July 25, 2015 by The Nation

4 NEWS

ECURITY concern sparked by opposition from several stakeholders yesterday forced the cancellation of a meeting of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) called for today in Yenagoa,Bayelsa State,by former creek warlord, Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo. Governor Seriake Dickson, in a terse statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworsio-Markson, yesterday, asked Tompolo to shelve the gathering. This came against the backdrop of threats of boycott by the emilitants like Victor Ben Ebikabowei, popularly known as Boyloaf,Africa, Pastor Reuben, Shoot-at-Sight, Ogunboss, Ateke Tom, Farrah and many other former ‘generals’, and ‘commanders’. Spokesman for MEND ,Jomo Gbomo, said the group would have nothing to do with Tompolo or any “assembly of dubious contractors and disgruntled elements.” Tompolo , in a last minute effort to rally support for the now doomed meeting ,it was aimed at deepening the prevailing peace in the Niger Delta. The governor, however, pro-

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Crack in militants’ camp forces cancellation of Tompolo’s meeting

•Boyloaf, Jomo Gbomo, others query convener’s motive •Dickson advises shift Shola O’NEILL, Warri, Mike ODIEGWU, Yenagoa and Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt posed an alternative forum for the ex-militant leaders at a later date. He promised to meet with them personally to discuss issues affecting them and other matters of overall strategic interest of the region and the country. He called for their understanding and cooperation. Signs that all was not well in the ex-militants’ camp emerged early yesterday after reports from the camps of Boyloaf and others suggested resistance to what they perceived as an attempt by Tompolo to lord it over the rest of them. Sources close to them said they had agreed to stay away

from Tompolo’s gathering but would attend any other meeting to be called by the governor. Most of them were reportedly angry with Tompolo for summoning the meeting without adequate consultations. They were said to be unhappy that the former militant commander fondly referred to as the “General Officer Commanding (GOC)” was trying to impose himself on them as leader whereas “they are all equals”. They are also said to be of the view that it is too early to begin to assess President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and his plans for the region. A source close to Boyloaf said: “Boyloaf will not attend the meeting. He has also called on security agencies to be at alert to avert any breakdown of law and order. Apart from him, many other notable ex-militant lead-

ers will not be there. “It is expected that Africa, Pastor Reuben, Shoot-at-Sight, Ogunboss, Ateke Tom, Farrah and many other former ‘generals’, and ‘commanders’ will boycott the event”. MEND, in an online statement by its Spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, dissociated itself from Tompolo and his meeting. It said the gathering was to react on behalf of oil thieves and corrupt officials of the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan. It affirmed its support for President Muhammadu Buhari and “ his government’s courage to probe the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, which should also include the office of the former President, the ex-First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, and the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.” MEND also restated its com-

mitment to the Niger Delta struggle, which it said had no relationship with seeking political appointments, power or contracts. The Nation gathered that had already been placed on alert to monitor the activities of the exmilitant leaders. A top military officer said security agencies would not tolerate the use of gatherings to beach the peace in the region. “We are monitoring the activities of the ex-militant leaders who have scheduled a meeting in Yenagoa. We are to going to allow anybody under any guise to breach the peace in the region. For us, these people have embraced amnesty and will be made to account for any untoward action”, he said. Shortly before the meeting was called off yesterday,Tompolo issued a statement in Warri to allay fears that it was s meant to restart war in the region. He said contrary to the perception in some quarters, the meeting was aimed at deepening the prevailing peace in the area. He described fears over the meeting as diversionary. His words: “The tension generated by the meeting is un-

called for, diversionary and mischievous as no evil is intended in whatever form. “Calling off today’s meeting can also be an option if need be, in order to strengthen our belief in a peaceful Niger Delta. “I am compelled to clarify issues as they relate to the meeting of the leadership of ex-agitators under the platform of MEND and other organisations summoned at my instance. “The nation would recall that in the build up to the Amnesty offer of the late president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, there was hesitance on the part of most of Niger Delta agitators until God in His infinite mercy, granted me wisdom to provide leadership. “The nation will also recall that under the Amnesty programme as inherited by the immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, relative peace was enjoyed even as security of lives and property was enhanced to an appreciable level. “Also, oil production increased from 700,000 barrels per day to 2.5million barrels per day. Put simply, hitherto aggrieved Niger-Delta youths who inadvertently became agi•Continued on Page 12

Road infrastructure: FERMA vows to prosecute offenders

•Partners Police, FRSC, NSCDC

•Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (right), with the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Denys Gauer, during a courtesy call on the Vice President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja...yesterday. Photo: NAN

Saraki’s wife’s invitation by EFCC politically motivated —Kwara APC

HE Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the invitation of the wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for interrogation as illtimed and politically motivated. The party also cautioned the anti-graft agency not to allow itself to be used by political gladiators for their selfish ends. State Chairman of APC, Alhaji Ishola Balogun-Fulani, told reporters in Ilorin yesterday that the state capital that Kwara women might take to the streets in solidarity with their ‘mother.’ Balogun-Fulani said: “We as a party received the news of the invitation of the wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, as a shock. After five years of leaving office as the governor of Kwara State, it is now that the EFCC thought it necessary to invite the wife of the Senate Presi-

Adekunle JIMOH, Ilorin dent, Bukola Saraki, for questioning. Kwara APC thought the invitation is politicallymotivated. “Everybody is aware that the emergence of her husband as the Senate President did not go down well with some people. Her invitation is a way to throw mud on the person of the Senate President and the senate in general. “It is also a political way of discrediting the person of Mrs. Saraki and her husband. “Although we in the state would not ask the anti-graft agency not to do its lawful duties, it should be mindful of how it does it. I urge the EFCC not to politicize the invitation of Mrs. Saraki. “We have to calm the nerves of Kwara women. Otherwise they would have been on the streets demonstrating against the malicious invitation by the agency. I want to appeal to EFCC to please tread softly not to ignite political turmoil

in Kwara State, North-Central and Nigeria at large. “The Senate is there for the whole of Nigeria and the Senate president is representing

the whole of Nigeria. This too should be extended to the wife. The EFCC should not allow itself to be used by political gladiators.”

HE Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) wants to partner with the Police to prosecute those vandalising roads in the country. The agency,according to its managing director,Mr.George Amuchi,is also seeking co-operation with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and similar para-military bodies to discourage refuse dumping in road drainage systems. Amuchi on an inspection visit of Nyanya-Maraba , Lafia-Makurdi and KeffiAkwanga roadýs in Nasarawa State said FERMA ý had commenced plans to, “sensitise and discourage road users and those who turn roads to markets and all forms of abuses.” “We are enforcing this through utilising Nigerian

Olugbenga ADANIKIN, Abuja Army engineers, ýpolice, NSCDC, FRSC and Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA leadership team. So we are at the verge of sanctioning people who insist on abusing our roads all over the country.” Asked how the agency planned to sanction offenders, Amuchi said: “the enforcement team would make arrests. You will discover that some people dump corn peels, used tyres, log on the road. “Now, anybody found will be arrested and prosecuted. That will discourage our road abuse because government is doing everything possible to make sure Nigerians have fair roads all year round.”

Nigeria marks one year since last polio case

AGOS - Nigeria yesterday marked one year since its last case of polio, raising hopes it will soon be taken off the list of endemic countries as the first step to being declared free of the disease. The last case was in the Sumaila, Kano State — one of only six in 2014 and well down on the 338 recorded in 2009, according to World Health Organization data. Nigeria will be removed from the WHO list of polioendemic countries in four to six weeks if samples sent for checking are found clear and surveillance data meets international standards. But health professionals and campaigners said the fight is not over and warned about complacency, with another two years to go before polio-

free status is achieved. “Interruption is a major milestone. But our aim is not just interruption but eradication,” the executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Ado Muhammad, told AFP. “We still have two years in which we need to keep polio out,” added Oyewale Tomori, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, who has worked on polio eradication for the past 45 years. Muhammad, Tomori and global charities Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation all called for both Nigeria and the international community to keep up the momentum. The deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael Galway, said

Nigeria had made “incredible progress but the job isn’t finished”. “Continued leadership and domestic financing, high quality immunisation campaigns and disease surveillance will be key” to achieving polio-free status, he added in an emailed statement. Nigeria and the two other countries on the polio-endemic list, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have all faced challenges in implementing immunisation programmes. Immunisation teams have been attacked and even killed while rumours were spread about the safety of the vaccine. But those involved in the programme say sustained political commitment and funding, as well as support from traditional rulers and reli-

gious leaders have helped turn around Nigeria’s fortunes. Emergency operations centres improved coordination between partners while the establishment of health camps increased access to those at risk from polio and other childhood diseases. Systems put in place to tackle polio outbreaks were adapted last year to successfully eliminate the spread of Ebola in Nigeria. Tunji Funsho, who heads Rotary International’s polio programme in Nigeria, said Nigeria’s example could provide a spur for Afghanistan and Pakistan in tackling the disease. But Tomori said extra attention needed to be paid to the northeast, which has been hit for the last six years by violence from Boko Haram Islamists.

THE NATION

6 NEWS

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Warri, Port Harcourt refineries begin operations

HE Warri and Port Harcourt refineries are back on stream, producing for local consumption, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele said yesterday. Consequently, Nigerians will soon “start to see a drastic drop in the importation of refined petroleum products,” Emefiele said at the end of the bimonthly Monetary

•Kaduna to follow in August •How foreign reserve was grown— Emefiele Nduka CHIEJINA, Assistant Editor Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja. The Kaduna refinery will follow suit next month, he said. He also threw light on the rise in Nigeria’s foreign reserves. The major reason, according to him, is the

plugging of leakages in the system. He urged Nigerians to begin to adopt best practices in their dealings giving the disposition of the new government. The Committee underscored the imperative of growing and protecting the country’s foreign reserves and building fiscal buffers in the process of strengthening

confidence in the economy which is essential for promoting growth and stability Emefiele described federal government’s recent financial aid to the states as a loan because the CBN stepped in as a lender of last resort. The CBN he said will encourage benefiting state governments to diversify

•Chief Of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai (6th R); Commandant, Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre, Maj. Gen. Imimotimi Birigeni (5th R) and other officers, in a group photograph with graduates of Pre-deployment training of Nibatt 37 Unmil, at the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji, Kaduna...yesterday Photo: NAN

Synagogue: ANC leaders commend Lagos stance on Coroner’s inquest

…As Ambode promises stronger ties with party, S’Africa

OUTH Africa’s ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) yesterday hailed the stance of the Lagos State government on the Coroner Verdict on the September 12, 2014 Synagogue building collapse in Lagos. The party particularly expressed appreciation to the state for its assistance to South Africa in the aftermath of the disaster. Most of the victims of the disaster were South Africans. The Treasurer General of the party, Dr. Zwelini Mkhize told Governor Akinwunmi Ambode during a courtesy visit that the ANC was “very pleased to learn of your decision in terms of the Synagogue disaster.” “Certainly while we all ap-

preciate the assistance that you made to ensure that all of the victims were repatriated back to South Africa, we would continue to support whatever work is being done on your side”, Mkhize said. The ANC Treasurer said the crux of the visit was to seek ways to strengthen bi-lateral trade between South Africa and Nigeria. He said the trade level between both countries was currently on a high, adding that both countries stand to benefit from each other in terms of trade and investments. Governor Ambode while responding, reiterated his commitment to boosting trade relations with South Africa, describing the visit as “a brotherhood meeting”.

He listed the areas of cooperation to include the strengthening of security towards building a safer Lagos which will not only safeguard existing investments in Lagos, will also attract new businesses into the state. “We have established Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment, so that we can strengthen bi-lateral relationship. We need more investors to come into Lagos so that we can create employment and grow our GDP. Whatever it is you think we can do to increase investors from South Africa, we are ready to talk. We hope you would also create the same platform for business men from Nigeria who do business in South Africa”, he said.

Cameroon extends ban on full veil -in bid to stop attacks AOUNDÉ

Cameroon has extended its ban on full Islamic veils in parts of the country as it seeks to curb Boko Haram violence after a string of suicide bombings by female attackers. The decision comes less than a month after two female suicide bombers wearing full veils blew themselves up on the border with Nigeria in the north, killing 11. Then on Wednesday twin suicide bombings by two

young girls killed 13 people in a market in Maroua in northern Cameroon. The full veil is already banned in the northern and western regions of Cameroon. It is now also forbidden in the east. The governor of the East Region chaired a security meeting Thursday that included Muslim clerics where he “announced the ban of a full veil or burqa,” Cameroon Radio Television reported. Mireille Bisseck, official

spokeswoman for the western Littoral region, where the economic capital of Douala is located, told AFP that “the manufacturing, sale and wearing of the burqa” has been banned. Bisseck said that sermons during Muslim prayers would also be subject to increased surveillance. Northern Cameroon has been hit hard by Boko Haram attacks, and authorities fear they might spread southwards and into big cities.

The Governor also promised to commit to the existing relationship between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the ANC saying both have common ideology. “We have so much to learn from ANC and we have so much to give in terms of the dynamics we (APC) have brought to the political landscape. We believe strongly that we need to do some interparty visitation and relationship”, he said.

their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) bases adding that more details of the bailout will soon be made public. On inflation, the Committee stressed that “some of the drivers of the current pressure on consumer prices are transient and outside the direct influence of monetary policy. Pressure on food prices is expected to gradually wane as the planting season gives way to harvests in the months ahead. Early resolution of fuel scarcity would dampen transportation costs and improve food distribution across the country while improvements in electricity supply could steady output at lower costs.” As for the national currency the Naira, Emefiele said the CBN cannot continue with intermittent devaluation of the Naira because the Naira is appropriately priced. According to him, “if there is any need to change the value of the Naira, Nigerians will be informed.” The relatively stable exchange rate in the interbank segment, the CBN

governor noted “can be attributed to the effects of some recent demand management measures. Gross official reserves increased from US$28.57billion at end-May 2015 to $31.53 billion as at July 22, 2015, reflecting the blockage of leakages as well as the bank’s management policies.” At the end of the MPC meeting members of the committee voted to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)/Interest rate at 13 per cent with a corridor of +/200 basis points around the midpoint; retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 31 per cent; and retain the symmetric corridor of 200 basis points around the MPR. Overall, the Committee expressed optimism that business confidence would continue to improve as Government continues to unfold its economic plans. Emefiele said that ”some of the reassuring measures of the administration including efforts aimed at resolving fiscal challenges at the sub-national levels, and the fight against corruption and improving the business environment would unlock the inflow of foreign direct investment.”

U.S. condemns ‘horrific’ Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon

ASHINGTON The United States yesterday condemned Boko Haram suicide attacks in Cameroon and Nigeria as “horrific and indiscriminate” and deplored the militant group’s use of children as bombers. Multiple bomb blasts at two bus stations in Gombe killed 37 people on Wednesday, while two suicide bomb attacks killed at least 13 people in northern Cameroon. The United States “strongly condemns the horrific and indiscriminate suicide attacks,” the State Department said. “Boko Haram’s unconscionable use of children as suicide bombers and indiscriminate targeting of men, women and children high-

lights the group’s senseless brutality,” State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said in the statement. The attacks came on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s four-day visit to Washington, where he met with U.S. President Barack Obama. The two leaders on Monday discussed security issues including the threat posed by the extremist group . Following their talks, Obama said Buhari had a “clear agenda” for defeating the militants and tackling corruption. Boko Haram which has killed thousands of people in a six-year insurgency has been increasingly employing young people as suicide bombers since it allied itself with Islamic State.

PDP Senators to EFCC: Don’t intimidate opponents

ENATORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday warned against unleashing the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on members of the National Assembly. Reacting to the EFCC’s invitation to the wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki to appear before it on Tuesday,the PDP senators said any attempt to unleash the commission on National Assembly members as a result of the leadership crisis in the legislature would not only be constitutionally and lawfully resisted but could have dire consequences on governance in the country. Senator Peter Nwaoboshi

(Delta North) in a statement on behalf of the group said that much as they were not against the anti-corruption agencies performing their statutory duties, the EFCC invitation to Mrs Saraki was an indication that the threat by a group within the National Assembly that they would use all means to fight the leadership is now being carried out. Nigerians,he said, should “ask EFCC what they were waiting for all this while before realising that they need to invite Mrs Saraki when she actually left the Government House with her husband in 2011. And why should the invitation come a few days after a senator threatened that his group and

their sponsors will bring the Senate President down?”. He added: “ We also think that the same witch-hunt that the family of the Senate President is suffering now is the same thing happening to his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who the Police have been disturbing. But let it be known that these two gentlemen and the other leaders of the Senate enjoy the support of 85 senators and at the right time we will jointly make our opinion known on the harassment of our leaders.” The Senators asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that some people do not use his name to misuse state machinery and fight political opponents in the guise of waging war against corruption.

THE NATION, SATURDAY JULY 25, 2015

News 7

Fear of Buhari: Govs rush to declare assets

VERWHELMED by the new anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, the 36 state governors have rushed to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to declare their assets. The bureau has, however, started investigation of the claims in the assets declaration forms of the governors. None of the governors has chosen to make the list of assets public. But the probe of the declared assets might take some months to complete. It was, however, learnt last night that the CCB is expecting all the governors to close down their foreign accounts. An advisory has gone to the governors and their deputies in line with the Fifth Schedule, Part 1 on Code of Conduct for Public Officers. According to findings by our correspondent, all the 36 gov-

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation ernors have declared and submitted their assets forms. The response was said to be “unprecedented” by a source in the CCB despite the fact that the governors have up to three months to do so. The constitution says: “The bureau shall have power to receive declaration by public officers made under paragraph 12 of part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to this Constitution. “Subject to the provision of this Constitution, every public officer shall within three months after the coming into force of this Code of Conduct or immediately after taking office and thereafter (a) at the end of every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office, submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all his properties, assets and li-

abilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of eighteen years.” A reliable source in the CCB said: “From our compilation so far, all the governors have declared their assets. This is the first time we are experiencing full compliance by the governors because of the anti-corruption policy of President Muhammadu Buhari. “In spite of the fact that the law allows the governors to declare their assets within three months, they have all rushed to fulfil this constitutional obligation. “I think they were all responding to the spur of the moment on anti-graft war. We are happy that the governors have emulated the President and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.” Responding to a question, the source said: “Our law forbids us from disclosing the assets of

any public officer, but from what is in our custody, none of the 36 governors has less than N100million assets. “Some of them are worth billions of naira in their declaration forms.” But the CCB has started verifying the assets of the governors to find out whether or not they were truthful in their assets declaration forms. The top official of the CCB added: “We have started investigation of the claims of the governors to ascertain whether they are real or bogus. We will also try to find out if any of the governors padded his assets or not. “The verification is going to be a painstaking exercise because the law is very strict on false declaration. “It also requires huge overhead to move around the country to verify some of these assets. The only luck we have is

that we have offices in most states of the federation.” After the declaration, the constitution empowers the bureau to take the following steps. They are: "Examine the declarations in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct or any law. "Retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe. "Ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law relating thereto. “Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorized in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this code. “Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift, or loan approved by this code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this code unless the contrary is proved.” "Receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation

thereto. Investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.” Meanwhile, all the governors and their deputies are expected to close down their foreign bank accounts in compliance with the Fifth Schedule, Part 1 on Code of Conduct for Public Officers. The CCB official said: “The closure of foreign bank accounts is mandatory for these governors, deputy governors, and many elected members of the legislature and public officers. “In fact, if anyone is found still maintaining his or her foreign accounts, he or she will be arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Where such a public officer enjoys immunity, he or she will face trial after leaving office.” The constitution says: “The President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners of the Governments of the States, members of the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly of the states and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.”

President endorses agric transformation agenda

T •From Left: Consulate General of South Africa in Lagos, Ambassador Mokgethi Monaisa; Treasurer General, South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), Dr. Zwelini Mkhize; and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, during the consulate's visit to the governor in Lagos...yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Go, attack Boko Haram, Buratai tells soldiers

HIEF of Army Staff, Ma jor General Tukur Y. Buratai, yesterday told officers and men of the Nigerian Army to take the fight to the dreaded Boko Haram sect and dislodge them. He said the era of waiting in defensive positions for the criminals to come and attack and run away must stop. The Army Chief stated this in Kaduna yesterday during the

Abdulgafar ALABELEWE, Kaduna

graduation ceremony of the Nigerian Battalion 37, United Nations Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, pre-deployment training at the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC) and the combined graduation of basic airborne course 37 and basic rigger course 23 of the Airborne wing of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry

(NASI), Jaji Cantonment. He challenged the troops to adopt offensive disposition and respond quickly and appropriately to all situations. General Buratai said the army has all necessary wherewithal to tackle it internal problems and that it is on top of situation in the North East. The Army Chief, who is barely three weeks in office, also said his vision for the Nigerian Army is to have a professional

Family petitions Ambode over Ikorodu land

HE Oyega and Oyegbemiga family of Gbodo Village in the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State has petitioned the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, over a large piece of land at Gbodo Village. In a petition, dated July 22 and signed by the family’s solicitor, Mr. Tunji Busari, the family said: “The Oyega and Oyegbemiga family is the ancestral and legal owner of a parcel of over 250 acres of land being, lying and situate at Gbodo Village, via Abule Eko, Ikorodu axis of Lagos State.” According to the petition,” the family ownership was further affirmed by the Supreme Court judgment No. SC/83/ 1971 arising from the judgment of High Court of Lagos State in Suit No. IK/1A/68 between Aina Oga and others and Oyega and Oyegbemiga family and that the family has been

enjoying ownership without any encumbrance from any quarters whatsoever and the family had been exercising acts of possession therefrom to the exclusion of any family and of government interference howsoever. “To our client’s chagrin, despite the Supreme Court judgment and the survey plan duly lodged with the Lagos State Government, our client learnt on Wednesday, July 22 through a newspaper that Lagos State Government intends to recover our client’s land despite the said Supreme Court judgment adjudging our client the rightful owner of the land and contrary to the publication describing our client as land grabbers. “It is noteworthy of the fact that there was never a time the land under reference was given to any family by our client through the Ministry of Agriculture and if there is any fam-

ily of such, our client demands for the document perfecting such transactions in the face of the Supreme Court Judgment. Our client had been the customary owner since the time immemorial and there was never a time the Ministry of Agriculture challenged neither our client nor any other family aside Aina Oga & Ors. who lost in the Supreme Court to the Oyega and Oyegbemiga family.” The family noted that the land under reference had been developed by the individuals who purchased directly from the family and it was the Lagos State Government that issued Certificates of Occupancy and individual survey plans to such individuals. The solicitor appealed to the governor to protect the right of his client to the land by preventing any government agency from taking it over because “he is a leader who believes in justice and the rule of law”.

responsiveness in the discharge of its constitutional roles. He said: “The cardinals of this vision are professionalism and responsiveness. In line with these, we must learn to adopt offensive disposition and respond quickly and appropriately to all situations taking into cognisance our rules of engagement. “The era of waiting in defensive positions for criminals to come and attack and run away must stop. We must take the battle to them and dislodge them wherever they are. I, therefore, want you to show your commitment to this vision.”

HE Federal Government’s Agricul tural Transformation Agenda (ATA) has received support from President Muhammadu Buhari, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono, has said. Echono, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the ministry by the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), explained that the president urged the ministry to set up four committees on areas that need improvement. The committees include: committees on the resuscitation of cotton, textile and garments industry in Nigeria; operationalization of federal government storage facilities and revitalization of agricultural extension services in Nigeria and the establishment of grazing reserves and stock routes for farmers. Echono, who was represented by the Director of Agriculture in the ministry, Mr. Damilola Eniayeju, added that minor changes would be introduced in areas they are needed by a new minister.

Frank IKPEFAN, Abuja Echono said: “He appreciates what we are doing in his statement. He even sets up four committees on areas which he feels we should come up with for improvement. These are cotton production, silos and grain storages, grazing reserves and stock routes and the areas of extension services supports. “These are areas which we believe we need to upscale and upgrade to help our farmers. We will wait until we have a new minister. If there are going to be policy change, it will not be that much. Because I believe that if you have arithmetic of one plus one, it has to be two. “If you are not doing the right thing, definitely there will be a lot of changes, but if you are doing the right thing and they can support the system in a way that will make food security available for all, that is the best way to go.” Earlier in his remarks, the President of AGRA, Dr. Agnes kalibata, stated that AGRA was formed with a vision of developing agricultural technologies in close communication with farmers.

‘Buhari’s plan to limit probe to Jonathan’s group, Coalition administration in order’ Against Corrupt Lead

ers (CACOL) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for affirming his resolve to limit his probe of past corrupt public officers to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The group in a statement signed by its chairman, Comrade Debo Adeniran said: “We lend our support to the president’s position. Those calling for the extension of the probe to other past administrations are self-defeatist, self-condemning and an obvious product of a guilty conscience. These people seemed to be haunted by their past and it’s like the case

Innocent DURU of a drowning man looking for others to drag along. “The decision is not an after thought as he has been consistent in his declaration to limit his probe of activities of past government to that of his immediate predecessor. Even before being sworn into power, President Buhari had maintained that, he would not waste his administration’s precious time on probing every past administration before his as doing so would only amount to sheer distraction which, at the end of the day, would have left the very core of governance unattended

to.

“President Buhari should disregard such distractions and concentrate on pursuing his anti-corruption crusade with all his vigor and ensuring that the thieves of our common wealth are exposed and punished. Nigerians expect no less from him. The president should be reminded that the generality of Nigerians, having identified the monster called corruption as the arch-enemy that has overtime been warring against the progress of this nation, are impatiently waiting for him to wrestle it to submission as promised by him.”

THE NATION, SATURDAY JULY 25, 2015

News

HE seven Senators seek ing the removal of Sen ate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu by the Federal High Court, Abuja, are arguing that the inauguration of the 8th Senate based on Standing Orders 2015, was strange, irregular and unknown to the Red chamber. Senators Abu Ibrahim, Barnabas Gemade, Ahmad Lawan, George Akume, Kabir Marafa, Suleiman Hunkuyi and Gbenga Ashafa are also insisting that the subsequent conduct of business and proceedings in the Senate on June 9,2015 were similarly out of place. They are, therefore, asking the court to declare Standing Order 2015 (as amended) as illegal, null and void. The plaintiffs in their suit said that since the election of Saraki and Ekweremadu on June 9 was based on the faulty Standing Orders 2015, there was no way they could remain in office. They are seeking the following reliefs: “A declaration that the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended is inoperative, void and lack of legislative competency for having not been made by due process of law in accordance with the provision of Section 60 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Order 110 of the Standing Orders of the Senate 2007(as amended). “A declaration that the Senate Standing Order 2015(as amended) is unconstitutional and ultra vires and the maker(s) for violating the provisions of Section 60 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) as well as Order 110 Standing Order of the 2007(as amended) made pursuant to the said Section 60 of the Constitution. “A declaration that the Standing Orders of the Senate 2007(as amended) is the extant Order of the Senate having not been altered and or amended in accordance with the due process of law. “An order of court annulling and voiding all legislative business or businesses carried out by the 8th Senate predicated on the use of the said Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended). “An order of injunction restraining the defendants by themselves, agents, servants and privies from using the Senate Standing Orders 2015 and or refusing to use the

Why we want Saraki, Ekweremadu sacked Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Standing Orders of the Senate 2007 (as amended).” The affected Senators urged the Court to ask the Clerk to the National Assembly, the President of the Senate to explain when the Senate Standing Orders was amended. They said paragraph 110 of the Senate Standing Orders 2007 (as amended) was explicit on the procedures for an amendment to the Orders. They said: “For ease of reference, the procedures are set out below: “110(1) Any Senator desiring to amend any part of the rules or adding any new clause shall give notice of such amendments in writing to the President of the Senate giving details of the proposed amendments. “The President of the Senate shall, within seven working days of the receipt of the notice, cause the amendments to be printed and circulated to members. Thereafter, it shall be printed in the Order Paper of the Senate. “The Mover or Movers of the amendments shall be allowed to explain in detail the proposed amendments. Thereafter, the Senate shall decide by simple majority votes whether the amendments should be considered or rejected. “If the decision is to consider the amendments, then another date shall be set aside by the Rules and Business Committee whereby opportunity would be given to Senators to further propose amendments but must strictly be confined to the original amendments. “Two-third majority shall decide the amendments and such amendments shall form part of the rules of the Senate.” The aggrieved Senators asked the court to determine five issues including the determination of the fact that the Senate Standing Orders 2015 was “strange, manipulated and illegal.” •Whether in the light of the provision of Section 60 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) which donated power to the Senate to regulate its procedure, donates or confers on any other body or authority power to amend the Senate Standing Orders 2007 the extant Standing Order (as

...Lawan, Gemade, Akume, four others tell court amended) contrary to or in clear violation of Order 110 Standing Order 2007(as amended). •Whether in the light of provision of Section 60, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) Senate Standing Orders 2015 as amended which was and still being used by the 8th Senate is not invalid for violating the provisions of Order 110 of the Standing Orders of the Senate 2007 (as amended) made pursuant to the said Section 60 of the said Constitution of the

Yerima pledged that the retired officers would continue to keep the Nigerian flag high. He admonished the serving military personnel to continue to be loyal and be extra-vigilant. “Your loyalty to the Federal Republic of Nigeria can best be given through vigilance and security consciousness. “You must continue to demonstrate total commitment to your duty to the nation just as you have exemplified in your recent successes in the fight against terrorism in the north-east. “The Nigerian people, especially the retirees, are expecting a lot from you in the face of the current insurgency. “Your secondary role is to assist the government in en-

predicated and conducted with the use of the Senate Standing Orders 2015(as amended) is not unlawful, illegal, ultra vires, null and void. •Whether all proceedings conducted with the use of the Standing Orders of the Senate 2015 (as amended) are invalid and illegal having not been made pursuant to the Standing Orders of the Senate 2007 (as amended) which was in use by the 7th Senate and remained the extant Rules of the 8th Senate having not been amended.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit which was filed yesterday on behalf of the plaintiffs by Chief Anthony A. Adeniyi; Ibrahim Muhammed Sani; Adetunji Oso; I. K. Olarenwaju; Umar Abdulhameed; Rotimi Olorunfemi; Alabi Lawal; S. B. Oladeinde; K. Kokowei; and Kester Oyibo. The courts are currently on vacation, but the lead counsel, Chief Anthony Adefuye, has filed an affidavit of urgency to enable a vacation judge to take charge.

