with widespreadpublic criticism and controversy. Therewere four attempts to privatize NITEL.The first attempt (in 2001) failedbecause the winning bidder, InvestorsInternational London Limited, a jointNigerian foreign venture, famouslyfailed to pay the balance of 90 percentof its bid price of US$1.3 billion, andthe transaction was accordinglyterminated.

NITEL was put under managementcontract for two years with the idea thatperhaps it could be restructured and itsoperations improved, rendering it evenmore attractive for privatisation. Thecontract managers (Penta scope, aDutch-Nigerian consortium) could notpull this off and came under publiccriticism for failure to do so whilecollecting significant management fees.

Its contract was terminated.In December 2005, a second attempt

was made to privatise NITEL.That attempt failed because the

amount offered by the top bidder,Orascom, a well-known Egyptian-basedtelecommunications company, atUS$256.5 million, was felt to beunacceptably low and likely to lead topublic criticism of selling off “one of thecountry’s crown jewels” at a giveawayprice. In the meantime, NITEL’soperations had deteriorated, thecompany was in decline, and its 8,000

privatisation agendaof the reform programwas ambitious, andmuch progress wasmade. The fact thatreforms met withmixed results even inthe relativelys u c c e s s f u l

telecommunications sector is a testimonyto how difficult this agenda was and stillis. Though the opening up of thetelecommunications sector was a hugesuccess, the privatisation of NITEL andMTEL continues to be uncertain.Similarly, in the petroleum sector, theinitial gains with phasing out subsidies,which could have opened up thedownstream sector to competition, werenot sustained and were soon reversed.Nevertheless, the privatisation programopened the door to a new way of doingbusiness in many sectors of theeconomy. It also brought receipts fromthe proceeds of privatisation into theTreasury - about 251.4 billion naira (theequivalent of about $US2 billion)between 1999 and 2011. Another US$10billion in annual transfers to publicenterprises was saved as a result ofthese reform efforts. The programattracted investment from reputableinternational companies such as Lafarge(France), Holciem (Spain), andScancem (Norway); from Dangote (adomestic cement firm), from A.P. Møllerin ports, and from the Indonesian firmIndorama in petrochemicals.

Nigeria’s program of deregulation,liberalisation, and privatisation remainscontroversial. Part of this controversy isideological. There is a core ofintelligentsia inclined toward socialismin Nigeria - in academia, in the media,in labor unions, and elsewhere - who,despite the obvious failures of the statein Nigeria’s case, still believe in the roleof the state as producer, employer, andequaliser in society. To them, the wholeprivatisation agenda, far from being anattempt to get the state out of activitiesit has not done well, is a neoliberal ploybeing visited on Nigeria by the West.

Part of the controversy is due to vestedinterests. There were and still are manymembers of the political elite whodepend on the privileges and handoutsfrom state-owned enterprises to takecare of their dependents and largenumbers of hangers-on. They werealways going to be opposed to theprivatisation agenda.

But part of the controversyis due to a suspicion among the

general public - a suspicion that hassometimes been borne out - that not allof the privatisation agenda has beencarried out in an open and transparentmanner. There has been politicalinterference (leading to reversals ofsome deals), there has been a lack oftransparency, and there have been hintsof corruption in the implementation ofsome privatisations intelecommunications, petrochemicals,steel, aluminum, and other industries.Although these occurrences taint theprivatisation agenda, their adverseeffects do not outweigh the positiveresults that have been obtained. Policymakers should pursue the agenda to itslogical end, along the way learninglessons on what has gone right orwrong, particularly as to transparency,and using these lessons to conclude theprivatisation of the remaining publicenterprises and improve the regulatoryframework of those sectors now inprivate hands.

mood: “From the stalled attempt by theInvestors International (London Ltd.IILL) to acquire the company, toPentascope’s controversial managementof it, the NITEL story had been arunning sore. After years of poormanagement and loss of revenue, itought to be something of good news thatthe telecommunication company is nowprivatised. Ironically, however, that joyis being clouded by doubts. And muchof this doubt stems from the controversyover the ownership and vision ofTranscorp.”

Even after two years, Transcorp failedto turn the fortunes of NITEL around.Consequently, in an emergencymeeting on June 1, 2009, the NationalCouncil on Privatisation approved therevocation of NITEL’s sale to Transcorp,citing its failure to adhere to the termsof the Share Sales Purchase Agreementand its failure to pay the salaries of staffmembers for more than 12 months.

A fourth and final attempt at NlTEL’sprivatisation, which commenced in2009, was terminated in 2011 as NewGeneration Communications Limitedand Omen International Limited -respectively the preferred and thereserve bidder - failed to pay theirrespective bid sums of US$2.5 billionand US$985 million.

Results, challenges, andopportunitiesThe deregulation, liberalisation, and


A bookbookbookbookbook you must readPromoting Privatisation, Deregulation,and Liberalisation

,,

workers were a significant burden onthe public purse.

In 2006, a third attempt was madeto privatise the company. Through anegotiated “ willing buyer-willingseller” approach, NITEL was sold toTranscorp, a new Nigerianconglomerate put together by a groupof wealthy Nigerian investors andgovernment officials. Transcorp paidUS$500 million for 51 percent of NITEL’sshares, with the remaining 49 percentheld by the Federal Government.

Even this sale at a more favorable pricedid not escape controversy.

Nigerians were suspicious and verycritical of a sale that looked like an insidedeal to a group of the elite. An editorialin the July 9, 2006 issue of thenewspaper ThisDay captured the public

Nigeria’s program ofderegulation,liberalisation, andprivatisation remainscontroversial. Part of thiscontroversy isideological... but part ofthe controversy is due toa suspicion among thegeneral public - asuspicion that hassometimes been borne out- that not all of theprivatisation agenda hasbeen carried out in anopen and transparentmanner


38 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Share your problems and releaseyour burden. Write now to

Dear Bunmi,Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B

1007, Apapa, Lagos. [email protected]

My wife and mistress arepregnant

He's my mum's ex

Should I believe him

He often visits prostitutes

Why is he so controlling?

Dear Bunmi,After series of my wife's mis-

carriages, I thought of tryingfor a child with one of my girl-friends. My marriage couldhave been happier but for myphilandering. My wife hadcaught me out a few times, butI always promised to change.When my current girlfriendtold me she was pregnant, Iwas shocked because my wifewas pregnant again and wewere hoping she’d carry it tofull term.

When I told my girlfriend mywife was pregnant, she wasfurious. She reminded me Itold her my marriage wasmore or less over and encour-aged her to have a child for

Dear Bunmi,I am 16 and there’s this 19-

year-old guy who has beensending me text messagesinforming me how much heloves me. He keeps on tryingto convince me that I’m theonly one who occupies hisheart. When I told him that Idon’t want him to be my boy-friend, he said that he willalways love me even if I’vetorn his heart out. Two dayslater, he phoned me and toldme he really loves me. I trulylove this guy, but I’m not sureif he’s trying to deceive me ornot. What should I do in sucha situation?

Rolly by e-mail

Dear Rolly,So he’s professing his love

for you, but why don’t youbelieve him? Perhaps, by dis-covering the answer to thequestion, you’ll know what todo. There could be severalreasons why you don’t trusthim.

Dear Bunmi,I’ve never seen such a con-

trol freak as my partner. Welive together and he seems tohave his own way of doingthings. Whenever I’m in thekitchen, he’s always hoveringaround, telling me how to getbetter results, yet, refuses tocook. He lectures me on howto drive and argues all thetime about my friends’ behav-iour and mode of dressing.

I love him a lot but his con-stant moans are wearing medown. How do I cope with thisunusual problem?

Yemisi, by e-mail

Dear Yemisi,Your problem is not as un-

common as you think. Fault-finders abound everywhereand one of the ways to dealwith your man could be tosimply disagree with every-thing he says. That, of course,means you should be readyto cope with the escalatingarguments that follow. Thisway, your man may realiseyou’re making a point abouthis criticisms and change.

You could also decide to ig-nore him and simply let hisfault-finding wash over you.Once in a while, agree withwhatever he says. You don’tcook well? Ok, so let him showyou there and then how hefeels it should be done. Youcould ask him to take over thedriving if he doesn’t feel com-fortable about the way youdrive when you’re together.

Dear Bunmi,In this day and age, and

with all the noise on STDs andAIDS, I was shocked to findout that my partner of sixyears sleeps regularly withprostitutes! We have a lovelydaughter and I got to knowabout this through a friend’ssister who works in one of themotels he frequents. When Iconfronted him, he denied it,but when I told him mysource, he became very con-trite and ashamed. He beggedme not to tell anyone becausehe couldn’t live with the em-barrassment. But how does heexpect me to feel sharing himwith some disease-infestedtake-aways?

Ebele, by e-mail

Dear BunmiIT certainly is a small world!

My current boyfriend is over20 years older but I love hima lot. He is young at heart anda good father to his twodaughters from a previousmarriage. When he men-tioned the neighbourhood hegrew up in, I told him mymother came from the samearea. He asked what hermaiden name was and he wasvisibly embarrassed. He ad-mitted he’d had a relationshipwith my mum whilst they weregrowing up and that they hadsex a few times.

