VOL. 10. NO.018 N100Tuesday, March 3, 2015

www.osundefender.org THE 6TH MOST-VISITED NEWSPAPER WEBSITE IN NIGERIA

Front Page Comment

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•Ansar-Ud-Deen Middle School 2 Principal, Mrs Agboola Adesola (right), receiving school materials from State of Osun Deputy Governor, Otunba (Mrs) Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori (left). With them are SUBEB Chairman in the state, Prince Felix Awofisayo (3rd left); Mr Moses Awoniyi (2nd right) and Mr Bunmi Obisesan (2nd left) at the official launching of Instructional Materials for use of Public Middle/High Schools in the State of Osun, last Friday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

- See Story On Page 2

- Pg 5

- Pg 2 - Pg 5

Osun APC Warns Against Further Postponement Of Elections

Jonathan Has No Regard For Rule Of Law - Omoworare

A P C G o v t ‘ l l I n h e r i t E m p t y Treasury, Huge Debt Profile

Families Want exclusive right To Balogun chieftaincy In Osogbo

NNPc Warns against Panic Buying

Rigging Tape: Jonathan Is Not Sincere On Investigation -

•Chides Jonathan On Shekau, Chibok Girls

N400m scam rocks Osun senior staff union - Pg 4

- Pg 6

Buhari Threatens To Back Out Of Abuja AccordPRESIDENTIAL can-didate of All Progres-sives Congress (APC), General Moham-madu Buhari (rtd), has threatened to back out of the historic Abuja Peace Accord should the political allies ofPresident Goodluck Jonathan continue with their insults and verbal attacks on his person.

He also warned that no one should regard his patriotic commitment to maintaining national peace for weakness, stressing that neither President Jonathan nor his aides have the monopoly for the “flagrant breaches to the Abuja Peace

The APC presidential flag bearer also warned the au-thorities against interfer-ing with the constitutional duties and operations of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or surreptitiously hound its Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, out of office before the expiration of his tenure.

Buhari’s outburst fol-lowed the recentactions of Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, whom he said wished him dead in a paid advertorial and the Director-General of the People Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization

(PDPPCO), who was said to have repeatedly thrown tantrums over his academic qualifica-tions. It would be recalled that President Jonathan, Buhari and other 12 presidential candidates, on January 10, 2014, signed a peace pact to resist violence be-fore, during and after the

general elections.Speaking at a press conference in Abuja last week, Buhari through the Director, Media, Information Management Directorate of his support organization, otherwise called, BSO, Dr. Chidi Maduekwe, said that...Cont. pg. 3

2OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3 News OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

•Vandalisation of the classrooms at Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo during the clash between the pupils of Government Technical College and Osogbo Grammar School in Osogbo, recently. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI

News

By kazeeM MOhaMMed

Buhari Threatens To Back Out Of Abuja AccordCont. pg. 1

....it was time the presidential allies stopped attacking his person.Maduekwe recalled that upon the postponement of the general elections, which ordinar i ly would have prompted aggression, Buhari’s camp swiftly appealed to its supporters to be calm in the interest of the nation and the peace accord, wondering why the political associates of President Jonathan had continued to flout the peace accord.

He said: “We are all witnesses to the recent postponement of 2015 elections by INEC on the ground that security chiefs could not guarantee security at the polls.

“ W h i l e t h e postponement may have been within the constitutional window, the excuse on security seemed not quite germane. This sudden shift became acceptable to us for the sake of the overall interest for national peace. Our teeming s u p p o r t e r s w e r e urgently appealed to maintain calm with the assurances that six weeks will soon

pass by, as if they were just six days.

“ R e g r e t t a b l y, f o l l o w i n g t h i s postponement, PDP government, acting in cohort with the close aides and associates of Mr. President, have been falling head ove r hee l s among themselves, as they compete on who delivers most acidic insult, abuse, incendiary words and inflammatory r e m a r k s o n o u r revered presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

“These actions are all in breach of the Abuja Peace Accord jointly signed by all the presidential candidates. This is totally unacceptable and consequently, we cannot continue to guarantee the tolerance limit of our teeming supporters nationwide, who are daily being inundated wi th dea th wish commentaries on the person of General Muhammadu Buhari.

“It has become

imperative to ask Mr. President to rein in his aides, if he must be seen to walk his talk that his ambition is not worth any spill of human blood. His aides and associates are disingenuously currently working at cross purposes to this his favourite cliché by da i l y f ann ing the embers of hate, pursuance of death wish and even going as far as stalking of GMB outside shores of this country.

“The memory of a nearly successful assassination attempt on the life of GMB is still fresh in our minds. Our patience, our meekness, our prayerfulness and our patriotic commitment to maintaining the national peace should not be misconstrued for weakness.

“Let it be stated c l e a r l y t h a t M r. President’s aides and political associates do not possess the monopoly for flagrant breaches to the Abuja Peace Accord. The hour has come to henceforth disallow these psychopathic s o c i o p a t h s t h a t have taken over the megaphone of Mr. President and tel l

them in very clear terms that enough is enough. We are ready to rise to the occasion to take down any unwarranted, baseless and inf lammatory condemnation shot i n o u r d i r e c t i o n henceforth.

“We call on Mr. President to show f u l l c o m m i t m e n t to the t e rms and conditionality of the Abuja Peace Accord jointly entered into and rein in his aides and political associates from further infuriating commentaries, hate speeches and to stop over-heating the polity with their incendiary remarks.”

Also speaking on the INEC, Maduekwe w a r n e d t h a t a n y attempt to tamper with the leadership of the electoral management body at this time of election may prompt negative consequences for the country.

According to him, INEC must be allowed to use the card readers for the election.

“We have all the while been enamored to bear this burden of daily insult and aspers ion on our principal because we hope and trust that very soon, INEC shall

by March 28 and April 11 conduct a transparent free and fair elections. Our hope and trust in INEC becomes eroded every time we assimilate these death threats and hate speeches from Mr. President unrestrained hatchet men, whose glaring and questionable track records are well known to all and sundry.

“While Mr. President has repeatedly said that May 29th handover date is sacrosanct, he is yet to declare that the independent and transparent conduct of elections by INEC are sacrosanct. We also expect Mr. President to unequivocally declare that the rescheduled e lec t ion da tes o f March 28 and April 11 are equally sacrosanct.

“The above three declarations will truly take away the wind from these hatchet men and showcase Mr. President as someone determined to walk his talk that his ambition is not worth the spill of any person’s blood . His recent media chat misrepresentation of his sole powers to hire and fire INEC Chairman is not provided for in the Constitution. This also needs to be corrected.

“At this juncture in our march towards march 28th,2015, we make bold to warn that any exogenous effort to interfere, modulate, attenuate, reposition or juxtapose the INEC leadership will be tantamount to an inglorious and ill-timed behaviour that will never resonate positively within our polity at this time.

“This will certainly l e a v e u s w i th n o choice but to doubt the transparency of the current electoral p r o c e s s e s . A n y action by omission or commission that prevents INEC from

car ry ing ou t i t s constitutional mandate as presently composed w i l l b e a g r a v e consequence to our fledgling democracy. INEC at this crucial time should not be deprived of the credibility it has garnered over the years, as has been attested to by both international and local observers,” he said.

Citing Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone as Afr ican countr ies , where the technology of card reader had been proven to give credible elections, the BSO’s spokesman said that INEC should be given a chance to conduct the elections using the technology.

“The card Reader gave Ghana its freest, f a i r e s t a n d m o s t credible election in recent times. The Card Reader gave Kenya its freest, fairest and most credible election in recent times. The Card Reader gave Sierra Leone its freest, fairest and most credible election in recent times.

“Niger ia’s INEC successfully supervised the use of Card Readers in the elections in Sierra Leone.

“Jega recently tested the card reader before members of the Senate and proved his mettle to the appreciation of the distinguished members.

“We must allow INEC to do in Nigeria what they supported Sierra Leone to achieve. Nigerians want a free, fair and credible election, where only Nigerians can decide who leads them. We will not stand with anyone who stands in the way of that freedom by dragging us back to the age of Temporary Voters Card or otherwise.

“Mr. President is on record for praising INEC in the past in all elections right from 2011. With the current improvement by INEC, it is curious that this same agency has now become the whipping boy for PDP chieftains a n d a i d e s o f M r. President. Any effort to destabilize INEC at this hour will be a perilous endeavour that should never be contemplated,” Maduekwe warned.

PDP Thugs Destroy Oyintiloye’s Billboards

sOMe individuals suspected to be Peoples democratic Party (PdP) thugs were reported to have started destruction of the campaign billboards of the all

Progressive congress (aPc) candidates ahead of the general elections in the state of Osun.

An eyewitness explained to OsuN deFeNder how some PDP thugs a l legedly loyal to the party senatorial candidate for Osun East Senatorial D i s t r i c t , M r F r a n c i s Fadahunsi, destroyed the billboards of the APC House of Assembly candidate in Obokun State constituency, Mr Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, in Ibokun.