•Retired generals of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps being pulled out in Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

EFCC invites ex-amnesty boss, Kingsley Kuku

HE Economic and Fi nancial Crimes Com mission yesterday invited the immediate past Special Adviser on Amnesty Programme, Dr. Kingsley Kuku, for interrogation on the finances of the agency. Kuku, who resigned a few weeks ago, is expected to report to the EFCC on July 28 to respond to allegations bordering on embezzlement and fraudulent diversion of funds running into hundreds of millions of naira. A top source in the EFCC said: "We have invited Kuku for interaction with our team of investigators looking into

Army pulls out 11 generals 11 generals of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps in Lagos State were yesterday pulled out of service. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the officers were eight Major-Generals and 3 Brigadier-Generals who retired between 2013 and 2015. The Major-Generals are Manhood Yerima, Abiodun Amao, Olayemi Abidoye, Boniface Azurunwa, Adekunle Martin’s, Christian Ugwu, Bode Ogini and Mashudy Adekanye. The Brigadier-Generals are Kachallah, Godfrey Nwafor and Gabriel Oladipo. In a valedictory speech, Maj.-Gen. Manhood Yerima, former Chief of Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, expressed appreciation for the gesture.

Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). •Whether in the light of the combined effect of Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) and Order 110 Standing Order of the Senate 2007(as amended) the Senate Standing Orders 2015(as amended) is not unconstitutional, unlawful, and ultra vires the maker or makers and consequently null and void. •Whether in light of all of the above, all parliamentary business of the 8th Senate

suring internal peace and your involvement in internal security duties demand all of you to be non-partisan,’’ he said. He expressed the conviction that the Nigerian military would overcome the current security challenges in the country. Other retirees also expressed their gratitude to the army and Nigerians for the opportunity to serve the country. NAN reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.Gen.Tukur Buratai, was represented at the event by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Tamunomiebi Dibi. He wished them well in their post service years.

Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation issues on the management of the Amnesty Programme. "We have isolated the allegations but when he comes around, we will have the full picture of what transpired. “The truth is that the Amnesty Programme had some challenges even before Kuku left the system." Some of the allegations against Kuku are as follows: •Inclusion of many undeserving people on the beneficiary list of the Amnesty Programme •Circumstances surrounding how 2000 Amnesty Programme beneficiaries became stranded abroad •Over-bloated training contracts without adding value to the Amnesty Programme •Huge bills on all-expense international and local trips in private jets •Operation of an expensive office in the United Kingdom Responding to a question, the top EFCC source added: "Kuku is also aware that since 2013, a group, Niger Delta Awareness Coalition & Ex Militants Leaders Forum had joined issues with him on the management of the Amnesty Programme. "In one of the issues raised before ex-President Jonathan, the group alleged mismanagement of billions of naira of earmarked for the development of the Niger Delta.

"They also alleged that Niger Delta youths were shipped away to unaccredited training and educational institutions across most of the Third World." The source added: “Our job as an anti-graft agency is to look into some of these al-

legations and find out the veracity or otherwise. “By inviting Kuku, it does not mean he is guilty of the allegations against him. If there is nothing against Kuku, he will be given a clean bill of health. If otherwise, he will face trial.”

Lai Mohammed bags NUJ award, tasks media on Boko Haram

POKESPERSON of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has urged the media to move from daily chronicle of the Boko Haram attacks and the death tolls, to reporting the seriousness with which the new administration is approaching the insurgency. He made the remark while receiving an award of the Fellow of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja on Thursday. He said: “I thank the NUJ for this great honour of bestowing me with this award. “I make bold to say that the Nigerian media have performed their constitutionally assigned role creditably, despite tough challenges and a few setbacks here and there. “The media must, however, not rest on their oars, especially at this time that our nation faces huge challenges in almost all sectors. It is no longer news that the Buhari administration inherited a near comatose economy, dilapidated infra-

structure, massive corruption and a high level of insecurity, exacerbated by the six-year terror campaign in Northeast Nigeria. As President Muhammadu Buhari has consistently said, it is important for the nation to decisively tackle the scourge of insecurity, without which all other efforts to turn around the fortunes of the country for good will not yield the expected results. “That is why I want to use this important platform provided by the NUJ - a professional media organisation aiming to connect journalists nationwide with the information and opportunities they need to advance professionally and improve media in Nigeria - to appeal to the media to reflect, in their reporting, the seriousness with which the new administration is approaching the Boko Haram insurgency. “I am appealing to the Nigerian media, in carrying out their basic functions of providing news and information, entertainment and education to be more circumspect.”

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Economic priorities, leadership and culture EFORE leaving the US for Kenya, his ancestral home this week, US President Barak Obama was reported as telling some journalists that he would not relent on telling them in Kenya some home truths he called ‘blunt talk‘on gay rights. According to him he would not be intimidated in telling off anyone who discriminates on the basis of religion, race, sexual orientation and gender. Before that however the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta elsewhere had bluntly told Kenyans that the issue of gay rights was not on the agenda of the US president’s visit to that nation. Of course it is easy to see why either president spoke with finality on the visit. This is because economic priorities tied to security concerns far overwhelm the mutual suspicion on gay rights during and after the visit. By now I am sure the US president must have seen the real strength of the disdain for gay rights in nations he had selected to visit in Africa and those he had avoided on this particular visit. The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was shown in a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour joking that he would like to see the American president visiting Nigeria some time later and he would be sending a formal invitation to that effect. That however did not prevent our president from telling them in the US that gay rights and homo sexuality are alien to our values and culture as a nation. Yet Nigeria is expecting a lot from the US in terms of economic aid, military hard ware, intelligence and training to fight and eliminate Boko Haram which is ravaging our North East with its brand of religion. One which does not respect human rights or the dictates and direction of the established and well known Islamic sects and organization that have promoted their religion as one of peace right from its establishment. In case of any US attempt to misuse or misjudge its economic assistance or aid we heard that the Nigerian president told an audience in the US in his last visit that the US would be aiding and abetting Boko Haram, if it withholds selling arms to Nigeria to fight the murderous sect which is an ally of Islamic State an enemy that the US under President Barak Obama has sworn to destroy. Let me now dwell somewhat on the perspective of Kenyans on the presidency of the US leader as he visited their nation as well of the of Africans generally on the Obama presidency and its import for Africans and their economic progress dur ing his tenure. We shall also take look at the oil theft charge leveled against Ministers in the last Jonathan administration by our President as well as the news that the Buhari Administration has not disbursed funds for the education of militants abroad as agreed by the Yar Adua under the Amnesty Agenda and pursued by the Jonathan Administration. In the context of today’s topic it is necessary to highlight what one sees as propelling the Nigerian President and his American counterpart in the various strategies they have adopted in leading their two nations at this point in time in their history. Starting with Kenya it is a fact that Kenyans are proud to host a son of a Kenyan who has become the President of the most powerful nation on earth. That is the stuff of legend and patriotism and no one can take that away from Kenyans and their nation. That is heady passionate stuff that can be satisfying and exhilarating like good African liquor. But Kenya also needs the US under their son to help in fighting the lethal, militant Somali group Al Shabaab that has made Somalia a failed state and is trying to make the nations bordering Kenya around the Horn of Africa ungovernable. The Ethiopians are helping in this regard as Ethiopia is an ancient war faring nation while Kenya’s only military experience was that of

Mau Mau fighting the Colonialists to secure Kenya’s freedom under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta, the father of Kenya’s present president, aptly named Uhuru which means freedom, by his father, Kenya’s first president. President Obama is visiting Ethiopia tomorrow and would be the first US president to address the African Union in that nation. He would do that at the beautiful 20m dollars Head quarters of the AU donated by the Chinese who are doing a lot to outpace the Americans in providing economic aid to African nations. Without asking too many questions and creating debilitating conditionalities on repayment terms and schedules like US driven financial and banking institutions like the World Bank and IMF which has milked Africa dry from such inhuman financial strategies. Kenya of course is expecting a lot of aid in millions of dollars from the US to fight Al Shabaab which is trying to carry the terror war to the streets of Nairobi. The fact that the US has deployed drones to bomb and kill Al Shabaab leaders in the area showed that military collaboration and cooperation on security is a priority for both Kenya and the US at this point in time in spite of the blunt talk on both sides on irritable even though unshakeable culture matters. It is in this light that one should see the reluctance of the Buhari Adminstration to continue with the Amnesty Policy of training militants from the Niger Delta oil Creeks. It was a dubious policy at best to make state funds available to train people blowing up the nations oil wealth. It was a policy based on blackmail and sustained by choice and convenience by the Jonathan Administration. It was a security prob-

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Definitely the pursuit of justice in catching the oil thieves is one that the Vice President, a professor of law, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is more than capable in handling and making sure that justice, swift and deterrent, is served to the delight and relief of all Nigerians

lem deliberately transposed to an economic priority in a political culture that we had, and still have, which does not subscribe to the fraudulent dictum that you can always use a thief to catch a thief. Anyway that policy was bound to meet its Nemesis the moment a person like Muhammadu Buhari became the President of Nigeria and that is what we are witnessing right now. The word blunt has been bandied about a lot in this write up. Yet no where is it more apt than when the Nigerian President reportedly said that ministers in the government of his predecessor were oil thieves milking about one million barrels of oil a day. He went on to promise to prosecute such ministers after blocking their foreign accounts in the US which was part of the economic aid expected of the Americans. Which must have sent many potential oil prisoners looking for escape routes ever since the presidential disclosure from a president who was a former oil minister and certainly knows what he is looking for and what he has seen in the toxic oil waters of economic mismanagement in Nigeria. Definitely it can not be business as usual with the sort of information in the files the Nigerian president said have been put on his table. He does not need to plead for patience as those asking for speed at the expense of sight must have their agenda . Anyway who told them a presidency is a sprint event as in Athletics. It is not. As in politics, tenure is assured and that is the ultimate political consideration to judge and time an elected president’s legitimacy and performance in any democracy and this cannot be an exception as time even is on his side. Effectively then the economic priorities of the Buhari Administration are emerging. The first is to use economic intelligence to identify the looters and their loot then go after them to cough out the ill gotten money which can be made available for public use. The second is to make sure Nigerians are not destabilized by the sudden removal of oil subsidy which can make oil unaffordable even if available and create predictable social violence that disrupt social cohesion and investment in the economy. The third is to create an environment that makes corruption unattractive and shameful as discredited treasury looters are disgraced, imprisoned and made to return their loot. No family wants it name to be tarnished and the average Nigerian family shies away from being labeled with the opprobrium of theft. In all these I am certain that justice will be served as this was what this president assured Amanpour on CNN. Definitely the pursuit of justice in catching the oil thieves is one that the Vice President, a professor of law, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is more than capable in handling and making sure that justice, swift and deterrent, is served to the delight and relief of all Nigerians. Again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

COMMENTARY

Crosscurrents of poetic jibes OR some inexplicable reasons, I confess to being a social media rat - Facebook is my first point of call every blessed day. Of course, I have had varied experience on that platform and some of them have pushed my capacity to endure pure baloney to the limit. Somehow, I have, over the years, mastered the art of keeping calm even in moments when the mental balance or visual acuity of certain persons you meet on the limitless spheres of social media appears suspect. Since the social media, with wide ranging platforms, is a veritable ground for all manners of broken ‘news’, you risk becoming a scatterbrain when you begin to consider needless corrective response to everyone that throw jibes at you. Sometimes, some people just bump into your thread to either display their ignorance or exhibit plain stupidity with an irritating arrogance that beggars belief. But that is not all there is to the conversations and interface I have been opportune to have with friends and foes on my wall. There are moments when you are immersed in the cadence of poetry and the quality of the discourse. Take, for example, recent postings by a colleague and Editor of the Abuja Enquirer, Emmanuel Ogbeche or even Femi Adeosun, a senior reporter with National Mirror. Well, Adeosun is a topic for another day. As for Ogbeche, you may not like his poetrysoaked political punches but I doubt if you will not fall in love with the way he couched the written words--the rhythmic flow of his sniggering words. In the last general elections, Ogbeche, just like many other colleagues, spoke plainly about where he was pitching his tent. His heart was for former President Goodluck Jonathan. His goal, he said, was to see a better Nigeria, should Jonathan be re-elected. Naturally, Ogbeche exploited that platform to ’sell’ his preferred candidate. It must however be noted that, while quite a number of the irritants from both sides of the divide threw caution to the wind in a sickening madness to either demystify the then All Progressives Congress’ candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, or to demonise Jonathan, Ogbeche’s interventions, though sometimes harsh, were ennobling. In these days where Buhari has become the toothpick with which some persons now use to eat their ‘suya’, it is fascinating that Ogbeche still finds the decency to engage in his political activism with some measure of poetic flourish. Take, for example, his latest interventions on developments in the polity regarding the ability of Buhari to walk his talk. Unlike those ones who have warehoused their ignorance for display on the social media for everyone to see, Ogbeche paints a poignant picture of the dilemma that faces a nation struggling with the contradictions that come with change. He employs pungent imageries to tug at the conscience of a government that promises a radical change from the norm but which appears to be dangerously too slow in getting off. He takes a swipe at our loud silence as bombs keep killing innocent souls in the North-East. Or was the carnage not being wrought by the same Boko Haram sect that Buhari vowed to crush with immediate alacrity? Hear him: The crowing crows are now silent, The jabbering monkeys no longer jabber As well as the chattering parrots Make Una kontinu And then this: He was made a fetish Cloaked in infallibility A one-cure for his nation's ills At dawn they found his cassock All holed and stained

Knucklehead With

Yomi Odunuga E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913 Then they cried for mercy By all shades and forms, this is not just an ordinary rant or any of those hate-filled messages by persons who simply cannot live with the reality that the baton of leadership has changed and Buhari is now in charge. Ogbeche does not bleat. He speaks truth to power with words dripping in tears. It is the deep calling to the deep. For me, it is a call to action and a caution to Buhari not to sleep on his hands the way Jonathan did. It simply asks: Now that you have got power, what exactly are you doing different from the one we derisively call the clueless and shoeless one? Oh, have we forgotten so soon how we harangued Jonathan for each of his countless missteps in office? In all fairness, did we not jab and clutter Jonathan’s brains with hot punches as bombs rained a harvest of sorrows on a section of the polity? Did we not yell at him to either shape up or ship out if all he could offer was a wreath of narcissistic platitude and righteous rage? So, why the sudden, almost conspiratorial silence while the murderous sect piles up over 400 body bags within two months after the one “cloaked in infallibility” stepped in? Surely, we do not need to wait for things to get worse before we start asking the right questions. All the sentiments should go with that bet-

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In these days where Buhari has become the toothpick with which some persons now use to eat their ‘suya’, it is fascinating that Ogbeche still finds the decency to engage in his political activism with some measure of poetic flourish

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ter-forgotten election which turned brothers against brothers, tribes against tribes and tested our resolve as a nation. While it is not completely right to say that Buhari is a one-cure solution to the nation’s intractable problems, we do not deny the fact that many expect him to move mountains. Question is: are we truly seeing the prospects of a better deal under his watch? Some would say it is too early to reach a conclusion. But, with the little we have seen, there is no doubt that a new Sheriff is in the town and he is gradually making impact. Is his cassock all holed and stained? Are the people already biting their tongues in regrets? I really cannot tell. One thing is sure though. This bard, Ogbeche, bleeds words that should prick the conscience of those that rode into the highest office in the land, with the change baton under the armpit. Probably the crowing crows, the jabbering jabbers and the chattering parrots are still in some sort of shock having placed so much trust in Buhari’s capacity to perform magic. I am definitely not delusional enough not to know that the journey before us is, by no means, an easy one. This much point was made in my response to Ogbeche’s post in which I pleaded for patience, saying: We whined in pain for 16 harrowing years/Do we then live in delusion/That one magical spin would heal the deep cut/Would we have waited for another 44 years of damaged hue/Before craving for change?/Some say it is a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea/We have made our choice and we’d live with it/Clinging to the hope that brought us here. Ogbeche’s response was no less incisive: He is the Imam who keeps his word/He saw the pain/He heard the cries/He felt their agony/Together they held counsel/In the Orchard of Arrived to Please Comfort/Alas, it was a web spurn to deceive/Now the song is All Patience Continue/His words broken at the altar of his ascension. Me again: If we rushed into a frenzy of failure in less than two months/Would we have loved the hand clasped in frustration as the clueless raped the land?/Do we say that was a better option to a man who is carefully untangling the web of deceit/And peripheral achievements of the last 16 years/Are we that sold to his freebies that we no longer know the essence of no gain no pain/Must we desecrate the commonwealth to the point of weeping blood/Before we pull ourselves from the brink/Why do we ululate because the canvas of blood that our streets have become is now a routine/What would the one that sat without doing nothing have done differently? Then, Ogbeche’s encore: I hear the bard renowned for knuckles/Now he deals to knuckle down bards/Across the fence/A new season is for hope/Not wailing of deeds gone by/ Not new frontiers in crimson red/My ears are full, my eyes are weepy/As young maidens mock the gallant General/They run amok with bangers of death/While the Reed-like ruler of many promises/Sail across the shores with no disciples/To tend the scorched yard/ Through the markets down the village square it rented the air"chanji" immediate/ Alas, a new refrain 'feedeefee' 16 years spoilt the broth/But the voter calls 'fix the broken pipe not to blame, to fight in the parliament of people or take trips on told.' I just hope that, at the end of this journey, this social media poet, a fellow Arsenal fan and a member of the pen fraternity, would not be the one singing, “It was magic. It was illusory. It was delusional. It was like David Blaine!” Is there someone out there in the corridors of power decoding this piece? The griot has spoken. Let the wise chew from the bloodied lines. Wow, don’t I love poetry!

Oyeweso: Bold imprints of a scholar and teacher The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr. – Prophet Muhammad It was the Scottish historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881) who once said: “No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” arlyle’s thoughts above wouldn’t have meant anything save for the fact that it was to tell the significant essence of great men in any society. His argument based on that great work of history On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History was premised on the fact that the rise of world civilisation we know today was but the actions of heroes. Heroes are great men who did extraordinary things and have always had their names ingrained on the sands of time. I was a pioneer student at the Ikire Campus of Osun State University, Osogbo (UNIOSUN) at its take-off in 2007. I took a risk to sought admission in a new and yet unknown university despite having been admitted to one of the older universities in Ondo State. A new university that claimed to have mounted world class facilities, deployed first class academics, one of the brightest governing councils and senate, permanent structures across six campuses or colleges among others, to hit the ground running seemed to me a university that really means business in an age of decay in that sector.. After a very rigorous post-UME test, I resumed sometime in September as a student of English and International Studies. Few weeks after we started receiving lectures, I and about 30 others in the same class were moved to the Department of History and International Studies. I had queried the rationale behind this forced movement from my choice course of study to another unfamiliar terrain. This would bring me on a collision course with the pioneer Provost, Ikire Campus of UNIOSUN, one Professor Siyan Abdul-Gafar Oyeweso. All pleas to allow me return to my previous department proved abortive. He would, however, keep saying that I will one day come back to appreciate him for sending me to the Department of History and International Studies rather than my preferred choice. Prof. Oyeweso’s firm grasp of diverse fields of study in the humanities was a blessing to us students. This he brought to bear in all of his classes. Beyond the classroom, Prof Oyeweso meant a lot to many of us. He was a mentor and strict disciplinarian. He never condoned disrespect to authority or acts of indolence. He created channels for students to express their grievances. For instance, The Student Colloquium, the brainchild he always anchored held at least once every semester. It provided a platform for interaction and debate, in the absence of a student union at the time, between staff and students on a wide range of issues bothering us. This type of engagement lacking in most universities today, helped a great deal to resolve disputes and give room for crisis-free academic sessions while my studentship lasted. I could recall how he always impressed it on us that education and character go hand in hand without which a student remained superficial. Many of us today have exhibited in our different places of work and everyday life such simple life lessons which we mostly owe to him. The cordial relationship that existed between town and gown in Ikire led to student’s patronage of the emergent landlords in town and also helped in boosting the economy of the town. This was made possible by the unique networking skills of Prof. Oyeweso in engaging the different strata of Ikire town. Between 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 ses-

sions, we embarked on educational trips to Ghana aimed at exposing us to the tourist and historical sites like the popular Elmina castle. Prof. Oyeweso, who initiated the trips, felt beyond the theoretical narrations in class, we needed to see some of these monuments and historical sites. It was believed by many that as a new university, we may never get the much needed accreditation by the NUC. Prof. Oyeweso, being a positive minded person and a goal-getter, hit the ground running. Between my first semester and the last, we were under the tutelage of first class scholars drawn from Nigeria’s first generation and IvyLeague universities abroad. We had international scholars like Insa Nolte of Centre for West African Studies, University of Birmingham, Regina Williams from Cleveland State University, USA; Vincent Harribaren from University of Leeds, Jendele Hungbo from University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Chidozie Okoro from University of Cape Coast, Ghana and Dr. Akin Oyetade, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Back home, we had the rare privilege of drawing from the fountain of knowledge of such outstanding scholars as Professors Akinjide Osuntokun, Femi Osofisan, Ayodeji Olukoju, Biola Odejide, Diji Aina, Charles Quacker Dokubo and Kunle Lawal (late), Victor Osaro Edo and Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN). While some came to deliver lectures and seminars to whet our academic appetite, others remained for as much as two to three sessions, teaching and giving us the best on offer. With such rich calibre of scholars assembled in Ikire Campus, and the solid structures in place, the College was given full accreditation of its four Programmes in June 2010 by the NUC accreditation team who were very much impressed by what they saw and met on ground. It was remarkable that Ikire Campus was the only College out of the six campuses of UNIOSUN to attain that feat in the 2010 accreditation exercise. This was possible due to the personal sacrifice and painstaking efforts of the Provost, Prof. Oyeweso and the support of the Management and Staff. It is noteworthy that without this accreditation, 92 out of the original 115 pioneer students of the College would not have served in the 2011 national youth service programme. There is a bold imprint of Prof. Oyeweso’s immense contributions to

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With such rich calibre of scholars assembled in Ikire Campus, and the solid structures in place, the College was given full accreditation of its four Programmes in June 2010 by the NUC accreditation team who were very much impressed by what they saw and met on ground

the growth and development of not only Ikire Campus, but UNIOSUN as a whole that cannot be wished away. As one of its founding fathers, he helped built the university from the scratch and turned it into an enviable university that continues to grow in leaps and bounds today. His penchant for academic excellence and love for the university has yielded outstanding achievements and legacies that include the construction of 25 offices, 88 toilets, 2 libraries, Provost’s Chalet, 6Room Studio Apartments, a building dedicated to ICT, 120-seater hall, a Language Laboratory, Communication Studio, one 300-seater library and a twin Lecture Theatre. Also, Prof. Oyeweso with staff of the university initiated a number of co-curricular cum educational programmes like Students InterCollegiate Competitions (debate, essay writing and football) which Ikire Campus won at all levels and helped set up social organisations like Ikire Creative Arts Club, Ikire Campus Joint Press Club, UNIOSUN Cultural Troupe, Ikire end of year get-together among others. Interestingly, Prof. Oyeweso chaired the Committee that produced the UNIOSUN Anthem. One could go on and on, however, one of the most enduring legacies of Prof. Oyeweso is the mentorship he provided most of us even after graduation. While some of us, after our compulsory service year, went on to work in both public and private sectors of the economy, others pursued one form of postgraduate degree programmes or the other. It is instructive to note that Ikire Campus was the first College after the graduation of the university’s pioneer set to produce its first Masters Degree holder in person of Miss Oluwafisayo Fatima Abdul, a 2011 graduate of English and International Studies, Ikire Campus who bagged an M.A in Global Media and Communication at the Coventry University, United Kingdom in 2013. After this enviable feat, other alumnus of the College has also graduated in one course or the other, in universities both in Nigeria and abroad. This writer intends to enrol for his PhD this year. Today, I work as a highly rated publicist for a multi-billion dollar oil and gas company in Abuja. I had studied History, why would I be working as a publicist, people may ask? The answer to this is not farfetched. Apart from diverse knowledge historians are known to exhibit, studying under the tutelage and mentorship of Professor Siyan Oyeweso was a rare privilege. Prof. Oyeweso’s style of imparting academic knowledge in his students is refreshingly different. It was his affective teaching method and unique professorial touch lacking today in most Nigerian universities that made us proud and respected historians. Wherever we are today, we owe our success largely to UNIOSUN and the diverse number of teaching and non-teaching staff that dot the university during our sojourn in the university who moulded us to be able to hold our shoulders high anywhere. If the success of Ikire campus is now been talked about with a sense of pride, it is because few people took the pain to drive it to where it is today and the sacrifices of these forerunners should not be in vain. Rather than being vilified, they should be appreciated. Thomas Carlyle was right when he said no great man lives in vain. For us, Prof. Oyeweso is a both a great scholar and an extraordinary human being. •Raheem Oluwafunminiyi, 08181284595, creativitysells@gmail.com

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

COMMENTARY

Be the change you want to see in Nigeria T HE 2015 general elections has come and gone. The hullabaloo and fretfulness that characterised the period leading to the elections and during the elections is but a distant memory. The doomsday prophecies, fifth columnist and divisive elements that wished and propagated the collapse of our dear country have been left to eat their words. Teeming Nigerians proved them wrong by overwhelmingly voting for the All People’s Congress, Muhammadu Buhari/Yomi Osibanjo and “change”. The change majority of us clamored for is finally here. The change in the status quo especially on how government was formerly being run has begun. All that those who we gave our mandate need to do now is to appoint/employ capable hands with proven trackrecords who would help deliver the change discerning Nigerians have been yearning for. No more of the customary placing of round pegs in square holes. We need tested and trusted individuals, with qualifications corresponding to their portfolios, irrespective of creed, ethnicity, gender and party affiliation, to be put at the helm of affairs. However, the bulk of the change we have been yearning for and voted for shouldn’t rest on only the shoulders of those we voted for in government. The change should also be a responsibility of every individual, every Nigerian. The renowned Mahatma Gandhi, preeminent leader of India’s independence movement in British-ruled India, who employed nonviolent civil disobedience and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, once said that “you must be the change that you wish to see in the world.” This simply means that if you want to see the change you seek, you must start with yourself first. For each of the changes that Gandhi brought to India and to the world, he brought them first to himself. If he expected another to do something, he was willing to do it too. When he called upon others to love their enemies, he loved them first. To those that wished harm upon him, he wished them well. Even to the British usurpers, he showed respect. When he called upon others to willingly endure imprisonment for non-cooperation, he was also willing and eager to do so. To effect change, you have to believe that you have a unique purpose and potential in the world. Believe that you can and will make a positive difference with this potential. Everything you do, every

step you take, every sentence you write, every word you speak–or don’t speak–counts. Nothing is trivial. Our county Nigeria may be big, but there are no small things. Everything matters. To be the change you want to see in the world, you don’t have to be loud or vociferous. You don’t have to be silver-tongued or eloquent. You don’t have to be elected or selected. You don’t even have to be literate or well educated. You do, however, have to be committed. Also, we need to individually take personal responsibility. Never think that it’s not your job or responsibility. Never feel because you are only one person, hence what can you do. Despite the fact that you are only one person you can indeed do a lot. You don’t need everyone’s cooperation or anyone’s per-

’

To be the change you want to see in the world, you don’t have to be loud or vociferous. You don’t have to be silver-tongued or eloquent. You don’t have to be elected or selected. You don’t even have to be literate or well educated. You do, however, have to be committed. Also, we need to individually take personal responsibility

mission to make changes. Remember, if it’s to be, then it’s up to you. Don’t wait for things to be right in order to begin. Change is disordered. Things will never be just right. The 26th President of the United States of America, Teddy Roosevelt, once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” In order for things to change, you have to change. We can’t change others; we can only change ourselves. However, when we change, it changes everything. And in doing so, we truly can be the change we want to see in the world. We can all individually contribute and tap-in-to the change phenomena gradually sweeping across the country by becoming more patriotic citizens of our great country Nigeria. We must not wait for Mr. President to effect changes before we begin to change. We must not wait for Mr. President to appoint ministers before we begin to be the change we want to see in Nigeria. Our attitude, patriotism, comments and speeches, can go a long way in contributing our own little individual quota to the change phenomena in our country. Changing an attitude to one of patiently staying on the queue without trying to outsmart other motorists by jumping the queue (the usual norm) when at the filling station is a good form of positive change. Being punctual at your place of work at all times is another good source of positive change. Stopping the attitude of always throwing refuse in unauthorised or illegal places, or while driving is change. Curbing the habit of bribe taking, corrupt practices, giving kickbacks is also change. Being your brother’s keeper, seeing everyone and oneself as first a Nigerian before ethnic or tribal affiliation is also change. Protecting one another in times of violence, mayhem or crisis, regardless of religious beliefs is also change. Cautioning oneself in writing or making abusive, divisive or inciting statements, articles, comments or speeches is change. Becoming a better father, a caring mother, a loving Uncle, aunt, nephew or niece is change. Becoming a good friend, an honest individual, a better person and a patriotic Nigerian is change. Adopting these will go a long way in helping those at the helm of affairs in achieving what they want and need to achieve, and also in making our dear country Nigeria a better place to live in, for us, our kids and unborn generation.

