nigerian observer 23 10 2013

1 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013THE NIGERIAN

LETTER OF CREDENCE: President Goodluck Jonathan (right), receiving Letter of Credence from theHead of European Union to Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.With them is the Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 38 NO.338 •WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013 . N100.00

NEW HORIZONNEW HORIZONNEW HORIZONNEW HORIZONNEW HORIZONPages 20 & 24

IS FGShiftingpost onvision

20:2020?

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Understandingwho you are

The Nigerian

The Presidential Advisory Committee onNational Dialogue/Conference will visit EdoState on Monday, October 28, 2013.

All stakeholders including Civil SocietyGroups, Traditional Rulers, Women/YouthOrganisations, Religious Groups, EthnicNationality Groups, Professional Groups,the Judiciary, Association of LocalGovernments of Nigeria, OrganisedLabour, Student Leadership, Leadership ofthe National Assembly, Conference ofSpeakers of State Houses of Assemblies,Organised Private Sector, the PhysicallyChallenged, Edo in Diaspora and otherinterest groups are invited to makepresentations at the Conference.

Venue of the Dialogue/Conference isImaguero College Hall, Sapele Road, BeninCity from 1:00pm.

All stakeholders and interest groupsinvited through this announcement areadvised to be seated by 12:30pm.

PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORYCOMMITTEE ON NATIONALDIALOGUE/CONFERENCE

SIGNED:DR. AKILU SANI INDABAWA

Committee Secretary

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Nat dialogue advisory committeevisits Edo Oct 28

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Oshiomhole tasks leaderson future generations

Edo to enact law on enter-tainment regulation

FiregutsWarri

refinery

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Reps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterBullet Proof Cars

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Under 17World Cup

Nigeria 3Sweden 3

BENIN CITY - ThePresidential AdvisoryCommittee on NationalDialogue/Conferencewill visit Edo State onMonday, October 28,

2013. All stakeholdersincluding Civil SocietyGroups, Traditional

Rulers, Women/YouthO r g a n i s a t i o n s ,Religious Groups,

Ethnic NationalityGroups, ProfessionalGroups, the Judiciary,Association of LocalGovernments of

LAGOS - GovernorAdams Oshiomhole ofEdo yesterday urgedNigerian leaders to startlooking beyond thepresent and prepare for

the future generations.Oshiomhole spoke at

the 13th NationalWomen’s Conferenceorganised by theCommittee of Wives of

Lagos State Officials(COWLSO) in Lagos.

The conference’stheme: “See BeyondToday: Enhance theQuality of Life.”

“There is need forleaders to do thingsdifferently now and seebeyond today,” he said.

Oshiomhole said that a

By ADAMS OYIBOKE/OYENMWENOMOROGBE

law that will guide,regulate and promotethe activities ofentertainers in theentertainment industry inthe state.

EDO StateGovernment is to enact

This was disclosedby the commissioner forArts, Culture andTourism, Mrs. ElizabethAnane Jemitola in an

E n t e r t a i n m e n tStakeholders Conferenceheld yesterday at ObaAkenzuwa Cultural

By EDITH IMOISILI

ABUJA - The last might not have been heard overthe purchase of the 1.6 million dollars bulletproofBMW cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) for the Hon. Minister of Aviation, PrincessStella Oduah as the House of Representativeordered a probe into the deal in pursuant to section88 of the Nigeria constitution of 1999 as amended.

This followed a motionraised yesterday by theMinority Whip of theHouse and a Chieftain ofthe All ProgressivesCongress APC, Hon.

Samson Osagie on thefloor of the House as heurged the House toinvestigate the matter.

Hon Samson Osagienoted that for the past fewweeks the nation hadbeen inundated with thenews of the purchase of

$1.6m BMW bullet proofcars by NCAA for theHon Minister of Aviationand wondered therationale behind it whenaccording to him thenation was ravaged by

poverty as well asunemployment.

He viewed the actionas absurd, unthinkableand unpatriotic for anagency of government toconnive with its political

head to incur suchexpenditure simply forthe comfort and safetyof one public officer.

Worried over thedevelopment, HonOsagie questioned the

sincerity and objectivity ofthis presentadministration’s stand onfight against corruptionwhich was re-emphasizedby Mr. president’s

WARRI -Pandemonium broke outat about 11a.m yesterdaywhen an explosionoccurred, at the WarriRefinery andPetrochemical Company(WRPC), Delta State.

As at press time,details of the inferno werestill sketchy. It washowever learnt that theexplosion sent shiversdown the spines ofworkers of the companyand those around as theyscampered for safety.

THE NIGERIANOBSERVER learnt thatthe incident occurred

By BETTY IDIALU


NewsEdo to enact law on entertainment

regulation Continued from page 1

Sale of Edo House Isekhure hails govt

Edo LG election peaceful - Minister

Oshiomhole tasksleaders on future

generations

Continued from page 1


Nat dialogue advisorycommittee visits Edo Oct 28 Continued from page 1

Fire guts Warri refinery

APC wins Etsako WestWard 6 election

Late Nosakhare Okundiafor burial Oct 25

Late Elder SundayNosakhare Okundia

BENIN CITY - The funeralservice for the lateSecretary of the Edo StateInternal Revenue Service,Elder Sunday NosakhareOkurndia has been slated tocommence on FridayOctober 25, 2013 with aservice of songs at theScouting Training ground,beside Igba Zoo, AirportRoad, Benin City beginningfrom 12.00 noon. Interment followsimmediately at No. 18,Amadin Igbinoba Street,Oko-Ogba in G.R.A., BeninCity to be followed bySocials/Entertainment at theScout Training groundbeside Ogba Zoo. There will be outing/Thanksgiving on Sunday,

October 27, 2013 at theChurch of God Mission Int’lInc, Uwelu DistrictHeadquarters, UduosaStreet, Off Uwelu, BeninCity.

BENIN CITY – TheIsekhure of BeninKingdom hascommended the decisionof the Edo stateGovernment to disposeoff the state GovernmentHouse in Lagos. Isekhure position wascontained in a statementissued to pressmen inBenin City. In the statement, ChiefIsekhure expressed hisabsolute support for thedecision of the stateGovernment to disposethe asset, stressing thatthe said asset has lost itsvalue and purpose sincethe relocation of theFederal Capital fromLagos to Abuja. He also described theidea of retaining theLagos asset as a matter

of poor economicmanagement strategy,stressing that the stateGovernment, many yearsago has built anotherState House in Abuja. Also, he lauded theinitiative of the Governorto utilize the proceedsfrom the propose sale ofthe Lagos House inbuilding a Five Star Hoteland a to-warring Mall inBenin City, saying “theinitiative is the mostprudent venture anyresponsible governmentshould capitalize on.” He however urged theState Governor,Comrade AdamsOshomhole to ignore allil l-motivated politicaldistractions while speedyconsideration be giving tothe transaction, addingthat the people of thestate know better.

Centre, Benin City. Tracing the history of the

entertainment industry to BeninKingdom, Mrs. Jemitola saidentertainers need to go to theroots stressing that CulturalValues and Language of thepeople should be re-awakenedby the entertainers.

She reminded allpractitioners in theentertainment industry toexplore the use of EdoLanguage in promoting theindustry.

While commendingGovernor Oshiomhole for thesupport given to the industry byappointing about 4 persons fromthe entertainment industry intokey position, she posited that abill to guide, regulate andpromote the industry will soonbe forwarded to the State Houseof Assembly for consideration.

She, however, laments theinferiority complex of our localartistes in relation to theInternational artistes stressingthat attention must be given tothe local artistes to encouragethem to grow.

Jemitola, however, assuredEdo artistes in the entertainmentindustry of government effortsthrough her ministry ofnecessary legal framework,security, and the enablingenvironment to function.

She maintained that whennecessary laws have been putin place, it would encouragemultinational Organizations toemploy the services of the stateentertainers in any eventsproposed for Benin City.

She therefore urged all theAssocations in the industry to


work harder to improve on localcontent and register with theMinistry of Arts, Culture andTourism in order to getappropriate relevance ingovernance.

She also admonished thevarious bodies to be original andhave a sense of belonging.

According to her, “the musicyou play will bring hope alife, soyou need to go back to theroots”, she stressed.

In his address, the SeniorSpecial Assistant to theGovernor on Arts, Culture andTourism, Mr. Daniel Eromoselewho doubled as the convenerthanked the comrade Governorfor the opportunity to meet withdiverse groups in theentertainment industry.

While commending thevarious discussants at theevent, Eromosele said that theconference was the first of itstype in Edo State gearedtowards seeking government

support at discouraging muti-national Organisations who hirethe Services of entertainersOutside Edo State.

He expressed the hope thatgiving the necessary enablingenvironment and support, Edostate entertainers will performbetter than those in Lagos,Abuja and Port-Harcourt.

Speaking on the topic “HowEntertainment has influencedme”, the Senior SpecialAssistant to the comradeGovernor on Protocol, Mr. EfosaIyamu said “being a comedianor Entertainer is not learnt butin-built”.

According to him “You arewho you are and not a closeresemblance of anyone else.

No matter how battered youmay be none can make you tobe what you wish to be exceptyourself”.

“Do not run after the crowd,build the inborn natural talentsand creativity in you. Nobody

will help you as much as you willhelp yourselves”, he said.

While admonishing up-coming entertainers to put asidethe inordinate quest for moneyadding that money comes asindividuals learn to stand-outand distinguish themselves in allthey choose to do.

He however called onentertainers to build a nameamong themselves positivelystressing that all entertainersshould always put God first ineverything they do.

Others who gave talkinclude Mr. Mardonald BusinessManager, Silver Bird Television,Andy Bello, Macabe Samueland Mr. Tony Kabaka, SeniorSpecial Assistant to theGovernor on NeighbourhoodWatch, Edo State.

Present at the conferenceinclude the representative of theSecretary to the StateGovernment, Hon. Asabora, theDirector of Culture and Tourism,Mrs. Leina Idehen and manyother stakeholders in theentertainment industry in EdoState.

basis should be created forNigerians to be loyal andcommitted to their country.

He, therefore, chargedwomen to build in their childrenenduring moral values.

According to him, this will lastlonger than any physicalinfrastructure that governmentcan provide.

In his remarks, GovernorBabatunde Fashola of LagosState, said that better livingconditions could be achievedthrough the conscious efforts ofevery citizen.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu(APC, Lagos-Central), called

Nigeria, Organised Labour,Student Leadership,Leadership of the NationalAssembly, Conference ofSpeakers of State Houses ofAssemblies, OrganisedPrivate Sector, the PhysicallyChallenged, Edo in Diasporaand other interest groups areinvited to make presentations

at the Conference. Venue of the Dialogue/Conference is ImagueroCollege Hall, Sapele road,Benin City from 1:00pm. A statement endorsed by theCommittee Secretary, Dr.Akilu Sani Indabawa advisedall stakeholders and interestgroups invited through thispublication to be seated by12:30pm.

for courage on the part ofwomen.

“There is need to prepareagainst the future challenges astoday’s opportunities willdetermine the quality of lifetomorrow,” she said.

The wife of the stategovernor, Mrs AbimbolaFashola, said that theconference would continue toprovide a platform for womento deliberate on many topicalissues.

Fashola, who is alsochairman of the committee, saidthat the aim of the conferencewas to ensure that a largenumber of women were trulyinspired and empowered.

BE EKPERI (ETSAKOCENTRAL) - Therescheduled councilelection for ward six inEtsako Central and wardsthree and four in EtsakoWest Local Governmentwas concluded yesterdaywith a show of utmostdecorum and maturity andwithout any hitch. A Returning Officer, Mr.Ekpeogwa Moses for wardsix in Ekperi declaredAthanaciouis Kanoba ofAPC winner having polleda total of One thousand,One hundred and sixty(1,160) votes to defeat hisPDP counter part, YakubuIsiru who scored sixhundred and sixty (660). At Auchi wards three andfour, the election wascontested between thePDP, APC and LabourParty but the results werestill being collated as at thetime of this report. Respondents who spoke

By MORRISON HAYBLE

By INNOCENT OMOAKA

on the election described itas a family affair as theyexpressed belief that theywere one, irrespective ofpolitical divide. Exchange of pleasantriesamongst political leaders ofdifferent party affiliationwas observed at the pollingunits, which exemplifiedgood sportsmanship. Some party chieftainsincluding the councilchairman, Hon. EmmanuelMomoh and Hon. JohnsonOghuma of the StateHouse of Assembly whospoke at their variousresidents expressedhappiness that the conductand the outcome was thebeginning of betterelectoral exercises in thestate. However, securityoperatives who keenlywatched the proceedingswere left without any job todo as the election wasgenerally peaceful andhitch free.

during the company’s routinemaintainance by the company’sengineers when the 10-H-02equipment in area 2 exploded,leading to fire which lasted forsome minutes, before it wasallegedly put out by staff in theHealth Safety And Environment(HSE), the safety department ofthe company.

But NIGERIAN OBSERVERgathered that there were no fewerthan 9 casualties who were

surreptitiously ferried to the NNPCclinic and other medical centersnearby.

When NIGERIAN OBSERVERarrived at the gate of the companyat about noon, securityoperatives, including soldiers,were seen keeping surveillance,while people, including staff, wereprevented from gaining entranceto the premises.

Journalists were also preventedfrom gaining entrance into thecompany as security around thegate of the company was heavy.

A very hostile security manasked in a rather unfriendly tone,“who invited you people? go andcome tomorrow to meet with thepublic affairs people”.

No fewer than four ambulanceswere seen moving to and fro thepremises of the company andoccupants of the ambulanceswere armed with hand gloves andnose masks to indicate that theexplosion may have been fatalwith casualties.

Unconfirmed source said thatsome of the refinery staff sufferedsevere burns and were rushed tothe Nigerian National PetroleumCompany (NNPC) clinic in the oilrich city of Warri.

Some members of staff andcontractors of the company wereseen in clusters in front of the gateof the company, discussing theincident in low tones and wereunwilling to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, the situation wassaid to have been brought undercontrol by officials of the company.

It was gathered that thedirectives and prompt interventionof the Managing Director, Engr.Paul Obelley, who was on his wayto Port Harcourt in preparation forhis daughter ’s wedding thisweekend, had to cut short his trip,due to the situation.

Though the cause of theexplosion was yet to beascertained, but a competentsource said the officials of thecompany were still investigatingthe actual cause of the explosion.

Our correspondent was reliablyinformed that no life was lost inthe incident, but some fewpersons working in the affectedarea may have sustained minorinjuries as a result of theexplosion.

Another competent source said,immediately the explosionoccurred, all the workers wereevacuated to safety points, whilefirefighters put off the fire.

Nationwide broadcast onOctober 1st 2013.

Osagie later urged thespeaker to mandate the houseon Aviation to investigate thematter and report back to thehouse within one week withspecific terms of reference.

Other members who spokein support of the motion also

condemned the purchase ofthe vehicles with public moneywithout following due processas required by the law of theland.

When the motion was put tovote, by the speaker of thehouse of representative, HonAminu Tambuwal whopresided over the sitting, itwas unanimously carried.

Reps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation MinisterReps to probe Aviation Minister

UROMI (Edo) - TheMinister of Works, Mr. MikeOnolememen, hasdescribed the Tuesday’sLocal Government electionin some areas of Edo Stateas “peaceful” despite minordelays. Onolememen, who votedat Ward 4, Esan North EastLocal Government, Uromi,

Edo State, added that theelection, however, witnessedsome irregularities. “The election was peaceful,though there wereirregularities. “The Edo StateIndependent ElectoralCommission (EDSIEC) didnot meet the guideline asspecified by the commission.

“But I am happy that I wasable to exercise myfranchise,” he said. Also speaking the APCcandidate, Mr. Sam Oboh,told newsmen that theelection was free and fair. Oboh said that he did hisaccreditation at about 9 a.mat ward 9, and voted at about12 p.m. “The exercise was peacefuland I think by and large theprocess is free and fair,” hesaid. On his part, the PDPcandidate, Mr. John Yakubu,said that the party wouldresist any attempt byanybody to cause trouble. The Edo State IndependentElectoral Commission(EDSIEC) cancelled theelection in the localgovernment held on April 22due to logistical problems. The commission alsocancelled elections in ninewards in Edo SouthSenatorial District for similarreason.


News

LG CommissionsSchools

Furniture

Gunmen Kill 2 Vigilante Members In Warri

Dafinone To Challenge DeltaCentral By-Election Result

Group Urges Members ToBe Good Ambassadors

SAPELE (DELTA) - TheDemocratic Peoples Party (DPP)has vowed to contest the outcomeof the Delta Central Senatorialpoll at the Election PetitionsTribunal.

The DPP senatorial candidatefor poll, Chief Ede Dafinone iscontesting the victory of Mr.Emmanuel Aguariavwodo of thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP)at the poll district.

In a statement issued in Sapele,the DPP senatorial candidatedescribed the April 12 bye-election as political denialperpetrated against Urhobo, thefifth largest ethnic group inNigeria.

“There is little recognition ofUrhobo at the federal and statelevels in terms of appointmentsand positions.

Similarly, the interference inthe last election where thecandidate foisted on the PDP inDelta State is again foisted andthis time forcefully on the peopleof Delta Central”.

The DPP candidate who is notpleased with the result of theelection where PDP was declaredwinner flayed the exercise whichhe alleged was not free and fairand was enmeshed in violenceand intimidation of voters.

He condemned the recklessdesperation, the sheer treachery

and lawlessness of leaders of thePDP in the state.

He also accused theIndependent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) ofoverturning the rule of fairnessand allocating victory to the PDP.

“We reject this outright robberyof the people’s will. We condemnthis grievous injustice, thismockery of all that is a decent,of all that is fair and just. Thearmy and INEC, both federalgovernment institutions workedwith the PDP’s candidate toensure his victory. The PDP usedthe army to unleash terror on thepeople of Delta Central. Forhours, gun shots rent the air and

the people were clobbered. Also,the announced result shows PDPin first place. As if that is not badenough, the result shows AllProgressives Congress (APC) insecond place with DPP thePopulist Party in the third place.All that combines to make thewhole result laughable” thestatement said.

The statement said the party’slegal team had been told to headto the poll tribunal.

“As law abiding citizens, weintend to explore all legal meansto ensure this sham of an electionis cancelled.

“We shall be proceeding to theelection petition tribunal topresent our case” the statementadded.

By BETTY IDIALU

WARRI - Barely two weeksafter gunmen dispossessed aman of N1.5 million on his wayfrom a bank, armed men inWarri, Delta State, have shotdead two members of a vigilantegroup.

The midday incident, TheNigerian OBSERVERgathered, occurred at Ginuwaarea, along Warri/Sapele Roadin the Warri metropolis.

The two victims were said tobe on the trail of somehoodlums, before the chasewent awry and they weregunned down by the armed men.

It was gathered that thevictims, simply identified asOmonigho Monday, aliasOmones, who was the chairmanof the vigilante group inAgbassa, was in company of hisfriend, one Odaiah, in theformer’s house when thegunmen came calling.

The armed men shot at themand Omonigho gave up theghost instantly while the otherwho was attempting to scale afence, was shot in the head anddied while being ferried in atricycle to the hospital.

When The Nigerian

OBSERVER got to the scene,there was a crowd making franticefforts to see the lifeless body ofOmonigho on the ground.

Meanwhile, investigationrevealed that the armed men wereon the trail of a vehicle that wentto a bank to cash money, but in abid to halt the fleeing robbers, twomembers of the vigilante groupwere gunned down.

It was, however, gathered thatefforts made to apprehend thefleeing robbers by soldiers andpolicemen failed as the banditsmaneuvered their way throughEffurun and disappeared into thinair.

Confirming the incident, theArea Commander of Warri PoliceCommand, ACP Rabiu Hussaini,described the incident asunfortunate, adding that his menwould surely catch up with thefleeing robbers.

According to him, thehoodlums were only lucky to haveescaped because most of his menare presently covering the officialvisit of the Chief Judge of the state,Justice Zai Smith to Warri prisons.

ACP Rabiu advised membersof the public, cashing money in thebank, to always go for policeescort when the amount is much,adding that they should also

maintain silence.“Police is ever ready to provide

security to persons going to cash

money in the bank because evenbank officials are alleged to be

giving information to robbers,”the police boss stressed.

According to Rabiu, to curb therenewed surge in armed robberyin the city, Divisional PoliceOfficers (DPO) have been urgedto be visiting bank officials andhold meetings with theirmanagers on daily basis tostrategize on how to halt themenace of bank robbery.

“We are determined to flushout criminals in order to make theember months a hitch-freeperiod. We are surely not goingto relent in our efforts inachieving this feat”, stressed thepolice boss, explaining thatpolice dragnet have been spreadto restore the sanity and make thepeople sleep with their eyesclosed.

He further revealed that threenotorious criminals whospecialized in robbery andkidnapping, were recentlynabbed by police in Warri.

By JOELCHUKWUAGHONIM

MBIRI (DELTA) –President of Out-Chukwu-buru-Uzor-ngozi-esen, Dr.Osborn Nwabudike hasexpressed the need for socio-cultural groups to be good

ambassadors of their respectivecommunity.

Dr. Nwabudike gave thehint in Mbiri, Delta State on theoccasion o f the celebration ofthe union’s ‘new cloth’.

According to him, one sureway of doing this is formembers to live exemplary

OKPELLA (EDO) – The800 chairs with desks procuredfor primary schools in EtsakoEast Local Government Area bythe Hon. Abdulmalik SuleimanAfegbua led administration hasbeen commissioned.

The commissioningceremony was performed by theOkuokpellagbe of Okpella, HisRoyal Highness, AndrewYakubu Eshioramhe Dirisu inAgenebode.

According to the royal father,the Afegbua led administrationis a pride to the locality, havingmade the people proud with hispeople oriented programme.

Describing the council bossas a good apostle of the stateGovernor Adams Oshiomhole,the Okuekpellagbe wasoptimistic that he (chairman)would deliver more democraticdividend to the people.

“He is transforming EtsakoEast and I’m proud of him as ason, “he said, adding that mediareport has vindicated the councilboss as one of the best in thestate.

On his part, the council bossremarked that several schoolshave benefited from the councilchairs distribution exercisedescribing the commissioningceremony as the first of suchinspite of having purchased anddistributed electricitytransformers to severalcommunities.

While sueing for morecounsel and support from theOkuokpellagbe, Afegbua alsocalled on the people,irrespective of political

affiliation to collaborate with himin developing the entire localgovernment area.

He expressed theadministrations commitment tocreating a conductive learningenvironment for pupils in thelocality, urging the people toprotect public facilities in theirdormain.

Supervisor for Education, Hon.Idodo Nasiru who commended thecouncil boss for living up to hiselectoral promises to the peoplesaid that the provision of schoolbuildings and facilities hasimproved the standard of learningin Etsako East.

Representative of the LocalEducation Authority Secretary andHead Master, Idodo II PrimarySchool Chief Okiti Kasimu,recalled how the council chairmanhanded the keys of the completedfour classrooms block to him inAugust, 2013 with a promise toprocure chairs and desks.

He said that the promise hasnow been fufiled, describing himas a pragmatic man who keeps tohis promises. He however askedfor the provision of teachers chairstables, and the security of schoolproperty.

Also speaking was Mrs. GraceSado, Head Teacher EramhePrimary School who Commendedthe chairman for keeping hiselectorial promises to the people.

The occasion attracted villageHeads, politicians, councilors,supervisors, top council officialsand school Head Masters.

lives and conduct themselves inmanners that would not bringdisrepute to their respectivegroup.

The Out-chukwu-buru-uzor-ngozi-esen is a fraternitycommitted to the well-being ofmembers and the developmentof the society.

UHOLOR- TheInstallation ceremony ofPa Ekhator Isaac Enoruwaas Odionwere of UholorCommunity Oredo LocalGovernment Area of EdoState has been slated forSaturday October 26,2013. A statement by the Enogieof the community, Mr.Friday Ekhator indicatedthat the ceremony wouldhold at UholorCommunity, UpperEkewan Road, Benin CityBeginning at noon.

Pa Enoruwa ForInstallation As

Odionwere

Pa Ekhator IsaacEnoruwa

Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr Pius Egberanmwen Odubu (left) and All ProgressivesCongress (APC) Chieftain in Orhionmwon Local Government Area, Edo State, Hon VictorAigbogun at a Special Thanksgiving Service held at Holy Aruosa Cathedral to mark thebirthday anniversary of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Eheneden ErediawaPHOTO: MOSES OBOH

Medical Personnelattending topatients at the on-going mobile freeHealth Care Servicesorganised by Hon(Mrs) ElizabethAtivie of Edo StateHouse of Assemblyfor the people of herc o n s t i t u a n c y ,Uhunmwode LocalGovernment AreaP H O T O :O S A D E B A M W E NSUNDAY


NewsWoman Jailed For

Purchasing Stolen Blocks

ChurchHoldsWomenConventionOct 24

Court Denies Female RobberySuspect Bail

Bricklayer Remanded For Robbery

Alleged TheftSalesgirl, 21, Docked

LAGOS- A Lagos HighCourt, Igbosere, has deniedbail to one Esther Ihedime, 25,who allegedly attempted torob another woman with a toygun.

Justice Aishat Opesanworuled that there was no cogentevidence before the court tosupport the defendant’s claimof ill-health.