The thugs, led by one Blessing, the witness said,

came in two cars of red and blue colours in the midnight of last Friday to destroy all the billboards stationed at Ibokun axis of Ibokun-Osogbo road.

The v i s i t o f OsuN deFeNder team to the scene revealed that the destroyed billboards have the pictures of Oyintiloye and the APC presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives candidates, M u h a m m a d u B u h a r i ,

B a b a j i d e O m o w o r a r e , and Nathaniel Agunbiade respectively.

Confirming the destruction of the billboards, Oyintiloye stated that on Wednesday of the penultimate week, various gangs of political thugs, loyal to Fadahunsi and led by one Johnson, an official of the National Civil Defence Corps, had stormed the Ibokun Roundabout and started shooting sporadically.

Noting that the sporadic shootings subjected the people of the town to palpable fears, he said, the two incidents have been reported at Ibokun Police Station.

Calling on the security operatives to investigate the two incidents and bring the culprits to book, he said, that is the only way peace could be guaranteed in the coming elections.

Oyintiloye, who cautioned against unnecessarily heating up of the the polity by unleashing mayhem on the people, said continous attack on the APC members and campaign materials could trigger retaliatory attack by those being attacked.

He advised that the PDP and its candidates should rather put their programme forward if they are sure of having the desire to serve the people, rather than attacking

opponents violently.According to Oyintiloye,

the earlier the PDP and its candidates realised that they have been rejected by the people, the better for them, saying the APC and its candidates have been able to convince the people of their commitment to serve.

The APC candidate then encouraged the people not to be intimidated by the violent act of the opposition, saying, they should be determined to vote out PDP candidates, as they lack all it takes to serve the people.

Families Want Exclusive Right To Balogun Chieftaincy In Osogbo

Osun APC Warns Against Further Postponement Of Elections•Chides Jonathan On Shekau, Chibok Girls By IsMaeeL uThMaN

The all Progressives congress (aPc) in the state of Osun has warned against further postponement of the general elections, saying that any attempt to

do that would be resisted by all Nigerians. re-elected.

The APC cha i rman stated that efforts by the PDP and its agents to discredit Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Atairu Jega and frustrate his steps to conduct credible polls would not yield any fruitful results.

F a m o d u n s t r e s s e d that Nigerians reposed confidence in Jega for free, fair, credible and transparent elections, and that no amount of campaign of calumny against him could change the mind of Nigerians or remove him as the INEC chairman.

He said: “A reasonable person would not doubt Jega. It is only PDP that has been putting obstacles in his way and he has been resolute and undaunted.”

The APC chairman said there is no doubt that Jega would conduct credible and

acceptable general elections in the country.

S p e a k i n g o n t h e ongoing onslaught on the Boko Haram insurgents by the Nigerian military, Famodun chided President Jonathan for prioritizing the capture of Abubakar Shekau, the commander of the insurgents, over the rescue of the abducted 219 Chibok school girls.

Famodun said it was a misplacement of priority for the President to direct the military to capture Shekau alive, while he never issued any inspiring directive on the rescue of the Chibok school girls.

The Chibok school girls had been abducted by the Boko Haram since April 2014.

According to Famodun, President Jonathan should have directed the military to rescue the girls safely rather than directing them to capture Shekau alive.

He main ta ined tha t the lives of the Chibok school girls are so precious to Nigerians than that of Shekau, which the military h a d c l a i m e d o n t w o occasions that he had been

•The All Progressives Congress (APC) billboard destroyed by political thugs in Ibokun, Obokun Local Government Council Area of Osun State, as captured on Saturday.

Group Warns Against Further Shift Of Elections

a pro-democracy group in the state of Osun, Nigeria u n i t e d f o r d e m o c r a c y ( N u d ) , h a s w a r n e d t h e F e d e r a l

Government and its agents not to make any further a t tempt to sh i f t the elections again.

At a press conference addressed by its Coordinator, Comrade Saka Waheed, in Osogbo, the state capital, the group also wanted the Federal Government to come out clean and clear the air on the alleged plan by it to institute an Interim National Government in the country.

T h e g r o u p , w h i c h expressed worry over the state of the nation and a plethora of controversies surrounding the possibility of conducting this year’s general elections, demanded that the security chiefs in the country should make a pronouncement to assure Nigerians that the new dates for the elections are sacrosanct.

Condemning the use of the military in prosecuting e l e c t i o n s , t h e g r o u p maintained that the integrity of the military is not doubtful but the Federal Government cannot be trusted, due to its ulterior motives.

It said: “As far as we are concerned, the postponement of the elections at the instance of service chiefs cannot be justified in law. It was a plot to undermine the democratic process and prevent Nigerians from exercising their right of franchise.

“A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has cried out against the plan of the Federal Government to cancel the election and install an interim national government.

However, the Attorney-General of the Federation

and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), has stated that there is no provision for interim government in the Constitution.

“In the circumstance, we wish to warn those who are planning to instal an interim government or a coup de tat to bury the idea. We have had enough of dictatorial regimes in the country.We are however, worried that the new election dates are not sacrosanct, as the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, had said only the service

By kazeeM MOhaMMed chiefs could guarantee that the rescheduled elections would hold.

“For reasons best known to them, the security chiefs have not assured the nation that security would be provided on the new election dates. We are compelled to call on the National Assembly to extract a firm undertaking from the NSA and the security chiefs that the general elections would not be further postponed or disrupted.

“The undertaking ought to be made publicly by the security chiefs in view of the categorical pronouncement of the Court of Appeal that the armed forces have no role to play in the electoral process. The President and the security chiefs

should demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law by withdrawing soldiers from election duties.

“We are insisting that nothing must change the new dates of March 28 and April 11. Elections must be allowed to hold on these dates. Nigeria is on the march again, this time; no one will be able to halt the decisive will of the people for democracy and sustainable livelihood,” it stated.

The group has also called for investigation into the revelations in the audio cassette recorded by an Army Captain on the role of the military and other government officials and their cohorts in the 2014 governorship election in

According to the APC, any move to shift the poll from March 28 and April 11 would amount to a plot to secure tenure elongation for President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chairman of the APC in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, in an interview with OsuN deFeNder on Thursday, stated that N i g e r i a n s c o u l d n o t afford any other election postponement, describing the earlier poll shift as a setback to the election processes.

Famodun stated that election postponement would not save President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from defeat on the election days.

He blamed the President and the PDP for the political woes of Nigeria, saying that they have failed the people of the country in all ramifications, and that they do not deserve to be

killed in battle. The APC cha i rman

accused President Jonathan and the military of deceit on the fight against the Boko Haram, adding that the president was also insensitive to the plight of the families of the Chibok school girls.

By IsMaeeL uThMaN

The Balogun kujenyo, Balogun agoro and Balogun Fagbemi also known as Balogun Biro in Osogbo,

have prayed the commission of enquiry on disturbance of Public Peace in the state of Osun to declare them as the only three families having exclusive right to the Balogun stool of Osogbo.

The Balogun families had filed a petition before the commission, joining the At to rney -Genera l and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Ataoja of Osogbo and three others as respondents.

T h e y w a n t e d t h e

commission to declare them as the exclusive families that are entitled to the Balogun and Otun Balogun of Osogbo chieftaincy titles.

When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, a representative of the Balogun families, Alhaji Sulaimon Adetunji, told

the commission that the Balogun and Otun Balogun titles were exclusive to the three families and that no other family has ever produced a Balogun of Osogbo.

Adetunji stated that the situation however, changed in 2012, when the procedure for the appointment of the Balogun of Osogbo was changed.

The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun O y e t u n j i , t h e t h i r d respondent, told the panel that the Balogun was never exclusive to the three families: Balogun Kujenyo, Balogun Agoro and Balogun Fagbemi.

The monarch, who was legally represented by Alhaji Ganiyu Adesina, stated that there had been Balogun Matanmi and Balogun Oyipi, among others, who later rose to become Atoja Matanmi and Ataoja Oyipi respectively.

The Ataoja added that Balogun Matanmi and Balogun Oyipi were not from the three families that want the Balogun of Osogbo to be exclusive to them.

He stressed that there are other small chieftaincy titles under Balogun that are promotional like the Otun Balogun; Osi Balogun, Eketa Balogun, Ekerin Balogun, Seriki Balogun and Are Ago Balogun.

The monarch s ta ted further that an Osun State High Court, headed by Justice Adepele Ojo (now Chief Judge), in 2009, affirmed that Balogun title was promotional and that all the small chieftaincy titles under Balogun can be promoted to Balogun.

But the Balogun Kujenyo, Balogun Agoro and Balogun Fagbemi families have appealed the judgement of the High Court.

O b a O y e t u n j i a l s o informed the panel of a judgment of another High Court in Osogbo in 2014, w h i c h d i s m i s s e d t h e application of the three families that wanted the Balogun and Otun Balogun of Osogbo to be exclusive and restricted to them.