This has really shaken mebadly. I don’t know if I cankeep on seeing him with thepossibility of both him and mymum meeting again after allthese years. What if we even-tually get married? It will cer-tainly be weird sleeping with

a man who’d slept with mymum in the past!

Jumai, by e-mail

Dear Jumai,Whether you keep on seeing

this man will depend on howfreaked out you and yourman are.

With so much ‘history’ be-tween you, one or both of youmay be reluctant to go on.Thank goodness you’re notdeeply involved yet, and itshouldn’t be too hard to letthe relationship go.

But what really is your prob-lem here? You know there isan age gap and he’s obvi-ously had other relationshipsover 20 years ago. Theremight be an awkward move-ment when he and your mummeet, but I’d advise you toconcentrate on what you havenow, not what happened inthe past.

He might be insincere, andyou can't see the truth throughall what he says. It could bethat you’re just not ready tocommit to such a relationship,and it’s really your doubtsthat are causing you to dis-believe him, rather than any-thing he did or said. That’s areal concern you should heed,but you need to realise whereit’s coming from, or maybe afriend of yours who knows thisboy put some doubts in yourhead. Maybe she’s heard sto-ries about him that she’s re-peated.

Could it be your parents haddrummed it into your headnot to trust boys, and that’swhat is causing you to ques-tion his sincerity? So thinkabout all of this and try to fig-ure out why you feel the wayyou do. When you get theanswer, may be you’ll decideto keep pushing him away, ormaybe you’ll let him get a lit-tle closer. But only you canmake that decision.

Dear Ebele,You have reason to be dev-

astated by your man’s behav-iour and it might take you awhile to get over the shock.You will be amazed to whatextent seemingly-decent menresort to the services of pros-titutes. This does not, however,excuse your man’s behaviour;luckily, he fully realises hisbehaviour has hurt you, andthe two of you have a goodchance of turning thingsaround positively if you wantto.

Unfortunately, there is noguarantee he wouldn’t do itagain. The fright of exposuremight just deter him. So keeptalking to him without mak-ing him feel like a pervert.

me. When I got home a fewdays later, my wife was intears. She’d had another mis-carriage and was inconsol-able. I gave way to tears andwhen I eventually told mygirlfriend, she said we shouldboth take a chance at beingparents since I didn’t love mywife. That the miscarriage wasrather convenient. Now I feelI have to support my currentgirlfriend, but how do I leavemy wife when she’s so un-happy?

Desmond, by e-mail

Dear Desmond,Your wife needs a lucky

break; with her unhappy situ-ation, she would be better offwithout you.

She’s sad about the miscar-riage now but she is betterbeing free of you without thecomplication of a child, get-ting hurt by the fall-out ofyour repeated cheating.

When she’s stronger, tellyour wife you have realisedyou would be better off apart.She ought to know that bynow anyway.

However, tell her about theseparation plan; don’t tell heryour mistress’s pregnant -thatwill be cruel.

Your wife needs support andshe should be encouraged togo for counselling and a thor-ough medical check-up. Inthe meantime, face up to yourresponsibility to your mistressand your unborn child andstop playing with people’slives.

Agreeing with fault-finderstends to throw them com-pletely off track and knowingyou can choose how to react

puts you back in the saddle.So don’t choose to let yourman’s fault-finding get youdown.

When I told mygirlfriend my wife waspregnant, she was furi-ous. She reminded me Itold her my marriage

was more or lessover and encouragedher to have a child

for me. But how does heexpect me to feel

sharing himwith some

disease-infestedtake-aways?

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard,,,,, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14,NOVEMBER 14,NOVEMBER 14,NOVEMBER 14,NOVEMBER 14, 2012 2012 2012 2012 2012 — 39 — 39 — 39 — 39 — 39

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

Are they compatible?

VIRGO; Emphasis will continue to be on career relatedissues. However you will not be wrong if you take matters-of-the-heart more seriously now. Be more loving.

LIBRA; Mid-morning till early afternoon period maybring more promises than it can actually deliver; yourbeing clever will see you through. Be very practical.

SCORPIO; Continue to attach necessary importance toyour family values. Here is a day when joint ventures canbring you under pressure between 9.46am and 12.43pm.

SAGITTARIUS; Other people will continue to featurein your activities; that is to say you will need to be as co-operative as reason permits. Watch it between9.46am&12.43pm

CAPRICORN; You may be in position to minimise thepressure of yesterday. And you will need to watch yourmood from 9.46am to 12.43pm.

AQUARIUS; It is important you don’t take things forgranted around mid-morning and early afternoon periodso that you will not run into avoidable disappointments.

PISCES; If you are in position to control your actionsyou would fare better if you can wait till after 12,43pmbefore you make an important move. Be family minded.

ARIES; Your being receptive can enhance your pros-pects but that is not to say you have to be naïve, especiallyduring mid-morning and early afternoon periods.

TAURUS; Success is boldly printed on your cards andlike yesterday if priority attention is given to money thescope of your success will be wider.

GEMINI; Although things may be happening aroundyou, you are the right person to make things happen andgive others opportunities.. Be wise.

CANCER; Take note that others may break promisesmade before early afternoon period; that is to say youshould not take anybody for granted before 12.43pm.

LEO; Although friends are willing to assist you circum-stances may not allow complete help as expected. 9.46amto 12.43pm can be a bit sensitive.

Dear Joshua,Kindly analyse horoscopes of two young lovers willing

to share the rest of their lives together. I am concern be-cause one of the is my own son. However I want you toleave out their birth dates.

Babajide, Umuahia.

Dear Babajide,COMPATIBILITY GUIDEWhat will follow here-under are analyses of their horo-

scopes , sothat they will know each other very well vis-à-vis strong

and weak points of each other. By this you will decide ifactually what you are looking for is in the relationship.

THE HOROSCOPE DATA/PLANETARY PLACEMENTOF THE LADY

SUN SIGN = AQUARIUS; SUN IN 13TH DEGREEOF AQUARIUS.

MOON SIGN = CANCER ; MOON IN 3RD DEGREEOF CANCER

MERCURY IN IST DEGREE OF AQUARIUSVENUS IN ZERO DEGREE OF ARIESMARS IN 29TH DEGREE OF PISCESJUPITER IN 29TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORNSATURN IN 27TH DEGREE OF SCORPIO.URANUS IN 16TH DEGREE OF SAGITTARIUS.NEPTUNE IN 2ND DEGREE OF CAPRICORNPLUTO IN 4TH DEGREE OF SCORPIO.NORTH NODE IN 23RD DEGREE OF TAURUS.SOUTH NODE IN 23RD DEGREE OF SCORPIO.ANALYSIS OF THE CHARTSUMMARYHere is a gentle person who cares so much for both her

extended family (especially her mother) and her personalfamily. She can be highly emotional, although highly in-telligent too

THE WEAK POINTShe can unexpectedly burst into tears whenever she fails

to control her husband. And if she does not result to weep-ing she can many times force this man to turn violent tothe detriment of too many things. She in particular willmany times become jealous for no reason and can be dif-ficult to manage by this man.

Although she loves freedom, she will want to be in firmcontrol of the man’s freedom. Issues of control and free-dom must be clearly defined before final marital rite, orelse serious trouble would be the result.

THE HOROSCOPE DATA/PLANETARY PLACEMENTOF THE MAN

SUN SIGN = TAURUSMOON SIGN = ARIES; MOON IN 20TH DEGREE

OF ARIES.STELLIUM SIGN = SAGITTARIUSMERCURY IN 22ND DEGREE OF TAURUS.

How is your morning?OUR elders say ‘aman does not

wake up in the morn-ing and start pursuingrabbit’. In other wordsa man does not startthe day with somelevel of unseriousness.For a good morningportends a good day.

If I may ask you,how is your morninglike? What are yourprogramme for theday? Or do you justwake up as a matter ofcourse without a welllaid out goals for the

day? No objective, nodirection, whereverthe wind blows you,there you go? Haba!You can’t afford to liveyour life this way. Youcan’t be a victim ofanything goes.

Define your day. Youcan do this by chartinga programme of actionfor your day, daily. Thisyou can do a day be-fore the day of execu-tion. Some even planweeks and monthsahead. You can.

Think about it!


CAMPAIGN: From left— Mr. Tola Oyewole-Osaigbovo, Director of Planningand Research, Mission to Save Sight Africa Foundation, MTSSAF; Mrs ChibuzoPatrick, MD/CEO, Meljenstin PR; Dr. (Mrs) Olufunke Ani, Founder, MTSSAF;Dr. Moses Ani, CEO, Hovas Hospital, Lagos, and Mr. Henry Ekeocha, ResidentPhysiotherapist, Sunfit Int. Ltd, at the MTSSAF annual campaign on HealthEmpowerment Fiesta/Exhibition in Lagos, weekend. PHOTO: Lamidi Bamidele.

Orji tasks judges on corruption

Orodje, FRSC, club, Knightsdonate to flood victims

UGHELLI—MOVEDby the plight of those

sacked from their homes byflood, the Orodje of Okpe,HRM Orhue I; FRSC;Delta Unity Club; UghelliCouncil of Knights, Angli-can Communion, have do-nated cows, food stuffs andother materials to flood vic-tims in Delta State’s reliefcamps.