’ Saraki wants insurance cover, fat pay for journalists NEWS

RESIDENT of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has called for a comprehensive insurance cover and better living wage for journalists in the country. He also harped on incentives for media practitioners in order to lift their morale and increase their productivity. Saraki made the call in Abuja on Friday at the opening session of the 5th triennial national delegates conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The Senate President, who was represented at the event by the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani, said recent events in the national, cross-border and global polity, have undoubtedly put a lot of emphasis on the safety, sustainability, value, rights and moral standing of the average journalist. He noted that journalists put themselves through difficult and often uncharted channels to ensure that democracy has its highest expression. Saraki said, "It is thus incumbent on us, the custodians of this democracy, to bring to the fore viewpoints that will enhance the productivity and efforts of these professionals. "That is why I associate myself with the call for journalists to be provided insurance cover by their employers, be it government or private. I also want to canvass enhanced salaries for the professionals. "However, this demands that journalists, through their associations should strictly enforce adherence to professionalism and code of ethics of their profession. There must also be penalty for

Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

those who violate the ethics or behave in a manner unbecoming of a professional." He noted that the media have indubitable influence on diverse issues in the society, with multidimensional influence on democracy and setting agenda for the public. "However, as seemingly basic as the above roles might seem, the unwavering impact of the attendant consequences cannot be glossed over. So the effectiveness of the media in discharging these set duties will all but depend on the quality of media personnel, ownership, poverty level, ethnicity, civil society, professionalism, ethical and moral orientation of the media, religion, influences on the media such as powerful

groups, advertisers and public relations people." Saraki added that no nation can underestimate the importance of the media in the art of governance, because the roles they play are primarily and centrally placed in national, regional, and local affairs. The Senate President said it is necessary to urgently review the training curriculum in Journalism institutions to accommodate parliamentary journalism and other necessary skills to prepare potential reporters for challenges in the legislative journalism. "Developmental and citizen Journalism should be emphasized by the mass media with a view to fostering national unity, national interest and national cohesion. "It is also worth knowing that

beyond the business of governance, which is pivotal to our societal sovereignty, the press also commands indomitable powers in influencing the economic and social decisions of the society. "It is therefore on all aforementioned assertions that the plea is hinged on for the media to heed this democratic call in the discharge of her duties. "This in no way undermines the strong commendation I must give the media in the way and manner it handled this change transition by giving prominence to the Project Nigeria and the plight of her people. "I strongly believe that journalism is first and foremost a public trust and one that should be held in the utmost esteem requiring

those who hold this trust, even under extreme circumstance to refrain from its abuse." He commended the NUJ for holding the conference with the theme: "Fostering Safety of Journalists and Building Synergy with Agents of the State." Earlier in his remarks, the outgoing National President of the NUJ, Mallam Mohammed Garba, said he was leaving behind a more peaceful union, having helped to restore normalcy to troubled state chapters of the union. He said that the leadership of the NUJ is committed to providing enabling environment for journalists so to carry out their professional duties without molestation.

NLC warns state governors to pay salary arrears or face sanctions actional NLC leader Joe Ajaero on Friday advised state governors owing workers to pay their salaries to avoid protest by the organised labour. This is contained in a 10-point communiqué signed by Ajaero at the end of his National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers. According to the communiqué, it is unacceptable that after the timely intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari, the workers’ have not received their salaries in full. The communiqué said that some of the states still owed many months of salary arrears and that it was regrettable that many states could not pay salaries in the first instance. ``We have resolved that if non-pay-

ment of salaries and benefits continue till August, we will mobilise private sector unions for solidarity strike in affected states until arrears are paid,’’ the communiqué said . It further said that the congress would not accept the issue of economic crisis to justify why some governors and agencies deny workers their rights and privileges.

The communiqué also advised government at all levels to start negotiation of a new minimum wage as the five-year tenure of the national minimum wage has ended. The communiqué said that the council mandated the Congress to send the proposal of N90,000 for negotiation to the Federal Government and Nigeria

Employers' Consultative Association (NECA). ``This proposal is based on the unstable micro economic environment, Naira devaluation and the high rate of inflation,’’ the communiqué said. It said that the congress would resist every attempt to subject workers to more impoverished state.

Lagos State Scholarships Board cautions students on fake forms HE Lagos State Scholarships Board on Friday dissociated itself from a website, www.scholarshipworld.org, and urged the general public, particularly students of Lagos State origin, not to patronise it. The board, in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Mr Sesan Adebadejo, said that it had no affilia-

tion with the website. It said that the fake website had been collecting N500 each from unsuspecting members of the public, to purchase scholarship forms. ``The Lagos State Scholarships Board does not grant scholarships to Primary and Secondary students, while that of undergraduates/post

graduates are merit-based. ``Members of the public are enjoined to direct all enquiries on award of scholarships by the state government to the board’s office, 254 Ipaja Road, beside the NYSC Orientation Camp, Agege, or info@lagosscholarship.org and lagosscholar@gmail.com,’’ it added.

THE NATION

12 NEWS

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Fresh crisis hits Anambra PDP … As party picks new chairman today

•Andy Uba, Arthur Eze, Emeka Offor disown congress

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, will today elect a new chairman. This is even as party several big wigs, including Senator Andy Uba and oil magnates, Prince Arthur Eze and Sir Emeka Offor, have disowned themselves from today’s election and the ward and local government congresses held last Tuesday and Thursday. Today’s election of a new chairman is the latest in the series of crises rocking the party. Several party members are already in court over who heads the PDP in the state. Earlier in the week, the party’s Governorship candidate in the last election, Comrade Tony Nwoye and his group, comprising some of the major

Nwanosike ONU, Awka stakeholders in the state, threatened to take any option open to it should the National Working Committee (NWC) go ahead with the congresses. Nwoye told reporters in Awka that he would lead over one million PDP members in the state to embrace a new pact to protest what he called the selective process allegedly introduced by the national publicity secretary of the party, Chief Olisah Metuh. A chieftain of the party in the state, Chris Uba said his group was not part of the congresses going on in the state. “We do not know what they are doing. We are not part of it, there is no congress in the

state because a case is pending at the Supreme Court on the same PDP matter,” he said A source said: “all the big guns in the party have already joined (APC) and asking some of us why we are wasting our time in (PDP). So, in a few days from now, you will see what will happen in Anambra.” However, the chairman of the five-man congress committee for Anambra, Mr. Ike Abonyi, expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the congresses. He hoped that today’s chairman election would also be successful. Former chairman of the party in the state, Chief Ken Emeakayi, is the only candidate in the race.

Crack in militants’ camp forces cancellation of Tompolo’s meeting •Continued from Page 4 tators, upon the acceptance of the Amnesty offer, refrained from armed agitation to face normal urban life.” He said the meeting was to douse tension generated by delay in the payment of the monthly stipend to former militants and their foot soldiers by the Federal Government. He said:”While some of us understand to an extent, the apparent delay in the continued payment of the monthly stipend to the ex-agitators in view of the seeming scrutiny of government agencies, including the Amnesty Office by the current administration, same cannot be

said of the majority of beneficiaries of the Amnesty programme. “To this extent, some of us, particularly myself and other leaders have been under intense pressure from ex-agitators commanders, individuals, parents and guardians as well as communities who are beneficiaries of the Amnesty programme. “While a few see the delay in the payment of their monthly stipends in the light of the need for the current government to settle in properly, others see the delay as a template to stop the programme. The expulsion of some students (home and overseas) by their schools and training institutions particularly has heightened

these fears. “Hence, I thought it wise that a meeting of the collegiate leadership of the platform under which we operated as agitators could be convened to appraise the situation and possibly, explore means to douse the tension that is growing among the disarmed youths whose stipends (training allowances and tuition fees) have been delayed for months. “This becomes more compelling in view of the fact that as leaders of the platform that served as midwife to the Amnesty offer, we owe the nation a duty to play our roles in order to stem a relapse of the relative peace in the Niger Delta Region.”

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Benue communities T under siege

HESE are trying times for residents of Katsina Ala, headquarters of Katsina Ala Local Government Area, and the adjoining communities in Benue State. They were plunged into deep sorrow and mourning last week when unknown gunmen unleashed terror on them, killing no fewer than 19 of their kinsmen. From one street of the local government to the other, loud wailings of men, women and children whose loved ones had been brutally killed by bloodthirsty gunmen pervaded the land and causing the people to live in perpetual fear. Some of the bereaved family members who spoke with The Nation were inconsolable as they recounted how their relations were brutally murdered in cold blood. They regretted that their farmlands, which have been contributing immensely to the economy of the state that prides itself as the food basket of the nation, were fast becoming a graveyard for their loved ones. A bereaved member of the community, who simply identified himself as Bar Ajon, was visibly shaking as he relived the callous murder of his brother. He said: “My immediate brother was murdered in his house around 2.30 am by gunmen that have turned our land to a place where human beings are killed like rats on a daily basis. “They had stormed his house in the dead of the night hoping to meet him at home. “When they got to his house, they searched everywhere and ransacked where the wife was lying down with the hope of getting him but he was not there. He slept elsewhere that very night. “After they left, somebody called him to inform him about the incident. “Surprised by the development, he left where he was and started going home. Unfortunately for him, the hoodlums met him on the way and killed him.” That was however not the only loss he suffered during the week many residents of the area have described as that of calamity. He also relived how his friend and his friend’s partner were murdered that same week. “There was nothing concrete that one could hold on to as their reason for killing him and his friend,” he said. “He was supervising his building project when two young men approached, pretending as if they •The late Ihindan with his wives wanted to greet him. “They stood almost side by side with one a step in dreams in life. All the good plans he had for the family front of the other. As he was trying to fathom what their n Innocent DURU and Uja EMMANUEL n and the community at large have all been wasted. We mission was, the one in the front pulled out a pistol and have concluded plans to bury him on July 29. shot him. lowing day after killing a couple. “It is unfortunate that instead of going to put seeds in “Unfortunately, the shot missed him and killed the “My father was on his plot of land where he had our land which produces good harvests, it is our illusperson beside him. Before the gunman could fire angone to inspect work on the perimeter fencing project trious sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that we other shot, his colleague in crime, brought out his gun opposite the Federal Low Cost Housing Estate when are digging the land to bury. It is irreprehensible.” and shot my friend three times on the chest, killing him the incident occurred. He was there in company with Masterminds’ motive shrouded in controversy instantly. his police orderly, Mr. Iliya, who has not been arrested Controversy is trailing the motive of the masterminds “Immediately this happened, the bricklayers at the till now or asked to give a statement. of the killings. While some of the people believe that site left their tools and ran away. The killers also “Four other people Mzughulga Ugba, D. D. they were politically motivated assassinations, others ran away on their motorcycle after achievVanger , Hon. Peter Ukaa and Aondongu chose to be indifferent. Those who believe that the ing their purpose.” Butu were also with him. Before he was killings were politically motivated alleged that two He continued: “The following day, killed, my father had sensed danger beleading members of the community were the sponsors these same people attacked a couple cause seven of his kinsmen had earlier of the heinous crimes. and killed them. When they been murdered. It is unfortunate Speaking specifically about his father’s murder, Hon. started running away, the people “I condemn the dastardly act and Terfa said the incident was purely a case of political asin the community ran after them. call on all well meaning citizens of that instead of going As the gunmen tried to escape, this country to join me in doing so, sassination, stating that they knew the people responsithey didn’t know there was a to put seeds in our land particularly because my father did ble for the dastardly act. He said: “The reasons for suspecting them have been bridge ahead of them. They ran not do anything to warrant being which produces good given to the Inspector General of Police in a petition I into it and couldn’t move forassassinated. submitted on July 21, 2015. One of the suspected perward again. “I am particularly distressed harvests, it is our illustrisons was part of the last administration and the new “As the people were apabout the political assassinations one. proaching, one of the gunmen ous sons and daughters, in Nigeria. The killing of people “He had always threatened to deal with my father put his hand in his pocket to because of political differences is brothers and sisters that and all of us his children because he believed that my take his pistol to shoot at the reprehensible and does not help father was responsible for his sack by the administrapeople. As he was struggling to we are digging the land our efforts to build democracy in tion of former Governor Gabriel Suswan. remove the gun, he mistakenly this country. to bury “After his announcement as a key player in the prespulled the trigger and shot himself “Human life is sacred and those ent government, his friends held a party for him. He in the leg. that deprive other humans of their life openly boasted that he would deal with us. “Sensing that danger was looming, should be held to account for their “He eventually carried out his threat last week. In his colleague abandoned him and wrigcrimes. I call on you to assist me to bring the spite of this, he has not given up. He is still bent on gled his way out of the area. The people killers of my father to book and to be vigilant killing me and my siblings for no just cause. picked him and handed him over to the police. so that together we can put away this sad, horren“As I speak now, I am his principal target. His killer “He has made a confessional statement and mendous activity from our national life.” squad accosted my brother’s car last week using a tioned the names of some top people behind their unHir Nyamkeng, another bereaved person, was yet to Hilux van. Fortunately, my brother was not the one holy activities.” overcome the shock of his brother’s death when The driving the car. It was driven by one of his friends who Lamenting the spate of murder in the area, Hon. Nation sought his comment. Still visibly in shock, he was very observant and saw the van trailing him for a Terfa Atoza Ihindan, recounted how his father Rt. Hon. eventually managed to speak. very long time. Atoza Ihindan, MFR and his political father, Mr. IorHe said: “My brother and his friend were among the “At a point, he drove into a popular market. After manger Mouna and his driver were assassinated within people that the hoodlums murdered. That week will rethey left, he drove out again, but before he knew it, the 72 hours. main indelible in our memory. They met his friend and van followed him again. He had to abandon the vehicle He said: “The late Iormanger, my political father, was asked him to lead them to his house. When they got and ran for his dear life.” murdered on Tuesday July 14 along with his driver there, they shot both of them dead. while my dad, Rt. Hon. Atoza Ihindan, MFR was killed “The wicked ones didn’t allow him to fulfill his Continued on page 18 on July 17. The killer of my father was arrested the fol-

• Bereaved families recount brutal murder of relations • Residents flee in droves • Churches organise special prayer session, fasting

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Sometime in April 2013, my brother bought GCE forms for her and her friend and sent money for her to come to Lagos for that purpose. They expected to see her in Lagos but didn’t. I called my parents to know if she was with them but they said no...“Subsequently, my brother called to tell me that she called with a foreign number. After some time, she called to tell me that she was in Libya with her friend. I asked how she got there and she said that someone took them there. Thereafter, she didn’t communicate with me for a very long time. My brother got angry and told her the implication of what she was doing

HELP!

My 20-yr-old daughter is trapped in Libya •Distraught mother laments daughter’s plight in the hands of human traffickers Continued from page 3 the returnees lamented that hundreds of young men and women illegally trafficked from Africa to Europe through the Sahara Desert are dying on a daily basis. They are particularly miffed that in spite of the hordes of people that die on a daily basis, the human traffickers remain unperturbed. “Their consciences are dead. All they are concerned about is the gains they make from selling their victims. They merely regard the death of a victim as one of the risks of business,” one of them said. One of the returnees, who gave his name simply as Emeka, said: “I never knew the fate that was about to befall me when a relation came to ask my parents if they would not mind giving me out to his friend who was based abroad for some years of apprenticeship, after which I would be settled and I would stand on my own. “He painted the picture so well that my parents became too convinced and naively gave me out. I was equally happy because the story line given to my parents was too tempting to resist. I was already imagining what my life would look like living abroad. “When the time came for us to travel, he told me on the way that because of some financial challenges, we would not be able to go by air, but we would certainly get to Europe. I did not bother about how we would get there, as long as I would be there, only that I wished to have a feel of what it takes to travel by

n Innocent DURU n air. “Along the line, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one he was taking along. When I made my observation known to him, he said he had a lot of friends over there who had requested for apprentices, saying that he could not even get as many people as he would have loved to take along.” “Midway into our journey, the story changed. He began to prepare our minds on what to expect on the way and what the journey would look like. I wasn’t even disturbed at that point because for all I cared, the end would justify the means. I was also encouraged by the fact that numerous others, aside from people in our team were also embarking on the same journey. “By the time we got to the desert, we had run out of water and were dying of thirst. In the desert, water was like gold. It was like diamond which people would do anything to get. The fragile ones among us started falling ill and were dying of exhaustion. “Everywhere in the desert, there were dry skulls as well as fresh and decomposing bodies. It was such a horrible sight. Unfortunately, the parents and relations of the casualties thought they were already in Europe and would send money to them.” Angela, a female returnee, said apart from thirst, many of the travelers died of torture and rape in the hands of rebels and criminals in the desert.

•Mrs Osumade

She said: “It was such a “The mohorrible experience I ment you would not wish even my can’t get enemy. I was lured into water to the arrangement by a drink, you friend who was equally would begin brainwashed. She came to get tired telling me that an opporand unable to tunity had opened for us proceed. It is to come out of the poverty always worse if that was eating us up and your team that very soon, we would be should leave you counted among the big girls behind because in town. you would have to “I jumped at it because I find your way •Blessing wasn’t going to spend a dime. I through. And where was told that all the expenses would you are unable to do so, be paid by an agent who would only be you would become a prey to the taking commission from our salaries predators.” after we would have been assisted to get Apparently bemused by the escalation jobs in Europe. of the worrisome trend, Femi, a returnee, “The trip was not smooth at all. It was said: “It appears the people doing this a journey of life and death. Danger business use charms on the victims and awaited us at every point of the trip. It their parents, because one can hardly rewas a jungle kind of life and even your sist them when they come calling. closest friend would not care about you “Another thing I observed during my because it was a situation of survival of journey was that most of us were young the fittest. Everybody is out to save his or people in our teen ages and early 20s. her neck. It is after you have survived Only a few were adults. This is another that you can begin to think of another form of insurgency because an appreciaperson. ble number of the youths who should be “Ladies were openly raped, with some the future of the country are daily lost in contracting sexually transmitted diseases the desert. and dying. The men, especially those “I was lucky to have returned alive. So who proved stubborn, were mercilessly many others didn’t. beaten and at times murdered by rebels A mother’s ordeal and criminals who specialised in extortIn a chat with our correspondent, Mrs. ing money from the travellers.” Esumadu, whose daughter is currently Decrying the weather condition in the stranded in Libya, bemoaned the fate of desert, she said: “The weather condition the young girl, saying: “Blessing was is always inclement. It is always very born in 1995. The father is late. She was harsh. It is as if fire is burning one’s supposed to write her senior secondary body. This makes one to get dehydrated Continued on page 68 easily and exhausted.

HE other contingent from Nigeria is the Africa International Film Festival with not less than 20 participants. They include its Founder/CEO Ms. Chioma Ude; Advisor and Chairman of AVRS, Mr. Mahmood Ali-Balogun who is also a guest of DIFF; Artistic Director Keith Shiri and Project Director Afie Braimoh. Others are Kunle Afolayan, Ramsey Nouah and Chioma Onyenwe. Others are Mildred Okwo, actress Uru Eke and actor OC Ukeje. Sponsored by Arik Air, AFRIFF held sway on Friday with an Industry Programme tagged Nollywood Meets eThekwini Filmmakers Association (AFA). The session which held at the Elangeni Hotel provided an opportunity for professional exchange between practitioners of Nigeria and South Africa. The event was an offshoot of a meeting held in March in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal at the invitation of the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, as a fact-finding mission to determine how the two industries could work together in the area of film, and how a formal working relationship could be established. The second leg of the forum will take place in Nigeria this November during the next edition of AFRIFF. Nigeria's highest selling comedy, 30 Days in Atlanta by Ayo Makun, was another side show and a part of AFRFF's offerings for DIFF this year.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Potential suitors are scared of me â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Ex-BBC presenter

Ajai-Lycett Describing Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, 74-year-old star of popular soap opera, Tinsel, could be an enormous task because she is a woman of many parts. She is a cosmetologist, businesswoman, broadcaster and teacher, among other vocations. With just a production done in the UK in the 1960s, she became famous even when she was not prepared for fame. The popular actress also found love at a time she was not really ready for it, but like her acting career, marriage only helped her to glow! Lycettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acting career is still blooming even as a grandmother, with busy schedules in Nigeria as well as the UK. No wonder she insists that life has just begun at 74! The recipient on Nigeria and UK national awards spoke with PAUL UKPABIO about her joy as a grandmother, her trials as a widow and the fond memories that keep her strong. Stories on pages 30,31,34&35

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

‘Secrets of my staying power’ So, when will you retire from acting? ETIREMENT does not come into the picture. To retire from what I am doing now is to retire from life. One should never retire from what one loves to do. And that is the secret. You should do what you love to do and enjoy it so that you will not need to retire. That is because at that point, you cannot retire from it because it is your life. If you are doing something that you do not like, you will always be thinking of running away from it. Then it is a chore, in which case you will retire from it. But even those who do that, when they retire, you notice that within a few years, they are dead, because whatever you are working on and working at means you have committed your life to it. And when you say you are retiring, it is like shutting the door on your own life. How do you perceive your kind of work? It is not work, it is living, and it is breathing. See I am nearly 75 and I am still sprite, I’m still moving around and working like anybody else. From there, you can see what is meant by the saying that age is a number. What is the secret of your staying power? I believe that it is being committed to what one is doing. Loving what you do and being committed to it means that you give it everything that it needs for you to function. For instance, I am in a job where I am very visible. I am constantly talking to people on stage. So how do I keep it going? I have to continuously work on my skills. After acquiring the skills, I have to keep nurturing them. If it is my voice, then I have to keep working on it constantly, because if it is in deepening the voice or doing all sorts of things with the voice, then one has to learn those things, learn breathing, which I do, by also learning aerobics and yoga. More or less, you are constantly learning and polishing up yourself. For the physical, I do breathing lessons, I do yoga and I dance too. I love dancing. What kind of music do you love? I am crazy about jazz. I went to bed last night with the sound of jazz in the background coming to me from my iPod. If you have to really dance, which music appeals to you? Oh, if I have to dance, I dance to any music, especially the common ones around, like Shoki and others, though I do not think that the lyrics make sense at all (laughs). The lyrics are empty. But that is what people are dancing to these days. So if I have to dance, I dance to it because I am a professional dancer. I find a way to express that music. They are all singing the same song, but different lyrics. The beat is the same. Nobody is taking them up on it; everybody is dancing to it, and they say somebody has dropped an album, as if it is a ton of bricks! I am being delicate about my choice of words here; otherwise there are

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words that I can use that would not be flattering. How have you been able to keep your beauty over the years? Why won’t I look agile and beautiful, when I have beautiful people taking care of me? When you are loved, you radiate in beauty. As an actress, which part of your body do you value most? The part of me I value most is my voice, because with my voice, I can express absolutely everything. If you have a good voice, you can express affection. People can fall in love with your voice. You do not have to do anything else like having Cossy’s chest or Omotola’s behind! But really, it is not about that, it is about the intellect. There is nothing wrong with beauty; it is lovely. What actors do is not just about beauty; it is the expression of ideas. Ideas make money. Ideas are more important than material. In fact, ideas create abundant material prosperity. The signal I give to people always is that black is beautiful. Our natural hair is fantastic. Over five decades now, I have continued to send out that message; that as black people, we are absolutely fantastic. How do you handle your numerous prospective suitors? I have been lucky. I have not had people just ‘toasting’ me for the sake of ‘toasting’ me. People have followed me because they see brilliance in me. It’s a different thing. And I think that that is a better way of looking at it, because those people listen to me and then they feel like coming close. They wanted to know more about the person that I am. So, with my African beauty, I have sent the message out to other women out there that you can actually be old but still be hot. You can be old and still be attractive. You can be old and still be sophisticated. You can be African and still be natural and elegant. As far as I am concerned, those are wonderful messages to be sent without beating drums. At almost 75, do you still have suitors? (Laughs) At 74 going on to 75, I don’t think I can get suitors. Okay, when was the last time a suitor called? (She thought for a while) People come, but they just talk. I think I look too formidable for someone to just walk up to me and say he wants to marry me! Although some people who are close could be naughty, and say this and that but without hitting the main issue. You know, you could see when a man comes around and he is admiring you up and down, doing his eyes this way and that, you know, but they wouldn’t dare say anything up the hill like marriage. And that could be because people think that I am too hard, that I have an intimidating look. I look too formidable, too intimidating even for the older people. What do you think is responsible for your hard-stance outlook?

Although people are friendly with me, they still feel like ʻbetter not go too far with that one because, we do not know what she will tell you nextʼ. So they just feel intimidated. I have been a widow for 22 years, so where are the men?