The traditional ruler also told the panel that the three families did not appeal the court judgment on the suit, where the governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was the first respondent and the Ataoja of Osogbo was the fifth respondent.

However, the chairman o f t h e C o m m i s s i o n , Justice Moshood Adeigbe, adjourned the matter till June 01, 2015 for further hearing.

4 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5555News News OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

•Some of the destroyed vehicles during the clash between rival groups of National Union of road Transport Workers (NUrTW) in Lagos, recently.

APC Accuses Fayose Of ‘Importing’ Fake Soldiers The all Progressives congress in ekiti

state has challenged Governor ayodele Fayose to explain to Nigerians why he

imported men suspected to be thugs in army uniform, into his country home in afao ekiti on Tuesday night.

The opposition party, which said the action of the governor might not

be unconnected with his insistence that soldiers

must be deployed to rig the forthcoming general elections, also challenged him to explain the roles of the young men in Ekiti.

A statement by the State APC Publicity Secretary, Ta i w o O l a t u b o s u n ,

on Wednesday, sa id Nigerians must know why these young men were stealthily imported to Afao-Ekiti at night.

Olatubosun recalled that the party had earlier raised the alarm over the

sewing of fake military uniforms for thugs to impersonate security personnel to enable them to rig elections.

He said the governor’s alleged rigging plan had manifested in some

Oodua Peoples Congress ( O P C ) m e m b e r s i n m i l i t a r y u n i f o r m s , operating as task force officials that had been terrorising the opponents in recent times.

Olatubosun said: Last night’s importation of young men in six 18-seater buses to Afao-Ekiti, home of the governor is a clear confirmation of our fear that Fayose means business, as he has been boasting around that the presidential election will be a do-or-die affair.

“We were monitoring these young men from Ibadan yesterday evening. They were brought in a luxury bus parked under the bridge at Iwo Road, Ibadan, where the men in-charge were looking for smaller buses to convey these young men to Ekiti. The conditions for their hiring included that they must know Ekiti State terrain and Afao-Ekiti in particular.

“The six buses left Ibadan late in the evening and arrived Afao-Ekiti at exactly 9.15pm and the men disembarked in front of the governor’s house. What gave them away was the discovery of Army uniforms in their bags, when they opened their bags to buy hot drinks and akara from road hawkers at Ikire.”

However, Fayose said the party was only raising an unnecessary alarm because there were no soldiers being kept at Afao as the party alleged.

Jonathan’s Visit To S.West Monarchs Lacks Electoral Value - APCThe opposition all Progressives congress (aPc) in

the south-West has said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to monarchs in the zone has

no electoral value because the visit lacked strategic assessment that is capable of redeeming the President’s image.

A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, APC South-West, Ayo Afolabi, on Monday, noted that one of the wrong moves made by Jonathan was the imposition of some people who lacked the moral and charismatic features of leadership as governors, ministers and party leaders in Yoruba land.

I t a lso said that the Ekit i State people had been suffering from lack of governance because the governor, Ayodele Fayose, had become a campaign manager for the President and had been using the state fund.

The statement read: “The latest move by President Goodluck Jonathan to court the South-West monarchs ahead of 2015 general elections has no redemptive electoral value in the South-West because it is devoid of strategic assessment.

“The strategic question the President and his campaign managers should have tried to answer before engaging on the rash moves is, how many of such desperate and impromptu meetings were needed before Yoruba people voted for him in 2011?

“How much did President Jonathan spend to get Yoruba votes in 2011 and why should he think money will save him now? All other regions extracted several promises from President Jonathan in the race to 2011 elections except the South-

West, which voted based on their firm convictions and commitment to justice and good governance.

“No Yoruba person will be proud of those President Jonathan has imposed as leaders representing Yoruba people in different capacities,

w h e t h e r a s g o v e r n o r, minister or party leaders. From all intent and purposes, governance has stopped in Ekiti State, as the governor has been functioning more as a campaign manager with the resources of Ekiti people, than as a governor. Ekiti people deserve better than they currently get.”

The statement further questioned the President’s motive for meeting the Yoruba monarchs at the weekend, concluding that

voters in the region would be guided by their belief and conscience despite Jonathan’s visit.

It said: “The South-West APC is confident that Yoruba monarchs and voters are conscious of the implications of a Greek Gift and as the bastion of democratic justice and good governance, they will vote true to their cultural identity that loathes tyranny, corruption and nepotism.

“In fact, activities in the Presidency in the last few

NNPC Warns Against Panic Buying

NIGerIaNs have been warned against engaging in panic buying of Premium Motor spirit (PMs) commonly known as

petrol.

By FraNcIs ezedIuNO

A c c o r d i n g t o a s tatement s igned by t h e G r o u p G e n e r a l Manager, Public Affairs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Ohi Alegbe, the current scarcity of PMS was artificially induced and at no time was there scarcity of the product.

Alegbe disclosed that NNPC had made sure 688 million litres of the product was pumped into the system.

“NNPC has pumped 608 million litres of PMS into the system and I just wonder where the current scarcity is coming from.

“Before we took the step of making available

the product in bulk, we have anticipated that such a problem may arise

partly due to the elections and that was why we made sure that PMS was widely available.

“So if we have taken steps to avoid such, where did scarcity rear its head from?

“I perceive that some

weeks have confirmed that Jonathan did not realise the need for governance until it is evident that Nigerians have already embraced the opportunity of change offered by the APC. In the last five years, the Jonathan administration has shown unbearable contempt for the region and its people and their values, especially in the attempt to adulterate their leadership values,” the party stressed.

Nigerians are at it again, since they will not stop at anything to cause panic in the society.”

H e l a m e n t e d t h e scenario, where queues were beginning to surface again at fuel stations and even in some, there were signs indicating that the

product was unavailable.M e a n w h i l e , s o m e

individuals who spoke to this medium have e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e revelation by the NNPC spokesman that there was enough PMS was a lie and there was nothing like such at all.

They ascr ibed the statement that the scarcity was artificial to the fact that those in-charge of the distribution and officials of the corporation wanted to save their pockets.

They observed that it was common knowledge that scarcity was a normal thing in Nigeria during elections, so the statement that there was enough petrol is a hoax since its people within the NNPC that makes the product to be scarce.

Death Averted On Gbongan-Osogbo Road

a family escaped being crushed to death in a motor accident which occurred along LG Main show room Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo on Thursday morning.

According to Saheed, an eye eyewitness at the scene of the accident, “it was the sound of the accident that called my attention from my work shop.

“On getting closer to the scene of the accident, I was scared and at the same time happy because no life was lost and neither did anybody sustain any injury.”

Saheed also stated that

taking a critical look at the scene of the the accident, there was indication that something went wrong.

“The fact that it involved more than one car indicated that none of the drivers involved was to be absolved the blame.”

He admitted that the driver responsible for the accident was the one behind the wheel of the water

tank though he claimed he was driving with total concentration.

“What is common to all this drivers is that they are careless and knowing the kind of vehicle they are driving, they are expected to take special caution while driving”.

At the scene of the accident was a personnel of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) who arrived on time to control the flow of traffic and ensured the road was free.

By aBOsede akINPeLu

By LaMINa azeez•NEW BrOOMS SWEEP CLEANEr: Workers on duty at the newly-inaugurated broom factory at Omoluabi Life Academy in Osogbo; one of the environmental sanitation initiatives of the governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni rauf Aregbesola, as captured by our cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, last Thursday.

By Our rePOrTerN400m Scam Rocks Osun Senior Staff Uniona N400 million scam has been uncovered in the Osun

state chapter of the association of senior civil servants of Nigeria (ascsN), as the leadership of the

union was reported to have defrauded its members of the money purported to be loans for members.

The trio of the Chairman, Comrade Akin Olatunji; the Secretary, Comrade Uanzenkin Mathew and the Treasurer, Comrade Francis Adetunji, who doubles as the State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) were alleged to be active players in the scam, who processed the loans as guarantors and obtained same on behalf of members without disbursing same to them.

An investigation conducted by OsuN deFeNder showed that the leadership of the union succeeded in forging attestation letters a n d s i g n a t u r e s o f t h e Directors of Finance and Administration of Hospitals Management Board, Ministry of Education, SUBEB, Civil Service Commission and the Accountant-General to get the confidence of the bank to obtain the sum as loan on behalf of members.

The loan of N400 million was allegedly processed and obtained from the Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc.

Despite the impersonation of the government officials, the trio of Olatunji, Uanzenkin and Adetunji, according to the source, distributed the loan in flagrant violation of civil service rule on indebtedness (loan) and repayment.

The chairman (Olatunji) reportedly shared N25 million to himself, N27 million to the treasurer and N9 million to the secretary which, the source said, are far above what civil servants in the state could obtain as loan and able to pay back under the rule.

Another sum of N4 million was also reportedly received fraudulently from the said loan and shared among the three signatories.