The Okpe monarch do-nated three cows, fooditems and other relief ma-terials to victims in Ughelli,Otu-Jeremi and Ewucamps in Ughelli Northand South Local Govern-ment Areas of Delta State.

In separate presentationsat the three camps, themonarch said the donationwas for the upkeep of hisbrothers and sisters in thecamps, adding that he hadpenultimate Tuesday do-nated relief materials atAsaba to all the govern-ment-designated camps inthe state.

The monarch, who ex-pressed hope that theitems would be judiciouslyused for the flood victims,was represented by a formerCommissioner for SpecialDuties in the state, Chief

Cosmos Ighoraye.Also, a social club, Delta

Unity Club, last weekenddonated three cows and toi-letries worth thousands ofnaira to flood victims atUghelli, Oleh and Patanirelief camps in Delta State.

Presenting the items onbehalf of the club, chairmanof the visitation committee,Mr. John Agori, said the do-nation was the club’s tokentowards complementingthe efforts of the state gov-ernment.

Similarly, Ughelli Coun-

cil of Knights, AnglicanCommunion, also donatedrelief materials worth overN500,000 to flood victims atIkprukpu and Ekiugbocamps, Ughelli North andOginibo, Ughelli South lo-cal government areas of thestate.

Presenting the items,leader of the group, Sir Vin-cent Orhiunu, urged thevictims to keep faith in God,praying God to meet themat this critical time of need.

Federal Road SafetyCorps, FRSC, Ughelli,

Delta State, yesterday, alsodonated relief materials toflood victims at Oharisi Pri-mary School camp,Ughelli, Ughelli North Lo-cal Government Area of thestate.

Presenting the items, theUnit Commander, Mr.Moses Okhihan, said thedonation was the unit’s to-ken towards contributing itsquota to alleviate thesufferings of displaced per-sons in conjunction withunit 11 of the Special Mar-shal in the area.

BY FESTUS AHON

UMUAHIA—GOV-ERNOR Theodore

Orji of Abia State haschallenged judges to bestrong partners in the cru-sade against corruption,saying their role was vi-tal in the crusade.

According to GovernorOrji, the judiciary is avery vital arm of the gov-ernment, which playsgreat role in the develop-ment of the country,hence the need for thesector to be actively in-

volved in the war againstcorruption.

Orji, who spoke whileswearing-in three HighCourt Judges and twomembers of the Custom-ary Court of Appeal, alsopromised to continue toprovide very conduciveenvironment for them toput in their best.

He said: “Be good agentsof change by uplifting theimage of the judiciarythrough incorruptibility.Key into the government re-formative programme byimproving the justice sys-

tem in Abia State.“If you do this, the sky

which is the SupremeCourt, will be your limit.”

Responding on behalf ofthe new judges, Justice(Mrs.) Ugbo Ononogbosaid they were aware ofthe responsibilities en-trusted on them and as-sured that they would notfail the people.

She promised that theywould work hard to keepthe stream of justice pureand remove all encum-brances in the justice de-livery system.

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Lawmaker empowersconstituents

WARRI—THE memberrepresenting Okpe/

Sapele/Uvwie FederalConstituency in the Houseof Representatives, Hon.(Mrs.) Evelyn Oboro-Ojakovo, has given out 27vehicles to party leadersand various empowermentmaterials to petty tradersand other persons inter-ested in skills acquisition.

Meanwhile, Delta StateDeputy Governor, Prof.Amos Utuama, has advisedpoliticians in the state to ap-proach 2015 elections withthe knowledge that powercomes from God.

However, the lawmakersaid her constituency em-powerment programme,which gulped millions ofnaira, was not a ploy to cam-paign for re-election.

The Federal legislator

stated this at the Trade FairComplex, Osubi venue ofher empowerment pro-gramme.

According to Hon.Oboro-Ojakovo, she waselected on a mandate thathas a four-year lifespan,noting that she has morethan two years more and assuch cannot be thinking of2015 elections.

She said that after herelection, she decided to es-tablish the Evelyn OboroFoundation, in a bid to helpthe less-privileged in herconstituency.

On challenges as the firstUrhobo woman in parlia-ment, Hon Oboro-Ojakovosaid a lot of her constitu-ents misunderstand theduties of a lawmaker withthat of a commissioner orcouncil chairman.

NDOKWA peoplehave appealed to

other ethnic nationalities inDelta State to give them achance to produce the gov-ernor of the state in 2015.

President of UkwuaniFoundation Union, UFU,Lagos branch, ChiefJoseph Olise, who madethe appeal during the cel-ebration the union’s 75th

anniversary in Lagos re-cently, said Ndokwa wasleast developed in spite ofher contributions to thenational coffers throughoil and gas.

He said: “The only Fed-eral and state presence inNdokwa are prison andpolice stations even whenwe host the largest gasplant in the area.”

We should produce Deltagov in 2015— Ndokwa

CHARITY: From left— Dr. Akudo Ikemba, CEO/Founder, Friends Africa;Mr. Emmanuel Babayaro, ex-Eagles international and Friends Africa GoodwillAmbassador; and Mr. Segun Arinze, Nollywood star, at a briefing on a December1 novelty football match between ex-Eagles stars and entertainment icons tomark World AIDS Day in Lagos, Monday. PHOTO: Oboh Agbonkhese.

Ministry advocates laboratory analysis for produce

Late Igwe Onyelu.

FOR Nigeria’s produce to meet interna-

tional standards, there isneed for laboratory analy-sis to be carried out onthem as done in the West.

Director, Commoditiesand Produce InspectorateDepartment of FederalMinistry of Trade and In-vestment, Mr. J.Apanisile, made the ob-servation in his keynoteaddress at the just-con-

cluded 29th conference ofDirectors of Produce inLagos.

According to him, labo-ratory analysis will helpdetermine the quality andchemical residue level inevery exportable producebefore they are sent out ofthe country, to enhancetheir marketability.

He said: “You could re-call that in our last meet-ing in 2011, we did men-

tion the issues of labora-tory analysis, which isused in the western worldto determine producequality and chemical resi-due levels.

“We are not there yet inNigeria and the only waywe can be sure of churn-ing out high quality pro-duce to the internationalmarket and processingmills is by ensuring thatparameters used in our

empirical quality analysisfor determining gradesand standards are strictlyadhered to

“We cannot afford tocompromise this as theimage of our country is atstake.”

He expressed regretsthat only Kano State, inthe whole of northern Ni-geria, had witnessed ap-preciable progress in pro-duce inspection.

Igwe Onyelu dies at 88

IGWE Eugene MarireOnyelu, 88, first tradi-

tional ruler of Achi town in

Oji River LGA of EnuguState, is dead.

A statement, by his eld-est son, Prince OkeyOnyelu, said there will bea Christian wake-keep onThursday, November 15, atEze-ala palace.

He will be buried on Fri-day, November 16, at hispalace, after a requiemmass at St. Mary’s Catho-lic Church, Nkpokolo Achiby11am.

He is survived by chil-dren and many relations.


withwithwithwithwithEMMANUEL AZIKEN

POLITICAL METABOLISM

Continues on page 42

SOLUTION to politicalimbroglio in the Kogi StateHouse of Assembly is not

in sight giving unfolding eventsin the state. Efforts by

KOGI ASSEMBLY CRISIS:

No end in sightBY BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO stakeholders to settle the crisis

are not yielding dividends.Though the House of

representative has waded into thecrisis and some politicalstakeholders are calling on thecamps to sheathe their sword, the

battle is still raging. Each of thecaucuses has remained adamant,refused to shift ground and is stilllaying claim to the leadership fofthe House.

Already, the state is sufferingfrom the stalemate at the

Assembly, as both groups, with12 and 13 members respectivelydo not have the required majorityto receive any correspondencefrom the executive.

Now, the caucus of theembattled Speaker, AbdulahiBello has shifted its base to Abujadrawing support from those whowere aggrived by the choice ofIdris Wada as the successor of theformer governor, Ibrahim Idris.Vanguard gathered that the crisishas now gone beyond theexecutive – legislative crisis hasthose whose feet were steps on

in the course of making Wadagovernor have ironed out theirdifferences and team up to fightagainst the new leadership of theHouse whom they felt is thehandiwork of the former Stategovernor.

Following the leadership crisisthat engulfed Kogi Assembly, theHouse of Representatives hadsealed off the Assembly complexbarring any of the factions fromsitting or performing theirlegislative duties.

Chairman of the six-man Ad-Hoc Committee set up to look intothe crisis, Hon. MohammedMourktar Ahmed, made thedeclaration after holding a publichearing with State legislators atthe State Assembly Complex.

Hon. Mohammed, who said thecommittee would not recogniseany of the factions' speakersstressed that none of the factionsis allowed to sit or performlegislative function until the crisisis resolved.

Mohammed warned that ifHouse members failed to respondpositively to ensure quickresolution, the House ofRepresentatives would be leftwith no other option than to takeover the legislative duties of theHouse in line with provisions ofthe constitution..