She said that although theaffidavit attached to the bailapplication said that the gunwas not found on thedefendant, other chargesmight be preferred against herin the course of the trial.

Opesanwo noted that thedefendant submitted that shewas running an errand for hermother when she was forcedby some gunmen to join themin a robbery.

“The court is not in doubtof the defendant’s story, butevery case is determined by itspeculiarity,” she held.

The judge also said thatdenying the defendant bailwas in her interest as it would

KUJE (FCT)-A Grade 1Area Court in Kuje, FCT, hassentenced a 31-year- oldbusiness woman, Mary Ajayi,to three months imprisonmentfor buying stolen blocks.

The presiding judge, MrNuhu Ibrahim, said theconvict was guilty as chargedand sentenced her to threemonths’ imprisonment withan option to pay N10,000 fine.

“Ajayi pleaded guilty tobuying 161 stolen blocks fromMr Suleiman Lawal and sheis hereby convicted ofcommitting the offence.’’

Ajayi, who had no counsel,

ABUJA- The police hasarraigned a sales girl,Christiana Iwuchukwu, 21, ofMpape Village, Abuja in aWuse Zone 2 SeniorMagistrates’ Court, chargedwith theft.

The prosecutor, CplMonday Akor, told the courtthat Mrs. Agnes Ochigbo ofCitec Mbora Estate, Abuja,reported the matter at theMaitama Police Station onOctober 14.

Akor said Iwuchukwuconspired with another man,currently at large and stole 11pieces of Senegalese Kaftan,valued at N440,000,belonging to her employer.

He said that the accusedcould not give satisfactoryaccount of her actions during

ASABA- An Asaba ChiefMagistrates’ Court in Deltahas remanded a 32-year-oldbricklayer, Lazarus Igwe, inprison custody, for allegedlyrobbing PHCN of itstransformer coils valued atN1.8million.

The accused is standing trialon a one-count-charge ofarmed robbery.

The Prosecutor, MrAugustine Otubu, told the

BENIN CITY- The 2013Women Convention of theQueen’s Circle of El-ShaddaiMinistries (Oasis of LoveChurch), is scheduled forThursday October 24-SundayOctober 27, 2013.

The event with the theme:“The leading Woman wouldhold at No 10 ImadiyiosaStreet, Off Evbareke spareParts Market Road, Off TextillMill Road, Benin City.

According to theprogramme for the event,services shall hold at 4pmdaily, except on SundayOctober 27, 2013 whenservice shall hold at 9 am.

Speakers at the occasioninclude the host, Pastor andMrs. Sam Omorebokhae,Pastor Mrs. L Osha (GuestSpeaker) and Pastor Mrs. H.Enunwanoye, the statementadded.

had pleaded guilty to thecharge against her and beggedthe court for leniency.

She was arraigned on one-count charge of receivingstolen property, contrary toSection 316 of the PenalCode.

The police prosecutor, Cpl.Samuel Ocheche, had told thecourt that Mr EmmanuelDung of Nuwalege village,Kuje, reported the matter atthe Kuje Police Station onOctober 17.

Ocheche said that Ajayi,resident of Gosa, Airport road,Abuja, bought the blocksfrom Lawal at N30 each asagainst the normal price ofN180 per block.

prevent the unknown gunmenfrom contacting her.

Opesanwo ordered anaccelerated hearing in thecase, and adjourned it tillNovember 15 for substantivetrial.

The reports state thatIhedime is facing a two-countcharge of conspiracy andattempted robbery.

The charge sheet said thatIhedime committed theoffences on November 2,

2012 at No. 159A, AkereleExtension, Surulere, Lagos, at2.45p.m.

According to the charge, thedefendant with others now atlarge - while armed with a toygun- attempted to rob oneMiss Rukayat Abdulsalat of

her valuables.The alleged offences

contravene Sections 296 and298 of the Criminal Law ofLagos State.

Section 296 provides thatany person convicted ofattempted robbery is liable toimprisonment for not less than14 years but not more than 20years.

court that the accused,residing at Ogwuashi-Uku inthe Aniocha-South LocalGovernment Area of the state,committed the offence onAugust 21.

Otubu told the court that theaccused committed theoffence, opposite the premisesof God is Good Motors,Asaba, while armed with agun.

He said the offence was

punishable under Section 2(2) (a) of the Robbery andFirearm (Special Provisions)Act Cap RII, Laws of theFederation of Nigeria, 2004,applicable to Delta.

The Chief Magistrate, MrsAugustina Monye, who didnot take the plea of theaccused, said that the case was

beyond the jurisdiction of thecourt.

Monye ordered thatduplicate copies of the casefile be sent to the Office ofthe Director of PublicProsecutions (DPP), foradvice.

She adjourned the case tillOcober 25, for mention.

investigation.The prosecutor added that

the offence contravenedSection 289 of the PenalCode.

If convicted, the sales girlis liable to serve a prison termof seven years or be given anoption to pay a fine or both.

However, the accusedpleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of theft.

The Magistrate, Mr AliyuShafa, granted bail to theaccused in the sum ofN150,000 with a surety inlike sum.

Shafa ordered that thesurety must reside within thejurisdiction of the court andadjourned the case toNovember 6 for furtherhearing.

Crown Prince ofBenin Kingdom,Prince EhendenErediauwa (left)and the memberrepresenting OredoF e d e r a lConstituency in theFederal House ofRepresentativesduring a SpecialT h a n k s g i v i n gService at HolyAruosa Cathedral tomark the CrownPrince’s birthdayrecently. Photo:MOSES OBOH.

Edo State Head of Service, Princess (Mrs) Ekiuwa Inneh and the member representing Oredo FederalConstituency in the Federal House of Representatives during a Special Thanksgiving Service at Holy AruosaCathedral to mark the birthday anniversary of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince EhenedenErediauwa recently. Photo: MOSES OBOH.


South-WestImbibe Reading Culture, ANA Chairman Counsels Students

Theft Of GoatsMan, 33, Docked

Create Innovative Compulsory InsuranceProducts, Expert Urges Operators

Father Arrested ForImpregnating Daughter

OSOGBO - The Chairman,Association of NigerianAuthors (ANA), Osun chapter,Mr. Abiodun Oloyede, hascalled on students to developmore interest in reading.

Oloyede gave the advice inan interview with newsman onthe sidelines of the NationalLiteracy Campaign organisedby the association in Ibadan.

He said this why theassociation aimed atencouraging Nigerian literaturein schools and creating a forumwhere the young ones wouldhave the opportunity to expresstheir thought.

“There has been a greatdecline in the reading culture

Ekeng gave this advice in aninterview with newsmens inLagos.

NAN reports that someexisting compulsoryinsurance products are theThird Party motor, Owners/Occupiers Liability andProfessional Indemnity.

LAGOS - A Federal HighCourt in Lagos, fixedNovember. 14 for ruling onwhether the prosecution hadcompetence to prosecute a 50-year-old man accused ofimpregnating his 14-year-olddaughter.

The prosecution, the NationalAgency for the Prohibition ofTraffic in Persons and otherrelated matters (NAPTIP), hadon March 28, 2011, arraignedthe accused, Yesiri Onajobi, 50,on a two-count charge.

The charges, according to theprosecutor, are seducing hisdaughter and having unlawfulcarnal knowledge of her.

among students. I was shockedat the students’ response whenI asked about what they hadread.

“We have been to fivesecondary schools before now,and students in these schoolssaid they had never heard abouttales like ‘Aladdin and themagic lamp’ and ‘The magiccarpet’.

“But we want them todiscover the joy in reading,because reading not only makesa man, it also edifies,’’ Oloyedesaid.

The Osun ANA chairmansaid that was also why theassociation earlier this year hada teenage authors’ campaign.

“During this campaign, weput the teenagers through therudiments of writing poetry,prose and drama.

“We were challenged tocome up with writings which

have been committed to ANAfor publication,’’ he said.

Oloyede however said theNigerian nation must be able tocreate an environment wherelibraries must be well stocked

and book clubs established inschools, if possible incommunities.

“We must do this earnestlyif we want to encouragereading,’’ he said.

SANGO-OTA (OGUN) -The police in Ogun havearraigned a 33-year-old man,Shakoni Adeniyi, over allegedtheft of eight goats.

Adeniyi is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy,theft and breach of the peacebefore an Ota Magistrates’Court.

The prosecutor, Insp PeterMolokwu, told the court thatthe accused, a resident ofNo.22, Adeyemi St., Ota,conspired with another personstill at large to commit theoffences at 7.00p.m. onOctober. 19 at Akute in Ota.

Molokwu added that theaccused was caught at a policecheckpoint in Ota.

The prosecutor said that theoffences contravenedSections 390 (3) and 516 ofthe Criminal Code, Law of

LAGOS - Mrs. RoselineEkeng, the ManagingDirector, International EnergyInsurance, has urgedinsurance companies to createmore compulsory insuranceproducts to encourage morepeople to buy insurancepolicies.

According to her, thedirective of the NationalInsurance Commission(NAICOM) on compulsoryinsurance products hadcreated retail businessopportunities in the industry.

“It has also opened up ahuge opportunity for retail

and micro insurancebusinesses.

“Retail business is the wayto create massive insurancepenetration in Nigeria,” shesaid.

Ekeng said that in responseto NAICOM’s mandate thecompany had introduced theThird Party Motor ScratchCards for private motor,trucks and motorcycles.

She said that the companyhad also set up a call centre,fully equipped with the latest

technology, to attend tocustomers’ challenges inusing the scratch card.

According to her, thescratch card is an onlineplatform through which thegeneral public can haveaccess to genuine third partymotor insurance policies.

Ekeng expressed optimismthat the call centre wouldbecome handy for thecompany to developtechnology based products forthe other compulsoryinsurance businesses.

The accused had onarraignment, pleaded not guiltyto the charges, and wasremanded in Ikoyi Prison byJustice Chukwujekwu Aneke.

Counsel to the accused,Austine Akpormeta, told thecourt that his client had apending application based onthe competence of theprosecution to prosecute thecase.

The prosecution counsel, Mrs.Kehinde Falade, told the courtthat the accused was not in courtbecause the prison warder couldnot bring him to court.

Justice Aneke adjourned thecase to November. 14 for ruling.

The state ANA chairmansaid 10 secondary schoolsacross Osun had alreadybenefitted from the literaryawareness campaign by theassociation.

Ogun State, 2006.The accused, however,

pleaded not guilty.Senior Magistrate Titi Bello

granted him bail in the sum ofN50, 000 with one surety inlike sum.

She adjourned the case toNovember. 25 for mention.

P r e s i d e n tG o o d l u c kJonathan (right)shaking handswith the outgoingIndian HighCommissioner, Mr.Mahesh Sachdevat the PresidentialVilla in Abujayesterday.

Giving a helping hands during flooding


Osun Launches Breast Cancer AwarenessProgramme

Across The Nation

Ogun Assembly WarnsAgainst Recognition OfUnrecognised Chiefs

Ban On Unaccredited InstitutionsDeputy Speaker Commends Ministry

BatteringCourt Dissolves 3-Year-Old Marriage

OSOGBO - The OsunCommissioner for Health,Mrs. Temitope Ilori, hasinaugurated a breast cancersensitisation programme toraise awareness about thedisease.

Ilori told a rally in Osogbothat breast cancer is a tumorthat could spread to otherparts of the body if notchecked.

ILORIN - An Ilorin AreaCourt has dissolved a three-year-old marriage over batteryby the man.

The judge, Mr. YusufAbdulkareem, dissolved theunion of 30-year-old Mrs.Ramat Fatahi and 33-year-oldYusuf, following a petition byRamat, a resident of Alore inIlorin.

The petitioner had told thecourt that Yusuf was beating

MAKURDI - The DeputySpeaker, Benue House ofAssembly, Dr StephenOnmeje, has commended thestate’s Ministry of Educationfor banning unaccreditedtertiary institutions in thestate from operating.

He made thecommendation in Makurdiwhen the1975 members of

She said 95 per cent ofwomen who developed breastcancer do not know it’s riskfactor and stressed the need forhealth experts to redoubletheir efforts toward sensitisingwomen on the dangers of thedisease.

The commissioner listed thesymptoms of breast cancer toinclude a change in the shapeor size of the breast, swelling

of the upper arm or armpit anddischarge from the breast.

Ilori stressed the need forSelf Breast Examination(SBE) among women toidentify any changes for quick

medical attention.She said that the state

government, in partnershipwith the Tumor SuppressorsMaternal Organisation(TSMO) had made necessary

arrangements with patients tohave access to adequatetreatment.

She advised patients to visitthe Ladoke AdelabuUniversity of Technology

Teaching Hospital, Our Ladyof Fatima Hospital, Jaleyemiand Hamstring SpecialistHospital/Diagnostic Centreall in Osogbo for counsellingand treatment.

ABEOKUTA - Mr.Olakunle Oluomo, theChairman, Ogun StateHouse of AssemblyCommittee on LocalGovernment andChieftaincy Affairs, haswarned the Ministry ofChieftaincy Affairs againstrecognising illegal Chiefs.

Oluomo said this inAbeokuta while on anoversight visit to theministry.

He noted that there weresome chiefs not recognisedby law and asked theministry to desist frominviting them to attendmeetings.

“I represent Ifoconstituency and the onlyrecognised Oba is the Olu ofIfo and there is anotherillegal Oba parading himselfas Onifo of Ifo in the same

the Igumale Old StudentsAssociation paid him acourtesy visit.

He described theministry’s action as “a rightstep in the right direction”,saying the move wouldsanitise the education sectorif sustained.

Onmaje expressed concernat the proliferation of illegal

and unaccredited schools inthe state, which he said wouldnot augur well for theeducation sector.

He advised people whowere willing to assist the stategovernment in establishingschools to follow laid downrules before doing so, notingthat “education is a criticalsector which should not be putin jeopardy by anyone.’’

The deputy speaker pledgedthe assembly’s resolve topartner with the stategovernment to reposition theeducation sector in the state.

He urged members of theassociation to support their

alma mater to uplift thestandard of teaching andlearning.

Earlier, the President of theassociation, Mr. BenjaminEkalinu, had commended thedeputy speaker “for hisimmense contributions todebates at the assembly.

Ekalinu also commendedOnmaje for constructing anultra modern administrativeblock in the school.

The president of theassociation said Onmeje hadmade the old students of theschool proud by his actionand urged him to sustain thetempo.

her at the slightestprovocation.

“My husband getsprovoked easily and beats meup in public places,” she said.

She added that Yusuf beather up on the last New YearDay.

Yusuf did not object to theapplication.

“My wife is pompous andhas no regard for anybody;she always provokes me,” hesubmitted.

environment.“If the ministry does not

want to promote conflict inour state; it should stopdealing with or recognisingillegal Obas.’’

He also urged the ministryto prepare a bill toauthenticate the activities ofthe vigilante group in thestate.

The committee chairmansaid the bill would enhancethe efficiency of thevigilante groups give legalbacking to their activities.

In his address, Mr.Olatunde Olowonyo, thePermanent Secretary saidthe ministry had been ableto settle boundary disputesbetween local governments.

Olowonyo also said thatthe ministry had installed sixchiefs in the state in eightmonths.

L-R: Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; Emir of Jama’are, Alhaji Mohammed Wabi III and Chairman,Jama’are Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Jama’are during the Emir’s courtesy visit in Bauchi yesterday.

Representative of the Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Sen. Olugbenga Obadara (left), addressing a meetingof Joint Committees on Education, Science, Technology, Youth, Sport and Culture in Lagos yesterday. Withhim is Chairman, Communication and Information Technology, ECOWAS Parliament, Comrade JeffersonKanmoh.


Lagos

Mechanic Docked ForTheft

Group BacksProposedNational

Conference

DPP OrdersProsecutionOf Robbery

Suspect

FG Approves Lifting Of ScrapMetals

LAGOS - A NorthAmerican-based Yorubasocio-cultural group, EgbeOmo Yoruba, has urgedNigerians to honour the latepro-democracy activist, DrBaba Omojola, by ensuringthe success of the proposedNational Conference.

The group gave the advicein a statement issued inLagos by its NationalPresident, Chief BoluAkindutire.

Reports say that Omojoladied on Saturday in Akureafter presenting amemorandum at the maidenPresidential AdvisoryCommittee on NationalConference on Friday.

“His last act before hedied was the presentation ofa draft of the constitutionproduced by the NigeriaEthnic NationalityConference to the AdvisoryCommittee on NationalConference and hisinsistence on its adoption.

“The nation can onlyremember and honourOluwide Omojola if wework towards the PeoplesNational Conference that hestood for.

“A dogged fighter, henever sat on the fence.

“An activist who was inthe theatre of activities, anadroit and revolutionaryteacher who educatedNigerians on goodgovernment, died doingwhat he knew best,’’ it said.

The statement said thatOmojola’s activities alongwith others in PRONACOled to the production of thedraft of the people’sconstitution at the NationalConference of Nigerian

LAGOS - The FederalGovernment has granted approvalto 11 companies to lift scrap metalslittering the operational areas of theNigerian Railway Corporation(NRC).

The corporation’s Director incharge of Mechanical and ElectricalDepartment, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, saidthis in an interview with newsmenin Lagos .

He said that the developmentwould pave way for introduction ofa modern technology to improve

rail transportation.Okhiria said that the metals

were no longer useful to theNRC.

“There was a ministerialcommittee that took necessarysurveys, and an approval wasgiven for the metals to bedisposed of.

“An advert was placed onnewspapers for interested endusers to apply, and 11companies were given the

approval,” he said.Okhiria listed the companies to

include Philips Parker Nig. Ltd.,BSS Steel Rolling Mill Ltd.,Abbaccon Investment Ltd.,Fortified Services Ltd. and ChinaZhonghao Nig. Ltd.

According to him, the othersare: Design Age Consult Ltd., J.Oliz Maritime Services, Bernard& Rose Industry Ltd., Yaks

Solutions Ltd., Yaks Solution Ltd.,and Datol Nig. Ltd.

He told newsmen that the scrapshad become a nuisance and servedas hideouts for criminals.

“The scraps have littered thewhole operational areas; theyoccupy the whole places.

“Steel is more valuable thangold; its price still goes up in theworld market; it is unfortunate thatNigeria does not have thewherewithal to turn around thesemetals,” he said.

LAGOS - The Lagos StateDirector of Public Prosecutions(DPP), on Monday directed theprosecution of a robbery suspect,Emeka Ndukwe, alleged to haverobbed some bank customers.

The Magistrate, Mrs. MargaretDan-Oni, said that the legaladvice from the DPP hadestablished a prima facie caseagainst the accused.

She said: “A prima facie casehas been established against theaccused and suspect will beprosecuted at the IkejaMagistrates’ Court, based on theadvice.”

The advice, dated June 6, statedthat a prima facie case ofconspiracy to commit felony, andunlawful possession of firearmsin a public place, with intentionto commit robbery, was chargedagainst the accused.

According to the advice, theallegation of the offence whichwas contrary to Section 409 and296(3) of the Criminal Law ofLagos State, 2011, wasestablished against the accused.

The DPP noted in the advicethat Ndukwe, with one other atlarge, stalked customers of aBank as they left the premises,and attempted to rob them.

It said: “One of the bankcustomer who resisted the attackwith the help of people in thearea, foiled the robbery attack,the accused was arrested whilehis cohort escaped.

“A gun was recovered from thesuspect, and he confessed to thecrime.”

Newsmen report that theaccused was arraigned on July20, 2012, on a two-count chargeof conspiracy to commit felony,and unlawful possession offirearms.

IKEJA - A 33-year-oldmechanic, AbimbolaOluwole, who allegedlystole a Blackberry Torchand an I-phone, worthN125,000 from a shopper atthe Ikeja Shopping Mall,has appeared before anIkeja Magistrates’ Court inLagos.

Oluwole, a resident of No.

17, Oke Ira Powerline, Agege,Lagos, is facing a two-countcharge of conspiracy andstealing.

The prosecutor, Insp. EdetOkoi, told the court that theaccused and others at large,committed the offences at5:40 p.m., on October 15, at

the shopping mall at Alausa,Ikeja.

He said that the accused stolea Blackberry Torch and an I-phone handset with a totalvalue of N125, 000, propertyof Mrs. Oge Onyebuchi.

“The accused removed thephones from the complainant’s

handbag, while she waswalking towards the car park.

“He was, however, seen bythe complainant’s driver andsecurity officials at the carpark,” the prosecutor said.

Okoi said that the offencescommitted contravenedSections 285 and 409 of theCriminal Law of LagosState, 2011.

Section 285 provides thatany person who steals isguilty of a felony and isliable, if no other punishmentis provided, to three yearsimprisonment

The accused, however,pleaded not guilty to thecharge.

The Magistrate, Mrs.Margaret Dan-Oni, grantedthe accused bail in the sumof N50,000 with two suretiesin like sum.

Dan-Oni adjourned thecase till December 3 formention.

Ethnic Nationalitiesbetween 2004 and 2007.

“His training oftoday’s and futurepolitical and labouractivists will be dearlymissed.

“Baba was at theforefront of the calls forthe restructuring ofNigeria through aSovereign NationalConference,” thestatement said.

Chairperson, NGOCommittee onS p i r i t u a l i t y ,Values and GlobalConcerns, NewYork, MS SharonHamilton (left),presenting the“Spirit of theUnited Nations”award to theP e r m a n e n tRepresentative ofNigeria to the UN,Prof. Joy Ogwu inNew York onMonday.

L-R: Member, Board of Directors, Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority, Alhaji Manir Ja’Afaru,Managing Director, Prof. Paul Marley and Chairman, Dr. Sam Ode, at the Board’s meeting in Kadunayesterday.


Across The NationEthnic Groups In

North Endorse Confab

Defence College Begins Assessment OfInfrastructure In Enugu, Others

Rehabilitate Bad Roads In Ngor-OkpalaGroup Urges Govt

Zamfara To PartnerNEMA On Disaster Mgt

ENUGU - The NationalDefence College (NDC) Abuja,has began a tour of infrastructurein Enugu State to assess theirimpact on the state’sdevelopment.

Speaking during a courtesyvisit to Governor. Sullivan Chimeof Enugu State, the Leader ofCourse 22 team, Air CommodoreMohammed Usman, said thegeo-strategic tour was part of theteam’s programme which centredon states and socio-politicalenvironment.

The leader noted that the tourwas aimed at assessing the stateof infrastructure and how it hadinfluenced the development aswell as the people of the state.

He said the team would toursome road projects and otheramenities in the 17 local councilareas in the state.

Usman said the tour withtheme: ‘Infrastructure as aCatalyst for Development,’ wasalso aimed at improving theirservices.

“Normally, we undertake thisvisit to some selected states in thecountry to see the extent of

OWERRI - A socio-culturalgroup known as Obiri Ngor-Okpala has called on the ImoState Government to address thedeplorable condition of roads andlack of electricity supply to theNgor-Okpala council area.

The group made the call at adevelopment summit it organisedwith theme “Ngor-OkpalaDevelopment in the 21stCentury”.

The event held at theUmuneke-Ngor, the Ngor-Okpala Local GovernmentHeadquarters.

The Chairman of the group,Mr. Ken Amadi, listed thedilapidated roads to include the

JOS - Several ethnicnationalities in the North CentralZone of the country in Josendorsed the proposed nationalconference to discuss issuesabout the fate of the nation.

Presenting a paper to thePresidential Committee onNational Dialogue on behalf ofhis state at the opening ceremony,Mr David Salihu, the Secretaryto the Benue Government, urgedthe National Assembly to enact alaw that would give theconference a legal backing.

“The National Assemblyshould as a matter of concernenact a law that will give theconference a complete backing sothat all grey areas will bethrashed.

“We in Benue are completelyin support of the conference sothat issues of marginalisation ofminorities will be tackled.

“The issue of the nationalresources, security andcorruption will also receiveproper discuss at the conference,”he said

The scribe suggested that thecommittee should be given atleast nine months to organise theconference.

Salihu urged Nigerians tosupport the committee to help itconduct a successful conferencethat would stand the test of time.

Speaking on behalf of theBerom ethnic group, Sen. WashPam, said that the entire Beromtribe was in support of theconference that would discussburning issues that had beenbothering them.

Pam said they wanted theissues of citizenship, indigene

GUSAU - The Zamfaragovernment has expressedreadiness to partner with theNational Emergency

and settler to be thrashed at thenational conference.

“We will also want theconference to look at issues ofsolid minerals, soil degradationand quota system at the federallevel.

“We desired that the powers atthe federal level be reduced andmore powers given to states andlocal governments,” he said.

Also speaking on behalf of theIdoma tribe, Dr Okopi Alex,called on the committee to addressthe political structure of thecountry so that the minority tribeswould be given a sense ofbelonging in the country.

“The minority tribes have beenrelegated to the background andthere is the need to give allNigerians a sense of belonging.

“We want Nigerians to beunited and the issue of revenuesharing should be given toppriority at the conference,” hesaid.

Speaking on behalf of theJasawa community, AlhajiMansur Nakande, urged thegovernment to organise sovereignnational conference that wouldthoroughly discussed theproblems threatening the country.

“We want all those in theposition of authority to be relievedof their positions and thecommittee to take over theirpowers.

“We are making this submissionwithout prejudice. We want all theproblems to be tackled once andfor all,” he said.