Subsequently, a special list of beneficiaries allegedly sponsored by the chairman and containing his in-laws, friends, girlfriends, and relatives, was drawn to fradulently obtain part of the loan to the tune of N97 million.

The said beneficiaries, it was revealed, were neither civil servants, nor members of the union.

Apart from the loan scam, the leadership of the union, especially the chairman, has allegedly embezzled state branch share of the membership dues to the tune of N13.2 million meant for the settlement of unit exco, rebate and honourarium to state executive for about three years running.

Subsequently, Adetunji allegedly forwarded a letter dated October 3, 2014 to the State Head of Service, calling for the investigation into the alleged gross misconduct and financial mismanagement by the association’s chairman.

Also, when the Stanbic IBTC Bank began to run after the trio of Olatunji, Uanzenkin and Adetunji for the recovery of the debt, Adetunji (treasurer) approached his lawyer to write to the bank where he owned up to the fraudulent act perpetrated.

In a letter addressed to the Osogbo Branch Manager of the Stanbic IBTC Bank through his lawyer, Abiodun Olaide

& Co, Adetunji (treasurer) confessed that the loan of N400 million may be difficult, if not impossible, to repay back due to the fraudulent act perpetrated in the processes and transactions leading to the disbursement of the loan.

The letter read in part: “The letter of attestation purported to emanate from the former Accountant-General

of Osun State was forged by Comrade Akinyemi Olatunji (Chairman) in the presence of our client.

“The signatures of the Directors of Finance and Administration of the Hospitals Management Board, Ministry of Education, SUBEB and Civil Service Commission on the letter used to prepare the list of the beneficiaries of the loan were forged by the Chairman in the presence of our client. Each of the affected Accountant-General and directors had officially denounced and disowned the letters purportedly written and

signed by them.“ O u r c l i e n t r e l i a b l y

informed us that Comrade Olatunji, the principal culprit in the loan scam, may travel outside this country soonest for good and that except an urgent action is taken by your bank by way of involving security agencies such as EFCC, ICPC and the police to intervene, it will be extremely difficult to obtain the loan given to the association.

“Our client, although partly involved in the scam, but now repentant, is willing to assist your bank and the security agents in getting to the root

of this matter if your bank so wishes and if it acts fast”, it read.

Beside, the Head of Service was reported to have set up an Administrative Panel of Enquiry and the panel was said to have concluded its assignment.

It was learnt that when the panel invited the principal culprit (Olatunji), he was quoted to have said: “I am not with any response or memoranda. I am not ready to file any response and even not ready to adduce oral testimony before the panel. I will not bring document before the

panel, because this panel does not have the authority to investigate me”.

Uanzenkin on his own refused to appear before the panel, claiming that being a federal civil servant, he could not be investigated by a panel set up by the state, while Adetunji appeared before the panel and confirmed the scam.

However, all efforts to get the reaction of the Chairman (Olatunji) as at the time of filing this report on Thursday proved abort ive, as his telephone line, 08060656495, was said to have been switched off.

Jonathan Has No Regard For Rule Of Law - O m o w o r a r e

The senator representing Osun east senatorial district at the National assembly, senator Babajide Omoworare, has said that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has no regard for the rule of law and that the President is obsessed with the presidential powers.

Omoworare, while fielding questions from journalists on a state television programme on Saturday in Osogbo, stated that President Jonathan could not be taken for his word on the rumoured plan to sack the Chairman of the Independent National E l e c t o r a l C o m m i s s i o n (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega.

According to Omoworare, President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were not comfortable with the uncompromised attitude of the INEC chairman, adding that it would not be surprising if the presidency comes up with another plan to sack Jega.

He, however, stated that any move to relieve Jega of his appointment by the President is unconstitutional and undemocratic, saying that Sections 153 and 157 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria affirm the independence of INEC and procedure for appointment and removal of its chairman.

Omoworare said: “We and the entire Nigerians should not relent on the campaign against the removal of Jega. Though, President Jonathan has said

there is no plan to sack the INEC chairman, but we are dealing with an administration that has no regards for the rule of law.

“The President cannot be taken for his word. We could recollect how the President flouted the laws and sacked the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido, for exposing the missing NNPC $20 billion.

“We are dealing with a President that denied and described as fabricated, the audio tape recorded at a meeting of the military officers, Governor Ayo Fayose, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Senator Iyiola Omisore, among others. Whereas, Fayose, Obanikoro and Omisore confirmed they attended the meeting and that the audio tape was authentic.”

S p e a k i n g o n t h e postponement of the elections, Omoworare said the elections were postponed because President Jonathan and the PDP were convinced that they would lose.

He stressed that the opinion poll conducted by media houses, including aIT, few days to the previous elections’ days, showed that larger percentage of Nigerians were ready to vote for General

Muhammodu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

O m o w o r a r e s a i d : “Nigerians have seen that it does not take goodluck to rule a country; it takes competence, focus, capacity and seriousness to rule the country. That is why they have resolved to vote for Buhari, a man that is competent, disciplined and have zero-tolerance for corruption.

“ P r e s i d e n t J o n a t h a n realized that he would lose the election if conducted on February 14 and that is why he used the military to force INEC to postpone the election. All the same, Nigerians are resolute and they are still ready to vote out bad governance and bring in hope and change that Buhari represents.”

Reacting to the rumour that General Muhamadu Buhari went abroad for medical t r e a t m e n t , O m o w o r a r e debunked the insinuation as a lie and a figment of the imagination of some PDP members.

According to him, General Muhamadu Buhari went to Chatham House to clear the air on the earlier visit of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, where we got the first official hint on the proposal to postpone the February election till March and April.

“It is a normal thing to sell our programmes and personality to the international

community and given the window of the postponed elections, General Buhari has gone to those places to sell the APC, our programmes, manifesto and himself to the international community. He also used the opportunity to set the record straight on so many misconceptions and misrepresentations from the PDP.”

O n c o r r u p t i o n a n d ailing economy of Nigeria, Omoworare was of the opinion that the corruption level under President Jonathan and the PDP is unprecedented in Nigeria, while the nation can no longer continue on that path, especially in the face of constant fall in the price of oil in the international market.

“This is a time for serious business of governance and sacrifice, such that we all have to tighten our belt. As a Senator, if it takes a reduction in the pay of political office holders to save money for people-oriented projects, I will gladly support it,” Omoworare said

O n t h e p r o p o s e d deployment of the military for the general elections, Omoworare said that the role of military during elections is limited and that they can only be deployed in exceptional cases.

Citing section 215 of the Constitution, Omoworare said the military could only be deployed during electoral

process when there is civil disobedience or anarchy, maintaining that “armless policemen” are the security officers recognized by the law for election supervision.

Omoworare said the APC lawmakers at the National Assembly and their party are opposed to the use of military during the election because the Presidency and the PDP are planning to use the soldiers to rig elections.

H e s t a t e d t h a t t h e suspicions became evident with involvement of soldiers and DSS officers during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, where the security agents intimidated opposition members and scared them from voting.

Omoworare said i t is undemocratic for the military to halt the general elections and force the INEC to postpone it on the ground that they wanted to launch offensive attack on the Boko Haram insurgence in the North-Eastern Nigeria.

Speaking on the use of card readers and objection of the PDP to it, Omoworare said the Senate is in support of INEC to use the card readers for the general elections, adding that the exercise does not contravene any electoral law.

Omoworare maintained that the use of the card readers would reduce multiple voting, stating that the PDP was objecting to it because it planned to rig the forthcoming general elections.

By IsMaeeL uThMaN

If you have a story or advert for us, contact 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897, 08023191891.

6 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5557

Maximising Osun/State Of Saxony Anhalt Collaboration There is only one word

to describe the planned collaboration between

the government of the State of Osun and the German State of Saxony Anhalt to boost the state’s agriculture: heart-warming. Undoubtedly, it is an attestation to the fact that the painstaking work undertaken by the rauf Aregbesola-led administration to attract not just investment, but expertise in critical areas of the state’s developmental needs, is finally bearing fruits. Viewed within the context of its declared commitment to improve agricultural practices and to boost food security, it is an important signal that the administration’s avowed mission to banish poverty from the state is well on course.

Of course, it goes without saying that the state needs all the help it can get at this time to be able to optimise its potentials be it in agriculture, solid minerals or even in tourism. As an ideas-driven

administration, the present administration in the state has never left anyone in doubt about the important role of international agencies and development partners in the state’s development matrix.

We have seen the governor make several shuttles to meet with development partners as part of strategies to catalyse the many well-conceived initiatives to transform the state economy in record time. A good example is the governor’s well-publicised visit to the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan. Indeed, there are presently on-going discussions between the state government and the elite institution on possible areas of cooperation to boost the state agriculture. Another notable example is the visit by the governor to the German State of Saxony Anhalt in May this year.

Both developments find m e a n i n g i n t h e c o n t e x t of the governor’s singular commitment to attracting the

best of technology to the hitherto moribund sector and to further his goal of optimising the state’s potentials.

