1 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

COURTESY VISIT: Mr. Peter Tongo, Managing Director Vibes FM 97.3, Benin City shows GovernorAdams Oshiomhole the workings of a digital radio during a courtesy visit to the Governor inBenin City, yesterday.

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 37 NO.228 • THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013 • N100.00

SECURITYISSUES

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Betweenhuman

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The Nigerian

“Trust is one spare key thatopens the lock to our inner-most parts; disappointmentchanges the lock.”

- Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama

Reps to probe N40bn trapped in banks

Nnamani, Okiro, others headFG boards

Kidnap: Police parade 17 suspects

Continues on page 2

Continues on page 2 Continues on page 2

Oshiomhole sacksCommissioner, dissolves

SUBEB

Free press vital todemocracy - Oshiomhole

Continues on page 2

Continues on page 2

BENIN CITY – EdoState Police Com-mand has paraded17 suspected crimi-

By MIKEOSAROGIAGBON

nals, including a 28-year-old man who threatened tokidnap a popular Bishop inBenin City. Amongst the suspects

was one EmmanuelOkosun (akaFedeko) 24, who ad-mitted to have beeninvolved

BENIN CITY- Gover-nor AdamsOshiornhole of EdoState has approvedthe removal of thestate Commissionerfor the Ministry of Sec-ondary, Technical andHigher Education, MrE k p e n i s i

Omorotionrnwan.Also, the Governor

approved the dissolutionof the State UniversalBasic Education Board(SUBEB).

In a Government Spe-

cial Announcementsigned by Prof JuliusIhonvbere, Secretary tothe State Government,the Governor approvedthe appointment of MrWashington Osifo asthe new Commissionerfor the Ministry of Sec-ondary, Technical andHigher Education, sub-ject to confirmation bythe State House of As-sembly.

ABUJA - The House of Representatives yester-day mandated an ad hoc committee to probethe more than N40 billon Cabotage Vessel Financ-ing Fund (CVFF) allegedly trapped in some des-ignated banks.

The resolution ema-nated from a motionmoved by Rep. HassanSaleh (PDP-Benue),which was unanimouslyadopted.

Leading the debate,Saleh alleged that morethan N40 billion wastrapped in some com-mercial banks instead ofbeing used for the rightpurpose.

Saleh said that the ac-

tions of the banks andthe Nigerian MaritimeAdministration andSafety Agency(NIMASA) had defeatedthe laudable objectivesof the CVFF.

He said that if the mari-time sector was fully de-veloped, it had the po-tentials to generatemuch revenue as the oilsector.

According to him,more than 90 per cent of

the country’s intemationaltrade was being carried outon the sea.

The legislator stressedthat only 20 active Nigerianregistered vessels werehandling the country’s ex-

ternal trade, while theothers were owned byforeigners.

The committee isexpected to reportback to the House inthree weeks.

The house also man-dated the committee todetermine the totalamount that had beengenerated under thefund since inception.

The house further

mandated the commit-tee to determine thebanks warehousingthese funds and theirlevel of participation inthe scheme.

in his contribution,Rep. Kingsley Chinda(PDP-Rivers) urged theHouse to allow the rel-evant committees toembark on an oversightto ascertain the position

BENIN CITY-Edo StateGovernor, Comrade

By EUBALDUS ENAHORO Adams Oshiomhole saysthere cannot be an effec-tive democracy without a

free media.The governor who

disclosed this while

speaking with the man-agement of VIBES FM inBenin City yesterdaysaid democracy ishinged on freedom of thepress to inform, enter-tain and disseminate in-formation to the people.

According to him, “Wecannot have effectivedemocracy without afree media, whetherelectronic or print and I

also know that most ofour country people ruralor urban find it easier toaccess radio than to ac-cess television and eventhose who are on theroad are able to listen toradio which makes itsreach probably muchmore than other mediaand therefore a very

ABUJA - PresidentGoodluck Jonathanyesterday forwardedthe names of theformer Senate Presi-

By JOSES SEDE

dent, Ken Nnamani andex-Inspector-General ofPolice (IGP), Mike Okirofor board appointments.

Jonathan also nomi-nated Hon Justice K.M.O.Kekere-Ekun for confir-mation as a Justice of the

Supreme Court. While SenatorNnamani was to beconfirmed to chair

2 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Continued from page 1

News

Nnamani,Okiro,others

head FGBoards

Reps to probe N40bn trapped in banks

Continued from page 1

Police parade 17 suspects EDHA strikes out petitionagainst Oloye, Iyamu

Continued from page 1

Oyerinde: Group urgesJonathan to probe IGP, AGFOshiomhole sacks Commissioner,

dissolvesSUBEB

By IJEOMAH UMEH

By KEN ABU/WINIFRED OSASOBE

New Benin Baptist Churchends Revival Service

in several kidnapped cases inEdo State. He disclosed that his arrestcame Tuesday, April 16, 2013two days after a kidnappedoperation which fetched himthe N700,000 cash which wasdisplayed with him yesterday. Emmanuel Okosun statedthat though he was not fullyinvolved in ransom negotiationand collection, his gang mem-bers told him that their victimpaid N5 million in ransom. The police stated that thepopular Bishop complained ofreceiving calls and messagesfrom a strange number threat-ening to kidnap him. The police revealed thatprompt investigation led to thearrest of one Roland JoshuaEjomafunwe Aregbo on Friday,May 3, 2013. Admitting to have actuallysent threat message and calls,the suspect stated that “I senta threat message to BishopPeter Imasuen demanding N5million, I was later arrested andbrought here (police headquar-ters, Benin City).” On why he sent the message,Joshua Roland stated that “I

don’t know when I even sentthe message my brother e getas e bi.” Amongst the armed robberysuspects paraded with armsand ammunition said to havebeen recovered from themwere Kelvin Igbinosa, 27,Segun Omonigho, 28, EseiwiOsakwe, 26, MeshackAdolor, 23 and JamesOgaga, 29, all confessed to

the crime. Others include IkechukwuOmenogor, Frank Owobu,Kelly Albert, Elvis Omoko,Osayande Asemota, DenisAdekun, 25, Frank Echie, 31,Okhifoh Felix, 21, OtakoJohn, 22 and one IbrahimMohammed alleged to haveimpersonated a soldier torob. Parading the suspects at thestate police headquarters,

Benin City the Commissionerof Police in Edo, Mr. FolusoAdebanjo stated that some ofthe suspects would becharged to court uponcompletion of investigation. Mr. Adebanjo reassured thatEdo State would remain a hotbed for criminals as the po-lice have restrategised to en-sure the state remained safeto lives and to business.

BENIN CITY- The Edo StateHouse of Assembly has struck outa petition challenging the ap-pointment of Rtd. MajorLawrence Oloye and Wole IyamuEsq. as Permanent Secretaries inthe state civil service. The decision of parliament tostrike out the petition duringyesterday’s planary session fol-lowed the consideration of thereport of an Ad-hoc committee ona petition titled, “Re-matter ofappointment of a retired MajorLawrence Oloye, Wole IyamuEsq a private legal practitioner asPermanent Secretaries in the CivilService of Edo State”. According to the Nine-pointfindings of the report, which was

presented by Hon. KingsleyEhigiamusor (Igueben constitu-ency), the state Governor, Com-rade Adams Oshiomhole oper-ated within the ambits of the lawby adhering to section 208 of the1999 constitution. The section gives the governorthe constitutional power to ap-point Permanent Secretariesfrom, within and outside the civilservice. The findings further revealedthat the governor in his actionshad not breached any section ofthe 1999 constitution. Parliament in approving theone-point recommendation of thereport, said the petition lackedmerit and therefore struck it out.

Odubu tasks supervisors

IDOGBO - Wife of the DeputyGovernor, Deaconess EnduranceOdubu has advised the new super-visors in Ikpoba-Okha Local Gov-ernment Council, Edo State, to befocused in the discharge of theirduties. She gave the advice yesterdayshortly after the swearing-in of fiveSupervisors and one Special Ad-viser by the chairperson of thecouncil, Hon Itohan Osahon-Ogbeide at Idogbo, the administra-tive headquarters of Ikpoba-OkhaLocal Government Area. Deaconess Odubu described theappointment of the Supervisors andthe Special Adviser as a call to dutyand enjoined them to remain com-mitted to the overall advancementof the local government area. Speaking before the swearing-inceremony, Hon. Itohan Osahon-Ogbeide described their appoint-ment as a call to render selfless ser-vice to the people.

While noting that her adminis-tration in the council is in a hurryto deliver the dividends of democ-racy to the people, especially inthe areas of education, healthcare, roads and electricity, shecharged the Supervisors and Spe-cial Advise to live-up to expecta-tion with a view to making lifebetter for the people. Responding on behalf of thosesworn-in, Barrister MatthewOkeaya-Inneh, thanked the chair-person for the honour done themand assured that they would notdisappoint. Those sworn-in as Supervisorsare, Ediagbonya Darlington Uyi,Beatrice Taiye Taiwo, SamuelElikila Ologbosere, MatthewOkeaya-Inneh and PatienceAmadin, while Bose SamoraOsula was sworn-in as SpecialAdviser.

BENIN CITY- The 4-dayrevival service of New BeninBaptist Church, New LagosRoad, Benin City, Edo State,which commenced on Sun-day, May 5, 2013 came to aglorious end yesterday.

The revival programmewith the theme: “Barriers toBlessing Manifestation” hadthe host Pastor, RevWellington Jesurobo and

By CLIFFORD AGBAJOR

By TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN Revivalist Pastor MosesAhwuniteka in attendancebesides other ministers ofthe gospel.

Ministering, the revivalistexplained that physical bar-riers were human while spiri-tual barriers could be as aresult of sins committed,adding that there was needfor believers to flee from sinsand lust in order to becomeovercomers.

BENIN CITY - End ImpunityAdvocacy Group, a civil soci-ety coalition based in Abuja hascalled on President GoodluckEbele Jonathan to set up a highpowered inquiry to criticallyexamine the roles of the In-spector-General of Police,Mohammed Abubakar and theAttorney-General of the Fed-eration, Mohammed Adoke inthe manner men of the NigeriaPolice Force handled investiga-tion into the killing of ComradeOlaitan Oyerinde, the principalprivate secretary to the EdoState Governor. ComradeAdams Oshiomhole which ledto the arrest and detention of ahuman rights activist, Rever-end David Ugolor.

In a press release signed bythe End Impunity AdvocacyGroup Coordinator, Mr. Ber-nard Onororakpene Oyabevweand made available to The NI-GERIAN OBSERVER in BeninCity yesterday, the group saidthe President needs to investi-gate the roles of the Inspector-General of Police and the At-

By OSAZUWA AKONEDEO torney-General of the Fed-eration by setting up the com-mittee with a view to lettingNigerians know the truth.

The group said the AppealCourt ruling which orderedthe Inspector General of Po-lice and the Attorney Generalof Federation to pay the fivemillion naira awarded againstthem by an Edo State HighCourt over the arrest anddetention of Reverend DavidUgolor did not come to themas a surprise given the incon-sistencies in the police inves-tigative report on the killing ofthe principal private secre-tary.

The group said they won-dered why the police arrestedand detained ReverendDavid Ugolor in connectionwith the killing without anyconcrete evidence againsthim.

of the funds.This motion calls for the

House to exercise its over-sight function on the agency,he said.

Rep. Friday ltulah (PDP-Edo) noted that Nigeriansparticipation in the cabotageindustry was not satisfactoryand that there was a need forNigerians to look inward todevelop the economy.

Rep. Frank Enekorogha(PDP-Delta) said that thecommittee in carrying out theassignment should come upwith the number of Nigeriansparticipating in the cabotage

business.Rep. Patrick lkhanale

(PDP-Edo) said that the mo-tion before the house wouldafford it the opportunity toexamine NIMASA.

He noted that if the eco-nomic sector was well man-aged, the management ofother sectors would not poseany problem.

The CVFF was establishedby the Cabotage Act 2003 topromote the development ofindigenous ship acquisitioncapacity.

This is by providing finan-cial assistance to Nigerianoperators in the domesticcoastal shipping business.

The dissolution of theBoard and removal of theCommissioner, accordingto the statement, takesimmediate effect.The SUBEB board is

chaired by Honourable Jo-seph Emoabino while MrOmorotiornwan was sworn-in as Commissioner on Fri-day, March 8, this year.

Continued from page 1

Free press vital to democracy

valuable tool that can bedeployed positively to en-hance better communica-tion between the govern-ment and the people.”

“I wish to congratulateyou for locating this facil-ity here in Benin City andproviding another opportu-nity not only to be enter-tained and also be in-formed about what thepeople feel about what weare doing and what we ex-pect of them” he noted.

The Governor noted thatsetting up a new business isnot easy particularly one thatis competitive and assuredthat “if there is anything thestate government can do toencourage and support yoube rest assured we will do it.”

Earlier, the Managing Di-rector of Vibes FM, Mr. PeterTongo disclosed that VibesFM is the latest arrival in theNigeria FM scene.

“Given our vision to blazea trail, the men and women

who run the station areuniquely gifted and highlymotivated to provide service.In addition to our core re-sponsibility of information,education and entertainmentwe are determined to be partof the success story whichEdo State has become underyour leadership,” he noted.

NDLEA destroys 102 tonnes of Cannabis

BENIN CITY – A total of 102tonnes of cannabis, clas-sified as Narcotic andPsychotropic Drugs, ear-lier seized by officials ofthe National Drug LawEnforcement Agency(NDLEA), Edo StateCommand were de-stroyed yesterday inBenin.

Speaking during thepublic destruction of thedrugs exhibit, the chair-man and Chief Execu-tive, NDLEA, AhmaduGiade, represented bythe secretary, OtunbaFemi Ajayi, stated thatthe drugs were the resultof daily raid by the statecommand of the Agency.

He said that the com-mand has successfully

traced and seized can-nabis concealed in ve-hicles and secret ware-house.

According to him, therecould not have been a bet-ter time to launch a fatalonslaught on drug baronswho produce and selldrugs to other people’schildren and wards in theirbid to amass ill-gottenwealth.”

He stated that theAgency is into strategicpartnership with both localand international partnerseven while relying on infor-mation on Nigerians in-volved in drug traffickingbusiness abroad.

The chairman quotingthe United Nations Officeon Drugs and Crime(UNODC) said cannabis

remains by far the mostwidely produced and con-sumed illicit substance glo-bally.

He said the long termand regular use have highpotency and chances ofincreasing the risk of psy-chotic disorders, withripple effects spreadthrough families, friends,neighbours and entirecommunity.

He however, assuredthat the struggle to elimi-nate illicit drugs from thecountry is making steadyprogress as the Agency iswinning on all sides.

Earlier, the State Com-mander, NDLEA, EdoState Command, AlhajiSani Sani stated that theseizure of the over102.715 kilogramme ofNarcotics and psychotro-pic drugs is a result ofpainstaking operations car-ried out by officers andmen of the command inthe last year ending in De-c e m b e r .The State Commandernoted that the exerciseunderscores the modestachievement recorded bythe command which is alsointended to serve as clearsignal to the ‘merchants ofdeath’ whom, he stated,had caused untold hard-ship to both individualsand families.

On hand to witness thedestruction were officialsof NAFDAC, Nigerian Cus-toms Service, the Police,SSS, Nigerian Securityand Civil Defence Corps,the Nigerian Army, Na-tional Youth ServiceCorps, Drug Free Club,NAPTIP and representa-tives of various civil soci-ety groups.

the Infrastructure Conces-sion Regulatory Commis-sion (ICRC), Okiro is tochair the Police ServiceCommission. Jonathan also listed Bar-rister Aminu Dikko fromKaduna in the North WestZone as the Director Gen-eral of the ICRC. Other proposed mem-bers of the ICRC includeMrs Comfort Saro Wiwafrom Rivers State (SouthSouth), Engr JanetFebisola Adeyemi (Ondo-South West), Mrs YabawaWabi (Bornu-North East),Hon Musa Elayo (Nasarawa-North Central)and Barr. A.U. Kanu (Abia-South East). Members of the PoliceService Commission in-clude Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police ( DIG)Yakubu Mohammed (rtd)(North West), Hon JusticeOlufunke Adekeye, JSC(rtd), Osun, Aisha LaraiTukur (Taraba), Mrs Com-fort Obi (Imo), ChiefTorngee Gem Toranyiin (Benue) and Dr OtiveOgbuzor (Delta). Jonathan also wrote towithdraw the nomination ofMr Adesoji OlaobaEfuntayo as the Secretaryof the Economic and Fi-nancial Crimes Commis-sion (EFCC). Efuntayo was replacedwith Mr. EmmanuelAdegboyega Aremo(South West). The President also urgedthe Senate to confirm thenomination of Mr.Adulphus Joe Ekpe as theDirector General of theNational Lottery Commis-sion.

Continued from page 1

3 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

4 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Inside Edo

Petroleum Task Force Seals 8 Petrol

Stations

Employment: Commissioner

Makes Case For Lab Scientists

BNCL Mgt Assures CoronationCommittee Of Publicity

L-R: Mrs. Itohan Osahon Ogbeide, Chairman, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Council,congratulating Mrs. Patience Amadin shortly after her swearing-in as Supervisor of theCouncil. Photo: LAWRENCE OSIFO.

L-R: Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, President GoodluckJonathan, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and the South African Minister of Tradeand Industries, Dr. Rob Davies at the South Africa-Nigeria Business Forum in Cape Townon Tuesday.

Plea Bargain, A WelcomeDevt - NBA Chairman

BENIN CITY – The ActingGeneral Manager of BendelNewspapers Company Lim-ited, Publisher of The OB-SERVER titles, Pastor Mon-day Aigbe has assured thepeople of Oghada communityof adequate publicity of theforthcoming coronation cer-emony of the Enogie of thecommunity.

The Acting General Managerstated this yesterday whenmembers of the Oghada coro-nation committee paid a cour-tesy call on the management ofthe newspaper company inBenin City.

According to the Acting Gen-eral Manager, the company willadequately be represented atthe coronation ceremony.

Earlier, the leader of the com-mittee, Mr. JosefOmorotionmwan said theywere at the newspaper corpo-rate headquarters to intimatethe company’s management ofthe activities for the coronation

BENIN CITY – The EdoState Commissioner forLocal Government andChieftaincy Affairs, ChiefLucky James has called onthe State Local Govern-ment Service Commissionto provide employment forqualified members of theAssociation of MedicalLaboratory Scientists ofNigeria.

Chief Lucky James madethe call in Benin City whenmembers of the associationpaid him a courtesy call inhis office.

He noted that it was theministry’s responsibility toensure that as the sole or-gan of government respon-sible for recruitment, onlyqualified and well groomedmembers of the associationare offered employment inthe public service.

The commissioner notedthat no local governmentwould erect physical struc-ture for health care deliverypurpose without the accom-panying health personal,drugs and other relevance.

He used the occasion toinform members of the as-sociation that there is an es-tablished protocol for costassessment of drugs in allpublic hospitals.

ORHIONMWON – EdoState Task force on Petroleumand Gas Monitoring has sealedup a total of 8 petrol stationsin some parts of Orhionmwonand Oredo Local GovernmentAreas of the state.

The Executive Director of thetaskforce Hon. Chris Okaebenrepresented by Orhionmwonlocal government co-ordinator,Prince Ogbesuza Ogiugo gavethe order during his inspectiontour to the local government toassess the level of compliancewith government approvedpump price for petroleum prod- AUCHI – An Auchi based

legal practitioner and chapterChairman, Nigerian Bar Asso-ciation, NBA, Barr. AnthonyAtemoagbo has posited that thecontroversial principle of pleaBargain in the Nigerian legalframe work is not a bad ideaafter all, but a welcome devel-opment.

Atemoagbo who was speak-ing against dissenting viewsthat it be jettisoned explainedthat the plea Bargain which wasmostly used in cases involvingfinancial fraud became neces-sary following massive fraud bysome persons in positions ofauthority.

He remarked that someformer corrupt state governorshad been arraigned by the Eco-nomic and Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC after theirimmunity elapsed and had dur-ing their trial, entered into whatis called “plea Bargain”, a de-velopment that warranted theaccused to identify whateverhad been unlawfully acquiredfrom the state.

Some of them have enteredinto what is called plea Bargain,that is whatever you have un-lawfully acquired from thestate, you state it, you returnone part while the other part ofit will be left in your coffers”,

the NBA chapter chairman ex-plained.

Barrister Atemoagbo notedthat the plea bargain had on theother hand, helped to some ex-tent in recovering some stolenmonies or property to govern-ment, pointing out that every-thing would otherwise be lostshould the accused be allowedto, ultimately go through the fullhog of trial and jailed withoutan option of fine.

If the person is sentencedwith an option of fine, he goesback to the same money that heinitially agreed to deposit, so,he can be let off the hook” add-ing,” But if you again decide tosentence him without an optionof fine, the money remains withhim”, the legal practitioner con-tended.

Atemoagbo noted that theplea bargain option was neces-sary considering the way atwhich the prerogative right ofpardon was being exercised inthe country as it enabled therecovery of some stolen moneyor property rather than loose allto the fraudsters since they mayeventually get presidential par-don.

He remarked that there wasno better option than adoptingthe principle of plea bargain,following the way events aregoing in the country, viz-avizthe country’s criminal jurispru-dence.

ucts and to check against othersharp practices as fuel adultera-tion, under-dispensing govern-ment approved price of N97.

Speaking with The NIGE-RIAN OBSERVER atMIABET Petrol Station, theOperations Officer, TimothyOsodor lamented the shoddydeal by the petrol dealer whosells condiscent as fuel to mo-torists in the area.

Mr. Osodor said thatdealers in such products areresponsible for high damage tovehicle engines and directedthe station manager to reportwithin 48 hours to the officeof the executive director inter-rogation.

The operations officer, andthe local government co-ordinator, also called on petroldealers and station managers inthe area to desist from mal-practices in petroleum businessand reverse to government ap-proved government pump-price, stressing that anyonecaught would face the wrath of

the law.Meanwhile, the Ekewan

Road axis, the Task Forcesealed up another 4 Petrol Sta-tions during an inspection tourto some filling stations yester-day.

Those affected were faith inGod Filling Station at Asorohill, Ekehwan Road, A.G.SContinental Filling Station,Greatline Development Com-pany Limited and Seed PetrolStation, Ugbohikho Quarters,Upper Ekehuan Road, BeninCity.

The Executive Director,Petroleum and Gas MonitoringTask Force, Hon ChrisOkaeben said the filling sta-tions were sealed for under dis-pensing of petrol (P.M.S.) andselling above government ap-proved pump-price.

He expressed dismay at theattitude of A.G.S. continental

Management for diverting15,000 litres of Kerosene(D.P.K) allotted to the stationtherefore and ordered that thestation be placed under lockend key till further notice.

Hon. Okaeben thereforecalled on the state government

of HRH Prince EnweansefeIyiewuaefo-Eweka as the 3rd

Enogie of Oghada community.He however, solicited for the

assistance of the managementof BNCL in the area of cover-age and publicity for the instal-lation of the 3rd enogie.

By INNOCENT OMOAKA/

EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU/

GEORGE OGBOLU/BLESS-

ING ANUGOR

Earlier, the chairman ofthe association Mr.Osarobo Eseiwi congratu-lated the commissioner onhis reappointment as thecommissioner for LocalGovernment and Chief-taincy Affairs.

Mr. Eseiwi who used theopportunity to request forthe employment of medicallaboratory scientists in thevarious public hospitalsacross the 18 local govern-ment areas in the state saidit would enhance the cur-rent transformation in thehealth sector.

He also disclosed that in

the current construction ofcomprehensive health cen-tres in the state, medicallaboratory scientists andmedical laboratory techni-cians will be needed as theynow play vital roles in theprimary health care systemin the country.

The association assuredthe commissioner of theirtotal support, stating thatmembers are at his serviceand therefore prayed Godto grant him the grace totake the ministry to the nextlevel.

By ADAMS OYIBOKE

By MORRISON HAYBLE

to set up mobile court to tryerring petroleum dealers andstation Mangers caught insharp practices in the petro-leum industry in the state.

The inspection tour contin-ues today with a visit to OviaNorth-East Local GovernmentArea.

5 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Across The NationObituaryFG To Domesticate Labour Convention 2006

Chairman Of LG ElectionsPetitions Tribunal Resigns

Residents Flee CommunityOver Erosion Menace

R-L: Mr. Igbinidu Inneh, Executive Director, Public-Private Partnership, Edo State, Prof.Julius Ihonvbere, SSG Edo State, Mr. Humphery Masodje, Chairman, MAN, Edo/DeltaBranch, Mr. Steve Obayuwana, Urban Builders Limited, examining a plan at the pro-posed industrial park at Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City.

Obituary

Wedding

AGBEDE-Several residentsof Agbede Community, inEtsako West local governmentarea of Edo have abandonedtheir homes over ravaginggully erosion problem in thearea.

The NIGERIAN OB-SERVER observed that aboutfive houses have been swal-lowed, with several others onthe verge of been swallowed bythe ravaging gully erosionproblem in the Atido quartersof Agbede

The gully, measuring about100 meters long and 20 meterswide have caused untold hard-ship to the people of the area.

The gully which was said tohave started about a year agois fast spreading to other partsof the community.