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•Ajayi Lycett African men like their women to be submissive or to appear submissive! I am too opinionated and men do not like a woman who likes to match up to them (laughs). Men do not like that. So although people are friendly with me, they still feel like ‘better not go too far with that one because, we do not know what she will tell you next’. So they just feel intimidated. I have been a widow for 22 years, so where are the men? Do you still get people your age to hang around with? I guess the answer to that would be a reflection of a lifestyle. I work all the time. It is not likely that you see me in an eatery with anybody. I hardly go out. I live here in Lagos, Nigeria, and I also live abroad. Whether here or abroad, I am usually working all the time. My work is my life. That is because the work I do is so beautiful that everything that I want from this life is in my work. I meet beautiful people; all kinds of people. How many people in other jobs do so? Could one say then that your work filled the vacuum your husband’s death created? No, I was working like this even when he was alive. Did he love your work? He was my number one fan. His name is Thomas Aldridge Lycett. He was formerly working with Shell. He left England to settle here with me. That was when I had become a success in England and he told me that my people do not know what I have in me that I must return to my country. He said that I must come home to let them know who I am. So, after 22 years that he has gone, and all these are still happening, I really wish he was here to see it. I wish he could be here. I think he did all these for me. He made me do it. Was it easy for you to re-integrate into the Nigerian society, having stayed abroad for so long? When I returned, I was in business as well. I was an executive member of the Advertisers’ Association. I was running an advertising agency, Partnership Advertising. I had a marketing communications consultancy called Taiwo Ajai Public Relations Company. Why did you stop? My husband and I were doing it. As time went on, the business was getting somehow. We had to share budget and so

on. That is not how we do business. I am an 'Oyinbo' when it comes to such things. I get a budget and I was not looking at sharing it with the General Manager or any other. So, when my husband died, I still operated our businesses for a couple of years. But after that, it was getting worse and worse, especially hearing all sorts of things. He died in 1993, but I was still running it even till 1997. So, on the anniversary of his death, 31st of December 1993, which is an awkward day to die, I wanted to do something that would remind me of him always. Not just the mourning and the sadness, but also to remember all the wonderful moments that we had spent together and all that he meant to me and still means to me now. And when did you stop? He had always wanted to start a school. He was always worried about our educational system. Not only that, he saw how expatriates come here with hardly anything in their own land but once here, they get a gardener, a cook, a driver, and they get to the airport, people are waiting with placards. But when they go to the other side, nobody welcomes them. They flag down taxi by themselves and carry their luggage themselves. He thought it was lack of confidence on our part, which education would correct. I remember when we were running business, he used to hate it when people thought that he was the one running the show because he is 'white.' I was the MD while he was the GM. He used to feel insulted that people felt he was doing it while I was just an appendage. So, since he was always talking about a school, I started Tal-House Private School, Egbe. It turned out very successful. I have students who passed out from the school all over the world. Some of them are married now. I ran a primary school, a theatre school and a computer school. How about the school itself? About eight years ago, a member of staff organised with armed robbers to come and rob me in the big house at about 2 am. They nearly killed me. So I thought I had been running the school for about 12 years, all alone, and I decided to rest it. People said that I was attacked because I was alone. I was still going to continue being alone, so I decided to stop it. So you travelled abroad? Yes, I did. I needed time to sort out my-

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

People come, but they just talk. I think I look too formidable for someone to just walk up to me and say he wants to marry me! Although some people who are close could be naughty, and say this and that but without hitting the main issue. You know, you could see when a man comes around and he is admiring you up and down, doing his eyes this way and that, you know, but they wouldnʼt dare say anything up the hill like marriage

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self and think out what I wanted to do next. Did that make you angry with the Nigerian society? No, I knew that these things happen to people around the world. It was not something different or special. Is it because you loved your husband that you didn't think of re-marrying? (Thought briefly) Yes, partly. Yeah, it has to be. I think that my husband spoilt me in many ways. Where was I going to find a man like that? Where am I going to find a man who didn't feel diminished by devoting his life to me? And he did that because he was a special man who believed that I was doing something special. He did not see himself taking second place; he saw us as one. Was it love at first sight? Yes, for him, it was, because of the circumstances that we met. I was successful abroad and wanted a new apartment. I went to one of the top estate agents who found a flat in some condominium for me and asked me to go and view the site. And on the other side were terrace houses. Later, he told me that he saw me that day I came to visit. He saw me arrive in my car, a sports car. I then dressed like I used to dress from head to toe. I used to cover my head. It was elegant and I always wore a hat. It had nothing to do with religion. I also did not believe in showing legs. Yoruba say oju ni oro wa (it is the eyes that matter). Are you saying age has changed your lifestyle? I mean has your style changed over the years? No, I still wear my hat. I do not go out without my hat. I do not think that my fashion and style have changed. That is because I still wear things that I had over 20 years ago. Some of them I owned since over 40 years ago. Fashion is coming to meet me. Most things that I wear are not new. What do you miss about being young? Nothing! I do not miss a thing. When you are older, you have confidence. I did not have to go and quickly change so that you can see me in charming clothing or something. I do not have to titivate myself and be false. Younger ladies do that because they are insecure. There must be some certain things you were doing then that you cannot do now. I cannot imagine. I was an old young per-

Continued on page 34

Acting Provost of Osun State College of Education, Dr. Basiru Gbadamosi, proffers solutions to the various problems bedeviling education in the country. He also speaks about his developmental agenda for the 36-year-old institution in this interview with ADEBISI ONANUGA OW has it been working as a lecturer in Osun State College of Education and now as the acting provost? There is nothing difficult for somebody who is determined and hard working. At the time I joined the institution, I did any assignment that was given to me to the best of my knowledge, knowing full well that if you are a good follower, there would be a day you would turn out to be a good leader. That has been my maxim since I joined. So, when I attained this status, I did not see it as a challenge, because there is hardly an assignment I cannot handle as far as academics is concerned. For instance, even as a Lecturer III, I was made the exams officer. That is the most tedious assignment in any school because as the exams officer of a school, apart from your normal teaching schedule, you have to coordinate all other departments in terms of collection of questions. By the time the results are out, you have to collate them. You have to do the computation of the results and all sorts of things. By the time I attained this status, I saw it as child’s play because I had acquired all the experience I would need to function as the chief executive. That is why all my people believe that there is no hiding place for me, knowing full well that I had passed through the various stages. If anybody wants to say anything I would tell you that this one, this is how to do it or this is how to go about it. Looking at the state of education in the country, what future do you see for colleges of education compared to polytechnics and universities? On a very serious note, colleges of education have better future than even the universities and polytechnics. This is because if we are talking about the polytechnics, they should be practical-oriented, but where is that practicality? But in the college of education, you are a professional teacher, a nation builder. You will continue to be relevant as far as people continue to bear children. In those days, out of three or four children, only one would go to school. Today, if you have 40 children, your interest would be that all of them should be educated. For your information, presently, the computer has taken the place of all other professions, but it has not taken the place of teaching till now. That is to say that college of education is a very good foundation for the training of teachers. All the rudiments you need here, you acquire it, and when you now go to the university, it becomes very easy for you, particularly if you are well grounded in your area

My anticorruption battles in Osun College of Education

—Provost

of specialization. But the employers of labour usually prefer university graduates to those of colleges of education? Presently, when you talk of acquiring the first degree for teaching, there is a level at which first degree can operate, because at the degree level, the higher you go, the narrower your specialization becomes. Can you now employ degree holder to go and teach in the lower level of primary school where the knowledge is limited? It is the NCE holders that are specially trained to handle education at that level, particularly the lower level, the middle basic and the upper basic. It is

Dr. Gbadamosi at the senior secondary that the degree becomes relevant. What change agenda or reforms would you like to set for the new administration in the country in terms of education? Reforming education is like erecting a structure. If the foundation is not properly laid, the entire super structure would have a problem. Primary education is the foundation upon which all other super structures of education are laid. In fact, it is the gate way. In those days, we had people who passed through primary education and did not go to secondary school. But because of the knowledge they had acquired at the primary level, they developed themselves, wrote GCE and from there went to universities. But we have never seen a single person who never attended primary school going to the university. So, emphasis should be on the development of primary education, just like the Governor of Osun State is doing. When you look at his programme, it is meant to build primary education and put primary schools on very sound footing. If the foundation is properly laid, the super structure on it would be superb. That is why I highly commend him in the areas of feeding, infrastructural facilities and employment of quality teachers. If you get to primary schools in Osun State, the least qualification you will get there is NCE, which is a very good foundation. When that is done, the whole of the country would become a project. With that, everybody will now build on a very solid foundation. So, the emphasis should be that the federal government should think of emulating what is happening in the State of Osun, with particular emphasis on primary education. Findings from and psychologists of note reContinued on page 34

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Pastor Chris Ekeh marks birthday in style T

HE presence of gaily dressed people, including the popular Pastor of the Word and Spirit Assembly, Satellite Town, Lagos, Dr. Chris Ekeh, at the Maximum Security Prisons and the Female Prisons, Kirikiri, last weekend may have elicited some questions. But you need not search further, the visit to the prison by the pastor's team was part of the activities marking the 40th birthday of the Lagos pastor, Ekeh. While many expected him to throw big party, the handsome cleric shocked many; he chose the occasion to lift the abandoned and the neglected in the society. He put smiles on the faces of the inmates by donating food items and other personal effects to the inmates. He also took care of their spiritual needs. He did not stop at that, he also visited the Heart of Gold Children's Hospice, Surulere, Lagos, where he also made some cash donations and also gave out some food items to the inmates of the home.

TTunde Ologburo, family in rare celebration

HEY say there is time for everything. For the family of Ibadan-based businessman and Chairman of Quickborn Enterprise, Alhaji Babatunde Ologburo, this is a time to celebrate. It is a time to gather his nuclear family to make merry. The socialite's children made him a very proud father and he is savouring the joy of raising success-driven children. So elated is Ologburo that he does not hesitate to begin every discussion with the feat attained by his children. One of the socialite's children, Temitope Ologburo, made a First Class in Accounting from the Birmingham University. For the feat, Ifedolapo earned the Taylor Walton's Best Law Student award in Hertfordshire, while Muhammed Babatunde became a Forensic graduate of the University of Gloucestershire and has proceeded to a graduate job in America. The rare feats no doubt brought joy to the family, prompting it to organise a vacation and dined in some classy restaurants in Europe where the father armed the children with advice to prepare them for the future.

Kayode Oduoye

All set for sustains dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy E Dupe Jemibewonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s burial D

EEP grief, remarks Elizabeth Barrien, is sometimes almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. It would seem that Barrien had Dupe Jemibewon's current situation in mind when he made this insightful observation many years ago. Dupe, wife of former Police Affairs Minister, General David Jemibewon, lost her father, Pa John Bosede Ajayi, on June 22, 2015. The octogenarian, who passed away in his sleep at his Ibadan, Oyo State home, was born in 1930 and was aged 85. Since the news of Pa Ajayi's death broke, the

Jemibewons have been inundated with condolence messages from eminent Nigerians. Plans to give the deceased a befitting burial are already in full swing and Dupe's friends are warming up to give support for the lovable and connected woman. According to those in the know, the late community leader will start his final journey home on August 6, 2015. A service of songs will be held for the deceased on Thursday, August 6, at Ikolaba High School, Ibadan, followed by a commendation service at Catholic Church of Ascension, Bodija, Ibadan the following day. Thereafter, Pa Ajayi's body will leave for his ancestral home town of Orin Ekiti.

VEN in death, a man who lived an exemplary life continues to permeate the hearts of those who knew him. The late Senator Simeon Oduoye was a super cop who did not only earn the rank of AIG before retiring but also had the privilege of serving as military administrator in Ebonyi and Niger states. He also did well on the political lane. Apart from being a one-time gubernatorial aspirant, he got elected and served as a senator representing Osun Central from 2007 to 2011. While supporters, friends and associates of the senator naturally lamented his exit, they have taken solace in Kayode Oduoye, who has not only successfully filled the gap left by the death of his father, but is also imbued with burning interest to help in turning things around in the state. Kayode, a legal practitioner cum businessman, is a devout Christian. He recently hosted a post-

Sallah get together, which was one of the legacies left behind by the late senator. It was a good platform to merry, interact and unwind, as top faces in the state's political circle, the private sector and other categories of people gathered at Kayode Oduoye's Osogbo residence for the 2015 Sallah party last Sunday. Among those who graced the occasion were former local government boss, Bamidele Salam; former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Sola Oladehinde; Hon. Abiodun Ojo and Chief Bisi Jinadu, among others. The Onigbaye of Igbaye, Oba Joseph Okunlola Oni, added a royal touch. Star actress, Mosun Filani, Kayode Oduoye's wife, stood as a good co-host, ensuring that things went well.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Oba ba Fredrick Akinruntan’s amazing lifestyle

Prince Bimbo Olashore’s latest moves

ESCRIBING the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, as Nigeria's richest monarch is stating the obvious. His pocket is deep just as his influence transcends the shores of Africa. Respected international magazine, Forbes, once listed him as one of the five richest monarchs in Africa. Oba Akinruntan, according to the magazine, is worth more than $300 million. Aside commanding immense wealth, the respected traditional ruler is a man of class and style. He exhibits sheer sophistication as he stations luxury cars in his magnificent palace. His status as a man of class became undisputable in 2012 when the 2014 edition of Bentley was made for Queen Elizabeth of England in the belief that other people would wait till 2014 to ride it. But Oba Akinruntan shocked all by buying the same version in 2012. And just as he has dazzled all on land, he is also dazzling people on water.

PECULATIONS about the whereabouts of Prince Bimbo Olashore can finally be put to rest. It can now be revealed that he is currently working on his golf course. Golf, generally believed to be a game for the elite, is one sporting activity that will soon find a pride of place in Iloko-Ijesha, Osun State. Prince Olashore has decided to provide a high end recreational activity for the elite in the serene town. The former DMD of the defunct Lead Bank is set to mount a nine-hole golf course at the Royal Park International Hotel, Iloko Ijesha. It is expected that the Royal Golf course and the club house will begin operations before the end of 2016, eventually turning the dreary town to a Mecca of sorts. Bimbo, whose business forte is in education, is the Chairman, Board of Governors, Olashore International School, a vision of his late father, Oba Oladele Olashore. Twenty-one-year-old Olashore International School is an all-hostel school rated as one of the best in the country. Bimbo is also the Chief Executive Officer, Lead Capital PLC.

Those who should know say he controls some of the most expensive yachts. The billionaire businessman owns the largest petroleum depot in Africa.

Lekan Osifeso debunks Bulletin rummour

Leah Abiara set for motherhood S

INCE Ibadan big girl, Leah Abiara, daughter of Pastor S. K Abiara of the CAC Agbala Itura, got married to Ibadan big boy, Tunde Samuel Omolola a.k.a Nero, the story was that she relocated to America. Years back, she returned from the US with so much affluence that she painted Ibadan red with all kinds of state of the art cars. But Leah may have relocated to the US again, and those who should know say the controversial couple is expecting their first child.

Tunde Okewale’s fresh moves S

T. IVES Specialist Hospital is indeed making strides in the medical world. It is that time of the year again when its management goes out of its way, not only to perform medical miracles for its numerous patients, but to make In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatments affordable and accessible. The management of St. Ives Specialist Hospital, in conjunction with Ives Medicare Foundation, has announced its annual promo of 50 per cent discount in the cost of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatments for willing parents. The initiative was hatched in 2010 and has helped thousands in the past six years. It aims to reduce drastically the burden on couples who are experiencing delay in procreation as a result of one fertility challenge or the other.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

‘I’m not religious at all, but I’m intensely spiritual’

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Continued from page 31 son (laughs). When I was young and people thought it was fashionable to wear one’s hair this way and that, I never did! Ideologically, I was and still firmly and convincingly African. How did you choose to be so African even when you lived abroad? When we were growing up, that is when Africa was getting independence, it was like if you were not proud of yourself, then why did you want to be independent? Like what women are still doing now, they think that they are sophisticated by using Brazilian hair and the like. If we are truly proud of Africa, then why are we wearing long hair that God did not make us with? Maybe it’s too far for them to know, but we were growing up then in the time of Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Senghor and so on. Didn’t you suffer some form of segregation at that time? I didn’t. There was only one time somebody stood up from where I sat, and that person was black, possibly a Nigerian. And that was because I was wearing my hair tied the African way. He probably didn’t want to associate with me because he thought I must be bush to wear such a style! Where did that happen? It was in the London underground tube.

That was in the sixties. When I got to England to study, I had no qualification. I applied to work to clear tables as a waitress in the city of London, where people in the financial district used to come and drink tea. They were called the city gents! They wore bowler hats, carried rolled up umbrellas and worked in banks around where the Bank of England was. They used to stop by to talk to me. They thought I was special and would be great because then, not many people were used to travelling abroad and not many had seen a black woman before. A lot of them used to come to the cafe, just to see me. I made friends like that. I started learning to type. I applied to the General Post Office, got an interview and was employed. I was also sent on training. But why did you leave Nigeria to be a waiter over there. There must have been better opportunities here then? There weren’t that kind of opportunities if you weren’t educated. You had to get

When we were growing up, you grew up with your man. You went to college or work together. Nowadays, our girls are looking for someone who already has a car or comfort. That wasnʼt my ambition. But I got married anyway

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education. And about that time, we did not have the universities like it is now. In those days, there was only one university and everybody wanted to get in. I went to England to study Law. I went by myself and I needed money. I worked there to get money to go to night school. That was how we did it in those days. What did your Nigerian friends say

when you decided to marry a ‘white’ man|? My friends didn’t say anything. When you are there and working at par with them, going to the same school and probably you are on top of the class, how do you think that anyone will discriminate against you? And you are probably going about your life the way I was doing it, behaving like I am the Queen of Sheba (laughs), not accepting that I had to change. We were brought up to be proud of ourselves, so who was going to come and discriminate against me? Europe is about merit. So also is America. I was moved up the ladder. Even my boss was recommending books to me that I should read. That was the kind of relationship that I kept before I got into showbiz. After a while, I was given a paid sabbatical to go to college. I knew I needed certificate to return to Nigeria in future. Do you feel fulfilled? If I die this minute, I would have lived a wonderful life. I am very grateful for this journey. I have however just begun. There are people who are over 80. Life is a bit different now. I am still learning. One can go to school online. Not going to college does not stop anyone in a digital age from going to school. When did you go into showbiz?

‘Why I won’t speak on

Dr. Gbadamosi Continued from page 31 vealed that in the early part of a child’s life, he is very productive, very relevant. And the type of food given to the child determines what happens to him in the nearest future. That is the relevance of the home grown programme embarked upon by Ogbeni (Aregbesola) in Osun State. What are you doing to equip your students in order to be self dependent instead of being certificate driven? I have just conceived an idea of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programme whereby all the students that pass through this college would have to acquire one skill or the other before they graduate, in

addition to their NCE certificates. The way to it is that I want to identify some departments with vocations, like the Technical Education Department, Home Economics, Agric Education, Fine and Applied Arts and Computer Education. So, we would now identify various vocations. For example, in Home Economics, we have bakery and other things. In Fine and Applied Arts, we have tie and dye and some other things. In Agric, there is fadama and some other things. Each child would be encouraged to consider his nature and interest, vis-à-vis the environment where he comes from. We have committees on ground working on various vocations identified for these practical areas, so that each of the students would now go and register in the identified vocations.

The committee is yet to give me the list of the various vocations. All the students would be made to go and register for one vocation and we want to link that vocation to JSE Department and extramural studies. We would make that course to be practical so that each child would study a particular vocation and at the end of the day, they would showcase what they have done. We would link them with entrepreneurs in form of apprenticeship training. For instance, if the technical education is for repairing handsets, we have some people who are repairing handsets. We would attach them to such people and they would have that knowledge. The same goes for computer, typing and others. That is the plan I have. Presently, I am still functioning in acting capacity. But it is my thinking that if I become the substantive provost, I would have the priviledge of introducing them. Already, I have set up a committee to work on that. By the time the report is out, we would sell the idea to the Governing Council and from there to the Academic Board. The moment it is approved, we will make it compulsory for all students. By the time they leave, some may decide not to look for white collar jobs. They would become self dependent and gainfully employed rather than relying on government. Even if they are gainfully employed, during their leisure time, they can go back to this vocation and have something. Nobody envisages that there could be problem in life. The usual impression is that life is a bed of roses. Nobody is conscious of the fact that it could be a combination of thorns and roses. Just as we are experiencing the economic recession now, if we have some people with different vocation like in agric or some other areas, they can go and make use of may be their fathers’ lands and would not even know that salary is not paid. Even if the salary is paid, they can use it for other things. So, that is my plan for the institution in the area of entrepreneurship skills acquisition. The problem with most educational institutions has been paucity of funds. In your own case, how have you been coping? It is true that there is paucity of funds, particularly with the present situation where tertiary institutions

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

•Ajayi Lycett with children I think that must have been 1965, I was a full grown adult. Why did you start late? Most people in showbiz start at an early age. Well, I never thought I was an actress. I

didn’t start by thinking that I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a lawyer. I liked the theatre, went to the cinema and went to concerts. I’m an arts aficionado. I love music and so on. That is what I thought it

was. I never thought I was a performer until one day I went to see a friend who was rehearsing. The director asked if I would like to join the production. I joined. And when we opened, everybody was after me. The next weekend, I was at the BBC working! That is how I was catapulted up! For years, I was a presenter on BBC. Nothing prepared me for this. You used to be slimmer… I am 74 going on 75 (laughs). You want me to stay 17 forever? You are perpetually seeing me as that age. It’s fascinating. How did you cope with advances from men when you were younger? A woman has to remain focused. If you are not focused on your life, then it’s going to go into your head that somebody fancies you. I have always been focused on my work, profession and so on. The reason women fall for their prettiness is because the girl-child is conditioned to think that she is going to get a husband. So they play to that, to be dependent. I think I was independent. I didn’t need a husband to live. I am Adufe, somebody that you beg to marry; somebody people rush to pamper. Are you spiritual or religious in nature? Both are two separate things. I am not at all religious, but I am intensely spiritual. That is why I am the way I am. Things like ‘being pretty’ does not affect me. My son, a handsome young man, once said to me that he was at a supermarket and women all over were staring at him. I simply told him to get over himself, because women will always stare at men and vice versa. So what’s the big deal? You think that you are the cat’s whiskers? So women use this and end up using themselves. They feel because a man looks at them, then he ought to buy this or that for them. I feel insulted at that. When we were growing up, you grew up with your man. You went to college or work together. Nowadays, our girls are looking

for someone who already has a car or comfort. That wasn’t my ambition. But I got married anyway. As an actress, which has been the most challenging role you have played? That role hasn’t come yet! That’s because every role I play is very challenging. There is no way you get on stage feeling that everything will be too easy for you to do. I think that my work is very demanding, very challenging and therefore keeps me on my toes all the time. All of them have been challenging because I had to find my way through them. I don’t know what part I will be given next, or how I will play it. What makes you still relevant in the industry? I think what makes me relevant there is what makes me relevant in the world. I have enthusiasm. I have not foreclosed on anything. I do not have any closed ideas about me. I am open to give service. Above all else, I am not hustling. I have something to give that people think and know that I have to give. It is not about money. If you do what you know how to do, money will be chasing you. How are you coping with life as a grandmother? Very well, I love it. If you come to where I live, you will hear them calling me grandma. It’s so wonderful. I like life better now than when I was younger. I am surrounded by love. As you grow older, you get wiser and more confident. You do not worry about what you shouldn't worry about. Your head has more clarity. I have a prayer of clarity with me always. We are a bit cool about life and less fearful about what is coming. That is a wonderful place to be. How would you describe your relationship with Tinsel? This is the third year. It’s been wonderful. I was working in England and my producer asked me to come here to do Tinsel.

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bursar’s suspension’ is business as usual and you follow the mad crowd, at the end of the day, they would be the one to turn round and condemn you, that you lived a life without a legacy. Talking about blocking leakages, I am aware that your bursar is serving a suspension. I would like to know from the horses’ mouth what actually happened. That matter is before the higher authorities. I am not in the best position to comment on it. What other steps have you taken to block these leakages? Presently, no bursary staff is allowed to handle cash. All payments, even if it is N100, has to be made in the bank. If you want to win a fight, it is not always easy. There would be noise making and condemnation. But are the members of staff cooperating with you in this fight? Well, if his is what you want to do and it is for the betterment of the system, if an individual is complaining, that is his own headache. It is for corporate existence. I see it as being callous when an individual is feeding fat at the expense of the generality. I don’t do that. I don’t like it. Your students went on protest sometime last year, during which three students reportedly died. Can you tell us what happened and what was responsible for the protest? Since I assumed office, there has been no student crisis and no student has died. And there has been no school closure? No, except the staff are on strike. But crisis from students, no. God has been taking preeminence. There are other colleges of education in Ire and Ilesha and Esa Oke. What makes your own to teak bet-

If you want to succeed, you must be prepared to step on toes. And even if care is not taken, you donʼt only step on toes, you cut some off. If you want to please everybody, you can never achieve anything. It is the legacy you leave behind that would speak for you

are given more to cope with, like payment of peculiar allowance, hazard allowance, medical allowance, and so on. There, we spend so much at the end of every month and, in fact, that is hampering physical development. But the first thing is to block all leakages. The moment all leakages are blocked, the little you have, you would know that it is consolidated. I equally make sure that we don’t spend spuriously. It is only the cogent and important areas that we emphasise. We avoid any frivolous or wasteful spending. If you bring anything, you have to defend what you want to do with it. It is not just a matter of we want to buy this biro; you should be able to explain what you want to do with the biro and what happened to the previous one you bought? So, it all depends on the financial engineering. It is not that we don’t have economic crunch. Whatever is affecting the head, all other parts of the body will equally be affected. With your stance on accountability, you must have earned many enemies… If you want to succeed, you must be prepared to step on toes. And even if care is not taken, you don’t only step on toes, you cut some off. If you want to please everybody, you can never achieve anything. It is the legacy you leave behind that would speak for you. If it

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ter than others? The first thing is that the tone of the school is discipline. I made the students to know that this is a teacher’s training institution where you produce nation builders. Therefore, the language and watchword of the college is discipline and moral sanctity. This is not only extended to students alone but the staff too. You have to imbibe and internalise the tenets of discipline. And that is done through regular attendance at meetings. I am happy that since I assumed office, once the calendar is out, they know that I would be married to that calendar. If exam is to take place at so and so time, I would know. My students are conscious of the fact that if lecture would start at a particular period, I would move around the school. Where I don’t meet lectures, I call the lecturer concerned. So the moment they realise that I am moving around, who is that person that would stay behind? I told them that the idea that you would not teach when students are not many, I don’t like that. It means that you are punishing the regular and serious students. Out of 100, if you meet only two students in class, start lecturing them. Those ones would inform others that lectures have started and the others would join them. But the moment you wait for them, they would think that it is business as usual; they would not start lecture until so and so time. So, we have imbibed those principles and they are complying willingly because we let them realise that it is not a matter of coercion. We let them realize the importance of decency and discipline; that it is not just a pride but a necessity not only for here but for their own lives as well. You said you assumed duty in August 2013 and you are still in acting capacity as provost of the school for two years, what is delaying your confirmation? In life, you must sharpen yourself. You cannot make yourself a king. It is the kingmakers that would do that. I am not in a position to put them on the run or it would amount to overzealousness. To guard against that, I will wait till they deem it fit.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

with Email: bineharriet@gmail.com

Escapades of fun-loving city ladies Co-ordinated by Patience Saduwa 08023201831 (sms only) psaduwa@yahoo.com

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

•Protesters in the community

Inside story of dreaded Lagos land speculator Alhaji Gay ’s killing

•The late Olaniyi

T was like a scene from a horror movie in Temidire area of Alagbado, Lagos on Monday as an angry mob hacked a dreaded land speculator, hotelier and suspected homosexual, Alhaji Tunji Rasaq Olaniyi a.k.a. Alhaji Gay, to death. Olaniyi, also known as Tunji Alaso, was until his death the owner of Tunji Alaso Hotels in the community. It was alleged that until his death on

n Kunle AKINRINADE n

that fateful day, Olaniyi, had used thugs and corrupt law enforcement agents to intimidate perceived opponents in the community. He was killed during a protest staged by landlords to against alleged invasion of their property and constant harassment by the late him and his thugs. The placard-carrying landlords and

community leaders had trooped out at about 10 am, chanting solidarity songs to condemn what they called “undue violent attacks” on residents by Olaniyi and his boys. They urged the Lagos State Government and law enforcement agents to save them from the hands of the demised land speculator. To prevent a breakdown of law and order, men of the Alagbado Police Sta-

We faulted his claim that he was representing a fictitious Ota community who he claimed are the original land owners because Ota is in Ogun State while our community is in Alimoso Local Government Area of Lagos State

tion, who came in two patrol vans, had to provide security for the protesters. It was learnt that Olaniyi had moved into the community in the early hours of the day to supervise construction work on a building he was putting up on Alafia Street. It was at the construction site that news of the protest got to Continued on page 52

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

NEWS

CRIME & OTHER STORIES

Inside story of drea speculator Alhaji Continued from page 51

•Olaniyi, handcuffed, before his death

him. He was said to have forcibly grabbed the land on which the building project was sited from its original owners. How he was killed The otherwise peaceful protest snowballed into violence at about 11.05 am when Olaniyi and a handful of his boys stormed the venue of the protest at Irepodun Junction, in a black space bus and started taking the protesters’ photographs. The angry mob, made up mainly of youths, then mounted barricades on Moshalashi and Ibari roads and challenged Olaniyi for taking photographs during a protest against him. Olaniyi’s vehicle was smashed by the mob before he left the scene of the protest. Olaniyi, as gathered, headed straight to Alagbado Police Station where he allegedly accused a senior police officer of conspiring with community leaders to stage the protest. A source at the station, who did not want his name in print, said: “Tunji Alaso (Olaniyi) came here to accuse one of our bosses of complicity in the protest staged against him by landlords. He raised his voice in Yoruba,

saying, “O ti dale mi, o ti gbabode (you have betrayed me, you have conspired against me)”. He allegedly stormed out of the station about 10 minutes later. At about 11.40 am, Olaniyi returned to the scene with more of his boys and shot sporadically as protesters and other residents scampered into safety. All hell was however let loose when one of the youths, Ganiu Adebayo a.k.a. Oludegun, was felled by bullets fired by the hoodlums. With the killing of Adebayo, the cutlass-wielding youths became emboldened and pursued Olaniyi, who was by then being shielded by his armed thugs on Moshalashi Road. Having caught up with him on the road, the angry youths shouted in Yoruba, “Oole sa lo; waa ku loni (you cannot escape, you must die today). Olaniyi was said to have made a futile attempt to resist his attackers with the aid of his armed thugs. At a point, his boys abandoned him and fled the scene. The mob wasted no time in hacking him to death at about 11.45 am. Olaniyi then fell in a pool of blood and wriggled in pain until he was ferried to two nearby pri-

vate hospitals who rejected him. He later died as he was being taken to a public hospital. His death unleashed palpable fear on the community as suspected hoodlums loyal to Olaniyi attempted to avenge his death. They smashed vehicles and attacked innocent residents around the AIT axis of Alagbado where Olaniyi lived and operated two hotels until his death. The intervention of police and soldiers however restored normalcy in the community. It was gathered that Olaniyi’s boys at about 8.30 am the following day, Olaniyi’s boys, allegedly led by one Waheed, again stormed the community to avenge the death of their boss, but they were repelled by security forces. The law enforcements agents have since been conducting stopand-search operations on motorists and pedestrians in the area. Some residents of the area told our correspondent that the late Olaniyi had caused havoc to many people in the community. He was accused of using unscrupulous law enforcement agents to intimidate those who were opposed to his nefarious activities in the community. A resident, who identified her-

Woman needs N1m for urgent heart surgery 30-year-old woman has appealed to the public for financial help for an urgent heart surgery. Kehinde Soyinka, of New Muta Street, Adiyan near Agbado, Ogun State, developed a heart disease about four years ago. The disease usually comes with shortness of breath and heavy pounding of the heart. Since she was diagnosed of the disease, she has been attending the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for treatment and medication, which is very costly. The mother of three said she has spent more than N300,000 pulled together from her personal savings and donations from family members and associates. “My heart problem started about four years ago, when I experienced constant high body temperature and pounding of heart. I fell sick several times and I made frequent visits to private hospitals.