The visit of the seven-man German expert team to the state is no doubt, an icing on his cake. It deserves to be recognised as the fruit of hard work and persistence for which the state government, most especially the governor, deserves commendation.

No doubt, the visit by the team could not have come at a better time than now when the state government is making frantic efforts to reposition the agricultural sector. To start with, there is a lot that our young farmers can benefit from the experts in modern farm techniques and management skills and ultimately in the area of the much needed transfer of technology. The state cannot wait to see the gains of the collaboration in the emergence of new generation of farmers in Osun –individuals who see farming both as a calling and as a business.

At the macro level, we expect the collaboration to assist in

bridging the knowledge gaps in the state’s agro-business. The collaboration is no doubt, a critical step in the state’s quest to overhaul of the agriculture value chain as a strategy to guarantee sustainability.

Finally, just as the point has been repeatedly made that a major bane of the nation’s development quest is the virtual absence of technical capacity by agencies of government charged with implementing well-meaning policies, we expect the benefits of the collaboration to extend to the area of capacity building for officials charged with policy implementation.

In other words, the support, discipline and commitment by officials are no less critical if the noble intentions behind the collaboration will ever come to fruition.

OSUN DEFENDERPublisher – Moremi Publishing House Ltd.

Managing Editor – Kola Olabisi (0803-392-7286)

Editor – Kayode Agbaje (0803-388-0205)

Lagos Editor – Kola Odepeju (08023191891) Production Editor – Pet-Kola Taiwo Ibitowa Senior Reporter – Sola JacobsSenior Reporter – Kazeem Mohammed

Magazine Editor – Niyi Olasinde

Reporter – Kehinde AyantunjiReporter – Francis Chukwuma

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Computer Operator – Saheed AfolabiComputer Operator – Mary AkintolaAssistant Computer Operator – Lukman Oseni OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun.All correspondence to the above mail address.ISSN: 0794-8050Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205Website: www.osundefender.com/index.phpe-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com

OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015News

•A cross section of traditional chiefs during the public hearing of Ipetumodun and Asipa town communal by Judicial Commission of Inquiry at Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, recently. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

APC Govt ‘ll Inherit Empty Treasury, Huge Debt Profile - Buharias Nigerians eagerly await the conduct of the 2015

presidential elections, the presidential candidate of the opposition all Progressives congress (aPc), General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has told Nigerians that he would bring his wealth of experience into turning around the situation of the country, as he expects to inherit a huge debt profile and empty treasury from the current PDP administration, if elected president.

Buhari also stated that his party’s economic policies are conceived to be people-centred,

adding that the country would for the first time in over three decades experience a truly pro-

people Federal Government if elected.

The APC presidential candidate made this known in a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, APCPCO, Malam Garba Shehu.

His words: “It is crystal clear that our revenues are dwindling by the day and if we must survive, we cannot

continue on this path of near absence of accountability, mismanagement, outright waste and jamboree that has characterised the management of public resources under the Jonathan-led PDP government.

“We can assure the mass of Nigerian people that help is on the way. We know that an APC-controlled Federal Government will obviously inherit a huge debt profile and

an empty treasury from this PDP Federal Government. We are confident of turning the situation around.

“It is apparent that the Federal Government has suddenly found itself in a bind with plummeting crude oil prices in the international market, but typical of a team that lacks capacity for anticipatory actions, the Federal Government has been running from pillar to post in a vain bid to stabilize the economy.

“Unfo r tuna te ly , a l l conceived palliatives applied to save the nation’s declining economic indicators have merely scrapped the surface of the problems leaving the mass of Nigerians desperate, confused and hungrier.

“With external debt standing at more than $10 billion and our internal debts at more than $50 billion, it is without doubt that President Jonathan is driving Nigeria into economic wilderness. This should be a cause for concern for all well-meaning Nigerians, more so when the Federal Government responses to these rising economic challenges have, at best, been casual.

“Emblematic of this casual, non-profound approach to the management of the national economy is the Central Bank of Nigeria’s devaluation of the national currency in November 2014 while retaining the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS).

“Drama t i ca l l y, j u s t under three months after that devaluation, the CBN, obv ious ly bu ff e t ed by unanticipated dynamics in the foreign exchange market, announced the closure of the RDAS and the Wholesale Dutch Auc t ion Sys tem (WDAS). This shows clearly an uncoordinated template in the management of the national economy.”

PVC Distribution Is Ongoing- Osun INEC REC

Th e r e s i d e n t e l e c t o r a l commissioner in the

state of Osun, dr. ademola Ogunmola, has stated that the Independent National electoral commission (INec) is currently in a state of preparedness to conduct the 2015 general elections.

He stated this during a stakeholders’ parley organised by the Nigerian U n i o n o f J o u r n a l i s t s (NUJ), Osun State Council, recently.

Speaking during the session, the Osun REC stated that from the point of view of INEC, the decision to shift the election date was taken after due consultation and recent events had vindicated the commission.

He main ta ined tha t its stance of hinging the election postponement on security was okay and it had begun to yield fruits, as can be observed by majority of Nigerians.

Ogunmola observed that the speed at which the political parties were carrying on with their campaigns would have caused a massive crash but with the postponement, little caution had been re-introduced into the polity.

He charged the political parties to play politics in a most mature way, adding that it was neither a do nor die affair but a test of popularity and ideology.

“I call on politicians and the political parties to play their game the way it should. Politics has never been a do-or-die affair, but one that the majority would have their way and the minority would have their say.

“ T h e m a i n a i m o f elections is to test the point populatitude of a candidate and their ideologies and I will request that politicians s h o u l d i m b i b e t h e s e principles.”

While promising that INEC was working round the clock to ensure that the PVCs were evenly distributed and available to the electorate, he hinted that the distribution of the card was ongoing.

Ogunmola, who allayed fears that the card readers were defective, said that the commission had taken steps to counter any problems that might arise as a result of malfunction of the card readers.

“I want you to know that INEC, for once, has never defaulted on the issuance of the PVC and it will never. All we need is a little patience from the electorate and they will get theirs.

“ We i m p l o r e t h e electorate to go to the INEC office nearest them to get their own cards.”

By FraNcIs ezedI-

Rigging Tape: Jonathan Is Not Sincere On Inves-tigation - APC The all Progressives congress (aPc) on Wednesday

described President Goodluck Jonathan’s reason for the delay in probing the ekiti rigging audio tape as

untenable and an after-thought.The APC said the President’s waffling on the issue showed

that he might have something to hide and not in any way sincere with the investigation.

A statement by the party National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in London, said the President was wrong to have said the rigging audio tape had not been investigated because the Army Captain, who leaked it, had not come forward to authenticate it.

The statement read: “Some people were found to be undermining democracy using a powerful national institution like the military, and all the President could say was that there will be no investigation until the officer, who secretly recorded the tape, has come forward to authenticate it. What a disingenuous argument?

“Is the President not aware that Captain Sagir Koli, who recorded the tape, went into hiding because his life was in danger? Is the President not aware of the fate that befell Captain Koli’s 15-year-old younger brother, who was arrested and tortured at a military facility in Ibadan over the issue?

“Does the President not appreciate the patriotism, which the officer exhibited by exposing those who criminally subverted democracy?”

The party queried the basis on which the President declared the audio tape a fabrication, when he had not listened to it, and when almost all those who were at the rigging meeting, including ex-Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; Governor Ayodele Fayose;

Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan; and the Osun PDP governorship candidate, Iyiola Omisore, had owned up to attending the meeting.

“Obanikoro invoked the President’s name, saying he sent him to clinch victory for the PDP in the Ekiti governorship election.

“Unless the statement made by Obanikoro is true, the President has no business seeking to delay, even for one day, the investigation into

the very serious allegations contained in the tape,” the APC said.

He said the presence of Captain Koli was not a necessary pre-condition for an investigation into the rigging allegation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no matter how long it takes, we will ensure that all those involved in the Ekiti show of shame are brought to justice,” Muhammed said.

2015 Poll: Politicians Intend To Use OAU Students

as the race to the 2015 rescheduled general elections hots up, some politicians have planned to undermine the process in the state of Osun as they recruit students

from Obafemi awolowo university, Ile-Ife for the course.Investigations revealed that politicians, particularly those in

Ile-Ife have turned to students, who applied as ad-hoc staff at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the poll to use them to undermine the integrity of the poll in favour of their party.

The politicians were said to have also gone around looking for students staying off-campus and who applied for the INEC ad-hoc job as fitting for their mission, especially in Ife Federal Constituency, to where many of them would be posted.

It would be recalled that some politicians in the build-up to the Osun governorship poll last year succeeded in dividing student groups in Ile-Ife with a view to using them to manipulate the election.

Findings however, showed that the recent move was meticulous, as the politicians were more careful with who to approach on the ground that ideological movements on the campus are always at alert and would not want to set the students against the party they are working for.

The medium gathered that names of some students have been collated ahead of the operation and whoever agrees to the deal would be rewarded with cash after ensuring they are picked by the electoral body.