Some residents who spokewith The NIGERIAN OB-SERVER described the gullyerosion as unfortunate, lament-ing that so much devastationhave been caused by the gully.

They urged the relevant gov-ernment authority to urgentlyproffer solution to the problembefore it gets worse like thatof Auchi in the same LocalGovernment Area.

IKEJA - Retired JusticeDolapo Akinsanya, Chairman ofthe Lagos State Local Govern-ment Elections Petition Tribu-nal, Ikeja Division, has resignedher appointment.

The Chief Judge of LagosState, Justice Ayotunde Phillips,announced this on Wednesdayin Ikeja, saying that Akinsanyahad asked to be excused.

Phillips swore in Prof.Olanrewaju Fagbohun as thenew chairman of the tribunal.

She said that Fagbohun, whohad put in 25 years at the bar,was picked after a thoroughscreening exercise of eligiblecandidates.

“I welcome you on board andadmonish you to conduct your

ABUJA - The Federal Ex-ecutive Council (FEC) onWednesday in Abuja approvedthe domestication of the Mari-time Labour Convention 2006to transform the nation’s mari-time sector.

The Maritime Labour Con-vention (2006) is an interna-

BENIN CITY-The deathhas been announced of madamBeatrice ErinmwinoroseOgbeide who hails from OzaAibiokunla in OrhionmwonLocal Government Area of EdoState. She was aged 96.

According to the burial ar-rangement for late MadamOgbeide on May 9 2013, therewould be Service of Songs atNo. 1, Ogbeide Lane, off 70Erhunmwunse Street, BeninCity at 4 pm.

On Friday, May 2013, fu-neral service will hold at St.Mathew’s Anglican CathedralChurch, Sakponba Road, BeninCity at 11.00 a.m. while outingservice/thanksgiving servicetake place on Sunday May 122013, by 10.00 a.m. at the samevenue.

Madam Beatrice is survivedby children, grandchildren andgreat-grand children.

BENINCITY – Thesolemnisation of Holy Mat-rimony between OmosefeUwaifo and NosakhareEnadeghe takes place on Sat-urday May11, 2013.

The ceremony which isscheduled to hold at FaithInt’l Ministry, behind OsascoEstate, Off Trade FairGround, Off Goodwill Street,Benin City begins at 8.00a.m

Reception will follow atNo. 17, Akenzua Street, Op-posite Stadium Road, BeninCity.

BENIN CITY – The burialceremony of late Mr. LugardImade, aka Adaze Olololo I fa-ther of Miss Abieyuwa Imadeof Bendel Newspapers Com-pany Limited begins tomorrowFriday May 10, 2013.

A statement by the familystated that at 10.00 a.m. bodywill leave Central Hospital tohis residence, II, Eben Street,off Forestry Road, Benin City.This will be followed by socialwake at same venue from 9.00p.m. till down.

There will be Musician Dayon Sunday 12th, May, 2013 at9.00p.m. till down. The lateMr. Lugard Imade is survivedby wives, 8 children, 6 grandchildren.

duty without fear or favour. Iurge you to speak the truth inall matters.

“You are supported by trustedmagistrates of high integrity. Ileave you all in God’s hands togo and do what you are trainedto do,” she said.

Phillips said that three mat-ters had been referred back tothe tribunal by the Local Gov-ernment Appeal Tribunal foradjudication.

She admonished members ofthe tribunal to avoid unneces-sary adjournments.

“We don’t want to be seen asdragging the acrimony thattrailed the last local governmentelections in the state.

“We expect a very high qual-

ity of judgements from the tri-bunal and for justice to be dis-pensed quickly,” Phillips said.

Fagbohun, in his remarks,said the tribunal would heed theadmonition of the chief judgein adjudicating on all mattersbrought before it.

He said: “We will dispensejustice as fairly as possible. Wewill ensure we follow the ruleof law and we shall be guidedby the Constitution of the Fed-eral Republic of Nigeria.”

Other members of the tribu-nal are: Mrs Funlola Demi-Ajayi and Mr Philip Ojo, whoare both chief magistrates; MrMurisiq Etti, a magistrate, andMr Dave Ajetunmobi, a lawyer.

Alhaji Mohhamed Umoru, aproprietor of a school whosestructure has been affected bythe gully, narrated his horrify-ing experience as a result of theerosion problem.

He said most residents of thearea now live in fear at thethreat of rain fall.

He said he had sacrificedpersonal resources to check themenace but to no avail.

“This has gone beyond com-munity effort and we are cry-ing out for government to in-tervene before things becomeworse.

“If you see my school, younotice that part of it is aboutcaving in to the erosion men-ace. What we do whenever itthreatens to rain is to send thestudents home for fear.

“We no longer enjoy our stayhere. It is really terrible and wecannot afford to relocate nowowing to the financial require-ment,” he said.

Another resident, YusufUsman described the situationas sad.

“This thing that is fastspreading now started justsmall in a little over a year agobut nothing was done to stopit.

“You can see that many

houses in the area are nowempty because they have beenabandoned by their owners.

“We really need urgent helpto take care of this problem.”

All we need is urgent help.Government should not allowthis problem to escalate to thatof Auchi.

“The only luck we have sofar is that no soul has been lostto the problem and we pray

that this does not happen be-fore attention is given the prob-lem by the government,” noteda resident, Isah Momoh.

Agbede is just one of the sev-eral communities in EtsakoWest that are being threatenedby erosion menace.

By JUDE EHEBHA

tional labour treaty, whichregulates the terms and con-ditions of employment of Sea-farers in the shipping indus-try.

The code of the conventioncontains five titles: minimumrequirements for seafarers towork on a ship; conditions of

employment; accommoda-tion; recreational facilities;food and catering; health pro-tection; medical care; welfareand social security protectionas well as compliance and en-forcement.

The convention has alreadybeen ratified by 39 countries

including four African coun-tries, namely Gabon, Benin,Liberia and Togo.

The Minister of Information,Mr Labaran Maku, whobriefed newsmen on the out-come of the weekly FECmeeting, said the council’s ap-proval followed a joint memo-randum submitted by the min-isters of labour and transport,Chief Emeka Nwogu and IdrisUmar, respectively.

He observed that in the pastseven years, Nigeria was un-able to domesticate the agree-ment in spite of the obviousadvantages.

Maku, however, stated thatthe ratified convention wouldbe forwarded to the office ofthe Minister of Justice and At-torney-General of the Federa-tion to prepare the legal in-strument for its domestication.

“Council today devoted itsdiscussion to a robust debateon the need to domesticate the2006 Maritime Labour Con-vention, which the ILOadopted as far back as thattime in Geneva.

“That year 2006 Nigeria,among several countries of theworld debated and adopted anew Maritime Labour Con-vention for the world.

“In the course of this period

of seven years, Nigeria hasbeen unable to domesticatethis convention in spite of itsmanifest advantages for themaritime sector in Nigeria.

“And so, today the Minis-ter of Labour, in collaborationwith the Minister of Transport,presented a joint memo ask-ing the Federal ExecutiveCouncil to take the right stepby giving the go-ahead for theAttorney-General to preparethe instruments for domestica-tion of this convention.’’

Also speaking on the advan-tage of the agreement to Ni-geria, the Minister of Trans-port, Sen. Idris Umar, said theconvention, when fully opera-tional, would boost thenation’s seafaring business.

According to him, there arealready 4,362 Nigerians cur-rently working on board inter-national ships across theworld and domestication willfurther give them coverage onall the items in theconvention’s code.

The convention is expectedto come into force by August2013.

Late Madam BeatriceErinmwinorose Ogbeide

Late Mr. Lugard Imade,aka Adaze Olololo I

6 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

South West

3 DockedFor

Breach OfPublicPeace

Caretaker Chairmen: Oyo As-sembly Extends Tenure

Farmer, 48, Jailed For Dealing In IndianHemp

2013 Pilgrimage: Board To Ad-here To Saudi’s Regulation

IBADAN- Three of the33 Caretaker Chairmen ofLocal Governments in OyoState failed to have theirtenure extended by theState House of Assembly.

The uncleared councilswere Onaara, IbadanNorth East and Itesiwaju.

Reports say that thehouse Committee on LocalGovernment and Chief-taincy Matters, led by MrFemi Adelakun, on May 1conducted performanceappraisal for the 33 coun-cil chairmen as part of itsoversight functions.

Six months tenure of thechairmen, approved by thehouse in December 2012,will expire on May 8.

However, when theSpeaker, MonsuratSunmonu, read the letterfrom the executive at a ple-nary session on Tuesday, iturged the assembly to con-sider the chairmen whoscaled through the screen-ing of the house for anothersix months tenure.

Consequently, thespeaker read out the 30names of those who wereadjudged to have renderedgood account and a motionwas moved by Mr AdigunAhmed (ACN), that thetenure of the 30 chairmenbe extended.

The motion was sec-onded by Mr AdesinaAdeyemo (ACN).

It was unanimouslyadopted when put to ques-tion by the speaker.

The report of the screen-ing, which was slated forpresentation before consid-ering the tenure extension,was, however, skipped.

In a reaction, Mr AdeniyiOlarinre, the CaretakerChairman of Itesiwaju Lo-

IBADAN- Three personsIdu Adekoya 18, AyobamiYekini, 22 and OloladeAyobami, 23;— were onMonday arraigned beforean Ibadan Chief Magis-trates’ Court for allegedlycausing a breach of publicpeace by engaging in a free-for-all.

The prosecutor, Sgt.Foluke Adedosu, said thedefendants were arraignedon a one- count charge ofbreach of public peace.

Adedosu stated thatAdekoya, Yekini andAyobami committed thecrime on Saturday at Asankearea of Ibadan.

She said the defendantsengaged in a free-for-allover a matter that was notdisclosed in the court,thereby making the streetuninhabitable for other resi-dents.

Adedosu said that the of-fence contravened section249 (d) of the CriminalCode Cap 38 Vol Il Laws ofOyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

The defendants, however,pleaded not guilty to thecharge.

Chief Magistrate AdamsAdeshina admitted them tobail in the sum of N20,000each with two reliable sure-ties in like sum.

He adjourned the matter toJune 4 for further hearing.

IBADAN- A Federal HighCourt in Ibadan, has sen-tenced a farmer, AlabiOlufemi, 48, to nine monthsimprisonment for dealing inIndian hemp.

Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo, who sentencedOlufemi for being in posses-sion of 88kg of Indian hemp,said the sentence wouldcount from the date in Feb-ruary 2013 when the convictwas arrested.

Reports say that the convictwas arrested in February af-ter being found in possessionof the drug.

The prosecutor, BridgetViashimah said the offencecontravened the provisions ofSection 19 of the NDLEA ActCap N30 Laws of the Federa-tion of Nigeria 2004.

To prove her case,Viashimah presented the

drug which was concealed ina travelling bag.

Olufemi had earlierpleaded guilty to the chargewhen he was arraigned incourt on May 2.

He also pleaded with thecourt before the sentence waspronounced.

“I promise to go back tofarming. I am also a driverwith all my documents in-tact,” he said.

ABEOKUTA-The OgunMuslim Pilgrims WelfareBoard said the Saudi authori-ties’ insistence onMaharram(male partner) forfemale pilgrims during the2013 Hajj would be adheredto.

The Chairman of the board,Dr Isiaq Yusuf, gave the assur-ance in Abeokuta at a five-dayscreening organised for intend-

ing pilgrims. Yusuf said relatives of in-

tending female pilgrimswould accompany them in linewith the measures put in place.“The issue of women withouta guardian has been spelt outby Saudi Arabian immigrationofficials and we have takenserious measures to abide bythose rules.

“We are going to ensure that

all women who are to performthe 2013 Hajj are with a rela-tive or guardian,” he said.

He explained that the earlycommencement of the 2013Hajj screening was to curtailthe previous year’s incidentthat reared its head.

The chairman added that atotal of 1,550 slots was re-leased to the state out of over2,000 it requested from theNational Hajj Commission.

He maintained that thescreening was mainly torecognise practising Muslims,saying non-Muslims are noteligible to perform the pilgrim-age to Saudi Arabia.

Yusuf said that intending pil-grims were expected to face a14-member religious commit-tee, Immigration and State Se-curity Officials.

“All intending pilgrims mustbe versatile religiously as they

must be able to recite someverses from the Holy Qur’anand perform five daily prayers.

“The era of allowing non-Muslims on the entourage ofthe State government is over,”he stated.

He said that the governmentwould not relent in its effortsto provide welfare to the state’scontingent and to retain itsenviable position during theprevious Hajj.

In his remarks, an intendingpilgrim, Mr Fatai Adesina,expressed satisfaction with thescreening, saying that it hadbroadened their horizon.

Adesina said that the exer-cise would ensure genuine pil-grims were given the opportu-nity to embark on the pilgrim-age to the holy land.

cal Government, who wasamong those dropped, saidhe was not aware of the is-sue.

Mr Adeniyi Farinto(PDP) after the adoption,drew the attention of thehouse to a publicationwhich alleged that the as-sembly was rubber-stamp-ing the policy and plans ofthe executive, especially onthe conduct of the localgovernment elections.

Farinto urged the law-makers to urge the execu-

tive and the judiciary tospeed up the case of theOyo State Electoral Com-mission (OSEC) pendingin the an Appeal Court.

He added that the publicshould know that the housecould not intervene in anymatter pending before anycourt of law in the coun-try.

The Acting General Manager, Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), Pastor Monday Aigbe (middle) addressingmembers, Oghada Coronation Committee (OCC) during the Committee’s courtesy visit to the company’s headquartersin Benin City yesterday. Photo: SOLOMON ENAIDE

The Acting General Manager, Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), Pastor Mon-day Aigbe (right) welcoming the Chairman, Oghada Coronation Committee (OCC) duringthe Committee’s courtesy visit to the company’s headquarters in Benin City yesterday.Photo: SOLOMON ENAIDE

7 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Lagos

Insecurity: Cooperate With Security Agents,Fashola Tells Nigerians

Late Marriage, Conception, ContributeTo Growth Of Fibroids - Expert

Aribisala Fi-delity BankUrges Court

To StrikeOut Suit

LAGOS - Dr OliverEzechi, Consultant Obstetri-cian and Gynaecologist, hasattributed the increasedprevalence of fibroids inwomen to the high inci-dences of late marriage andconception.

Ezechi, a Researcher at theNigerian Institute of Medi-cal Research, Yaba, Lagos,told newsmen in Lagos thatpregnancy had adownplaying effect on fi-broids.

An online medicalsite,www.medicalnewstoday.com,defines Fibroids as “non-can-cerous (benign) tumors thatgrow from the muscle layersof the uterus (womb).

“They are also known asuterine fibroids, myomas, orfibromyomas. Fibroids canvary in size, from that of abean to as large as a melon“.

Ezechi said that everywoman had some fibroidswithin her, but that the re-sultant effect depended onthe size of the fibroid.

“Every woman will haveone form of fibroid at somepoint in life. The degree andsize definitely differ. How-ever, pregnancy has adownplaying effect on fi-broid.

“If you start having babiesearlier, the presence of preg-nancy progesterone dampensit. Earlier does not meanmarrying at ages 13 and 15years. But now, people get toages 30, 35 and 40 beforegetting married.

“Within this period, if thereis no pregnancy to occupy theuterus, the things that wouldhave made for the dampen-ing effect will continue togrow.

“ Every month the womanreleases estrogen and proges-terone. These same thingsthat feed the womb also feedthe fibroid. It is one of themajor reasons why fibroidseems to be more commonnow.

“ When estrogen levels arehigh, especially during preg-nancy, fibroids tend to swell.When estrogen levels arelow, the fibroids mayshrink.”

The gynaecologist said thata gynaecological evaluationwas needed to determine pre-sentations of fibroids.

“ Women are strongly ad-vised to see theirgynaecologists for agynaecological evaluation inorder to ascertain the pres-ence of fibroids. Somewomen fibroids present nosymptoms.

“Those that present symp-toms include heavy men-strual periods and prolongedbleeding which may lead toanemia. Other symptomsmay include pelvic or ab-dominal pain and back ache.

“Others include discomfortand swelling in the lower ab-domen, increased urination,fertility and pregnancy prob-lems, repeated miscarriages,

painful sex and constipa-tion.”

Ezechi said that the treat-ment of fibroid depended ona combination of factors.

“Treating and managingfibroids will be determinedby a combination of symp-toms, the location of the fi-broid, the numbers and size,as well as age and one’schildbearing potential.

“Diet, weight, lifestyle andhealth history will also helpto determine what the course

suit.Justice Oludotun Adefope-

Okojie, after listening to thearguments of counsel to the par-ties, adjourned the matter tillJune 26 for ruling.

Aribisala was suspended bythe LPPC on February 26 onthe grounds that the charges hecollected from Fidelity Bank forcertain legal services he ren-dered to it were excessive.

According to the committee,the attorney’s action was inbreach of the Rules of Profes-sional Conduct of the LegalProfession.

The committee also indictedthe lawyer for refusing to remitmonies recovered on behalf ofthe bank to it.

Reports say that the LPPC,the second defendant in thesuit, has not been representedby counsel since the casestarted.

LAGOS - Gov. BabatundeFashola of Lagos State hascalled on Nigerians to showcare and concern to the se-curity agencies, to enablethem to be able to stem crimeand insecurity in the coun-try.

Fashola made this call atthe 32nd Synod of the Dio-cese of Lagos, AnglicanCommunion, at OurSaviour’s Church, TafawaBalewa Square, Lagos.

He described insecurity asthe greatest challenge facingthe country presently andsought for collaboration be-tween the people and the se-curity agents.

“People no longer die ofdiseases but by acts of vio-lence which showed that in-security was the biggest chal-lenge of the country today.

“Security agencies in thecountry lack some basic toolsto carry out their duties andthey do not get maximumcooperation and care fromthe public.

“These security agents arehumans and need to betreated as such,” he said.

Fashola said that the prob-lem of insecurity in the coun-try could only be checkedwhen people live and co-ex-ist peacefully.

He added that Nigeriansshould reflect on the state of

the nation and how to con-tribute to the developmentand progress of the country.

Also speaking, JusticeGeorge Oguntade (rtd), theChancellor of the Church,

described the state of insecu-rity in the country as worri-some.

Oguntade, a retired Su-preme Court judge, urgedNigerians to assist the gov-

many citizens access to edu-cation.

He also called for establish-ment of more education insti-tutions and expansion of theexisting ones to give more Ni-gerians access to education.

The cleric said that igno-rance had made some citizens,especially youths, vulnerableto abuse by unpatriotic per-sons.

According to him, educationwill enlighten the citizens andsecure their future.

“Education is an agent ofchange; the essence is to pro-duce a useful member of a so-ciety,” he said.

of treatment should be. Butoften times, surgery is thebest way out.”

The Gynaecologist saidthat it was not advisable forfibroids to get to an advancedstage before surgery.

“People should not waituntil it’s too big before theyremove it. It then poses achallenge during surgery.When fibroids get too big, thesurgical type, it becomestechnically difficult.

“That is why some people

will say we have to removethis womb. Meanwhile, thethings that caused it wouldhave been prevented. It is thebleeding during surgery thatis risky.

Ezechi said that fibroidsthat had been removed couldgrow back.

“Sometimes, fibroid growsback. It all depends on anumber of gynaecologicaland hormonal factors too.The final treatment for fi-broid is removal of theuterus.”

LAGOS - Fidelity Bank Plchas challenged the jurisdictionof a Lagos High Court to hearthe case filed by a Lagos law-yer, Chief Ajibola Aribisala,and urged the court to strike outthe suit.

Aribisala was suspendedfrom the use of the rank of Se-nior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) by the Legal Practitio-ners Privileges Committee(LPPC) over a petition againsthim by the bank.

The lawyer had approachedthe court to order the commit-tee to restore his rank and privi-leges as a member of the InnerBar.

In its affidavit, the bank, rep-resented by Mr SeyiSowemimo (SAN), argued thatsince the LPPC, the seconddefendant, was a federalagency, the court lacked juris-diction to hear the suit.

However, Chief OlatunjiAyanlaja (SAN), counsel toAribisala, also filed a counteraffidavit, urging the court todeny the application filed by thebank.

Ayanlaja also asked the courtfor a mandatory injunction tocompel the LPPC to restoreAribisala’s stripped rank, pend-ing the determination of the

Cleric Urges Free, CompulsoryEducation At All Levels

LAGOS - The Primate ofthe Church of the Lord(Aladura), Most Rev. RufusOsitelu, has urged the FederalGovernment to make educa-tion free and compulsory at alllevels to reduce illiteracy.

Ositelu told newsmen inLagos that poverty had denied

ernment with prayers anddeeds.

“We shall continue to prayfor our government, so thatGod will continue tostrengthen, guide and directthem to perform their dutiesdiligently,” he added.

L-R: General Manager, Lagos Residents Registration Agency, Ms Yinka Fashola, Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministryof Science and Technology, Nike Animasheun and Commissioner, Mr. Fatai Mabadeje at a briefing on the activities ofthe Ministry in Lagos yesterday.

L-R: Special Adviser to Lagos Governor on New Town Development Authority (NTDA),Mrs. Felicia Awofisayo, Registrar of Titles, Lagos Lands Bureau, Mrs. Dayo Akitoye andPermanent Secretary, Lagos Lands Bureau, Mr. Hakem Muri-Okunola, at a briefing onthe activities of the Bureau in Lagos yesterdy.

8 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Across The NationOkorocha To Pitch Tent With

APC

19-Yr-Old Boy DockedFor Killing Master

NLC Frees 15 Prison

Inmates

Ex-Gov Turaki Asks Court To

Vacate Arrest Warrant

Ebonyi Spends N8.5m WeeklyTo Maintain Peace

KANO - The Police havearraigned a 19-year-old boy,Kabiru Ibrahim, in a KanoMagistrates’ Court for kill-ing his 75-year-old master,Alhaji Rabi’u Goga.

The offence is contrary toSection 221 of the PenalCode.

According to the First In-formation Report (FIR), onMarch 26, 2013 at about 6:00 hours, one Hajiya HalimaRabi’u Goga and her daugh-ter, Rukayya Rabi’u Gogareported the matter to theKofar Wambai Police Divi-sion in Kano metropolis.

They said that on the samedate, at about 02:00 hours,the accused, KabiruIbrahim, of the same ad-dress, entered the house ofher deceased husband andstabbed him with a knife

severally.According to the FIR, the

deceased sustained variousdegrees of injury and as a re-sult, he was rushed to thehospital where he was laterpronounced dead by medicalexperts.

When the content of theFIR was read to the accused,he pleaded guilty.

The Police Prosecutor, MrIbrahim Abdul-Razak, urgedthe court to adjourn the mat-ter in view of the nature ofthe case which he said wascapital in nature as the courtlacked jurisdiction to enter-tain the matter.

The Presiding Judge, Mag-istrate Umma Kurawa, ad-journed the matter to June 3,for further mention and or-dered the accused person tobe remanded in prison.

KANO - The Nigeria LabourCongress (NLC), Kano StateCouncil, has facilitated thefreedom of 15 prison inmatesfrom the Central Prison, Kano.

The state NLC Chairman,Malam Isa Danguguwa, toldnewsmen in Kano that the ges-ture was part of activities mark-ing the May Day celebration inthe state.

‘’You know we limited ouractivities during the May Daycelebration to visiting hospitalsand prisons due to the securitychallenges.’’

He said the union paid aboutN200,000 as fines for all thebeneficiaries of the gesture.

‘’You will be surprised tohear that one woman among theinmates was indebted to onlyN5,000 but because she couldnot pay, she was sent to prison,’’he said.

Danguguwa said the unionhad directed its women commit-tee to identify some of thewomen who had a meagre finein the prison with a view to pay-ing the amounts to set them free.

‘’We want to show the publicthat NLC is not only concernedabout welfare of workers or sal-ary increase for workers, but itis concerned about the welfareof the common man in general.’’

The NLC chairman, who ex-pressed concern over the deplor-able condition in the prison,called on the state government

to assist the inmates with drugsand food.

Danguguwa also urged well-to-do in the society to emulatethe gesture of the union, to re-duce congestion in the prison.

He said 1,213 inmates were inKano Central prison and that ifpeople could assist in settingthem free, it would go a long wayto reduce congestion.

He also called on the FederalGovernment to seriously lookinto the issue of prison conges-tion across the country.

EZILLO (EBONYI) -The Ebonyi Government saidthat it was spending N8.5weekly to maintain peace inthe war-ravaged Ezillo com-munity in Ishiellu Local Gov-ernment Area (LGA) of thestate since 2010.

Reports say that theamount was spent on the up-keep of security operativesand other exigencies since theoutbreak of the fratricidal warbetween the community andits Ezza neighbours in 2010.

Governor Martin Elechidisclosed this at Okpoto,Ishiellu LGA, during the

State PDP organised Appre-ciation Tour of the area.

Elechi said that though thewar was curtailed in 2011, itsresultant human and materiallosses were unquantifiable.

“It is instructive to note thatwe spent N73 millionmonthly to ensure peace inthe area during the war as allthese were part of the mate-rial losses suffered.

“This cannot, however, becompared to the loss of in-nocent lives and destructionof valuable properties duringthat period.

“If all these funds wereused to provide infrastructuresuch as electricity, pipe bornewater, among others, it couldhad been better for thepeople.”