“At a point, I was taken to Orile Agege General Hospital, where I was asked to run series of tests leading to the discovery of my heart problems.” “I was transferred to LASUTH and doctors said the solution is a corrective surgery that will cost N1 million and I have been looking for the money since last year without success. “I am a tailor by profession, but my condition has not allowed me to work for about three years now. As I speak, I am still experiencing shortness of breath among other painful symptoms.” According to her medical report signed by Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at LASUTH, Bode Falase, “the above named 30-yearold lady was seen in the Cardiothoracic clinic on November 24 and December 3, 2014. She presented with progressive shortness of breath of three years duration. She has been known to have miral valve prolapse.

“On Transthoracic echocardiogram, she has good systolic function (EF57%) left ventricle and left atrium are dilated (LVD 73mm,LVDs,50mm,Lad 53mm) and there is severe mitral regurgitation (TRmaxPG 10mmHg)” “She is in controlled Atrial fibrillation with a pulse rate of 86/min and current medications are Digoxin 0.25 daily, Aldactone 25mg daily and Metoprolol 25mg daily…assessing her, she would be a good candidate for mitral valve repair or replacement. The estimated cost of this surgery in LASUTH will be one million naira.” Soyinka , a native of Idoani, Ondo State, said she had no money for the surgery and is kindly asking the general public to make a donation towards her health and well-being. Anyone willing to make a donation can do so through an account at GT Bank, number 0172358959. She can be contacted via 08188389017 or her husband on 08034242231

•Kehinde

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

olukunle87@yahoo.com

ded Lagos land Gay’s killing ,

self simply as Yetunde, said: “I think that Tunji Alaso (Olaniyi) was killed because his cup was full; otherwise, he was not someone that could be killed so cheaply. He had been terrorising landlords and residents unchallenged and would openly boast of charms.” Olaniyi, a native of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, was said to have come into the community a few years ago and embarked on forcible land grabbing from property owners. It was learnt that the deceased built two houses on Moses Olawale Street, in Temidire, Alagbado and occasionally used one of the buildings to host his visitors. Worried by the development, the community leaders petitioned the Lagos State Government and Lagos State House of Assembly to save them from his continued harassment. The matter got to a head a few weeks ago when the community leaders protested to the new Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, at the Lagos Police Command headquarters in Ikeja. Speaking with our reporter before the protest turned violent, the Baale of Temidire, Chief Nojeem Abioye, alleged that Olaniyi and his men had been terrorising house owners in the area. He said: “Many house owners moved into this community more than 40 years ago without any disturbance until a few years ago when some land speculators decided to make life unbearable for them in their own houses. “We faulted his claim that he was representing a fictitious Ota community who he claimed are the original land owners because Ota is in Ogun State while our community is in Al-

imoso Local Government Area of Lagos State. “I told him several times to desist from harassing or attacking innocent landlords in this community but he would not listen to me. “Only yesterday, he beat up an elderly landlord in this community and the man is now on admission in a hospital. He has annexed so many buildings using his thugs to unleash terror on hapless landlords and residents.” A community leader, Chief Olanrewaju Ololade, said: We are protesting today because we have more than 5,000 people living in this community. Many of us bought our property from Fred Williams family over 40 years ago. “In 1984, some members of Ibari family in Ota, Ogun State came here to harass us and we took them to court. We got a judgment in 1988 wherein the Ibari family’s claim to our property was overruled by the court. “But lately, Olaniyi started terrorising us, claiming to represent an unknown Ota community as land owners. We told him that we have a valid court judgment which validated our ownership of the property but he resorted to violence, beating and harassing landlords and residents. “We are, therefore, using this protest to call on the Lagos State Government to save us from the activities of his boys.” The Chairman of Temidire Joint Community Development Association, Chief Apanishile Ale, said Olaniyi had been using thugs to attack people that were opposed to his reign of terror. The spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said he received a distress call around 11.45 am that one Tunji Rasak ‘M’, who was attacked and injured during the protest, had died in a hos-

Olaniyi started terrorising us, claiming to represent an unknown Ota community as land owners. We told him that we have a valid court judgment which validated our ownership of the property but he resorted to violence, beating and harassing landlords and residents

pital he was rushed to. He added that another unidentified person was injured and was responding to treatment. Nwosu said investigation was on going. Our correspondent, however, learnt that the Lagos State Police Command brokered a peace meeting on Tuesday between the community leaders and family members of the deceased. The meeting, which was said to have been held at the State Police Command headquarters, had in attendance the Baale of the community, Chief Najeem Abioye, and Executive Secretary of Agbado/Oke Odo Local Council Development Area, Engr David Famuyiwa. His many sins In February 2009, the Area ‘G’ Police Command, Ogba, Lagos, declared the deceased wanted for allegedly sexually assaulting an 18year-old boy, Kabiru Amusa. It was the incident that earned him the moniker Alhaji Gay. It was gathered that he sexually assaulted the teenager at his residence, on Friday January 16, 2009, under the pretext of securing him a lucrative job. He was said to have drugged the boy in conjuction with suspected homosexuals and had marathon sex with him through the anus, leading to bleeding. While his accomplices were arrested, Olaniyi was said to have escaped through the roof of his house on 7, Barusam Street, Alagbado and evaded arrest until his gruesome death a few days ago. His suspected accomplices: Wahab Adeniyi, 39; Gbenga Aladelusi, 32; Okoro Emeka, 21; Hastrup Adesoji, 24; Gbenga Odumolu, 23; Azeez Amusa, 45 and a lady who prevented the police from arresting him, Mrs. Yetunde Adelugba, 38 were subsequently arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court 8 for conspiracy and indecent sexual assault on a male. The suspects were remanded at the Kirikiri maximum prison and the case is still ongoing. The 44-year-old deceased was also accused of operating a syndicate comprising unscrupulous police officers to extort money from internet fraudsters otherwise known as Yahoo Boys as far as South Africa and Malaysia. He was said to have impersonated operatives of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to extort money and laptops from fraudsters. In November 2011, he was arrested by the police in Ibadan during one of his illegal outings but managed to escape prosecution. His death, as gathered, has since thrown the youths in the area into wild jubilation while the residents of the community where he met his gruesome death are still battling with fear of possible reprisals by Olaniyi’s boys.

( 08167164657 or 08023910970 )

Man stabs self in the neck …two years after he attempted to cut off his manhood n Kunle AKINRINADE n ESIDENTS of Ago Oko area of Abeokuta, Ogun State capital were shocked penultimate Tuesday when a man simply known as Baba Kogi stabbed himself in the neck. The man was said to have told his neighbours that he was looking for death. He was also said to have made a failed attempt to cut off his male organ about two years ago. It was learnt that Baba Kogi was saved by one of his neighbours who raised the alarm that attracted other people in the neighbourhood. A source, who asked not to be named, said: “But for the timely arrival of one his neighbours who opened the door to Baba Kogi’s room, he would have succeeded in killing himself with a knife. “It was the said neighbour who raised the alarm that attacted other people in the surrounding. He was first taken to Ijaiye General Hospital, Abeokuta, from where he was referred to University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, for treatment. Our correspondent learnt that his relatives however returned him to his house behind Oba Adedamola area of Ago Oko, citing lack of money as reason. “We do not know why his relatives have abandoned him to his fate. Baba could not eat for some days after he was returned home by his family members. But he is regaining his appetite gradually and can now eat, though slowly,” said a resident who craved anonymity. Residents who spoke with The Nation said the man was in a very good mood prior to the incident and had even patronised a herbal gin seller in the area before attempting suicide. The spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, was not available for comment at press time.

Woman abandons baby with innocent girl n Kunle AKINRINADE n one-year-old physically challenged baby has been abandoned by her mother in the Sango Ota area of Ogun State. It was learnt that the mother of the toddler approached an unidentified 10-year-old girl on Ositelu Street, Abebi area of Sango Ota penultimate Friday and told her to help her take care of the baby with a promise to come back for it soon. “The mother of the baby told the little girl to hold her child for her under the pretext that she wanted to purchase soft drinks from a nearby depot. She promised to come back for her child but was not seen several hours after she left,” said an eyewitness who craved anonymity. The girl with whom the woman abandoned the baby said: "I was just sitting down in front of our house when the woman asked me to look after the baby till she returned from where she wanted to buy some soft drinks. “When my mother demanded the identity of the mother of the baby, I told her that it was an unidentified woman that asked me to look after the baby for her till she would return. "It later turned out that the woman did not come back for her child, hence my mother was advised to take her to the palace of the Baale of this community, Alhaji Yaya Ajibose, who in turn gave us a letter to take the child to the nearest police station." Our correspondent learnt that the baby has since been taken to a renowned orphanage near the secretariat of Ado-Odo/ Ota Local Government.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Why we’re supporting small businesses —MD Heritage Bank, Sekibo HAT role do you think that leaders should play in As a leader, I building successful entrepreneurs? have met and worked with people with different values, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, cultural values, work habits, goals, ambitions and dreams. Because of this incredible diversity of human resources, it is very necessary though sometimes difficult for a diplomatic leader to transform these people into high-performing teams. Nobody wins by being autocratic, hence diplomacy is very important. That way, you are set to tackle issues that arise from being an entrepreneur. What has led Heritage Bank to support small businesses to achieve their goals of transforming into bigger companies? Heritage Bank’s philosophy is to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations. We are in the business to provide service per excellence and to grow with our customers. We are here to help our customers create wealth for themselves, assist our partners preserve their wealth and guide them in transferring it to the next generation. We have specialised products that enjoy zero commission on turnover charges and high interest yields, amongst others for our partners. These products help us in supporting our customers’ businesses and taking them to greater heights. Competition in the banking sector is getting tougher everyday. What measures has the bank put in place for it to continue to stand out from the crowd? We provide innovative services. To us, innovation isn’t only about creating something new, it is also about taking something that exists and transforming it into something bigger and better. As a new entrant to the banking sector, our edge is that we are starting from where our competitors stopped while being able to avoid all the mistakes they made along the way. Having imbibed a culture of continuous innovation, I am confident of Heritage Bank’s ability to adapt to envisaged customer and sector changes. The thinking by many people is that government pays lips service to the development of agricultural sector in the country. Tell us what you think the government should do to be taken seri-

•Sekibo

Successful businesses are driven by people who are committed to hard work and excellence. In this interview with COLLINS NWEZE, the Managing Director/CEO, Heritage Bank Limited, Ifie Sekibo said no business can thrive without people. The bank chief believes that getting everyone in his team to succeed makes him a happy and fulfilled man. ously? The Nigerian Government has done a lot for the agricultural sector. The government has carried out various transformation agendas like Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) - a new innovative mechanism targeted at derisking lending to the agricultural sector. It is also designed to provide the singular transformational and one bullet solution to break the seeming jinx in Nigeria's agricultural lending and development. There is also the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) which represents a policy and pragmatic shift within the existing Fertilizer Market Stabilization Programme. It provides series of incentives to encourage the critical actors in the fertilizer value chain to work together in order to improve productivity, household food security and income of the farmer. There is also the Staple Crops Processing Zones which involves the establishment of commodity marketing corporations around each of the agricultural commodities. There is also the Central Bank of Nigeria’s single digit loans which also caters for Small and Medium Enterprises in the agricultural sector. I believe all the government needs to do more is simply communicate more on what it is doing in the sector. Many people believe that Nigeria needs a system that allows the nurturing of new breed of leaders. How can this vision be actualised? The nature of every ecosystem is change. Everything working within an ecosystem must evolve and this includes rules, best practices, business models, mind-sets and the leaders themselves who drive the ecosystem. The rapid-fire changing world of the 21st century presents new challenges and opportunities for leadership. The ideas, concepts, and attitudes that once drove the nation to success need to be updated. To be an authentic, inspiring leader, the young people of today must dramatically increase their chances of success as they meet head-on modern society's issues by cultivating new insights and perspectives. What is your plan for Heritage Bank? Our plans for Heritage Bank are unfolding. It is a gradual process. With the acquisition of Enterprise Bank Limited, Heritage Bank is now a bigger and better bank. One of our major strategies is to work with our partners to grow their business and take them to the stock market. As a service organization in the business of banking, we must be in the stock market ourselves for us to achieve this feat. That is our direction. What would you say is responsible for the success you have achieved so far? My tools for success are people and good processes. But most importantly, people, because people drive the processes. I believe that success is largely hinged on people who have been able

to key into my vision, believing in such vision and turning it into a common goal. They are people who invested their time, efforts, ideas and energy in the business. They are people equipped with good business processes, and benefiting from lasting support from partnerships built over time. How do you unwind and what kind of music do you listen to? I spend special time with my family, swimming and playing lawn tennis. I listen to a lot of gospel music and l like cool Jazz music. What is your view about gospel music in Nigeria? Gospel music is here to stay. There is a huge message gospel music has to spread to the world and this can be done with modern beats and instruments to create soothing and appealing sounds while ensuring the direct message delivery. Tell us about your salvation experience. God has been very instrumental in my life. My parents were very religious people and God is the pillar upon which I have built my foundation. Given the harsh economic situation faced in the country today, what encouragement would you give to someone who is about to give up? History has shown that formal education, specifically, is not an indication of success or prosperity. However, a prepared mind merits success, but again time and opportunity happens to us all. We should note that success is for mere humans who are courageous enough not to give up regardless of the failures and/or obstacles which may come their way. Like my favourite saying goes; “Opportunities dance with those already on the dance floor”. Never stop dancing.

To be an authentic, inspiring leader, the young people of today must dramatically increase their chances of success as they meet head-on modern society's issues by cultivating new insights and perspectives

‘Challenges OULD you tell us about your early life? I am from Isoko in Delta State but was born In Ekiti State before my parents moved to Ogun State. My parents were peasant farmers, so growing up was very tough. In fact, I was a dullard in my primary school days. One day, my teacher had to lock my friend and I in the toilet for two hours because an inspector was coming to the school. After we were released, I asked why we had to be locked up in the toilet and to my amazement, she said the decision was taken to prevent us from embarrassing the school before the inspector should he decide to ask us any question. That was my experience as a pupil in the primary school back then. The dullard of those days, has become a man imparting knowledge on thousands of school children across the country and the continent of Africa as our books are in demands even in America and European countries. The incident was one of the things that challenged me to aim for excellence in life. I wish that my teachers who see my books would remember me and that ugly event. It goes on to mean that everyone can turn his problems to success and that when a child is not doing well initially, he should be loved and cared for and not given the kind of treatment that I received because it could go a long way to affect the psyche of such child academically and socially. It could make some children to suffer emotional imbalance and inferiority among their peers. When did you start publishing? I started publishing in 1996 when I found that there was a dearth of quality books in the country. Instead of buying books made in the country many high brow private schools were not importing books from abroad. Before you ventured into publishing, what were you doing? For over 15 years, I ran a private school where I taught in all the classes. That gave me the first hand knowledge about the missing areas in our curriculum. I didn’t just wake uo to start a school. It started when I heard voice instructing me to pick chalk and begin to write. I started this and before I knew it, a parent brought two children, later another one brought three children and it began to grow from there. Our books are children friendly. What we have done is to break down topics in languages best understood by the children. No matter how complex the topics are, any child that takes our books will easy grasp it because of our approach to it. If you check for-

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Mr. Dennis Okoro is a Director of the MTN Foundation. The foundation was established for the purpose of focusing MTN Nigeria's efforts in terms of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) initiatives. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE, Okoro speaks on the achievements and challenges of the foundation among other issues. Excerpts: OW would you describe the journey so far? So far, the achievements on this programme have exceeded our expectations. When we started the programme, we were not sure on how far we will go. However, it is interesting to note from the yearly performances, our awardees have continuously shown their accrued skills and appreciation for the support of MTN Foundation on the programme. We have seen a steady growth of the students who are largely from the middle and lower classes in the society while very few of them are from the upper class. The scholarship is open to all Nigerians although we are particular about students who are talented in music but do not have money to go for classes. It is a two year programme that has consistently turned out young people who are ready to be different in what they do. You sponsor students from the low class. What informed this decision? When the proposal to sponsor a programme in MUSON was presented to the board, a number of people felt the idea was elitist. A lot of them thought of our para-music and native music; thinking that only children of the elite study at the MUSON Centre. As it is our style to build capacity and make a difference, we decided to give it a trial by sponsoring more of the students who are talented but could not afford studying at the MUSON Centre. Happily for us, it has been a success story. We are glad to see the graduating students and their families express heartfelt cheers as they graduate today. How do you measure the success of the programme? The testimonies are numerous. We have recorded a lot of successes. For instance, last year some of our students had a concert here. Recently, we found out that some of them are in South Africa making waves. A number of them also got scholarship to study music in the United States of America. Some of them are currently being courted by private schools to teach music in their schools. So the testimonies have been great because quite a number of them are doing fine. What other MTNF empowerment activities do you have for young people? We have been able to furnish many schools across the federation. In some places, students and teachers do not have seats in their schools and classrooms. Programmes like this music scholarship are quality programmes of the MTNF to ensure educational empowerment for young

•Okoro

‘Why we are sponsoring the study of music’ Nigerians. More so, under our yearly school development programme, we have the School Connect programme; where we build computer labs for schools to enable students study adequately. We have done that for over 62 schools across Nigeria and we are not relenting. At the tertiary level, Lagos State University (LASU),

University of Nigeria (UNN), University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) have benefited from our digital library projects. Our flagship is the science and technology scholarship where we award 500 scholarships to students every year in science and technology subjects. And the condition for the award is that you must maintain a 3.5 CGPA for your scholarship to be renewed annually. The scholarship is worth N200, 000 every year. MTNF is also sponsoring the study of music by young people... The earlier perception that those studying music are not serious is due to ignorance by a lot of parents. Unfortunately, due to this ignorance, our young people are losing a lot because they are not doing arts. Arts and music are the two creative elements in the school curriculum. A musician creates music. An artist also creates. Also, students who can combine arts and music are able to use parts of the brain that others do not use, because those parts are highly logical. Due to ignorance, parents are particular about their children doing sciences, to become doctors amongst others disciplines while neglecting the arts. Unfortunately, this has led to the loss of creativity among some of our young people. We want to be creative and music was introduced into the school curriculum for a purpose; because it helps you to use that part of the brain that is very creative and is rarely used. If you have a child who can write and create music, you will see the difference. Regrettably, we now have charlatans who simply take a beat and play into it all in the name of music. Music is very attractive to the soul but unfortunately, some schools do not have music in their curriculums anymore. For instance, successful individuals such as those who design computers, usually have a background in arts and other creative activities. A typical example is Steve Jobs who invented Apple and after leaving school ignited the creativity in him with arts; to start doing computer designs with astounding record of successes. So, at MTN Foundation, our goal is to create such genuine individuals and I hope people appreciate it. Why music? When you listen to an opera or an orchestra, such music relaxes your nerves. You can be studying when it plays in the back ground. But when you listen to a very noisy music, it distracts and you may not be able to concentrate because you are not “listening” to music. Also, research has shown that when a woman is pregnant, you should create an atmosphere of soft music for her to always relax. The research connected the fact that when such babies are born, they are usually organised. Another research was done with rose flowers. Some rose flowers were grown under two different conditions: that of noisy music and classical music. The experiment revealed that when the flowers started budding, those planted in a soft and classical music environment were properly rounded while those grown in a noisy environment were scattered. What is the focus of this music training? If by our activities we are redirecting the focus of our young people, then we are achieving our goals. For instance the boys graduating in this set have a lot of potentials and possibilities awaiting them in the society. They can become professionals in music if they choose to. Music makes you think a lot about life, making the best use of it. Life is not all about making money and that is what good music gives you.

facing publishing business in Nigeria’ eign books, you will see that our culture and traditions are not reflected in them. We have accommodated all these in our books to help the children have a good understanding of our culture and also enhance their moral values. We have brought back the African culture and values in our books and they have been having huge impact on the children using them. We get testimonies about this and academic success from schools and parents. For private schools, especially the high brow ones to adopt a book means it is of good quality. We are willing to and prepared to partner with various state governments. You appear to be concentrating on the primary classes. Why is this so? You cannot build any solid house without a solid foundation. This is why we are concentrating on producing books that will help in building solid foundation for our children. We want our children to be well molded from the foundation just like the Americans. When you see an American child, he or she thinks like an adult because of the quality of knowledge impacted on them. This is what we are out to achieve. What are the challenges confronting you as a publisher? The challenges are enormous. First is the challenge of power supply in the country. Like many other companies in the country, we rely on generator to generate power and to do this everyday means spending huge resources on a daily basis. This is killing many businesses in the country as it affects your income and capital by extension. •Ogberaha Another challenge is

As a child, Mr Judeson Ogberaha, the Chief Executive Officer of Learnrite Publishers Services, was deemed an embrassment to his school because of perceived inadequaccies by his teachers. On one occasion, he had to be locked up together with his friend in a toilet for two hours to avoid spoiling the image of the school before a visiting education inspector. Instead of killing his morale and interest in education, the ugly incident became a turning point in his life. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, the man perceived to be a dullard by his teachers shared the experience of how he rose to become a prolific writer, author and a successful publisher. Excerpts: the huge tax being charged by the government. I am not saying that the government should not collect tax from publishing houses but they should be lenient with us because we are helping to correct social issues and consequently assisting the government to lessen their problems. Finance is the next on the list of these problems. Publishing business is capital intensive and when you approach the banks for loan, they would ask for collateral and several other requirements. This is making it difficult for many people with lofty ideas to thrive. This is one area I want the government to look into to help entrepreneurs. Looking at the books, one can see that your name on all of them. How is it that you wrote Mathematics and English Language books? It started as a result of necessity. My first degree is in English Language. I also have a Masters Degree in English Language and currently doing my PhD in it but situation made me to study Mathematics. If for the past 15 years our children have continued to fail WAEC, it shows that

our curriculum is failing. Many children believe that Maths is hard but my experience has shown that it is not. Attention is gradually shifting to e-learning, what threat does this pose to the publishing industry? We are aware of this and are fully prepared for it. But the challenges in the country don’t make us really ripe for it now. The challenge of power supply does not encourage e-learning and e -library. The problem of piracy also makes it difficult for e-learning and elibrary because by when you upload your works online, pirates would easily and quickly feast on it. How do you relax and what time do you have for your family considering your family schedule? I can count on my fingers the number of times I have attended social functions or travelled outside Lagos State in the last 30 years that I took up this task upong myself. Sometimes, after working all day, I would pick my car key in the evening and drive around. This is how I relax and I get inspired the more when I do this. I write at night because the brain is more relaxed then. As an avid reader and a writer one would hardly believe that you would have time for love. When did you find love? Behind every successful man there is a woman. So, for me to succeed, I needed a woman and I found one, a very brilliant and God fearing one. When I met her, I was still operating a very small class of few children. When we met, I told her that I had a call to teach the whole country. She replied by asking if it was from that small place that I would teach the whole nation. Being a woman of great faith, she saw through it.

H EALTH MATTERS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Dwindling fish stocks: on nutrition, health HANNAH OJO writes on how rising levels of contaminants in the Lagos lagoon poses great danger to nutritional security for the state and beyond

ITH a water area estimated at 261.6 km, Lagos should be a place sprawling with tonnes of fresh fish for consumption. However, this seems to be a distant reality as a huge population and unhealthy lifestyle is not only changing the profile of the fish consumed in most households but also leading to dwindling yield for local fishermen. Findings have shown that dwindling supply has led to exorbitant prices making fresh fish, a rich source of animal protein out of the reach of poor families. This development not only poses danger to food security but also contributes to malnutrition. A visit to the Lagoon shore fish market in Epe, a fishing community in Lagos shows a beehive of activities, but that should not be taken to mean that all is well with the markets. Fish retailers lament low sales and lack of capital to do business. Fishermen confirmed that fishing has changed as they now spend a longer time in the lagoon with lesser catch to show for their nightlong hunting. In credence to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation titled “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture”, indications are that in addition to providing food and contribution to the nutritional security of poor households, there is also a cash-income pathway where commercialisation sea products also offer livelihood opportunities to people in fishing communities. Adeniyi Kotonileru, a fisherman operating in Epe, a coastal community speaks of how lack of capital to purchase fishing equipment by local farmers is responsible for dwindling returns witnessed by fish hunters. “In the past, our fathers have cooperative societies where they get loans to buy fishing equipment and distribute it among themselves. They return the money in instalment but those groups have closed. Government should organise something like that so that we will be able to buy fishing equipment and pay the loan by instal-

•Sea food on display in a market

ment with lower interest," he said. Dr. Olukayode Olubiyi, a fishing gear specialist at the School of Fisheries and Marine Technology Federal College, Victoria Island, Lagos identified pollution as a major reason for the dwindling number of fishes in the Lagos lagoon and the sea. He listed oil spillage, unlawful disposal of balanced water by ships and untreated industrial effluents that go into the water from different companies as major sources of pollutants for Lagos waters. “I did a research to test the effect of effluents in our waters on the fishing gear. It is terrible. What goes into our waters is really serious. We knew from long ago that a lot of waste goes into the Lagos lagoon. If the pollutants could affect the nets, then you can imagine the serious effects it would have on the fish." “These effluents have negative effect because fish is supposed to stay in fresh clean water. For fish that are grown in a polluted environment, if they manage to survive at all, whoever eats them is consuming fish that is contaminated," he submitted. According to him,

Fish protein is essential for iron and blood formation as well as helping the formation of the bones and teeth. It also aids the development of thyroids glands and acquisition of hormones and enzymes

the physical test to discern contaminated fish is to see if a fish retains finger identification when touched and also watch out for fishes with cloudy eyes, non- reddish gills and a skin that is not iridescent. Dr. Ademola Yakub, a Biological Oceanography, who is a senior research officer at the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) admits there is a challenge of fish resources in Lagos waters. “Fishes within the five nautical miles of our water are already over exploited because we have over-fished and we don’t go to where there is abundance. The fishes in the shallow waters are being depleted whereas the deep sea resources remain underexploited. “Some effluents have the ability to kill the fish out rightly. Some will not kill the fish directly but will affect the quality of the water. Some will affect the younger fishes and prevent reproductive activities. Pollution also contaminate fishes by destroying their nostril glands and breathing glands," said Dr. Yakub while answering a question of how pollution changes the profile of fishes. Lagos being the most urbanized city in Nigeria generates the highest level of both gaseous and solid waste materials which are sometimes let into the lagoon by households and industries. Although he maintained that the fish in our natural water body is still safe to eat, he however, admitted that there is a rising profile on the level of contaminants in Lagos water and urged for a continuous monitoring of Nigeria coastal water for pollution by the regulatory agencies concerned. With a growing population and diminishing coastlines as a result of human activities, how does one ensure that the

•Orakwue

next generation would not wake up to discover the ocean's resources necessary for nutritional needs have been finished? Both scientists make cases for safer practices that would enhance sustainability of marine resources. “Fish is a renewal resource if proper and effective management principles are adhered to. We should prevent pollution, the source of our pollution from both the point and diffuse sources. All industries must treat their effluents before they discharge them into the natural water body. The fishery regulating agency should make sure that all the fishery laws are obeyed by fisher folks and fishing companies," Yakub suggested. It’s been said that the reason why fish is so expensive is because there is too much reliance in the capture sector. Presently, aqua culture contributes a very marginal percentage of the fish supply in Nigeria.