According to a student of the institution, some names had already been pencilled down and many more would be contacted and any student

that played along would be paid N20,000 each.

The source further revealed that he was initially contacted but was deemed not fit for the deal, as his mother was said to be pro-APC and would likely not do the bidding of the contractors, as well as likely expose the plan.

While the politicians are busy with their recruitment off-campus, lecturers were having another nightmare agreeing on which side of the divide they should align, as some lecturers were said to have been contacted with booties to convince the students to support a party.

It was gathered that the lecturers were however, taking things easy and with caution, knowing that going about the act of convincing students could have great consequences on the school and could heat the polity.

By shINa aBuBakar

By ashOrOBI qudus

By kehINde ayaNTuNJI

Open Letter To Ogbeni Aregbesola On UNIOSUN CrisisMR. Governor Sir, we

know you mean well f o r O s u n S t a t e

University and you want a speedy resolution of the crisis currently engulfing the university. We commend your efforts in setting up a Visitation Panel to unravel the source of the crisis and to recommend enduring solutions which would avert such occurrence in the future.

However, we wish to bring to your attention the fact that the Pro-Chancellor, Prof . Gabr ie l Adesiyan Olawoyin (SAN) is currently undermining the work of the Visitation Panel. He has constituted a parallel Ad-Hoc committee of Council to try the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Bursar. This committee is headed by Prof. Obafemi Ajibola, an external member of the Council.

In spite of the fact that you have inaugurated Prof. Adebiyi Daramola Visitation Panel, the Council’s Ad-Hoc Investigative Panel

continues to sit in judgment over the same issues you have referred to the Visitation Panel. The curious aspect of the Council’s Ad-Hoc Panel is that it has continued to spend hard-earned money on sitting allowance and other Allowances.

As we write this open

letter, the Council’s Ad-Hoc Investigative Panel had met seven times: February, 2, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19 and 20, 2015 and had spent over N3.3 million Naira to service the meetings.

On February 24, 2015, the closing date for submission of Memoranda to the Visitation, the Pro-Chancellor submitted the council’s memorandum.

Mr. Governor, Sir, in spite of the existence of

the Visitation Panel, the Chairman of the Council has scheduled another meeting of Council for Wednesday, 25th February, 2015. However, the most shocking aspect of the unfolding development is the Council’s Ad-Hoc Investigation Panel’s fresh request for sitting allowance for another three days, translates to a little above N1.1 million only. In fact, the

Ad-Hoc Investigative Panel has scheduled three meetings for Thursday, 26th February, Thursday, 5th March and Friday, 6th March, 2015.

It is curious and baffles all imagination that the Pro-Chancellor is running a parallel committee to the Prof. Daramola-led Visitation Panel which you set up and duly inaugurated. This does not augur well for the integrity of

the Visitation Panel. The ideal thing is for the Governing Council (and its Statutory/Ad-Hoc committees) to submit its authority to the Visitation Panel.

It appears that the Governing C o u n c i l a n d i t s A d - H o c Investigative Panel is behaving as if it is above the law and the Visitation Panel. Why, why and why should an Ad-Hoc Investigative Panel which had spent N3.3 million on a seven-day meeting make additional financial request for sitting allowance of a little above N1.1 million only to be spent for additional three days when the Visitation Panel is currently addressing the same issues?

As a quintessential democrat, a financial engineer, a prudent manager of resources and unbiased adjudicator, please, arrest this lawlessness and philandering currently being perpetrated by the Governing Council and its Ad-Hoc Investigative Panel.

•aJIke arIyIBI and adesOLa adeTOkuNBO, For & On-behalf of save uNIOsuN Project.

8 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 5559Feature Feature OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Jonathan Cannot Grow Beyond His HeightWE just got the news that

“Nigeria’s Attorney gene ra l has f i l ed

affidavits to scuttle use of PVCs for elections.

First, it was a retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army and National Security Adviser to the President, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) that ignited the ‘fire’ that truncated the February 14 elections. Now it is the No1 ‘counsel’ of the land, Mohammed Bello Adoke, that is initiating this fresh shenanigan.

The questions are: What are they afraid of? What is Adoke’s problem with PVC, which had been put to use in the Ekiti election, which was ultimately rigged in favour of Fayose. The same PVC was also used for the Osun governorship election and adjudged the best conducted by INEC so far under Professor Attahiru Jega as chairman.

“Mr. Adoke is opposed to efforts by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free and fair elections, using an updated electronic voters’ register and permanent voter cards”.

This is contrary to the taunting of GEJ at campaign stumps and interviews that the adoption of PVCs will be part of his legacy to ensure credible elections, as well as a means to eliminate lapses recorded in past elections.

Now the same Jonathan has sent Adoke to file a court affidavit to surreptitiously undermine the use of PVCs.

No doubt, Jonathan continues to storm Nigeria happily!

Any way, it is a matter of time, when all these storms would pass away, but their actions and inactions will put them in the bad column of records by which Nigerians and ultimately God will deal with them all.

T h e y s h o u l d a s k t h e ‘maradonic’ Ibrtahim Babangida, how miserable he will always remain each time he remembers June 12. He and his cohorts might grandstand and say they accommodate no regrets. Such would only remain on their lips. But deep down in their heart of hearts, they burn in fire of guilt! If only they could turn back the hands of the clock!

And for these contemporary ‘actors of drawbacks’, it’s a matter of time when their shirts would sag on their shoulders. That is even here on earth. And in the hereafter, God knows how to deal with them upon the counts

of innocent Nigerians they have caused grief in their lives because of their selfishness.

Whether Jonathan likes it or not, he can’t survive this onslaught. Nigeria is a winner. Democracy and rule of law will triumph over their lies.

It appals like hell, seeing how GEJ keeps squandering the nation’s wealth. “Millions” is out of reckoning in their folds, as he doles out billions of Naira on daily basis. A calculation of the monies he is being alleged to be distributing must have accrued beyond the total of what he could legitimately gather as a president of the country.

We read that he distributes billions of Naira every blessed

day, while many Nigerians die of hunger. Neither he nor any of his aides have refuted the allegations of his spending spree. Jonathan forgets that a man will not grow beyond his height.

Yes, Jonathan cannot achieve beyond his destiny. Unfortunately, part of his destiny is that millions of Nigerians have died under him. Many more are still dying of hunger, terrorism and of lack of basic infrastructures like good health, which less than the billions he is throwing all about would have procured for Nigerians.

If I were Jonathan, may God forbid, and I am faced with these growing fear of this ‘Imminent Change’, I would simply surrender to my destiny.

I will exit honourably. I will try to right some little out of the many wrongs that have been recorded in my score-cards. I would know that though most of my hangers-on would revolt for fear of sustainability of their illegitimate lifestyles, but I would be strong to look forward; my forwards, especially that of the hereafter.

Jonathan cannot and will never grow beyond his height. His destiny is sure. He can’t go beyond this phase, but he can choose to be happy after this phase by allowing the people’s will to thrive.

• M a b a y o j e , a p u b l i c commentator on contemporary issues, wrote in from Lagos.

By adeBayO MaBayOJe

•JONATHAN

Hacking Of Osun Defender Website, Real Reason Why President Jonathan Replaced Reno Omokri?YOU remember him,

Reno Omokri. He is t h e S p e c i a l

Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media. His major assignment is to propagate the Federal Government programmes and President Goodluck Jonathan in good image on all platforms of the social media. But of late, Reno has been an unwanted guest in the villa. He has lost his goodwill in the eyes of financial players of the PDP-led administration.

In battling for survival and relevance, and last minute effort to save his job, Reno Omokri began a clamp down on some media outfits operating online. It is a known fact that there is a national rejection and dwindling popularity of the Jonathan-led administration. In his private and official capacity, Reno has induced several bloggers to help re-engineer the image of his principal, all attempts failed. He went further to initiate an online opinion poll, which was hurriedly pull down when it was clear that GMB of APC would defeat GEJ.

In the last few days, t e c h n i c a l a n d I C T experts from and around O s u N d e Fe N d e r newspaper have been in a technological battle with an internationally-recognized Indian Hackers Online Squad led by Viveki Ramachdran, operating from India. Notorious Black Hat Hackers that formed the Indian hackers Online squad were involved in a recent full-blown online war with Pakistan.

They were contacted by Reno Omokri and this was the last straw that finally broke the camel’s back. His instruction was clear for the hackers, who were heavily paid by the Presidency to bring down and completely wipe out all contents from archives of notable online media outfits working against

the second term bid of Mr. President. And OsuN deFeNder made the list, basically because it is a widely reported rumour that the media outfit is owned by the arch-enemy of Mr. President, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, a man, who has publicly taken a deliberate swipe against the mal-administration of the Jonathan/Sambo p r e s i d e n c y . O s u N

d e F e N d e r , a f t e r analysis, is rated 3rd of the most visited online media websites in Nigeria with well above 200,000 daily viewers. And lastly, it has constantly and consistently thrown confusion into the presidential media team how the media outfit gets leakages of planned and orchestrated attempt in the Aso villa leaked to the general public. sahara reporter, a popular online media platform based in the US was intentionally excluded from the list of online media website to attack by the hackers’ squad .