The reports state that all thegroups who submittedmemoranda to the committeeopposed the disintegration of thecountry.

Imeriewe-Obokwe-Orisheze-Umuikoro-Opuehi, Imerienwe-Umuekwune-Umuezom, Ihitte-Umuneke and Logara-Umuohiagu-Nnorie roads.

According to him, the othersinclude Umuneke-Obike-Elelem,Okpala-Eziama-Mbato andMbutu Okohia-Egbelu roads.

Amadi said that the summitwas aimed at bringing the peopleof the area together to reflect ontheir past and plan for aprogressive future.

He called on the memberrepresenting the localgovernment at the state assembly

to ensure that rehabilitation of theroads was included in the state’s2014 budget.

He listed Umuekwune, Amala,Mbato, Obokwe, Oburu,UmuIkoro and Opuehi ascommunities in the council areawhich had yet to have electricity.

Amadi urged the memberrepresenting Aboh Mbaise/Ngor-Okpala Federal Constituency,and the Senator representingOwerri Zone to use theirpositions to urgently redress thesituation.

The guest lecturer, MonsignorTheophilus Okere, attributed the

poor development of the councilarea to greed among its elite.

“We have very little to boast ofwhen compared with ourneighbours.’’

The cleric called on the peopleof the area to embrace unity andselfless service to facilitatedevelopment.

The Chairman, NigerianElectricity RegulatoryCommission and Chairman of theoccasion, Dr Sam Amadi, saidthat no community could developin an atmosphere of disunity.

He called on indigenes of thearea to shun selfishness andsabotage to move thecommunities forward.

development in that state.“We want to see the state of

infrastructure in Enugu State andhow it has influenceddevelopment of the state. Thereare no special criteria forchoosing states to visit.’’

He listed some states which theteam would also visit to include

Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ekiti,Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Ondoand Plateau.

Usman said the results of theirfindings would be documentedfor effective service delivery andtraining at the college.

Responding, Chime, who was

represented by the Secretary tothe State Government, MrAmechi Okolo, called forstronger ties with the NDC totrain citizens and help improvesecurity in the area.

“The state has enjoyedpartnerships with security

agencies and the defence college.The college has always involvedthe state whenever a programmelike this comes up.

“I want to call for continuedcordial relationship between thecollege and the state.’’

The NDC was set up in 1992as the highest military institutionin Nigeria to tutor militarypersonnel on ways to improveprofessionalism.

Management Agency (NEMA)to ensure effective disastercontrol and management in thestate.

The Acting Governor of thestate, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji, madethe government’s positionknown in Gusau when hereceived relief materialsdonated to flood victims in thestate by NEMA’s North-WestZonal Coordinator, Alhaji MusaIllallah.

Rikiji said the stategovernment had, through thestate’s Emergency ManagementAgency (ZEMA), alwayscontacted NEMA whenever adisaster occurred in the area.

“We have seen manyprogress and achievementsthrough our contact withNEMA in the management ofdisasters in the state,” he said.

He assured NEMA of the stategovernment’s support andcooperation in discharging itsduties in the state.

He commended the agencyfor its efforts in managingdisaster in the state and thecountry.

Presenting the materials,Illallah said items donatedincluded food items, clothes andcosmetics

worth millions of naira.He said the donation was for

three local government areas ofGummi, Talata-Mafara andShinkafi.

L-R: Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; Permanent Secretary, Amb. Godknows Igali and representativeof the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shola Enikanolaiye at the 7th Annual Conference of the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership in Abuja yesterday.

L-R: German Secretary of State, Mr. Harold Braun; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Amb. GodknowsIgali and Secretary, National Energy Council, Mr. Ibrahim Njiddah, at the 7th Annual Conference of theNigerian-German Energy Partnership in Abuja yesterday.


AbujaSubject Nat’l Confab Report To Referendum, NwodoUrges FG

SalesBoy,Jailed ForBreach OfTrust

House C’ttee Warns Against PoorFunding Of HIV/AIDS

LabourerRemandedPendingSentence

ABUJA - Chief CharlesNwodo, the National Chairmanof defunct Progressive ActionCongress, (PAC), has urged theFederal Government to subjectthe outcome of the proposedNational conference to areferendum in the interest ofthe nation.

Nwodo made the call in aninterview with newsmen inAbuja.

He said that subjecting theconference’s outcome to areferendum would be betterrather than forwarding it to theNational Assembly forratification.

Nwodo said that othercountries had gone throughconstitutional drafting andamendment with the use of areferendum, therefore, ourscould not be an exception.

According to him, the aimsand objectives for which theconference is expected toachieve may be defeated ifforwarded to the NationalAssembly for ratification.

He said that the finaldecision should rest with thepeoples’ input at the end of the

ABUJA - An AbujaMagistrates’ Court has ordered a30-year-old labourer, JibrilAbubakar, to be remanded inprison till October 24 pending theoutcome of the judgement.

The Magistrate, Mr. AbdullahiIllelah, gave the order afterAbubakar pleaded guilty to thecharge of theft.

Abubakar, who resides onDaki biyu Village, Jabi FCT, hadalso told the court that hespecialised in stealingmotorcycles.

Illelah said that he suspendedthe sentence to enable him(accused) to assist the police inapprehending other members ofhis gang.

Abubakar, who was arraignedbefore Illelah at the Life CampMagistrates’ Court, Abuja,promised to assist the police toapprehend other members of thegang.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp.Audu Bitrus, told the court thatthe matter was reported by oneMutaka Ibrahim of Daki biyuvillage, in the Life Camp Policestation on October 15.

He said the complainant tookthe accused on his motorcyclefrom the Code of Conduct Bereauoffice and snatched the bike fromhim.

ABUJA - An AbujaMagistrates’ Court has sentenceda 28-year-old sales boy, AbiodunIdowu, of Sauka Kahuta Village,Lugbe, Abuja, to four months jailterm for criminal breach of trust.

The Magistrate, Mr. CelestineOdo, sentenced Idowu after hepleaded guilty to the offence.

Odo did not give the convictan option of fine.

The magistrate said that thesentence was to deter those whomight want to engage in similaracts.

Earlier, the prosecutor, PaulAnigbo, had told the court thatBalogun Michael of WisdomEstate, Lugbe, Abuja, reportedthe matter at the Lugbe PoliceStation on October 2.

Anigbo said that the convict, asales boy at the complainantscompany, Micky Vicky GlobalResources, Utako, Abuja,defrauded his employer ofN690,000.

He said the convict hadconfessed committing theoffence during investigationwhich was contrary to theprovisions of Section 314 of thePenal Code.

In his plea, the convict said:“my wife had a miscarriage andI could not afford to pay herhospital bills so I went to my bossfor assistance but he said hedidn’t have any money.

“As the sales boy of thecompany, I collects close to N1million from clients on dailybasis, so I took just N350,000from the money I received onOctober 2 and not N690,000 asreported.’’

ABUJA - The House ofRepresentatives’ Committee onHIV/AIDS, Malaria Control,Tuberculosis and Leprosy haswarned about the danger in thegovernment’s dependence ondonor agencies for funding ofHIV and AIDS programme inNigeria.

The committee’s Chairman, DrJoseph Kigbu, told newsmen inAbuja that this was because thedonor agencies could withdrawtheir support for the healthprogramme in the nearest future.

Kigbu called on the FederalGovernment to intensify itsfinancial commitment to thecontrol and treatment of HIV andAIDS in the country.

“My opinion as the Housecommittee chairman for HIV/AIDS is that the nationalresponse to HIV and AIDS isbelow average; we need to scaleup our response.

day to justify the relevance.“It is necessary that the

people of this country give theirdecisions a seal of approval inorder to make the conferencemeaningful to the people.

“ If it is just concededwithout the public input, it maylook as if nothing positive hasactually taken place,” Nwodosaid

Nwodo said that the essenceof the referendum as supportedby some Nigerians was to makeit “a collective will of thepeople rather than sections ofthe people”

He urged that “everyNigerian” should be carriedalong whenever the countrywas taking decisions on mattersthat border on the life of thepeople, their liberty and futureof the nation.

Nwodo noted that it hadbecome imperative for theoutcome of the conference tobe subjected to a referendumfor it to salvage the yearningsof the people.

“There are so many areaswhere we have not got it right. Interms of creating awareness, wehave improved but in terms offunding, we have not done wellas a country.

“It is 80 to 90 per cent donorfunds we are using for theprocurement of anti-retroviraldrugs.

“Funds for capacity building,HIV awareness and testing arefrom donor agencies like theWorld Bank, the Global Fund toFight AIDS, TB and Malaria aswell as the U.S. Centre forDisease Control,’’ he said

Kigbu said that thedevelopment aptly signified thatNigeria, like many other Africancountries, had failed to give

priority importance to publichealth issues.

“We need to scale up ourefforts; resource mobilisation isvery important because if ourdonor partners, for any reason,have a natural disaster oreconomic shutdown; then, wedon’t get those funds and thelocal supply chain of anti-retroviral drugs will beinterrupted,’’ he said.

Besides, Kigbu expressedconcern over the burden of HIVand AIDS in the country, sayingthat about 7, 000 new infectionscame from paediatric HIV/AIDS.

He also lamented that Nigeriawas behind target in severalimportant indicators, as not lessthan one million HIV-positive

persons were not on anti-retroviral drugs.

He said that ideally, not lessthan 1.5 million citizens weresupposed to be receivingmedication, adding, however,that only 500, 000 HIV-positivepeople were currently on anti-retroviral drugs.

Kigbu said that the alarmingnumber of those who were not onanti-retroviral drugs necessitatedurgent government attention andintervention in order to controlthe spread of the disease.

He called on the FederalGovernment to scale up fundingfor the HIV and AIDSprogramme to enable increasedprocurement of drugs, whileintensifying efforts to achieve

zero new infections.“What this means is that not

less than one million Nigerians,who are HIV sero-positive, arejust walking around the street,having sex and transmitting thevirus; so, we must wake up andtackle the development,’’ he said.

He called on the governmentto increase its commitment topublic health issues, expressinghope that President GoodluckJonathan would address thepublic health issues morecritically.

L-R: PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; President Goodluck Jonathan; Founder, Edwin KiagbodoClark Foundation, Chief Edwin Clark; his wife, Bisola; former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and theKeynote Speaker/President, Rainbow Push Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson at the launch of teh Edwin KiagbodoClark Foundation in Abuja recently.

Mobile phone repairers at Shuarin Village market in Jigawa.

1 0 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013THE NIGERIAN

Remove Barriers To TelecomsExpansion, ATCON Urges FG

Business + Economy

Industrialist Tasks FGOn Industrialization

Reduce ListingRequirement, Operators

Urge SEC, NSE

NairaRecords MixPerformanceAgainstForeignCurrencies

US Investments InNigeria Hits $50m

NSEIndicatorsDip By 0.20Percent

LAGOS - Mr. Lanre Ajayi,President, Association ofT e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o nCompanies of Nigeria(ATCON), urged the FederalGovernment to remove barrierslimiting the expansion oftelecommunications services inthe country.

Ajayi told newsmen in Lagosthat the barriers werefrustrating efforts of operatorsto provide more effectiveservices to the 150 millionactive subscribers.

He said that government’ssupport was vital to theattainment of desirable servicesin the sector.

The ATCON official said thecountry would continue toexperience poor services if thegovernment failed to takeurgent steps to remove thosebarriers.

“The telecoms revolutionwill be a mirage if governmentdoes not take urgent steps inmitigating vandalism and theftof telecom equipment at theBase Transmission Stations(BTS).

“Others are extortion byofficials of the three tiers ofgovernment, bureaucraticbottleneck in acquiringapproval to build BTS and theprotracted issue of grantingRight-of-Way,” he said.

Ajayi alleged that efforts byoperators to invest in BTSrollouts for improved servicewere being frustrated byagencies of the state and localgovernments.

“Factors impeding quickrollout of BTS that were criticalto quality services include thedelay by the relevantauthorities in approving the sitebuilding proposals for the

LAGOS - Mr. JeffreyHawkins, the U.S. Consul -General in Nigeria, has said thathis country’s investment in theNigerian economy so far in 2013had reached 50 million dollars(N7.89 billion).

Hawkins announced thisduring a courtesy visit to theNigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)in Lagos.

He said that the Americangovernment was building a solidtrade framework with theNigerian government to ensureincreased growth.

The consul-general called forthe creation of transparentinvestment environment by themanagement of the stockexchange to increase investorparticipation.

Hawkins said that the country’seconomy would not growwithout the capital market.

Mr. Oscar Onyema, NSE ChiefExecutive Officer, said that theNSE would support economicties between the two countries.

He said that the NSE woulddrive portfolio investments fromthe deepest market (New YorkStock Exchange) in the world toensure increased activities in thenation’s bourse.

Mr. Sam Ndata, a senior

LAGOS - The Nairadepreciated marginally againstthe dollar at the official andparallel markets it was gather.

The Naira, at the Bureau deChange, closed lower at N164.50from N165 it achieved onOctober. 18.

At the “black” market, theNaira traded for N164 to thedollar while at the official market,it sold for N159.

The currency, however,remained firm against the Poundat the Bureau de Change (BDC).

It sold for N265 to the Poundfrom the N266 it sold on Friday.

It traded at N265 to the Poundat the black market while it wentfor N250 at the official market.

Also, it slightly appreciatedagainst the Euro as it sold forN225 from the N226 on October.18 at the black market.

At the official market, itdepreciated by selling for N245.

LAGOS - Transactions on theNigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)closed on a downward trend asthe market indicators dipped by0.20 per cent, due to price losses.

The All-Share Index lost 74.77points or 0.20 per cent to close at37,267.96 as against 37,342.73recorded on Friday.

Similarly, the marketcapitalisation, which opened atN11.897 trillion, declined by N24billion or 0.20 per cent to closeat N11.873 trillion.

Nestle Nigeria led the laggards’chart with a loss of N30 to closeat N1,010 per share.

It was trailed by Guinness byN6.05 to close at N239.96 whileMRS Oil dipped by N1.80 toclose at N34.34 per share.

Champion Breweries lost 84kto close at N16.15 while LafargeWapco decreased by 50k to closeat N98.50 per share.

On the other hand, Conoil ledthe gainers’ chart by N3.57 toclose at N38.56 per share.

Cadbury came second with again of N2 to close at N59 whilePZ Cussons gained N1.97 toclose at N41.47 per share.

UACN gained N1 to close atN66 while InternationalBreweries appreciated by 80k toclose at N22.20 per share.

NAN also reports that a totalof 295.69 million of shares worthN3.91 billion was transacted in5,921 deals.

This was against a total of364.73 million shares valuedN4.8billion traded in 5,850 dealson Friday.

ABUJA - An industrialist, Mr.Isaac Duru, has urged the FederalGovernment to establish factoriesin towns and villages across thecountry to reduce unemploymentand curb rural-urban migration.

Duru, who is the Chairman ofParadise Productions Limited,made the call in his speech at theopening of the 4th NigeriaInternational Small and MediumScale Industries Trade Fair takingplace in Abuja.

He said such factories shouldbe set up in communities whichproduce relevant raw materials tosave cost and time.

He added that “theestablishment of factories andindustries in rural areas willcreate employment opportunitiesfor the country’s teemingunemployed youths.

“It will also stop the mad rushto urban cities in search of whitecollar jobs that are not readilyavailable.’’

The industrialist urgedunemployed youths to refocustheir attention away from whitecollar jobs and explore availableopportunities to establish theirown businesses and becomeemployers of labour.

LAGOS - Some capital marketoperators have called on theSecurities and ExchangeCommission (SEC) and NigerianStock Exchange (NSE) to reducelisting requirements to attractmore firms to the NSE.

They told newsmen in Lagosthat listing of more companies

operators.“This is preventing the

operators from achieving thenumber of BTS the countryneeds to guarantee betterservices,” he said.

Ajayi advised states and localgovernments to work togetherwith the telecom operators inbuilding more BTS forenhanced services in the sector.

“There is no glory in being anapplicant. Let the applicants takeadvantage of this fair by lookinginwards, thinking big and startingsmall to become self-reliant,’’ henoted.

The fair is jointly organised byParadise Productions Limited,the Federal Capital TerritoryAdministration and the FederalMinistry of Culture, Tourism andNational Orientation.

Duru said that the fair with thetheme “Promoting Commerceand Investment for GlobalCompetitiveness’’ was aimed atpromoting the growth of smalland medium enterprises (SMEs)in the Federal Capital Territory.

He noted that “the micro, smalland medium enterprise sector isthe corridor to economic growthand industrial development ofany country.

“We believe that the key to theindustrial development ofNigeria, being a developingcountry, does not lie on largescale industries but on cottage,small and medium scaleindustries.

“I believe that the opportunitycreated through the fair shouldtrigger the needed vertical and

horizontal networking to kick-start the foundation layingprocess for a vibrant nationaleconomic base.’’

In his opening address, theChairman of the occasion, Mr.sTony Ukpoju, said that globally,SMEs serve as engines ofeconomic growth, employmentgeneration, wealth creation andpoverty eradication.

Ukpoju, who is a PrincipalTourism Officer in the FederalMinistry of Culture, Tourism andNational Orientation, said the fairwould meet its objectives.

would boost activities in thecapital market.

Mr. Sehinde Adenagbe, theManaging Director, StandardUnion Securities in Lagos, saidthat SEC and NSE should scaledown listing requirements toencourage more companies to bequoted.

Adenagbe said that the stockmarket still had limited tradeableequities because the number ofunlisted companies faroutweighed those listed.

Mr. David Adonri, ChiefExecutive Officer, Lambeth Trust& Securities Ltd., Lagos, saidthat government should ensurethe privatised agencies werelisted on the NSE.

Adonri said that a robust capitalmarket would facilitate enhancedgrowth and development of thecountry.

Meanwhile, the All-ShareIndex of the NSE appreciated by351.11 points or 0.95 per cent lastweek to close at 37,342.73 fromthe 36,991.62 achieved in thepreceding week.

Also, the market capitalisationappreciated by N115 billion or0.98 per cent to close at N11.897trillion due to price appreciation.

Forte Oil led the gainers’ tablein percentage terms by 33.96 percent or N16.30 to close at N64.30per share.

Conoil followed with a gain of21.49 per cent or N6.19 to closeat N34.99, while Cadbury gained10.47 per cent or N5.40 to closeat N57 per share.

stockbroker on the NSE, calledfor U.S. assistance in bringingmore investments anddevelopment to the nation’scapital market.

L-R: Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar; Permanent Secretary, Mr. NebolisaEmordi and Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr. OluseyiSijuade, at the NRC’s Public Private Partnership Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abujayesterday.

L-R: Former Minister of State for FCT, Sen. Solomon Ewuga (left), with the Minister of Transport, Sen. IdrisUmar at the NRC’s Public Private Partnership Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abuja yesterday.


THERE have been growing cases ofinsecurity in Nigeria over time with theincreasing incidence of religious extremismby members of the Boko Haram sect. Thecontinued Kidnapping of citizens in thecountry is also worrisome as this havegrave consequences on Foreign DirectInvestment and development as a whole.Mother of Finance Minister waskidnapped, three primary school teachersalso and recently, Chief Mike Ozekhome,a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

WE are disturbed over the securitysituation in the country as some foreigncountries based in Nigeria are restrictingthe movement of their citizens within somestates in the country.

WE are even more worried over theimplications of corporate citizens’perceptions of our security on largerbusinesses and in particular, growth anddevelopment of the country. Unfortunately,efforts by Nigerian security to address thechallenge have not yielded the desiredresults.

IT is an incontrovertible fact that therecould be no meaningful development inany society where security of lives andproperty is heavily under threat. NigeriaExtractive Industries TransparencyInitiative reports have exposed loss ofcolossal sums of money through oil theftby criminals who, in our view act in concertwith powerful and well connectedNigerians including even someunscrupulous officials of the nation’ssecurity organisations.

TacklingNational

InsecurityTHE sad situation the nation finds itself is

an attestation of the lack of political will bygovernment over the years to deal decisivelywith the various security challenges thathave arisen with one leading to the other,some of which now have ethnic, and religiouscolourations. Kidnapping of multinationaloil workers in the Niger Delta went on fortoo long unaddressed until itmetamorphosed into kidnap of innocent lowincome earners, a situation which speaksvolumes of our unpreparedness to tackle themenace of kidnappers until the mother ofthe Finance Minister and Head of theeconomic team of Mr. President waskidnapped by hoodlums to the utterembarrassment of the whole nation.

TERROR groups in Northern Nigeriahave, since the inception of the Jonathanadministration unleashed mayhem oninnocent citizens in most parts of the regionwith security agencies and the presidencypromising almost on a daily basis to dealwith the insurgence without any lucidheadway till date.

CLEARLY, the Nigeria Police Force hasfailed woefully to live up to its responsibilityas from every indications, the policethemselves, including the high authoritiesare themselves either involved in criminalactivities or are pre-occupied in shieldingperpetrators of criminal offences.

THE political class have equally nothelped the situation as most of them areinvolved in arming youth groups to do theirpolitical billing who in turn go back to thetrenches with such arms to perpetratecriminality against the people and the state.

WE are strongly of the view that ifNigeria must attain its national goals andobjectives, the present administration musttake proactive steps to fight insecurity inthe land and restore hope and confidenceamongst all stakeholders.

BUT in all, we believe the President needsto exercise the political will to make thishappen. Mr. President needs to throw awayethnic, sectional and other sentimentalgarbs and wear his nationalistic apparel todeal with insecurity in the country.

GOING forward, we recommend a wellorganised, multi-stakeholder approach todealing with insecurity in the country. TheNigerian Army, Navy, Air force,Department of State Security Service,Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps,Nigerian Immigration, Nigerian Customsand most importantly, the Nigeria PoliceForce need urgent overhaul. All outfitsneed better coordination to arrest thesituation and make the country safer forall.

THE NIGERIAN


Agriculture

Ensuring Food SecurityThrough Women Farmers

By PERPETUA ONUEGBU

IN recognition ofwomen’s role in nationaldevelopment, especially inrural communities, theUnited Nations declaredOctober 15, 2008 asInternational Day of RuralWomen.

The date has since beenmarked globally tocelebrate rural womenwhose efforts, research hadshown, contribute towardsenhancing food securityand eradicating hunger andrural poverty.

Stakeholders inagriculture say that the dayis important because ruralwomen play critical roles inthe rural economies of bothdeveloped and developingcountries.

They agree that withadequate participation ofwomen in food production,especially at the grassroots,abundant food productionwill be sustained to fighthunger and poverty.

For instance, availablestatistics in the FederalMinistry of Agriculture andRural Developmentindicates that more than 70per cent of farmers inNigeria are women whoproduce 90 per cent of thefood consumed in thecountry.

Ms Eve Crowley,Principal Advisor, Gender,Equity and RuralEmployment Division atFood and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO), saysthe population of grassrootswomen will impact on foodproduction because theyconstitute between 20 percent and 30 per cent ofagricultural wage workers.

“They often predominatein high-value industries forexport such as fresh fruits,vegetables and flowers.

“Although these non-traditional sectors ofagriculture can presentwomen with unprecedentedincome opportunities, we

often find that women arehired on temporary orcasual contracts to performlabour-intensive, manualtasks.

“They are given limitedopportunities to acquirenew skills; and overall,higher-level positionscontinue to be captured bymen,” Crowley said.

As the world celebratesInternational Day of RuralWomen, she says thatrecognising thecontributions of women andtaking account of theirneeds at all levels werecardinal to food production.

Against this backdrop,Miss Constance Okereke ofActionAid Nigeria, saysthere is need to carry alongmore women farmers inbudgetary processes.

Speaking at a workshopon empowering small-holder women farmers toinfluence, challenge andchange policies and actionson public finance in thesector, Okereke opined thatwomen farmers should beinvolved in policy makingin agriculture.

According to her, this willhelp women to relate wellwith policy makers, andensure that their issues arewell attended to.

“This is the only way thatthe government can knowexactly what they need andhow to ensure they gainassistance,” she said.

Stating some constraintsagainst women farmers,Hajiya AishatuMohammed, President,Smallholder WomenFarmers’ Association ofNigeria, notes that themajor challenge of womenfarmers in the FCT was landacquisition.

According to her, womenfarmers in rural areas arenot producing enough fooddue to inadequatefarmlands.

“Most times, thesewomen inherit the land they

use from their fathers orhusbands, but sometimes,estates developers do notallow them use it for long,”she said.

Calling for government’sassistance, Mrs NyarimHabila, a farmer fromBogoro Local Governmentof Bauchi State, noted thatsome women farmers in hercommunity did not benefitfrom the 2012 GrowthEnhancement SupportScheme (GES) of theFederal Government.

According to her, suchschemes should targetwomen farmers separatelyto ensure that they are notmarginalised.

“If women farmersreceive such inputs in theirvarious commodityassociations, it will makemore impact than it doesnow,” she noted.

Also commenting, Mrs

Rakel Nasiru from ShelaLocal Government Area ofGombe State saidunhindered access toimproved seeds throughGES would make an impactin women’s effort toachieve food security.

“If the government canadd improved seedlings likesoya beans, groundnut,maize and rice which theyintend to distribute, it willhelp us to increaseproduction.