Elechi charged the peopleto maintain the prevailingpeace presently existing inthe area to attract develop-ment.

“Ishiellu has suffered thegruelling effects of the war asno development can be re-corded in violence-prone ar-eas.”

The governor disabusedinsinuations that he was atwar with Anambra indigenesdue to the government’s re-fusal to allow the Ibeto Groupoperate as the core investorsof the Nigerian Cement Fac-tory (NIGERCEM),Nkalagu.

“Those parading them-selves as the core investors ofthe company are not genuineas they are only interested inusing it to acquire importa-tion licence for cement.

“Instead of developing theplace, they have indulged inunwarranted looting and

vandalism of facilities.“I have more friends from

Anambra than I have fromEbonyi as I enjoy a cordialrelationship with ChiefCletus Ibeto, though we don’tagree on the NIGERCEM is-sue.”

Elechi said that the statewas interested in reclaimingthe piece of land on whichthe company was inaugu-rated, which made it revokedthe Certificate of Occupancy(CofO) earlier issued for theconstruction.

“It took us 39 years toachieve Ebonyi and wouldnot mind if it takes us 93years to reclaim the land in-stead of allowing thieves totake over the company.”

Mr Obinna Nwachukwu,the Chairman of the localgovernment council, thankedthe governor for the visit andlisted his development stridesin the areas of infrastructure,education, health and agri-culture.

OWERRI - Governor RochasOkorocha of Imo state has for-mally expressed support for theAll Progressives Congress(APC), urging the people of thestate to join him.

Okorocha made the declara-tion at a rally in Owerri as partof activities marking his twoyears in office.

He said his intention of join-ing APC was to ensure that thepeople continued to benefit fromthe dividends of democracy.

He explained that APGA hadengaged in the merger and notin alliance with any party, not-ing that a two party system wasgood for the country’s democ-racy.

The governor told the crowdthat came to witness his decla-ration that the state had wit-

nessed more development in twoyears than in the past 12 years.

Okorocha also told them thatAPC would bring the state closerto the “federal eye”.

Moves by the governor tomerge APGA with the APC hasgenerated heat among APGAstakeholders.

Seven state governors werepresent at the rally to show soli-darity with the governor.

Speaking at the occasion,Governor Babatunde Fashola ofLagos state commendedOkorocha for his bold move,describing APC as the solutionto the numerous challenges fac-ing the country.

Governor Umaru Al-Makuraof Nasarawa described the gov-

ernor as a true democrat whowould not relent in deliveringthe dividends of democracy tohis people and urged them tosupport Okorocha.

On his part, Governor KayodeFayemi of Ekiti state observedthat Okorocha had brought somenoticeable changes in the state,saying he would through theAPC bring more transformation.

Similarly, Governor AdamsOshiomhole of Edo and Gover-nor Rauf Aregbesola of Osuncongratulated Okorocha on hisachievements, noting that therally was to create awarenessand sensitise the people on theneed to support the merger.

DUTSEC - Former Gov-ernor of Jigawa, AlhajiIbrahim Saminu-Turaki, hasprayed the Federal HighCourt, Dutse, to vacate thebench warrant issued againsthim by the court.

Turaki was dragged beforethe court by the EFCC onalleged charges of graft andmisuse of public fundsamounting to more than N36billion during his eight-year

tenure as governor.The court had, on April 17,

issued a bench warrantagainst the ex-governor dueto his inability to appear be-fore it.

However, Turaki, had filedthe application few daysahead of May 16, the datewhich had earlier been set forthe hearing of the case.

He prayed for an order tostop the prosecution and thepolice from executing the ar-

rest warrant issued againsthim.

The Defence Lead Counsel,Mr O. Jolaawo, who led threeother counsel, submitted theapplication for an interlocu-tory injunction to stop thearrest of his client.

The Presiding Judge, Jus-tice Sabiu Yahuza, adjournedthe case to June 5 for hear-ing to enable the parties at-tend the next court sitting.

G o v e r n o rTanko Al-Makura ofNasarawa lis-tening to anaged woman ata public func-tion in Lafiarecently.

L-R: Secretary-General, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Sweden, MS JosefineKarlsson, President, WILPF Nigeria, Mrs. Joy Onyeso and Project Manager, WILPF Sweden, Miss ToreIrergard, during WILPF 5th Anniversary celebration in Enugu recently.

9 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Abuja

Court Remands Man ForCheating

ExpertCautionsAsthma

Sufferers

ProsecuteErring

Members,NOA UrgesSurveyors’Institute

Expert Warns Against SittingProlonged SittingABUJA - People who sit for

long hours have a higher riskof having chronic diseases suchas cancer, an Oncologist at theNational Hospital Abuja, DrAbdulaziz Idris, has said.

Idris told newsmen in Abujathat sitting for long hours re-duced the process of metabo-lism of foods and calories in thebody.

He said that when calories inthe body were not used up, thebody stored fats, which couldalso lead to obesity, hyperten-sion and some other cardiovas-cular diseases.

“You have the tendency ofgetting fat, obese and obesityalso leads to hypertension andcardiovascular diseases.

“It is also a risk factor for alot of cancers for example,breast, ovarian and endometrialcancer.”

The oncologist said that a lotof things could happen by justsitting down and not movingabout, adding that while atwork, a little moving aroundwould help.

“It is better that after everythirty minutes, one shouldstand up to walk round the en-vironment for a while.

“It even releases tension andyou are relaxed and by the timeyou go back to work, you aremore refreshed to concentrate

on work.”Idris also said that if one’s

work was hectic, there shouldbe a cultivation of habits, suchas exercising even at work.

“People who drive carsshould endeavour to park aftersome distance and walk theremaining distance and thosewith lifts in the office shouldmake efforts and use thestairs.”

ABUJA - The National Ori-entation Agency (NOA) has saidthat the Nigeria Institute ofQuantity Surveyors (NIQS)should be firm with erring mem-bers who violate the law of theinstitute .

Mr. Mike Omeri, the DirectorGeneral of the agency, made theremark in a statement madeavailable to newsmen in Abuja.

He disclosed that NOA wasworking on a partnership withNIQS on capacity building forthe agency’s procurement offic-ers.

According to him, NIQSshould apply the full weight ofexisting regulations on all err-ing members of the institute inthe spirit of “Do the RightThing” campaign of NOA.

He said cases of infrastructurecollapse across the countrywould drastically reduce “if theconcept of Do the Right Thingpermeates the institute and ev-ery facet of our existence.’’

He expressed confidence inthe present senate of the insti-tute to bring the nightmare ofbuilding collapse in the countryto an end.

According to the statement,the Chairman of the FCT chap-ter of NIQS, Mr.Abbar Tor, com-mended the transparency of theprocurement procedure of NOA.

“We have observed the trans-parent manner in which you con-cluded the last procurement ex-ercise; it is a model for allMDAs to emulate.”

Tor called for the inclusion ofthe NIQS in the National Pro-curement Council and to berecognised in the ongoingamendment of the ProcurementAct by the National Assembly.

He described their omission asa grievous oversight, adding thatthe procurement policy of theFederal Government was a criti-cal area where quantity survey-ors’ skills were required.

He requested for the supportof the NOA toward therealisation of the objective.

ABUJA - MohammedSanusi,30, a tailor, was ar-raigned in an Abuja Grade 2Area Court, Kado, FCT, for al-leged joint act and cheating.

The Police Prosecutor, SimeonIbrahim, told the court that onMay 3, one Justice Ihezue, ofJabi, Daki-Biu, Abuja, came tothe Utako police station to re-port the matter.

Ibrahim said the complainantreported that Sanusi, of no 11,Ebitu Ukiwe St.,Jabi, Abuja andHajiya Zainab of the same ad-dress, but now at-large, collectedN450,000 sometimes in Marchon the pretence of renting an

apartment for him.Ibrahim said Sanusi dishon-

estly converted the money to hispersonal use without deliveringthe said apartment paid for.

He said the accused wasstanding trial for the same of-fence committed twice in a rowas he had collected money fromone Gloria Ahamefule of no 36Benue Crescent, Area 1 Garki,Abuja.

He had also collected moneyfrom Fosca Agbochom, of no 14,First Generation Estate,Lokogoma, Abuja for the sameapartment.

Ibrahim said Ahamefule re-

ported same matter on April 8,adding that Sanusi had collectedN400,000 from her with the in-tention of renting an apartmentfor her.

He said that when she wasabout to move in, Sanusi andZainab were nowhere to befound.

Ibrahim also said the thirdcomplainant, Agbochom, re-ported the issue on April 10, say-ing she paid N450,000 to Sanusiand one Paul Chinedu, of no 11,

Ebiku Ukiwe St., Utako, Abuja.The prosecutor told the court

that the said accommodationwas the same place where thetwo other complainants visitedto pay their money.

He said th6e offence contra-vened the provisions of sections79 and 322 of the Penal Code.

Section 79 states that when acriminal act is committed byseveral persons, such personsare liable for that act in thesame manner as if it were doneby a single person.

Similarly, Section 322 stipu-lates that whoever cheats shallbe punished with imprisonmentfor a term which may extend tothree years or with fine or withboth.

Sanusi pleaded not guilty tothe charges.

The Presiding Officer, MrAhmed Ado, ordered the ac-cused to be remanded in prisonand adjourned the case to May27.

ABUJA - A medical practitio-ner, Dr Yinka Ajayi, has said thatasthma was medically incurablebut could be managed by avoid-ing triggers with constant use ofappropriate medicines.

Ajayi told newsmen in Abuja,as the world marked the 2013Asthma Day, that the asthmawas a chronic disease of the res-piratory system.

Asthma is sometimes causedby allergies with symptoms suchas coughing, sudden difficulty inbreathing and a tight feeling inthe chest.

May 7, every year, is cel-ebrated as World Asthma Day,to improve its awareness andcare.

The 2013 theme is: “You cancontrol your asthma”.

“Asthma can’t be cured; it canonly be controlled by regularmedicines.

“If proper medicines aretaken, there will be no problemfor an asthmatic person.”

She warned persons sufferingfrom asthma to avoid triggersthat could complicate the con-dition.

“ Triggers often bring asthmaattacks; a trigger is somethingthat causes the airways to nar-row, leading to asthma symp-toms.

“Everyone’s asthma is differ-ent and everyone has differenttriggers. For most people withasthma, triggers are only a prob-lem when their asthma is notwell-controlled.

“It is important that asthmat-ics stay away from such thingsas dusts and certain pets, to livenormal lives.”

She stressed that if repeatedattacks of asthma were ne-glected, the heart may be af-fected.

Ajayi said that although manypeople believed that asthma wasa chronic condition, it was not alife threatening disease.

She said that with self man-agement and control, the mor-tality rate of asthma would bereduced to its barest minimum.

She said research had shownthat consumption of antibioticsduring pregnancy could predis-pose the child to asthma.

“ Children whose motherstook antibiotics while they werepregnant were slightly morelikely than other children to de-velop asthma.”

The doctor, however, advisedthat asthmatic patients shouldtry to identify such things thatprovoked acute attack in themand try as much as possible toavoid them.

She added that inhalers weremuch better for asthma treat-ment than oral medicines.

“The oral medicine reacheslungs via stomach and blood.

“This not only reduces the ef-ficacy of medicines but can alsocause many side-effects. ”Ac-cording to the WHO estimates,235 million people suffer fromasthma worldwide and it is themost common chronic diseaseamong children.

It states that it is not just apublic health problem for highincome countries, but it occursin all countries regardless oflevel of development.

He also said that rather thansend people on errands, oneshould try to run some errandsby himself or herself becauseit was also a form of exercise.

Idris said that taking out timeto walk during office hours wasvery important, adding, “evenone hour of sitting withoutstanding up can increase yourchances of getting cancer”.

L-R: ECOWAS Commissioner for Gender and Human Development, Dr. Adriene Diop, Swedish Minister of Finance, Mr.

Anders Borg, President, ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Kadre Desire Ouedraogo and Swedish Minister for Development

Cooperation, Mrs. Gunilla Carlsson during the Ministers visit to the ECOWAS President in Abuja recently.

Galadiman Zazzau,Alhaji Nuhu Aliyo (left),assisting the Minister ofScience and Technology,Prof. Ita Okon-Bassey(right) to inaugurate aproject at the NigerianInstitute of Leather andScience Technology inZaria recently.

1 0 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Across The Nation

Over-Speeding: FRSC Commences 7-DayCampaign Begins

1 Die In Collapsed Building,4 Others Trapped

The Acting General Manager, BNCL, Pastor Monday Aigbe, fourth from

right in a group photograph with members of GNPAYS Venture during a

courtesy visit to the company’s headquarters in Benin City recently.

Third from left is Mr. Solomon Imohiosen, Editor, The NIGERIAN OB-

SERVER. Photo: JAMES OMOREBOKHAI.

Kwankwaso Inaugurates 26New Magistrates’ Courts

UNICAL Justifies Lecturers

Sack

The Acting General Manager of Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), PastorMonday Aigbe in a handshake with Mr. Miko Onoyovwo during a courtesy visit. Photo:JAMES OMOREBOKHAI.

Police Redeploy 11 Commissioners

KANO - Kano StateGovernor, Dr Rabiu MusaKwankwaso, has inaugu-rated 26 new magistrates’courts in the state.

During the ceremony inKano, the governor calledon lawyers to desist fromacts capable of tarnishingthe image of the judiciary.

He said the state govern-ment provided the courtsacross the state to bringjustice closer to thepeople.

Kwankwaso said themove was part of hisadministration’s agenda toreduce crime in the state.

The governor said trans-

forming the judiciary wouldhelp in reducing crimesamong the citizenry and ap-pealed to the judiciary to al-ways respect the rule of law.

Commenting on the newbuildings, the Chief Judge ofthe state, Justice Shehu Atiku,described the effort as a wel-come development to the sec-tor.

Atiku said the aim was toprovide a suitable workingatmosphere for the judiciary,adding that “with this kindof project, judges will beencouraged in the dischargeof their duties.”

LAGOS - A three storeybuilding under construction col-lapsed at No. 24, Bashiru Street,Ojodu Berger, Lagos, on Tues-day and killed a worker andtrapped four others under therubbles.

The Information Officer ofNational EmergencyManagement Agency(NEMA), Mr IbrahimFarinloye, confirmed theincident by telephone tonewsmen.

Farinloye said: “A three-storybuilding has collapsed and wehave confirmed that one personis dead while four other peopleare still trapped in there.

“Our search taps located andrecovered one body and fourpeople were also located at dif-

ferent locations under therubbles.

“We are working towardsrescuing the trapped workers.”

Farinloye said that an ap-prentice to the workers escapedbecause he was sent on an er-rand.

He also said that the luckyapprentice confirmed toNEMA the number of peoplewho were trapped inside therubbles.

Farinloye said that while therescue operation was on, avoice was heard calling forhelp.

“We just heard a voice speak-ing in Hausa language fromunder the rubbles and we areworking to rescue him and oth-ers who have been trapped,” he

MOWE (OGUN)-The Fed-eral Road Safety Commission(FRSC) has launched a seven-day campaign against over-speeding and reckless drivingalong Lagos-Ibadan Express-way.

The campaign, tagged “Op-eration Shield”, was launchedat Mowe, Ogun, by MrAdemola Lawal, Zonal Com-mander, FRSC, RS2 Headquar-ters, Lagos.

Lawal said that the essenceof the operation was to ensurereduction in road accidents onthe highway.

Lawal said during the seven-day operation, FRSC officerswould carry out motorisedpatrol from Ojota toll-gate inLagos to Oluyole toll-gate inIbadan to monitor the drivinghabits of motorists on the road.

He explained that the FRSCofficers would also compelmotorists to obey speed limitsand warned that any motoristcaught disobeying traffic lawswould be arrested and pun-ished.

“This operation is one of thestrategies the FRSC headquar-ters has put in place to ensure

that on those critical corridors,which Lagos-Ibadan is one ofthem, the rate of road crashes isreduced.

“The essence of this reductionis to meet the UN Decade of Ac-tion which says all nations shouldreduce rates of road crashes by50 per cent.

“Apart from that, we need tomeet our strategic goal for 2013,which is to reduce road crashesin Nigeria by 20 per cent and roadtraffic crashes related fatality by

30 per cent,” Lawal said.He said from all the re-

search available to the com-mission, over-speeding wasone of the major causes ofroad crashes on the highways.

“We will do our best to re-duce road traffic crashes onthe Lagos-Ibadan highwaycorridor and there is no otherway to do it than all these ini-tiatives we are putting inplace to ensure that we jus-tify our existence,” he stated.

Lawal, however, urgedFRSC personnel, who wouldbe involved in the operationto be polite to road users.

“Carry out your duty as adisciplined officer. Don’t fightanybody on the road and tryas much as possible to useyour discretion to handle situ-ations.

“Make all necessary arrests.You are bound to be insultedbut you should know you area public servant and be readyto accept those insults in theinterest of the service to the

ABUJA - The Inspector-Gen-eral of Police, Mr MohammedAbubakar, has directed the re-deployment of 11 commission-ers of police (CPs) across thecountry.

The directive is contained ina statement issued by theDeputy Force Public RelationsOfficer, CSP Frank Mba, inAbuja.

“The redeployment is as a re-sult of the recent elevation ofsome senior officers to the rankof commissioners and the retire-

ment of some commissioners ofpolice in state commands and po-lice formations,’’ the statementsaid.

It named the affected officers asCP Agboola Oshodi-Glover (Kwara), CP AbubakarMohammed (Enugu State), CPTonye Ebitibituwa ( Bayelsa) andCP Umaru Shehu ( NasarawaState).

Others are CP HurdiMohammed ( Katsina State), CPSylvester Umeh (PAP, EasternPort), CP Kudu Nma ( GombeState), and CP Usman Baba ( CP

Cooperative).The list also includes CP Saidu

Madawaki ( Border Patrol), CPUsman Yakubu ( Welfare, ‘A’Force Headquarters) and CPAbdulmajid Ali ( EOD, ‘B’ De-partment, Force Headquarters).

The statement urged the offic-ers to show commitment in thefight against crime in their areasof operation.

The inspector-general urgedthem to work hard and relate withthe public very well and serveas motivation to their subordinateofficers in the discharge of theirresponsibilities, the statement

nation,” the FRSC boss said.Reports however say that the

FRSC launched eight patrol ve-hicles for the operation.

CALABAR - Prof.James Epoke, the Vice-Chancellor of the Uni-versity of Calabar(UNICAL), has justifiedthe decision of the insti-tution to sack six lectur-ers for academic fraud.

It will be recalled thatthe university dismissedthe lecturers threemonths ago for plagia-rism.

Epoke told newsmen inCalabar that “the sackwas not frivolous” as theaction followed due pro-cess after the affectedlecturers were investi-gated and found guilty ofplagiarism.

He said that the com-mittee set up by the in-stitution to assess theacademic staff for pro-motion also discovered

that the affected lecturerscopied academic works ofothers.

The vice-chancellor saidthat the lecturers appearedbefore the investigativecommittee made up of pro-fessors but could not de-fend allegations of plagia-rism against them.

He said his administra-tion had consolidated onpast achievements andmaintained higher aca-demic standards, promptrelease of results andwould continue to promotediscipline among staff andstudents.

Epoke said that UNICALhad received N3 billionfrom the FederalGovernment’s special in-tervention grant for tertiary

institutions in the last one-year.

He said the fund wasbeing channelled to theconstruction of facilities inthe medical school of theuniversity.

The vice-chancellor saidthat the medical facilitieswere necessary for the in-stitution to ensure that itdid not lose accreditationfor its Medicine and Sur-gery departments.

Epoke also said that theuniversity moved up to thesixth position from the22nd position on the indexof performing universitiesin Nigeria.

He said peace and tran-quility had returned toUNICAL.

He decried the dearth ofmanpower, particularlyacademic staff, in the uni-versity.

“The ratio of teachers tostudents is not static. Wehave 1,300 staff to 26,000students; normally weshould have a ratio of 1:7,but this is not so,’’ Epokesaid.

He decried the en-croachment of the univer-sity land by neighbouringcommunities and attrib-uted the development tothe absence of a fence aswell as land compensationrelated issues.

Epoke, however, saidthat the university hadcontinued to maintain ahealthy relationship withthe host communities,considering their input inadmissions and employ-ment.

1 1 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

NSE DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY (EQUITIES) AS AT YESTERDAY (08/05/13)

Stocks Open Close Change Deals Units Value

7UP 50 50 0 10 7,065 354,790.70

ABBEYBDS 1.43 1.43 0 1 736 949.44

ABCTRANS 0.96 1.05 0.09 18 2,098,663 2,203,596.15

ACCESS 11 11.02 0.02 286 27,530,289 302,803,403.75

AFRIPRUD 1.85 1.85 0 46 1,053,728 1,833,594.27

AFROMEDIA 0.5 0.5 0 3 2,250 1,125.00

AGLEVENT 1.82 1.82 0 12 163,474 295,864.28

AIICO 0.9 0.89 -0.01 38 4,115,845 3,661,530.25

AIRSERVICE 3.99 4.38 0.39 23 751,192 3,271,631.26

ASHAKACEM 23.3 23.6 0.3 37 739,336 17,362,754.09

BERGER 6.82 6.82 0 4 36,661 266,254.16

BETAGLAS 10 9.8 -0.2 5 104,090 1,021,232.00

BOCGAS 8.5 8.5 0 3 1,732 13,967.80

CADBURY 37.5 38.9 1.4 83 603,431 23,344,188.81

CAP 56.62 56.62 0 52 156,904 9,688,807.79

CCNN 8.8 9 0.2 16 393,956 3,489,142.53

CHAMS 0.5 0.5 0 2 5,000 2,500.00

CILEASING 0.51 0.51 0 8 231,375 118,858.75

CONOIL 23 23 0 17 21,511 533,776.65

CONTINSURE 1.05 1.05 0 2 130,000 136,500.00

CORNERST 0.5 0.5 0 4 700,700 350,350.00

COSTAIN 1.06 0.96 -0.1 20 443,194 425,466.24

COURTVILLE 0.5 0.51 0.01 10 6,635,954 3,361,936.84

CUSTODYINS 1.69 1.7 0.01 11 483,600 821,780.00

CUTIX 1.76 1.92 0.16 6 135,615 258,464.50

DANGCEM 175.06 178.22 3.16 77 5,472,060 975,527,555.68

DANGFLOUR 9.13 9.21 0.08 66 733,949 6,738,886.04

DANGSUGAR 7.7 7.79 0.09 94 3,902,474 30,074,406.96

DIAMONDBNK 6.44 6.6 0.16 114 8,205,286 53,918,463.68

EKOCORP 4.8 4.8 0 1 60 259.2

ETERNA 2.48 2.71 0.23 12 163,800 421,265.00

ETI 15.2 15.2 0 61 7,143,817 108,565,565.59

EVANSMED 1.65 1.65 0 5 33,562 50,055.38

FBNH 19.71 19.95 0.24 590 35,439,226 706,387,932.47

FCMB 4.8 5 0.2 201 113,370,843 564,681,975.48

FIDELITYBK 2.85 2.94 0.09 119 20,681,320 59,463,168.14

FIDSON 1.65 1.65 0 34 2,293,720 3,818,929.70

FIRSTALUM 0.5 0.5 0 1 100 50

FLOURMILL 76 76.5 0.5 61 607,601 46,740,102.37

FO 14.24 14.24 0 20 26,590 388,456.60

GLAXOSMITH 47.25 47.25 0 19 50,716 2,400,365.00

GNI 0.5 0.5 0 6 1,257,177 633,595.58

GUARANTY 26 27 1 373 8,503,880 222,676,884.60

GUINNESS 274.3 274.3 0 40 45,152 12,519,388.95

HMARKINS 0.5 0.5 0 8 300,000 150,000.00

HONYFLOUR 2.9 2.88 -0.02 37 666,812 1,924,779.12

IKEJAHOTEL 0.81 0.88 0.07 21 1,282,311 1,097,685.52

INTBREW 20.65 20.65 0 38 263,416 5,311,360.30

IPWA 0.6 0.6 0 2 8,233 5,101.96

JAPAULOIL 0.57 0.6 0.03 108 10,703,640 6,353,382.24

JBERGER 52 52 0 33 736,580 38,226,802.50

JOHNHOLT 1.54 1.54 0 8 67,875 110,970.32

LASACO 0.5 0.5 0 2 31,619 15,809.50

LEARNAFRCA 1.8 1.95 0.15 21 1,606,247 2,927,376.45

LIVESTOCK 2.8 2.75 -0.05 37 694,706 1,950,876.75

MANSARD 2.4 2.6 0.2 12 201,238 494,235.14

MAYBAKER 1.98 2.17 0.19 22 245,604 509,433.92

MBENEFIT 0.5 0.5 0 3 1,650 825

MCNICHOLS 1.15 1.15 0 3 5,050,200 5,807,730.00

TOP 10 GAINERS TOP 10 GAINERSStock Close Loss

TOTAL 145.2 -4.8BETAGLAS 9.8 -0.2UBN 9.58 -0.12COSTAIN 0.96 -0.1WAPIC 0.92 -0.08PAINTCOM 1.8 -0.07VITAFOAM 3.25 -0.05LIVESTOCK 2.75 -0.05HONYFLOUR 2.88 -0.02OKOMUOIL 105.99 -0.01