Undaunted, the new leadershipof the Assembly defied the Reps'and commenced seesions in ahotel, where they among othersconsidered a bill to establish theKogi State College of Education,Ankpa and suspended twomembers-Henry Ojuola of Yagba-East state constituency and Aircommodore Funsho Daniel ofMopa/Muro state constituency

JUST ten months ago, four ofthe five members of the

House of Representatives andall three senators from BayelsaState were pitched in battleagainst one of their colleaguesfrom the state.The man on the other side atthat time was Rep. SerikaeDickson, a one time leftist, nearsocialist and political ideologueof the Soviet school. As statechairman of the Alliance forDemocracy, AD, in BayelsaState in 1999, the radicalleaning Dickson had helped inthe election of the only ADsenator from the south-southgeopolitical zone. That wasSenator Emmanuel Diffa.

Even after his surreptitioussurrender to the bourgeoisieclass, Dickson apparentlyretained his fighting faculties.If Dickson would not fight,then his imposing physiquewould not let him be.

It was as such not surprisingthat Dickson turned out to bethe front man in the vengefuland hazardous political warbetween Dr. GoodluckJonathan and former GovernorTimipire Sylva ahead of theBayelsa State gubernatorialelection last February.

Yes, fight Jonathan fightAhead of that battle many

were loath to side withJonathan. It was notsurprising. In several politicalbattles prior to the Bayelsaelection, Dr. Jonathan haddisappointed many.

Even where he had the powerand the instrument of office todeal with his political ‘foes’, he,like the biblical children ofEphraim though being armed,turned back in the day of battle.

here were many instances ofthe president refusing to fighteven on the behalf of those whohelped him in his own politicalodyssey. As one of his aides hasoften said, President Jonathanwould not exert his presidentialpowers for personal benefit.

But as the Bayelsa electiondrew near in the twilight of2011, commonsense it seemed,

dawned on the president.Leaving Governor Sylva inoffice it was believed, wouldbring incalculable political risk,especially if Jonathan were toleave office in 2015 with Sylvaremaining as governor till2016.

If Governor Gbenga Danielcould make Abeokutainhabitable for PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo after 2007,then Sylva would almost surelythrow Jonathan into the oceanin 2015 it was assumed.

So, when the battle line waseventually drawn in the fourthquarter of 2011 there weremany who did not believe thatDickson could win it.

Neither the intimidatingphysical prowess of Dicksonnor the president’s commandof the armed forces were

deemed strong enough tooverwhelm the structures ofgood and evil that Sylva wasrepeatedly alleged to haveerected all over Bayelsa.

Ahead of the battle, Dickson’sfour colleagues in the Houseof Representatives and allthree senators from the state,including those who werefriends of President Jonathantook position against Dicksonin the election.

The Senators whoremarkably were friends

of Dr. Jonathan turned againstDickson reportedly because itwas Sylva who gave them theirreturn tickets while Jonathanwas looking the other way.Dickson was the only one whofought for and won his ticketwithout Sylva’s support.

As Sylva’s associates claimedat that time, Dickson was theonly one of the three senatorsand the five house membersfrom the state who was againstSylva’s re-election.

But in the contest of wills andmachinations that precededthe PDP primaries andelection, Jonathan and Dicksonclearly won and withoutshedding of blood.

It was as such remarkable lastweekend that ahead of theHouse of RepresentativesPublic Sessions withconstituents that all fivemembers of the House ofRepresentatives, includingDickson’s replacement, Dr.Stella Dorgu (Keme2Keme)visited Governor Dicksonpledging their loyalty. It was areflection of the paradigm shiftin the politics of the state.

The development inevitablydraws attention to the powersof the president to do and undoin these shores. As has beenrepeatedly said, the Nigeriapresident is arguably the mostpowerful in the world.

Given the powers available tohim, then one is almost at a losswhy the president is shyingaway from deploying them togood use in combating themulti malfeasances in the land.

If the president could dealwith the stresses from Sylva, hecould well deal with themachinations of the oilmarketers and the corrosiveculture of corruption all over.He could only if he decides tofight.


IFEANYI UBA: In oily ripplesIn oily ripplesIn oily ripplesIn oily ripplesIn oily ripplesTHIS is certainly not the best

of times for ManagingDirector of Capital Oil and GasIndustries Ltd, Mr. Ifeanyi Uba.Few weeks after quietly markinghis 41st birthday unlike thesociety-shaking bash he had in2011, the Anambra-bornbusinessman is facingchallenges from many quarters.

He is still smarting from a 10-day detention following hisOctober 9 arrest by the SpecialFraud Unit, Milverton Ikoyi,over the alleged involvement ofhis companies in N42.291 fuelsubsidy scam. Uba also has astormy matter to trash out withthe President of Coscharis Group,Dr. Cosmas Maduka, who hasvowed to recover the $164 millionor N26.24 billion the oil merchantallegedly owes him from abotched oil deal.

At home in Anambra, Uba alsohas to contend with a horde ofpolitical opponents, who are saidto be ready to battle him to astandstill over his rumoured 2014governorship ambition andperceived affinity with theNational Chairman of the AllProgressives Grand Alliance,APGA, Chief Victor Umeh. Asection of APGA backed by theAnambra State Government issaid to favour Anambra North,which has never produced thegovernor, to produce thehelmsman in 2014. Uba is fromNnewi in Anambra South.

Indictment by panelAccording to the Aigboje Aig-

Imoukhuede-led 15-man

*Ifeanyi Uba

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE,DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

presidential panel constituted byPresident Goodluck Jonathan toverify and reconcile the findingsof the report of an earlierinvestigation panel set up by theMinistry of Finance on fuelsubsidy payments valued at overN2 trillion, Capital Oil and Gaswas alleged to have obtainedN42.291 billion from the FederalGovernment by claiming that itimported and sold 538.7 millionlitres of petroleum during the2011 fiscal year through 26transactions.

Set up on July 5, the Aig-Imoukhuede-led panel, whichsubmitted its report on July 24,indicted Uba’s company and 20other oil marketing and tradingfirms for fraudulent activities tothe tune of N382 billion. Itrecommended that the indictedfirms should be prosecuted

DetentionFollowing Aig-Imoukhuede’s

committee’s recommendations,Uba was arrested on October 9and later taken to court. Effortsto bail him, on self recognition,hit the brick wall and he wasremanded in custody for 10 dayson the order of MagistrateMartins Owumi of the LagosState Magistrate’s Court.

Kinsmen kickHowever Uba’s ordeal is not

going without challenge from hiskinsmen. Given that 21 oil firmswere indicted, some Anambracitizens wondered why Uba wassingled out for prosecution.

Indeed, Anambra GenerationNext (AGN), a group of youngprofessionals of Anambra State,

said political battle for Anambrain 2014 might not be divorcedfrom the issue.

Urging politicians in the stateto eschew politics from bitterness,acrimony and vendetta andpursue noble causes that wouldengender peace, unity anddevelopment in the state, thegroup, in a statement by itsSecretary-General, Mr. ObiajuluNwosu, said it was appalled bythe campaign of calumny beingorchestrated by a son of the stateagainst Ifeanyi Uba.

"Making unprintable

a l l e g a t i o n sagainst hisbrother onnational TV isonly a throwbackto the crude anddirty politics thathave bedeviledAnambra State inrecent years andhave continuedto cast it in aninglorious light.While we believeand alsoadvocate thatevery businessdeal anda g r e e m e n t smust betransparent andfair, we also knowt h a tdisagreement doexist in someb u s i n e s stransactions, insuch cases thejudiciary comes

to play as an arbiter in ironingout any grey areas of the businessand also renders justice. That isthe civil thing to do rather thanresort to convicting a businesspartner in the media,” it said,adding that “followers ofAnambra State politics know thatthe current challenges againstChief Uba is not unconnectedwith his taunted political ambitionin the state and the current crisisin the leadership of the rulingparty in the state, the AllProgressives Grand Alliance,APGA.”

Also, Uba’s kinsmen from hisnative Nnewi community and anon-governmental organizationunder the aegis of the AnambraPeoples’ Movement (APM) havedecried the manner the businessman was arrested and detained.They accused some unnamedtop officials of the FederalGovernment of working hands-in-glove with security agenciesin an attempt to tarnish the imageof the oil magnate.

APM Leader, Chief TempestUdenze, said the way Uba wasarrested had raised morequestions than answers: “One ofwhich is whether Capital Oil andGas Ltd, a duly establishedcorporate entity that has legalrights to sue and be sued is nolonger so? Why wouldn’t therelevant federal agencies followthis simple time-tested path of ourlaws?”

He continued: “In as much asour organization is not favourablydisposed to any form of fraudwhatsoever, we wish to state invery clear language that selectivejustice is no justice at all. Such isunconstitutional, unfair andunacceptable to all goodconscience.

If the Federal Government, asit were, is sincere in its motive,they should go for the mainculprits that are well known toall as earlier published. Thegroup noted that Uba’s travailsappeared to have started themoment he announced hisinterest in the politics of Anambraand warned that “the person whoshall occupy the AwkaGovernment House come March17, 2014 will never be imposedon us from Abuja, Lagos or byany cabal, but must be apopularly elected candidate ofthe people.”

for defecting to another partywithout meeting constitutionalrequirement.

The suspended members havedebunked the decisiondescribing it as 'illegality of anillegal sitting'.

Their suspension was based ona petition frmo the All NigeriaPeople's Party (ANPP) declaringtheir positions vacant for leavingtheir party under which they wonelections into the state House ofAssembly.