“This is because these aresome of the crops most ofour women farmers aroundhere are familiar with; theseeds should come earlywith enough fertiliser sothat we can utilise the rainyseason,” she pleaded.

Mr. Akinbolawa Osho,Director of Fertiliser,Federal Ministry of

Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, observed thatthere were challenges in thefirst phase of GES.

He was quick to add thatthe Federal Governmenthad introduced supply chainmanagers as part ofmeasures to address thechallenges of getting inputsacross to farmers.

“This year, we haveimproved on addressing thechallenges of mobilenetwork and Short MessageService (SMS) to farmers;we have addressed those toa large extent,” Osho said.

The federal governmentinsists that it has madeseveral efforts to ensure thatwomen farmers enjoy allfacilities required to boostfood production.

Vice President NamadiSambo recently announcedapproval of N15 billion loanto be routed through theBank of Agriculture.

Sambo told the NigerianEconomic Summit Group(NESG) in September inAbuja that the loan wouldbe disbursed to farmers atsingle-digit interest rate.

In the same vein, theCentral Bank of Nigeria(CBN) had in 2009

established a N200 billionCommercial AgricultureCredit -Guarantee Scheme(CACS) to promotecommercial agriculturalenterprises.

The scheme is beingfunded through theissuance of federalgovernment bonds by theDebt Management Officein two tranches.

Media reports indicatethat N101.38 billion had sofar been released to finance109 privately-ownedprojects, while 19 stategovernments received onebillion naira each fordisbursement to farmers’cooperatives and unions.

However, observers notethat as Nigerians join therest of the world to markthe International Day ofRural Women, relevantstakeholders shouldimplement policies thatwill restore the agriculturalsector, and empower andencourage rural women.

According to them,empowerment of womenfarmers will contributeimmensely togovernment’s desire toboost food production andcombat hunger and ruralpoverty. (NAN)

“Speaking at a workshop on empowering small-holder womenfarmers to influence, challenge and change policies and actionson public finance in the sector, Okereke opined that womenfarmers should be involved in policy making in agriculture.According to her, this will help women to relate well with policymakers, and ensure that their issues are well attended to.”


Issues

By AKPESIRI OGHENERHABOKE

Is FG Shifting Post On Vision 20 : 2020?

President Goodluck Jonathan

WHEN in year 2009, theadministration of latePresident Umaru Yar’Aduaenunciated a developmentalblueprint and christened itvision 20:2020, Nigerian ofall shades of character andideological polarizationbelieved it implied thatNigeria could squeeze atleast one country off the G-20 list and ensconce itself intheir midst.

Simply put, four years ago,the federal government ofNigeria had hoped todisplace in real terms some27 countries, wherever theycome from out of the 46countries that are, by andlarge, on the G-20.

However, the G-20 isactually 19 major economiesplus the European Union,EU which is represented byPresident of the EuropeanCouncil and by the EuropeanCentral Bank. Specifically,the EU is a group of 27countries in Europegenerating about 20 per centof the world’s GrossDomestic Product, GDP,measured in terms ofPurchasing Power Parity,PPP.

In effect, according to theinternational MonetaryFund, IMP, the G-20 accountfor 82.2 per cent of theworld’s economic growth byGDP (PPP). But even at thatand given statisticalrepresentation, can Nigeriarealize its agenda of joiningthe elite economic groups ineleven years?

Late President Yar’Aduawho could answer thatquestion, and the one underwhose tenure the target wasset in 2009 is dead. Butmercifully, according to theimmediate past Minister ofNational Planning, Dr.Shamsudeen Usman, the20.20 date is no longerrealistic for Nigeria tobecome a member of G-20.“We should look at perhapsjoining the G-25 as the morerealistic group our economicoutput merits,” he saidwistfully.

His consolation, however,is that Nigeria has mademuch more progress than weget ourselves credit for.According to him, “wherewere we in 2009? We werenumber 44. By the end of2012, we were 36. This isprogress. Setting aside theabsolute lack of realism in

our economic planning, asevidence by failedexpectations over thedecades, is it not possible thatNigerian leaders are simplytoo besotted to sloganeeringfor their own good? Do wenot remember how magical itsounded in the early 1990swhen our leaders ululatedover Year 2000, when, theyhoped everything frompoverty to malnutrition, lackof housing and eradication ofall forms of injustices andhealth problems would bebanished? Were we tooyoung to remember that oncethe magical Year 2000became unrealistic, ourleaders began to whoop forvision 2010, from whencetheir irrepressible soulssoared on the wings ofimagination to the sweet-sounding Vision 20:2020?What next? Might Vision G-2080 not be appropriate, evenpoetic?

Meanwhile, in the last fivemonths, authorities of thePresident GoodluckJonathan’s PeoplesDemocratic Party,administration, throughagencies and officials hasadmitted to three alarmingshortfalls of the government.They all border on the downturn of the economy,especially as it affects theordinary Nigeria.

As a matter of fact,sometime in April, theMinister for Finance andCoordinating Minister for theEconomy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, addressed the mediaadmitted that about 39million Nigerians,representing bout 23.9 percent of the population werejobless. Also, on June, 5, onthe World Environment Day,the immediate past Ministerfor Environment, HajiyaMailafiya, also admitted that200,000 children die ofhunger everyday worldwide.What the minister didn’thowever, say was how manywere Nigerians. But given thepoverty level in the nation,with about 40 million jobless,a good percentage of thefigure would accrue to thenation:

According to her, over20,000 children die of hungereveryday and over one-third(1.3 billion tones), of worldfood production are wastedevery year. The formerminister stated this at the

2013 World EnvironmentDay. She said food wastagecauses air pollution becauseas it releases hazardousmethane gas.

Mailifia said the mainobjective of the event is tohighlight the magnitude offood waste worldwide andthe impact on socio-

economic development ofthe world. “Food andAgriculture Organization,FAO, of United Nations,about one-third of globalfood production is wastedfrom farm to fork, which isequivalent to 1.3 billion tonsof food annually. Thevolume of waste is said to bemore than the total net foodproduction in sub-SaharanWest Africa. Thismonumental wastage ishappening at a time that anestimated 870 million peoplego hungry worldwide andmore than 20,000 childrenunder the age of 5 die dailyfrom hunger,’ she said.

Furthermore, she said‘food loss and waste is whatwe can all address. We needto raise awareness in our

various places and showcasesolutions relevant todeveloped and developingcountries.

‘Infrastructure andtechnology can reduce theamount of food that perishesafter it is harvested andbefore t reaches the market.By reducing food waste, we

can save money andresources, minimizeenvironmental impacts andmost importantly movetowards a world whereeveryone has enough to eat.”

Just a day after thatshocker, Nigeria’s Ministerof Power, Professor ChineduNebo, told Nigerians thehome truth, that 120 millionof the canvassed 160 millionNigerians lived in darknessbecause they couldn’t haveaccess to electricity. Thatfigure represents 80 per centof the population of thenation. He said the country’scurrent available 4000megawatts could only takecare of about 40 millionpeople, leaving about 120million Nigerians withoutpower.

He explained thatprivatization was meant to beconcluded in 2012 andgovernment was to stopfunding the maintenance ofpower plants, hence noprovision was made in the2013 budget. He noted thatinvestment in the powersector had the potentials toprovide more returns thancurrents returns in the oilsector, lamenting that poorfunding had been responsiblefor poor power supply.

Similarly the Centre forNon Formal Education andTraining, CENFET, is a NonGovernmental Organizationgeared towardstransformation andrestructuring Education inNigeria through improvedHead-teachers and teachersin institutions across theNation. The Champion of theCentre, Mrs. RosemaryNwangwu, during the recentpublic presentation of herbooks titled; TakingResponsibility for SchoolImprovement” and TheTransformational Teacher”in Abuja, identified everyindividual as stakeholderswhen educational issues areconcerned.

According to her, “publicsshould play their roles insupporting teachers to pullthemselves up, dustthemselves up and start allover again so as to regain lostglory of the profession, asthere are many problemssurrounding teachers, part ofwhich includes; salaries,welfare packages, fringebenefits, credit worthinessetc.

She said qualified teachersare generally few in thecountry, teachers areregarded qualified when theyhold the NCE certificate forbasic education schools.“The National Teachers’Institution is upgrading anumber of teachers who havecertificates, out of 43,765,Pre-Primary SchoolTeachers, only 30,503 arequalified while, 1,825857

children are enrolled at thislevel. As for JSS classes, outof 133,338 teachers only124,124 are trained andcertificated with either NCEor a first degree, and since theminimum qualification forteaching in Senior SecondarySchool is first degree withteaching qualification, theproportion of qualified seniorsecondary school teachersnationwide is therefore(57.94%) while about 42.0per cent are not qualified.”

Nwangwu averred thatNigeria does not haveadequate teachers, nothingthat “there are about 133,338teachers at the JSS level. Agap has already beencalculated (over 500000short) which makes itimpossible to meet ourteacher needs for EPA(Education for All) policy.”To encourage qualityteaching and earning, theNational Policy on Education(NPE) recommends ateachers; pupil ratio of 1:35at the basic education level,though varies in some states,Bauchi is 1:109 and Yobe is1:127, having as low as 421and 500 qualified teachersfor students’ population of46,013 and 63,953respectively.

From the foregoing, it isappalling that successiveadministration’s fecundityfor coining socio-economiccatch phrases can bemollified by disappointinguncertainties, and ifgovernment considers thechasm between goals andability, shouldn’t it nowembrace reality andmoderation with thesimplicity and innocence ofa child?

Of course, there is nothingwrong dreaming but howdoes the hopeful’ Nigerianleaders

The answer should notprove too arcane forNigeria’s gifted andimaginative economictechnocrats.

“Also, on June, 5, on the World Environment Day, theimmediate past Minister for Environment, HajiyaMailafiya, also admitted that 200,000 children die ofhunger everyday worldwide. What the minister didn’thowever, say was how many were Nigerians.”


Foreign FeaturesMyanmar: Rohingya Kids Face Hard Labour,

Bleak Lives

Rohingya kids

THE 10-year-oldstruggles up the hill, carryingbuckets filled with rocks.Though he tries to keep abrave face in front of hisfriends, his eyes brim withtears. Every inch of his bodyaches, he says, and he feelssick and dizzy from theweight.

“I hate it,” whispersAnwar Sardad. He has to helpsupport his family, but hewishes there was a way otherthan working for thegovernment constructionagency.

He adds, “I wouldn’thave to live this life if I wasn’ta Muslim.”

The lives of hundreds ofthousands of Rohingyachildren like Anwar aregrowing more hopeless inMyanmar, even as thepredominantly Buddhistnation of 60 million winspraise for ending decades ofdictatorship.

The Muslim ethnicgroup has long suffered fromdiscrimination that rightsgroups call among the worstin the world. But here innorthern Rakhine state, hometo 80 percent of the country’s1 million Rohingya, it is moredifficult now for children toget adequate education, foodor medical care than it hadbeen in the days of the junta.They have few optionsbeyond hard labor, for a dollara day.

The Associated Press’visit to the area was a first forforeign reporters. Localofficials responded with deepsuspicion, bristling whenRohingya were interviewed.Police meetings were called,journalists were followed andpeople were intimidated afterbeing interviewed, includingchildren.

In a country torn byethnic violence over the last15 months, this is the oneregion where Muslim mobskilled Buddhists, rather thanthe other way around. Andalthough only 10 of the 240deaths occurred here, this isthe only region where anentire population has beenpunished, through travelrestrictions and otherexclusionary policies.

Muslim schools knownas madrassas have been shutdown, leading to crowding ingovernment schools, whereRohingya, who make up 90percent of the population inthis corner of the country, aretaught by Buddhist teachers

in a language many don’tunderstand.

In the village of BaGone Nar, where a monkwas killed in last year’sviolence, enrollment at asmall public school hassoared to 1,250. Kidsranging from preschoolers toeighth-graders are crammedso tightly on the floor it’snearly impossible to walkbetween them.

“Our teachers write a lotof things on the blackboard,but don’t teach us how toread them,” says 8-year-oldAnwar Sjak. “It’s verydifficult to learn anything inthis school.”

There are only 11government -appoin tedteachers — one for every 114students. On a day reportersvisit, they fail to show up —a common occurrence.

Rohingya volunteers tryto maintain order. One mancircles the room with a rattancane, silencing the chatter bywhacking the trash-strewnconcrete floor.

Few kids have chairs ordesks. Many are coughing.Others talk amongthemselves, flipping throughempty notebooks. They lookup at newcomers with dazedstares.

“If I could be anything,I’d be doctor when I growup,” Anwar says. “Becausewhenever someone in myfamily gets sick and we goto the hospital, the staff nevertakes care of us. I feel so badabout that.

“But I know that willnever happen,” the third-grader adds. “Thegovernment wouldn’t allowit.”

Rohingya are notallowed to study medicine inMyanmar. There are nouniversities in northernRakhine, and Rohingya therehave been barred fromleaving the area for morethan a decade. An exceptionthat allowed a few Rohingyato study in Sittwe, the statecapital, ended after lastyear’s bloodshed.

“They don’t want to

teach us,” says Soyed Alum, a25-year-old from the coastalvillage of Myinn Hlut whoholds private classes in hishome for Rohingya kids.

“They call us ‘kalar’ (aderogatory word for Muslim).They say, ‘You’re not evencitizens. . Why do you need aneducation?’”

Every year, thousands of

Rohingya flee northernRakhine and take perilous seajourneys in hopes of findingrefuge in other countries.Because of the recent sectarianviolence, in which 250,000people, mostly Rohingya, weredriven from their homes, rightworkers anticipate that one ofthe biggest exoduses ever willbegin as soon as the monsoonseason ends this month andseas in the region calm.

Some historians sayRohingyas have been innorthern Rakhine for centuries,though some living there nowmigrated from neighboringBangladesh more recently. Allare denied citizenship,rendering them stateless.

“They are all illegal,” stateadvocate general Hla Theinsays flatly.

They remain barred frombecoming citizens, or fromworking in civil-service jobs.

No Rohingya birth certificateshave been handed out sincethe mid-1990s. Rohingyachildren are “blacklisted” —denied even basic services —if their parents are notofficially married orpreviously reached a two-child limit that is imposedonly on their ethnic group.

The official neglect

commonly stretches intohatred.

A government minderassigned by the centralgovernment to facilitate theAP’s trip asks why they are soeager to interview “dogs.”

When young Rohingyagirls peer into the openwindows of the crew’svehicle, the minder bitterlymumbles crude sexual insultsat them.

One thing thegovernment does offerRohingya kids is work, evenif they are as young as 10. TheMinistry of Construction, oneof the bigger employers,offers them 1,000 kyat — adollar — for eight hours ofcollecting and carrying rocksunder the tropical sun.

Early in the morning,giant pickup trucks swing byvillages to pick up dozens ofsleepy-eyed boys — all of

Among the kids called inis Anwar Sardad, the 10-year-old stone carrier.

From 8 a.m. until dusk,he works alongside his twinbrother and five or six otherboys from their village,scooping up river rocks andbriskly carrying them up ahill. They look more like littlemen than boys: No smiles.Each step sturdy anddetermined. Not an ounce ofenergy wasted.

Anwar is exhausted butworks fast. He even stops tohelp friends when theystruggle with their buckets.

Though the work isgrueling, it will help thechildren and their families eat.The region has some of thecountry’s highest chronicmalnutrition rates, accordingto a report released last yearby the European CommissionHumanitarian Aid and Civil

Protection Department. Thatdeprivation severely affectsmental and physicaldevelopment.

The work ofhumanitarian organizationshas been greatly limited innorthern Rakhine. A lack ofvaccination coverage in theneglected area means they areexposed to almost everypreventable childhooddisease, says Vickie Hawkins,the deputy head of mission inMyanmar for DoctorsWithout Borders, which hasworked in the area for 15years.

If Rohingya children getcritically ill, they might nevermake it to a hospital, eitherbecause their families cannotafford bribes demanded atcheckpoints or because of theSittwe travel ban.

Mohamad Toyoob, a 10-year-old Rohingya, hasreceived medical care, but notthe surgery that doctors haverecommended.

He lifts up his shirt,pressing on the right side ofhis stomach, where he has feltsharp pain for the past threeyears. “I don’t know what’swrong,” he says. “It feels likethere is something inside.”

One diagnosis among thestack he has saved says“abdominal mass,” followedby a series of question marks.

The doctors Mohamadsaw at a limited-capacitypublic hospital are unable toperform the potentially life-saving surgery theyrecommended. To get it, hewould have to go to Sittwe,which is off-limits, orBangladesh. The latter ispossible, if his family payshefty bribes, but he may notbe able to get back home.

Money is anotherobstacle: His family can’teven afford his medication, letalone surgery.

He digs into a pocket andpulls out two little plastic bagsfilled with red, pink, yellowand light blue pills. They cost200 kyat (20 cents) per day.

To get the money,Mohamad works with othervillage kids at the riverbank,struggling to lift rocks.Sometimes it makes the painworse.

“My father lost his jobafter the violence,” he says.“When he was working, wecould afford it. But now wehave nothing.

“I have to take care ofmyself.”

Source: AP

“If Rohingya children get critically ill, theymight never make it to a hospital, either becausetheir families cannot afford bribes demanded atcheckpoints or because of the Sittwe travel ban.”

them Rohingya — anddeliver them to riverbeds.

“See? They want towork,” says U Hla Moe, theadministrator of Lay Maing.

Later that day, he willsummon children who wereinterviewed by reporters intohis office — for the AP’ssecurity, he says. Thechildren say he frightensthem as he demands to knowthe questions they wereasked and their answers.


Nigeria’s Democratic Enterprise SincNigeria’s Democratic Enterprise SincNigeria’s Democratic Enterprise SincNigeria’s Democratic Enterprise SincNigeria’s Democratic Enterprise Sinc

AssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentAssessmentin this country? Well, we do nothave natural disasters that makesome nations around the worldfeel jinxed or cursed. Imagine,and God forbid it, that weexperienced the recent disastersin Chile or Haiti? Maybe this isalso why we have tended to takethings for granted. We justbelieve that things will bealright if we keep quiet, anddon’t rock the boat. It is best tobe patient; your time to chopwill come. Others have gone asfar as drawing up a pseudo-philosophical road map to whatthey call “you chop I chop” Yet,others go to the extent of leavingeverything in the hands of God;they bother God witheverything, while they sit downand do very little or nothing.They do not reflect, organise,think, mobilise, or act onanything. They forget thatheaven only helps those thathelp themselves. But you and Iknow that no country has evermade progress withoutdiscipline, focus, responsibleand creative leadership,planning, investment, savings,productivity, stability, and goodgovernance. We cannotcontinue to hail ex-convicts andcriminals and hope that theyounger generation will takeour preachments seriously.

Today, we are all shoutingObama! Obama!! Obama!! Weeven claim that a black man hastaken over the most powerfulcountry in the world. Someoneon TV said that visas would nowbe available to all Nigerians togo to America: what a sillydream. They fail to look at whoObama is, his antecedents,networks, investment in thepeople and community, fundraising strategy, organisationalstrategy, courage, vision and theenvironment in which heoperated. If Obama were aNigerian, would he win aCouncillorship seat? How manygodfathers did you notice in hiselection? How many Ghanamust go bags full of dollars didyou see? How many thugs didyou see? How many politicalclashes did you see? How manypolicemen did you see goingabout with Obama during thecampaign? Did you seeelectoral officers announcingresults? Can you tell me theequivalent of their INEC inAmerica? Was there a broadcastby the Police Chief warningpeople on how to behave? Thequestions are endless... but letus leave that matter for now.America was not always likethis and Nigeria is not America.But, can we draw lessons? Wedo not need to reinvent thewheel!

I recognise that we werecolonised before and our neo-colonial structural

arrangements, institutions andrelationship are largelyresponsible for our presentpredicaments. But there arecountries that were equallycolonised and less endowed inhuman and material resourcesthat have done much betterthan us. Are we fools? Don’twe have eyes to see how theydid it? Why do we always seekexcuses for our self imposedlimitations? Were we the onlyones colonised? How long agodid we become politicallyindependent? Why can’t weuse political power torestructure the society andbecome a better society? Is ourexperience responsible forethnic and religious massacres?is it responsible for criminalcorruption at all levels? It is thecause of violence, electionrigging, lack of internaldemocracy in parties, theneglect of roads and education,inability to fix the power andhealth sectors, and generaldisregard for truth, justice andfair play?

Is neo-colonialismresponsible for the politicalrascality amongst the elites,disregard for the constitution,bureaucratic inefficiency,waste, plan indiscipline, thearrogance of power, and thegeneral celebration of corruptpersons in our society?

Is our history responsible forthe failure of our refineries,high cost of living, childrenhawking on the streets,distorted housing policy,millions of our people living inslums, armed robbery, highinfant and maternal mortalityrates, the spread of HIV/AIDS,and lack of a serious policy onthe girl-child? Is neo-colonialism the reason whyreligion has become more of abusiness and the media finds itimpossible to be consistent intheir modus operandi? The listof our failings is endless. Evenif we inherited certaindistortions almost 50 years ago,if by now we have not foundviable, consistent and visibleways of dealing with them,then we must declare a failure.As a teacher, I cannot declarea student that has consistentlyfailed to score even 40%; agood or successful student. Wecontinue to experiment -indigenisation, privatisation,stabilisation, structuraladjustment, war againstindiscipline, operation feed the

nation, new states, new capital,new uniforms for the police,new anthem, new constitution,development plans, rollingplans, reform agenda, newbreed politicians, military rule,parliamentary and presidentialsystems, return to old breedpoliticians, constitutionalreform, and 7-Point Agenda justto name a few. No nation makesit with a left, right, right, left,centre, back, forward,roundabout, sit, stand, run andstop policy almost at the sametime!

We deliberately ignored andunderdeveloped the NigerDelta while draining its naturalresources to feed foreignprivate bank account and weexpected the people to be silent,docile and orderly in theirneglect, oppression andpoverty. We put our children inthe best private schools in andoutside the country and ignorepublic education. We abolishedbursaries, loans andscholarships for students whileour kids live abroad in luxurywith enough money and time tothink of terrorist acts. Weneglect agriculture and importeverything from toothpicks towater. We ignore the brokenhealthcare system and patroniseforeign medical centres evenfor health check-ups. We evenneglect the police and rely onprivate security outfits, thugs,and juju men! Our best holidaysare abroad and we cry tourismtourism to the high heavens. Webuy the most expensive carsand don’t care about the roads.Our ministries are littered withbroken down typewriters,computers and air conditioners.We do not fix. We replace.Everything is contracts;sometimes inflated tounbelievable levels.Abandoned projects areeverywhere. Were the contractsawarded by spacemen? Whodid? When, why and who ismonitoring? We don’t care. Justre-award the contract!

No nation can make progressin this way. We do not invest inhuman capital development ortechnology. We are still in themanual era and believe that thefuture will take care of itself.We believe in government bypanels or committees but haveno regard for the report fromsuch committees. Their reportsare dumped as soon as they arepresented. Everything for us is

constrains the ability ofinstitutions to function. Fewbelieve the government, an armof the state when it says “yoursecurity is assured, go aboutyour normal business.” Manysee the budget reading orpresentation as mere ceremony.Many more believe that allgovernment officials andpoliticians are nothing butthieves, In short, the Nigerianstate has very limitedhegemony. This has to bereversed through deliberategrowth and nurturing ofleadership, purposeful policymaking, constitution review,

constitutionalism, respect fordemocratic values, promotion ofequity, due process, socialjustice, and the basic needs of thepeople. This is much better thana nebulous re-branding projectthat is like climbing a tree fromthe top. Build the people, buildtheir communities, promote theirinterests, build confidence in thestate and promote statehegemony and democracy willflourish.

Redefine and strengthenleadership at all levels

A year of bad leadership cancost the nation ten good years ofdevelopment. The predicamentsof Nigeria are largely the resultof bad leadership. Very arrogantand ignorant leadership for thatmatter. They do not read and aretechnologically challenged.They waste so much timetalking, meeting, and inventingor pursuing enemies that theyhave little or no time to build realleadership qualities. They do notprepare successors and any otherrising star is an enemy that mustbe framed, harassed, crippledfinancially, and eliminated or

chasefalse payinuselechieftfrom Awarmeanpeoplnothinof educadignitconsuand a of serput build

thevanteleperappsintheandcanheginsheaChon andmonewhopnew

Bign

Iandconandreqtheungominunint

Midweek Magazine

By PROF. JULIUS IHO

based on quota, religion,ethnicity, cults, cabals,opportunism and nepotism. Welook for excuses and scapegoatseverywhere. How come manygovernors are always in Abuja?Is this no more a federation?Why are those hugegovernment lodges in Abuja?Take a moment to think of allthe developmental challengeswe identified in the study ofeconomics or societal studies inthe 1960s and tell me which onewe have solved after almostafter 50 years of independence,different forms of leadershipand governance, massivedeployment of public funds,and all sorts of planningmethodologies. The truth is thatwe have not done well. Wemust tell ourselves the truth.

Why have we failed? Simple.The leadership at all levels,failed us woefully. Again, thatis not to say there have been nogood professors, permanentsecretaries, commissioners,military officers, policemen,ministers, governors andpresidents or party leaders. Butthey have been few and lonelyat the top. We have managed tocontaminate and corrupt thesouls and visions of our peopleand today the entire society isone jungle of peopledesperately trying tounderstand where they are. Ibelieve that it is not too late toget out of the jungle. How dowe do this?