H EALTH MATTERS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Experts warn implications •Fishermen at work on the Lagos lagoon

‘Contaminated fish can affect unborn babies, children’ Mrs. Temitope Sikiru, a Senior Nutritionist at Massey Street Child Hospital, Lagos, in this interview, speaks on the nutritional benefits derived from eating a proper fish diet How does fish diet help to prevent and correct stunted child growth? Fish is an essential source of protein. This protein is of High Biological Value, known as HBV. A proper fish diet can help to prevent and correct kwashiorkor, a disease condition caused by inadequate intake of protein in children. Moreso, because of the presence of calcium in fish, it helps in the formation of strong bones which can help to prevent rickets in children and osteoporosis in adulthood. How does improved nutrition on fish diet for women during pregnancy improve birth weight and also prevent anaemia? Improved nutrition on fish diet for women during pregnancy can help to prevent anaemia since fish is also a source of Iron and calcium. To be noted is that fact that for the iron to be properly absorbed and utilized by the body, plant products, especially fruits rich in Vitamin C should also be consumed because Vitamin C aids iron absorption. Moreso, the calcium will proffer great health benefit to support the pelvic bones for small adult pregnant women.

•A fish trader displaying her stock

Olubiyi made a case for improvement in fish farming rather than sole reliance on the capture sector as the major means of getting fishes. Aquaculture also poses the challenge of varieties as it is only the production of cat fish that has been mastered by Nigerian fish farmers. For local fish farmers relying on the capture means of fishing, they also have to contend with disasters such as floods, diseases break-out and human thefts. Although government has placed a structural ban on imported frozen fish in the country in a bid to stimulate local fish farming, there is a biting effect on the masses who now have to ration their intake of fish thereby depriving both adults and children of the specific micronutrients necessary for growth and devel-

opment. Finishing fishes, grim picture for nutrition Why should Nigeria take the dwindling number of fishes on its coast seriously? This is due to the importance that fish nutrients serve noted Mrs. Benedine Orakwue, a nutritionist. Orakwue who wrote a book on defeating type 11 diabetics Mellitus with diets, said fresh fish contain minerals which are of nutritional value to children as it not only adds to their growth status but also aids kids in developing cognitive abilities. “Fish protein is essential for iron and blood formation as well as helping the formation of the bones and teeth. It also aids the development of thyroids glands and acquisition of

hormones and enzymes," she told The Nation. “What fish does in adult is to maintain the bones because of the calcium content and also maintains the heart since red meat can cause blockage in the arteries. Preferably, adults should take dry fish to reduce the level of cholesterol", she added. In Nigeria, 29.5 of children under five suffer malnutrition according to the 6th report on the World Nutrition Situation published by the United Nations Systems Committee on Nutrition. Not just a statistic to be relegated into a background noise, this spells the fact that one in four Nigerian children suffer from Vitamin A deficiency which could lead to poor sight, stunted growth and failure to develop cognitive abilities for learning. For women, nutritional deficiencies arising from not having enough intakes of nutrients gotten from fish can also result in anaemia which is a persistent problem contributing to birth related deaths in the country. The Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 3 aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture as well as ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages. It is only safe to say that Nigeria will come near the realisations of these goals if government and stakeholders see to policies that will help to protect resources. Achieving sustainable food and nutrition security, it appears could only be a viable means of finding lasting solution to hunger and malnutrition in the country.

•Sikiru

What are the health defects that could arise from eating contaminated fish? The health defects that could arise from eating contaminated fish mostly affects pregnant women, unborn babies and children, and have lesser effects on adults. The effect includes poor nervous and brain development, delayed developmental milestone, numb or tingling fingers and poor neck co-ordination. It should be noted that, mercury is the major source of contaminant in fish. Are there health defects that could arise from the inability to eat a proper fish diet? The health defects that could arise from not eating a proper fish diet are serious. In adults, there is susceptibility to or increased risk of development of certain types of cancers e.g breast cancer, oral cancer, and prostate cancer. The inability to get fish protein can also lead to increased risk of high blood pressure and increased risk of depression. It can also cause illness such as kwashiorkor and underweight in children.

By Professor Dayo Oyekole Ph.D. (Ibadan), NMD, FNCP Tel: 0803-330-3897 Website: www.holisticlifecare.com E-mail: kolemetric@yahoo.com

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Amosun submits transition committee members’ names for screening Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta GUN State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has sent the names of transition committee members for the 20 local governments in the state to the House of Assembly for screen-

•Representative of Osun Governor and Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola (middle);President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu(2nd left); Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Mr. Udeme Ufot (2nd right);Vice Chairman, Event Planning Committee (AAAN), Mrs. Bisi Afolabi; and Chairman, Board of Trustees (AAAN), Mr. Ayo Owoborode, during the 42nd Annual General Meeting and Congress of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, at Leisure Spring Hotel, Osogbo

ing. The tenure of the elected local government council chairmen and councilors officially lapsed last Wednesday. The Speaker, Suraj Adekunbi, informed the lawmakers of the receipt of the list during plenary session, asking the nominees to appear before the House for screening on Monday with their Curriculum Vitae. The governor's nominees include Tunde Olukoga, Olaniyi Opanuga, Deola Tayo, Muyiwa Odufowokan and Sabitu Olumide for Waterside, Odogbolu, Ijebu North east, Ijebu east and Ewekoro local government areas respectively. Others are Lola Awoniyi, Segun Adebowale, Mojeed Akindele, Ibikunle Bayowa and Olusola Ekundayo for Sagamu, Odeda, Ijebu North, Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South local council respectively. Also nominated are Akin Odusola, Idowu Ojumo, Lukman Adeola, Akintonde and Akeem Fagbemi for Yewa North, Ado Odo/Ota, Ifo, Obafemi Owode and Ipokia local government areas respectively. For Imeko Afon, Yewa South, Remo North, Ijebu Ode and Ikenne council, Amosun nominated Olaleye Tajudeen, Wole Tiamiyu, Aw otola, Wasiu Baruwa and Tolani Obakoya respectively.

PPMC, NEMA can’t access Arepo pipeline fire 48 hours after ORTY-EIGHT hours after the System 2B pipeline exploded at Arepo, reportedly killing over 100 people, security operatives, rescue workers and other agencies were yet to access the scene of the incident, The Nation learnt yesterday. The facility went up in flames in the wee hours of Wednesday following a clash between oil thieves, who were scooping fuel. The development, it was gathered, was as a result of fear of being attacked by vandals who have laid siege to the area. But emergency workers yesterday, disclosed that the fire, which started at about midnight on Tuesday, stopped on its own after the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), shut supply to the pipeline. There was no official confirmation of the casualty figure as the various agencies declined to be categorical as at press time yesterday. Neither the police spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, his Nigerian Secu-

Emeka UGWUANYI and Precious IGBONWENLUNDU rity and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) counterpart, Emmanuel Okey, nor the Southwest spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the Southwest, Ibrahim Farinloye could give definite statistics. Meanwhile, it was learnt yesterday that the victims, most of whom were Ijaw, have been buried in shallow graves in the swamp by van-

NNPC to make the necessary security arrangement for their men to assess the damage and do necessary repairs. The government cannot confirm if there are casualties or not since they have not accessed the place.” It was learnt last night that the PPMC, NNPC and NEMA were mobilising to get access to the vandalised point. PPMC spokesman Nasir Imodagbe confirmed that the fire had been put out after supply was cut off to the pipeline line. “We are striving to access

it to determine the extent of damage and level of casualty,” Imodagbe said. On when the PPMC men would move in, the spokesman said: “Once we access the vandalised spot, we would assess the extent of damage; commence repairs immediately and restore supply to the pipeline as soon as reparation is completed. The spot of the explosion is about two kilometres away from the accessible area now because it is a difficult terrain but we are working assiduously to access it.”

Osun brand is too strong for politicians to destroy—Aregbesola SUN State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, on Friday, said, the strength of the branding of the state under his administration would make it to remain investor-friendly and capable of attracting the best of minds for positive engagements. He made the remark after declaring open the 42nd edition of the Annual General Meeting of the Advertising Agencies of Nigeria which commenced in Osogbo, the state capital on Friday. He was represented by his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. He said: "You have come to

Unity Bank repositions, MD resigns Adedeji ADEMIGBUJI, Chief Correspondent he Board of Directors of Unity Bank is repositioning the lender even as its Managing Director Henry James Semenitari resigned on Friday. This is after a successful recapitalisation and re-branding that evolved the bank into a profitable and customer-focused financial services company. Sources told The Nation that Semenitari would be replaced by “someone from within who meets all the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) requirements”. “The board made a pre-emptive move based on the future direction of the company after a successful stint as MD by Semenitari with strong support of the board and executive management,” the source said. With an average professional banking experience of 24 years each, led by Thomas Etuh (Chairman) and Aminu Babangida (Vice Chairman), the bank’s board has a combined 120 years of experience with highly talented, leadership to drive growth and continued improvement in services to customers while upholding the principle of responsible banking practices. Furthermore, none of the banking regulatory institutions in the country - Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NDIC or Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)—has raised any concern over happenings in Unity Bank. The NDIC 2014 yearly report recently released gave the bank a clean bill of health. Unity Bank concluded a right issues and private placement of N39.224 billion last year, which was largely oversubscribed.

dals to cover their tracks. When contacted, Ojukwu said investigations were still ongoing and that no arrest had been made. He told The Nation that the police would investigate and arrest the culprits. In his response, Farinloye said that emergency workers would no longer go to the scene since the fire had stopped. He said: “It is no longer an emergency since the fire has gone off on its own. We no longer need to go to the place. It is now left for the

Osun and you can see for yourselves whether the impression of a famine-gripped state painted by our political opponents is reflected on the faces of the accommodating people you see around. "The economic challenge of Nigeria must be seen for what it is: a general crisis for which a state or a governor cannot be picked as the scapegoat. But unfortunately, that has remained the agenda of those who feel it is possible to destroy the efforts that had in recent years, advertised our state as a pride of the Black race. “ With construction of r�oads and other infrastructure put in place by the government during the first term, the state has been able to attract global attention with globally recognised awards for its noble initiatives such as Opon imon, Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) among others. The Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the office of the governor, has however told the former Head of Service Mr. Segun Akinwusi, to exhibit some degree of decency and honesty in the figures he advertises on revenues accruing to the state and stop deliberate falsehood against the government. The Bureau regretted that “Akinwusi has pitiably turned himself to a laughing stock in the estimation of right-thinking people when he accused the governor of receiving N862 billion and less than two months after, came down to N317 billion.” Reacting to the various allegations leveled against the state government at a meeting organised by Senator Iyiola Omisore, Niyi Owolade, and , and Akinwusi the defeated candidates of the

PDP, Accord Party and Social Democratic Party respectively in Ile Ife on Thursday, the bureau said it amounted to hypocrisy, ignorance and sheer mischief for the organizers to continue to advertise outrageous figures as revenues to the state. “ What is most baffling and shameful is that the figures which these individuals willfully advertise either as financial resources that accrued to Osun within four years or the debt portfolio of the state are facts that in the public domain. “Where then do they derive this strong commitment to falsehood? At their conspiratorial meeting in Ife on Thursday which they prefer to call a summit, they all said again that the state got N317 billion in four years, about N111 billion off the mark of what the state got.

The Bureau in its statement signed by the Director, Semiu Okanlawon, said, “Elder Segun Akinwusi is inconsistent and that is highly nauseating considering the fact that he rose to become the Head of Service of Osun. In May, he raised a false alarm through his party, SDP that Aregbesola should account for N846bn he had collected as allocation in the last four years. “The same Akinwusi yesterday said Aregbesola had collected N317 in four years. Which one does he want Nigerians to believe? “The facts that are verifiable state that Osun got from the federation account N177 billion and when you add the unprecedented about N27 billion as internally generated revenue in the same period to that, you get the N204.

Computer society hails Ondo residency card HE Nigeria Computer Society(NCS) has described the Residency Card, an initiative of the Ondo State government, as a model that other states can emulate. The NCS made the remark while rounding off its three-day international conference in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Friday. The President of the Society, Prof David Adewumi, who led the national executive members on a courtesy visit to the state's Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, said the ‘Kaadi Igbeayo’ initiative was in tandem with the theme of the conference of the society 'Information Technology for Inclusive Development' , adding that the initiative is a welcome development that has been acknowledged worldwide. Prof Adewunmi described Mimiko as ICT compliant in all ramifications particularly with the ‘Kaadi Igbeayo’ initiative, saying “Mr. Governor, you are ICT compliant”. Kaadi Igbeayo is well known worldwide'. He said the NCS is the umbrella body of all ICT professionals in Nigeria, stressing that the international conference will be of immense benefit to the people and government of Ondo State. Responding, Mimiko charged the society to use ICT tools in driving an inclusive development in all sectors of Nigeria's economy, stressing that his administration has invested so much in human development, which is inclusive in the last six years.

‘Nigerians must be patient with Buhari’ UBLISHER of deEverything must Oseheye OKWUOFU, Ibadan funct Third Eye go quietly and newspapers , Chief Akanni Aluko, steady. So, I think the President knows yesterday, commended President Muham- what he is doing. madu Buhari, over his zero tolerance for "If he had for instance appointed the mincorruption adding that the recent action of isters , he would have been unsettled by the President has confirmed that Nigeria now especially with newspapers reporting can fight and win the war against the vice. that out of the 36 states , 33 failed the corThe publisher disagreed with those say- ruption test . We have seen that almost ing the President Buhari was slow, saying everybody in Nigeria is a suspect . So, we that the expected change would not take must have to support the President. place overnight. "He is here to properly clean Nigeria of According to him: " President Buhari corruption and bring the needed change . came into office on specific mandate and And the song we are listening to now is the started with the slogan of change during change mantra .We can now see that almost the defunct CPC era. The ACN joined him all Nigerian governors are corrupt and and Nigerians embraced it and voted for there is absolutely no one that can come out them. And when you say change , you clean if they are subjected to corruption must wait patiently for it and not com- test. plain. Nobody should be complaining now.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Benue Killings: Ortom’s CSO denies murder allegation •Governor promises to convene security summit, construct airport T

HE Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Dickson Pawa, a Superintendent of Police, has denied allegations that he was responsible for the killing of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in the state, Atoza Ihindan. The late Ihindan was killed by gunmen suspected to be hired assassins penultimate Friday in Katsina-Ala town

while inspecting the perimeter fence of one of his houses. The eldest son of the deceased PDP chieftain and former commissioner in Governor Gabriel Suswam's administration, Mr Terfa Atoza, had accused Pawa of being one of the masterminds of his father’s death.

Fuel tanker claims five lives in Niger IVE persons were confirmed dead yesterday while 30 houses and 22 shops were burnt at Kagara,headquarters of Rafi local government area of Niger state when a tanker loaded with petroleum product ran into a building and exploded late on Thursday. Besides,11 vehicles including the truck and 11 motorcycles were burnt. The Kaduna bound truck was said to have lost control before smashing into the building . It caught fire immediately. The fire spread quickly to adjoining houses and shops. Among the dead were two teenagers who were burnt to death in a locked shop. The inferno sparked a traffic gridlock on the Mokwa-Kaduna highway. Eye witness told reporters that those injured were rushed to the Kagara General Hospital while the

Jide ORINTUNSIN, Minna

dead were buried yesterday in according to Islamic rites. Four injured persons treated at the General Hpspital have since been discharged. Assistant Zonal Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Niger state. Mallam Musa Abdulrazaq said officials of the agency visited the scene of accident to assess the level of destructions in order to provide victims of the accident relief materials. Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the state command, Mr. Bala Elkana, an Assistant Superintendent of Police also confirmed the accident. Elkana said Police in the town and men of the State Fire Service were able to bring the inferno under control with the support of public spirited individuals.

Uhuotu elected Kogi PDP chair HE Kogi chapter of PDP has inaugurated its new executive council with Mr Sam Uhuotu as the Chairman.

Uhuotu, who was inaugurated alongside other newly elected executive members of the party in Lokoja on Friday, was elected at a party congress on Thursday. Other executive members are Mr Ranti Abenemi as Deputy Vice-Chairman, a former state Chairman of the defunct ANPP, Mr Farouk Yahaya, as Secretary, and Mr John Ebosogo as Legal Adviser. Also elected were Mr Alfred Bello as the Treasurer, Mr Jude Sule., Financial Secretary, Mr Bode Ogunmola, Publicity Secretary, and Mrs Margaret Fabiyi as Woman Leader. The oath of office was administered on the new executive members by the Legal Adviser of the party in the North Central, Mr Kabiru Mohammed. Inaugurating the new state PDP executives, the PDP ViceChairman in the North Central zone, Alhaji Yusuff Ayitogo, urged them to start work immediately so that the party could win the coming governorship election in the state. He urged the new chairman to be open and transparent in his dealings with members of the party as much was expected from them. Responding, Ohuotu promised to provide quality and responsible leadership and appealed to other members of the executive to join him in efforts to take the party to greater heights.

Guber election: Group backs power shift in Kogi HEAD of the November 21 governorship election in Kogi State, the recent resolve by key stakeholders from the West and Central senatorial districts of the state to field a common candidate has been endorsed by a group known as Kogi Central Think-tank Forum (KCTF). The endorsement followed a recent meeting of stakeholders from the two senatorial districts in Abuja to fashion out ways to wrest the governorship ticket from the Kogi East Senatorial

District. A statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of KTTF, Alhaji Jafaar Mohammed, described the move as laudable and promised to provide its platform to propagate the message. The statement condemned a recent publication in The Nation newspaper credited to one Bello Salami Yunusa, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of the people of Central Senatorial District of Kogi State, kicking against the resolve of the stakeholders.

Atoza, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, said he had strong reasons for his suspicions, adding that he had already filed a petition to the Inspector General of Police over the matter. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, the CSO, who also served under Suswam's administration as his Aid De Camp (ADC), said the allegations were "spurious, vexatious and unfounded." He wondered why anyone would link him with the elder politician’s death when he had no hand in it. He accused close allies of former Governor Suswam of fabricating the falsehood in

order to create problems for him because they were opposed to his new position in the opposition Ortom’s government. Pawa had resigned his position as ADC to the immediate past governor towards the tail end of his administration following disagreements with his principal over Governor Ortom’s governorship aspiration. Commenting on the allegations, Mr. Tahav Agerzua, Special Adviser on Media and ICT to Governor Ortom said due process required investigation, prosecution and conviction before quilt can be established. The police have said they have arrested some suspects in connection with the mur-

der. In another development, the Benue State Government has announced plans to convene a security summit and establish an airport in Makurdi, the state capital. Governor Ortom made the disclosure yesterday at the Benue State Executive Council retreat held at the Benue People's House Makurdi. He explained that there was need for neighbouring states to meet and brainstorm over similar security challenges, hence the need for the summit. On the airport, he said the current one in Makurdi was a military facility with limitations, adding that when the civil one would be com-

pleted, it would avail farmers and business people who deal in perishable commodities the opportunity to export their products, among other things. The Governor who stressed the importance of security as one of the priorities of his administration, promised that he would spearhead the convocation of the summit with neighbouring states to evolve ways of tackling insecurity in the North Central axis so as to guarantee a stable atmosphere that could promote the safety of lives and property as well as boost foreign investment in the state. •See more on killings on page 16

Benue

•The paraded suspects with their weapons

Police smash notorious robbery gang in Yobe HE Police Command in Yobe on Friday said it had smashed a notorious gang of armed robbery suspects terrorising motorists and commuters on the Nguru-Kano federal highway. The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Yobe, Mr Danladi Markus, who presented the gang to the public in Damaturu, said the robbers were arrested after an operation on the highway where a commercial driver was killed. He said the gang targeted businessmen from local governments in the northern part of the state as they went back home after business trips to Kano. He said: ``In this particular incident, the suspected robbers attacked a businessman who

was returning to Nguru from a business trip in Kano, where he purchased some wares. ``The suspected robbers mounted a road block, opened fire on the vehicle, killing the driver while the businessman sustained injuries.'' The commissioner commended the public for their cooperation which he said had assisted the police in Nguru to act swift, thereby arresting the suspects. He said the police recovered one locally made pistol, machetes, bows and arrows. Danladi added that the police command was determined to fight crime across the state with adequate support and cooperation from the public.

Attack: Zamfara Council Boss appeals to residents for calm HE acting Chairman of Birnin Magaji Local Government of Zamfara, Alhaji Muhammad Gusami, on Friday urged residents to support efforts by government to restore peace in the area. Gusami said the people must remain calm in spite of present security challenges, assuring that government was working hard to secure the area. The acting chairman made the appeal while receiving food items donated by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for victims of a recent banditry in the area.

It will be recalled that bandits attacked some communities in the area on July 4, killed over 40 people, injured many and razed several houses and shops. According to him, the state government in collaboration with security agencies will ensure the return of peace and stability to the state. "I urge the affected communities to cooperate with government to achieve this desired goal.'' He also appealed to the people to report any suspicious persons or movement in their communities. ''On behalf of the entire

people of Birnin Magaji local government, I want to commend the state government for the assistance given to the victims especially as the assistance would improve their well being. ''I want to also use this opportunity to thank some wealthy individuals in the state who assisted the victims with food items and clothes," he added. The acting Chairman of SEMA, Mr Sunusi Kwatarkwashi, said the donation was part of the state government's commitment to cushion the hardship being faced by the victims.

Lack of access to loans cripples mining in Kaduna —Miners HE Kaduna State Chapter of the Miners Association of Nigeria on Friday said lack of access to loans from commercial banks had crippled mining activities in the state. The Chairman of the association, Malam Lawal Maiyari, made the assertion in an interview in Kaduna. He described mining sector as an untapped goldmine in the state, urging the miners to come up with bankable visibility study on the amount of mineral deposit to attract loans. Maiyari said that this had remained a major challenge for miners because mining activities were capital intensive. According to him, to come up with a viable visibility study, one will require heavy equipment and other mining gadget without which he cannot achieve much. ``But with the government’s support, a comprehensive and bankable data will be generated to pave way for sustainable and commercially viable måining activities in the state,’’ he said. The chairman of the association said that solid minerals were being underutilised in the country because of the overdependence on the oil sector.

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

Edo tribunal issues bench warrant on WAEC HE Edo State Election Petitions tribunal yesterday issued a bench warrant on the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) for failing to appear before the tribunal after a subpoena was served on it. The examination body was subpoenaed to testify in the case filed by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Oredo East constituency, Okoro Osadebamwen. Okoro, in his petition before the tribunal, alleged that the school certificates from primary to university degree presented by winner of the election, Osagboivo Iyoha, were fake. At the resumed hearing of the case

n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n yesterday, counsel to Iyoha, Eghogho Enahoro informed the tribunal that the subpoena served on WAEC was collected after several attempts, and wondered why the examination body was not in court. The appearance of WAEC was to enable the defendants close their case. The three-man panel tribunal, headed by Justice S. Anjo, however, issued a bench warrant against WAEC to appear before the tribunal. Meanwhile, Iyoha, who was elected on the platform of the APC, appeared before he the tribunal and insisted that

the certificates he presented were genuine. Iyoha said he gained admission to the Edo State University, but as at the time he applied for his certificate, the state government has changed the name of the institution to Ambrose Alli University. He said the names in all the certificates belonged to him and that Tony was his baptismal name. Counsel to Okoro, Solomon Odiase, said the defence counsel was using the refusal of WAEC to appear before the tribunal as a ploy to delay justice before the expiration of the 180 days provided in the Electoral Act.

Ebonyi traders protest govt's forcible eviction n Ogochukwu ANIOKE, Abakaliki n

RADERS at the Abakpa main market, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday took to the streets to protest what they termed as forceful eviction from their business areas by the state government. The traders, who are mainly roadside traders in the market, barricaded government house Abakaliki and demanded to see the governor. They decried the alleged unfavorable policies aimed at them by different task forces working for the government. According to the traders, the immediate cause of the protest was Friday’s directive by the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Moses Ogodo-Ali, ordering them to relocate immediately. They said that the Commissioner, even though he did not give them prior notice, came along with trailers, tippers and tractors to demolish the structures they

use in doing their businesses. The traders carried placards with different inscriptions, such as; Hustling is better than stealing; give us permanent site; We are tired of embarrassment; Business is our destiny; Please allow us to hustle and We are human beings not animals, among others. One of the leaders of the protesters, Mr Ejiofor Azuewo, told reporters that they resorted to the protest following the unbearable treatment being meted out to them in the market by people claiming to be working for the government. He alleged that they were being forced to pay obnoxious levies. Mr Azuewo explained that the reason for the influx of traders in the market was due to the increasing number of returnee-traders from the north-east, who he said now sell in the market to earn a living.

Lawyer decries JUSUN’s sevenmonth-old strike in C/River lawyer, Mr Ndoma Egodo, has appealed to the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in Cross River to suspend its seven-month-old strike in the interest of the masses. Egodo made the appeal in an interview in Calabar on Friday. He said that the prolonged strike over autonomy of the judiciary was now to the detriment of the people and a hindrance in the wheel of justice. According to him, many citizens of the state are presently being detained without trial. ``The pains to go on strike for seven months; the pains JUSUN members have inflicted on the people, on the generality of all the stakeholders is enormous. ``Innocent people have been detained endlessly in police custody without trials. ``The fundamental rights of many citizens have been denied them as people have remained in custody for more than 24 hours. ``This is against the provisions of the law. People are crowded in detention just because of selfish interest of some people,’’ he said. The lawyer said that even though the ``bar’’ was in support of the autonomy of the judiciary, the strike was becoming unnecessary in view of the prevailing financial position of the state. He added that many lawyers in the state were suffering because of the continued strike by JUSUN, saying that it was wrong to ask for enforcement of court judgment through strike. ``You cannot use strike to enforce court judgment. You don’t go on strike in perpetuity to enforce judicial judgment. It is very wrong. ``In as much as we support the autonomy of the judiciary, you do not go to the extreme to make demand to the detriment of others. ``Remember that we have Children and our children can no longer go to school. We have young lawyers here some of them between three and five years. ``They don’t have any other job doing and now they cannot go to court. They are finding life difficult while other people are drawing their salaries every month,’’ Egodo said. The legal practitioner urged the JUSUN to call off the strike and continue further negotiations with the new administration in the state.

•Former Governor of Anambra a State, Mr. Peter Obi (right), with his wife, Margaret, during the burial service of Mrs Chinyere Asika at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha yesterday

APGA Abia guber candidate Otti alleges attempt on his life T

HE governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last election in Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, has alleged that his life is in danger, claiming that unknown gunmen tried assassinate him. Speaking with journalists at his campaign office in Umuahia, Otti said the incident happened in the early hours of Friday in a private guest house in the Maitama area of Abuja. Otti said that he left the guest house on Thursday, shortly before the gunmen invaded the place and killed one

n Ugochukwu UGOJI-EKE, Umuahia n

of the policemen on duty in the premises. He sad, “In the early hours of this morning (Friday) I got information that a yet-to-be identified people invaded my guest house in Abuja through the back fence, cut the wire mesh and scaled through the fence and made through to where I stay. “One of the policemen that guard the place was shot dead and the body has been deposited in the mortuary, if I had spent the day there maybe it would

have been a different story now.” He said that the incident happened at 2am yesterday, adding that it could have been a different story if he had spent the night at the guest house. Otti, who said he was not suspecting anyone or group, added that the police have stepped into the matter, even as investigation has commenced. The APGA flag bearer in the last election said, “There have been pockets of attempts on my life, but not to this magnitude since the election was concluded and the matter taken to the tribunal."

A/Ibom Assembly challenges FG on security he Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has assured the people of the state of their safety, and challenged the Federal Government on the need to provide adequate facilities for security agencies in the country. The House Committee on Security, Youths and Sports, during a fact-finding mission to the Nigerian Customs Service Base, decried the state of the harbour of the Customs Service, Eastern Marine, Oron out-station, describing the place as" Not fit for human habitation". The Deputy Chief Whip, who is

n Uyoatta ESHIET, Uyo n also the Vice Chairman of the committee, Hon. Otuekong Nse Essien, said, "this place is not habitable, what you call barrack is not a barrack,” adding that the barrack should be well-funded by the Federal Government. "They don’t have access road, electricity and perimeter fence around the building. Nothing is functioning here. How do you evacuate your men in case of invasion by militants, since there is no access road to this place," he questioned.