The factional Speaker, Hon.Momoh Lawal Jimoh told theHouse at the sitting that abouttwo months ago, the formerleadership of the Assembly hadbeen informed by the ANPPleadership about the defectionthrough a letter dated 20th ofAugust 2012, signed by PatrickDaudu and Isaac Ainoko,Chairman and Secretaryrespectively of the party, statingthe grounds for which theysought that the two seats bedeclared vacant since the twolawmakers violated section109(1)(g) of the constitution ofNigeria.

Henry Ojuola was elected onthe platform of the ANPP but

was thereby constituted toinvestigate the ANPP petition.The session which was held inthe presence of the Clerk of theHouse of Assembly as well as theSergent-at-Arms also resolved tocondemn the State PoliceCommissioner whom it accusedof sealing off the Assemblypremises adding that it will makean official report to the office ofthe Inspector General of Police.

Using hammer

as gavelThe new Speaker who used a

hammer to conduct the sessionliaised with higher authorities toensure that they hold a propersitting at the Assembly complexagainst the directive of the Reps.

This development infuriatedthe National Assembly whichcalled for a total lock of theAssembly complex pending thetime the House of Reps willpresent the report. But that wasalso thwarted as the "progressive’group continued their session

against the purported directiveto Inspector General of Police IGPand the Director of SSS to shotdown the premises of StateHouse of Assembly.

The House resumed sittingamidst tight security. Motoristswere frisked while vehicles werethoroughly searched by both antibomb policemen and plainclothes security operatives toforestall possible breakdown oflaw and order as workers andvisitors who were not properlybadge were turned back.

Moving the motion for thebusiness of the day the caucusMajority Leader Hon. AliyuAkuh announced the firstreading of the Bill for a Law toestablish Kogi State College ofEducation Ankpa and othermatters connected therewith(repeal and re-enacted bill 2012)which was read and adopted.

Speaking to journalists after thesitting on the purported directiveto shut down theHouse Hon.Aliyu Akuh hintedthat the House had earlier passeda resolution declaring the actionof the House of Representativesadhoc committee as null and voidand of no effect. He noted that

the state was not in the state ofemergency but undergoingleadership change which ispermissible in a democracy.

However, political stakeholdersincluding Ibrahim Idris areseeking political solution to freethe state from the present logjam.

Vanguard gathered that somestakeholders recently met inAbuja and agreed to dialoguewith the factions with the view toresolving the impasse, which hastainted the image of the newadministration.

Also, the former governor,Alhaji Idris was among thosecalling for truce. Two seperatepeace meetings have so far beenheld with the Alhaji Abdullahicamp on one hand and LawalMomoh Jimoh led faction on theother hand. The meetingVanguard gathered was calledat the instance of the formergovernor of the state.

However, the meeting whichwas held at the private residenceof the former governor may nothave yielded positive result, asboth factions were said to haverefused to shif grounds.

Continues from page 41 KOGI ASSEMBLY CRISIS: No end in sightserved arunning mate inthe gubernatorialelection in thestate under theAction Congressof Nigeria whileHon. MichealFolusho Danielwas elected underthe ANPPplatform to theAssembly anddefected to thePDP inSeptember.

A three manAd-hoc committee *Gov Wada


Continues on Page 44

What are the challenges facing theOAUTHC?

We inherited structures that were notdesigned for tertiary institutionsbecause, contextually, this institutionwas founded on the expectation thatwe would utilise the existing structuresand since then, there has been need,both in the care and complexity ofservices we render that has necessitatedthe need to upgrade what is on groundand, if possible, build new ones.

The end result of that is that in thelast few years we had to put in placestructures to meet the challenges ofincreased patronage and popularity ofservices.

The maternity hospital is the samewe have been using since inception ofthe medical school and teachinghospital is the one inherited from thestate with few modifications. Definitelyit is outdated and there has been theneed to put up a modern facility thatwill take care of pregnant women andtheir new born babies.

When we started, some of thespecialities we have now were not inexistence. Our needs, at that time,were fairly modest, but now we havesome specialities in various branches.Examples are open heart surgery andlaparoscopic surgery. These wouldrequire new facilities, so there hasbeen the need to improve on ourinfrastructures.

Government has approved ourvarious budgets but we facetremendous challenges in getting thefunds released. The governmentshould please appreciate what ourimmediate needs are and makeavailable to us funds needed inexecuting all these projects.

Does this health institution havewhat it takes to make people at thetop, public office holders such asPresident Goodluck Jonathan,patronise your facilities withconfidence?

I’ll tell you that 95 per cent of peopletravelling abroad are not going strictlyfor medical reasons. I cannot say wehave all the infrastructure andpersonnel on ground to take care of allmedical conditions, but there are

talking about now and whatwould be adequate budget tofinish these projects andmake them functional?

This year, the budget wehave is N405 million. Lastyear, the government did notrelease up to N410 million.Ideally, if the left over balanceis given we would havecompleted some of the on-going projects we have startedeither buying equipment orbuilding structures. Each year,we now have projects whichwe have started with approvalwithout such projects beingcompleted because what theygave is not enough tocomplete them. Contractorswill also complain that the billsof the previous year are nolonger valid.

This year, we have a lot ofprojects going on in thishospital and our fear is that ifwe are going in this way, itmay be difficult to catch up.

When the Executive failedto give you money at the righttime, why were you quiet?

We were not quiet. There areperiodic records given toappropriate governmentofficials who are monitoringand supervising some of thesethings. They know what ishappening but sometimes thesolution may be beyond the

We inherited structures not designed for tertiaryinstitutions —Prof. Adeyuyigbe

•Professor Olusanya Adejuyigbe

RECENTLY, the Obafemi Awolowo University TeachingHospital Complex, OAUTHC, recorded a landmark by

performing the first successful laparoscopic surgery in agovernment owned hospital in Nigeria, utilising a medicalteam comprising only Nigerian doctors. As one of the firstgeneration teaching hospitals established by the FederalGovernment to provide qualitative health care delivery to itspeople, OAUTHC has a visoin to be a leading centre ofexcellence in every clinical, training and support service. Itsmission is to be in the fore-front of comprehensive health caredelivery in Nigeria. But several years down the line, has thishealth institution fulfilled its role of providing affordable cost-effective integrated healthcare service designed to secureimprovement in the physical, mental and socio-economic wellbeing of the people of Nigeria?

In this interview with SOLA OGUNDIPE, the Chief MedicalDirector, Professor Olusanya Adejuyigbe, speaks on thechallenges, successes and future expectations of thehealthcare institution. Excerpts:

variety of reasons whypeople choose wherethey go. Many peoplego not for medicalreasons alone andsometimes they willnot want to voice outwhy they go out for thetreatment.

For a betterillustration, manywomen decide to havetheir babies abroad,not because babiescannot be delivered inNigeria, but they mightwant to increase thelikelihood of wantingtheir babies to acquireforeign passports infuture. And that is not medical reason.The truth is that our expertise andequipment are currently underutilisedand if public office holders partronisedus, it would have been an advantage inthat it will give the local people a senseof appreciation that the President,Governors or Senators and their wivescome here for treatment. By doing that,they will know what next we are inneed of. We would have a dualadvantage of being appreciated andour leaders will see the need to investmore in local infrastructure andhuman resources.

For instance, we do renal transplanthere but our people still go to India forthis same treatment and the reason isthat culturally, our people arereluctant to donate part of their bodieseven to help a dying relation. In Indiathey will only pay and get a kidney ofunrelated person which has a reducedchance of survival in them. Althoughthey will survive the post-operativeperiod because they will be on heavydoses of appropriate drugs but downthe line the consequences will show.

Recently the Minister of Health saida restriction had been placed onpublic office holders going abroadfor medical treatment, yet governmentofficials still rarely patronise localhealth institutions. How do werationalise this?

Only our leaders can answer why

they travel abroad for medicaltreatment but I can assure you thattrying to protect oneself is a personalissue. We have managed someGovernors, their families and notablepersonalities in this hospital but thatdoes not mean they cannot patroniseus more.

How much is the budget you are

immediate supervisor because hehimself is in the same straight jacketbecause the money is not with him.

Is it an issue with the Central Bankof Nigeria?

It is not only the CBN. It can speakfor itself, but I believe it is when theyare instructed to pay that they will giveout the money. From our interactionwith CBN locally, we realised thatwhenever our money is credited intoour account, we can spend as peramount released earlier into theaccount, we can spend by approval. Idon’t think there is any supervisoryagent that does not know the plight ofvarious parastatals under its provision.We tell them our problems andwhenever documents are needed weshow them and they collate it andforwarded it to another arm ofgovernment.

Where do the Minister of Healthand Commissioner of Health comeinto the picture?

They supervise us and make usfollow government policies. Ourmoney is not released through theMinistry but directly into our accountthrough the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Do they speak on your behalf?Yes, they do; they follow us to the

National Assembly, which wouldagree with us, but at a higher orparallel level they would collate all

,

,

We do renaltransplant here butour people still goto India for thissame treatment andthe reason is thatculturally, ourpeople arereluctant to donatepart of their bodieseven to help adying relation; inIndia they will onlypay and get akidney of unrelatedperson which has areduced chance ofsurvival in them


We inherited structures not designed fortertiary institutions —Prof. Adeyuyigbe

Continues from Page43

,

, Up to 99 per cent of whatNigerians need in terms of tertiaryhealth can be provided in ourcurrent situation; if we upgradeour facilities regularly, encouragepeople to train and improvethemselves from time to time

that is needed anddivide by what it isavailable. And there isalso competing interestand it is those who areable to set priorities rightthat get whatever isbeing offered.