Strengthen the NigerianState

For any nation to moveforward, the state must enjoy arelatively high degree ofhegemony to controlcontending forces, build strongstructures, promoteaccumulation, and create anenvironment for self- sustainedgrowth and development. TheNigerian state does not controlthe various pockets of powerthat challenge its power andauthority even if it can useviolence in the final instant.Political and other forces, bethey politicians, militants,religious extremists, evenstudents and armed robbers arenot necessarily afraid of itspronouncements andinstitutions. Its failure toimprove society and the lot ofthe majority leaves the state atthe mercy of politicaladventurers. Because itshegemony is weak, itscustodians cannot enjoyrelative autonomy and cannotbuild discipline or some degreeof harmony within and betweensocial classes. So conflicts andcompetitions go onnormlessly.” This conditionexplains the inconsistency inpolicy and performance and

IF I do not go on heapingpraises on our leaders for whatthey have done for the growthof our democratic enterprise,it is because I believe that thetruth can only empower us todo better. The reality in whichwe live of course tells much ofthe content and context ofgovernance leadership anddemocratic values in ourcountry today.

At the end of the day,democracy is about people. Itis also about qualityleadership, constitutions andconstitutionalism, the rule oflaw, political discipline, theconstruction and nurturing ofdemocratic values, buildingstrong and viable politicalinstitutions and giving hope tothe ordinary person that thereis indeed a collective future towork for. Democracy is alsoabout human, especiallysocioeconomic and culturalrights, due process,accountability, fiscaldiscipline, transparency andthe careful but targeteddeployment of scarceresources to meeting the basicneeds of the majority of thepeople. Let me add thatdemocracy is about ensuring asteady and qualitativeimprovement in the lives of thepeople. in theirsocioeconomic, political,cultural and spiritualdevelopment, the protection oftheir environment, thedecolonisation of their minds,and putting the people in themiddle of holistic andsustainable growth anddevelopment. The questiontherefor is: are we movingsolidly, visible, seriously, andin a focused manner in thesedirections?

Let me hasten to add that wehave witnessed since 1999some Islands of performance,good leadership andcommitment to democraticinstitutions and ideals. But likein other distorted,disarticulated, deformed,underdeveloped socialformations, such points ofprogress are often distracted,disregarded, diverted,confused, and renderedimpotent by their non-performing colleagues orstructures and by thecontradictions within thesystem. This means that wecannot expect sustainable,people - centred, people-focused and people-drivendevelopment without dealingwith the structural challengesof the entire nation.

The RealitiesSaying that our country

Nigeria is blessed in everyrespect is saying the obvious.What is it that we do not have

Prof Julius Ihonvbere

“Is our history responsible for the failure of our refineries, high cost ofliving, children hawking on the streets, distorted housing policy, millions ofour people living in slums, armed robbery, high infant and maternal mortalityrates, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and lack of a serious policy on the girl-child?”


ce 1999:ce 1999:ce 1999:ce 1999:ce 1999: PreliminaryPreliminaryPreliminaryPreliminaryPreliminaryed far away. They build

popularity profiles byng for and receivingess honorary degrees,taincy titles, and awards

useless organisations.rds that have no realning in the eyes of thele. No award goes forng. They lack the qualitiescompassion, vision,

ation, capacity, capability,ty, exposure, hard work,ultation, ability to listen,clear and real track recordrvice to the people. Theyup billboards, name

dings and roads after

developmental environmentthey will precipitate skewedgrowth. Hence, when the policein one state receive support andwage an effective war oncriminals, they simply move tothe next state to cool off. Whenone state declares a scholarshipprogramme, indigenes from thenext state adjust their namesand villages to enjoy thebenefits. The will to terminatepoverty, pursue justice andequity, provide accountableleadership, build bridges oftolerance and accommodation,and ensue respect for the ruleof law must guide ourindividual and collectivedetermination to move Nigeriaonto the path of sustainable,

Tribunals, Court of Appeal orthe Supreme Court? If youropponent appeals, get somegood lawyers, preferablySenior Advocates of Nigeria,and some money. If you cannotwin the case out right, you candelay it till you finish your term.These are realities.

As I once said at anotherforum, politics in our country“is costly, diabolical, unsteady,uncertain, and announcedresults hardly ever reflect whattook place on election-day.Only in few cases are the bestcandidates presented forpolitical office and aspirants arealmost bankrupted before theyget elected. This in itself laysthe foundation for thearrogance of power, executiverecklessness and unbridledcorruption. Until our politicalparties become truly and fullyreformed Nigeria cannot moveforward. Until the parties beginto respect their own rules,Nigeria cannot producecredible, capable, courageousand visionary leaders that willbuild the political economy andconsolidate democraticinstitutions and practices. Theparties must begin to performsome of the basic functions ofpolitical parties — identify andtrain leaders, develop policyplatforms, present the bestaspirants and candidates foroffice, regulate office holders,conduct research on party andpolitical development,encourage public discourses,and commit openly to thesustenance of democracy inevery regards.”

If you pick an unpopularcandidate, you must rig theelections for “victory.” That isjust the plain truth. As I havesaid elsewhere, “Office holdersthat emerge from a dubious anddiabolical process cannot beexpected to respect theconstitution or liberties. Theycannot be expected todistinguish between the publicand private treasury. That iswhy we must never be tire ofthe struggle for democraticpractice and social justice.Political parties in Nigeria mustbe bastions of fair-play, justiceand freedom. Unless thishappens they would becontributing directly to theconsolidation and reproductionof poverty, insecurity andunder- development inNigeria.”

Let the Private sector findand define its true mission

We must commend the effortsof the private sector thus far.However, it needs to do much

more. Because it is relativelybetter organised, it has beenable to attract some of our bestminds out of the public sector.Yet, it has become more or lessstagnant. The recent revelationsabout the corruption andsquander mania in the bankingsector are, to say the least,embarrassing. It has also playeda major role in corrupting andcontaminating the public sectorand debasing all knowneconomic rules and regulations.No wonder it has “resorted toall Sons of quack opportunistic,emergency, underhand,superficial and down rightfraudulent ways of makingprofits. These include cookingup the books to jack up profitsand give a false impression ofassets, capacity, and position atthe echelon of industry.” In thiscontext, the overall nationaleconomy suffers. Hence we seethe importation of sub-standardproducts at the expense of localproducers and safety ofconsumers as well as the cultureof charging customers all sortsof fees and levies at times forunsolicited services as manybanks tend to do. Many in theprivate sector, do everythingpossible to penetrate thegovernment just to have anopportunity at the national cakeirrespective of theconsequences. Until recently,some private sector executiveswere more visible in thenewspapers and on televisionthan state governors The privatesector needs to be more creativein its approach, invest intechnology, news ideas and thedevelopment of human capital.The emphasis should shift toproduction as againstdistribution and they must helpin strengthening the economicfoundations of politics and ourdemocratic enterprise. Thissector must define its interestand position in our politicaleconomy. Does it want to be aspoiler, a parasite or partnerwith other stakeholders topromote development and ademocratic context forprogress.

Oppose Defederalisation,support Refederalisation

The debates on fiscalfederalism, true federalism,constitutional amendment, statepolice, revenue sharingformula, resource control,women in politics, electoralreforms, politicalappointments, the location oflocal infrastructure, corruption,state and local governmentcreation, and infrastructuralrehabilitation are endless. It is

emselves, set up youthnguards, turn the localevision and radio into theirrsonal newsletters andpoint opportunists and praise

ngers into positions to recyclee same culture of mediocrityd eye service. Such a leadernnot build relative autonomy,gemony, establish lastingstitutions, and live in thearts of the people for ever.

heap popularity, not anchoredservice, honesty, integrity

d performance is a waste ofoney and time-We must buildw visions, new voices, newpes, news constituencies andw leaderships at all levels.Build political will, don’tnore humanityf Nigeria is going to growd our democracynsolidated, our governmentsd leaders must build the

quired political will to takee nation out ofderdevelopment. Somevernors and federalnistries are doing a lot butless these efforts are

tegrated within the larger

Midweek Magazine

people-centred development.Tough decisions must be takenbut built on consultation,dialogue and a smile does nothurt!

Reform and RepositionPolitical Parties forDemocracy

No matter how we look at itor pretend, politics is still warin Nigeria. It is a business inwhich you or a sponsor investsand look forward to reapinghuge returns within a shorttime. Campaigns are notnecessary, platforms ormanifestoes are not necessaryand you do not need to have thebest profile or qualifications.Just have a godfather, sufficientwild-looking thugs, money- thesource is not relevant-, andstrategise on how to influencethe electoral commission, thepolice and the media, andpronto you are “elected’ intooffice. Don’t worry about theelection monitors. They willnot go beyond their reports,AIT or Channels television andpress releases. When did theseever influence the Election

ONVBERE

good that such debates take placeso we can have a betterunderstanding of national priorities.As is typical, the debates are at timesvery narrowly focused; oftenlooking at Nigeria with little or nocomparative perspectives. But inNigeria, the debates are informedmore by narrow primordial intereststhat often contradict or underminenational interests and the collectivegood. Just like the diabolical andsometimes pedestrian debates on thehealth of President Yar’Adua. At theend of the day, the national and localinterests are compromised andcontained if not totally undermined.People cannot be insisting onabsolutes and we must all work hardto return Nigerian to federalism. TheGovernors in particular mustrecognise that they were elected bytheir people and not by Abuja andthey must see their states asfederating units. Unless we returnto true federal arrangements, ourgovernance will remain distorted;we will continue to dissipate energyand resources on managing thesymptoms of a unitary-federalismthat will not produce people-centredresults. We must unite to opposeevery effort to defederalise Nigeriaby the forces of reaction andoppression.

Review the Constitution: Buildit on the people

The time wasted thus far infighting over the chairmanship andtimetable of the constitution reviewcommittee and process by theNational Assembly is sufficient tohave concluded the exercise, Thatboth seats of legislative authoritycould not agree on the process isdisappointing and makes one towonder whose interests they trulyrepresent on this issue. Pastconstitutional reviews have cost thenation billions of naira with verylittle to show. We have lostopportunities to give the people aliving document that could bedeployed in the defence ofindividual and collective liberties.

If we must be sincere for once, theconstitutional review is “not oneman’s show and it must not be anego trip. It is not senators versus therepresentatives. It is not the NationalAssembly versus the rest of thenation. Rather, it is one more goldenchance to give ourselves a livingdocument, a true peoples covenant,a road map to show us how toorganise and deploy power in thecollective interests of our people. Itis an opportunity to correcthistorical injustices against women,the youth, the poor, micro-minorities and minorities, It is anopportunity to stop oil theft,kidnapping, illegal-bunkering,arson, assassinations, moneylaundering, hostage taking and otherforms of violence in the muchneglected and exploited NigerDelta, It is an opportunity to producethe document that will engenderpeace, stability, dialogue, tolerance,diversity, unity, democracy and

progress in Nigeria.This will not happen if the

process is opportunistic, elitistand complicated. We mustdraw lessons from Uganda,South Africa. Eritrea, Ghanaand other parts of the world byadopting a truly open.consultative, transparent,accountable, process-drivenand people-led approach toconstitution-making. This isthe only way to produce aconstitution that we can allunderstand and all own anddefend with our jives. This isthe way to build thearchitecture to deepen, widen,promote, sustain andreproduce democracy anddemocratization. The processof refederalisation will bepossible and much more viablewith a true constitutionalconsultation and process thatbrings our people together andrestructures our politicalcompact. It is also the onlyway to build a culture ofconstitutionalism, through aprocess publicizes theconstitution as our document,mobilises the people, and winsbuy-in from the people. If wedo not get the politics ofconstitution-making right, wecan never get our developmentright. Political uncertainty,contradictions, distrust,violence and instability willcontinue to challenge well-intentioned programmes andpolicies and thus reproduceunderdevelopment.

ConclusionAllow me to conclude here.

I have said nothing aboutcorruption, because there isnothing to say. If we do thethings recommended above,the environment andinstitutions to question andcorrect the widespreadcorruption in our society willbe possible. Civil society hasa major role to play and onceagain, we are alreadywitnessing their rejuvenationdue to the arrogance,intolerance and insensitivity ofthe power elite. Civil societymust continue to refine,redirect, reposition andreorganise itself to facecontemporary challenges.

The old generation mustadmit their failures, reform orgive way. If they continue intheir old ways that havemortgaged our present andsquandered our future, thepeople, in their organisations,communities andconstituencies will force themto change or give way. Intoday’s world, a word is morethan enough for the foolish notto talk of the wise. I don talkmy own!

“The debates on fiscal federalism, true federalism, constitutional amendment, statepolice, revenue sharing formula, resource control, women in politics, electoralreforms, political appointments, the location of local infrastructure, corruption,state and local government creation, and infrastructural rehabilitation are endless.”


OpinionSpeed Limit Device As ToolFor Reducing Road Crashes

AVAILABLE statisticsby the Federal RoadsSafety Commission(FRSC) shows that roadtraffic accidents have hada high toll on human livesand property in thecountry. The data alsoshows that majority of thecrashes involvedcommuter buses.

The commission’s dataalso shows that 1,397buses were involved inroad crashes betweenJanuary and June, 2013,leading to loss of 1,437lives and injuries to 6,831persons.

The rising incidence ofroad crashes, observerssay, is against thecombined effort of thecommission and otherstakeholders to sensitiseNigerians on safemotoring.

Analysts are also quickto note that besides thepublic awarenesscampaigns on safemotoring; the deplorablenature of most Nigerianhighways had contributedto high carnage onhighways.

However, they are alsoquick to caution that as thefederal and stategovernments embark onroad construction andrehabilitation works,greater effort should bemade to limit the rate ofroad crashes and theirresultant fatalities.

For the FRSC, mostroad crashes are due toexcessive speed, bad tyres,drunk driving, intoleranceof other road users, anddisregard for road sign andregulations.

Against the backdrop ofhuman imperfection as acausative factor of mostroad accidents, the FRSCis contemplating theintroduction of a device,“speed limiter’’, as a toolto reducing incidences ofroad accidents.

The commission

acknowledges that sincemost Nigerians travel byroad in commuter buses,introducing speed limitdevices on buses would goa long way to save lives inthe event of accidents.

It says that the device,speed limiter, limits thespeed of vehicles tocontrollable and moderate100 kilometres per hour.

Expectedly, the FRSChas embarked on a seriesof nationwide publicenlightenment campaignsto sensitise Nigerians tothe efficacy of the deviceand its indispensability.

Analysts have said thatthe measure is absolutelyimperative if Nigerianswant a drastic reduction inloss of lives and propertydue to many road crashes.

Speaking recently inSokoto, Mr Osita Chidoka,Corps Marshal and FRSCChief Executive Officer,noted the necessity of thedevice.

Chidoka believes thatthere is need for thecommission to increase itssensitisation campaigns tocreate public awareness,especially on theimplications of speedviolations and the need fordrivers to install the devicein their vehicles.

“This is in furtherance ofour safer roads, fuller livescampaign which is beingpursued in collaborationwith relevant stakeholdersin road safety with a viewto restoring sanity on ourroads.’’

“The aggressiveness ofthe campaign, he says,“arose out of our discoveryfrom records of road trafficcrashes within the lastseven months of the yearin Nigeria.’’

According to him, speedviolations accounted forabout 65 per cent of thecausative factors of roadcrashes and fatalities in thecountry.

“From extensiveinvestigations and analysisof commuter vehiclescarried out by the FRSCover a six-year period(2007-2012), it was foundout that the frequency ofcrashes involving ToyotaHiace buses was a total1,844 crashes.

“While it is important tonote that Toyota Hiace

brand is the dominant brandin the commuter buscategory, we still hold theview that the crash recordis not acceptable,’’ Chidokasaid.

The data, he maintains,revealed that there was anaverage yearly increase of126 road traffic crashesinvolving Toyota Hiacebuses, representing 48 percent of total buses involvedin crashes.

“Over 31 per cent of allthe buses involved resulted

in fire incidents,’’ he said.According to him, in

1990 the Japanesemanufacturers recalledthe Toyota Hiace YH3model in Australia due todefects that caused fireincidences.

The recall, he says,closed on August 26,

2010, adding that themodel may haveinstallation defects.

“From the analysis, it isclear to the corps thatToyota Hiace buses areconstantly resulting inextra fire incidence whenthey are involved in roadtraffic crashes,’’ Chidokasaid.

According to him, thecommission has writtento the manufacturers todraw their attention to the

defects, as well asrecommend that driversand owners of ToyotaHiace buses to installspeed limit devices in theirvehicles.

“The current situationcalls for urgent steps todeal with the menace ofroad traffic crashes,’’ he

By BASHIR MANI

said, adding: “It is a callto duty for us to say no tospeed violation andappreciate the need toembrace measures that cantackle the challenge.’’

“The use of speedlimiting devices presentsus this opportunity as itmakes it impossible fordrivers to go beyond theregulated speed, so long asthe device is installed inthe vehicle,” Chidoka said.

The FRSC believes thatthe device has multipleadvantages including fueleconomy, and prolongedvehicle life span.

Lending weight to thecampaign, the SokotoState FRSC SectorCommander, Dr AliyuGummi, says the devicehas proved to be

efficacious in manycountries including“Kenya where it is nowyielding very positiveresults’’.

Prof. Riskuwa Shehu,Vice Chancellor, UsmanuDanfodiyo University,Sokoto, agrees on theintroduction of the device.

“The gesture is acommendable one. Its use

must be enforced at alllevels, and for allmotorists.

‘Even if the governmentcannot provide it free, theprice of the device can behighly subsidised,’’ Shehusaid.

Analysts have noted theneed for increasedhighway patrol by theFRSC against recklessdriving by most motorists.

They view the proposedintroduction of the speedlimit device as a proactivemeasure and answer to thecommission’s inability toeffectively conduct patrolsagainst excessive speedand reckless driving onhighways. This measure,they say, will help reduceaccidents and theirresultant fatalities.

“The data, he maintains, revealed that there wasan average yearly increase of 126 road trafficcrashes involving Toyota Hiace buses, representing48 per cent of total buses involved in crashes.”


Natural Medicine WithDr. MAO

08030717341

Reducing Cancer Risk (2) THE liver plays acritical role in cancer riskreduction. The organ isthe Chief detoxifier of thebody. In other words, itleads the way for theelimination of toxins(poisonous substances)from the body. Whenthese toxins accumulatein the body they maytrigger the onset of cancer. Furthermore, studieshave established thatwhen the liver isfunctioning only sub-optimally, the pituitarygland often over stimulatethe ovaries. What happensis the over production bythe ovaries of estradtol,estrione or estrogenwhich begin to irritate thebreast tissues resulting inbreast cancer. Invariably, if you wantto reduce your cancer risk,you must ensure that yourliver is healthy. Inpassing, it should beunderstood that not onlywomen that have breastcancer, men also developit although this is rare. This brings me to theissue of detoxification. Itis not the liver alone thatcarries out this function inthe body. In fact, the bodyitself produces threemajor enzymes thatpromote detoxification. Namely, they arecatalase, gluthatione andsuper-oxide dismutase.When you eat right, thebody is able to producethese enzymes that carryout daily detoxification ofthe body without yourknowledge. Well, be informed thatwhen you fall sick youalso need such a cleansingprocess of detoxification

before you can get well. It is not enough to onlytake medication andthereafter expect to fullyrecover from your ill-health as some orthodoxdoctors believe. In fact,what you need sometimeswhen you become sick isproper, naturaldetoxification of the body.Immediately, you do so,the toxins clogging upyour body are eliminated.Thus, the body is restoredto an optimal state ofhealth that is able toactivate its self-healingpower known as VisMedicatrix Naturae. Ofcourse, cancer has no placein the body under thiscondition. It cannotdevelop. Disease only attacks anunhealthy, weak body.Therefore, the rule bookteaches: To reduce cancerrisk, keep toxins out ofyour body by eating right.Additionally, tocomplement thedetoxification process ofthe body, there are detoxformulas available innatural medicine shopswhich we can use. Also,some experts havedeveloped successfullymethodologies fordetoxifying the body. Forinstance, we have a mancalled Dr. StanleyBurough who has beenable to patent theLemonade Diet fordetoxifying the body. LestI forget, let me say here toothat constipation is one ofthe ways we accumulatetoxins in the body. Deathbegins in a dirty colon!!The message, therefore, isif you want to reduce your

cancer risk or the risk ofdegenerative illness ensureyour colon is clean. Youmust visit the toilet atleastonce a day. The habit ofnot going to the toilet twiceor thrice a week is awarning sign that a deadlyailment is waiting ahead tostrike you. It could be thatit is already inside you!! Free radicals!! These arereactive substancesingested into the body viafood, taken in through

breathing in of air fromdirty environment andproduced during thenormal run of metabolism.Free radicals degrade thebody’s ability to combatillness and are one of thefactors responsible forearly or painful aging. Putsimply, free radicalscontributed to the genesisof cancer. This is whynatural medicinepractitioners also

prescribe anti-oxidants forpatients whenever they arediagnosed to be sufferingfrom an organic disease inaddition to the specificmedicine recommendedfor it if the medicine hasno anti-oxidants in it. Suchanti-oxidants includesVitamins A,C and E;Blessed Seeds; AlphaLipoic acid; Co-enzymeQ: 10, selenium; Zinc; N– Acetyl Cysteine;Magnesium among others.

All of these anti-oxidantsin one way or the otherhelp to reduce the risk ofcancer. Beyond acting as agentsthat fight free radicals,anti-oxidants alsocontribute to boosting theimmune system. When it isstrong, your body isenhanced in keepingcancer at bay. This isbecause an abnormal cellis nipped in the bud by

immune cells before itbecomes cancerous.Alternatively, theabnormal cell commitssuicide through a processknown as apoptosis. To reduce the risk ofcancer therefore, you musteat nourishing anti-oxidants food, also, youshould have foodsupplements handy.Remember, it is not alwayshumanly possible to haveaccess to as well as afford

balanced meals thatsupplies the body withimmune system builders.One nutritional factor youmust not forget to have iszinc, a trace element. Anadult needs it because theT-Immune Cells becomeimpoverished as we growold. What causes this is thatthe thymus gland, which isresponsible for theirproduction andmaturation, shrinks in sizeas one gets old. Thiscompromises the gland’sability to produce healthy,normal immune cells.However, two weeks ofzinc supplementation hasbeen discovered tonormalize as well asrejuvenate the thymusgland. So don’t besurprised when you aretold that you need zinc,

too, to prevent cancer. Do you smoke and/orconsume alcohol? Thenwatch it. Your chances ofhaving cancer willincrease. Such habits arenot natural lifestyles thatcontribute to good health.Firstly, smoking pollutesthe body with carbonmonoxide and a thousandother toxic chemicalsubstances. Secondly,alcohol harms the liver,stomach, throat and heart.

Given this, we should giveup the habit or eliminatesmoking entirely whileyou minimize your alcoholintake. Either this or youwill end up increasing yourrisk of cancer. Similarly, you stand thechance of high cancer riskwhen you don’t haveadequate healing rest andsleep. All work and no restcan expose you to cancer.In the same vein, poorsleep routine opens thewide door to cancer sinceyour unrested body istired, broken and has sub-optimal functioningimmune system. Finally, avoid inhalingtoxic fumes fromfertilizers, herbicides,pesticides, insecticides,cars, toilets and refusedumps. The fumes arecarcinogenic.

“Disease only attacks an unhealthy, weak body.Therefore, the rule book teaches: To reduce cancerrisk, keep toxins out of your body by eating right.Additionally, to complement the detoxification processof the body, there are detox formulas available innatural medicine shops which we can use.”


Understanding WhoYou Are

WithVICTOR ANIUKWUNew Horizon

Continues on page 24

WHO are you? Are youyour body? Or your mind? Orare you something else? Doyou know who you are? Ordo you merely think youknow? And does it reallymatter. Our materialisticsociety with its enlightenedleadership has made itvirtually taboo to inquire intoour real higher self. Insteadwe use our valuable timemaintaining, decorating andpampering the body for itsown sake. Might there be analternative? The veryimportant Krishnaconsciousness movement ismeant to save human societyfrom spiritual death. Atpresent, human society isbeing misled by leaders whoare blind, for they do notknow the aim and objectiveof human life, which is selfrealization and thereestablishment of our lostrelationship with the SupremePersonality of Godhead. Thatis the missing point. TheKrishna consciousnessmovement is trying toenlighten human society inthis important matter.According to Vediccivilization, the perfection oflife is to realize one’srelationship with Krishna, orGod. In the Bagavad-Gita,which is accepted by allauthorities in transcendentalscience as the basis of Vedicknowledge, we understandthat not only human beingsbut all living entities are partsand parcels of God. The partsof the body are meant forserving the whole body, justas the legs, hands, fingers,and ears are meant for servingthe total body. We livingentities, being parts andparcel of God are duty-boundto serve him.