Stock Close Gain

NB 170 5NESTLE 915 5DANGCEM 178.22 3.16CADBURY 38.9 1.4UACN 71.1 1.1ZENITHBANK 21.4 1.05GUARANTY 27 1UBA 7.5 0.65FLOURMILL 76.5 0.5STANBIC 14.5 0.48

TOP 10 LOSERS

MOBIL 114 114 0 27 175,877 19,903,281.66

MORISON 2.23 2.23 0 1 300 603

MRS 18.15 18.15 0 6 2,271 41,255.88

NAHCO 6.1 6.25 0.15 75 1,002,048 6,233,865.80

NASCON 10.47 10.52 0.05 195 5,459,727 57,157,261.62

NB 165 170 5 162 1,407,372 236,805,307.17

NCR 17 17 0 8 112,619 1,914,180.80

NEIMETH 0.81 0.81 0 8 142,400 113,724.00

NEM 0.74 0.73 -0.01 22 1,344,701 991,456.92

NESTLE 910 915 5 59 145,882 133,604,764.58

NIGERINS 0.5 0.5 0 1 108 54

NIWICABLE 0.5 0.5 0 1 250 125

NNFM 23.8 23.8 0 5 7,103 156,641.00

OANDO 14.8 15 0.2 142 2,644,415 39,619,231.01

OASISINS 0.5 0.5 0 1 1,940 970

OKOMUOIL 106 105.99 -0.01 211 1,201,862 127,323,020.80

PAINTCOM 1.87 1.8 -0.07 5 160,400 287,720.00

PHARMDEKO 2.07 2.07 0 1 300 561

PREMBREW 0.68 0.68 0 2 50,000 31,000.00

PRESCO 24.2 24.61 0.41 24 705,950 17,324,655.00

PRESTIGE 0.62 0.62 0 12 945,016 585,613.32

PZ 42 42 0 40 173,527 7,346,288.25

REDSTAREX 3.9 4 0.1 13 303,600 1,161,545.00

REGALINS 0.5 0.5 0 2 4,000,500 2,000,250.00

RESORTSAL 0.5 0.5 0 3 1,400 700

ROYALEX 0.53 0.58 0.05 15 948,459 534,158.27

RTBRISCOE 1.35 1.48 0.13 36 951,194 1,331,774.35

SKYEBANK 5.12 5.3 0.18 146 11,270,486 58,575,394.93

SOVRENINS 0.5 0.5 0 3 2,500 1,250.00

STANBIC 14.02 14.5 0.48 21 459,305 6,574,688.89

STDINSURE 0.5 0.5 0 6 6,000 3,000.00

STERLNBANK 2.6 2.6 0 71 4,595,233 11,949,768.84

TANTALIZER 0.5 0.5 0 1 1,000 500

TOTAL 150 145.2 -4.8 21 70,445 10,275,664.85

TOURIST 4.53 4.53 0 1 100 408

TRANSCORP 1.11 1.13 0.02 88 12,237,872 13,745,161.08

TRIPPLEG 2.29 2.29 0 1 50 103.5

UAC-PROP 14.3 14.3 0 11 10,992 161,453.84

UACN 70 71.1 1.1 97 2,211,240 156,010,794.19

UBA 6.85 7.5 0.65 321 14,879,935 107,516,220.95

UBCAP 1.1 1.2 0.1 58 2,032,419 2,352,775.93

UBN 9.7 9.58 -0.12 89 1,095,094 10,530,460.80

UNILEVER 58.5 58.5 0 54 98,290 5,858,780.17

UNITYBNK 0.65 0.65 0 51 3,416,375 2,220,544.85

UNITYKAP 0.5 0.5 0 1 350 175

UNIVINSURE 0.5 0.5 0 2 150,000 75,000.00

UPL 4.8 4.8 0 4 21,257 101,754.36

UTC 0.59 0.64 0.05 16 650,459 409,013.03

VITAFOAM 3.3 3.25 -0.05 21 238,285 773,807.04

WAPCO 79.9 79.9 0 29 77,371 6,288,032.99

WAPIC 1 0.92 -0.08 13 357,580 329,423.60

WEMABANK 1.33 1.33 0 61 3,585,123 4,724,620.87

ZENITHBANK 20.35 21.4 1.05 450 34,991,438 732,827,306.69

1 2 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

THE NIGERIANTHE basic fundamental of all economies isagriculture and all industrial nations know this.That their economies are on solid rock is basi-cally because they have galvanized their agri-cultural potentials, which is also the offshootof their industrial development That is whyconcerned citizens of Nigeria have continuedto warn on the dangers of continued depen-dence by the nation on crude oil which is todaythe mainstay and sustaining source of the Ni-gerian economy.

THE traditional focus of the Nigerianeconomy before the discovery of crude oil incommercial quantity was agriculture and itplayed a fundamental role in shaping theeconomy of the nation and regions as Nigeriawas then constituted in its immediate post in-dependence era.

IN the 1960s, each region of the country wasnoted for producing some cash crops such ascocoa, groundnut and palm oil as well as rub-ber in commercial quantities. Basically, the Wettern region, now the political South West ex-cept Lagos which was the Federal Capital, wasnoted for producing cocoa in large commer-cial quantities for export. The revenue fromcocoa helped in shaping the infrastructure andeconomic environment of then Western Nige-ria and its legacies and landmarks were -veryvery visible, as they affected virtually all as-pects of life of the people.

IN the Northern region, groundnut was themainstay of the economy, to the extent that thevolume produced in the region was typified bythe “groundnut pyramid”. It symbolized thesuccess of the crop as a veritable earner of rev-enue which impacted economically on the lifeof the people.

IN the Eastern region, palm oil was its pre-

dominant feature and similarly, it was a successin boosting the economic atmosphere of thecountry and the region. Interestingly, it is nowan irony that Nigeria has been relegated to thebackground in palm oil production and has beenovertaken by Malaysia, a country which tookthe Nigerian specimen of the plant, palm ker-nel, and adapted it to its own climatic conditionand is today a leading producer of palm oil,which is a major derivative of palm kernel.

SIGNIFICANTLY, the Midwest region wasnoted for its rubber plantation and was quite ahuge success as the crop played its role as amajor economic transformation agent to shoreup principally the economy of the region.

WE are concerned that there is slow progressin returning to the traditional focus of revivingthese cash crops as major sources of revenuefor the Federal Government.

HOWEVER, we are aware that not too longago, the Federal Government launched the Co-coa Rebirth Initiative, as launch pad to regen-erate interest in the crop and encourage farm-ers who have abandoned the plant to come backon the scene to make cocoa play its role in thenational economy.

THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER implores theFederal Government to similarly create avenuesfor other cash crops as well as sensitise farmersto take proactive action towards their cultiva-

tion. WHILE the Federal Government has

shown the interest to refocus attention to ag-riculture, there appears to be so much disin-terest in the way it has pursued the goal.

THERE is no conscious effort to empowersmall scale farmers to undertake mechanizedfarming for greater yields, as this is still theexclusive preserve of the elite farmers. Thus,farmers who are interested in expansion haveno way of coping with the financial demandsto undertake mechanized farming. Access tobank loans is uncertain with high interest rate,serving as enough scare to discourage the de-sire for any expansion.

WHILE the banks may have played signifi-cant roles in the past in assisting farmers, theydid so purely on the initiative of the individualfarmers and therefore expect in the new ar-rangement as already envisaged, a friendlylending terms that will encourage investmentin the agricultural sector. THE NIGERIANOBSERVER now calls on the Federal Govern-ment to consider an upward review of alloca-tion to the agricultural sector. Amounts alwaysallocated in the budget have been a pointer ofthe genuineness of government’s commitmentto the agricultural sector.

WE assert that improving the national ag-ricultural output should be devoid of any pro-hibition that will limit access to the fund bysmall scale farmers whose contributions toagricultural development form part of the con-certed effort of the production chain that willlift the nation out of the continued dependenceon oil.

Improving NationalAgricultural Output

1 3 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Would You Marry A Poor

Man With

IMOISILI EDITH

07089364470

Relationship

Proverb Of The Week

Do you remember that he is a human being and thathe can fail? We must never expect too much fromour spouses because they are also like us that canmake mistakes.

Do you remember old quarrel every day? Try not toharbor the quarrel you had with your spouse in yourheart for a long time, learn to forgive and give him/her a second chance.

Do you persevere with him during time of lack?There is an adage that says ‘a friend in need is a friendin deed’. Never abandon him in his time of trials andtribulations, learn to be a good helper indeed.

Do you know that fake visions from fake prophetscan destroy your marriage? Stop running to everyTom, Dick and Harry that called themselves proph-ets of God. Many homes are in shambles today sim-ply because, when they are experiencing some chal-lenges in their marriages, they abandon their placesof worship and jump from one miracle centre to an-other, all in the name of searching for solutions totheir problems.

Do you know that you need to love your in-lawsjust as you love your husband? Always remember thathe was born and raised by his extended family, tryingto separate him from them will not work, rather youwill end up hurting his feelings. Therefore the bestoption is to make sacrifice by loving what he alsolove and you will have peace in your home.

Let your wife feel your affections. Researchers havediscovered that, majority of African men do not knowhow to express their love openly, like kissing, hug-ging and caressing at public places. This is becausethey are either too shy or they have ‘cultural hangover’. But there are other ways in which your wifecan feel your love. Learn to buy her what you tthinkshe likes most, you can also take her out on specialoccasions and try to be around her at home as youlisten and share her opinion on various issues.

Do you value what your spouse’s say? Avoid lettingyour educational qualifications come in between youand your spouse. This happened most especially withwomen who are more educated than their husband.Making your husband less important and feel inferi-ority complex before you is like a time bomb waitingto explode. This means that the marriage is headingfor the wall. As long as you have agreed to marryhim, you must drop all you qualifications at the doorpost and learn to be humble as well as be submissivefor your marriage to work.

Tips For Marital Bliss

IT might sound ridiculousand may as well be viewed asa rhetorical question. But thefact still remains that mostyoung girls in this present gen-eration will prefer to marry aman with a fat bank account.It is true that money plays avery significant role in homesand most cases provides maxi-mum comfort for the owner.That is why most men nowa-days tend to delay their mar-riages till they are financiallybuoyant before tying the knot.This has also led to the crazefor money as young men arenow ready to get rich, eitherthrough legitimate or fraudu-lent means.

What baffled me recentlywas when I watched my favor-ite soap opera in a cable net-work titled ‘Dear Mother’. Inthat particular episode, a youngman’s odious plan was exposedas he attempted to take hispregnant girlfriend to a pre-ar-ranged hospital where she canhave an abortion. What irkedme most was the fact that thissame young man’s intentionwas to take the aborted fetus toa native doctor for rituals, withthe intention of making moneyfrom it. It was quite awful as Ifound myself wondering thedimension with which thiscraze for money has taken.

I remembered vividly what ayoung man once told me in oneof my conversations with him,over the issue that today, ma-jority of young men don’t wantto work hard and wait patientlyto become wealthy and thattheir ambition is to acquirewealth over night in whateverillegal means they can lay their

hands. Be it through; kidnap-ping, arm rubbery, fraudulentact, cultism, or spilling bloodfor ritual making, it doesn’tmatter to them, providedmoney is made in the process.His answer to my puzzle wasthat some of these men foundthemselves in this predicamentas a result of the demand formoney by the women in theirlives and also to impress aswell as shower money on theirgirls in other to continue to en-joy their presence. In otherwords, ‘women are the causeof all evil.’

Let’s take a critical look at thephrase ‘poor man’. Who is ac-tually a poor man in the real

sense, which our young girlswill emphatically say that theyare not ready to settle downwith? Money is definitely noteverything as it can neitherbuyer happiness, love or peace.Though it goes a long way togive comfort, and succumb tomankind, but it is definitely notan end to its means. It mightamaze you to know that someof these men who are often re-fer to as ‘poor man’ are actu-ally the men who left schooland are working hard in theirvarious fields of endeavour le-gitimately to make it in life.When some of our girls marryfor money and that samemoney is no more, the lovewhich she once profess alsodiminished. This is while wehave high rate of divorce in thesociety today. Take a clue fromour dear Nollywood.

It takes Patience as well asperseverance for a person ofDame Patience Jonathan tomarry a man who went to

school without shoes on his feetand I guess today she will beproud of herself for taking thatinitiative to climb all the moun-tains that was on her way, therat race and cross all the val-leys to become the first Ladyof the Federal Republic of Ni-geria. I wish our young girlswill borrow a leaf from her andalso have it at the back of theirminds that Rome was not builtin a day.

Ms. Smock has found in herown research that havingmoney does encourage peopleto tie the knot. “It’s more likelythat a couple will marry if theyhave money, and if the man iseconomically stable,” she says.

She further added that womenwere not the only ones with thegold-digging impulse. In the‘Prince & Associates’ study,61% of men in their 40s saidthey would marry for money.Ms. Smock says that as menget older, they become morecomfortable with women beingthe bread-winners.

Another research conductedrecently, revealed that materi-alists have unhappier mar-riages than couples who don’tcare much about possessions.Mrs. Angela Okoh distin-guished herself when she said‘I did marry a poor man; how-ever, we were (and are) on thesame page as far as our ulti-mate goals are concerned. Hewas poor because he was inschool, not because he was notin interesed in improving him-self. I don’t mind having verylittle money; on the other hand,I abhor people laying on thecouch all day and not doinganything for themselves or ex-

pecting someone else to takecare of them’. She added that:‘the poor man can show you histrue love, instead of having arich guy who goes out and justbuy you something real quickto make you happy for the timebeing’. While Mrs. C. Osagieconfessed that she was in a re-lationship with a man who hadmoney, and she was miserableand realized that moneydoesn’t buy happiness after all.

There are some womentagged as ‘smart women’ whoare not wooed by good looksand the smooth talk, after allthose come a dime a dozen.These women are looking athow their potential partners

spend money. Does he have anemergency fund? Is he currenton their monthly bills such asthe car payment and rent/mort-gage? Does he spend morethan he earns? They’re listen-ing keenly to understand howtheir potential mates relate tomoney. Is it a tool? Is it acrutch? They know the differ-ence and conduct business ac-cordingly. Should the potentialmate fall into the category ofthe above mentioned, then it’stime to say good-bye. Afterall, who wants a man who isn’tinterested in learning how tomanage his money effectively?They are in it for the long haul,not a few cheap dates.

One cannot go to the farmerfrom one borrowed seedyams to say that, beetles haveeaten up the seed yams.Meaning: don’t be too clever

by taking others for fool.

“What baffled me recently was when I watched my favorite soap opera in a cable networktitled ‘Dear Mother’. In that particular episode, a young man’s odious plan was exposed as heattempted to take his pregnant girlfriend to a pre-arranged hospital where she can have anabortion. What irked me most was the fact that this same young man’s intention was to take theaborted fetus to a native doctor for rituals, with the intention of making money from it. It wasquite awful as I found myself wondering the dimension with which this craze for money hastaken.”

1 4 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Issues

By FELIX OMOH-ASUN

EDSG Is Passionate For

Qualitative Education -Commissioner

Reviving Nigeria’s Economy ThroughAgricultureBy EMMANUEL EGOBIAMBU

Dr Adesina Akinwumi Minister of Agriculture

QUALITY education to primary schools pupils inEdo State public schools has remained a cardinal ob-jective of the present government of AdamsOshiomhole’s. primary education being the bedrock offuture educational pursuit, Oshiomhole’s administra-tion give inception has made it a priority to renovate,modernize and equip primary schools in the state.

In a recent interview, commissioner of Basic Educa-tion, Hon. Patrick Agwinede did not mince words thatthe state government was committed to returning toprimary schools the lost glory of the yester years, whenpublic schools were the envy of all. According to him,the government has made a bold step towards makingpublic schools attractive. To this end, he said, a total of138. schools have so far been renovated while 5,050desks so for been distributed to the various primaryschools across the state.

The commissioner noted that the governor was pas-sionate about transforming primary educating. “It isour belief that schools should not only be renovatedbut pupils should besealed. This is why we are creat-ing conducive atmosphere to learn”.

Agwinede said the state government was prepared toimplement the Universal Basic Education UBE/ policyas contained in the 2004 act establishing the scheme.

He asserted he was in a familiar terrain being a trainedteacher. And also having chaired the education com-mittee when he was a member of the State House ofAssembly.

“ I am happy to be in a familiar terrain as a trainedteacher and as a former member of the State House ofAssembly, I was the chairmen of the education com-mittee, I related extensively with education matters. AndI was one of those who drafted the UBE law which isin operation today, so I understand the concept of thelaw”, he stressed.

The commissioner who said it was the dream of theministry to see all schools renovated to an enviablebut also agreed that is not possible to carry out reno-

vation in all the schools at the same time. He beggedfor some work.

However, he appealed to stakeholders to notify theministry of any school in deploration condition and inneed of urgent repair so that the ministry can immedi-ately attend to it. “If there is a school that is so bad,you can write the ministry so that we can include it inthe schools to be renovates immediately to make surerepair is not capsided: it is the dream of the schoolsare renovated but you will agree with me that govern-ment cannot carryout the renovation at the same time.What we do is to carry out repair on senatorial basis.

Agwinede observed the separate of validity of gov-ernment property in schools was high, because of thatthe ministry in conjunction with the state governmentwas tinkering with the idea of contracting the protec-tion of items delivered to schools to private securityfirm. He said talks with the state Neigbourhood Watchand the Nigerian legion to beef up security aroundschools was in top gear, so that the effort of the state toprovide schools with equipment will not in vain. “Weare talking about security because the Comrade Gov-ernor in his wisdom has resolved to fully implementthe national policy on education to the last dot”, heemphasized.

He also noted that the ministry will soon embarkedon recruitment of teachers to fill the short fall in man-power especially in the rural areas.

AGRICULTURE, is a key component of Nigeria’seconomy. Wikipedia noted that the sector provides em-ployment for about 70% percent of Nigeria’s populace.But in the 1970’s and beyond, agriculture provided amajor Chunk of the nation’s revenue. According to aLecturer in the Federal University of Agriculture,Abeokuta, (FUNAAB), Prof. Olusegun Oshinowo, ag-riculture contributes 35% to the Gross Domestic Prod-uct (GDP) of this country yearly.

However, despite that 76 million hectares or 33% ofNigeria’s land area are fit for cultivation, the agricul-tural sector has not be fully tapped for the growth andsustainance of the economy. Agriculture in Nigeria is stillat the subsistence level and need’s urgent efforts if it is tocontribute meaningfully to the economy.

Nigeria’s agricultural products can be divided into twomajor categories. These are food crops, (mainly consumedlocally) and export products. Staple crops such as rice,wheat, millet, beans, corn and others, can be produced inlarge quantities and exported to other shores.

The Encyclopedia of nations, noted that agriculturalexports in 2001, earned the country 323.5 million dol-lars. As at independence, agriculture contributed 60% ofthe Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If properly man-aged, the economic benefits of agriculture, are innumer-able in nature.

Now, let me start with the small scale former in thevillage. If a small scale farmer, is provided with en-abling environment, he can put food on his table. If alocal farmer can make a sum of N500, 000montly, thenthere would be no need of crying wolf about the economy.

If the agricultural sector is revamped, employment will

be increased. In agriculture, with the abundant naturalresourced the nation is blessed with, one cannot butsay, that unemployment will vanish. Talking about cre-

ating jobs, agriculture through poultry, fish farming,wood lumbering and others can fend jobs for the teem-ing unemployed. Also, with increase farming activity,

industries will definitely spring up. This is as a result ofthe raw materials needed by these industries which farm-ing provides.

Sometime ago, Nigeria embarked on exportation ofcassava product/products to other countries.

Similarly, over two-third of the world’s working popu-lation, are engaged in agriculture. The concomitant ef-fect is that these people depend on agriculture for sur-vival in life. Firstly, psychologists have made known thefact that food is the basic need of man. When the nation’sagricultural system is operating on a high scale, foodcannot be a problem. With adequate supply of food tothe teeming populace, the productivity level of theeconomy will definitely improve.

Furthermore, lack of agricultural development has beena notable reason responsible for rural-urban drift.

Before the oil boom, most Nigeria’s never found it isvogue to move to urban centers.

Although, the Nigerian economy is a growing one, itcan become better if the potentials in the agriculturalsector is harnessed. A good economy uses agriculture asits back bone. As noted by Masanobu Fukuoka, “theultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, butthe cultivation and perfection of human beings”. It isonly when agriculture is encouraged that Nigeria’seconomy will be perfected!

Gov Adams Oshiomhole

“Although, the Nigerian economy is a growing one, it can become better if thepotentials in the agricultural sector is harnessed. A good economy uses agricul-ture as its back bone. As noted by Masanobu Fukuoka, “the ultimate goal offarming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of humanbeings”. It is only when agriculture is encouraged that Nigeria’s economy will be

1 5 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Child Health & You

By HOPE OSHODIN

Preventing Germs Spread AtHome

PREVENTING germsfrom spreading is generally amatter of concern to both par-ents and health care givers, asprevention they say is far bet-ter than cure.

What are germs? Germs re-fer to the microscopic organ-isms (not seen with the eyes)such as bacteria, viruses, fungiand protozoa that can causediseases. Germs can also beseen as tiny organisms thatcreep into our bodies and at-tack our immune system.Germs exist in the followingforms,

BACTERIA: they are livingthings that are neither plantsnor animals, but belong to agroup all by themselves, theyare tiny, single celled organismthat gets nutrients from theirenvironments, in some casesthat environment is your childor some other living being. Al-though it is not all bacteria thatare harmful to us except for thepathogenic bacteria that is of-ten spread through water andfood. Bacteria spread and mul-tiply itself very fast and theyalso cause troubles such as uri-nary tract infections or sorethroat, bacteria can also causefever. Children need to bemonitored closely so that theydon’t get infected with theseharmful bacteria. Bacteria canbe spread from children to chil-dren and from other humansthrough sneezing or coughing,animals (by their droppings orsaliva), soil (this normally con-tains fungi when contaminatedby droppings), water whencontaminated by droppings,food that are not properly cov-ered or protected, and rottenfruits.

VIRUS: viruses cannot sur-vive, grow and reproduce un-less a person or an animal putsup rental spaces. Virus is asmall infectious agent that canreplicate only inside the livingcells of an organism. Virusescan infect all types of livingthing, children, adult, animalor plant. Viruses can only livefor a very short time outsideother living cells for examplevirus infected body fluids lefton surfaces like countertopsand toilet seat, can live therefor a short time but quickly diesunless a living a host comesalong. Viruses are responsiblefor minor sickness such ascommon cold, running noseand influenza. There are alsoherpes viruses which causesores and genital herpes, vi-ruses are also responsible forchicken pox and which whenreactivated in the elderly causepain on the skin. It should benoted that antibiotics are totallynot effective against viruses,however several antiviral drugs

have been produced but thebest way to curb and preventvirus infections is by properand complete immunizationand vaccination of children.

FUNGI: they are multicelled plant like organisms,they get their food by absorb-ing nutrients from their sur-roundings, they also feed onplants and animals dung. Thestudy of fungi is known asmycology. Mycology is abranch of biology that studiesfungi. Fungi exist in varioushabitats including deep downthe ocean, lake, rocks, deserts,very salty environments andareas of extremely high or lowtemperature. However the ma-jority of fungi live on land,some fungi can be so importantto humans. For instance fungiare used in food preparation.Yeast in food manufacturing isneeded for fermentation ofwines, beer and other alcoholicdrinks, edible mushrooms arealso very nutritious, there arealso fungi that cause diseasescalled Pathogenic fungi. Myco-sis can be divided into the fol-lowing groups;

Systematic Mycosis: this isa fungi infection that may reachany part of the body, includingthe brain and the heart, as wellas the bloodstream. They usu-ally enter via the lungs, gastrointestinal tract. An example iscrytolociosis, mostly caused bypigeon droppings.

Subcutaneous: the fungipermeates below the skin andinfects the subcutaneous region(area just below the skin) , con-nective and bone tissue, theseinfections are usually chronic(long lasting) and occur whenskins is pierced or wounded.They are most common in thetropic.

Cutaneous: the infection isgenerally limited to the non-liv-ing keratinized layers of theskin, hair and nails. No livingtissue is invaded in this case.Examples are candidiasis of theskin, mucus membranes andnails.

PROTOZOA: Theses aresingle celled organisms, manyof which are able to move ontheir own. Protozoa are foundas ubiquitous, free living or-ganisms in the environment.They are classified as sporozoa(intracellular parasites) flagel-lates (which possess tail-likestructures for movement)amoeba (which moves usingtemporary cell body projectioncalled pseudo pods) and cili-ates (which move by beatingmultiple hair like structurecalled cilia). Infections causedby protozoa can spread throughthe injection of cyst (a mem-branous sac or cavity of abnor-mal character containing fluid),

Protozoa love moisture, so in-testinal infections and otherdiseases they can cause are of-ten spread through contami-nated water. Protozoa infectioncan also be spread throughsexual transmission or throughinsect vector. Other commoninfectious diseases caused byprotozoa include malaria, gia-rdia, and toxoplasmosis.

WHAT DOES GERMSDO?