What is your ownpriority area in theirhierarchy order?

We now have moreexperts in certain areasand we believe that ifthese services areadequately rendered, thehealth of Nigerians willbe better thereof. Forexample, the maternitywe have been using hasbeen there for years andit is no longer adequateto cater for the number ofpregnant women wenow attend to now. Wetherefore decided tohave a new maternitythat will take care of thepregnant women and forthem to be littlecomfortable afterdelivery.

The hospital being ona major highway alwaysgets accident victimswhich has made ourorthopaedic ward atrauma unit to the extentthat we might not havebeds for patients sometimes. When this hospitalstarted, we had just twosurgeons who are bothlate but today, we haveseven . The situationwould have been betterif we had about fourhospitals of this cadre,serving our catchmentarea because at times weengaged in some areasthat should be carriedout by state, general orprimary health centres.But the public will wantto partronise teachinghospitals because oftheir belief that there arereasonable measures ofexpertise and equipmentthat will attend to them.The more you get better,more people get evenwhere they ought to beassisted, the facilitiesare not there. Teachinghospitals in this countryserve as primaryhealthcare centre,general hospital,specialist hospital andtertiary health carecentre. In addition tothat, there are burden ofmunicipal services weneed to carry likeprovision of water,electricity, amongstothers.

Where do you think

OAUTHC should be asat now?

We should be hereproviding high qualitytertiary health care in allspecialist areas ofmedicine. We are able todo some but we arehandicapped in someothers where we havetrained personnel. Forexample, we have ourtransplanting; they cando more with a little helpparticularly in funding

of the processes. It takesabout N3 million to carryout and care for a patientwho needs renaltransplantation. As attoday many of thepatients who come to uscannot afford it and theyare not happy. We wouldhave been able tovirtually do oneprocedure everyday ifvirtually everything ison ground personally.But there is no donorand people do not havemoney to carry out thesurgery.You see a patientin your care wastingaway in spite of the factthat you can help and it’sa big frustration.

Another is in the areaof open heart surgery.We have established butwe are yet to have theadvantage because ofthe cost per patientwhich is quite exorbitant.Many of the patients arenot able to meet up withtheir bills.

There is need forexpansion of ourinfrastructure base totake care of increasedpatronage and personnelwe have on ground. Wehave set up and providea minimal heart surgeryand recently ourgynecologist did aminimal laparoscopy.

We are also setting upa cardiac care unit whichis about 40 percentcomplete; we hope tofinish it this year but I amafraid if balance of whatwe need is not releasedwe may not able to finishit until next year.

What is the implicationof this?

The implication is thatyour vision will bedelayed but we pray thatthey will still beactualised. It is veryfrustrating because yourpeople no longer believeyou and it is alsofrustrating to the man atthe fore front because heis handicapped. Butthere is a greater dangerin that Nigeria is notbuilding a culture of

providing a highhealthcare simplybecause everybodybelieves we cannot affordit. Up to 99 per cent ofwhat Nigerians need interms of tertiary healthcan be provided in ourcurrent situation. If weupgrade our facilitiesregularly, encouragepeople to train andimprove themselves fromtime to time.

Do we have enoughhospitals to cater for usdespite all these shortcomings or should webe thinking of merginghospitals?

We can do e-bankingbut not e-health becausebanking only involvesfigures without touchingthe money and still becredit worthy. There isstill no subsidy for caregiver and receiver inmedical practice.

What is it about e-medicine?

E-medicine only allowsme to do distanceconsultation and sharingof opinion. I can be heresharing opinion with mycolleagues but youcannot be in Moscowand operating a patientin Ile-Ife. There will stillbe someone who will beon stand which isphysical factor. Part ofcare is to share, talk tome, I respond and youshare from my perceptivewhich is yet notmechanised.

On merging ofhospitals, we do nothave enough hospitalsin the country for thekind of population weare having.

Police arrest suspectednotorious illegal armsdealer

46 — Vanguard, Wednesday November 14, 2012

LAGOS State Police Command,over the week, recorded abreakthrough by arresting a 31-

year-old man, Tochukwu Nweke,suspected to be the most notoriousillegal arms dealer in the country.Arrested with the suspect are five othermembers of the gang that allegedlycoordinated the high profile SundaySeptember 9 robbery in Lagos Stateduring which several personsincluding three policemen were killed.The gang members were alsosuspected to be the brains behind thedeadly robbery operation at the FirstBank in Kwara State on September 11,2012, where they overran a policestation, killing several policemen andcarting away their rifles.

Parading the suspects beforejournalists at the state police commandheadquarters, Ikeja, yesterday, theCommissioner of police, Lagos State,Umar Manko, told reporters that a totalof 14 Ak-47 rifles, one General PurposeMachine Gun, GPMG, 125magazines, loaded with 6,672 roundsof 7.62mm ammunition, four GPMGchain bullets with 100 rounds of liveammunition fully loaded, and 180rounds of 9 mm live ammunition wererecovered from the suspects.

Cp Manko, who gave the identitiesof the other suspects as NonsoNdubisi, 26, Akindele Akinyemi,30,Emmanuel Ehianeta,27, SegunRunsewe,39, and Isiaka Lawal,55,added that their arrest came followingthe deadly robbery attack in Lagos Stateand Kwara on September 9 and 11,2012 where several lives of innocentcitizens and police rifles were lost.According to him; “the close circuittelevision (CCTV) footage of the firstbank, Share, obtained from Kwara statecommand was carefully analyzed andone Akindele Akinyemi, who has beenon Police list as the most wanted armedrobbery kingpin in recent time, wasidentified. He was lured by the officerin charge of the Special Anti-RobberySquad, SARS, SP Abba Kyari and hismen from where he was hibernatingin Cotonou, the Republic of Benin andhe was arrested with three othermembers of his gang; Ehianeta,Runsewe and Lawal. The abovementioned exhibits were recoveredfrom them after the arrest.”

Continuing, the Police boss statedthat this group merged with

Uche Okeagbu’s group who wereearlier arrested in September 2012, tocarry out the September 9 and 11robberies in Lagos and Kwara States.“They were formerly members of a no-torious armed robbery gang whichincluded Fatia Sule, Tude Oyebade,Adewale Adeniyi, Bode Oyekan,Ismaila Showemimo, AyomideJeremiah and many others who haveearlier met their waterloo in a gunbattle with SARS operatives. A totalof 11 Ak47 rifles, two pump actionguns, two pistols, 59 magazines, 1,770live 7.62mm ammunition, six .9mmand one live cartridge were recoveredthrough diligent follow up betweenNovember 2011 and July 2012. The

suspects confessed to series of bank,bullion van, and Bureau De Changerobberies in Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo,Kogi, and Edo states.”

Police sources intimated CrimeAlert that based on the

confessional statements made byAkinyemi and Ehianeta after the largecatch of arms and ammunition wererecovered from them, the name and

contact address of their arms supplier,who they identified as TochukwuNweke was obtained. Ehianetareportedly claimed ownership of all thearms and ammunition and alsoconfessed that he bought them withover N20 million from Nweke. He alsorevealed during interrogation thatNweke was getting his stock from thelooted amoury of former Libyan leader,Muamar Gadaffi stating that Nweke

has a contact in Niamey, the capital ofNiger Republic who received a largecache of arms and ammunition lootedfrom Libya. The AK-47 rifles, he claimedwere bought for as much as N450,000while the GPMG was sold to him forN1million adding that Nweke had manyother patronizers from different parts ofAfrica including Nigeria where theymake the biggest and fastest sales. Thesuspects also disclosed that Nweke sup-

By IFEANYI OKOLIE

•Buys from Gadaffi’s looted amoury in Libya•Weapons packed inside bags of onion, sent as waybill

B-RB-RB-RB-RB-R-E--E--E--E--E-AAAAA-K-K-K-K-K-----TTTTT-H-R-H-R-H-R-H-R-H-R-O-U-G-H-O-U-G-H-O-U-G-H-O-U-G-H-O-U-G-H

Vanguard, Wednesday November 14, 2012 — 47

plies dangerous weapons to the wholeof South South and South Eastern partsof the country.

Based on these startlingrevelations, Crime Alert learnt that

operatives of the special anti-robberysquad launched a massive manhunt forthe man described as ‘the most notoriousillegal arms dealer’ in the country. TheOfficer in charge swiftly mobilised ateam of operatives to track down thenotorious arm dealer. The first thing theoperatives did was to establish contactwith some of his boys in Lagos State.“At that time, we discovered that hisphone lines were not connecting as hewas out of the country. One of ouroperative who posed as a prospectivebuyer that needed two Ak-47 rifles start-ed communicating with his boys and heasked us to pay N600, 000 for each ofthe rifles amounting to N1.2. We agreedto his prices and offered to pay N900,000, as first installment. And we askedhim how we could get the money acrossto him and get rifles. He asked us to bepatient and wait for instructions. Whilehe thought we were waiting, we ran atrack on Nweke and it was discoveredthat he was back in the country and hislocation was Onitsha. We quicklymoved down to Onitsha and startedhunting for him. Eventually our efforts

paid off on November 6, 2012, around10 pm, Nweke was tracked to SeaPark Hotel, Asaba, in Delta State andthe next day, the operatives invadedthe hotel and arrested him. Theysearched his Mercedes Benz 230 andfound two Ak-47 rifles, 750 live am-munition and 14 magazines concealedin specially constructed compartmentunder the back seat of the car.