Actually our position is thatwe are always renderingservice to someone, either toour fami1y, country, orsociety. If we have no one toserve, sometimes we keep apet cat or dog and renderservice to it. All these factorsprove that we areconstitutionally meant torender service, yet in spite ofserving to the best of ourability, we are not satisfied.Nor is the person we arerendering the service

satisfied. On the materialplatform, every one isfrustrated. The reason for thisis that the service beingrendered is not properlydirected. For example, if wewant to render service to atree, we must water the root,if we pour water on thebranches, leaves and twigs,there is little benefit. If theSupreme Personality ofGodhead is served, all otherparts and parcels will beautomatically satisfied.Consequently all welfareactivities as well as service tosociety, family, and nation arerealized by serving theSupreme Personality ofGodhead. It is the duty ofevery human being tounderstand his constitutionalposition with God and to actaccordingly. If this is possible,then our lives becomesuccessful. Sometimes,however, we feel challengingand say, “There is no God,”or “1 am God” or even, “1don’t care for God.” But inactuality, this challengingspirit will not save us. God isthere, and we can see Him atevery moment. If we refuse tosee God in our life, then Hewill be present before us ascruel death. If we do notchoose to see him in ourfeature, we will see Him inanother. There are differentfeatures of the SupremePersonality of Godheadbecause He is the original rootof the entire cosmicmanifestation. In one sense, itis not possible for us to escapeHim. This Krishna consciousmovement is not blindreligious fanaticism, nor is ita revolt by some recentupstart, rather it is anauthorized, scientificapproach, to the matter of oureternal necessity inrelationship with AbsolutePersonality of Godhead, whois the Supreme Enjoyer.Krishna consciousness simpledeals with our eternalrelationship with Him and theprocess of discharging ourrelative duties to Him. Thus,Krishna consciousnessenables us to achieve thehighest perfection of lifeattainable in the presenthuman form of existence. Wemust always remember that

this particular form of humanlife is attained after anevolution of many millions ofyears in the cycle oftransmigration of the spiritsoul. In this particular form oflife, the economic question ismore easily solved than in thelower animal forms. There areswines, dogs, camels, asses,and so on, whose economicquestions of these animals and

others are solved underprimitive conditions, whereasthe human being is given allthe facilities for leading acomfortable life by the lawsof nature. Why is a man givena better chance to live thanswine or other animals”. Whyis a highly posted governmentofficer given better facilitiesfor a comfortable life than anordinary clerk? The answer isvery simple. The importantofficer has to discharge dutiesof a more responsible naturethan those of an ordinaryclerk. Similarly, the humanbeing has to discharge higher

duties than animals, who arealways busy with filling theirhungry stomachs. But by thelaws of nature, the modernanimalistic standard ofcivilization has only increasedthe problems of filling thestomach. When we approach

some of these polishedanimals for spiritual life, theysay that they only work for thesatisfaction of their stomachsand that there is no necessityof inquiring about Godhead.Yet despite their eagerness towork hard, there is always thequestion of unemploymentand so many otherimpediments incurred by thelaws of nature. Despite this,they still denounce thenecessity of acknowledgingthe Supreme Personality ofGodhead. We are given thishuman form of life not just towork hard like the swine or

dog, but to attain the highestperfection of life. If we do notwant that perfection, then wewill have to work very hardand also be forced by theLaws of nature. Note that inthe closing days of this age(this present age) men willhave to work hard like asses

for only a scrap of bread. Thisprocess has already begun,and every year the necessityfor harder work for lesserwages will increase. Yethuman beings are not meantto work hard like animals, andif a man fails to work hard likeanimals, and if a man fails todischarge his duties as ahuman being, he is forced totransmigrate to lower speciesof life by the laws of nature.The Bagavad Gita veryvividly describes how a spiritsoul, by the laws of nature,takes his birth and getssuitable body and senseorgans for enjoying all kindsof matter in this materialworld, knowingly andunknowingly. In the Bagavad-Gita, it is also stated that thosewho attempt but do notcomplete the path ofapproaching God in otherwords, these who have failedto achieve complete success

in their bid to Krishnaconsciousness - are given thechance to appear in thefamilies of the spirituallyadvanced or financially well-to-do mercantile families. Ifthe unsuccessful aspirants areoffered such chances of nobleparentage, what of those whohave actually attained therequired success? Thereforean attempt to go back to

Godhead, even if halffinished, guarantees a goodbirth in the next life. Both thespiritual and the well-to-dofamilies are beneficial forspiritual progress because inboth such families, one canget a good chance to makefurther progress from thepoint where he stopped in hisprevious birth, in spiritualrealization the atmospheregenerated by a good family isfavourable for the cultivationof spiritual knowledge. TheBagavad-Gita reminds suchwell-born persons that theirgood fortune is due to theirpast devotional activities.Unfortunately, the children ofthese families do not consultthe Bagavad-Gita and therebymisguided by illusion. Birth ina well to do family solves theproblem of having to findsufficient food from the

“Actually our position is that we are always renderingservice to someone, either to our fami1y, country, orsociety. If we have no one to serve, sometimes we keepa pet cat or dog and render service to it.”


Place Of PrayerThe Ingredients Of Intimacy (6)

WithPastor Samuel

O. OsaghaeSMS Only

08030809339 IN this concluding part of the

series, The Ingredients ofIntimacy, we discuss the lastfour Ingredients of intimacywhich are: Petition, inquiry,Listen and Journaling.

PETITIONAt this stage in the Closet

Intimacy process, you makeyour personal requests known toGod. Matthew 7:7-11- Ask, andit shall be given you; Seek, andye shall find knock, and it shallbe opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and hethat seeketh findeth; and to himthat knocketh it shall be opened.Or what man is there of you,whom if his son ask bread, willhe give him a stone? Or if he aska fish, will he give him aserpent? If ye then, being evil,know how to give good giftsunto your children, how muchmore shall your father which isin heaven give good things tothem that ask him?

INQUIRYThis is the stage in Closet

Intimacy where you deliberatelyask God some significantquestions about the fulfillmentof purpose. When youspecifically ask God questionsconsistently over area you wantto know His mind, He willalways tell you what to do. Prov.3:6 admonishes us toacknowledge God in all ourways and then He will direct ourpath.

LISTENINGThis is a time we keep quiet,

deliberately waiting inexpectation to hear from God,what He has to say about thethings we asked Him. When youare listening, be sensitive tospontaneous thoughts that lightsupon your mind. This leads tothe next item which isjournaling.

JOURNALINGWrite down those thoughts

that light upon your mind whenyou are silently listening to God,after you have asked Godquestions. This journal shouldbe vetted at the end of yourcloset intimacy to see whetherGod speaks like that or whetherit agrees with the scripture.Delete the ones that arecontroversial and prayerfullyimplement those withoutcontroversy.

HOW TO IMPROVE THESENSITIVITY OF YOURHEARING

The attitude of hearinginvolves inclining an ear toalways hear, it means having themindset that God can speak atanytime. Improving yoursensitivity in the place ofIntimacy Is activated when youbegin to do certain things in yourday today activities in yournormal daily routine outsideIntimacy.

There are about eightsuggested activities you shouldinvolve in to improve yoursensitivity to the voice of God.

Deliberately stopping withan intention to observe if Godis saying something.

This means withdrawing your

mind from being activelyinvolved in thinking of otherthing to see if there is a statementfrom God’s spirit in your heartwhich you need to hear. Proverbs3:6 tells us to acknowledge Godin all our ways, and then He willdirect our paths. For you to getrevelation from God, you needto acknowledge Him all the time.Behave like you know that He aaround by giving Him attention.In every activity you areinvolved in, occasionally stopand look inward. The voice ofthe Spirit does not come fromoutside, it comes from inside youbecause that us where the HolyGhost dwells, The voice theSpirit you hear within Is alwaysright and all genuine children ofGod hear this voice. You mustalways acknowledge God for thepurpose of hearing from Himjust in case He has something totell you. This is similar toSamuel’s response when Godwas about to speak to him in1Samuel 3.

He said, Speak Lord, for yourservant heareth, Even Moses hadto step aside to see the mysteryof the burning bush before hewas able to hear Gods voicespeaking to him.

As you keep on stepping asidefrom your day routine to tookinward just like the ProphetHabakkuk in Habakkuk 2:1,your sensitivity to the voice atGod during intimacy willimprove tremendously.

II. Obeying non-controversial promptings ofthe Spirit promptly.

There are issues that can betermed non-controversial as faras Christianity is concerned.

Praying, studying the bible andother such activities cannot betermed controversial issues forinstance because they are normalChristian Practices. wheneveryou get promptings from theHoly Spirit to get involved inissues that are non-controversial,just go ahead and obey instanceyou get a prompting to pray, justgo ahead and pray. If you don’tknow what about, then pray intongues or begin by worshippingGod. As you keep on obeyingpromptings, you encourage HolyGhost to keep speaking to youand your spirit man becomessensitized to hear the voice of theHoly Ghost more audibly.

You may be hurrying out inthe morning and suddenly hearthe inner voice reminding youhave not done your devotion.That is anon-controversialprompting and is certainly notfrom the devil, you will do wellto obey the voice of the spirit andcarry out the devotion keepresponding to such promptings,your spirit man will be trainedto hear God more often and veryclearly before, during andoutside the intimacy. When youdisobey such prompting quenchthe voice of the Spirit, and willnot be able to hear Him speakwhen you now want Him tospeak.

You may want to pray andthen you hear an inner voice

reminding you that you still holda grudge in your heart against aperson that offended you. Do notsuppress that voice; forgive theperson before you go on withyour prayers. Your obedience tosuch promptings prove to Godthat you are a willing servant andwill make Him speak more oftento you because He is sure thatyou will obey Him.

As you practice responding tothe Holy Ghost over non,controversial issues, He isencouraged to speak on issuesthat are difficult to discern, It isa process but consistency willtake you there.

Some people hear the voiceof the Spirit and do not obey andthen when something terriblehappens, they begin to say, “Mymind told me”. It was not yourmind telling you, but the voiceof the Spirit.

There is no one that does nothear the voice of God; it is thedimensions of our hearing thatVaries. If you begin to obey thesmaller promptings then thebigger ones will come, for hethat is faithful over little will befaithful overmuch.

A man of God was in a hotelroom and suddenly heard theword “Flee”. Although he wasa bold man of God, he was surethat the voice was that one of theHoly Spirit. He promptly obeyedand escaped from the roomthrough the toilet window. A fewminutes later, armed robberscame into the room and blew itup. If the man of God had notobeyed the voice of the Spirit hewould have died in that room.

In Acts 8: 29-40, the Spiritinstructed Philip to go and speakto a man he had never seenbefore.

His obedience to that firstprompting is what led to theconversion of the man, 1Thessalonians 5:19 tells us notto quench the Spirit; yourprompt response to the firstprompting is what qualifies youfor the second hearing.

III. Maintaining a clearconscience

There are four things you mustdeal with to maintain a clearconscience:

1. Bitterness/unforgivenss2Kings 3:14-15, Heb. 12:15: Tobe sensitive, you must first clearaway bitterness andunforgiveness from your heart.Elisha could not hear God in theabove scripture because he wasbitter against the king of Israel.

2. Guilt: When you feel guiltover an act, ask God to forgiveyou and then believe that He hasforgiven you, whether the signis there or not. Even if theconsequence of the sin followsthereafter, it does not mean thatGod has not forgiven youbecause consequence alwaysfollow sin. If your spirit man ispoisoned with guilt, then youcannot hear from God

3. ROOT AWAY SORROWFROM YOUR HEART Prov.15:14, 2 Cor. 7:10 Isaiah 12:3 Amerry heart maketh a cheerfulcountenance, but by sorrow ofthe heart the spirit is broken. Aslong as a man remains in sorrow,he can not hear God speaking tohim because his heart is out oftune with the spirit.

4) Fear- 2Timothy 1:7:Anyone that is fearful does nothear the voice of the Spirit

because fear upsets you andplaces you on edge. Even whenGods speaking, you will not hearbecause your spirit man isclouded by fear. The Spirit ofGod operates in an atmosphereof faith.

IV. WorshipWhenever genuine worship

rises up to the throne of grace,heaven responds; genuineworship always provokes anutterance from God. As youworship God, create an innerreadiness in your heart to hear.In Acts 13:2.3, we see that ascertain disciples worshippedGod, they heard an instructionto separate Barnabas and Paulfor a special assignment. They

had never heard this instructionbefore, but as they began toworship, God spoke and thankGod they had an inner readinessin their heart to hear God, so theyheard. In 2Chronicles 2, there isanother interesting story thatshows that God will alwaysspeak when genuine worship hasrisen to the heavens.Jehoshaphat gathered all thepeople of Judah to cry unto Godfor help because a great armyhad risen against them. As theyworshipped God, His Spiritcame upon Jahaziel and heprophesied in favour of God’s

people. Also in 2Kings 3:15-18,we see that the Prophet Elishacould not hear from God becausehe had bitterness in his heartagainst the king of Israel,however as he began to worshipGod, he heard God’s voice. Allthese illustrations point to thefact that worshipping Godregularly is a tool that willcertainly improve the sensitivityof your hearing. As you worshipGod from today, let your heartbe open to hear from Him; havea dual posture: Speak with alistening heart.

V. Praying in TonguesJude 20 tells us to build up

ourselves in our most holy faithby praying consistently in theHoly Ghost. As you begin tospeak in tongues regularly, yourspirit becomes aligned withGod’s Spirit and you becomevery sensitive to God’s voice.Praying in tongues is actuallyallowing Gods Spirit makeintercession for you. As you prayin tongues, you pray accordingto Gods will for you The morein tune you are with God purposefor your life, the easier it will befor you to hear Him when He

speaks to you, Speaking intongues is therefore one Way toimprove the sensitivity of yourhearing.

IVI. Fasting Acts 13:2-3Fasting silences the voice of

the flesh. It makes the voice ofthe spirit louder than that of theflesh. How ever fasting must heaccompanied with spiritualactivities like studying the bibleand praying; as you do this yourspirit man is set at alert and willeasily hear when God begins tospeak.

VII. Meditating on the wordof God

Pondering on what you havestudied from scriptures will giveyou information on thepersonality of God, who you arein Christ, an instruction youmust obey, and a rhema that willimprove your life. The attitudeof hearing involves you incliningan ear to always hear; havethe mindset that God canspeak at any time.

VIII. Specific InquiryWhen you specifically ask

God questions consistentlyover areas you want to knowHis mind, He will always tellyou what to do. Prov. 3:6admonishes us toacknowledge God in all ourways and then He will directour path. You must how evercreate a neutral mindset,there must be no bias in yourmind over the issue! trustGod’s recommendationcompletely. God will notspeak to you if you conditionHim to giving you a responsethat suits your own selfishinterest; He is not an authorof confusion. lSam.23:1-57,10-14;2Sam. 21: 1;2 Sam5:17-19,22-25.


Tibetans Protest At UN Against China Rights Abuses

StudentOpens Fire,

KillsTeacher

And Himself

Africans Leap DauntingBarrier To European Dreams

International NewsMake Peace With All: Kenyan Archbishop

Urges ChristiansNAIROBI - The AnglicanArchbishop of Kenya, the MostRev. Eliud Wabukala, has called onChristians all over the world to livein peace amid the ongoing globalwar on terror.

Speaking at a joint newsconference on Monday in Nairobiat the opening of the GlobalAnglican Future Conference(GAFCON), Wabukala said thatterrorism was an internationalphenomenon not limited to aparticular place.

The primate, who was asked tocomment on the Church’s positionon the war against terror, said it wasin line with Jesus Christ’s teachingsto live at peace with all men.

Reports say that Wabukalacomments came on a day Kenyans

GENEVA - Tibetan activistsscaled scaffolding on the UNheadquarters in Genevayesterday and unfurled abanner demanding the worldaddress Chinese rights abuses,as diplomats began gatheringto examine China’s humanrights record.

At dawn, four protestersfrom the groups “Students fora Free Tibet” and the “TibetanYouth Association in Europe”climbed up scaffolding on theUN building, currently underrenovation, before jumping

SPARKS (USA) - A studentat a Nevada middle schoolopened fire with a semi-automatic handgun on campusjust before the starting bellwounding two 12-year-old boysand killing a math teacher whowas trying to protect childrenfrom their classmate.

The unidentified shooter killedhimself with the gun after arampage that occurred in frontof 20 to 30 horrified studentswho had just returned to schoolfrom a weeklong fall break.Authorities did not provide amotive for the shooting, and it’sunknown where the student gotthe gun.

Teacher Michael Landsberrywas being hailed for his actionsduring the shooting outsideSparks Middle School.

“In my estimation, he is a hero.... We do know he was trying tointervene,” Reno Deputy PoliceChief Tom Robinson said.

Both wounded students werelisted in stable condition. Onewas shot in the shoulder, and theother was hit in the abdomen.

The violence erupted nearly ayear after a gunman shocked thenation by opening fire in SandyHook Elementary School inNewtown, Conn., leaving 26dead. The Dec. 14 shootingignited debate over how best toprotect the nation’s schools andwhether armed teachers shouldbe part of that equation.

Landsberry, 45, was a militaryveteran and leaves behind a wifeand two stepdaughters. SparksMayor Geno Martini saidLandsberry served two tours inAfghanistan with the NevadaNational Guard.

“He proudly served hiscountry and was proudlydefending the students at hisschool,” Martini said.

MELILLA (SPAIN) - Growing numbers of Africans are takinga daunting test to enter Europe: leaping a towering, triple-layersecurity fence and trying to race across before rapid-deploymentpolice guards can catch them.

The general public is hereby notified that the above namedfoundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commissionfor registration under the Companies and Allied Matters ActNo.1 of 1990.BOARD OF TRUSTEES1. Mr. Agu Sunday - Chairman2. Mrs. Agu Orobosa Rita - Secretary3. Mr. Agu Clement - Member4. Engr. Agu Uchenna - Member

AIMS & OBJECTIVES1. To Promote education and social standard of living amongthe youths, orphans and vulnerable children.Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to theRegistrar- General, Corporate Affairs Commission plot 420Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abujawithin 28 days of this publication.

PUBLIC NOTICEAGU SUNDAY FOUNDATION

SIGNED:Agu Sunday (Chairman)

I, Imasuen Usunobun Gabriel of No. 1, Success Way,Off Uyi Ekpen Avenue, Ekosodin Quarters, Benin City,the Bonafide Owner of the underlisted documents/Certificate wish to bring for the information of thegeneral public that they have been declared missing since15th November, 2011.THE ITEMS ARE:1. My General Certificate of Examination (G.C.EADVANCE LEVEL) November 1979.2. NYSC Exemption Certificate 2004.3. Transfer Document of Plot 18, measuring 100 x 100(One hundred feet by One Hundred Feet) Situate atOgegbe Street, Eguaveon Community, Ovia North EastLocal Government Area, Edo State.4. That all efforts made to trace the said documentsproved abortive, concerned authorities and the generalpublic should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS/CERTIFICATE

Signed: IMASUEN .U. GABRIEL

The general public is hereby informed that the parcel ofland measuring approximately 2155.112 square metressame being lying and situate at along old Bode Road,beside the village market, Ibienafe, South-Ibie in EtsakoWest LGA of Edo State and covered by Registered Surveyand deed of assignment duly executed between Mr.Amedu Momoh and Mr. Oni David Alenoghena and Mr.Oni David Alenoghena, having legally acquired theaforementioned parcel of land from Mr. Amedu Momohfurther assigned the said parcel of land to ArcherEngineering Company Limited who are the owner andholders of Statutory Right of Occupancy of the said landtill date and hence any persons who intends to transactany business on this property does so at his or her ownrisk/peril.

PUBLIC NOTICE

CAVEAT EMPTORCAVEAT EMPTORCAVEAT EMPTORCAVEAT EMPTORCAVEAT EMPTOR

Signed:K.O. Oni Esq

For Mr. Oni David Alenoghena &Archer Engineering Company Limited

You are warned!

down to the middle of thefacade using climbingropes.

They then unfurled amassive banner reading:“China human rights, UNstand up for Tibet,” andshouted: “Free Tibet!”

UN security acted swiftlyto cut down the banner andarrest the protesters, butalso to grab journalists’press accreditation andusher them away from the

scene.“The protest went really

great,” Pema Yoko, the deputydirector of Students for a FreeTibet, told AFP.

It was important to drawattention to Tibet’s plight, sheinsisted, stressing that “weexpect China to blatantly lieabout their rights record inTibet.”

At least 122 Tibetans have setthemselves alight sinceFebruary 2009 in protestsagainst what they see asChinese oppression, Yoko said.

A vast security operation hasfailed to deter the would-bemigrants attempting to reach theSpanish territories of Ceuta andMelilla, cities that lie on thenorthern coast of Morocco andoffer the only land border betweenAfrica and Europe.

At dawn in Melilla, SpanishGuardia Civil police peer throughpowerful night-vision binocularsat the 11-kilometre (seven-mile)long, seven-metre (23-foot) highfence that loops around the cityuntil it reaches the Mediterraneancoast.

Surveillance cameras watchover the three layers of fencing,

which is lit up along its entirelength to help spot migrants.

On the other side, plunged indarkness, stands Mount Guruguwhere hundreds of Africanmigrants lie in wait for the rightmoment to make a dash forEuropean soil.

“Every day for the past fewmonths we have seen groupsapproach. There are quite a few ofthem and they don’t all manage toget up to the fence but there areattempts almost every day,” saidNon Commissioned Officer JavierMartinez.

“They go barefoot to climb thefirst fence, then they clear thesecond, then the third.”

Night assaultOn September 17, Spanish

security forces were taken bysurprise by a night-time assault byabout 300 migrants in the BarrioChino (Chinese District), one ofthe most vulnerable areas becausesmall buildings near the fenceprovide hiding places for themigrants.

“The strength of the assault, thelarge number of people over sucha short distance, with so muchforce, so much violence... it wasimpossible to contain,” saidLieutenant Juan Antonio MartinRivera, spokesman for theGuardia Civil in Melilla.

Since 2005, the semicircularfrontier that encircles this 12-square-kilometre (five-square-

mile) city of 80,000 people hasbeen continually upgraded: it hasnow been strengthened with araised, third fence equipped with48 cameras, highly sensitivesensors, and tighter “anti-climb”fence links.

Not going to be stopped by afence

The exterior fence, the highestat seven metres, leans outwards atits top to stop anyone clamberingover.

“Even so, they manage to climbit,” said the Guardia Civilspokesman.

“This is a brake. But someonewho has crossed the whole ofAfrica, who has travelled formonths to get here, isn’t going tobe stopped by a fence.”

The Guardia Civil has deployed600 men at Melilla to confront themigrants.

“Our reaction time is in the orderof one-and-a-half to two minutes,”the officer said.

“But often a strong, agile youngperson needs just a few secondsto get over the triple fencing,which looks impenetrable,” hesaid.

Omar Kamara is one of thehundred or so migrants whomanaged to cross the fencing onSeptember 17 and get to the otherside.

At 19, the young Malian leftBamako 15 months earlier“because of the poverty” and, aftertravelling through Algeria, cameto Mount Gurugu.

“On September 17, we leftGurugu. We walked for four

hours,” he recalled. “If yousucceed you get through, if youdon’t succeed you go back to themountain. On September 17,God gave us this chance.”

It was a Tuesday when Kamaracrossed the border into Melilla.

“I stayed hidden untilWednesday. Then I met aSpaniard. He gave me somethingto drink,” Kamara said. Then theMelilla resident showed him theway to Ceti, the Spanishgovernment centre for migrantswhere Kamara is still living.

There are now some 860migrants crammed into the 480-place centre, which hastransformed two largecommunal halls into dormitoriesof 100 beds each.

“The migratory pressure hasgrown over the past two years,”says Carlos Montero Diaz, thecentre’s director, evoking theconflict in Mali and unrestsparked by the Arab Springrevolts.

“They are young, about 22.Their aim is to reach any countryin Europe. They leave theirfamilies in their countries,hoping to be able to send themmoney,” he said.

“They used to arrive only atcertain times of the year whenthe weather was good. That’s nolonger the case.”

Melilla and Ceuta have beenunder Spanish rule for centuriesbut are a stress point in relationswith Morocco, which demandsSpain cede its sovereignty overthe territories.

held a memorial service forthe 76 people killed in aterror attack at the NairobiWestgate mall, a month

ago.Wabukala said: “What the

bible says is very clear, ourLord Jesus taught us to bepeaceful people.

“The bible really goesmore than talking aboutpeace to making peace at allcost and, therefore, allChristians all over the worldwould want to teach that wemake peace and live at peacewith each other.

“That’s the basic but you

can get into various texts of thebible that will support your standand practice toward maintainingpeace.

“The bible is very clearparticularly as we look at the lifeand practice of our Lord JesusChrist.’’

Also speaking on the war onterrorism, the Anglican Primate ofNigeria, the Most Rev. NicholasOkoh, told reporters that theproblem of Boko Haram hadbecome very difficult to managein Nigeria.

“This is a body that does notsupport education and they areready to kill people and ready tofight.

“The government is trying tocontrol them by asking securityagencies to fight or handle themin their own way.

“For us as a church, our firstreaction is to look for securityfrom government to make usworship in peace,” he said.

Okoh said that both Muslim andChristian leaders in Nigeria wereconcerned about the activities ofthe insurgents and were workingtogether to proffer solutions to theproblem.

He, however, expressed regretthat the insurgents had shunned allentreaties by government todialogue under a presidentialcommittee established to look intotheir grievances.