Children while playingstumble into all kinds ofdirt’s, dust and other placeswere germs could possibly behiding. Children ought to besupervised when they are

playing. Once children comein contact with germs (bac-teria, fungi, virus, andpotozoa) the germs invadetheir body tissue / pores andget ready to stay for a while,these germs draw up energyfrom their host (the infectedchild). They damage or de-stroy healthy cells as they usethe child’s energy and nutri-ents. They may produce pro-teins known as toxins, someof which cause annoyingsymptoms of common cold,or flu such as catarrh andcough. They can also causediarrhea but other toxins cancause high fever, increasedheart rate, low blood pressureand even other life threaten-ing illness.

Simple ways to control germsHere are some effective prac-

tice that can help in preventing,controlling and reduce germsspread and contact.

Hand Washing: The prac-tice of hand washing and teach-ing kids how to wash theirhands and is absolutely one ofthe way to stop germs from

causing sicknesses and spread-ing. It is particularly importantthat after coughing, nose blow-ing, after using the toilet, or af-ter touching or playing withanimals, pets or toys, beforeand after visiting a sick friendor relative, washing of handsshould immediately follow.Hand washing prevents trans-fer of micro organisms fromone person to another. Someperson may want to hold orshake hands with kids afternose blowing or using the toi-lets. It is advisable to washhands and tell kids to do sameso as to wash off germs beforegoing in contact with anyone;this prevents person to persontransfer of germs. Washing ofhands goes beyond putting

water on your palm and rub-bing them together, There isright way to wash hands, usewarm water and plenty of soap,then rub hands together vigor-ously for at least 15 to 20 sec-onds, you may even want tosing a short song during theprocess to make sure you spendquality and enough time wash-ing, after that rinse your handwith clean water and dry themthoroughly with a clean towel.When working in the kitchen,wash your hands from time totime.

Cleaning: Cleanliness isnext to Godliness as good hy-giene and clean environmentsaves the family from the costof germs and illness. Germsspread more in dirty environ-ment. When children are proneto dust and live in bushy sur-roundings and stagnant water,germs carrier such as mosqui-toes, rat and cockroaches etcmove freely and when theycome in contact with food, wa-ter or close to the skin of chil-dren it result to transfer ofgerms to their body. This could

be prevented by regular clean-ing of the surrounding andclearing of bushes around ourhomes, ensuring that wastesare not left in the house or nearthe house for too long. Periodi-cally wipe down frequentlyhandled objects such as toys,door knobs, light switches,sink fixtures and flushinghandles in the toilets. Sweepthe house and compound dailyas well as washing the dishesand other cooking utensilsregularly. Soap and water areperfectly adequate for cleaning,if you like you may try usingantiseptic soap, which can killor reduce bacterial content onan object, you can also usebleach, avoid chemical sprayson the floor, spray and use ofchemical may irritate skins andeyes of children, children mustalso be taught not to eat foodor snacks that fell off the plate

onto the floor, they must alsobe informed about regularwashing of fruits before eating.More so, use proper food han-dling techniques, separate cut-ting boards, clean utensils andtowels for preparing food. Un-finished food and other foodstuffs must be properly coveredand kept. Create time for gen-eral and all round sanitation ofthe house.

Vaccines: Another way tocombat infection from germs isto ensure your children areproperly vaccinated and immu-nized according to the nationalprogramme on immunization(NPI). Vaccines should begiven at birth and also shouldbe given at various times in achild’s life. Different vaccinesare given at different age andtime of life. Vaccines providethe children with adequate im-munity needed to fight and pre-vent disease caused by variousgerms. We have various typesof vaccines and it is advisablethat mothers visit any of theseimmunization centers withtheir kids to get them vacci-

nated. Vaccines are usuallygiven free in all centers andeverywhere in Nigeria. Thesevaccines include Oral PolioVaccines (OPV), DiphtheriaPertussis Tetanus (DPT), Bacil-lus Calmete Guerine (BCG),the newly introduced Penta va-lent vaccine against Diphthe-ria, Pertussis, Tetanus,Haemophilus influenza Type Band hepatitis B,Yellow fevervaccine, Measles vaccine andthen Vitamin A which are im-portant and serves as immunebooster. All these are sponsoredby the governments and theycost nothing.

In Conclusion, these prac-tices can prevent children fromgetting infected with germs, thehabit of washing hands beforeand after eating should be in-culcated in children. Childrenmust be taught and corrected

to wash fruit before eating. En-sure children take their bathregularly and also brush theirteeth (at least twice daily).When playing with toys, theyshould be monitored not to putit into their mouth, avoid salivafrom dogs or other pets. Main-tain good hygiene, clean cook-ing utensils and keep childrenaway from crowded areas al-ways.

Oshodin HopeOsarumwense

Executive Officer,Institute of Child Health,University of Benin. Benin

City‘CHILD HEALTH AND

YOU’, a Weekly ThursdayFeature, is a collaborative ini-tiative between the Institute ofChild Health, University ofBenin, and the Bendel News-papers Company Limited(BNCL), Benin City.

Comments on this pageshould be forwarded to TheEditor, Bendel NewspapersCompany Limited, Benin Cityor Director, Institute of ChildHealth University of Benin,Benin City, Edo State.

1 6 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Take Heed Of Thysel For The Record

WHETHER as a Bishop, Clergy or Laity, you do havea ministry into which God has called you with somemandate and expectations, the centre of which is thesalvation of mankind and their reconciliation with him.The Bible says; “For whosoever shall call upon thename of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall theycall on him in whom they have not believed? And howshall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?And how shall they hear without a preacher? And howshall they preach except they be sent?” (Romans 10:13-15a). Therefore, God has already made provisions forreaching the world in that he has called and sent us. In taking heed to your ministry, you must learn tooperate according to the measure of grace given to youby God. King Saul tried to function in an office notgiven to him by God and it cost him his kingdom andplace in the scheme of divine programming. We mustunderstand that one thousand laity cannot make oneclergy and neither can be given to whom it is due. AsBishops we have our general and special duties and sodo the Clergy and the Laity; each should take heed bydischarging all the duties of the ministry as Paul chargedTimothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 saying “But watch thou inall things, endure afflictions, do, the work of an evan-gelist, make full proof of thy ministry”. “The Bishopsof all ranks, Priest of all ranks and Deacons belong tothe ordained ministry with each performing his distinc-tive ministries or duties” (Hart , R. I. 2001:1,1). Eachmust also heed the warning to not misuse the grace ofGod. The Laity should not overstep their bounds; theClergy should not without the word and the other meansof saving grace committed to their ministry — the Sac-raments (i.e. Baptism and the Holy Eucharist); and theBishops should, in the same vein, refrain from indis-criminate ordination and other forms of unguided Epis-copal laying of hands that is destroying the Church inline with Paul’s warning to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:22which says; “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neitherbe partaker of other men’s sins: keep ‘thyself pure”.Another version puts it thus; “Never be in a hurry aboutappointing an elder. Do not participate in the sins ofothers. Keep yourself pure.” All Bishops should bemindful of higher and lower ecclesiastical authoritiesas we bask in the euphoria of our autonomy. We mustall use the grace of God upon our lives and ministry asmen women who shall be made to give account at theend of time. As Bishops, we must take of our Episcopal minis-try. We must be careful of the erroneous exercise of’our autonomy. The concept of autonomy is not a li-cence, for Bishops to be lawless and disobedient toconstituted authority. The autonomy we exercise is

subsumed in our collegiality. Our autonomy does notsay that we are above the constitution of the Church ofNigeria that we have sworn to uphold at our ordina-tion and consecration. The authority we exercise is notour own authority. It is a derived authority. Some of usdo things against that authority of the Church we willhave to discipline a Clergy. What moral justificationdo we have to discipline a Clergy man who fails toattend a meeting scheduled by us when we have al-ways failed to attend meetings scheduled by the Headof the Church? There are perceived inconsistencies anddouble talk and these outward manifestations of ouractions have tended to reduce the respect people havefor Bishop. As Bishops and Clergy, we are called toserve with great humility and not to Lord it over usingthe pharisaic model. Our role model condemned thePharisees for lording it over their subjects We need to earn respect and not demand it or forceour subordinates to respect US. It is worse to get oursubordinate to fear us. It is only God that is to be fearedand approached with awe and reverence. The recalci-trant worker is to be disciplined in accordance withthe constitutional provision and not with arbitrariness.The fact that some workers are troublesome is not ajustifiable reason for us to adopt constitutional meth-ods in disciplining them.Our calling is to be servants not bosses, slaves notmasters. According John Stott (1990:375), yet empha-sis of Jesus was not on the Authority of a ruler leaderbut on the humility of a servant leader. Authority bywhich the Christian leaders is not by power but love,not force but example, not coercion but reasoned per-suasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe in thehands of Jose who humble themselves to serve. In response to noticeable inconsistencies, someClergy employ the assistance of powerful laity to dealwith Bishops. Again, this is wrong. The Clergy mustnot engage the services of the laity to fight for thembut engage their resources in articulating strategies,tactics and action plans that will enable us actualizethe Great Commission.THE PLACE OF THE MINISTER’S FAMILY Your family as a Bishop, Clergy or Laity is part andparcel of your ministerial testimony. You cannot sepa-rate your daily life from your ministry; in fact, theformer is always a loud sounding testimony either foror against the latter. There is, therefore, great need totake heed to your marriage and family life. To the Bish-ops and the Clergy, the Bible says; “This is a true say-ing, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth agood work. A bishop then must be blameless, the hus-band of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior,

By THE MOST REVD (DR.) FRIDAY J.IMAEKHAI

given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, nostriker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not abrawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his ownhouse, having his children in subjection with all grav-ity; (for if a man know not how to rule his own house,how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not anovice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into thecondemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have agood report of them which are without; lest he fall into

reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise, must the deacons be rave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy’ of filthylucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure con-science. And let these also first be proved; then let themuse the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Evenso must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober,faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbandsof one wife, ruling their children and their own houseswell. For they that have used the office of a deaconwell purchases to themselves a good degree, and greatboldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” It wasCasey Treat who noted that “One of the very basic re-quirements we have for any leadership position in ourChurch is that of a solid marriage and good family re-lationships. We can’t afford to have leaders and Churchrepresentatives who don’t have strong, positive homelives, no matter how qualified they are for their posi-tions” (1990:36). Then to the Laity it says; “You are the salt of theearth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Canyou make it useful again? It will be thrown out andtrampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of

thenigInsasoGomayo

evforFerelfooanthatrotheThto pusentiohethebePRTAAtcanNo

Being a TEXT: (TIMOTHY 4:16). Take heed toyourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them,for in doing this you will save both yourself andthose who hear you. CF EZEKIEL 34; JOHN 1220:2 APPROPRIATENESS OF THE THEME

The Most Revd (Dr.) Friday J. Imaekhai, Bishop

Continued from last week

“Your family as a Bishop, Clergy or Laity is part and parcelof your ministerial testimony. You cannot separate your dailylife from your ministry; in fact, the former is always a loudsounding testimony either for or against the latter. There is,therefore, great need to take heed to your marriage and familylife.”

1 7 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

lf And Thy Ministry

For The Record

the world —like a city on a mountain, glowing in thenight for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket!Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In thesame way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see,so that everyone will praise your heavenly father. It isGod’s will that your good lives should silence those whomake foolish accusations against you. You are not slaves;you are free. But your freedom is not an excuse to do

evil. You are free to live as God’s slaves. Show respectfor everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters.Fear God. Show respect for the king. If you claim to bereligious but don’t control your tongue, you are justfooling yourself, ‘and your religion is worthless. Pureand lasting religion in the sight of God our Father meansthat we must care for orphans and widows in theirtroubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” (Mat-thew 5:13-16; 1 Peter 2:15-17 & James 1:26 & 27).These are as well general admonitions but are specialto the Laity because they relate closest to the generalpublic and, therefore, have wider opportunity of pre-senting Christ to the individuals in their peculiar situa-tions. Your family is the first and model Church; takeheed to your family and marital life because it is part ofthe standards of judging you and your ministry bothbefore God and man.PRINCIPLES THAT CAN ENABLE US TOTAKE HEEDAt this point, let us discuss some of the principles thatcan help take heed both to our lives and our ministry.Note that these are principles (moral rules or strong

beliefs that influence action and decisions) you musthave to deliberately make efforts to develop by apply-ing yourself to long term discipline in godliness. Theyare not gifts or talents that one may claim riot to havebeen endowed with by God. Below are some of theseprinciples:Self Discipline - This is the ability to discipline one-self, especially with regards to time, without any ex-ternal pressure; it is the ability to make yourself dosomething especially when it is difficult, inconvenientor unpleasant but necessary.Integrity - This refers to the resolute quality of beinghonest and having strong moral principles of truthful-ness, transparency and accountability.Being Teachable - Ability to listen, take instructions,receive corrections and the willingness to learn newthings and receive new ideas consistent with scripturalimperatives.Considerate Flexibility - Being considerate meansto always think of other people’s wishes, feelings andexpectations; always being careful enough not to hurtor disappoint others. While flexibility means ability tochange to suit new conditions. Being considerately flex-ible, therefore, means able to change to suit new con-ditions so as not to fail expectation but definitely not atthe expense of your vision and biblical injunctions.Obedience - This means doing what you are told todo and the Bible even says it is to be desired than manysacrifices.Humility - This is the quality not thinking that you arebetter than other persons and the Bible encourages usto see others as better than ourselves.Commitment - This refers to the willingness to workhard, to give your energy and time to a job, an activityor assignment.Knowledge - This ordinarily refers to information,understanding and skills acquired through educationor experience but here, in very much has to do withthe knowledge of God.Selflessness - It means thinking more of the needs,comfort, happiness, etc of others rather than yours. Itmeans putting others into consideration especially atdecision making time.Self-Control - This is the ability to keep calm and notshow your emotions even though very angry or highlyexcitePrudence - It means being careful and sensible inmaking judgments and decisions so as to avoid neces-sary risks. It could as well extend to the use of avail-able resources.Diplomacy - This is the skill of dealing with people indifficult situation without offending them; it involvesbeing ordered and not erratic or unpredictable in deci-sions and actions.

Goal - Setting - A goal in this sense means somethingyou hope to achieve. It helps to keep the destructivetendencies of laxity and builds self discipline. It equallyhas great advantage because while you may not alwaysmake your goal, your goal will always make you.Prayerfulness - A life of persistent and earnest prayeris the cap of all the principles discussed above. Prayeras a means of communicating with and receiving from(e.g. spiritual strength) God is a no without. The chargeto take heed begins and ends, with the call to effectualand persistent prayer life.CONSEQUENCES OF NOT TAKING HEED TOTHYSELF AND THY MINISTRYThis call to take heed to thyself and thy ministry is notsuggestive or merely advisory but a command disobe-dience to which will attract personal and corporate aswell as temporal and eternal consequences. There is onunfortunate aspect of a leader’s influence that must behighlighted here at this point in very strong terms whena leader falls, he/she does not fall alone; as many aslook up to him/her majority of those under his/her lead-ership will also fall with him/her. This is why ApostlePaul warned Timothy sternly in 1 Timothy 4:16, saying“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; con-tinue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both savethyself, and them that hear thee. “ If he does the oppo-site by failing to take heed, the result will be the directopposite as well — he will be lost alongside his hear-ers. In this matter, there is no difference between theBishop, the Clergy and the Laity; all shall be subject tojudgment except that stricter standards of judgmentawait the Bishops and the Clergy.CONCLUSIONAs we conclude, let us reflect on the parables of thewise/foolish virgins in Mathew 25:1-13; and that of thetalents in Matthew 25:14-30. We see this charge to takeheed re-echoed in these parables — that of the wiseand foolish virgins emphasizes the need to take heed tothyself as well as show the consequences of failing todo so; while that of the talents, on the other hand, em-phasizing the need to take heed to thy ministry as wellas how the consequences of not doing so faithfully. Nomatter the level of grace given to you by God, whetherhigh or long, you are required to be watchful over yourlife and be faithful over your ministry because, apartfrom the temporal detrimental consequences of not tak-ing heed, there is a day of reckoning. Are we hirelingsor do we faithfully represent the Good Shepherd? Arewe the kind of under shepherds that devour the flocksand care nothing for their needs? Are we the kind ofsheep that oppress other sheep within the fold? Havewe been spending our time pursuing shadows? Breth-ren, our salvation is closer now than when we firstbeliewed. Let us take heed then to ourselves and ourministry so that the second coming of the Lord, JesusChrist, does not take us unaware and lest, we would befound to have labored in vain.

p of Esan Diocese

“We need to earn respect and not demand it or force our subordi-nates to respect US. It is worse to get our subordinate to fear us. It isonly God that is to be feared and approached with awe and reverence.The recalcitrant worker is to be disciplined in accordance with theconstitutional provision and not with arbitrariness. The fact that someworkers are troublesome is not a justifiable reason for us to adoptconstitutional methods in disciplining them.”

1 8 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Security Issues WithObuseh Jude0806385183

Between Human Rights AndPeace (1)

To be continued next week

HUMAN rights can bedefined as the universal, eq-uitable, and indispensableclaims of civil and politicalliberties which are legallyrecognized internationallyfor individuals and collec-tivities as enshrined by theUnited Nations General As-sembly in the UniversalDeclaration of HumanRights on December 10,1948.

The rights of individualscan be divided into: thosein defense of nation-states,and claims on nation-states.the former are those rightsgenerally associated withtraditional Western concep-tions of rights in the Greco-Roman tradition, and in-clude freedom of move-ment, thought, religion,opinion and expression;freedom of peaceful assem-bly and association; equalaccess before the law to le-gal institution, public ser-vices, and cultural life; free-dom from slavery, torture,and inhuman treatment.

Peace, from a technicalstandpoint, can be definedas a political condition thatensures justice and socialstability through formal andinformal institutions, prac-tices, and norms. Severalconditions must be met forpeace to reign: a balance ofpolitical power among thevarious groups within a so-ciety, region, or, most am-bitiously, the globe; legiti-macy for decision makers inthe eyes of the local popu-lace and those of externalparties; recognized and val-ued interdependent rela-tionships among groupsfostering long-term coop-eration during periods ofagreement, disagreement,normality, and crisis.

Peace, which is a word de-rived from the Latin “Pax”,connotes more than a mereabsence of war or hostili-ties; for an absence of con-flict is a utopia. Again, thestate of peace should be dis-tinguished from strategiesthat simply avoid conflictsor employ violent or coer-cive approaches to engagein, manage, or resolve them.

Now, we come to the main

thrust of this discourse,which is the correlation be-tween human rights andpeace. The nexus betweenhuman rights and peacecannot be overemphasized.Any society in which thereis no armed conflict, but inwhich the fundamental free-doms of the people are sup-pressed, lives in a state of“hot peace” – a negative“peace of the graveyard”.Delivering a speech at theUN, the late pontiff, PopeJohn Paul II (1979) suc-cinctly espoused the sym-bolic relationship betweenhuman rights and peace inthese indelible words: “TheUniversal Declaration ofHuman Rights has struck areal blow against the manydeep roots of war, since thespirit of war in all its basicmeaning springs up whenthe inalienable rights ofman are violated. This is anew and deeply relevant vi-sion of the cause of peace;one that goes deeper and ismore radical”. This view ofthe Pope cut across socio-economic and civil-politicalrights.

Speaking in similar mien,the Nordic peace researcher,AsbjornEide (1977) notesthat: “Whether a child diesin infancy due to povertyand consequent malnutri-tion and lack of hygiene, orif it grows up and at a laterstage is executed as a po-litical opponent, the societyin which this happens mustbe considered hostile to hu-man rights”; and if I mayadd, to peace as well.

Peace cannot be divorcedfrom a corresponding re-spect for the ethos ofpeople’s rights. The sym-biosis between these twocannot be contested ascases from antiquity tomodern times have shown.

Crimes of genocide, sla-very, racism, rape, torture,enforced sterilization or ex-perimentation (humanGuinea-pigging), forced re-location of large popula-tions, economic manipula-tion, deliberate starvation,colonialism etc, are classicexamples of human rights

violations.Abuses likethese have, in some in-stances, resulted in insur-gencies, rebellions, and, inextreme cases, revolutions.This is because the pursuitof human rights often re-sults in violence, since hu-man rights are mostly se-cured by struggle and con-frontation, especially in to-talitarian states.

Human right abuses canalso lead to high intensityviolence when concernedstates obligatorily decide tointervene in the internalproblems of other coun-tries. This kind of interven-

tion may be legal: writingsin Classical InternationalLaw support this position.Vatell (1883) in his classic“The Law of Nations”states that: “Nations haveobligations to produce wel-fare and happiness in otherstates. In the event of civilwar, for example, states

must aid the party that ap-pears to have justice on itsside, or protect an unfortu-nate people from an unjusttyrant”. The intervention ofgreat Britain, France, Rus-sia, in 1827, to check Turk-ish high handedness againstGreek aspirations, for inde-pendence, and the US inter-vention in the Cuban CivilWar of 1898, where onmoral grounds.

However, it should benoted that most super powerinterventions in the affairsof smaller countries are of-ten based on ideological andstrategic considerations, and

not necessarily on humani-tarian grounds. For in-stance, disrespect for Ku-waiti territorial integrity byIraq was given as a goodreason for America’s in-volvement in Gulf War I.But the real reason was toprotect its Kuwaiti oil inter-ests. Likewise, its several

unlicensed peace keepingoperations – outright inva-sions of sovereign countries– both during and after theCold War years, which weremeant to consolidate itsmilitary strategic superior-ity, and secure assuredsources of raw materials forits home industries(Chomsky, 1992).

Let the truth be told thathumanitarian interventionhas become a caveat for theoutright invasion of smallernations by the more power-ful ones. The “Good Neigh-bor Policy” of the U.S in theAmericas is a classic casein point. Throughout the

better part of the 20th cen-tury, the US turned LatinAmerica into a PandoraBox, perpetrating gross hu-man rights abuses againstthe local populace by back-ing dictatorships that toedtheir policy lines, instigat-ing insurgent uprisingsagainst governments thatattempted to set the “goodexample” that they couldsurvive without US aid. The

crucifixion of El Salvador,leeching of Nicaragua, in-stigation of civil war inGuatemala, and the inva-sion of Panama, are the fewexamples of the US infring-ing on the rights and liber-ties of the citizens of othersovereign nations.But if theworld system, controlled bythe big powers, arrowheaded by the US, premisesthe reasons for interveningin countries where thepeople are victims of hu-man rights abuses on hu-manitarian grounds, whydidn’t they do anything tostop the confirmed cases ofgenocide in Rwanda andSudan’s Darfur Region?What about other tragediesin smaller countries wherethey had nothing at stake?Why the double standards?I’ll treat this issue in greaterdetail in another piece. Let’sride on with the issue of theday.

“Let the truth be told that humanitarian interven-tion has become a caveat for the outright invasionof smaller nations by the more powerful ones. The“Good Neighbor Policy” of the U.S in the Ameri-cas is a classic case in point.”

Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General

1 9 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Number Bases (Equations)

MathematicsWith

Stanley Osobase08023454887

Osobase2001@yahoo.co.uk

A]. INTRODUCTION: Oftentimes, we need to find the unknownin a given equation. The idea here isto expand in the given base, simplifyand the result follows! The examplesbelow illustrate better.

B]. APPLICATION EXAMPLESExample 1

If 11001two

= 2x + 1, find the valueof x. (NECO, 2004).Solution: Expanding the left hand side in thegiven base, we have:1 X 24 + 1 X 23 + 0 X 22 + 0 X 21 + 1X 20 = 2x + 116 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 2x + 1 25 = 2x + 1Collecting like terms, we have:

2x = 24

:- x = = 12 Answer24 2

Example 2What is the value of x if ((101)x =17? (NECO, 2002)Solution:Expanding the left hand side wehave:

1 X x2 + 0 X x1 + 1 X x0 = 17x2 + 0 + 1 = 17x2 = 17 - 1 = 16

Taking the square roots of both sides,we have:

2 x2 = 16

:- x = 4 Answer

Example 3If 641

x + 156

x = 807

x, the number

base x is what?Solution: Expanding both sides in thegiven base x, we have: (6 X x2 + 4 X x1 + 1 X x0) + (1 X x2 + 5 X x1 + 6 X x0)

= 8 X x2 + 0 X x1 + 7 X x0

(6x2 + 4x + 1) + (x2 + 5x + 6)

= 8x2 + 0 + 7or 7x2 + 9x + 7 = 8x2 + 7

Collecting like terms, we have:-x2 + 9x = 0 or x(x - 9) = 0

:- x = 0 (meaningless)x - 9 = 0

:- x = 9 Answer

Example 4If (xbase

2)3 = 11011

2, the value of x

is -------Solution: (x

2)3 = 11011

2

Expanding the right hand side, wehave:x = 1 X 24 + 1 X 23 + 0 X 22 + 1 X21 + 1 X 20

x = 16 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 x = 27Taking the cube roots of both sides,we have:

x2 = 3

10

To determine x, convert 310

to base2, we have

2 32 1 rem 1 0 rem 1

:- x = 112 or x = 11 Answer

Example 5 Solve for x if 404

five = 150x

Solution: Expanding both sides in theirgiven bases, we have: 4 X 52 + 0 X 51 + 4 x 50

= 1 X x2 + 5 X x1 + 0 X x0

4 X 25 + 0 + 4 = x2 + 5x + 0104 = X2 + 5x

or x2 + 5x - 104 = 0 (quadratic equa-tion)or ( x + 13)(x - 8) = 0 (byfactorisation):- x = -13 or x = 8Disregarding the negative, we have

x = 8 Answer

Example 6 If 14

twelve = y

eight, the value of y is

----Solution: Expanding the left hand side, wehave: 1 X 121 + 4 X 120 = y

8

12 + 4 = y8

1610

= y8

To get y, convert 1610

to base 8, wehave:

8 168 2 rem. 0 0 rem. 2

:- y = 20 Answer

Example 7 If 101010

2 = x

10 + 1111

2, the value

of x isSolution: Collecting like bases, we have:x

10 = 101010

2 - 1111

2

Expanding the right hand side, wehave:x

10 = (1 X 25 + 0 X 24 + 1 X 23 +0 X

22 + 1 X 21 + 0 X 20) - (1 X 23 +1 x 22

+ 1 X 21 + 1 X 20)x

10 = (32 + 8 + 2) - (8 + 4 + 2 + 1)

x10 = 42 - 15 x10 = 2710 :- x = 27 Answer

Drills(1). Solve for x if (5x)

7 = 37

10

Answer = 2(2). The value of (111

2)2, expressed

in base two is --- Answer = 1100012(3). If 45

y = 100001

2, the value of y

is --- Answer = 7Untill next week, remain blessedMathematically!