“When Nweke was interrogated, heconfessed that he imports Ak-47 rifles,GPMGS, Rocket launchers, and othermilitary grade arms and ammunitionsinto the country from Niger Republic.He gave the name of his supplier asone Alhaji who resides at the borderbetween Benin Republic and NigerRepublic stating that each time hemakes an order, Alhaji will packagethe arms and ammunition inside bagsof onion and they will send themthrough waybill from Benin Republicinto the country. He also gave us thenames of some of his buyers and ledus to one Nonso Ndubisi, in Onitshawhom he had supplied four Ak-47rifles.”

When Crime Alert interviewedsome of the suspects, Akinyemi

and Ehianeta admitted taking part insome deadly bank and bullion vanrobberies in various states. Ehianetaalso told Crime Alert that he owns allthe arms and ammunition recoveredfrom them. According to him “ I amfrom Edo state and I do not have a fixedaddress in the country, I spend mostof my time in Ghana and BeninRepublic. I was formerly into inter-net fraud but I quit and joined armedrobbery because it is faster and easi-er. I invested over N20 million intoarmed robbery and I bought all myarms and ammunition from Tochuk-wu. He sold Ak-47 rifles to me forN450,000, magazines for N10,000,7.62mm ammunition for N1,000 perone , GPMG for N1m and it .9mmammunition, N1500 per one. He toldme he could sell rocket launchers forN1.5m and the rocket for N500,000.

I decided to buy these ammunitionbecause whoever owns the arms andammunition used during anyoperation gets the highest share. Inever knew I was going to be arrestedthis way. I have had several successfultrips but on the day I was arrested, Iwas with Akin and we got a call from aclient who said he has a job for us.The client said he wanted us to robsomebody of the sum of N10 million.So, I and Akin traveled to Lagos fromCotonou and asked the client to meetus at Ojota, but unknown to us, wewere in a police sting operation. Wedidn’t know that the client was a policeofficer that wanted to lure us for ar-rest.

“When we got to Ojota and we metwith the client, before we knew whatwas happening, we have been sur-rounded by SARS operatives and theyarrested us. I cooperated with thembecause I know the end has come. Itook them to the place where I keepmy rifles at the home of my herbalistin Ogun State and they recoveredevery thing. I have given them all theinformation I have and I hope I willget a second chance.”

female Commissioner of police todisrupt the smooth running of the marketby their genuine leaders.

“After his honest explanations, we wereshocked that he was taken to the StateCriminal Investigations Department atPanti, from where he was hastily chargedto court few days later. At the court, thestate lawyer urged them to remand himfor attempted murder. This was comingwhen no investigation was carried outby the police. All efforts by our lawyer tostop the kangaroo trial failed even afterhe pointed out that the case was abailable one. They ended up throwinghim into Ikoyi prison where he will awaitfor the advise of Lagos State Director ofPublic Prosecution, DPP. What we aresaying is that the whole trial is acalculated attempt to detain himindefinitely at the prison while the son of

the serving femaleCommissioner ofPolice who is a landdeveloper and nottrader, takes over therunning of our marketagainst the wishes ofmajority of the traderswhose hard-earnedmoney was used tobuild the market. Ourpassionate appeal isthat the Inspector-General of Police whoseantecedents on the issueof justice for thedowntrodden is wellknown, should quicklystep into this case byordering his men atPanti to withdraw thematter without delay

and hand over all investigations toAlagbon where he earlier directed thatit should be taken to. Anything short ofthis is a travesty of justice and therepercussion is far-reaching becausetension is very high in the market.

It should be noted that the so-calledconcerned traders that signed thepetition were just former leaders in themarket who were indicted over financialmisappropriation. They woke upovernight and decided to team up withdevelopers who are just after money todestabilize our business in the market.Our President has been trying to calmthe situation from prison but I am notsure it will last long,”he stated.

By DANIEL ADEWOLE

THE lingering leadership tussle atthe popular Aguiyi Ironsi

International market, Ladipo, Lagos hastaken a turn for the worse. This followedthe unexpected incarceration of thePresident of the traders union, JonathanOkoli, at the Ikoyi prisons over what hisfollowers called ‘trumped up charges’. Asat yesterday, most of the traders troopedout in protest against the continueddetention of their president at the prisonwithout carrying out investigations intothe charges against him.

The Secretary of the tradersassociation, Christian Ibegbunem whonarrated their ordeal to Crime Alertalleged that a serving femaleCommissioner of Police was behind theplight of their President adding that shecooked up stories againstthe leadership of the marketunion and used her positionto hoodwink both the policeand the court. According tohim, “Our President wasinvited by the State SecurityService, SSS, at Shangashafew weeks ago. When he gotto their office, they directedhim to go to the Policeheadquarters in Ikeja. Whenhe got there, he met with thepolice authorities and hewas asked to explain whathe knew about the crisis inthe market.

“He took time to narratethe genesis of the problemin the market, exposing themachinations of the servingfemale Commissioner ofPolice to enthrone one of her sons as theleader of the market union when he is noteven a trader. He supported hisexplanations with documents and endedup telling them that their counterparts atthe Force Criminal InvestigationsDepartment, Alagbon have been directedby the Inspector—General of Police toinvestigate the case. He also dismissedclaims by the petitioners acting under theaegis of concerned traders that heattempted to kill them stating that all thephotographs tendered with the petitionwas that of members of his associationwho were wounded by the thugs hired atthe instance of the son of the serving

Tension mounts at Ladipo market…as traders recount how leader was dumpedinside prison on trumped up charges

By BOSE ADELAJA

Irked by the present state ofinsecurity in Nigeria, African

Youths Initiative on CrimePrevention, AYICRIP, has called ongovernment to support andembrace crime preventionprogrammes capable of fightingcrime through preventive strategies.

The body also expressed concernover the killing of fourundergraduates of University ofPort-Hacourt and forty others inMubi, Niger State and called fordue compensation to affectedfamilies by both the Federal and

Group expresses concern overinsecurity in Nigeria

State Governments.Addressing journalists in Lagos,

AYICRIP Executive Director,Christogonus Chidiebere said the presentstate of insecurity in Nigeria calls forgreat concern adding “the human andsocial consequences are compelling,from the physical abuse, psychologicaland emotional trauma, to the economicand political implications of unabatedcrime, the impact on individuals andsociety is clearly destructive andunacceptable. This implies that we mustnot fold our hands to watch our nationbeing destroyed by those who has refusedto see peace as a great tool for Nationalintegration and development,” he said.


Christopher. TheEagles number onejersey has since beenalternated between theduo, with Enyeamahaving the lion’s share,but Wednesday’s gamewill be anotheropportunity for Ejide tolay claim to the Eaglesnumber one shirt.

In the meantime,Newcastle United ofEngland’s longestserving player, SholaAmeobi, has said he wassimply delighted to bepart of the Nigerian setup for the first time andhopes it turns out well onWednesday (Thursdaymorning in Nigeria). Ameobi spoke afterdinner on Monday nighton arrival from England.“Its good to be here andI will learn to speakPidgin English as the

Ejide leads Eaglesagainst Venezuela

players have directed”,he joked after his formerteammate at the Toons’,Obafemi Martinschallenged him to startspeaking in PidginEnglish, which Keshi hasadopted as the officiallanguage each time theteam is in camp.

Also in ecstacy over hiscall up is Bright Dike ofMLS side PortlandTimbers in the UnitedStates, who was the lastto join camp. Dike said atbreakfast on Tuesdaymorning that it was adream come true for himto be part of the Nigerianset up, as AssistantCoach, Sylvanus Okpalatries to size up abilities tospeak the Ibo language.“I understand it but don’tspeak fluently, it will getbetter now that I will startcoming to Nigeria”, hesaid amidst smiles.

Continued from BP

DEFIANT BruceBuck insists Chel-

sea are not ‘hypocrites’ forreporting Mark Clatten-burg over an alleged ra-cial slur.

The Blues have been inthe spotlight since theyaccused Clattenburg ofabusing John Obi Mikelfollowing their 3-2 defeatto Manchester United.

It came just weeks afterthe London club stood byJohn Terry after he wasfound guilty by the FA ofa racial abuse charge.

Terry was banned forfour games and called a“unreliable” witness byFA bosses. The club werealso slated in a report.

Yet Buck today stands byChelsea’s official com-plaint against Clatten-burg and denies the clubhave shown doublestandards.

The Stamford Bridgechairman said: “Supposewe had tried to sweep thisunder the rug and said tothe various players, ‘Look,it’s not a big deal and thePress are going to be allover us, maybe you wantto reconsider’.

“If that had leaked out,we would’ve really beencrucified.

“I spoke to the playersinvolved, either becausethey were allegedly therecipient of that abuse orhad heard it, three sepa-rate times.