The OsuN deFeNder w e b s i t e : w w w .osundefender.org was successfully attacked and pulled down for about senven days by the India Hackers Online Squad but was quickly restored by crack-squad of white hackers hired by the OsuN deFeNder management . Reno Omokri’s failure in this disastrous bid finally exposed him and the inner kitchen cabinet in the Presidency felt he needs to be replaced, and as such, they introduced Mr Obi Asika to salvage the image of Goodluck Jonathan in the next five weeks. Other online new media on the list of Reno Omokri for attack were The Nation Newspapers and Premium Times.

Report however, has it that OsuN deFeNder is back fully online after about a week downtime as a result of the attack, with a renewed vigour to keep Nigerians abreast of information that will bring total liberation to the country.

By IsMaeeL uThMaN

•JONATHAN

10 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55511Feature Feature OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The Power Of The Humble BroomI have seen first hand how the choice

of the humble but powerful broom as the symbol of a major political

party has contributed to the growth of the local economy of remote rural areas in the oil palm producing belt of southern Nigeria over the past few months of electioneering campaign.

From Ilubirin Agbabu, a remote waterside settlement near Ore, where the Irele/Ore oil palm settlement is located to Okitipupa, Igbotako, Omotosho, Igbobini, Irele, Ode Aye, and so on, we have the oil palm belt of Ondo State. Agbabu, one is reminded by an aging signboard is the location of the Agbabu Bitumen project conceived during the first republic but never implemented by a succession both military and civilian governments and long since forgotten. No government has bothered to invest in the local production of this vital ingredient for the modern nylon tarred road. It matters little that under the earth stretching for kilometres from Ilubirin Agbabu into the creeks that lead to Igbokoda, Mahin, Ugbonla Zion on the great western Nigeria water highways linking Epe to the right and Warri to the left. The

neglect of Agbabu’s riches means more profit for a few in profligate Nigeria while this remote corner remains literally in the dark age.

The humble broom, the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s symbol is giving the women of Agbabu something to survive on with the rising demand for this undervalued but essential tool for cleaning in all Nigerian homes and surroundings of the rich and the poor. The hard working women of this area eagerly go with their male counterparts who climb the majestic palm tree to hack off it’s rich oily bunch and trim out the tree’s branches, out of which the powerful broom now sweeping across Nigeria politically is made by woman power. Many families eek out a living in the semi-abandoned oil palm settlements first created by

the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, first premier of the Western Region in the late 1950s. The living quarters are all in various stages of dilapidation with apparently no one caring one bit. Young and middle aged Nigerians of different ethnic groups make up the farm settlements, from their languages and dialects: Ikale, Urhobo, Ijaw, Itshekiri and Igbo mostly live and work here.

The normal level of demand for brooms before now had meant that the branches of the palm tree fetched little income, compared to the political season when demand has quadrupled. The women are happy to see new buyers with weigh-in scale coming to their remote villages and buying tonnes of the humble broom at fair prices whilst relieving them of the burden of transportation to the. Far-away

market centres. This new idea is signalling the industrial exploitation of the broom and the oil palm’s other by-products that were once undervalued. It is estimated that the women from each household sell up to 3dozens of sizeable brooms (about three big brooms make one kilogramme which may be sold for N100 or more and gross about N1, 600 twice a week or N3, 200 for meeting family needs. This may seem small at first until you see the number of families it takes to supply 1000 kilograms or 1 tonne of brooms ordered by a major user.

The broom revolution is powered by our amazing women working with their children from their humble homesteads, and though they may not know fully how their hard work is heralding the wind of change that is blowing across Nigeria’s four cardinal points, it is already winning hearts and minds from ethical injection of cash directly to rural families. The broom revolution’s leaders must prepare their minds to do more for these simple folks by making life less arduous and providing them some modern comforts to enable them get more work done.

“The broom revolution is powered by our amazing women working with their children from their humble homesteads, and though they may not know fully how their hard work is heralding the wind of change that is blowing across Nigeria’s four cardinal points, it is already winning hearts and minds from ethical injection of cash directly

By aBIMBOLa daNIyaN

The President Jonathan Cloned Abubakar ShekauUNDOUBTEDLY, the news of

the purported capture of the resurfaced leader of the Boko

Haram terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau presently hovering around the Nigeria political space which may have been credited to feeders within the Nigeria Defense HQ or its mercenaries, is a bid to present a cloned individual as the original leader of the group, further blackmail certain people in the society, and ultimately result to further mudslinging of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. No doubt, Nigerians believe that the monster was a creation of the ruling party in their pursuit to maintain a firm grip on power, the nation’s treasury and extend their 16 years of futile rule at the center. This is at the expense of the lives and properties of the people, who are believed to be helpless in the face of the PDP’s misrule.

In accordance with the statement of a former Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha on the consent of the government in power, if terrorism last for more than 48hrs in a country, and with a deep understanding of the relationship between a creature and the creator, Nigerians will collectively subscribe to the submission that a relationship convincingly exist between

President Goodluck Jonathan and the leader of the most dreaded Nigerian based Boko Haram terrorist group. This evident claim has aided the fast rise of the terrorist group and the military’s inability to end the activities of this terrorist group for the past six years in power, which has brought so much shame on us as a people.

The decision of the President Goodluck Jonathan led government to satisfy the conditions on which the February polls was untimely postponed, after President Goodluck Jonathan claimed to have underestimated the activities of the dreaded group from its inception, is believed to have instigated the presidency to match the battle field in an attempt to either subdue or eradicate the Boko Haram Terrorist

group, so Nigerians should neither be utterly shocked nor perplexed by the swift swing of the President Goodluck Jonathan led Nigerian Military to combat the over six years terrorism that has ravaged the entire North Eastern Nigeria and its environs, for this is a clear indictment of the incumbent administration which is in accordance with claims from well meaning Nigerians that the President Goodluck Jonathan led government has deliberately allowed the insecurity in the North eastern Nigeria to degenerate in pursuance of political points best known to the Presidency and the ruling party.

Nevertheless, the position of some members of the ruling class and the Nigerian masses that the Boko Haram terrorist group is a creation of the ruling party can be best

justified with the ongoing perceived determination of the presidency and the ruling party to employ all necessary mercenaries towards bringing peace and tranquility to the North East, after the government’s nonchalant attitude for over six years that has led to the displacement of more than 3 million people, death of more than a hundred score, destruction of many over homes and death of our unborn cities, this calls for a probe by both national court of law and the international criminal court of law.

Conclusively, Nigerians are glad to join the government on their sudden awakening from their six years of slumber by giving the insecurity in the North East a good fight. This will help us restore peace in our country and return sanctity in our society. Nonetheless, we also express our disappointment in the deliberate inactions of the President Goodluck Jonathan led administration to combat the dreaded terrorist group.

Whatever becomes the outcome of the ongoing fight for peace in the North East, we will always remember that the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration consumed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and displaced over 3 million people, for people will be remembered for their actions and inactions.

“The decision of the President Goodluck Jonathan led government to satisfy the conditions on which the February polls was untimely postponed, after President Goodluck Jonathan claimed to have underestimated the activities of the dreaded group from its inception, is believed to have instigated the presidency to match the battle field in an attempt to either subdue or eradicate the Boko Haram Terrorist group, so Nigerians should neither be utterly shocked nor perplexed by the swift swing of the President Goodluck Jonathan led Nigerian Military to combat the over six years terrorism that has ravaged the entire North Eastern Nigeria and its environs, for this is a clear indictment of the incumbent administration which is in accordance with claims from well meaning Nigerians that the President Goodluck Jonathan led government has deliberately allowed the insecurity in the North eastern Nigeria to degenerate in pursuance of political points best known to the Presidency and the ruling party.”

By kazeeM suLaIMaN

Corruption And Death Penalty AdvocacyRECENTLY, the former Minister

of Women Affairs and Social Development, Iyom Josephine

Anenih described Nigeria as a cesspool of corruption and advocated death penalty for corrupt government officials. She linked the excruciating poverty level in the country, in the midst of plenty, to pervasive corruption.

Although this suggestion that corrupt government officials be executed is not new, pundits have reacted to the advocacy that it might perhaps be the last resort to exorcise the cankerworm of corruption, which has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. Corruption, in all its manifestations, has been described as the greatest single impediment to the attainment of national aspirations. Corruption checkmates all vision for a morally strong and economically prosperous society. Indeed, corruption is the anti-thesis of development and progress. Corruption is not only illegal; it is bad because it corrupts the very soul of the community. It makes nonsense of all planning and budgeting, and it wastefully depletes inadequate resources. It breeds cynicism, and promotes inequality. It almost renders it impossible for any administration to address the objectives of equity and justice in the society, with any seriousness and finally, it destroys the social fabric of the society, leaving each individual on his own to do only whatever is best for himself.