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2 0 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

MotoringWith

OSAGIE AIFUWA

08023412452

Defensive Driving Techniques

Avoiding CollusionAt Round About

How To Prevent CollusionAnd Defence Ahead

Collusion With The Ve-hicle You Are Blessing

* Be watchful* Don’t assume field of way either to the left or right* Give way to traffic on your left don’t change lanes indis-criminately* Trafficate your exit (turning) on time* Maintain your exit lane in good time Never face traffic roundabout.* The condition of the driver that could affect his/her drivingability vision* Poor vision can impair driving ability.Many people suffer from night blindness. While others are proneto glare blindness. Others suffer from reduced vision caused byglaucoma or rarely, a vitamin. A deficiency, other drivers usedrugs that can reduce vision and some drivers require to wearglasses for contact lenses fail to do so. What is night blindness?Night blindness is an inability of the light sensitive cells (roads)in the retina of the eye to work effectively. This may also resultin limited vision in low light blindness may have difficulty indistinguishing movement of shape of objects in subdued light ordarkness. They may also have difficulty in judging distance andspeeds of moving objects such as on coming traffic or vehicleahead or behind them, when driving in adverse conditions

* You must keep safe distance between you and the vehicleahead;* You may use two seconds rules by reciting e.g. saver safer.* You must decrease your following distance on wet road oradverse weathercondition by using four seconds rule:* Always have good anticipation during an emergency situa-tion;* Always have adverse foresight on the vehicle ahead of you,collision with thevehicle behind.* You have to be alert to study situation and condition aroundyou.You have to be alert all the time and make use of your mirroralways, imbibe inthe LSM (look signal movement) look at your mirror. Signalyour intention bymaking use of your tafficator indicating your next direction* Show your intention in good time before and not after yourturning.Discourage trail gaiters always, allow them to pass.Always stop safely and smoothly when necessary.

* One of the causes of head on collision is improper over-taking and passing* How do you determine if the pass is necessary or legal?* First ask yourself if the pass is necessary and safe (legalor illegal).* Maintain proper following distance;* Look ahead* Look behind by using your side mirror and the innermirror;* Trafficate or signal left;* Check behind sport places you cannot see with the aidof your mirrors unlessby using direct looking with your eyes* Tap your horn to fore-warn the vehicle ahead of yourthat you be seen;Move left, into the passing lane, do not overtake or pass avehicles through the right lane because you may not beseen while making the illegal passing;* Increase your speed by accelerating if necessary;* Signal right.

NOWADAYS driving according to the rules and regulation ofthe road by a driver does not necessarily guarantee his or hersafety.This is because you may be driving well and still be driving welland still be involved in accidents. Bad drivers (killer) often de-cide the fate of so many innocent road users.The problem could be traced to the fact that majority of the driv-ers plying our road may not be mentally, emotionally psychologi-cally and physically stable coupled with the basic truth that greatpercentage of the motorists are not discipline and dedicated totheir developing positive driving skills and attitude perceptions.Many drivers do not concentrate behind the steering thus drivingwith absent mind.The solution to the problem is an individual approach called de-fensive driving and safe driving. Practice widely termed defen-sive techniques.Defensive driving could be described as driving techniques toavoid accidents thus saving lives, time, money and properties inspite of incorrect actions of other road user e.g. motorist, cyclist,tricyclist, pedestrians, truck pusher, etc.A driver should always avoid a situation where his safety de-pends mainly on the response of another driver of a vehicle. Ele-ment of defensive driving practices lies in the driver convictionthat:Every other road user is a potential threat to him and that he isalso a threat toother road user:Every other road user should be regarded as a mad person:He should be ready to protect himself against all kinds of acci-dent causing situations:A defensive driver should always react in the correct manner whenfaced with unexpected emergencies:A driver should be able to re-organize hazards: understand thedefenses and act in time to prevent accidents and he should notpanic at any emergency situationsAIMS:Preventing or avoiding accident or collision;

Reducing the effect of collision or accident if it could not beavoided andSurvival driving, to stay alive.Drive with care, stay alive and alert, reap the fruit of your gooddrivingBe sure that all safety gadgets (brake light, brake reversing lights,rear-lights horn, trafficators, rear and side view mirrors, speed-ometers etc. are functioning properly. In the raining season whenthe road is wet, always reduce speed to avoid problem on slip-pery surface and when the rain is heavy, apply common sensespeed.Limit and drive with caution and turn on your parking lights as awarning to other motorist.Limit your speed to the approved commended limit. Expressway100 Kmp. Highways 8OKpm Urban/local road 5OKmp. Thespeed limit is subject to local condition only not applicable atadverse road conditions. -Defensive driving is the art of pre-emptying the attention of othermotorist on the road with or without them trafficating or signal-ing their attention. The knowledge will always prepare you to bein a better position to avert danger on the road since you will nottrust anybody on wheel.There are many things we can’t control while driving but we cancontrol our behaviour and actions. Driver error accounts for morethan 70 per cent of all collisions. If you are a young driver re-member that though your reaction time may be fast, inexperi-ence may cause a fast but incorrect reaction. Drive within thespeed limits and pay attention to your driving.Practice scanning down the road instead of directly in front ofyour vehicle. This will help you spot hazards in time to act cor-rectly. Stay alert; don’t think that because you have experiencebehind the wheel you can’t be involved in a collusion.* If you are stressed or anxious. Change your state of mind be-fore mind before getting behind the wheel.* Change your driving habits to fit your physical abilities.* Drive shorter distance, stay out of heavy, fast traffic* Stay on familiar roads and streets.

“Defensive driving is the art of pre-emptying the attentionof other motorist on the road with or without themtrafficating or signaling their attention. The knowledge willalways prepare you to be in a better position to avert dan-ger on the road since you will not trust anybody on wheel.”

2 1 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Cleanliness Is Our Culture

View Point

By UKHUN FELIX

Rain Of Encomium As Prof Mike

Obadan Presents Two BooksBy FELIX OMOH-ASUN THE occasion had the

touch of academic settingwith the array of academi-cians in attendance, thebook presentation cer-emony, which held at theAkin Deko Auditorium,University of Benin, re-cently, was one event thathummed home the factthat the writer, Prof. MikeObadan is worthy to becelebrated. The event drew loudapplauses for the author.The Books, Foreign Ex-change Market and TheBalance of Payment, andResearch Process, ReportWriting and Referencingindeed are insightful as re-vealed by the speakers,Chief Tony Anenih whochaired the occasion, saidthe presentation of twobooks at the same timewas a testimony of theauthors contribution to in-tellectualism in Nigerian.

He said Obadan is a wor-thy Professor to be emu-lated. The lead presenter of thebooks senator EnyiAbaribe, Chairman Sen-ate Committee on Infor-mation, Media and PublicAffairs, observed thatObadan is a real professorand not one bought withmoney. He noted if thebook: Foreign ExchangeMarket and The Balanceof Payments was beforelast year exchange ofwords between the senate

and presidency overbench mark issues, duringthe debate on the budget,the quarrel would havebeen averted because thebook adequately ad-dressed the issue. He noted that monetarypolicies brought to theHouse by the executiveare always bugged downby errors. In monetarypolicy today, there aremany rigours, Policiesbrought forward by theexecutive are always filledwith errors and when we

point them out in theHouse, the executivejumps to conclusion thatthe House hates the Presi-dent, forgetting that someof us passed our examina-tion before coming to theHouse.” Abaribe who said he didhis masters under Prof.Obadan noted that con-trary to insinuations fromthe public that most poli-ticians must have failedsomewhere before com-ing into politics, many ofthem are well read andarticulated. One of the reviewers of

one of the books Prof.Olufemi Taiwo, DirectorGeneral, Nigerian Institutefor Economic and SocialResearch, Ibadan, won-dered where he got theenergy to write especiallythat he has had good runboth as a married man anda lecturer cum writer. “Hissuccess both in academicand marriage life got mewondering and I amamazed where he got hisenergy from,” he said. The author noted thatthe books are very impor-tant to policy, research andscholarship, geared to-wards enhancing publicunderstanding of someeconomic concepts, poli-cies, processes that eso-

teric to people. He notedthat since. Foreign Ex-change Market and theBalance of Payment, fo-cuses on typical econom-ics; it will be of significantto policy makers, businessmen and investors, re-searchers and students aswell as economic analysts. Among the dignitariesthat graced the occasionsincluded: Prof. RichardAnao, former V.C.UNIBEN, representativeof Julius Okojie, Execu-tive Secretary NigerianUniversity Commission(NUC), Charles Mordi,Director of Research,Central Bank of Nigeriawho represented LamidoSanusi, Central BankGovernor, Prof. AkpanEkpo, Director GeneralWest African Institute forFinancial and EconomicManagement, Lagos, rep-resentative of Prof.Oshodin V.C, UNIBEN,amongst other dignitaries.

WHEN I was growing up,I could remember vividlythat my grandmother willnever make fire to cookuntil she has swept andkept everywhere tidy. Therefuse must be properlydisposed and the fire spotplastered painted withmould must be main-t a i n e d . I could also rememberhearing her telling my fe-male cousins that it is a ta-boo to cook without firstsweeping the house espe-cially the kitchen. For awoman to sweep and notdispose the refuse prop-erly is equivalent to notsweeping, food must notbe prepared. Served oreaten in a dirty environ-m e n t . Before gender equalitypromoters start calling formy head, let me add thatthe boys were not left out.Boys were made to sweepthe frontage on daily ba-sis and dispose the refuseproperly. And any onewho fails in his turn tosweep must receive somestrokes of the cane. Oncein a week boys do gatherto sweep the villagesquare. Occasionally, theyalso gather to clean up themarket place or clear the

farm road. Failure to par-ticipate attracts a fine of afowl. I am sure this prac-tice was not restricted toEsan people alone; it wasalso active in Bini and allparts of Edo North. Socleanliness is part of ourculture in Edo State. Re-gretfully; just as we haveneglected most importantaspects of our culture we

have also neglected clean-l i n e s s . The present Edo Stategovernment is spending somuch to keep Edo Staleclean, what are we doing

as Edo State citizens? howare we collaborating withthe government? For thefirst time Edo people areseeing covered drainage,walk way’s, grasses andflower beside the road. Allthese are deliberate at-tempt by Oshiomhole led

government’ to beautifyour state capital and othert o w n . That we now live inmodern houses, town andcities is no excuse for us

to do away with cleanli-ness and tidiness of ourenvironment. It is no ex-cuse for us to gatherrefuse from our homesand pour them in opendrainage. It is no excuse

for us to sweep our storesand business premises anddispose the re fuse in opendrainage. It is no excusefor us to block the naturalor artificial water way’s

with our buildings. It is noexcuse for us to trade onour walk ways. It is noexcuse for us to stay in-doors on environmentalsanitation day’s periodwithout participating. That

some of us indulge inthese acts of dirtinesscould be based on lost ofMoral/cultural values. Buta man or woman em-ployed by Edo State gov-

ernment to clean the en-vironment to sweep andpush the sand into the cov-ered drainage or sweeprefuse into the uncovereddrainage is demonic,criminal and unaccept-a b l e . Must we wait to be ha-rassed, driven, forced orbeaten to clean our sur-rounding? Must we allowgovernment to use most ofour resources to employpeople that will enforceenvironmental laws? Let the zeal to keep ourenvironment clean comewithin us and not becausethe government has set upa task force or mobilecourt. Let us go back tothe days of old where theculture of cleanliness wasrespected and observedreligiously. If our foreparents that are unletteredor uncivilized as some ofus may describe them,could keep their environ-ment clean, why can’t we,that are lettered and claimto be civilized not keepour environment clean’?Let us join our govern-ment to keep our stateclean.

“Abaribe who said he did his masters under Prof. Obadannoted that contrary to insinuations from the public that mostpoliticians must have failed somewhere before coming intopolitics, many of them are well read and articulated.”

2 2 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Health

Why Obesity Is An EmergingHealth Hazard

By KATE OBANDE

MR and Mrs ThomasOffiong reside in Kubwa, oneof the satellite towns in theFederal Capital Territory(FCT). The couple recently went toregister their 10-year-oldson, Dominic, at a gymna-sium in Abuja city centre be-cause the boy is overweight. They are quite worriedabout the potential healthrisks of Dominic’s physicalcondition, as the boy is al-ready having serious breath-ing difficulties. Dominic weighs about90kg and his weight has beena source of concern to hisparents who, ironically, areboth slim.Mrs Offiong attributesDominic’s obesity to his un-wholesome eating habits. “Dominic does not like eat-ing normal food; he preferscake, ice-cream, ‘sharwama’and all other sorts of junkfood. We used to indulge himwith fast foods, not knowingthe repercussions. “However, we havestopped buying all that stufffor him; we now force himto eat healthy food like veg-etable-based foods and othermeals with high protein con-tent,’’ she says. All the same, Dominic’sproblem is not exceptional,as observers note that obesityhas grown to become a glo-bal problem, particularly inthe last decade. For instance, a report bythe World HealthOrganisation (WHO) re-vealed that as far back as2005, approximately 1.6 bil-lion adults over the age of 15years were overweight. The report also indicatedthat not less than 400 millionadults across the world wereobese, while at least 20 mil-lion children under the age offive years were overweight. Experts believe that if thecurrent trend is allowed tocontinue, not less than 2.3billion adults will be over-weight by 2015, while morethan 700 million adults will

be critically obese. The problem of obesityproblem has stimulated a lotof serious consequences forindividuals and governmenthealth systems. Strangely enough, a recentanalysis by the Cable NewsNetwork (CNN) revealedthat more than half of thepopulation of Kuwait wereobese, attributing the devel-opment to the Kuwaiti pen-chant for junk food, follow-ing the establishment ofworld-class eateries such asMc Donalds in their country. The growing menace ofobesity, perhaps, compelledthe organisers of the fourthWorld Health Summit held inBerlin between October 23and October 26, 2012 tomake obesity one of the mainthemes of discussion at thesummit. Speaking at thesummit, Annette Gruters-Kieslich, the Dean ofChariteUniversitatmedizin inBerlin, also stressed that theincidence of obesity was in-

creasing across the world,particularly among children,citing Japan as one of theAsian countries that weremostly affected. “When you go around theworld, you will see that therate of obesity and diabetesin children is increasing dra-matically because of thechange in nutrition. “You will also find out thatChina and other Asian coun-tries have failed in prevent-ing this health condition, asmany children in those coun-tries are really obese,” shesaid. Besides, Gruters-Kieslichnoted that nowadays, therewere many cases involvingchildren with Type 2 diabe-tes in Japan, whereas Type 2diabetes was usually com-mon in adults, as it was as-sociated with older age Admitting that the Type 1diabetes usually affectedchildren and young adults,

Gruters-Kieslich stressedthat about 80 per cent ofpeople suffering from Type 2diabetes had overweightproblems. She, nonetheless, ex-pressed hope that obesitywas still preventable in Af-rica if the people weremobilised to adopt healthydietary habits and engage inphysical exercises. On the causes of obesity,Gruters-Kieslich correctedthe notion that the consump-tion of candies was a majorrisk factor, stressing that amajor causative factor wasthe consumption of snackfoods made from wheat flour. She reiterated that the con-sumption of vegetables andfruits was one of the mostpotent ways of preventing

obesity. “What African countriescould do is to start with theearly education of nursingmothers; they should givegood nutrition to their babiesearly in life. “They have to breastfeedtheir babies exclusively be-cause the children’s ingestionof baby formula heightensthe risks of infection while italso predisposes the childrento crave for sweet food. “Mothers should also re-frain from giving their chil-dren fast foods,’’ she added. Sharing similar senti-ments, Dr Otumu Odianosen,a general practitioner, ad-vised parents to make healthychanges to their family’slifestyle. He said that parents could

curtail childhood-obesity byproviding nutritious foodsfor their children, while re-ducing the time the childrenspent on watching televisionand ensuring that they oftenslept well. “Families should engage inregular physical activitiessuch as walking, jogging orbicycling, while parentsshould encourage their chil-dren to participate in at leastone sport such as tennis,gymnastics, swimming, vol-leyball, among others,’’ hesaid. Odianosen also under-scored the need for familiesto eat wholesome meals, par-ticularly those that were richin proteins.However, Mrs Angela Ndidi,a nutritionist, said that aperson’s age should be con-sidered when discussing is-sues relating to obesity. “This is because the olderyou get, the slower it is foryour body to metabolise foodand it does not require asmany calories to maintainyour weight,’’ she said. Besides, Ndidi said thatwomen had a greater ten-dency to become obese thanmen, adding: “Men also have

a higher resting metabolicrate than women. “Resting metabolic rate isthe energy required to per-form vital body functionssuch as respiration and heartrate while the body is at rest.About 50 to 75 per cent ofone’s daily energy expendi-ture can be attributed to rest-ing metabolic rate.’’ Dr Wole Thompson, ananaesthetic, said that womenalso had the risks of becom-ing obese because afterreaching the stage of meno-pause, a woman’s metabolicrate often decreased. “That is partly why manywomen gain weight aftermenopause,’’ he added. Thompson also attributedobesity to genetic factors,saying that if one’s parentswere overweight, there was75 per cent chance that onewould also become over-weight. He also noted that the in-gestion of certain medication,such as steroids and antide-pressants, might induce obe-sity. To curb the rising menaceof obesity in the society, ex-perts stress the need for ev-ery member of the society tobrace to the challenge andfight the menace by adoptinghealthy lifestyles.

“When you go around the world, you will see that the rate ofobesity and diabetes in children is increasing dramatically becauseof the change in nutrition. You will also find out that China andother Asian countries have failed in preventing this health condi-tion, as many children in those countries are really obese, she

2 3 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

The Shrillness Of Lust (4)

ReligionWith

REV. DR. A. A. OPARA

THE scripture says:“There fore if any manbe in Christ, he is a newcreature. Old things arepassed away; behold allthings are becomenew”2 Cor. 5:17.

This is the work of regen-eration wrought by theHoly Spirit which enablesthe sanctified believer towalk in the fruit of theHoly Spirit no moreworking after the flesh.The “old man” or old na-ture in you is removedfor” a new nature” as youyield yourself entirely tothe Holy Spirit. You havegot to yield yourself en-tirely to the Holy spirit toexperience this type ofspiritual rebirth called re-generation or being bornagain. This total yieldingof self to the Holy Ghostto do the work of regen-eration and sanctificationis very important other-wise the “old mannerwhich is the flesh shallcontinue to rule over you:

“That ye put off con-cerning the former con-versation the old man,which is corrupt ac-cording to the deceitfullusts....And that ye puton the new man, whichafter God is created inrighteousness and trueholiness” Eph. 4:22,24.

I have heard and seenmany Christians filledwith the Holy Spirit whotell you stories about theirpast lives full of lustful es-capades but who todayhave been transformedvery tremendously by themarvelous power of theHoly Spirit. So alsoatimes during counsellingI find some Christianscomplain to me about“burning in the flesh” a

more polite phrase for be-ing lustful fleshly; I oftenask the question - “Areyou born again?” if thereply is “No”, I tell themto confess and repent andgive their lives fully toJesus - inviting Him intotheir hearts (Rev. 3:20).But if the answer is in theaffirmative that is, if “YesI am born again”, then Itell such a person to yieldhimself more to the HolySpirit to have an increasein him; “And be renewedby the spirit of your mind”Eph. 4:23. Some youngChristians over assume inthe faith - thinking thatthey have already obtainedthe Holy Spirit and theyoperate in the fruit of theHoly Spirit - then they be-gin to expose themselvesdangerously - They say‘Once saved, saved forever”. Oh no! satan canattempt to pull you downif you are not careful. Pauladdressed the church inPhilippai admonishingthem with these words:“wherefore, my beloved,as ye have always obeyedwork out your own salva-tion with fear and trem-bling (Phil. 2:12). It is im-portant that as a bornagain believer you holdfast to your salvation bybeing careful with thekinds of things you do oth-erwise satan can becomea spoiler in your life:

“Wherefore, let himthat thinketh hestandeth, take heed lesthe fall” I Cor. 10:12.

Do you not know thatsome shining believerswho hitherto walked in thethings of the spirit and af-ter the fruit of the spirithave fallen? Why did theyfall? they over assumed

and gave the devil achance in their lives; andone way the devil can pulla child of God down isthrough sensual pleasures.Look at the admonitionsof the scriptures aboutsuch “former enlightenedones”; for it is impossiblefor those who were onceenlightened, and havetasted at the heavenly gift

and were made partakersof the Holy Ghost, andhave tasted the good wordof God, and the powers ofthe world to come, if theyshall fall away to renewthem again unto repen-tance; seeing they crucifyto themselves the son ofGod afresh, and put himto an open shame” Heb.6:4-6. So please better bewarned and yield yourselfmore and more to theHoly Spirit else satan en-snares you, and of coursesatan puts the situation ofsuch an apostate or a

backslider in a precarioussituation: “for if after theyhave escaped the pollu-tions of the world throughthe knowledge of the Lordand Saviour Jesus Christ,they are again entangledthere in and overcome, thelatter end is worse withthem than the beginning,for it had been better forthem not to have known

the way of righteousness,than, after they haveknown it, to turn from theholy commandment deliv-ered unto them”2 Pet.2:20-21.

The Holy Spirit regen-erates every true believerwho accepts Jesus as Lordand personal Saviour; andinviting Jesus into his per-sonal life. The Holy Ghostwill come into your life ifyou invite him and he willdwell in you. Your bodybecomes the temple ofGod. (Rev. 3:20, 1Cor.3:16, 6:19).

Now the Holy Ghostwould not wish to live in-side an unclean body: be-cause he is holy: So as yourelease yourself entirely tohim tie begins the work ofinternal cleansing of oldhabits: the old nature fora new one in Christ Jesus.Jesus told Nicodemus:“Verily, verily, I say untothee, except a man be bornagain, he cannot see thekingdom of God” (Jn 3:3)That’s right! Because the

unregenerated “Old man”works after the flesh andthose who work after theflesh cannot inherit thekingdom of God: “Knowye not that the unrighteousshall not inherit the king-dom of God? Be not de-ceived: neither fornica-tors, nor idolaters, noradulterers, nor effeminate,nor revilers, nor extortionof others, shall inherit thekingdom of God” 1 Cor.6:9-10. So as you acceptJesus into your life, hisspirit begins to regenerateyou as you yield to him toproduce in you a sancti-fied believer; who thenpossesses the fruit of thespirit: “But the fruit of thespirit is love, joy, peace,long suffering, gentleness,goodness, faith, meek-ness, temperance” Gal.5:22. The chapter con-cludes thus:

“And they that areChrist’s have crucified the

flesh with the affectionsand lusts” Gal. 5:24.(Rom. 6:6). Yes, you havecrucified the flesh by thework of the regenerationdone in you by the HolySpirit: but if after this ex-perience you see yourselfoccasionally “burning inthe flesh” then do this:“Live in the spirit; alsowalk in the spirit” Gal.

5:25, And if after you area believer yet you seeyourself perpetually“burning in the flesh” Idon’t mean occasionallythis time; you better do aself - re-examination ofyour faith (2 Cor. 13:5)and humble yourself totake the appropriate stepsto redeem your salvation;because I strongly hold theopinion that a sanctifiedbeliever possessing thefruit of the Holy Spiritshould not be a slave to hispassion but a master to it,being able to subject hispassions to self controllike Paul (1 Cor. 9:27).

But where his pas-sion enslaves him and puts-him in perpetual enslave-ment, he should better becareful to re-examinehimself because satan thethief is close at hand. (Jn.10:10).

“The Holy Spirit regenerates every true believer who ac-cepts Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour; and inviting Jesusinto his personal life. The Holy Ghost will come into yourlife if you invite him and he will dwell in you. Your bodybecomes the temple of God. (Rev. 3:20, 1Cor. 3:16, 6:19).”

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2 6 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

InternationalUS Russia Seek New Syria Peace Talks, Rebels

Skeptical

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov take part in a joint newsconference after their meeting in Moscow recently.