Hon. Essien expressed surprise that the officers present during the visit had no riffle. He, however, sympathized with the command over the loss of an officer during a recent attack on the base by militants, and urged the Federal Government to live up to its expectations by putting the necessary machineries in place to ensure the safety of the officers and men of the command. In his reaction, the PRO, Ukpen Dikke, said the command has been subjected to series of attacks by militants. He cited the recent killing of an officer by militants,

who also carted away 10 out of the 14 riffles available to the base. "The militants came through the waterways on boat and attacked the officers who were on duty. They broke into our armoury and carted away 10 out of the 14 rifles, killing one of the men in the process and injuring others." He used the opportunity to call on the government to come to the aid of the service by providing them with good access road, perimeter fence and electricity, noting that the environment is always dark at night. He also appealed to the govern-

ment to provide them with lifesaving appliances, like life jackets and gunboats for their operation. The Chairman of the Committee, Rt. Hon Victor Udofia, assured the customs officers of the state government's readiness to partner with security operatives in the state, stressing that every life is very important and should not be wasted. He promised that the committee will include all their demands in its reports to the assembly. Other members of the delegation are Hon Emmanuel Ekpenyong, Rt. Hon Uduak Ududo and Hon. Samuel Ufuo.

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

•People salvaging their household belongings from flooded homes in Obosi community near Onitsha..yesterday

Timber dealers clash in Imo over revenue collection CONOMIC activities were brought to a halt on Friday at Timber Market, Mgbidi, Imo, following violent clash between two warring groups over revenue collection in the market. It was gathered that the clash caused hours of gridlock on Oguta road section of Owerri/Onitsha highway as vehicle owners abandoned their vehicles for fear of being caught in the web of the clash. Shop owners quickly shut down their shops while passersby ran for safety as all manners of dangerous weapons were freely used by those involved in the fight. An eye witness said the clash broke out when a task force from the market constituted by Mr Donatus Ibeawuchi went to collect rents from another group loyal to one Ikechukwu Obialor. Ibeawuchi is the chairman, Oru Timber Dealers MultiPurpose Co-operative Society, Mgbidi ``When the task force led by one Nwachukwu Akunna entered shops on the left side of the Timber Market, demanding rents it was resisted. ``All manners of dangerous weapons were brandished and physical combat erupted,’’ a source who preferred anonymity said. The source added that some people sustained injuries but no live was lost during the clash. Ibeawuchi, who confirmed the clash, explained that a task force inaugurated by his executives embarked on the revenue drive following a recent High court judgment after a prolonged battle on the ownership of the market.

•Flooded homes in Obosi community ...yesterday Photos: NAN

Six killed, as heavy rain destroys property worth N80m in Anambra

heavy downpour, which lasted for about five hours has drowned at least six people and destroyed property worth over N80 million in the Obosi community near Onitsha in Anambra. The downpour, which started in the early hours of Friday, also caused the collapse of an uncompleted 4-storey building in the Owelle Aja area of the community, while many houses have been flooded with their occupants

trapped inside them. A correspondent who visited the community observed that most residents were hurriedly trying to salvage their property, while others were busy laying sandbags and constructing drainage. It was also observed that a lot of people in the Oduke Layout

were wailing, where a family of four drown during the downpour. Speaking , a landlord in the community, Chief Achebe Ifemaje, said that government must move fast to re-plan the community and stop land speculators selling every piece of available land, without minding the water channel. ``What has happened is a big

lesson to everyone, especially where people refuse to plan but put money first, rather than the safety of lives. ``We appeal to Gov. Willie Obiano to come and re-plan the entire Obosi community, especially its layouts and the Owelle Aja area,’’ he said. An indigene of Obosi, Mr

Michael Chukwurah, appealed to government to prohibit the activities of land speculators and restore the master-plan of the community by removing all structures blocking the free flow of water. ``It is a lie that Obosi does not have a master-plan, but land speculators will keep peddling that rumour, in order to get more land to sell; we do have a master-plan and prominent people in Obosi should invite the state government to come and do the needful,’’

Imo youths want NASS election petition tribunal disbanded OUTHS and other stakeholders in Imo State, under the aegis of the Network of Imo Youths, have petitioned the National Judiciary Council (NJC) and the President of the Court of Appeal, asking for the disbandment of the Justice S.A Sanya-led National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal (Panel 1). The group accused the panel of "reckless use of judicial powers", and noting that, "the judiciary as the last hope of the common man should occupy a central place in every democracy and a tribunal charged with the adjudication of matters arising from electoral disputes should be fair in delivering justice to the people no matter whose ox is gored". The group, led by Chukwubuikem Amaefula, alleged that members of

•Group petitions NJC, accuses panel of bias the panel have compromised their integrity, adding that the "incessant long adjournments, striking out and dismissing election petitions at prehearing sessions without due regard to the cost of filing a preliminary application and the cost of pursuing appeals in piecemeal, coincides with unconfirmed rumours that the panel members may be biased". According to the group, "the panel, since its inauguration three months ago, has not shown any likelihood of taking any petition before it above pre-trial stage, let alone commencement of full trial. "it is obvious from the conduct of the panel since its inauguration that the it was not ready to conclude the

petitions before it within the statutory 180 days, owing to its neverending long adjournments, a development which has further given credence to the general feeling amongst Imo people that the panel was set up to frustrate petitions of the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates in the state by ensuring that none of the petitions before it reaches the judgment stage within the statutory period of 180 days.’’ The stakeholders pointed further that "the tribunal had struck out a petition of the Accord party without considering peculiar nature of the election petitions, which is the difference between Accord and Accord party even after the National Chair-

man of Accord party had insisted that the party authorized its state chapter to file a petition, the uniqueness of each case and facts, as well as recourse to the electoral act section 137(1), which provides that there are two categories of persons who can file an election petition viz: (a) a candidate at an election; (b) a political party which participated at the election. ‘’We know that it is only the Justice S.A Sanya led Election Petition Tribunal Panel that can adjourn a petition for inspection of electoral materials for over a period of one month without recourse to limited time provided by the Electoral Act to address election petitions or striking out and dismissing APC member’s petitions using mere technicalities.”

Senate crisis limited to APC, says Senator Ohuabunwa HE Senator representing Abia n Ugochukwu UGOJI-EKE, Umuahia n North Senatorial District, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, has de- for the country and its people. bunked the claim that there is crisis in “There is no crisis in the Senate. the Senate. What we have is the APC caucus Ohuabunwa said that what is play- whose responsibility it is to produce ing out at the 8th Senate is a mere the principal officers at the Senate, quarrel between members of the All over which they are quarrelling Progressives Congress (APC) in the amongst themselves,” he said. upper legislative chamber over who He said the Senate has been workbecomes what. ing since the principal officers were Speaking with The Nation in elected and sworn in, adding that resUmuahia, he said the red chamber olutions had been made and passed. had commenced its activities in “I have even moved a motion for a earnest with the aim of making laws resolution to be passed,” he said.

The Senator Representing Abia North said that what the other Senators are telling the APC caucus is that they should not allow their internal problems to encroach on the Senate, stressing that it is a personal issue and not a national one. He frowned at those who are contemplating taking the issue of principal officers to court, saying that the issue had been handled and decisions taken.

Man, 51, docked for allegedly belonging to 51-year-old man, Ozalla Onyechukwu- illegitimate `State of Biafra'

goziri, on Friday appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates' Court in Lagos for allegedly belonging to an unlawful society called the "State of Biafra". Onyechukwugoziri is facing trial on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, attending meetings of an unlawful society and belonging to a secret cult.

The accused, however, said he was not guilty to the charges preferred against him. But the Prosecutor, ASP Elizabeth Ekuma, said that the accused committed the offences on July 13. She told the court that the offences were committed between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., at No. 22, Ajijedidun St., off Agunlejika Bus stop, Ije-

shatedo. She said that Onyechukwugoziri belonged to an unlawful society that goes by the name ``State of Biafra" and that he had been attending meetings of the illegitimate group. Ekuma said the offences of the accused contravened sections 41, 42(a) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

“Once such decisions are made, it cannot be reversed,” he said. “I pity those senators who want to go to court over the issue, as they do not have the grounds to do that. Whatever happens at the Senate chambers, be it fighting or otherwise, is not given as evidence in any court,” he said.

THE NATION, SATURDAY JULY 25, 2015

66 News

RESIDENT Barack Obama of the United States of America (USA) dined with his step grandmother, his sister and other extended family members after arriving in Kenya for his first presidential visit to his father's homeland yesterday. Obama's plane, Air Force One, landed in the evening in the Kenyan capital, where he will co-host a conference on boosting entrepreneurs in Africa before travelling on to Ethiopia. After being greeted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and other top Kenyan offi-

Obama dines with Kenyan family after arriving in father's homeland

cials, Obama was whisked through the capital. Hours before Obama's arrival, police blocked major roads and emptied streets of traffic in the usually congested capital as part of a huge security operation. In the darkness, excited Kenyans lined parts of the route to his hotel, cheering as Obama's motorcade passed by. Once at his hotel, the president sat down with the

FG, states, LGs share N518.5bn for June — FAAC

woman he calls "Granny," also called "Mama Sarah," who helped raise his now deceased father as a child. Obama's half sister Auma Obama and a few dozen other extended family members related were also present. Wearing a suit and tie, he chatted amiably with the large family seated at long tables at a restaurant inside the hotel where he is staying. Obama's family connection

to Kenya has cast a trip that is otherwise likely to focus on trade and counterterrorism issues in a personal light. He is not expected to travel to the village where his father is buried. Kenya is a vital ally of the West in the battle against the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, and Obama is likely to focus talks in Nairobi on security cooperation. The al Qaeda-linked group was behind an attack on

Nairobi's upscale Westgate shopping centre in 2013, killing at least 67 people, as well as an attack in April at a Kenyan university near the Somali border that left 148 people dead. In Nairobi, Obama will preside at a Global Entrepreneurship Summit, pay tribute to victims and survivors of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing and dine with Kenyatta, whose indictment by the International Criminal Court

for crimes against humanity largely barred Obama from visiting sooner. Charges have been dropped. Deputy President William Ruto, still facing similar charges in The Hague-based court, was not at the airport reception ceremony. He denies having had a role in fomenting violence after the disputed 2007 election. In the year before that vote, Obama visited Kenya when he was still a senator.

•Excess crude account swells to $2.2bn Two weeks after sharing tax proceeds from the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), the three tiers of government yesterday shared a larger amount of cash from the federation account for the month of June 2015 than they did for May 2015. At the end of monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, N518.542 billion was shared by the federal, state and local governments for June 2015. Addressing journalists at the end of the meeting, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, said the sum of N449.685 billion was shared as statutory allocation, with the Federal Government pocketing N218.928 billion. The states shared N111.043 billion, local governments, N85.610 billion, while the sum of N34.104 billion was shared as 13 per cent derivation for the oil mineral producing states. N62.392 billion, being Value Added Tax (VAT) proceeds, was shared by the federal (N9.359 billion); states (N31.196 billion) and local governments (N21.837 bil-

Nduka CHIEJINA Assistant Editor lion). To make the final distributable cash to the three tiers of governments, the sum of N6.465 billion was shared amongst them as exchange gain. Revenue collecting agencies also smiled to the banks with larger purses in June with the Nigerian Customs Service grabbing a cheque of N3.129 billion or seven per cent of what it collected for the month, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) pocketed N2.528 billion), representing four per cent of the revenue it collected on behalf of the country. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) also collected N6.330 billion as refund due it from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). On its part, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) collected two tranches of cost of revenue of N6.123 billion as from statutory revenue and an additional N2.600 billion from VAT revenue. The meeting was ended on a positive note when it was

2014 NIS stampede: Buhari urged to investigate unfulfilled promise

ICTIMS of the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) stampede have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the unfulfilled jobs promised them by the immediate past administration. The call is contained in a statement issued by Malam Muhammad Sani, the Coordinator of the NIS Victims in Niger, made available in Minna yesterday. In the statement, Sani urged Buhari to revamp the Ministry of Internal Affairs and to release appointment letters to the NIS stampede victims. The statement quoted Sani as alleging that the NIS recently employed new personnel, while victims of the 2014 recruitment exercise were yet to be absorbed into the system as promised. He said: “We, the affected persons, were on Apirl 15, 2015 screened at the NIS headquarters in Abuja for absorption. “After a while, we got information that our letters were ready. “Issuing the said letters that were purportedly ready for over two months has however become insurmountable for the ministry. “Sir, it will interest you to know that recently, the ministry gave appointment letters to several persons who are not victims of the 2014 stampede and they are currently undergoing induction. “Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased shown on national television are yet to resume work, while the injured persons are yet to receive letters of appointment.’’ Sani then urged President Buhari to look into the case in fulfilment of his campaign promise to ensure creation of employment for teeming unemployed youths. “We have been screened and we are desperately waiting to receive our appointment letters. “We reject the cancellation of our screening that was done earlier and demand that our appointment letters be given to us without further delay,’’ he appealed. In a reaction, Mr Ezekiel Kaura, the NIS Coordinator in Niger said that the command had on April 15 delegated officers to accompany the stampede victims to its headquarters for screening. Kaura said: “We have contacted our Head Office on the issue; I urge the affected persons to exercise more patience as plans are underway to bring succour to the victims.’’

•President Muhammadu Buhari (centre); CEO of Ebonylife TV, Mo Abudu; and Nigerian Ambassador to the USA, Prof Ade Adefuye, during a ‘Meet & Greet’ interactive session in honour and commemoration of the President’s visit to the USA

Presidency denies reports claiming US assisting Boko Haram

HE Presidency yesterday denied media reports that President Muhammadu Buhari accused or indicted the United States Government of helping the terrorist group, Boko Haram. It said the reports were untrue. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said that the reports were an unfortunate misinterpretation and distortion of the President's remarks at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) during his official visit to Washington DC. According to him, President Buhari made it abundantly

Augustine EHIKIOYA, Abuja clear in those remarks, copies of which were circulated to the media, that he was convinced that the United States could never support groups such as Boko Haram. He said: "I know the American people cannot support any group engaged in these crimes," The regrets expressed by President Buhari at USIP about the impact of the application of the Leahy Law on Nigeria's war against Boko Haram and terrorism, he said, could not be construed as an indictment of President Barack Obama and

the United States Government who have publicly and privately declared their preparedness to give the Buhari administration the fullest possible support and assistance. He said: "Within the context in which they were made, President Buhari's comments on the adverse effect of the Leahy Law on Nigeria's efforts to contain Boko Haram's atrocious acts of terrorism should only be taken as a passionate appeal for even greater understanding and support from a very powerful and longstanding ally. "President Buhari has nothing but the highest possible regard for President Obama, the

United States Government, the people of the United States, their laws and institutions. "The President had very successful and useful talks with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, other highranking US government officials and members of United States Congress during his visit to Washington DC. "It is his expectation that those talks will lead to better mutual understanding and a further deepening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and the United States, especially in Nigeria's current priority areas of defence and security cooperation."

Group hails NDDC, tells President to shun sycophancy

S President Muhammadu Buhari continues to implement his development plans for Nigerians, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) committed to the development and welfare of the Niger Delta region, has advocated for the strengthening of the commission to complement the Federal Government’s agenda for the zone. Niger Delta Network Advancement Programme (NDNAP), a coalition of civil society groups crusading for the mitigation of problems of poverty, disaster and climate in the region, noted that the climate of insecurity hitherto prevalent in the region has been doused in the recent times.

Uyoatta ESHIET, Uyo The President of the group, Al mustapher Edoho, in a statement yesterday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, attributed the return of peace in Niger Delta to the NDDC’s pro-active steps and total commitment to the development plans of the region. The statement, which was also endorsed by the Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Jubril Uwem Edukere, and the Secretary, Elder Emman Okpodighe, expressed confidence in the leadership of the Managing Director, Sir. Bassey Dan Abia, saying his era has witnessed more development projects in the region. While successive

leaderships of the commission could not effectively tackle the infrastructural problem of the region, Edoho noted that several abandoned projects had been completed during the current era. Some of those projects he listed include network of roads, rural electrification, schools renovation, classrooms and hostel facilities in tertiary institutions, scholarships and empowerment for indigent students. Besides, Edoho disclosed that the NDDC, under Mr. Abia, has succeeded in erecting no fewer than 12 storey buildings, nine hostel facilities in Niger Delta universities and completed a modern and befitting headquarters for the commission. “Before now, the NDDC

used to be in a rented facility. Now, under the current Managing Director, the commission will soon move to its permanent headquarters”, Edoho assured, adding that the delay in relocating the agency to its permanent site was for the President to personally commission it. Commending the President for his smooth take-off as the fourth elected President since the return of democracy in 1999, the group enjoined Nigerians to support Buhari in his quest to fix Nigeria. “It is time for every concerned citizen of Nigeria to be part of the rebuilding process of Nigeria instead of offering baseless criticisms and other unguarded utterances from the sideline”, the group said.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

NEWS

INEC to push for more technology in electoral T process, says Amina Zakari

HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to push for more technology in the electoral process with a view to ensuring transparency in elections,the commission’s acting chairman, Hajiya Amina Bala Zakari, has said. Hajiya Zakari told Channels Television that the reforms that came with the last elections “are here to stay.” She particularly hailed the introduction of the smart card reader saying: “ the card reader is one of the best things to happen to Nigeria, and we are going to continue to push for the use of the card reader through our elections and even if we go beyond the card reader, to have more technology into our electoral process because it ensures transparency and efficiency of the process.” She promised that the Commission would do all within its power to ensure maximum turn out and participation during the forthcoming Kogi and Bayelsa Governorship elections. “We would try to sensitize the Kogi people and Bayelsa people to come out and register those that just

turned 18. I am sure the numbers would not be high because we have worked out a lot throughout 2014 we will still do our best to make sure nobody is disfranchised through PVC or voter registration,” she said. On the procurement of materials for the forthcoming elections, she said the agency was already “tak-

ing an audit to see what we need, and basically it’s not much we need for bye-elections.” “We are soon going to begin sourcing for ad-hoc staff and training them because we have good time and we should be able to deliver good elections,” she added. When asked about INEC’s

readiness to conduct elections in the two states termed “flash points” according to National Human Rights Commission, the Acting Chairman said that these are normal challenges which the Commission faces. She said:“During the era of the Niger-Delta militants we still held

elections in those areas; we have held elections in Borno state, Yobe and Adamawa. These are the challenges the Commission is faced with but because we have good working experience with the security agencies through the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security with whom we hold periodic meetings, quarterly meetings we have been able to overcome most of these challenges.”

Udom loses bid to stop tribunal sitting in Abuja HE Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday threw out an application by the state governor, Emmanuel Udom, querying the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja. The tribunal, in a ruling, dismissed Udom's motion, in which he challenged the tribunal's sitting in Abuja, for being misconceived and misplaced. Udom had challenged the tribunal's jurisdiction to sit and decide the dispute over Akwa Ibom election in Abuja in view of the provision of Section 285 (2) of the Constitution . The tribunal Chairman, Justice Sadiq Umar, who read the ruling, held that the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja on the ground of security

n Eric IKHILAE, Abuja n was unconstitutional. He held that the issue of security is recognized in law in deciding the location where an election tribunal shall sit. Justice Umar further held that the consideration for fair hearing cannot supersede the security of lives of the tribunal members and litigants. He said the issue of the security of the lives of tribunal members and litigants was considered in determining where the tribunal should sit. Justice Umar faulted Ubom's reliance on the Court of Appeal's decision in the case of Ibori and Ogboru, decided in 2005, and held that the

Constitution has since been amended and had provided time limit for tribunal to hear and decide a petition, unlike what obtained when the Ibori case was decided. The tribunal Chairman further held that the issue of proximity and accessibility could only be considered where the security of the tribunal and litigants is guaranteed in line with the provision of the law. He held that it was important that the tribunal must sit and conduct proceedings in a conducive and secured environment. Justice Umar further held that the objection raised against the relocation of the tribunal from Uyo to Abuja for security reasons was misconceived.

‘Human trafficking is a money-spinning business’ school examination about two years ago but there was no money to purchase the form for her. She was angry because of this and left home. “Before then, I had asked her to go for computer lessons instead of idling away. She made an enquiry and was told that six months training would cost N5,500. I told her to go for three months but she refused. “After that, I told her to go and stay with my parents for a week so that I could sell some clothes in my shop to pay for the training. When I got the money, I called that I was coming to give her the money. When I got to my parents’ house, I didn’t see her. They said she left the village the previous day. “I called my neighbours and they said she came home while I was away. By the time I returned home, I discovered she had parked her clothes and left. A month later, she sent me a text message, asking for forgiveness. She continued: “Sometime in April 2013, my brother bought GCE forms for her and her friend and sent money for her to come to Lagos for that purpose. They expected to see her in Lagos but didn’t. I called my parents to know if she was with them but they said no. “Subsequently, my brother called to tell me that she called with a foreign number. After some time, she called to tell me that she was in Libya with her friend. I asked how she got there and she said that someone took them there. Thereafter, she didn’t communicate with me for a very long time. My brother got angry and told her the implication of what she was doing. “One midnight, she called and said the number she was using to call us was not hers, promising to send me her number when she got one. She eventually sent me a number and we started communicating. I kept begging her to come back. “At first, she was lying to me that they were working with an Arabic firm. I told her it was a lie because I had watched a lot of movies about the plight of people who embarked on such journey. “One day, she opened up to me, saying that they spent about three weeks passing through the desert and had spent two days on their way to Libya. She said some people had died in the process while some were left behind in the desert. “She told me that they suffered a great deal in the desert because there was no food or water and the sand was difficult to walk on. She said she was only lucky to have made it to Libya. “She said that when they got to the Connection House, each of them was sold for $6, 000 and that they had to pay back the money.

Continued from page 22

There was a young man who fell victim some years ago. When he came back to the country, he managed to hustle and acquired some trinkets; the type that hip-hop artistes wear. After that, he went to his village, bouncing around like somebody who had just returned from America

She and her friend were taken to different connection houses. “I asked her how they would pay back the money, she said that they had to sell their bodies to men and there was no way they could move out of the place unless they finished paying the money.” Hinting on the effects of her daughter’s plight on her, she said: “I have been sick thinking about the whole thing. I don’t want to lose her. I know what it is sleeping with different men everyday just to make money. “She sounds very dull on the phone. She used to be a lively child but her tone suggests she is not happy where she is presently caged. The man that bought her reduced the money she was to pay from $6,000 to $3000, and when somebody came to pay $2,000 on her behalf, the man jerked it up to $5,000. “The next time I called her, she said she had run out of the place because of the arbitrary hike in the fee. Later, she said the man had called her back, agreeing to reduce the fee to $3,000 and should come back and complete the payment. “I am not comfortable with all this because I have heard the story of all that they do there; sleeping with animals and all that. I am begging everyone who can help me, including government and individuals, to help me bring her back. I just want her to lead a normal life.” Now sobbing, she said: “Her younger ones are missing her. She told me that she wants to come back and I would appreciate if they could help me bring her back. She doesn’t send money to me and I don’t even want such money. All I want is for her to come back home.” Why human trafficking is money spinning

•Osemene Osita Osemene, the Executive Director of CRI, whose organisation seeks to rescue trafficked and stranded Nigerians abroad, says trafficking is a money-spinning business and an easy one at that. He said that females in connection houses are always treated as animals and could be forced to sleep with as many as 15 men a day to earn sufficient money to pay back the investments on them. As a result of the deplorable level of poverty in the land, ignorance on the part of parents and desperation of the citizens, especially the youth, for greener pastures, he said, human traffikers are quick to work on the psyche of many people and deceive them to embark on the journey that is always ill fated. He said: “As a result of the huge returns that the traders get on their inhuman investment, many of them would never consider quitting it. All they need to do is to talk to as many desperate youths as possible by themselves or through their agents. When they do this, you will see a lot of unsuspecting youths going out of their ways to raise money to go. “For the females who may not be able to raise money, they would always agree to fund their trip, knowing full well that they would sell them at a profit to those that would use them for prostitution, equally at a profit.” Osita, who was a victim and lucky returnee, regretted that some victims are quick to master the business and easily switch to it when they would have nothing else to fall back on. He said: “There was a young man who fell victim some years ago. When he came back to the country, he managed to hustle and ac-

quired some trinkets; the type that hip-hop artistes wear. After that, he went to his village, bouncing around like somebody who had just returned from America. “Before you knew it, ignorant parents started approaching him to also help their children to travel abroad. He asked them to provide hundreds of thousands of naira, assuring them that their families’ fortunes would soon improve. He collected the moneys he said were for their air travel and took them through the desert. There were more than 10 people he succeeded in deceiving. “After a very long time of wandering in the desert, all the victims died except one. The lucky boy was the one that went back home to narrate the story to their people. Luck eventually ran out on the man and he was arrested and jailed.” He said the people who are into human trafficking work as a syndicate and innocent people could become members. He said: “There was a pastor, a member of the syndicate took some children to his house and begged him to help take them to another person because his schedule would not allow him to do just that. The pastor, who did not know there was a sinister motive behind the harmless instruction agreed to do so. Along the line, the plan was busted by security operatives. The pastor was fingered as a member of the syndicate and eventually sentenced. “This is why it is imperative that massive campaigns and education are carried out on a daily basis to sensitise the general public to the dangers of this menace. It is increasing on a daily basis as the perpetrators are devising different methods all time the old one fails. “Mile 2 motor park here in Lagos and Aduwawa Motor Park in Benin, Edo State are major transit routes of the traffickers. “I have a working relationship with the association at Mile 2 and have apprehended a number of traffickers and handed them over to security agents. The drivers have been trained to identify traffickers of children that are meant for that purpose, and once they see such, they alert us. Unfortunately, some parents are also culpable. “When we did a sensitization programme in Benin, some of the drivers told me that the traffickers move their victims early in the morning from the park to the northern part of the country, from where they move them to the desert for all manner of odious engagements. “Many of the parents who attended the programme were weeping because the event made them to realise what their children, especially the female ones, could be going through.”

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY25, 2015

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 24-07-15

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 24-07-15

Vetiva Fund Managers to float 3 new ETFs V ETIVA Fund Managers Limited has held signing ceremony for the proposed initial offer for subscription of the Vetiva Sector Series Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The three new ETFs included Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund (VB ETF), Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund (VCG ETF) and Vetiva Industrials Exchange Traded Fund (VI ETF). The signing ceremony, which was attended by directors of Vetiva Fund Managers and relevant professional parties, was sequel to the receipt of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clearance of the offer documents in respect of the proposed initial offers. At the signing ceremony, directors of Vetiva Fund Managers and other professional parties executed the offer documents. Vetiva Fund Managers

By Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

Limited, upon receipt of final approval from SEC, plans to list the ETFs based on the NSE Banking Index, NSE Consumer Goods Index and NSE Industrial Index respectively, on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Vetiva Fund Managers, which is registered by SEC as fund and portfolio manager, had listed the first equity Exchange Traded FundThe Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF, which tracks the performance of the NSE 30 Index, on the NSE in March 2014. ETF is a security that tracks the performance of a specified security or other assets including stocks, basket of assets, indices, commodity prices, foreign currency rates, and derivatives among others. An ETF com-

bines the valuation feature of a mutual fund or unit investment trust, which can be bought or sold at the end of each trading day for its net asset value, with the tradability feature of a closed-end fund, which trades throughout the trading day at prices that may be more or less than its net asset value. ETF may be attractive as investment because of its low cost, tax efficiency, and stock-like features. By owning an ETF, the holder get the diversification of an index fund as well as the ability to sell short, buy on margin and purchase as little as one share. Meanwhile, ETF does not sell individual shares directly to investors as only authorised dealers and investors are allowed to buy the usually large blocks of shares known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;creation unitsâ&#x20AC;?. Index-based ETF, like index fund, tracks specified market index.

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 24-07-15

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

SPORT EXTRA Kayode wants to score on Austria league debut

• Kayode

ORMER Nigeria youth international Olanrewaju Kayode has told AfricanFootball.com he hopes to crown his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga on Sunday with a goal for new club Austria Wien. Kayode started out at an acad-

emy in Ghana and has played in Cote d’Ivoire, Switzerland and Israel. And the former Maccabi Netanya of Israel star striker said his most immediate target will be victory over hosts Wolfsberger AC on the opening day of the season in Austria. "It is going to be a big match as we start the league away at Wolfsberger AC, who are playing in Europa League,” Olanrewaju told AfricanFootball.com. "I am looking forward to a great game and helping my team get victory, that is the only thing we want in that game. I will be glad if I get goal while doing so." His goals in Israel earned him a transfer worth over 800,000 Euros to Austria. He scored two goals in pre-season games for his new Austria Wien.

Ogu targets cup glory in Israel N

• Ogu

ALL-AFRICA GAMES (AAG)

President of Judo Federation promises 6 gold medals

IMOTHY Nsirim, President of Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), on Friday promised that Nigeria would win six gold medals at the upcoming 11th All-Africa Games (AAG) in Brazzaville, Congo. Nsirim made the promise at the end of trials

• Nsirim

organised by the Federation to select judokas to represent the country at the Games scheduled for Sept. 4 to Sept. 19. ``Judo is going to present six gold medals to the Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut, by the end of the Games. ``The calibre of judokas we have is awesome. They can stand any country anywhere,’’ he said. The NJF President however praised Yakmut for coming to the aid of the sport. ``We are dedicating this trials to him, thanking him for the support he has given us so far, '' Nsirim said. While speaking at the trials, Yakmut urged the judokas and their technical crew to be committed to the sport, assuring that the NSC would give them all necessary support. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 28 judokas are expected to resume camp on July 27.