On his school website,Landsberry posted a picture of abrown bear and took on a tough-love tone, telling students, “Ihave one classroom rule and itis very simple: ‘Thou Shall NotAnnoy Mr. L.’”

“The kids loved him,” hissister-in-law Chanda Landsberrysaid.

She added his life could besummed up by his love of hisfamily, his students and hiscountry.

“To hear that he was trying tostop that is not surprising by anymeans,” she said.

Police said 150 to 200 officersresponded to the shooting,including some from as far as 60miles away. Students from themiddle school and neighboringelementary school wereevacuated to the nearby highschool, and classes werecanceled. The middle school willremain closed for the week.

“As you can imagine, the bestdescription is chaos,” Robinsonsaid. “It’s too early to saywhether he was targeting peopleor going on an indiscriminateshooting spree.”

At the evacuation center,parents comforted their children.

“We came flying down here toget our kids,” said Mike Fiorica,whose nephew attends theschool. “You can imagine howparents are feeling. You don’tknow if your kid’s OK.”

The shooting happened on theschool’s campus and endedoutside the school building,according to police.happen toyou,” Martini said.


... Who You AreNew Horizon

Continued from page 20beginning of life, and later

a comparatively easier andmore comfortable way of lifecan be led. Being so situated,one has a good chance to makeprogress in spiritualrealization, but as ill luckwould have it, due to theinIuence of the present agewhich is full of machines andmechanical people, the sons ofthe wealthy are misguided forsense enjoyment, and so theyforget the good chance theyhave for spiritualenlightenment. Therefore,nature by her laws, is settingfires in these golden homes.There was the Golden city ofSri-lanka under the regime ofthe demonic ruler calledRavana. That city was burntto ashes. That is the law ofnature. The Bagavad-Gita isthe preliminary study of thetranscendental science ofKrishna consciousness, and itis the duty of responsibleheads of state to chalk out theireconomic and other programsby referring to the Bagavad-Gita. We are not meant tosolve economic questions oflife by balancing them on atottering platform, rather weare meant to solve the ultimateproblems of life which arisedue to the laws of nature.Civilization is static unlessthere is spiritual movement.The soul moves the body, andthe living body moves theworld. We are concernedabout the body, but we haveno knowledge of the spirit thatis moving the body. Withoutthe spirit, the body ismotionless, or death. Thehuman body is an excellentvehicle by which we can reacheternal life. It is a rare and veryimportant boat for crossingover the ocean of nesciencewhich is material existence.On this boat, there is theservice of an expert boatman,who is the spiritual master. Bythe Divine mercy of the Lord,the boat plies the water in afavourable wind. With allthese auspicious factors, whowould not have theopportunity to cross the oceanof nescience? If one neglectsthis good chance, it should bethat he is simply committingsuicide directly or indirectly.There is certainly a great deal

of comfort in the first classcoach of a train, but if the traindoes not move towards itsdestination, what is thebenefit of an air-conditionedcompartment? Contemporarycivilization is much tooconcerned with making thematerial body comfortable.No one has information ofthe real destination of life,which is to go and how to goback to Godhead. We mustnot just remain seated in acomfortable compartment,we see whether or not ourvehicle is moving toward itsreal destination. There is noultimate benefit in making thematerial body comfortable atthe expense of forgetting theprime necessity of life, whichis to regain our lost spiritualidentity. The boat of humanlife is constructed in such away that it must movetowards a spiritual direction.Unfortunately this body isanchored to mundaneconsciousness by five strongchains, which are:

1. Attachment to thematerial body due toignorance of spiritual facts.

2. Attachment to Kinsmendue to bodily relations.

3. Attachment to the land ofbirth and material possessionssuch as houses, furniture’s,estates, properties, etc.

4. Attachment to materialscience, which alwaysremains mysterious for wantof spiritual insight and

5. Attachment to religionsforms and holy rituals withoutknowing the personality ofGodhead or His devotees whomake them holy.

These attachments, whichanchor the boat of humanbody, are explained in detailin the fifteen chapter of theBagavadGita. There they arecompared to a deeply rootedbanyan tree which is everincreasing its hold on theearth surface. It is verydifficult to uproot such astrong banyan tree, but theSupreme Lord recommendsthe following process.” Thereal form of this tree cannotbe perceived in this world. Noone can understand where itends, where it begins, orwhere its foundation is: Butwith determination, one mustcut down this tree with the

weapon of detachment. Byso doing, one must seek thatplace from which havinggone, one never returns, andthereby surrender to thatSupreme Personality ofGodhead from whomeverything has begun and inwhom everything is abidingsince time immemorial (Bg.15.3 - 4). Neither thescientists nor speculativephilosophers have yet arrived

at any conclusion concerningthe cosmic situation. All theyhave done is posit differenttheories about it. Some ofthem say that the materialworld is real, others say it isa dream, and yet others saythat it is ever existing. In thisway, different views are heldby mundane scholars, but thefact is that no mundanescientist or speculativephilosopher has everdiscovered the beginning ofthe cosmos nor itslimitations. No one can saywhen it began or how it floatsin space. They theoretically

propose some laws, like thelaw of gravity, but actuallythey cannot put this law topractical use. For want ofactual knowledge of the truth,everyone is anxious to promotehis own theory to gain certainfame, but the actual fact is thatthis material world is full ofmiseries and that no one canovercome them simply bypromoting some theories aboutany subject. The Personality of

Godhead, who is cognizant ofeverything in His creation,informs us that it is in our bestinterest that we desire to getout of this misenazbleexistence. We must detachourselves from materialism. Tomake the best use of a badbargain, our material existencemust be one hundred percentspiritua1ised Note that iron isnot fire, but it can be turnedinto fire by constantassociation with fire. Similarlydetachment from materialactivities can be effected byspiritual activities, not bymaterial inertia. Material

inertia is the negative side ofmaterial action, but spiritualactivity is not only the negationof material action but theactivation of our real life. Wemust be anxious to search outeternal life, or spiritualexistence in Brahman, theAbsolute. The eternalKingdom of Brahman (God) isdescribed in the Bagavad-Gitaas that eternal country fromwhich no one returns. That is

the eternal kingdom of God inthe topmost spiritual realm.The beginning of our presentmaterial life cannot be traced,nor is it necessary for us toknow how we becameconditioned in materialexistence. We have to besatisfied with theunderstanding that somehowor other this material life hasbeen going on since timeimmemorial and now ourconstitutional duty is tosurrender unto the SupremeLord, who is the original causeof all causes. The preliminaryqualification for going back toGodhead is giving in Bagavad-Gita, 15.5 as:

“One who is free fromillusion, false prestige andfalse association, whounderstnads the eternal, whois done with material lust andis free from material duality ofhappiness and distress, andwho knows how to surrender

unto the Supreme Person,attains that eternal Kingdomof God.” Moreso one who isconvinced of his spiritualidentity and is freed fromillusion and is transcendentalto the modes of materialnature, who constantlyengages in understandingspiritual knowledge and whohas completely severedhimself from senseenjoyment, can go back to

“Contemporary civilization is much too concerned with making thematerial body comfortable. No one has information of the realdestination of life, which is to go and how to go back to Godhead. Wemust not just remain seated in a comfortable compartment, we seewhether or not our vehicle is moving toward its real destination.”

Godhead - such a person iscalled Amudha asdistinguished from mudha,or the foolish and ignorant,for he is freed from theduality of happiness anddistress. And what is thenature of the eternal kingdomof God? It is described in theBagavad-Gita, 15:6 asfollows: “That abode of mineis not illumined by the Sunor Moon, nor by electricity.One, who reaches it, neverreturns to this materialworld.” Lastly, this materialworld is full of glittering and“all that glitters is not gold”.Moreso, this material worldis compared to the desertwhere we see mirage aswater but never produceswater to quench our dry taste.We should be prepared tothink HIGHER for betterrealization of our present andfuture higher existence.


View PointAbia: A Land Of Agberos?

By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

Gov Theodore Orji of Abia State

THOSE who have notbeen to Abia State wouldswallow all that they readin the media from thegovernment of GovernorTheodore AhamefuleOrji, line, hook andsinker, oblivious that theyare glaring lies painted bythe government’spropagandists to be takenas truths by onlookers.The good people of AbiaState, however, knew thatthe politics that havecome to stay in thepresent state governmentis what many observersregard as “Politics ofrelocation to acquire”.

We have read or heardabout the differentrelocations of peoples inAbia State that mainlycomprise traders fromone point to another. Butwhat we were not toldwas how many of thetraders could not getaccommodations in theplaces where we wereacquainted they weretransferred to.

The dust of relocationsof traders in Abia Statefrom one place to anothercan never settle down tillthe government tells thegeneral public who thereal occupants of thestalls in the markets areand how much they wereasked to pay before theygained entrance.

It is imperative to saythat Abia State,especially, the city of Abais now worse thanGovernor Orji met it. Hewould not tell us that Abahas become a place whereresidents are packingtheir property and arerelocating to other stateslike Akwa Ibom State,because there is no

presence of goodgovernance in Abia State.Wait till the Akwa IbomState Governmentcompletes its ever builtultra-modern market, andAbia State would beempty. Mark thisstatement!

It is a crying shame thatthis governmentcontinues to sell lies to thepublic that things arenormal in Abia State,when everything has goneshamble, except thepresence of marked-facessecurity operatives, whohave taken occupation inintimidating people and,who knows where theywant our people torelocate their shops,vehicles and co to. Dothey now see anybody inour state as Osisikankwuthat must be hounded?Especially, the fear of oneAwa, who was fingered tobe in charge of ‘loadingbuses and cars’ in thestate, has become thebeginning of wisdom, ashis agberos now worklegitimately andillegitimately.

In Aba for instance, thestate government wantsall the vehicles to beloading in the parks. Justtwo parks in a place likeAba: ‘Mivaton’ Park andOsisioma Park.

If we have to accept thatvehicles must load in theparks, it behooves thegovernment to providethe people withinfrastructure, but there israrely any one functionalin the state. There ishardly any smooth andmotorable road in the

state to the Parks.The Parks themselves are

glorified Hades. You wantsomebody, say, at Ngwaroad to come to the park andenter vehicle, when there isno access from there to thepark. So, vehicles no longerstop beside the road andpick passengers? Not evenbus stops are built to helpthe drivers; just for the lucre

of governance, anywheredrivers pack their vehiclesthat is not park, they havefailed law and must paysums of money that are notbelow N20, 000 and N25,000. Odikwa egwu o!

But Gov. Orji’spropagandists would lie tothose they can deceive thatUmuahia, the capital ofAbia State, has become autopian capital, when whatwe could see are mainlywhitewash projects that dot

the state and contractorsgiven most of theinternal revenue projectsbeing uncivil to ourpeople, so that theycould meet up with thedemand of cash fromUmuahia.

While expansion ispart of development, wehave to ask of whatexactly is thisgovernment expanding.In earnest, instead of

good governance beingexpanded in all thenooks and crannies ofthe state, what we couldsee are expansion ofagberos and securitypersonnel intimidatingour peoples, alreadyb a t t e r e d - b y - b a dgovernance.

This governmentshould stop makingKeke riders to cry, dueto the many tickets theyare ‘intimidatingly’

asked to purchase beforethe day runs off. Theannoying thing is that thesellers of these ticketshave no routine hoursthey operate.

As early as 5am and aslate as 10pm, they are onthe roads collectingmoney for tickets fromKeke riders, likewisethose channeled to manvehicles in Abia State.The latter ’s habit ofcollecting money for thetickets is by force andfire, and needs to be

curtailed, but only by thehelp of a spiritualist,because they invariablyhave the full support ofthe Abia StateGovernment for theirshameless conducts.

Their habits show thatwe do not have agovernment in Abia Statethat regulates itsoperations, but one thatenjoys the presence of‘anything can go’, as faras the money that would

not be used to develop ourstate continues to ‘enter’.It is only in this state thatwheelbarrow pushers arepressurised to purchaseplate numbers.

Agberos in the state areplenty. You laugh withanger, about the presenceof cops on patrol, usuallytwo persons on amotorcycle, parading thedilapidated city of Abaand making preys of thecitizens. As far as goodgovernance is concerned,majority of our people areyet to see people-orientedreforms. It is not reformwhen residents are askednot to drop refuse wherethey drop them before,because you do not wantnew comers’ comments,whereas the state alreadysmells of government’sincapacitations.

This Gov. T.A Orjigovernment should betold that a performinggovernment is not equatedby the number of peoplesit has displaced, but by thenumber of peoples thathave been enlivened in itsperformance, but, sadly,Abia State under him hasbecome a home ofagberos and displaced anddispleased persons.

Gov. T.A Orji has to buyhis conscience back andput things in place that areat present wishing ourpeople death and somehave perhaps died of poormanagement. He shouldknow that the onlyempowerment that he wasable to give to our youthsis to provide Kekes andTaxis for them to drive,and at the same time fillthe city with agberos, whowere said are contractorsto the state government.

Odimegwu Onwumerewrites from Port Harcourt

“Agberos in the state are plenty. You laugh with anger, about the presence ofcops on patrol, usually two persons on a motorcycle, parading the dilapidatedcity of Aba and making preys of the citizens. As far as good governance isconcerned, majority of our people are yet to see people-oriented reforms.”


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Sir Alex Ferguson.

Evra HintsAt UnitedDeparture

Januzaj Will Be A Utd Great -Jones

Ramsey Confident OfArsenal’s Title Chance

Ferguson Book PromisesExplosive Revelations

City Aim To BounceBack In Moscow

Aaron Ramsey

Mourinho Backs Eto’o To Shine

Patrice Evra

The football world is bracing itself for some typically brutalobservations when Sir Alex Ferguson’s biography is released.

While the contents have beenkept a closely guarded secret, fewexpect Ferguson’s view of lifesince Manchester United’s historic1999 Treble triumph to be bland.

Indeed, there is so much groundto be covered that barely a pagewill be turned without somefascinating insight from the manwhose managerial career ended inMay with a record 13th PremierLeague title.

With an afternoon pressconference to follow, Fergusonwill again capture attention in away successor David Moyes canonly dream of.

In an article on Saturday,journalist Paul Hayward, who wasresponsible for committingFerguson’s words to print, stated:“Ferguson decided several yearsago to revisit the upheavals of thepast decade, and to examine howhe maintained control in the faceof changes in United’s ownership,the rise of player power and thenew threats posed by RomanAbramovich’s Chelsea and theMiddle-Eastern wealth ofManchester City.”

Hayward also stated Ferguson“recalls the great players he hasmanaged”, listing Roy Keane,Cristiano Ronaldo and DavidBeckham, and “shares histhoughts on Arsene Wenger, JoseMourinho and Rafa Benitez”.

The last name itself gives anidea of what to expect.

In both public and private,Ferguson rarely had a good wordto say about Benitez. He oncedescribed the Spaniard as “a baby”and will doubtless find manyreasons to undermine Benitez,currently boss at Napoli, not leastthe failed attempt to prise GabrielHeinze out of Old Trafford.

That is just one of a number ofreasons to anticipate the bookgetting a frosty reception atLiverpool.

The fall-out from the racism rowthat ended with Luis Suarezgetting an eight-match ban forabusing Patrice Evra should becovered, and that will not reflectwell on Kenny Dalglish, with

whom Ferguson had previoushistory anyway.

Although his relations withWenger eased considerablyduring the latter days of his OldTrafford reign, it will beinteresting to see whetherFerguson touches on Arsenal’sfailure to secure any silverwaresince the Gunners beat Unitedin the 2005 FA Cup final, or the‘Pizzagate’ row from 2004.

Ferguson’s view of Keane willbe significant, with an expectantpublic really wanting to know thecontent of that infamous MUTVinterview in 2005 which gotpulled from the schedulesbecause of the damningcriticisms of so many youngteam-mates and eventually led tothe Irishman’s abrupt exit.

And then there is Beckham, themost recognisable face ofEnglish football, scarred by aboot Ferguson sent flying acrossthe Old Trafford dressing room,

and his relationship and subsequentmarriage to a member of the SpiceGirls.

Peter Kenyon’s part in failing tosecure the services of Ronaldinhoin 2003, the Football Associationand referees are all fertile ground,and then there is Wayne Rooney.

Had Ferguson remained at OldTrafford, Rooney would surelyhave been shown the exit door. Asit is Ferguson will need to tiptoeround the matter carefully so as notto cause Moyes any problems.

PATRICE Evra hashinted that he may leaveManchester United at theend of his current contract.

The French full-back’scurrent deal is due to expireat the end of the season.

United are reluctant to partwith Evra’s considerableexperience, with the 32-year-old having spent thelast seven years at OldTrafford - during which timehe has helped to land fivePremier League titles and aUEFA Champions Leaguecrown.

David Moyes was,however, heavily linkedwith a couple of high-profileleft-backs over the summer,with Everton’s LeightonBaines and Real Madrid’sFabio Coentrao on histransfer radar.

He may be forced to stepup that hunt in January, withEvra revealing that he is yetto agree fresh terms.

Speculation has suggestedfor some time that he couldbe tempted to return toFrance before hanging uphis boots - with formeremployers Monaco and big-spending Paris St Germainreported to be keen.

Evra has offered no

indication as to what his nextmove will be, but it appearsthat his future past the end of2013/14 lies outside ofEngland.

Asked by Telefoot in Franceif he is concerned about hisexpiring contract at United, hesaid: “No, not at all.

“It is a personal thing. It isnot that Manchester United donot want me to sign a newcontract.

“Manchester United wouldlike me to finish my careerthere, but this is somethingpersonal.”

PHIL Jones has tipped AdnanJanuzaj for Manchester Unitedgreatness after signing a newfive-year contract.

The 18-year-old winger putpen to paper on a new deal atthe weekend before producingan impressive performance inthe 1-1 home draw withSouthampton.

Januzaj had previouslyunderlined his huge potential byscoring twice in the 2-1 win at

Sunderland earlier thismonth.

Jones, who started bothgames alongside Januzaj,told United’s officialwebsite: “He’s a terrifictalent and it’s an old clichebut as long as he keeps hishead down, he can do greatthings for the club.

“There’s massive pressureon him and he’s only ayoung kid but it’s testament

to him that he’s come in anddone a great job.

“He threaded a brilliant ballfor our goal againstSouthampton.

He was sharp, he has nimblefeet and he’ll do great thingsfor this club if he keepsworking hard.

“He goes about his businessquietly and if he keepsproducing performances likethat, he’ll be a real star.”

MANCHESTER City willaim to recover from their homedefeat to Bayern Munich whenthey travel to Russia to faceCSKA Moscow on Wednesday.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men arein need of putting away asobering home defeat to thedefending champions BayernMunich when they make their

first trip to Russian soil.The 3-1 defeat to the Bavarians

split the group wide open and itnow means the Citizens mayhave to compete with LeonidSlutski’s men for second place inGroup D.

The two outfits sit level onthree points apiece, having bothbeaten Viktoria Plzen but falling

short to Pep Guardiola’s Munichside.

Pellegrini’s cause hasn’t beenaided in the absence of VincentKompany, who’ll once again beforced to stay at Platt Lane due toinjury, while Fernandinho voicedhis concern over the state of thepitch.

Heavy rainfall left the surfaceunplayable for three weeks and theBrazilians has admitted that hefears the field will affect their short-passing game.

“I am worried about the pitchbecause our team try to play withthe ball on the deck and if you don’thave a good pitch it could be veryhard for us,” he told the DailyMirror.

AARON Ramsey insistsArsenal are determined totry and build on theirblistering start to claim theirfirst Premier League titlesince 2004.

The Gunners sit top of thetable having won six of theirfirst eight matches, anddefeated Norwich 4-1 onSaturday to go two pointsclear of London rivalsChelsea. And Ramsey, whoscored his fifth league goalof the season in that win,admits life at the top bringsa different kind of pressurethan the Gunners are used to.

“The only way we can dealwith being at the top is bytaking every game as itcomes,” said Ramsey.

“We need to make sure wegive everything in everygame and not hold back and

think any match is going to beeasy.

“There’s an opportunity inevery game to pick up pointsand we’re just concentratingon our own games at themoment and that’s proven inthe start that we’re having.

“Other teams havestruggled so far and teams aregoing to take points off eachother so it’s important to keepfocused on our own game.”

JOSE Mourinho believesSamuel Eto’o will continueimproving after theCameroonian opened hisChelsea account againstCardiff City.

The 32-year-old scored the

second goal as the Bluescame back from a goaldown to beat Cardiff 4-1 onSaturday and Mourinhobelieves this will improvehis confidence.

Eto’o on target as Chelseathrash Cardiff.

“Cardiff was good forhim (Eto’o), not just for thegoal but for hiscontribution,” saidMourinho.

“His movement was verygood; in the first half whenCardiff was compact andclosed he was the one inattacking positions withbetter movement andparticipation.

“It’s the goal that giveshim the confidence, theextra motivation he needs,so normally now he ishappier. He’s a very goodplayer.

“He needs time, becausein his career he played inSpain and Italy, a little bit inRussia, countries andchampionships differentfrom the Premier League.

“Since the first day, hemade an impact with theplayers. Everybody sees thefantastic quality he has in alittle bit of time.”

Last season Eto’o scored10 goals in 25 leagueappearances for AnzhiMakhachkala.Samuel Eto’o


Paris Giants ToTackle Anderlecht

David Villa Backed ToFind Scoring Touch

Pepe Urges Respect For Juventus

Guardiola VisitsVilanova In Barcelona

Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova during their time together at Barcelona.

Four Serie A SidesPunished For Chants

reporters.“They have key players like

Buffon and Pirlo, but I thinkthe most important thing aboutthem is the team as a whole.

“I hope that we are strong.Juve are one of Europe’s andItaly’s big teams. They havetwo Champions League titlesand great footballers. I hopeit is a good match and that thefans enjoy it.

“The game could go eitherway because we are two greatteams. I hope it’s a goodmatch, that the fans enjoy itand that as players we also canenjoy it out on the field.

“The key to winning is tokeep fighting, playing as a

Vienna, who are coached byformer Albacete and RealBetis midfielder NenadBjelica.

“We have seen a veryorganised team, with sometactics and tools we useourselves,” he said. “Theymake a very good collectiveeffort. They have a strongspine and some tall players. Itwill be a difficult game. Wehope to sort it out.”

Atletico come into the gamewith their unbeaten start to theseason having unexpectedlyended with a 1-0 La Ligadefeat at Espanyol lastweekend.

That game was decided byan unfortunate own-goal fromColchoneros goalkeeperThibaut Courtois, who said heand his teammates had alreadyput the loss behind them.

“We go from game-to-game,” Courtois said. “This isthe next final for us. We wantto win here too. Whathappened at Cornella canhappen. But we are all feelinggood to play this game.”

The on-loan Chelsea keepersaid he expected the Austrianchampions to be well drilledand provide a stiff test forAtletico.

“They are a very organisedteam and it is not easy to createchances against them,”Courtois said. “We must befocused because it will not beeasy to beat them.”

C of the continentalshowpiece and not doingmuch better domestically,where they are only rankedfifth in the Jupiler Pro Leaguestandings, Anderlecht arealso expecting a very toughgame against the Frenchgiant.

“On paper we cannotcompete with that club. PSGare a war machine. But wewill play our heart out and tryto cast doubt on the Parisiansfrom the start,” declaredAnderlecht’s Senegalesecentre-back CheikhouKouyaté.

The Belgians will bewithout their first choicegoalkeeper Silvio Proto, whois injured and will bereplaced by ThomasKaminsk, while Paris Saint-Germain will travel withoutChristophe Jallet, JavierPastore and Thiago Silva.

side have not collected asingle point nor scored asingle goal in the group stageso far.

New leaders of the FrenchLigue 1 following their 4-0win over Bastia and Monaco’ssetback on the ground ofSochaux, Laurent Blanc’smen are bursting withconfidence and will go intothis encounter as bigfavourites.

“We feel good, we playwell. We have to keep it up inorder to achieve our goals. Wehave regained momentum, theone we showed just before thebreak. The first game after aninternational break is alwaysa little bit tricky. But wemanaged to deliver and we arein a positive trend for thisEuropean rendezvous againstAnderlecht,” assured theSwedish international ZlatanIbrahimovic.

Rock-bottom of their Group

some personal matters, andthen met with Vilanova forover three hours in theafternoon.

No details of their privateconversation emerged —however the Catalan paperclaimed they may have beenclearing the air and lettingbygones be bygones.

Mundo Deportivo also saythat Barcelona’s board havedecided to pay tribute toVilanova via the usual fans‘mosaic’ at the Camp Noubefore Saturday’s La LigaClasico against Real Madrid.90,000 supporters are to holdup sheets of paper whichtogether will read ‘Força Tito’in a coordinated message ofsupport.

visiting fans put the strictrules on discrimination to thetest.

Milan, meanwhile, beatUdinese 1-0 at the San Siroin a match that had been dueto be played behind closeddoors due to previousincidents of discriminatorychanting until the Rossonerifought to overturn the ruling.

Fans attending Roma’s 2-0victory at home to Napoliwere also deemed to havecontravened the rules onchanting.

boss, with some reportssuggesting Tito had expectedmore support from his friendwhen he had to leave the jobdue to illness. The situationwas also complicated byinternal ‘feuding’ betweencamps associated with currentBlaugrana president SandroRosell and his predecessorJoan Laporta.