MOSCOW - Russia andthe United States agreed toseek new peace talks withboth sides to end Syria’s civilwar, but opposition leaderswere skeptical on Wednesdayof an initiative they fear mightlet President Bashar al-Assadto cling to power.

Visiting Moscow after Is-rael bombed targets nearDamascus and as PresidentBarack Obama faces renewedcalls to arm the rebels, U.S.Secretary of State John Kerrysaid Russia had agreed to tryto arrange a conference asearly as this month.

An East-West disagreementthat has seen some of thefrostiest exchanges betweenWashington and Moscowsince the Cold War hasdeadlocked U.N. efforts tosettle the Syrian conflict fortwo years, so any rapproche-ment could bring aninternational common frontcloser than it has been formany months.

Israeli air strikes, reports ofthe use of chemical weaponsand the increasingprominence of al Qaeda-linked militants among therebels have all added to inter-national urgency for an end toa war that has killed morethan 70,000 people.

But with Syria’s factionaland sectarian hatreds moreentrenched than ever, it is farfrom clear the warring partiesare ready to negotiate witheach other. Most oppositionfigures have ruled out talksunless Assad and his innercircle are excluded from anyfuture transitionalgovernment.

“No official position hasbeen decided but I believe theopposition would find itimpossible to hold talks overa government that still hadAssad at its head,” said SamirNashar, a member of theopposition’s umbrellaNational Coalition body.

“Before making any deci-sions we need to know whatAssad’s role would be. Thatpoint has been left vague, webelieve intentionally so, inorder to try to drag theopposition into talks before adecision on that is made.”

In the past, the UnitedStates has backed oppositiondemands that Assad beexcluded from any future gov-ernment, while Russia hassaid that must be for Syriansto decide, a formula the op-position believes could beused to keep Assad in power.

Opposition members saidthey were concerned bycomments from Kerry inMoscow, echoing Russia,that the decision on whotakes part in a transitionalgovernment should be left toSyrians.

“Syrians are worried thatthe United States is advanc-ing its own interests withRussia using the blood andsuffering of the Syrian peo-ple,” said National Coalitionmember Ahmed Ramadan.

“We are in touch with theU.S. side and need to beassured that there is nochange in its position onAssad.”

Inside the country, whererebel groups are numerousand have disparate views, amilitary commander in thenorth, Abdeljabbar al-Oqaidi, told Reuters hewould want to know detailsof the U.S.-Russian planbefore taking a view. “But,”he added, “if the regime werepresent, I do not believe wewould want to attend.”

There was no immediate re-sponse from the Syrian gov-ernment, which has offeredreforms but dismisses thosefighting it as terrorists andpuppets of outside powers -the West, Turkey and Arabstates opposed to Assad’sally Iran. Speaking before theannouncement in Moscow,Assad sounded his usualdefiant tone.

“The recent Israeliaggressions expose the ex-tent of the complicity be-tween the Israeli occupier,regional countries and theWest in promoting the cur-rent events in Syria,” he wasquoted as saying by aLebanese televisions station.

“The Syrian people andtheir heroic army ... arecapable of confronting thisIsraeli adventure, which rep-resents one of the faces ofterrorism that is targetingSyria every day.”

Alarmed at the prospect ofthe conflict spilling across avolatile region central toglobal energy supplies andtransit routes, the majorpowers have, as Kerry toldPutin on Tuesday, “very sig-nificant common interests” inpushing for a settlement.

“The alternative,” Kerrylater told a joint news con-ference with Russian ForeignMinister Sergei Lavrov, “isthat Syria heads closer to anabyss, if not over the abyssand into chaos.”

Both sides fear a failedstate in Syria could providea base for hostile militantswilling to strike around theworld.

Last June, at a conferencein Geneva, Washington andMoscow agreed on the needfor a transitional govern-ment in Syria but left openthe question of whetherAssad would be excluded.Diplomacy has founderedsince then, and the media-tor of the Geneva confer-ence, former U.N. SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan, quit indespair, saying differences

among powers were toowide.

Rejecting a characteriza-tion of Moscow as the pro-tector of Assad, to whom itstill provides arms, Lavrovsaid Russia was notconcerned by the fate of “cer-tain” individuals.

“The task now is to con-vince the government and allthe opposition groups ... tosit at the negotiating table,”he said.

Kerry said the conferenceshould be held “as soon as ispractical - possibly and hope-fully by the end of themonth”. Neither he norLavrov said where it mighttake place.

Russia, backed by China,has vetoed three U.N. Secu-rity Council resolutionshostile to Assad. Alarmed atWestern powers’ use of aU.N. mandate to oustMuammar Gaddafi in Libya,Moscow and Beijing arewary of such interference in

their own affairs.Recent developments have

focused minds on the risks ofwider war in the Middle East.

The White House said lastmonth that Assad’s troopshad probably used chemicalweapons - which Obama hascalled a “red line” that wouldmandate a strong, ifunspecified, response. TheSyrian government and therebels have each accused theother of using poison gas, acharge both sides deny.

Islamist fighters havepledged allegiance to al

Qaeda, highlighting the riskto the West that a poorlymanaged change of leader-ship in Syria could bring hos-tile militants to power.

And Israeli air strikes in re-cent days - which Israeli of-ficials said hit Iranian armsheaded for Assad andTehran’s Lebanese alliesHezbollah - underlined therisk of escalation and cross-border conflict in the heart ofthe Middle East.

The violence has inflameda confrontation betweenSunni and Shi’ite Muslims inthe Middle East, with Shi’iteIran supporting Assad andSunni powers like SaudiArabia backing the rebels.

Tehran warned of unfore-seeable consequences ifAssad were toppled and saidonly a political settlementwould avert a regionalconflagration.

“God forbid, if there is anyvacuum in Syria, thesenegative consequences will

affect all countries,” ForeignMinister Ali Akbar Salehisaid in Jordan. “No oneknows what will happen.”

Diplomatic sources inMoscow made clear the lat-est push for peace was be-ing driven by growing alarmfollowing the Israeli airraids, the possibility offoreign arms pouring intoSyria and the possible use ofchemical weapons.

Moscow and Washingtonhave also signaled they wantto improve cooperation onsecurity matters since theBoston Marathon bombings,which U.S. officials suspect

was carried out by ethnicChechens who had lived inRussia. U.S. officials saidFBI chief Robert Muellerhad been in Moscow onTuesday to discuss the bomb-ings, but gave no details.

In a further sign of Wash-ington’s efforts to improveties with Russia, Kerryavoided any sharp publiccriticism of Moscow’s hu-man rights record when hemet civil rights activists inthe Russian capital onWednesday before his depar-ture.

In Syria itself, Internet con-nections with the outsideworld were cut off onTuesday, according to datafrom Google Inc and otherglobal Internet companies.

Google’s Transparency Re-port pages showed traffic toGoogle services pages fromSyria suddenly stoppingshortly before 10 p.m.Damascus time (1900GMT).

Obama has shown littledesire to embroil U.S. forcesin Syria after winding downengagements in Iraq andAfghanistan, but has rejectedcriticism he might back outof a commitment to act ifAssad crossed the “red line”of using chemical weapons.

On Tuesday, he pointed tothe deaths of Osama binLaden and Gaddafi to say“we typically follow throughon our commitments”.

Obama has said U.S. intel-ligence agencies believeAssad’s forces probably usedchemical arms but that theevidence is not entirely

conclusive. Syria is not partof an international treaty thatbans poison gas but has saidit would never use chemicalweapons in an internal con-flict.

The chaos in Syria, wherea fifth of the 25 million popu-lation has been driven fromtheir homes, was underlinedby the latest incident of rebelstaking U.N. peacekeepershostage on the ceasefire linewith the Israeli-occupiedGolan Heights.

U.N. Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon strongly con-demned the incident andcalled for the four Filipinos’immediate release. They weredetained as they patrolledclose to an area where 21Filipino observers were heldfor three days in March.

The Yarmouk Martyrs Bri-gade said the peacekeeperswere seized for their ownsafety during clashes in thearea.

2 7 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

With

O.C. MADU

08056379608

Man AndNature

Symbolic RedemptionOf Karma

EVERY happening in creation, thus, in the world of mat-ter, must come to a proper ending of its cycle or it can also, besaid, it must close its cycle. Therefore, according to the lawsof creation. Everything unconditionally returns to its startingpoint, where alone it can find its end and thus, be severed,dissolved or extinguished as a working unit.

This, Abd-ru-shin says applies to the entire creation as wellas, to each single happening and it is the cause of the uncon-ditional reciprocal action which in turn brings symbolism inits wake.

Since all actions must end where they originated, it followsthat each action must end in the same species of substancewhence, it arose. Thus, an ethereal beginning must have anethereal ending and a gross material ending. Men cannot seethe ethereal, but the gross material ending of every happen-ing is visible to all. For many people, however the actual keyto it, the beginning, is missing, because in most cases, it liesin a previous gross material existence.

Abd-ru-shin, the author of the “Grail message opines al-though the greater part that of all happening of reciprocalaction takes effect only in the ethereal world, the operatingkarma can never be completely redeemed unless in some waythe end manifests in the Gross material in the world and be-comes visible there only when a visible happening correspondsto the nature of the reciprocal action can an open cycle beclosed and thus, brings about complete redemption, no mat-ter whether, through the nature of the beginning, the redemp-tion brings good or evil happiness or unhappiness, blessingor forgiveness. This final visible effect must return to the placeof its origin and to that place who, through some action orother, initiated it in no single case can this be avoided. If inthe mean time the person concerned has changed inwardly tosuch an extent that something better than the original actioncame to life in him, then the reaction of that original typecannot gain a firm foothold. It no longer finds homogeneousground in the upward-striving soul, which has become morein accordance with the law of spiritual Gravity.

The natural result is that when it approaches the more lu-minous environment of the person concerned, a darker reac-tion becomes permeated and thereby, considerably weaken.But despite this, the law of Revolution and Reciprocal Actionmust be entirely fulfilled in its automatic operating power. Itis impossible to annul any of the laws of Nature.

Consequently, even such a weakened returning reciprocalaction must in accordance with the immovable laws, becomevisibly effective in the world of Gross matter in order really tobe redeemed and extinguished. The end must flow back intothe beginning. The dark karma, however, is unable to bringharm to the person concerned because of his more luminoussurroundings and so it happens that the weakened reciprocalaction can only work on his immediate surroundings in sucha way as to provide the person concerned with the opportu-nity to do something voluntarity, the nature of which corre-sponds only to the tendency of returning reciprocal action.

In comparison with the original unbroken strength of thereturning dark reaction intended for him there is the differ-ence, however, that it causes neither suffering nor harm, butmay even bring joy. This comprises a purely symbolical re-demption of many a heavy karma, but still completely ac-cords with the laws of creation. Which operate automaticallyin that way through the change in the condition of soul.

Therefore, must people often remain unaware of it. Thekarma however, has been redeemed and immutable Justicehas been satisfied to its most delicate vibrations. But thesehappenings, which accord so naturally with the creative laws,hold such mighty acts of Grace as only the omniscience of the

creator could bring forth in his perfect world.Abd-ru-shin says that there are many such purely symbolic

atonements where otherwise, reciprocal action would strikeheavily. Let us take an example of a once hard, domineeringcharacter has burdened himself with heavy karma throughindulging these attributes in the oppression of his fellow men.Active according to its specific nature, this karma proceedson its course and must then fall back upon him with the samecharacteristics, but many times reinforced. This vibration ofruthless despotism, often immenssely reinforced through thelaw of Attraction of ethereal homogenenous speies, will inapproaching him so interpenetrate his whole ethereal envi-ronment that it will have an incisive effect on his gross ma-terial environment, which is closely connecting with it,thereby, creating conditions forcing the orignator to suffer to

a far the greater extent from similar tyranny than did thepeople be once tormented.

Meanwhile if such a person has arrived at a better under-standing and has, through his genuine efforts to as ascend,gained a more luminous and lighter environment, then ofcourse, the nature of the final effect Abd-ru-shin says willalso be changed. The returning wave of denser darknesswill be more or less permeated by the degree of luminosity

of the new surrounding of the person concerned and will thus,be rendered more or less harmless.

If the former tyrant has made great progress, that is, if theguilty person has made an exceptional improvement, it mayhappen that the final reaction will be as good as annulled andthat he will only do something in passing which outwardlyresembles atonement.

Let us suppose that it would be the case of a woman. Thenit will suffice for her to take the brush out of her maidservant’shand to show her in all kindness how to scrub the floor. Evenif there are only a few such movement, theyfew such satisfythe symbolism of service. This little action results in a re-demption that had to happen visibly and which, despite its

inignificance can end a heavy karma. In the same way, Abd-ru-shin opiones that the re-arrange-

ment of even one room can become a symbol ending andredeeming a guilt, the atonement or reaction of which wouldreally have required a greater, more revolutionary change,with painfully incisive effects such things occur in one wayor another through the weakened influence of a reaction orinciden---al actions are often skill fully used by spiritual guid-ance to bring about a redemption.

In all this, it is naturally presumed that an exceptionallygreat upsurge with a corresponding change in the conditionof the soul, has already set in. These are circumstances thatan astrologer is actually unable to take into account, as aresult of which he often occasions unnecessary worries withhis calculation, sometimes, even evoking such fear that thepower of this alone is able to call forth or form somethingunpleasant. Thus, the calculation may be apparently fulfilled,when without such fears it would have proved to be wrong.In such cases, however, the person concerned has throughhis fear opened a door in the circle of light surrounding him.

Hence the smallest kindness to a fellow man, a genuinelyfelt sorrow with a neighbour, even a single friendly word,can lead to the symbolic redemption of a karma, as soon asthe underlying motive is an earnest striving for what is good.

“Therefore, must people often remain unaware of it. Thekarma however, has been redeemed and immutable Justicehas been satisfied to its most delicate vibrations. But thesehappenings, which accord so naturally with the creative laws,hold such mighty acts of Grace as only the omniscience ofthe creator could bring forth in his perfect world.”

2 8 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Michel Platini

• Iker Casillas

Luiz Is One Of The Best In Prem - Benitez

Cuena Keen On Ajax Stay

We Have To Be United-Ramos

EPL:

CarragherWill BeMissed

-Sturridge

Gerrard To Undergo

Shoulder Surgery

Spanish La Liga

FergusonConfirms

Retirement Award For

Newcastle’s

Abeid

NEWCASTLE Unitedyoungster Mehdi Abeid won the‘We Are Perth Online ForumYoung Player of the Year’ awardat St. Johnstone’s annual dinneron Saturday evening.

Despite only joining the Scot-tish side on loan at the start ofthe year, the 20-year-old Alge-rian has made a huge impressionat Mcdiarmid Park.

He joined the Magpies fromLens in July 2011, making hisdebut for the Tyneside club in aCarling Cup tie againstNottingham Forest two monthslater.

Abeid has played for Algeriaand France at youth level.

LIVERPOOL captain StevenGerrard could miss the final twoleague games of the season ashe is set to undergo surgery on ashoulder injury.

The Reds have remaining fix-tures against Fulham andQueens Park Rangers, but theEngland captain could go underthe knife early to give him moretime to recover ahead of the newseason.

Gerrard also experiencedsome discomfort duringSunday’s goalless derby againstEverton and the club may decidenot to risk him any further dur-ing the remainder of the season.

The 32-year-old has started all36 Premier League games thisseason and his pending surgerywill also rule him out of

England’s friendlies against theRepublic of Ireland and Brazil.

The estimated recovery timefor the operation is between sixand eight weeks.

REAL Madrid defender Sergio Ramos says his side have toremain united despite the publicized differences between themanager, Jose Mourinho and the captain, Iker Casillas.

The Portuguese coach tookanother swipe at the Casillasduring a recent press confer-ence when he stated that he re-

grets not signing Diego Lopezafter his first season with theWhites.

Mourinho eventually broughtLopez in from Sevilla in Janu-

ary while Casillas was out witha hand injury and the new re-cruit has been the preferredstarter since then.

“Iker has had a tough time,”said Ramos. “We’ve beenfriends for a long time and of

course we’re both on the Span-ish national team.

“It’s good that teammates sup-port both Casillas and the man-ager; after all, we all have thesame objective in sight. It isimportant that we are united.”

Ramos did not feature for theWhites during Saturday’s 4-3win over Real Valladolid afterpicking up a knock during theChampions League clashagainst Borussia Dortmund, buthe is expected to make a swiftcomeback.

“I didn’t end the game wellbut I hope to be fit again soon,”he concluded.

LIVERPOOL’s forwardDaniel Sturridge says veterandefender Jamie Carragher willbe missed when he hangs uphis boots at the end of the sea-son.

Although he only joined theReds from Chelsea in Januarythis year, Sturridge is fullyaware of the contribution thatthe 35-year-old has been mak-ing on and off the field.

“He’s a very experiencedplayer who’s been at this clubfor many years,” Sturridgesaid.

“He’ll be missed behind thescenes as well as on the foot-ball field. He’s a great man aswell as a great player.

“We wish him all the bestwhen he moves on to his newjob.”

Carragher will start a newcareer as a pundit on televisionchannel Sky Sports next sea-son.

RAFA Benitez has sought todeflect criticism of David Luizby describing him as one of thebest players in the PremierLeague “by miles” and sayingthe game should be more con-cerned with eradicating dan-gerous tackles.

The Brazilian defender wasinitially the source of muchcontroversy as he appeared tosmile after Rafael had kickedhim in Chelsea’s 1-0 win atManchester United on Sunday.It has since emerged, however,that Luiz was apparently

laughing at a jibe comparinghim to The Simpsons’ charac-ter Sideshow Bob from thecrowd.

Tuesday’s pre-game pressconference at Cobham alsosaw the somewhat farcicalscene of a reporter producinga photo of the character toshow Benitez. The Chelseaboss, however, was in nomood to laugh about it andpointed to the fact that Luizlaughed before Rafael re-ceived a red card.

When asked whether he wasaware of the latest ‘SideshowBob’ angle, Benitez responded“I’m aware David Luiz is oneof the best players in the Pre-mier League by miles. Milesaway from a lot of players, oneof the best no doubt.

“I think, talking about that[incident], we are not talkingabout Chelsea betweenUnited, much better thanUnited in three games, two inOld Trafford. I think we didreally well, the substitution ofFernando [Torres] was an of-fensive player on the pitch.Mind games, nobody was talk-ing about mind games after thegame and then we start talk-ing about this, I don’t agreewith that.

“I think David Luiz waslaughing because the fansabusing him. After [that] was[the] red card, so was veryclear the timing.

“But, if we continue to talkabout this, rather than trying toeradicate the bad tackles wesee every week, I think we aregiving importance to some-thing that is not as importantas other things. Still, I don’tlike this situation. But we aretalking about one of the bestplayers in the Premier League.

“Again, I say I prefer to talkabout football, tactics or theother things that are normal.”

ISAAC Cuenca says hewould prefer to remain on loanat Ajax next season than to re-turn to parent club Barcelona.

Cuenca, whose playing timesince joining the Dutch side onloan in January has been lim-ited by a knee injury, againmissed last weekend’s 5-0 winover Willem II, which sealed athird consecutive Eredivisietitle for the club.

Ajax sporting director MarcOvermars was reportedly inCatalonia last week to speakwith his Barca counterpartAndoni Zubizarreta about ex-tending the loan for another 12months. While no deal had yetbeen agreed, the Reus-bornwinger, 22, told MundoDeportivo that he hoped to con-tinue his development in theNetherlands next season.

“I want to stay at Ajax,”Cuenca said. “This team isgood for me because I can playmore here than at Barca. Iknow Barca is the biggest, butI like it here, and would like to

stay another season. I hope itcan be sorted out.”

Cuenca said he could notcomment on speculation fellowLa Masia graduates MarcMuniesa, 21, and SergiRoberto, 21, could join him atthe Amsterdam Arena next sea-son, but said Ajax was an idealplace for young blaugrana play-ers to gain experience as bothclubs shared the same philoso-phy on the game.

“That is a personal matter, itdepends on what each onewants,” he said. “I would tellthem, and everyone in general,that if they want to come to ateam that plays like Barca, tohave minutes on the pitch andto play in the ChampionsLeague, Ajax is a very goodoption.

“The system of play is thesame. The two teams want toattack and play good football.At both clubs the players whomove up from the youth teamshave already learned all theautomatic moves.”

Having ex-Ajax andBarcelona defender Frank deBoer as coach had been a realhelp, Cuenca said.

“He is a leader in the dress-ing-room, everyone respectshim,” he said. “And he knowsa lot about football, and thetraining sessions are very edu-cational. Personally, he hasbeen very attentive with me,and speaks to me in Spanish.Frank will be a great coach.”

Ajax playmaker ChristianEriksen, 21, who has beenheavily linked with a move toPremier League sidesLiverpool, Manchester Cityand Tottenham in recentmonths, was good enough toplay for Barca, suggested hiscurrent team-mate.

“Eriksen is an ‘interior’ witha lot of quality,” Cuenca said.“He has said nothing to mepersonally, but there is a lot oftalk of him going to the Pre-mier League.”

MANCHESTER Unitedmanager Sir Alex Ferguson hasconfirmed that he will retire atthe end of the season.

The Scot, 71, has won 38 tro-phies since taking over at OldTrafford in November 1986, in-cluding this season’s PremierLeague title.

His haul includes 13 leaguetitles, two Champions Leaguecrowns, five FA Cups and fiveLeague Cups.

“The decision to retire is onethat I have thought a great dealabout. It is the right time,”Ferguson said.

“It was important to me toleave an organisation in thestrongest possible shape and Ibelieve I have done so.

“The quality of this leaguewinning squad, and the balanceof ages within it, bodes well forcontinued success at the high-est level whilst the structure ofthe youth set-up will ensure thatthe long-term future of the clubremains a bright one.

“Our training facilities areamongst the finest in globalsport and our home Old Traffordis rightfully regarded as one ofthe leading venues in the world.

“Going forward, I am de-lighted to take on the roles ofboth Director and Ambassadorfor the club. With these activi-ties, along with my many otherinterests, I am looking forwardto the future.

“I must pay tribute to my fam-ily, their love and support hasbeen essential. My wife Cathyhas been the key figure through-out my career.

2 9 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Egor LG CupEnds Today

LFP To

Review

Leonardo

Ref Attack

• Hon. Victor Enobakhare

Women’s Section Gets SponsorFor Its Monthly Competition

• Senator David Mark

Tax Man Re-Opens Makivubo

Stadium

ValenciaDisap-

pointed WithForm

2013 Parliamentary Games

Assoc Plans ToFeature 11 Sports

According to the president ofESYCCA, Sam Pele Uwadiae,the competition which is beingsponsored by the chairman ofEgor Local Government Coun-cil, Hon. Victor Enobakhare ispart of the organisation’s ac-tivities geared towards discov-ering talents.

“I want to thank the chair-

MANCHESTER Unitedwinger Antonio Valencia hasvowed to bounce back after hisdisappointing form this season.

The Ecuador internationalwas the players’ and fans’player of the year last term, buthe feels he has failed to repeatthat form in the current cam-paign despite United’s cruise tothe Premier League title.

Valencia is delighted to havesecured a league winners’medal, but he insists he wouldhave contributed more to thetitle success had it not been forinjury.

“If you make a comparisonwith the previous season itwasn’t quite what I was hopingfor,” Valencia told MUTV. “Ihave maybe not been able torecreate the form of last year.But I have not been at the samefitness level.

“When you have sufferedfrom a couple of injuries, some-times it is hard to get back tothose fitness levels where youcan play full of confidence andshow your ability in its bestlight.

“Sometimes it takes a whileto get the rhythm of how younormally play if recovery frominjury takes longer than youthink.

LEONARDO risks a year-long ban and Paris Saint-Germain face a potential pointdeduction after their sportingdirector appeared to barge intoreferee Alexandre Castro afterSunday’s draw withValenciennes, though the Bra-zilian claims: “I was the oneassaulted”.

The French Football League’s(LFP) Disciplinary Commissionwill review Canal+ imagesfilmed after the full-timewhistle in which Leonardo, in-censed over Thiago Silva’s first-half red card in the 1-1 draw,appears to career into Castrowith his shoulder as the refereemade his way to his dressing-room at the Parc des Princes.

Article 2.9 of the LFP’s regu-lations stipulates that for “de-liberate barging or attemptedpunches” directed towards amatch official, transgressors canbe sanctioned with a year-longsuspension from all officialfunctions, meaning they arebanned from the dressing room,the pitch and the bench, whilepoints could also be deducted.

“It’s the delegate in front ofme, with a black ear-piece, whoblocked my path. It’s him whopushed me into the referee,”Leonardo told L’Equipe. “Lookat the pictures: I don’t touch thereferee with my shoulder butwith my back. Because I wasthe one pushed.

THE Uganda Revenue Au-thority has re-opened Ugandasecond largest arena NakivuboStadium in Kampala.

The tax body closedNakivubo early last month overwhat they called accumulateddebts.

“We have made payment ofabout US$25,000 and alsosigned a memorandum of under-standing to pay the balance in aperiod of two years,” the stadiumboard chairman GodfreyMabirizi said.