Amavubi, Nigeria U-23 friendly cancelled

WANDA'S friendly match against the Nigeria U23 football team scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at Amahoro Stadium has been cancelled following financial constraints on the West African nation's side. The Dream Team had earlier requested to stop over in Kigali for a challenge before they take on Congo

• Godwin Saviour against Congo in Port Harcourt

Brazzaville in the CAF U23 Championship/Rio 2016 Olympic Games return leg qualifier set for August 2 in Brazzaville. "Nigeria approached us about two weeks ago to play our U-23 side but we went back to them and said, look we have no U-23 games coming up so we can only feature our CHAN team and they agreed. However, a logistical problem on their side has forced them to withdraw from the encounter and they have apologized for it," explained Johnny McKinstry, head coach of Amavubi. Meanwhile, the Amavubi locally based players who have been in residential camp since Sunday evening underwent a high performance fitness test yesterday under the close eye of McKinstry and his assistants Emmanuel Ruremesha and former Amavubi legend Jimmy Mulisa.

Powerful backers rally Amokachi for Pillars post

HE race for the Kano Pillars top coaching post has intensified with exEagles assistant coach Daniel Amokachi enjoying the support of some of the most influential decision makers in the matter. AfricanFootball.com has learnt that Nasarawa United coach Mohammed Babaganaru remains Pillars top target as the champions will now have to play catch-up in the second round of the league season as they are nine points adrift of the league leaders. The former Pillars coach will meet with Pillars on Friday. However, Amokachi is also pushing close for the Pillars post after he received the blessings of some powerful decision makers including a co-founder of the club. Amokachi, fresh from a coaching seminar in Kenya, confirmed to AfricanFootball.com he is in the ring for the Pillars job. But the former Enyimba and Nasarawa United coach also said he has been linked with several other clubs including FC Taraba. “What is uppermost for me with all these clubs is the welfare of my players. I drive my players hard, but I cannot do that if they are hungry,” he told AfricanFootball.com.

IGERIA international midfielder John Ogu has told AfricanFootball.com he has his sights on winning the Israel State Cup with Hapoel Be'er Sheva this season after his team crashed out of Europa League Thursday night. What are your targets with Hapoel Be'er Sheva this season? I want to win trophies with my club this season. You scored a wonderful goal in Europa League qualifying round second leg on Thursday, but eventually lost, do you think the red card to one of your team mates contributed to this loss? It contributed, but that is in the past now. I am looking forward to a great season, I am focused on the domestic trophies at stake.

What didn't you achieve last season that you hope to this season? That is Israel State Cup, we almost got it. Austin Ejide is no more with your team, do you miss him? Yes. I miss him because he made it possible for me to settle down fast at the club and in Israel, but God knows best. Do you have another Nigerian in your team? Yes, I have a friend and brother, Tony Nwakaeme, as my team mate, he joined this summer. You were offered an improved new deal at the end of last season, what can you say about this? Let me say it is the reward of my hard work last season, it's just an upgrade. What was your best moment last season?

LMC to change Nigerian league dates

HE League Management Company (LMC) has confirmed they will make changes to the dates of league games due to the forthcoming European league seasons. Most European leagues resume in August, a development which the LMC feels will affect fan turnout at local league games, and have decided to change some of the dates so they won’t clash with games from the European leagues. “The European leagues are starting very soon so we cannot be playing all our matches on Sundays,” LMC chairman, Shehu Dikko told News24. “We have to differentiate the

dates so we can get fans to come and watch games and we are even looking at introducing night games but the problem we have is the lightings at the stadiums. “But we will try and we may even have our best games on Wednesday or Friday nights and that will encourage the fans to go out to the stadiums and watch the games. “We have to work to keep the momentum of the fans going and that is what we are going to do,” Dikko stressed. The Nigerian league has recently recorded improved spectator turnout at most of the games, but with the big European leagues, especially the English Premier league set

• Amapakabo

to commence, the LMC fear that may shrink the number of fans that turn out for games.

• Dikko

NFF to send 20 refs to England for training

HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Friday says it will send 20 referees to England for training. Amaju Pinnick, president of NFF made the announcement at a maiden Southwest States Football Forum held in Abeokuta. He said 30 had attended training earlier in the year, stressing that the training was to acquaint them with modern trends in the sport. ``We are investing so much in referees to develop them,'' he said. Pinnick, however,

warned that those found wanting would be blacklisted, stressing, ``we expect them to reciprocate the gesture by giving us the best". He said the federation had a programme for coaches, while advising referees to develop themselves in the best ways possible. The Chairman of the Forum, Seyi Akinwunmi, said the forum was all about the development of grassroots football. Akinwunmi, the 1st VicePresident of NFF, noted that the forum was a nonpolitical association,

Federation Cup my main target — Amapakabo ANGERS coach Imama Amapakabo has set his sights on winning the 2015 Federation Cup after guiding his team to the quarterfinals of the Nigeria cup competition.

That should be the award I received as the best foreign player in the Israeli league last season and also been in the best eleven of the season. The Super Eagles started AFCON 2017 qualifiers on a winning note against Chad, what do you have to tell your fans and those of the Eagles as we look forward to the next game in Tanzania? They should keep supporting and keep believing in the team. Oliseh has taken over as new Eagles coach, what do you have to say? I congratulate him on the appointment. It's great to have another great ex-international coming in as the coach. With his experience, I think he will do well and take the Eagles to the top.

On Thursday, Amapakabo's star-studded Rangers beat a hard-battling Kwara United 3-2 in Abuja to set up a clash against fellow premier league side El Kanemi next month. Goals from Rasaq Adegbite, Bobby Clement and Emeka Eze lifted Rangers, who are one of six premier league sides in the last eight. "I would not say we played our best game today, but I can tell you that we have our eyes set at winning the Federation Cup," Amapakabo declared. "We have a disease right now in Rangers and I am looking for a medication to cure it. That disease is the inability to convert chances. As you can see we created a

lot of chances, but my strikers failed to convert them and for now that is what I want to immediately tackle."

• Onigbinde

formed without prejudice to any of other zones of the federation. ``It is constituted to transform football administration by adopting international best practices for positive development of our numerous youths," he said. Akinwunmi also said that the forum seeks to put the Southwest zone in the front burner of football. Those present at the brainstorming session, include former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde, former Technical Director, Kasimawo Laloko, ex-international, Segun Odegbami. Others are Ayo Omidiran, Rafiu Ladipo, Taiwo Ogunjobi and veteran journalist, Fabio Lanipekun and Ajayi Dada.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015

SPORT EXTRA

NFF to pay N5m house rent for Oliseh •Coach’s first Eagles list out in two weeks

EW Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh has located a house in highbrow Maitama, Abuja, and the NFF are set to pay the annual rent of five million Naira. A top source told AfricanFootball.com: “Oliseh has already seen his house in Abuja. It’s in Maitama and the rent is five million Naira a year, which the NFF are now preparing to pay for.” Oliseh’s assistants are also to be housed in Abuja as they begin the onerous task of rebuilding the Super Eagles. Oliseh's predecessor Stephen Keshi stayed in hotels in Abuja when he was in charge of the Eagles. In the meantime, Oliseh is currently in Europe tracking Nigerian players with the view to considering them for his new team. The Eagles coach is expected to return to Nigeria later next month to continue preparations for the 2017 AFCON qualifier in Tanzania in September. However, Oliseh has revealed

that his first ever team list as Nigeria coach will be announced in the first week of August, and that will be a list of home -based players for the CHAN qualifiers in October. The 40-year old has also said the highly anticipated list of invited players for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania will be announced in the middle of August. “Our list of invited players for the CHAN team will be out in the first week of August, while that of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania should be out by mid-August,” Oliseh was quoted on the NFF website. The former Nigeria captain has also admitted that he has to hit the ground running, with the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup starting early next year. “We have to cover all grounds and be adequately prepared for all the competitions we are involved in whether it is CHAN, AFCON or World Cup qualifiers. Oliseh, who was appointed

• Oliseh

just two weeks ago as Stephen Keshi’s replacement, also said he and first assistant Jean Francois Losciuto are presently in Europe scouting for players while second assistant, Salisu Yusuf and goalkeepers trainer, Alloy Agu are scouting the home front for players. “Jean Francois (first assistant)

and I have been busy combing and tracking players in Europe while Salisu Yusuf has been doing same with our home based stars. “Alloy Agu, who is still involved with the U-23 Team will join him once they conclude their qualifiers against Congo,” Oliseh stressed further.

Mikel: Red Bull loss wake-up call for Chelsea

IGERIA star Mikel Obi has stated that Chelsea's 4-2 loss to

New York Red Bull in their first pre-season game in the USA was a wake-up call for the team to continue working hard ahead of the new EPL season. The former Plateau United midfielder played the first half of the game. "Overall, it was a pretty good warm-up game but not the result we hoped for," he said. "We are here to work hard, and we are here to train hard leading to the Community Shield and to the league. I think we're on the right course. "That game was just a one-off game and we know we need to go back to training, buckle up and know the season is starting soon." Jose Mourinho's side take on Paris St-Germain in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday in

• Mikel

RESULTS Int'l - Champions Cup Man City 1 - 4 Real Madrid Int'l - Club Friendlies Malaysian XI 1 - 1 Liverpool FC Utrecht 2 - 3 Derby FC Cologne 2 - 1 Cambuur Sparta 0 - 1 Cardiff City Chievo 0 - 0 Cittadella Maritimo 2 - 0 Braga B SuperSport 0 - 4 C.Palace Kassel 0 - 2 Hamburger Gladbach 2 - 1FC Porto Espanyol 2 - 1 Kasimpasa Real Union 1 - 3 Eibar Sochaux 0 - 0 Ajaccio AZ Alkmaar 1 - 0 Al-Wasl

• To see off Chelsea contract continuation of the preparations to defend the EPL crown in the new season. However, Mikel has declared he wants to see off his contract with Chelsea. The Jos-born star has two years left on his contract with the EPL champions. Mikel was offered a lucrative deal by UAE team, Al Ain and was targeted by Turkish Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in the close season.

He said: "I have two years left on my contract here and want to see them out. “I am happy here and we will see what happens. I do want to stay, the manager wants me to stay, so I don't have any issues. "The manager has told me he wants me to stay. He said that and I'm pretty happy to stay. "This is going to be my tenth season at the club, next year it will be my 11th. I have been here so long due to the contracts I

have signed and I like to be somewhere where I have developed friendships. "This is like my family now. Every time I come to work it's like coming into see my family. "I know the whole place, the staff, it is going to be a hard place to leave when my contract runs out and then we will see what happens." Mikel has won 10 major titles since he joined The Blues from Lyn Oslo in 2006.

KNEE INJURY

Keshi drags NFF to Oshoala may court for defamation miss Bata tie

ACKED Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi is to drag the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to court for “wrongful dismissal and defamation.” AfricanFootball.com can exclusively reveal today that a Kaduna-based law firm has formally notified the NFF to that effect. “Keshi’s lawyers have written the NFF threatening to sue for wrongful dismissal and defamation of character,” a source informed AfricanFootball.com. “But the truth of the matter is that he does not have a leg to stand on as far as this matter is concerned. It’s all laughable and he’s just chasing shadows.” It was also understood that he was paid his outstanding monies before his sack.

Earlier media reports suggested he was to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but the coach himself later denied this. Keshi was sacked on July 5 after the NFF announced that he was not working in line with the corporate objectives of the federation. The NFF disciplinary committee investigated various allegations against Keshi during which they gave him the right to defend himself before they recommended he be relieved of his post. In April, the 53-year-old Keshi signed a new two-year contract after his initial threeyear deal with the NFF ran out at last year’s World Cup in Brazil. He has since been replaced by Sunday Oliseh.

‘NFF do not owe any coaches’

N a swift response to concerns expressed by a section of Nigerian Coaches, General Secretary of the NFF Dr. Sanusi Mohammed, informed www.footballlive.ng that Emmanuel Amuneke and his other National team Coaches have been paid their salaries. ‘ We’ve paid all the salaries owed, we cleared them all yes-

terday. Besides what’s the all the fuss about even the Federal and State governments owe salaries. Am also aware there are journalists who are being owed but people don’t make issues out of these things,’ the NFF Scribe said. ” We are not owing any outstanding salaries.”

F feelers from Liverpool Ladies FC are anything to go by, Super Falcons will again miss top star Asisat Oshoala for an all-important Rio 2016 Olympic qualifier against Equatorial Guinea due to injury. The reigning African women’s player missed the first leg which ended 1-1 in Abuja due to same injury, and she won't recover by the time the return leg will be played on August 2. Oshoala is nursing a knee injury, which sidelined her from Thursday’s league game for Liverpool against Everton and she will be out “for weeks”, the club manager Matt Murray said. England star Fara Williams and Satara Murray are also down with hamstring injuries. Oshoala was injured on Saturday as she helped ‘The Reds’ beat Notts County 2-0. "It's the spine of your team your central midfielder, your centre-back and your centreforward - but it's one of those things," Beard told the BBC. "They're important players to us but it's going to give maybe one or two of the younger players an opportunity. "We'll do as much as we can, while we're still involved in everything mathematically, to finish as high as we can."

Experience? It’s more than that <<<<<<Continued from back page do the job and the coach given Nigerians were impressed with such tasks to see how well he/she the sparkling showing of Samson can translate all that he/she was Siasia’s Dream Team VI against taught in school to winning Congo in Port Harcourt last Sungames. In football, the quality of day. They had plenty of budding players gives the coach the impetalents. But they couldn’t convert tus to do his job. Otherwise, a the chances they had to goals. That coach, such as Jose Mourinho, is the distinguishing line between wouldn’t have made his mark Iwobi, Akpom, Ibe et al and our against some of the coaches who home-based players. Nigeria- born taught him the job, when he lads are properly schooled in all started the trade. the rudiments of the game. NigeThe national team coach is not rian players would be deficient in to teach players the basics of the this aspect until we have articugame. At this senior level, the lated programmes to standardise coach is more or less a manager of our soccer academies. It must be the players’ egos and idiosyncrasaid that we have benefited from sies. He provides the players with the Nigeria-born lads. Interesthis systems and tells them how to ingly, one of them, Victor Moses, adopt them. The players know has been described by Jose ‘Spewhat each system is, having been cial One’ Mourinho as one of the taught by various coaches in their fastest in the game, intelligent and European clubs. one of the evolving stars in the EuOliseh, in his acceptance ropean, if he plays the way he speech, told us that any player wants the Nigerian to. It’s good who doesn’t have good speed news, especially as Mourinho has wouldn’t play for the Eagles. This in the last two seasons loaned out presupposes that he wants to play Moses, first to Liverpool and only form the flanks. That was how our last season to Stoke FC in the national teams of yore played. Barclays English Premier League. Need I bore you with the exploits Moses’s adventure in Liverpool of Adokie Ameisiamaka, Segun wasn’t as successful as in Stoke, Odegbami, Kunle Awesu, Baba though blighted by injuries. Otu Mohammed, Humphrey Oliseh is condemned to hit the Edobor, Clement Temile et al. Ah! ground running with a resoundThose were the days. ing victory over Tanzania. He Oliseh knows that we don’t won’t have a second chance to have a functional grassroots impress Nigerians in his debut as programme to fish out talents in a coach. Beating the Tanzanians the short term. He has, therefore, silly with goals is the impetus he chosen to look at Nigerian-born needs to confront the Egyptians players eager to play for their fain March 2016. therland to strengthen his team. This is why I support Oliseh’s We are being told that he is lookquest for known stars with a few ing at Liverpool FC of England’s additions comprising Iwobi, young lad Jordan Ibe. He would Akpom and Jordaan Ibe of be a worthwhile inclusion to the Liverpool FC. Of course, Oliseh Eagles, like we saw in the past will invite Kelechi Iheanacho of when John Chiodozie, Tunji Manchester City. Banjo and Rueben Agboola These younger boys will form played for the Super Eagles. the bulk of players on the bench. Oliseh’s preference of the old Their introduction in the second brigade to prosecute our next half of our games will galvanise game against Tanzania in Dar es the Eagles, not weaken them like Salaam says a lot about his comwe have seen in the past. Counpetence. It would be suicidal for tries build on the gains of previous Oliseh to make wholesale changes competitions. Here, we destroy the to the Eagles. Changes would be past, yet we expect to compete made through elimination by subwith the rest. Not possible. stitution of those who play badly The Eagles’ midfield has been in the games ahead. problematic largely because our Retaining Vincent Enyeama as former coaches played the obsothe team’s captain shows he wants lete 4-2-4 system, where the two the tested goalkeeper to man the midfielders - Mikel and Onazi most important area of the team’s mark opponents. Little wonder formation. I align with Oliseh’s that the Eagles’ play lacked credecision to have Mikel Obi in the ativity and hardly provided deteam to Tanzania. Mikel appears fence-splitting passes for the strikto have rediscovered his form. He ers to convert to goals. Oliseh must would want to impress Oliseh by tackle this problem and the soluplaying differently. The coach tion rests in getting younger boys may play Mikel in the defensive for the midfield. He needs to pick midfield position, which he plays either Mikel or Onazi, if he must for Chelsea and not in the offenrejuvenate the team’s midfield. sive role where he has been very This idea of asking Mikel to play tardy. at the number 10 position is laughIt is quite interesting that Oliseh able because he hardly plays in is already looking ahead with his that position at Chelsea. Most decision to rub minds with Nigetimes, Mikel loses the ball and falls ria-born kids in Europe and the like an elephant, thus making it Diaspora. What that does for the impossible for the defenders to reEagles is that the average age of cover quickly. the team would be reduced from “We have no choice but to hit its 34-year-olds (forget about what the ground running. Jean these players have on their interFrancois (first assistant) and I national passports) to a realistic 23. have been busy combing and The Eagles tire out easily when tracking players in Europe while pitched against younger playersSalisu Yusuf has been doing no thanks to the age factor. same with our home-based stars. Besides, these Nigeria-born Alloy Agu, who is still involved players have been taught the ruwith the Under-23 team, will join diments of the game at early ages. him once they conclude their I look forward to watching an qualifiers against Congo,” said Eagles side with Chuba Akpom Oliseh to the NFF official website, and Alex Iwobi, who both play www.thenff. for Barclays English Premier Good talk Oliseh. The coaches League side Arsenal FC of Lonmust have the right synergy to pick don. Akpom and Iwobi, for inthe best for our matches. Thank stance, know what the rules are God the NFF has paid them for various formations. In fact, they upfront of three months. It has bring a variety of what they were also approved the cash for Oliseh taught by Arsene Wenger to and his assistant to comb Europe Eagles’ style of play. for our best stars.

TOMORROW IN THE NATION PUNCHLINE

Many unsuccessful fathers are today ruling the world, and only one deduction can come from that: it’s no wonder the world is in this sorry state —Oyinkan Medubi

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.10, NO. 3286

ABA go slow. It is good that President Muhammadu Buhari knows that is what an increasing number of Nigerians call him. They are dissatisfied with the seeming unhurried pace of his emergent administration in which so much hope has been invested. Expectations soared in the aftermath of Buhari's unprecedented electoral defenestration in March of an incumbent presidential behemoth. Millions of Nigerians are impatient for the promised change. So deep has been the decadence of the PDP 16 years of the locusts and so intense the APC's marketing of its change agenda during the last campaigns that expectant Nigerians cannot understand why the seeming slackness in the pace of governance particularly at the centre since May 29. Yes, the Buhari mystique endures. His aura of personal integrity and high sense of decency continue to elicit widespread respect and admiration. PMB's fanatical mass support base particularly in the north remains firm. But it is good he is not blind to reality. PMB is not living in denial. From his wry, seemingly amused comments in Washington on the 'Baba go slow' appellation, PMB knows what he is doing. He knows there is no magic wand to miraculously wave aside Nigeria's problems. Yes, any rational person must be impatient with the current socio-economic, political and moral paralysis in Nigeria and the largely human impediments that cripple her potentials. But a theatrical populism fuelled by impatience can only be ultimately superficial and worsen the problem. Yes, cheap populism is the easier road but not necessarily the best. It is instructive that many of those who have been loudly or silently voicing their frustrations at PMB's speed are members of his own partyAPC. Some of them genuinely want the pace of change fast-tracked for the best interest of Nigeria. They want the new government fully on track before public disaffection solidifies and the momentum for change is irretrievably lost. Yet, there are also those party members motivated by selfish considerations. They thought by now they should be functioning as Ministers, Special Advisers or in other high flying positions with all the attendant power, wealth, prestige and other privileges. For these, the idea of change is utterly cosmetic, a perfumed version of the nauseous present. It is commendable that PMB has the will to withstand such intra-party pressures. In a sense, the currents of change are already blowing vigorously across the land. There has been the phenomenal psychological change from the abrasive, impetuous younger Buhari of the dictatorial days to the tempered, measured elder statesman of today wielding immense presidential powers with cultured restraint. It is indisputable that there has been a sea change in the moral climate of governance under Buhari within a very short period. His consistently expressed and demonstrated disdain for all forms of impunity and wanton material acquisition is already bearing positive fruit. The anti-corruption agencies have suddenly re-discovered their sense of urgency and purpose. It is unlikely that the justice system will not likewise respond to PMB's body language. Justice cannot continue to be for sale to the highest bidder for much longer. Cash-laden govern-

PMB and the dynamics of change

‘ •President Buhari ment agencies are abandoning their long accustomed lawless ways and remitting funds due the Federation Account. Individuals who had stolen the country blind in the last dispensation are reportedly quietly trying to return the looted wealth. The dynamics of change in the emergent Buhari dispensation therefore deserves to be properly understood. It is not about some Messianic Buhari acting with the combustible and anarchic spontaneity of an Ayo Fayose trying to project himself as some sort of Nigerian James Bond. It is not about a self- righteous PMB following in the footsteps of the highly deluded Ota farmer, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who despite the putrescent reality of his existence sees himself as the only honest and incorruptible Nigerian alive. Buhari's change from my observatory is about a return to methods, tested processes and stipulated procedures in governance. It is about restoring and strengthening systems and allowing them to function impersonally in accordance with the rule of law. The change we desire is thus not so much of what PMB will do for us as what we, taking a cue from his moral example, will do for ourselves. The change we yearn for must begin with each one of us being micro change agents in our little spheres of influence. One of the major steps in the direction of change under Buhari, for instance, is the dissolution of the governing coun-

The dynamics of change in the emergent Buhari dispensation therefore deserves to be properly understood. It is not about some Messianic Buhari acting with the combustible and anarchic spontaneity of an Ayo Fayose trying to project himself as some sort of Nigerian James Bond

’

cils of higher institutions in the country including universities, polytechnics and research institutes. Despite a few exceptions, appointments to these boards had been inordinately politicised with mediocre and morally tainted party hacks inflicted on these very critical institutions. This has only compounded the mediocrity, impunity, incompetence, inefficiency and gargantuan graft that make our higher institutions a mirror image of the decadent society in which they exist. Thus, the quantum leap in the funding of these institutions in recent years has not meaningfully enhanced their capacity to effectively perform their indispensable roles in the nation building project. There is no doubt that many no less despicable elements close to the powers that be in this dispensation will by now be lobbying hard to be appointed to these now vacant council positions. But the change PMB and the APC have promised cannot be actualised if PDP mediocre elements are replaced by APC misfits on the governing councils. Only the brightest and the best capable of adding value to the process of re-inventing higher education in Nigeria as a vehicle for national transformation should be given such appointments. In the final analysis, however, the redemption of the universities and other higher institutions does not lie in the hands of PMB. Rather, it lies with the universities themselves and their critical stakeholders. It would appear that my alma mater, the

University of Ibadan, is showing a unique example in this respect. The tenure of the institution's current Vice Chancellor, Professor Isaac Folorunsho Adewole, expires in November. Twelve distinguished academics with vast professional and managerial experience are vying to succeed him. All but one of them, Professor Abdullahi Adedeji from the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Ilorin, are of the University of Ibadan. In a departure from a situation where such contests in higher institutions have been characterised by primordial considerations, campaigns of calumny, partisanship and monetisation, all the unions on campus organised a University of Ibadan Community Forum on Monday, July 13, giving an opportunity for all the aspirants to articulate their plans and programmes to key stakeholders. The enthusiastically attended event had Chief Afe Babaola (SAN), Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) as Chairman. He was represented by Professor Oyewusi IbidapoObe, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos while frontline human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) was the moderator. This unprecedented initiative was an opportunity for a wider university audience to listen to and assess those putting themselves forward to lead the university. For instance, Professor Olufemi Olaleye, a virologist, promised a clinical diagnosis of the university's problems and the provision of a thorough medication based on his wide academic and administrative experience. Another distinguished scientist, a former Provost of the University's College of Medicine and Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun, promised to replicate as VC his proven track record of excellence in academics and administration over the years. Professor Francis Eghokhare of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages promised radical administrative and institutional reforms to address current ills and launch the university on a new path. One of the most interesting contributions was from Professor Kunle Fagbemi of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, who suggested the allocation of an oil block for Nigerian universities to be managed by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) as a solution to the perennial funding problems of the universities. Well, if that happens, many academics would rather be where the action is right at the NUC rather than be VC of an institution! For Professor Adigun Agbaje, an eminent political scientist, the emphasis must not only be on revenue generation but also putting in place structures and processes for transparent, accountable and efficient management of funds. Professor Agbaje had served in the past as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic). Not many 'Uites' are impressed with the naming of the institution this year as Nigeria's best university and the 8th best in Africa. Given the antecedents of UI and the sheer concentration of high power intellectual energy at its disposal, the institution should be in the global league of academic excellence. Is UI charting a course towards regaining its pre-eminent international status? Time will tell.

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Experience? It’s more than that a white-collar job (as company secretary), European coaches. he not a rookie when he started? Why are perhaps to save cash to open his law firm at I would rather we have Oliseh than a we nursing doubts about Oliseh’s tactical S there any school that teaches anyone ex the appropriate time. Not heading straight vastly experienced European coach who savvy? perience? If Coach Sunday Oliseh opts to to law practice like his mates after law school doesn’t understand English. I would pick The two coaches are same without prejuconsult tested coaches, such as Adegboye doesn’t jeopardise the chances of the one who Oliseh ahead of journeymen European dice. But, strictly speaking, the two can deOnigbinde, for instance, can’t he learn a few chose the office job ahead of the courts from coaches who litter the African continent. I velop on the job to be greats in their calling, tricks from them? Doesn’t experience come being a brilliant lawyer when he chooses to would jump at Oliseh than have an experidepending on which of them is given the time with practice on the job? Please let’s have practise the trade. enced coach, who has never won trophies in to succeed. We have seen coaches with sevpeace with this nauseating talk of Oliseh lackOliseh chose to face the theoretical aspects the last decade. Oliseh’s shortcoming, as some eral decades of experience fail in the job. It ing experience for the job. Experience withof coaching. His incisive reports awed FIFA people would want us to believe, is the reafollows, therefore, that given the right atmoout intellectual competence in any endeavexperts, including some of the world’s best son why he would strive to shame his critics. sphere and support, the theoretical coach can our amounts to fetching water with a bascoaches. He got recognised by FIFA and was We need coaches with the hunger to succeed, do even better. ket. given assignments as big as the senior World not those relying on their past feats and are It is ridiculous that Oliseh’s experience is There are two sides to learning- the practiCup to do. It is on record that Oliseh has made not perturbed about losing any job. being called to question when the process of cal and the educational aspects. For coachit to the final of the two World Cup technical Experience doesn’t come by sitting at home. qualifying for the UEFA licence involves ing, people tend to root for those with pracassignments he got from FIFA. It stands withIt starts with having the technical savvy to theory and practical courses. One can liken tical experience than the theoretical aspect. out reason why FIFA men recommended Oliseh’s case to the brilliant lawyer who exBut who is that coach with experience? Was Oliseh for the Nigerian job, ahead of many •Continued on Page 71 celled at the law school but chose to pick up Published and printed by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025, Oshodi, Lagos. Telephone: Switch Board: 08034505516. Marketing: 01-8155547, Abuja Office: Plot 5, Nanka Close AMAC Commercial Complex, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, Tel/08099650602. Port Harcourt Office: 12/14, Njemanze Street, Mile 1, Diobu, PH. 08023595790 `Website: www.thenationonlineng.net E-mail: saturday@thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 Acting Editor: VINCENT AKANMODE