According to MundoDeportivo the current BayernMunich coach flew intoBarcelona via private jet onMonday morning to deal with

PEP Guardiola paid a flyingvisit to Barcelona on Mondaywhere he spoke with his friendand former Blaugranacolleague Tito Vilanova.

The pair first met as teenageyouth players at Barca’s LaMasia academy and went onto work successfully togetherwith Guardiola manager andVilanova his assistant duringfour trophy-laden seasonsuntil Pep stepped down insummer 2011.

However their relationshipwas said to have cooled afterVilanova took over as Barca

AC Milan, Inter Milan,Roma and Torino have allbeen handed suspendedstadium bans as a result ofdiscriminatory chanting.

Fans of the four clubs weredeemed guilty of offensivechanting during the weekend,and three of the clubs —Milan, Inter and Roma —have been handed 50,000 eurofines. The sentences have allbeen suspended for one year.

Torino’s 3-3 draw with Interhad nearly been suspended as

DIEGO Simeone hasbacked Atletico Madridstriker David Villa to end hiscurrent barren run soon.

Summer signing Villa beganhis Atletico career with asuperb goal against his formerside Barcelona in the SpanishSupercopa in August, andsoon netted against RealSociedad and Almeria in LaLiga, however Spain’s recordgoalscorer has now goneseven games without scoring.

Speaking ahead ofAtletico’s Champions Leaguegroup visit to Austria Viennaon Wednesday evening, theArgentine coach said he wasnot concerned about thesituation as Villa’s classwould soon show itself.

“He has spent his whole lifescoring goals,” Simeone said.“I am sure they will appearwhen they are most needed.It is only a matter of time andhe’s got my full backing.”

El Cholo admitted thatVilla’s strike-partner DiegoCosta may miss the game atthe Ernst Happel Stadion withan ankle problem.

“He is with the group,”Simeone said. “Everyoneexcept Leo [Baptistao] hascome. We will evaluate thegame from here. It is difficultfor him to play, but there isstill time before the game. Hehad some swelling and wewill see how he responds.”

Simeone said he recognisedAtletico’s own style in that of

REAL Madrid defenderPepe says they can’t afford tosingle out any players aheadof Wednesday’s clash againstJuventus.

The Bianconeri will belooking for their first win inthe competition having startedtheir campaign with drawsagainst FC Copenhagen andGalatasaray.

Antonio Conte’s side alsogave up a two-goal lead tolose 4-2 to Fiorentina in theSerie A this past weekend butthe Portuguese defenderbelieves they have too muchquality in their squad.

“We have to respect all oftheir players,” Pepe told

UNDISPUTED leaders of Group C in the UEFAChampions League, Paris Saint-Germain travel toAnderlecht on Wednesday in matchday three (Kick-off willbe at 20h45 CAT).

The Parisians have recordedtwo convincing wins againstOlympiakos and Benfica,

scoring seven goals for onlyone conceded.

Meanwhile, the Belgium

team and to do the RealMadrid shirt proud every

minute that they’re on thefield.”

David Villa

Kleper Pepe


Diouf, Cisse Salute Metsu

Serena Williams Aims To End 2013 OnHigh In Instanbul

Mazembe Trio PassportCase Quashed

Serena Williams

Goal-Line Tech Not Good Enough - DFL

Nathan Sinkala, Rainford Kalaba and Stopilla Sunzu

Democratic Republic of Congo,”said Home Affairs spokespersonMoses Suwali.

“If our officers had wantedthey could have gone to DRC toverify but there was no evidenceto warrant that action.

“Arising from that report, theminister this morning ordered therelease of the players’ passportsand that they return to their cluband continue enjoying theircareers.”

Mazembe refused to release thetrio for the friendly stating thatSunzu was injured while Kalabaand Sinkala had Malaria.

The trio has been holed up inZambia since October 18 afterimmigration officials detainedthem briefly in Ndola when theywere warned and cautionedbefore the state withdrew theplayer’s passports.

media.“Everyone takes it for granted

that I should have seen andadmitted it,” Kiessling said. “Idon’t know how the ball got intothe goal. I was also prettysurprised.”

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, haveannounced that they will auctionthe ‘ghost goal’ netting forcharity.

“The netting has cause a lot ofcontroversy and anger. Doingsomething for a good cause is agood way of compensating forthe damage,” Hoffenheimgeneral manager Peter Rettig —no relation to the DFL’s AndreasRettig — told Bild.

Rettig cited the example ofUkraine’s Marko Devic, who hadnot been awarded a goal againstEngland at Euro 2012 despite hisshot bouncing 2.6cm over theline, adding: “Imagine the uproarif the goal-line technology hadnot signalled a goal.”

Kiessling, meanwhile, has toldLeverkusen’s official websitethat the criticism he has faced hasbeen “pretty hard”.

The striker appeared to realisehe had missed but, according toreports, failed to tell the refereewhen questioned on the matter.He has faced abuse on socialmedia and his behaviour has beenthe subject of scrutiny in the

German FA (DFB) has said it willabide by FIFA rules, which statethat the referee’s decision is finalonce play has restarted.

The matter has led to reneweddiscussion over the introductionof goal-line technology, with theGerman broadsheetSueddeutsche Zeitung proposingthe use of either Hawk-Eye —now used in England’s PremierLeague as well as sports such astennis and cricket — orGoalControl, which FIFA testedsuccessfully during theConfederations Cup and will useduring next summer’s WorldCup.

Chelsea manager JoseMourinho said at a newsconference on Monday: “If I wasworking in the GermanBundesliga — and you are oneof the European countries that isnot in economical problems — Idon’t understand why you don’tspend a few million to bringtechnology on the line.

“If it was the Portuguese or theGreek league, I would say nochance, but with the German one,I don’t know why you don’t doit.”

However, DFL generalmanager Andreas Rettig has toldFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungthat, as things stand, the optionsremain inadequate.

“We are not againsttechnological progress, but weare talking about a highlycomplex system here, whichmight still be failure-prone,” hesaid. “The 3cm margin of errorallowed by FIFA is not acceptablefor us.”

THE German Football League(DFL) has ruled out theintroduction of goal-linetechnology in the wake of BayerLeverkusen’s ‘ghost goal’ due tothe standard of the availablesystems.

Leverkusen claimed a 2-1victory over Hoffenheim at theweekend as a result of StefanKiessling’s 70th-minute goal,which came after his header hadmissed the target but creptthrough the side netting.

Hoffenheim have called for thegame to be replayed, but the

ZAMBIA’S home affairsminister has cleared Rainford,Kalaba, Stopilla Sunzu andNathan Sinkala and returnedtheir passports.

Home affairs minister EdgerLungu on October 22 orderedthat there was a lack of evidencethat Kalaba, Sinkala and Sunzuentered DR Congo illegally onOctober 12.

This is after the trio allegedlysneaked out of Zambia after abotched attempt to secure theirrelease by FAZ forChipolopolo’s October 15friendly against Brazil inBeijing.

“A report was done by theImmigration Department andfound that there was noevidence that the players hadcrossed the border into the

you as they did for MansourWade, Jules François Bocandé,Demba Sagna and so manyothers.

“I have always called youcoach with a lot of respect andtrust, I would simply like to say:Thank you coach.”

And two-time AfricanFootballer of the Year, Diouf, saidMetsu will forever remain alegend as his late former Senegalassistant coach Jules Bocandéwho died in 2012.

“Bruno is not just a friend. Heis a brother and a father to me.He managed to unveil mypotential,” Diouf said.

“He made me so everybodytook notice of me. His passingaway is a tragedy for France, forSenegal.”

SENEGAL’S 2002 World Cupstars Aliou Cisse and El HadjiDiouf have paid tribute to late ex-Teranga Lions coach BrunoMetsu.

Metsu, 59 died on October 14in France after battle with Cancerand was put to rest in Dakar,Senegal on October 21.

The Frenchman led Senegal tothe 2002 World Cup quarterfinalsin their debut appearance at thetournament.

“Coach, we are very proud tohave been part of who made youdiscover Senegal, the Terangacountry that you have loved somuch. Coach, I am very proud tohave been the captain of our greatteam that you understood sowell,” Cisse said in his tribute tohis former boss.

“On behalf of all my teammates of the 2002 generation, theSenegalese people are grieving

possibilities.”Retaining the title this week

will be a great momentumbuilder for her off-seasonwork — increasinglyimportant as Williams getsolder — just as it was, shesays, when she regained thetitle at the 2012 WTAChampionships.

Williams is probably astronger favourite now thanthen, partly because of theabsence of Maria Sharapova,who is rehabilitating hervulnerable shoulder.

The player most capable ofupsetting her is VictoriaAzarenka who has no doubtover where the Americanstands in the history of thesport.

“She can be the greatest ofall time,” Azarenka reckonedafter losing to Williams in the

ISTANBUL Serena Williams’ verdict that she is “a bitdisappointed” with her 2013 season indicates her urgencyto overtake the 18 Grand Slam titles of MartinaNavratilova and Chris Evert and to get on with chasingSteffi Graf’s Open era record of 22.Whether the 32-year-old

still has time to achieve thatmay be suggested by herperformances at the season-ending climax, the WTAChampionships which startson Tuesday.

It was an extraordinarilycritical self-judgement byWilliams on a season in whichshe has won another twoGrand Slam titles and takenher total to 17 — perhapscaused by a fear that time isshort.

More than that, Williamshas lost only four matches,taken her career earnings past$50 million, and become theoldest woman to hold theworld number one ranking.

She claims not to be mindfulof such records, butnevertheless volunteered that:“I’m excited about the

longest US Open women’ssingles final in 30 years lastmonth. “Serena’s still notdone.”

The Belarusian alsosuggested that the Americannow focuses more intensely,and raises her level more

dangerously when it reallymatters.

Judging from the GrandSlam wins in Paris and NewYork, that level is sometimeshigher than ever. On theevidence of setbacks atMelbourne and Wimbledon it

can also be variable.Williams has lost twice to

Azarenka this year — in Dohain February the day afterhaving regained the numberone ranking from her rival —and in Cincinnati in Augustafter leading for most of thematch.

Azarenka, at her best, has achance of repeating thesesuccesses, because she has abig game and the boldness totry to impose it.

“Against her you have totake risks,” Azarenka says,“because she will (do that),and she will do that reallywell.”

But Azarenka will need torecover from a disappointingbuild-up to the WTAChampionships. The worldnumber two lost in the secondround in Tokyo, where shehad been feeling unwell, andin the first round in Beijing,where she served 15 doublefaults.

The other six qualifiers in aneight-player field areAgnieszka Radwanska, theformer Wimbledon finalistfrom Poland, Li Na, theChinese pioneer who reachedher third Grand Slam final inMelbourne this year and PetraKvitova, the 2011 WTAChampionships winner.

The field is made up of SaraErrani, the Italian who alsotops the world rankings indoubles, Jelena Jankovic, theformer world number onefrom Serbia, and AngeliqueKerber, the German who wonher first title of the yearimmediately after becomingthe last player to qualify.


Zuid Sports Int’l To HostLocal Football Tourney

16 States For Para-SoccerCompetition

Relegated3SC ToSack

Coach

Nigeria’s Ex-International, Victor Igbinoba of Zuid Sports International (right) presenting atournament logo plaque to Hon. Morris Okunrobo Ovia, Executive Chairman, Ovia South-West LGAand Chairman LOC, Edo State 2013 Local Government Football Tournament.

Falconets, Flamingoes Set ForW/Cup Qualifying Matches

EgumaHappy With

Dolphins

serve as a campaign for theeradication of the dreaded polioscourge in the country.

“Preparation for thecompetition is in top gear. 16states in the country will partakein the maiden edition of thetournament.

“What we want to achieve withthis competition is to createawareness about polio and to alsopromote para-soccer in thecountry,’’ he said.

The team’s Head Coach, PeterDedevbo, was quoted in thestatement as saying that theteam was ready to go, after twoweeks of intense training.

“Surely, we are ready for theSierra Leoneans; I have the girlsto do the job and I can assureNigerians that we will make thenation proud,” Dedevbo wasquoted as saying.

It will be recalled that theFalconets’ best outing at theFIFA U-20 Women’s World Cupinclude a runner-up position atthe 2010 finals in Germany aswell as a semi-final place inJapan last year.

The team had also reachedquarter final berths in 2004,2006 and 2008 championships.

Meanwhile, CAF hasappointed Kenyan refereeDamaris Kimani, to take chargeof the 2014 FIFA U-17Women’s World Cup qualifierbetween Nigeria and SouthSudan.

A statement from CAF saidthe encounter, whose first legwould take place in Juba wouldalso have Kenya’s Jane Cheronoand Mary Njoroge as assistantreferees one and two.

STANLEY Eguma, the HeadCoach of Dolphins FC onMonday said he felt relieved atthe conclusion of the 2012/2013league season, in spite of hisclub’s average performance.

Eguma however toldnewsmen in Lagos that the clubwould work extra hard duringthe off-season period.

“This is to ensure a betterperformance in the forthcoming2013/2014 season,’’ he said.

Dolphins finished the 2012/2013 Nigeria ProfessionalFootball League (NPFL) seasonin the ninth position with 52points from 38 games played.

The coach said it was anaverage performance from theteam as they did not accomplishall they set out to achieve.

“We wanted to win the leagueand grab a continental ticket, butthings happened differently. Westarted well, but we were notconsistent enough.

“But I’m grateful we are stillin the league and we willdefinitely get back to work onbettering the team for nextseason,’’ Eguma said.

In his assessment of theperformance of the LeagueManagement Company (LMC),he told newsmen the body madesome significant improvements,and added that there was stillroom for improvement.

“I give kudos to the LMC forthe efforts they have put in. Theymade some good adjustments tothe league as a whole and that isimpressive.

“In the aspect of organisationand sanity in the league, they didwell as there was no room forcompromise and selling ofmatches,’’ Eguma said.

The coach however said therewere certain aspects of thecompetition which the LMCshould endeavor to address inthe forthcoming season.

“They need to work on theirdecision-making processes. Allthe laid-down rules andregulations should be followedand the officiating should bemore transparent.

“Although they (LMC) triedon the television rights issue,there should be equity. That is,it should be extended to everyclub in the league so that manymatches can be televised.

“Security at match venuesshould also be a priority for theLMC. They should endeavour toapprove only venues which canensure good football flow andadequate security,’’ Eguma said.

He also commended the LMCfor ending the league in acredible manner which hasportrayed the league ascompetitive.

“They made it possible for theleague to end in an appropriateway, and all the winners and theteams relegated teams wereknown on the final day. Thisshows the competitiveness ofthe league.

“But I look forward to a betterpackaged league in theupcoming season,’’ the Dolphinscoach added.

RELEGATED ShootingStars are set to fire coachHakeem Busari as theyembark on “a massive re-organisation” for an instantreturn to the top flight.

Shooting Stars finishedbottom of the Nigeria leagueon Sunday and managementboard member Tunde Kelanitold MTNFootball.com thatthey plan a massivereorganisation of the famousclub to ensure they returnimmediately to the topleague.

“We have already begun amassive reorganisation of theclub because we do notbelong in the second divisionand we need to start gettingresults,” said Kelani.

“We we need at this time iseveryone’s support and notsabotage. There is strength inunity and commitment.

“We hope we can return tothe premier league after oneseason in the lower division.”

M T N F o o t b a l l . c o mgathered that Busari, whowas confirmed head coach inthe course of the season, willbe shown the exit door alongwith his assistants led byTunde Odubola aka CoachZico.

Shooting Stars spent twoseasons in the seconddivision when they wererelegated in 2006.

THE Para-soccer Federation ofNigeria (PFN) on Monday said thatI6 states would participate in theforthcoming maiden edition of theInternational Polio Para-Soccercompetition slated to hold in Abuja.

The competition would holdfrom October. 23 to October. 29.

Femi Afolanyan, the PFN’sNational Coach, told NAN inLagos that the aim of thecompetition was to create moreawareness for the sport in thecountry.

Afolanyan added that thecompetition would also help to

On the proposed para-soccerleague, the coach told NAN thatthe logistics were still beingworked out for its eventual take-off in 2014.

He said that thecommencement would boost theprofile of the sport in the country.

The coach also appealed forsupport from both governmentand private organisations, topopularise the sport in thecountry.

THE U-20 Women Nationalteam, the Falconets will onOctober. 26 in Abuja play theirSierra Leone counterparts in the2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s WorldCup qualifying match.

The FIFA U-20 Women’s WorldCup finals are scheduled to holdnext year’s in Canada, from Aug.5 to Aug. 25.

According to a statement issuedby Ademola Olajire, the MediaOfficer of the Nigeria FootballAssociation (NFA), Nigeria willface Sierra Leone, following thewithdrawal of Burkina Faso fromthe qualifiers.

The statement said that theConfederation of African Football(CAF) had appointed RossLeopoldina Dayves from GuineaBissau as referee for the match,scheduled for the NationalStadium, Abuja.

Biague Deolinda Amancio andMariza Antonio Gomes also fromGuinea Bissau had also beenappointed as assistant referees oneand two, respectively.

“Fadouma Dia from Senegalwill be the reserve referee whileHelena Williams from Ghana willserve as Match Commissioner,’’the statement said.

It said that Agneta Napangor alsofrom Kenya would serve as thereserve referee, while UgandanAisha Natule would be the MatchCommissioner.

The statement said further thatSouth Sudan would host the firstleg on the weekend of Nov. 1 to 3with the Flamingos hosting thereturn leg in Abuja on November.23.

THE management of Zuid Sports International, organizers of2013 Edo Local Government Football Tournament have pledgedtheir determination to partner with government at all levels toenhance sports development in Edo State in particular andNigeria as a whole.

Mr. Victor Igbinoba, Nigeria’sEx-International made this knownwhen led other officials of ZuidSports International on a courtesyvisit to the Executive Chairman ofOvia South-West LocalGovernment Council, Hon.Morris Okunrobo Ovia, who isalso the chairman of the LocalOrganising Committee (LOC) ofthe tournament.

Receiving the organisers in hisoffice at Iguobazuwa, Hon.

Okunrobo commended theireffort aimed at restoring Edostate as the “Sports Mecca” ofthe nation.

He noted that the Edo StateLocal Government FootballTournament has the potential tostimulate sports development atthe grassroots, in view of thecalibre of persons involved inpromoting the idea.

He subsequently pledged thesupport of the 18 local

government councils in the state,just as he stressed the importanceof making the tournament the bestever in the country and also as anannual championship.

Responding on behalf of ZuidSports International, Mr. VictorIgbinoba, an ex-international anda member of the all-conquering1985 Golden Eaglets, promised touse the tournament in changing theface of football in Edo state.

Igbinoba also disclosed that allplayers taking part in thetournament will have acomprehensive insurance policyand proper welfare.

He said the football tournament

which is billed to hold inNovember, 2013 will have the 18local government area footballteams chase the coveted prizes ofN1 million for 1st place,N500,000 for 2nd place,N300,000 for 3rd place winnersand lots of other individual prizesand awards.

The tournament will climaxwith a Gala/Award Night inBenin City.

Hakeem Busari


CMYK

End ASUU Strike

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TOMORROW ON THIS PAGE

”

“

-Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan

If you are a student andyou are sitting in front ofyour father’s televisionset in the dark instead ofbeing in front of a lecturergetting a degree, you area fool.

But foolishness iscurable.If you are willingto take your fate in yourhands, here is myfoolproof five-day plan forgetting your life back.There is no shedding ofblood or destruction ofproperty, but you will risefrom being a spectator inyour own sport and put onthe jersey to play in it.

There are a fewassumptions: that youare outraged at thegames that are beingplayed with your life andwant to return to school;that you worship nobodywho has a last name; andthat you are in touch withat least one other studentwho also wants to live,not die.

To begin with, there aretwo people in Abuja whoare answering yourname. The first answersthe title of Senator; theother, Representative,powerful titles in yourname.

In your name, as youprobably know, they earnthe fattest salaries of theirkind in the world. In yourname, they earn thefattest allowances, live inthe best homes, anddrive the most luxuriousofficial cars.

They do all of this, andmore, because theyrepresent you, yourfamily and your largercommunity. Most of themlie about this, of course,because in Abuja the dogin the hunt hunts for thedog.The time has cometo call in the debt.

In the Upper House,there are 109Senators.Most are expired anddiscredited ex-this andex-that who smuggledthemselves into thepremises somehow.They are there becausethe law recognizes themas the legitimaterepresentative of acertain chunk of theNigerian population. Oneof those chunks is yours.

And then there is theHouse, which is made upof 360 men and women,each representing

another defined chunk ofNigeria known as aconstituency. You are inone of them, and areknown as a constituent.

Under this plan, you canchange your own life in afew days by changing the

lives of these powerful menand women. They work foryou, remember that, somake them earn it.

I have one moreassumption: that you knowthe website of the NationalAssembly. It is:www.nassnigeria.org. Youwill find mug shots of yourSenator andRepresentative there.They address themselvesas HonourableThisPersonor ThatPerson, myths thatare often very powerfulwhen unchallenged bycitizens who lack get-up-and-go.

If you take a moment tostudy that website, you willnotice that the Senatorsand Representatives areeffectively hiding in theopen.They havemeaningless emaila d d r e s s e s([email protected] [email protected]).To use them is to put amessage into a bottle andthrow it into the Atlantic.

What is worse is that theydo not list their telephone

numbers. That is aninsulting thing for a federallegislator to do, because itsuggests he is in Abuja forhimself and that he worksfor himself. Again, heworks for his constituencyor district. He works for

you, and now you have agood reason to remind him.

Day One: Write twoletters, one to each ofthem. Identify yourself asa student from hisconstituency who needshis help to return to schoolwithin the week byensuring that thegovernment resolves theASUU strike immediately.Tell him that you are askingfor urgent and substantiveinvolvement, notplatitudes.

If you have writing ortechnology skills, use theInternet. Publish a blog.Use whatever emailaddress you can find forthem, including the generalone I have listed here. Dropa copy off at his homes inthe area. Send a copy toyour favourite newspaperand website.

You will be ignored.Chances are that your mailwill not be read at all, butgive the Senator andRepresentative the benefitof the doubt and send theletter anyway. Find afriend, relative, or

concerned student in Abujaand have them drop copiesoff at the NationalAssembly.

Day Two: Write to theDynamic Duo again. Askwhat has been done inresponse to your distress

complaint.Remind them that they

work for you. Tell them thatyou are not asking for afavour; you are simplydemanding that they dotheir work, which is topresent your best interestsas a constituent at the seatof power. Stress that yousimply want to return toschool.

Tell them you expectthem to work with theircolleagues as a House, oras the institution known asthe National Assembly, tointercede with theexecutive to resolve theASUU impasse right away,and that this is yourinstruction as yourrepresentative. They workfor you, but if you do notremind them, they forget,conveniently.

Day Three: Write an openletter to bothconstituencies. If you arein touch with other studentsin the area, you can pen ajoint letter. Complain toother constituents aboutthe situation and that yousimply desire to return to

school with no furtherdelay. Ask for their help toput pressure on theSenator andRepresentative. They, too,can write to the Senator orcall him. Many of themknow his family. They caninform his wife hishomestead is in tumult.Use text messages andsocial media to broadcastyour complaint and requestthat people forward toothers.

Crank it up: Publish theSenator’s phone number;he is a public servant.Publish theRepresentative’s phonenumber; he is a publicservant.

It is no excuse that theyhave not listed theirnumbers; thesedistinguished servants ofthe people ought to havepublicly-listed phones. Inany case, within yourconstituency, you arecreative enough to find it.Encourage the public tocall him, especiallybetween 6p.m. and6a.m.Sleep deprivation is alegitimate weapon ofconflict.

If you can find their phonenumbers, you can probablyalso find their private emailaddresses. Publish themas well and encourageeveryone with Internetaccess to write to write orforward their messages tothem several times a day.The mailbox will probablyfill up and be rendereduseless. Damage is also alegitimate weapon ofconflict.

Day Four: Write to thedistinguished Senatorand Representativeagain. Tell them aboutyour efforts to reachthem for help, but youmust demonstrate this.You know their homes,don’t you? If not, all youhave to do is ask withinthe area.

So crank it up a littlemore: List all theglittering new fortresseswhere you have leftletters for him or areplanning to leave lettersfor him. In order toensure he believes you,state the address andlocation of eachmansion, and list all thecars you can see parkedin them.

By Day Five, yourSenator and yourRepresentative wouldcertainly have changedtheir phones. Butremember, if your friendshave also been busy,nationwide, there will bemillions of people, 469 ofthem federal legislators,who will be grasping themeaning of democracyfor the first time.

Your school may notmagically havereopened, but you wouldhave reinvented theentire political terrain, alesson that will beavailable at futureelections, and in-between.

They work for you.•

[email protected]• T w i t t e r :

@SonalaOlumhense

On the debit side, Chief Anenih has a kinsmanwho is disorganizing everything in the oppositedirection. To this kinsman, every season is harvestingseason. He eats the tuber and the seed yams, obliviousof the coming of any planting season. Give him N100to organise. He would eat N99 and organise with N1.To him, immediate personal gratification rather thanorganizational group success is the name of the game.In local parlance, such is called “Tako-tako”.

President Goodluck Jonathan

nigerian observer 23 10 2013

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