Mabirizi said after severalmeetings, the tax authority de-cided the stadium must pay adebt of close to US$350,000 ona monthly basis for the next two

THE Professional SquashPlayers Association of Nigeria(PSPAN) has said that the fe-male section of the monthlycompetition now had a sponsor.

Seun Peters, President of theassociation, disclosed this toreporters in Lagos.

It would be recalled that thePSPAN was formed by squashplayers to keep themselvesbusy, in the absence of regularcompetitions in the country’ssquash circuit.

In its maiden competition, thefemale arm of the body couldnot hold its own competition,due to lack of sponsorship.

ELEVEN sports will be com-peted for at the 2013 edition ofthe Parliamentary Games beingorganised annually by the Par-liamentary Staff Association ofNigeria (PASAN), an officialhas said.

Mr Fatai Jimoh, PASAN’sNational President, told report-ers in Abuja that the number ofsports was an improvement onwhat obtained in the past.

“We are happy to say that weare gradually enlarging thegames, with the number ofsports we will now be havingat the 2013 games.

“I can recall that at the firstedition of the games in Abujain 2011 we had only threesports, while at the second edi-tion in Abeokuta in 2012 we hadfive.

“But now, we will have 11 atthe third edition of the gamesin Port Harcourt in June, andthat is a big leap for our youngbody,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the 2013Parliamentary Games is sched-uled for Port Harcourt fromJune 13 to June 22.

Jimoh listed the 11 sports asfootball, basketball, volleyball,table tennis, badminton, swim-ming, tennis, chess, scrabble,draught and athletics.

“We have already made elabo-rate preparations for competitions

man Hon. Victor Enobakharefor his great vision which istargeted at developing footballfrom the grassroots”.

Uwadiae explained thatsince the council boss foundESYCCA worthy enough toorganize a good football com-petition, youths in the localityshould take advantage of it andparticipate in the competition.

“Enobakhare also believesthat the youth must explore histalent well by playing footballand take up a career in thegame in future. It will help toreduce insecurity in the state”.ESYCCA boss said.

However, Ward 5 will playWard 6 in the female categorywhile Ward 5 meets Ward 3 inthe male in today’s finalmatch.

The Deputy Governor, Rt.Hon. Dr. Pius EgberamwenOdubu will be in attendeanceas the special guest of honour.

The guest of honour is Paul

Ohonbamu, the Commissionerfor Sports, Hon. Omored Osifowill be on hard at the final.

Others that would gravethe grand finale are hon. Bar-rister Henry Idahagbon, Com-missioner for Justice, ChiefGoddy Edosa, BarristerGentleman Amegor, ACNLeader even as Hon> VictorEnobakhare is expected to bethe host.

BY NICHOLAS EBIOGBE

EGOR Local Government Football competition beingorganized by Edo State Youth Clubs Coaches Association(ESYCCA) in conjunction with the council ends today atthe Uselu Secondary School, Uselu in Benin City.

years. “This is good news be-cause we can now host footballmatches and other functionsthat can generate income,” saidMabirizi.

After closure of Nakivubo, allmatches in the FUFA SuperLeague that were scheduled totake place at the stadium weremoved to other venues.

Last month, the tax body hadindicated that Nakivubo hadbeen closed because of failureto remit Value Added Tax forseveral years.

URA said the debt dates backto October 2010, although man-agement of the stadium said itwas it dated back to 2000.

in all these sports, with only theathletics sport being competed forin the three events of 4 x 100metres relay, 100 metres and 200metres,’’ he said.

“Our monthly tournament isgetting bigger and better thanksto our sponsors; we now havesponsors for our female section,which will engender even de-velopment.

“We now have two sponsors:one has promised to take overthe Women’s Section; they willstart playing this month.

“We are looking towardsmaking the prize money moreattractive, so that players thatare outside Lagos can also comeoften to participate in themonthly competition,’’ Peterssaid.

Speaking further on prize dis-

parity, the president said thatthe association had made itmandatory to bridge the gapbetween the male and femaleplayers’ prize money.

“Actually, we hope tominimise the gap in the prizemoney between the male andfemale players.

“If the men are getting N100,000 as prize money, then thewomen should at least get N70,000.

“So, henceforth, that is howwe intend to arrange our prizemoney and the sponsors areaware.

“We just hope it keeps gettingbetter,’’ the president added.

3 0 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

NSF

AspirantPledges ToEnhanceProfile OfSquash

Discord Between LMC, Club Owners Portends

Danger To Soccer Growth - Stakeholders

Rangers Now FaceWikki ‘Morrow

• Hon. Omorede Osifo, Sports Commissioner

Insurance Battle Prime

• Bolaji Abdullahi

I set Up Academy To GiveBack To Society - Bewarang

AdministratorsNot DoingEnough

World Cup Qualifier

Broke Kenya May ForceTeam To Miss Match

ADEGBOYEGA Adeniji-Adele, Chairman, NigeriaKickboxing Referees Associa-tion, on Wednesday blamed theadministrators of the NigeriaKickboxing Federation (NKF)for not doing enough to promotethe sport.

Adeniji-Adele made the re-mark in an interview withnewsmen in Lagos, and urgedthe officials to be up and doingto attract sponsors for theirprogrammes.

According to him, their pri-mary function is to seek for vi-able partners to give a newlease of life to the sport.

“Coaches and technical offi-cials are fulfilling their ownobligation by scouting, groom-ing and nurturing talents be-cause this is our own sport andwe cannot fold our hands andlet it die.

OUSTED CAF ChampionsLeague flag bearers Rangershave had their Week 10 Nige-ria league fixture at Wikkimoved.

A top official of the leagueinformed MTNFootball.comthat they have agreed to a spe-cial request by Rangers to movetheir league match in Bauchifrom Wednesday to Friday af-ter they just returned from aChampions League match inAngola on Tuesday.

Rangers spokesman FosterChime also confirmed Rangershave requested a shift of theWikki game.

‘The Flying Antelopes’ will

Coach Bitrus Bewarang, thefounder of Bitrus BewarangFootball Academy, Jos, said onWednesday that he establishedthe institution in order to giveback to the society what it hadgiven to him.

Bewarang said in Jos that theacademy would afford him theopportunity to impart his wealth

Kenya plays Nigeria onJune 5 in a World Cup quali-fier and then travels toMalawi one week later forthe same competition.

There is also anotherWorld Cup qualifier againstNamibia in Nairobi on Sept.6.

hould Kenya fail in its ob-ligation to host or honourany of the away matches,then they stand to be finedand banned by World Foot-ball Governing body, FIFA.

TOCHUKWU Aighadiuno,the South-East Zonal aspirantfor the post of President of theNigeria Squash Federation(NSF), said on Wednesday thathe would strive to enhance theprofile of the sport, if electedinto office.

Aighadiuno made the remarkin an interview with newsmenyesterday in Lagos.

He blamed the dearth of com-petitions and requisite facili-ties, for the poor awareness forthe sport in the country.

“Squash is not a popular sportin this part of the world; I un-derstand that most people don’tknow about it, they don’t evenknow what a squash court lookslike.

“I intend to introduce an all-grass mobile court. It can beassembled and dismantled af-ter use, and it’s a mobile court,’’he said.

According to him, althoughthe acquisition of the mobilecourts will be expensive, but itwill eventually make the sportpopular.

Aighadiuno told newsmenthat he intended to introduce thesquash mobile courts to schools,to further popularise the sportat the grassroots.

“My objective is to introducethe sport to students in schools,and I am positive that with themobile courts, that would beachievable,’’ he said.

to win the match despite thefact that it is an away one.

Meanwhile, insurance

FOOTBALL stakeholders inLagos said on Tuesday that therecent face-off between theLeague Management Company(LMC) and the club ownersportends danger to football de-velopment in the country.

Reports say that club ownershad disputed the legality of theNigeria Professional FootballLeague (NPFL), the LMC, andits failure to convene a con-gress.

The stakeholders told news-men in separate interviews in

Lagos that the crisis was unnec-essary, adding that it would onlygive the country a negative im-age.

They said both parties shouldshift ground on the issue andresolve the crisis amicably forthe good of the game in thecountry.

Fatai Amao, a former assis-tant coach of the Super Eagles,said that the league did not needany crisis that had the tendencyof giving the country a bad im-age now.

“The crisis poses a great dan-ger to football development inthe country, especially at thegrassroots, except it is settledamicably.

“We do not need this crisis.Both parties should exhibitmaturity and settle the discordamicably , for our football tomove forward,’’ Amao said.

A former Super Eagles Coach,Christian Chukwu, blamed thecrisis on a communication gapbetween the club owners andthe LMC, adding that theyneeded to co-operate, so as tobe able to move the league for-ward.

Chukwu urged both parties tofocus on ways of building a newcourse for the revival of theleague, rather than involvingthemselves in an unnecessarycrisis.

“I think what should havebothered them most is how torevive our league for it to beattractive to football lovers,rather than engaging in an un-necessary crisis,’’ Chukwu said.

Paul Hamilton, a former Su-per Falcons coach, added thatthe club owners and the LMCmust find a lasting solution totheir perpetual crisis, if theyhad the interest of Nigerians atheart.

He said that apart from thecrisis denting the country’s im-age, it also showed that bothparties were not competent to-wards enhancing football devel-opment.

“How can football be devel-oped with this kind of crises allthe time; I think they shouldresolve the matter now forNigeria’s football to have direc-tion,’’ Hamilton said.

Seyi Akinwunmi, the Chair-man, Lagos State Football As-sociation said that although cri-ses were inevitable, they mustbe managed properly for foot-ball to develop.

He urged the Nigeria FootballAssociation (NFA) to help re-solve the crisis and build a har-monious relationship betweenthe parties, so as not to degen-erate beyond control.

of knowledge garnered over theyears.

“If you follow my anteced-ents, you will discover that allthis while, I have been trainingyouths to become stars.

“In my entire coaching career,I never bought a player that wasalready a star, I trained them all.

“And now that I am advanc-ing in age, I feel this is the righttime for me to give back to thesociety by raising these young-sters to enviable levels,’’ hesaid.

host Tunisian club CS Sfaxienin a CAF confederation Cupplay-off on Sunday, May 19.

The league match between ElKanemi and ABS in Maidugurihas also been moved to Thurs-day after ABS were involved ina road accident on their way tothe match.

On Wednesday, championsKano Pillars hosts NasarawaUnited, Kwara battle KadunaUnited and 3SC take on Sun-shine Stars.

On Thursday, Akwa Unitedplay host to Sharks, Bayelsaclash with Heartland, Lobitackle Enyimba, Dolphins vsNembe and Gombe take onWarri Wolves.

The Benin soccer sidehad defeated Prime FC 2-0 at the Ogbemudia sta-dium in the first Leg.

According to the secre-tary of the club, CharlesIhimekpen the Boys hopes

scribe Charles Ihimekpendisclosed that the club hadtendered apology to thecommissioner for sports,Hon. Omorede Osifo forthe unruly behaviour dis-played by his boys in lastSunday’s FA Cup match

BY NICHOLAS EBOIGBE/

KEHINDE OSAGIEDE

BENDEL Insurance Football club of Benin takes onPrime FC of Oshogbo in the Week 19 of the 2012/ 2013Nigeria National League at Oshogbo today.

with Dynamite Force at theOgbemudia stadium.

Ihimekpen also apolo-gized to the Delta StateReferee council over theassault against the centrereferee that officiated thematch on that day.

JUST a month beforeKenya plays Nigeria in aWorld Cup qualifier matchin Nairobi, the country’sfootball governing body,FKF, has raised a red flag,saying its coffers are empty.

FKF has put the govern-ment and well wishers onnotice that unless they get a$2.5 million (about N320million) windfall, then thechances of Harambee Starshonouring their qualifierswere nil.

The Stars have their re-turn-leg fixtures against Su-per Eagles, Malawi Flames

and Namibia between June5 and Sept. 6.

“The federation needs atleast $125,000 (aboutN197, 000) for the matchagainst Nigeria.

“The bulk of the funds willbe for the purchase of airtickets for foreign-basedplayers and accommodatingthe visiting team.

“The funds will also coverplayers’ allowances andpayments to match offi-cials,” a statement receivedon Wednesday by FKFChairman, Sam Nyamweya,said.

. . . Apologise To Sports Comm

3 1 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIAN

Bulgarians Hail DimitrovAfter Djokovic Win

• Jurgen Klopp

French Rivals Earn Stadium Ban

Audi Cup: Bayern Set ToHost Milan, City

• Novak Djokovic

Key Dates For Fergie’s SuccessAt United

Dimitrov, the youngest ofthe six players aged 23 orunder in the top 50, battledthrough cramp to seal ashock 7-6 6-7 6-3 win in thesecond round and becamethe first Bulgarian to beat aplayer occupying the world’stop spot.

“Bulgarian sport found itsnew hero after HristoStoichkov,” newspaper Trudwrote on Wednesday.

Dimitrov, ranked 28th inthe world, became hugelypopular in the Balkan coun-try after winning junior titlesat Wimbledon and the U.S.Open in 2008.

The three Maleeva sisters- Manuela, Katerina andMagdalena, who took turnsto feature in the world’s topsix in the 1980s and 1990s -made the women’s game

AFTER ManchesterUnited manager Sir AlexFerguson announced hewould retire at the end of theseason, here we look at thekey dates awaiting his suc-cessor.

Monday, May 13: Trophyparade - The new boss willwatch on as Ferguson and aUnited squad he believes hasthe potential for greatnessparade the club’s 20th leaguetitle around Manchester. The21st will be expected swiftly.

Sunday, May 19: Final dayof the season - As the finalwhistle blows on Ferguson’sreign following the BarclaysPremier League clashagainst West Brom at the

BAYERN Munich are setto host both Manchester Cityand Milan in the bi-annualAudi Cup during theoffseason.

The round-robin tourna-ment will also see Sao Paolojoin City, Munich and Milanwhich is set to take place inMunich on July 31st andAugust 1st.

“AC Milan, ManchesterCity, FC São Paulo are thekind of opponents you des-perately want in pre-season.And Pep Guardiola will beable to see where his teamstands a week before theBundesliga restart on 7 Au-gust,” said Bayern’s sportingdirector Matthias Sammer.

It will be the first timeMario Balotelli will come upagainst the club he movedfrom in January, Manchester

BASTIA and Ajaccio havebeen ordered to play boththeir Corsican derbies nextseason behind closed doorsand at a neutral venue aftertrouble flared on and off thepitch when the pair met eachother this term.

Bastia announced the un-precedented decision of theLFP’s Disciplinary Commis-sion on its official Twitterfeed.

The sanction comes fol-lowing the bad-tempered

City, while Kevin-PrinceBoateng will come upagainst his brother JeromeBoateng

It will also be the first tour-nament in which PepGuardiola will be on thebench for the Bavarians as heis set to join them as theirnew coach for next season.

meeting between theneighbours in Bastia onMarch 2. While Ajaccio’sMathieu Chalme was sent offfor a second bookable of-fence, a further four players- two from either side - weredismissed in added time fol-lowing a mass brawl pro-voked by an unsightly chal-lenge on Bastia goalkeeperMickael Landreau byAjaccio striker DennisOliech.

The violence off the pitch

occurred following the finalwhistle with 450 Ajacciofans, who had been kept be-hind for their own safety,forced to seek sanctuary onthe Stade Furiani pitch aftertheir section of the groundwas pelted with stonesthrown from outside the sta-dium. Five Ajaccio fans andtwo Bastia supporters wereinjured.

Prior to kick-off, a policesearch of the buses bringingthe Ajaccio followers to the

stadium had uncovered whatBastia president Pierre-Marie Geronimi described atthe time as “a real arsenal”of projectiles and flares.

The return fixture, whichended goalless, on October21 had also resulted in aplayer from both sides beingsent off for fighting, an inci-dent which provoked violentscenes and a stand-off be-tween police and the travel-ling Bastia fans.

successful in Bulgaria.However, only a couple of

years ago, Orlin Stanoytchevwas still the highest-rankedBulgarian male player afterreaching world number 96 in2000.

“(Dimitrov) made ••ev-eryone understand that hehas not only talent but also acharacter that will turn himinto one of the biggest starsin tennis,” said sportswebsite www.sportal.bg,adding that the player hadreceived raucous supportfrom the fans during thegame.

“The 21-year-old Bulgar-ian beat the best tennisplayer in the world over thelast three years and achievedthe biggest win of his careerin an impressive tennis spec-tacle that lasted more thanthree hours,” the Dnevnik

report said, calling Dimitrov“phenomenal”.

“Grigor made ••us proudto be Bulgarians,” said Bul-garian tennis federationpresident Stefan Tsvetkov.

“It’s an incredible win andit can only be compared withthe victories of our national(soccer) team in 1994.”

The Bulgarian teamreached the 1994 World Cup

Hawthorns, plans for life af-ter Fergie will begin in ear-nest.

Saturday, May 25, Cham-pions League final atWembley - Watching BayernMunich battle BorussiaDortmund will be a reminderto the new United boss thathis team will be expected tobe involved in the Europeanshowpiece final in 2014.

Saturday, July 13: Matchdebut - The first of five pre-season friendlies on a tourwhich includes trips toSydney, Yokohama, Osakaand Hong Kong, will be thenew United boss’ first match,versus a Singha All Star XI

at the Rajamangala Stadiumin Bangkok.

Sunday, August 11: Firstcompetitive match -Wembley, with silverware atstake, in a possible Manches-ter derby... that could be thescenario for the first com-petitive match for Ferguson’ssuccessor as the PremierLeague champions take onthe FA Cup winners, withWigan or Manchester City toprovide the opposition.

Saturday, August 17: Firstmatch of the Premier Leagueseason - United’s bid to de-fend their title will begin onthe opening day of the Pre-mier League season, with thefixtures to be revealed onWednesday, June 19.

Grigor Dimitrov has been hailed as Bulgaria’s newsports hero by local media after the 21-year-old pulledoff a stunning upset over world tennis number one NovakDjokovic at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.

Webb Calls For Tougher Racism Stanceaware of anything from theplayers or officials which theydeem to be racist or discrimi-natory, then we’ve got an obli-gation to respond and refereeswill do that.

“We talked about the limita-tions because you are not al-ways aware of what’s happen-ing in the stands. Bear in mindthat what we do as match offi-cials is to shut the crowd outreally, because we’re trying toconcentrate on the game itself,we are trying to focus on ourjob and not get distracted.Therefore, it’s a fair commentto stay it’s not easy to knowwhat’s happened.

“The point was made thismorning and...there was a dis-cussion about maybe someone

having a specific role of justidentifying those types ofbehaviour, (someone) who hasa good understanding of whatconstitutes a discriminatory actwithin the stadium, and cantherefore guide the match offi-cial.

“It could be something like avenue co-ordinator, (it) could

semi-finals in the UnitedStates after a famous winover Germany, withStoichkov becoming thetournament’s joint top scorerwith six goals.

Dimitrov will play either15th-seeded Swiss StanislasWawrinka or Colombia’sSantiago Giraldo for a placein the Madrid quarter-finals.

ENGLISH referee HowardWebb met with FIFA’s anti-rac-ism task force in an effort tohelp control racist chants fromthe crowd.

English referee HowardWebb has defended officialswho have come under scrutinyfor not clamping down on ra-cial abuse from fans, claimingthey “are not always aware ofwhat’s happening in thestands”.

Webb was present at the firstmeeting of FIFA’s anti-racismtask force on Monday andcalled for the use of off-fieldofficials to ensure centre refer-ees can identify crowd issues.

“We are very much in thefront line, we are the first portof call for the players,” Webbtold Reuters. “If we become

be someone in the stand, whocould take the best position toget a feel for what’s going on.It could be they have to movearound the stadium to get a feelfor what’s happened, but itwould take some of the pres-sure off the match officials.”

• Sir Alex Ferguson

3 2 THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

THE NIGERIANCMYK

HRH Prince EnwaensefeIyiewuaefo-Eweka

The Third Enogie Of OghadaTHE people of

Oghada Community inIsi Clan, UhunmwodeLocal Governent Areaof Edo State have everyreason to count them-selves blessed. Whileother people may yet belooking for an exampleof a perfect blend of roy-alty and excellence, theperfect example is lo-cated at the very heartof Oghada Community.

He is PrinceE n w e a n s e f eIyiewuaefo-Eweka, thethird Enogie of Oghada.

Kwame Nkrummah(1909-1972) shows byhappy illustration thatthe best pointer towhere you are going isan introspect into whereyou are coming from.That underscores theneed to look at thehumble beginning of oursubject for today:

Prince Iyiewuaefo-Eweka was born in Lon-don on the 4th day of No-vember, 1962 into theroyal and aristocraticfamily of the Iyi-EwekaDynasty of the BeninKingdom. As it were, hewas born with a goldenspoon in his mouth buthe did not allow himselfto be carried away bythe circumstances ofhis birth. This is one wayof appreciating the factthat he has spent agood part of his life fors e l f - d e v e l o p m e n tthrough education andmanagement training.

He had his early edu-cation in Benin City,starting with EmotanPreparatory/ PrimarySchool and on comple-tion of his primary edu-cation, he went toEghosa GrammarSchool and later movedto Saint John BoscosCollege, Ubiaja, wherehe completed his sec-ondary education in fly-ing colours. He pro-ceeded from there tothe prestigious Edo Col-lege for his HigherSchool Certificate(HSC).

In his determination tobuild up the necessary

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which can also be re-ferred to in some quartersas Customer Relation-ship Management(CRM).

His hobbies includereading fictional and reallife crime stories – anavid Alfred Hitchcock fan.

boy. This now moves us to

the third phase in the lifeof this great man.

While this amalgam ofroyalty and excellencewas away from home, hekept a close contact with

Government Area of EdoState, Nigeria.

As we welcome himhome, it is instructive thathis grand merit is hisburning desire to stay withhis people at thegrassroots. Hear him: “Iam not going to be an

absentee Enogie. I willl ive with my people.That’s the only way I canfeel their pains and en-joy their gains”.

Today, the OghadaCommunity welcomeshim home and wehonour him for his ster-ling qualities, his spec-tacular achievementsand his shinning ex-amples for all those whoaspire to leadership po-sitions.

Today, this Columnpresents a most perfectmanifestation of humil-ity, impervious tenacityin the service of human-ity and hope for a sus-tainable future in EdoState and, indeed, in Ni-geria. We present toyou, a man destined tomake history, yet, whosehumility belies the ro-bustness of his attain-ment in life; one manwho has a vision and amission to work withother patriotic Nigeriansfor the fulfillment of theNigeria Dream. Wepresent to you, one manwho deserves to behonoured, if only toprove the point that aprophet can, indeed, behonoured in his home.

We present to you,Prince EnwaensefeIyiewuaefo-Eweka, aDigital Duke of the GreatOghada Dukedom, anadministrator extraordinaire, a strategist, atactician, an adept incomputer engineeringand information technol-ogy, an exponent of hu-man kindness, one manwho renders service tohumanity without count-ing the cost.

Our highly reveredPrince, on this auspi-cious occasion of yourinstallation as the ThirdEnogie of Oghada, wecongratulate you mostheartily.

Oba gha t’ okpere ….Ise.

perhaps the only rollingstone that has gatheredlots of moss.

His technical skills aremainly in the applicationof technology in the man-agement of customer/company data for Busi-ness Intelligence (BI),

He also enjoys watchingsports and documentaryprogrammes on televi-sion. Other pastimes in-clude travelling and lis-tening to classical/jazzmusic.

He is married with twochildren – a girl and a

the people at home. Heis now permanently backhome. He is the newEnogie of Oghada in IsiClan, Uhunmwode Local

robustness relevant to themachinery and process ofservice to humanity, hesoon transcended thenarrow confines of a sec-ondary education whenhe travelled to the UnitedKingdom where he ac-quired extensive and in-tensive academic qualifi-cations as well as numer-ous professional andmanagement courses.

In the UK, he attendedSouth London College,where he read and com-pleted his advance levelcourse, after which hewent on to read Sociologywith Professional Studiesat East London Universitywhere he graduated witha BA (Hons) degree in1991. After his Bachelor’sdegree, he went on tostudy for a Master’s inCommunications Policy atthe City University, Lon-don and graduated withan MA degree in 1993.

He began his career asa Social/Market Re-searcher with the HarrisResearch Centre andlater went on to work as aResearch Assistant withthe Independent Broad-casting Authority in 1994.

Between 1996 and2002, he held positions inInforcorp UK Limited as aData/Computer Analyst.Between 1999 and 2002,he was the Media Opera-tions Data Manager. Helater joined DatamonitorPLC as a Senior Re-search Manager. He wasSenior Analyst/ProjectManager with GartnerGroup UK limited between2002 and 2006 and laterjoined Ebiquity PLC as aSenior Data Manager in2009.

To date, he is a co-direc-tor at a digital marketing/Internet Consulting Com-pany – Vortex Communi-cation Bureau Limited. Healso undertakes contractwork with past employerson a project by project ba-sis on all direct marketingand database develop-ment projects. This in-volves helping with thedevelopment of their data/database solutions. Allthese bespeak him as

• HRH Prince Enwaensefe Iyiewuaefo-Eweka

“In his determination to build up the necessaryrobustness relevant to the machinery and processof service to humanity, he soon transcended thenarrow confines of a secondary education whenhe travelled to the United Kingdom where he ac-quired extensive and intensive academic qualifi-cations as well as numerous professional andmanagement courses.”