“I asked them if theycould be mistaken. I askedthem if they might haveheard ‘Mikel’ instead of

We're not hypocrites — Chelsea

‘monkey.’ I thought I hadcovered that base.

“Looking into the play-ers’ eyes, I could see theywere unhappy but noplayer or staff demandedthat we file a complaint.

“They gave us theirstatements. The decisionwas made by us, the Chel-sea management.

“The Press seem to jux-tapose ‘our support’ ofJohn Terry and what’sgoing on here and look-ing at us as being a bithypocritical.

“We have to divorce theJohn Terry situation fromthis. From our perspec-tive, the latest situationwas pretty straightfor-ward.

“We have an obligationto report what may be

misconduct. We did that,in good faith and not ma-liciously.”

Buck was adamant Ter-ry did not get any special

treatment from the Chel-sea hierarchy. And hedelivered a blunt mes-sage to the conspiracytheorists: Roman Abram-ovich runs this club.

BY MMACHIILECHUKWU

TOP professionalgolfers from

Sweden will be in Lagosto conduct clinics forparticipants in the51stFirst Bank AmateurOpen Golf Championshipwhich tees off the 17thofNovember at theprestigious Ikoyi club1938 Golf course in Lagos.

The tournament is openfor amateur players fromages 14 and above

Organisers said, theevent would provide aplatform for busyexecutives, who aremembers of Ikoyi club tonot only watch the gamefrom the sidelines but toalso learn the first stepsof the game. It is also anavenue for participantsand spectators to learnmore about the customercentric approach of First

Swedish golfers invadeFirst Bank Amateur Open

bank in its bid to be ofbenefit to all strata of thebanking public.

Captain of the golfsection, Ebi Pinnickannounced that thisyear’s golf clinic will behandled by two topprofessionals fromSweden, Joakim Rasikand Bjorn Petterson.

First Bank head,marketing and corporatecommunications, MrsFolake Ani Mumuni saidthe choice of topprofessionals wasbecause Nigeria neededto start operating at aworld class level.

First bank which hasbeen sponsoring theevent for several decadespledged their undyingcommitment to thechampionship.

The organizers of theevent disclosed that thegolf will make a return tothe Olympics at the RioGames in 2016.

FIDELITY Banklooks to retain their

title as the overall winnerof the Nigeria BankersGames as they perch atopthe overall medals’ logwith two gold, Silver andfour bronze medals. Thisis even as the bank is stillcontending for at leastsilver medals in five of thesix events that will beconcluded on the finalday.

The remaining eventswhich have Fidelity Bankas finalists include TableTennis for women inwhich the bank is vyingfor the gold medal with

Bankers Games: Fidelity Bankmaintain overall dominance

First Bank. In LawnTennis men doubles andsingles, the Ihejiani Teamare contending for thegold medal with Stanbic-IBTC while they are alsoin the race for womensingles, Fidelity Bankhas Standard CharteredBank in the battle forgold. Another possiblemedals source for FidelityBank is in the athleticsevent covering 100, 200,and 4x100m relay for menand women.

Emmanuel Esinnah,Head of CorporateCommunications atFidelity Bank attributedtheir success to goodplanning and adequatemotivation by themanagement. “We wouldhave loved to win thefootball event also butthen we are happy toremain favourites for theoverall event winnerwhich is a result of ourgood planning andexcellent motivation bymanagement”, explainedEsinnah.

First Bank’s SolomonIdowu is howeverconfident of clinching thegold medal for the men’stable tennis singleswhich he also won lastyear. “The fact that I amin the finals is sufficientmotivation to retain thetitle I won last year and Ilook forward to havingthe gold medal on myneck”, declared Idowu.

RACE ROW 2 ... Mark Clattenburg and John Obi Mikel.

THE government ofCross River State is

pulling all the strings toensure that the GoldenEaglets’ last 2013 AfricanU-17 qualifier homegame against Mali onSunday would be in ablaze of glory and fanfareas the U. J Esuene Sta-dium is now undergoingredecoration

General painting of the10,000-capacity stadiumstarted on Monday andwould expectedly be com-pleted before Sunday’scrunch game betweenNigeria and Mali.

The stadium’s manager,

Calabar Stadium wears new lookfor Golden Eaglets

Koko Bassey-Omara in-formed that the GoldenEaglets’ game againstMali would not havecome at a better time thanahead of the huge annualCalabar Carnival.

“The renovation at theU.J Esuene stadiumwould serve dual pur-poses for the Golden Ea-glets’ last game againstMali on Sunday and im-portantly our biggest an-nual festival, the CalabarCarnival,” he said. “Wehave really enjoyed theGolden Eaglets here andit is a pleasant coinci-dence that the team’s last

game is coming just be-fore the start of the 2012Calabar Carnival.”

It was learnt that theHis Excellency SenatorLiyel Imoke has sparedlittle in ensuring that theU.J Esuene stadium is atits posh best for the twoforthcoming big events.

“ Frankly, the Governordoesn’t joke with beauti-fication of Calabar and Ithink it is only fitting thatthe Golden Eaglets thathave been here for thislong would see the sta-dium at its colourful bestwhich is usually the casefor the CalabarCarnival,”he added.

Referees in the 2013Africa Cup of Nations willbe kept secluded from thepublic during thetournament in SouthAfrica next year to avoidmatch-fixing, a localorganising committee(LOC) said on Tuesday.

Organisers will applythe same securitymeasures than during the2010 World Cup, whichthe country hosted aswell, LOC CEO MvusoMbebe told aparliamentary committee.

“We are using the sameconcept we did duringthe World Cup where thereferees will bequarantined... in a

Afcon referees to be‘quarantined’

particular hotel which noone has access to,” hesaid.

“When they leave, theyleave match day minusone, to go to the city...they cannot have contactwith members of thepublic, because you don’tknow what can beexchanged in thatplane,” Mbebe added.

Security force memberswill escort the refereesfrom their hotels to thestadiums. The quarantinewill be lifted at the end ofthe tournament, he said,adding that theConfederation of AfricanFootball (CAF) hadapproved the measures.

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

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

e-mail: [email protected]

How to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

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

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

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

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS:2 Climb (5)7 View (5)8 Attempted (5)10 Audibly (5)12 Epoch (3)13 Track (5)15 See (7)17 Haphazard (6)19 Squatted (3)20 Squanderer (7)23 Rind (4)25 Trade (4)26 Remainder (7)30 Rotter (3)31 Restraint (6)34 Depict (7)37 Roost (5)38 Extra run (3)39 Pattern (5)40 Ardent (5)41 Recover (5)42 Horse-race (5)

DOWN:1 Zodiac sign (5)2 Sedate (5)3 Inexperienced (6)4 Praise (4)5 Built (7)6 Hire (5)9 Anger (3)11 Swell (7)13 Rubbish (5)14 Rage (5)16 Scull (3)18 Road material (7)21 Prise (5)22 Collision (5)24 Reading desk (7)27 Spoil (3)28 Splendid (6)29 Bird (5)32 Pass on (5)33 Upbraid (5)35 Cereal (3)36 Drawing frame (4)

Across: 2, Extra 7, Keen 8, Wintry 9, Dense11, Pie 13, Wit 15, Rest 16, Cos 18, Line 19,Bronzed 20, Taut 22, Toss 23, Austere 25, Corn27, Ewe 28, Veto 30, Try 31, Den 33, Brawn 36,Refine 37, Else 38, Throw

Down: 1, Eerie 2, End 3, Tin 4, Awe 5, Inn6, Train 10, Shoo 11, Protect 12, Estuary13, Widowed 14, Tension 16, Crate 17,Snare 18, Let 21, Tun 24, Ewer 26, Order29, Tense 32, Pit 33, Bet 34, Air 35, New

— Page 55

•Skipper ... Ejide •Goal machine... Obafemi

Ejide leads Eaglesagainst Venezuela•Keshi hands him Captain’s armband•Kick-off: 2a.m.Thursday in Nigeria

I’ll shoot my way to Nations Cup — Obafemi

I S R A E L I - b a s e dgoalkeeper, Austin

Ejide, will step out of theshadows of his national

teammate, VincentEnyeama, on Wednesdaynight in Miami, UnitedStates, when he leads theteam out as skipper in theinternational friendlyagainst Venezuela at theMarlins Stadium in theAmerican city.

Head Coach StephenKeshi said after criticalconsideration, he hasdecided to hand Ejide thearmband for the match.Indeed, Ejide first joinedthe national team fromGabros of Nnewi, in therun-up to the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup,alongside Enyeama andthe likes of Justice

Continues on page 55•Ameobi

O B A F E M IM a r t i n s ,

who is styled theWeapon of MassDestruction, hasvowed to get a shirtwith his performanceon the pitch onWednesday and insubsequent campingof the team. “Myreturn is for real andNigerians will see”,

he said. Indeed,Martins looked thesharpest amongattackers in camp ashe banged in goalafter goal in Mondayevening training.

The game will beplayed at the MarlinsStadium in Miami8pm Miami time and2am ThursdayNigerian time.

•Leo has gun pointed at head — They said I'vegot to go to Riyadh ... gun points at Messi in Saudiairport.

boko raram- obj blames jonathan

Documents

whichever way

amazing way

anniversary of king

mr mrsp

better life

best way foryou

celebrant king sunny

mr olutade makinde