Pundits have averred that politicians, in all the parties, and with only few exceptions, are soft, indeed even tolerant towards corruption. They may condemn it in the strongest of words and even make opposition to it a part of their electoral platforms and manifestos, but fundamentally, they do not have resolute, self-defining, self-constituting opposition to corruption. Defection of certified corrupt politicians from any party to another without questioning, jumbo salaries and allowances of legislators, the highest in the world, unaffordable for a developing country like Nigeria, more or less amount to a form of legalized but totally corrupt looting of our national coffers no matter how much they talk or seem to act against corruption, in the end, virtually all political elites, with only a few notable individual exceptions, are fundamentally tolerant towards corruption. They live and feed fat on corruption as the very medium of their existence as politicians. The “moral” critique of the humungous scale of corruption can have positive political results if and only if there are reasonably large numbers of political elites, who do take the struggle against corruption seriously and are willing and able to base both their electoral politics and their policies and actions in political office on that struggle. These existed in the first and second republics in spite of the political crises.

Corruption has probably for long existed and will perhaps forever exist in all forms and at all stages of human social development, and furthermore while it has managed to co-exist in one way or another with modernization and modernity throughout virtually all the regions of the world, there is a boundary beyond which corruption on a monumental scale is a great crippling obstacle to progress, peace, sustainable development and well adjusted modernity.

Nigeria, under military dictators and now under ruling class parties, has for long gone beyond tolerable limit, as far as corruption is concerned.

There are Nigerian economic or business moguls that make their wealth from productive, value-added and job-creating enterprises but by a wide margin, the great majority of wealthy, propertied classes make their wealth from corruption-related connections in ways that ultimately make their wealth non-productive. There is the need to use the struggle against corruption as fundamental to the country’s political future.

Education, health, development, and basic freedoms to information, association and life, fair trails and private property rights all languish in the hands of a governance structure laced with corruption. Just as in human rights discourse, the socially and economically vulnerable suffer the most. The pertinent question is: Where can the people, the victims of corruption go for redress? Who will help when treasuries are being pilfered? When people talk of corruption in government, politicians as policy makers may be the first line of attack. But politicians come and go. So civil servants who tend to be there for all seasons get their share of the blame. It is the civil servants who are in position to frustrate the public (politicians) and then capitalize on their frustration, by asking to be “settled” before action is taken on

their matter. The civil service should be a primary target audience for the crusade against corruption.

The crusade against corruption in the country culminated in the enactment of the Anti-Corruption law and the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission. There have been cases of corruption in the higher echelons of the civil service, even before the Anti-corruption Act took effect. There are even those who think cynically that the anti-corruption crusade would be frustrated mainly by public servants, who have so made corruption a way of life that is normal not to expect them survive on their official and legitimate remunerations. Civil servants are reported to have developed infinite number of ways of out-smarting the system to avoid detection of their fraudulent practices. Everything should be done to restore sanity and morality to the system by eliminating the twin evils of corruption and inefficiency.

A t t h e i n c e p t i o n o f t h e Third Republic, the Obasanjo A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , t a k i n g i n t o consideration the matter of corruption in governance, submitted the Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Bill to the National Assembly almost immediately after the inauguration of the administration. The Anti-Corruption Law is a stringent one. It punishes both those who receive, and those who offer gratification. It

imposes a duty, the breach of which is punishable by law, on everyone, from those who directly participate in the crime of corruption, to those, who, though not participating in it, yet have knowledge that such a crime has been committed, or is being committed, and failed to report it to commission.

Many aspects of procedures in government and general conduct of public affairs have been so thoroughly corrupted that the procedures themselves have become excuses for those who may not be inclined to fraudulent behavior. There is the need to critically look into this “corrupt environment”, so to speak. The pertinent questions are: Are there elements in procedures that compel corruption or make corruption easy? How can we sanitize our procedures so as to remove corruption that has become embedded in it?

Recently, the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Larmode, at a seminar on anti-corruption entitled: Fiscal Responsibility and Good Governance, said what was on the ground in the states across the land belied the huge allocations from the centre. According to him, “poor service delivery, inadequate infrastructure, poor management of public enterprises, bad governance, moral decadence and general underdevelopment are among the impact of corruption on attempts at development among state governments in the country”. I recall that at the threshold of 2007 elections, Nigerians were told that at least twenty-five (25) state governors would be gnashing their teeth in jail for corruption. The pronouncement created eddies in the political space, notwithstanding the fact that most citizens had expressed indignation on the profligacy among their leaders in the face of choking economic environment. Ironically, none of the governors was put behind the bars in the land as of the time the eight-year Obasanjo administration wound down. Rather, most of the so-called corrupt governors came out smoking as godfathers and kingmakers, fixing themselves or their proxies in strategic political offices in the country. Some of them stepped higher on the scale of rating among their peers in the political arena by emerging as senators, ministers and national officers of the ruling parties. There were others who created fiefdoms by floating parties, where they called the shots and became beautiful brides to desperados for power and authority at the highest level of government. One or two who were jailed were rehabilitated to the uttermost shock of the nation. Ribadu-led EFCC’s report to Senate came to naught. The report was on the commission’s investigation of the petitions and allegations of corruption against thirty-one (31) of the then state governors and governments. Part of the report claimed that the EFCC was able to establish cases of corruption against fifteen (15) of the governors, indictment against three (3), while six (6) others were still being investigated, just as only one (1) governor was issued a clean bill of health.

I am of the strong opinion that the anti-corruption crusade appears to be losing steam. It is becoming very obvious by the day that there is a link between corruption in government in the country and the high level of poverty. This is obviously contrary to the general thinking that this could be due to global economic recession.

Prof. Asaju wrote in from Ipetumodu, State of Osun.

By a.s. asaJu

•LAMOrDE

12 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55513phototalk phototalk OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

•General Muhammadu Buhari (3rd left); APC Leader in Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (at the back of Amaechi); rivers State Governor rotimi Amaechi (right); former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi (2nd left) and UK officials.

•A cross section of Nigerian citizens at Chattam House during the programme.

•General Buhari (right) and UK officials on their way to Chattam Hall.

•(L-r) Engineer Tajudeen Ojora; APC governorship candidate in Lagos State; Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; APC Vice Presidential Candidate in Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Prince rabiu Oluwa and others during the programme.

•Mr Akinwumi Ambode (with broom) acknowledging cheers from his supporters during the rally.

•Governor Ibikunle Amosun addressing women during the programme.

all Progressives congress (aPc) Presidential candidate In Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari at chattam house In London Last Thursday.

all Progressives congress (aPc) Interactive Town hall Meeting In Lagos Last Wednesday.

all Progressives congress (aPc) Governorship candidate in Lagos state, Mr akinwunmi ambode, Organised a road show In apapa, Lagos, Last Wednesday.

Ogun state Governor, senator Ibikunle amosun, In an Interactive session With Wom-en Groups and Widows at June 12 cultural centre, kuto, abeokuta Last Wednesday.

14 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55515 politics OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

How The Tribunal Made Nonsense Of Omisore’s Petition (12)

How The Tribunal Made Nonsense Of Omisore’s Petition (11)

I r e P O d u N L O c a L GOVerNMeNT

In Irepodun Local Government Area, there are 11 wards. Here too the Petitioners are challenging the results from all the polling units in the wards. In proof of the alleged malpractices and irregularities they have called two witnesses from this Local Government. These are JimohAfeez Akinkunmi and Azeez Muftau Agboola who testified as PW24 and PW25 respectively.

PW24, whose testimony is on pages 81 – 82 of Vol.II of the petition was the ward supervisor/collation agent of the 2ndPetitioner for ward 6, while PW25 says he was the collation officer of the 2nd Petitioner at the Local Government collation centre. Ward 06 is Bara ‘B’ and not Bara ‘A’ as pleaded on page 101 of the petition. This fact is confirmed by item 6 on page 187 of Exhibit 187 – a directory of polling units in the ward.

The complaints in this ward as per the pleading on pages 101 – 102 of the petition are –

(a)in Olobu Market unit 001 the number of registered voters as contained in form EC 8A exceeds 750.

The form EC 8A is not stamped and the mutilated entries thereon are not counter-signed.

(b)at Baba Odunayo Unit 005 form EC 8A was not stamped and the entries thereon are irreconcilable.

(c)at Akinru I unit 006 and Olanipekun Unit 008 the formsEC 8A are unstamped.

(d)entries on form EC 8A for Imam Arohun unit 011 are inaccurate and irreconcilable.

PW24 says after the election he collected results of 11 units from his agents. There are however results from only 5 units tendered in evidence as Exhibit 197 pages 42 – 46. The sworn testimony of this witness is not different from the above pleading. He said he voted on the election day in unit 001. His evidence in chief is that the registered voters in his unit exceeded 750.

Under cross-examination he says a voting point was created in his unit because the number of registered voters exceeded 300. He was given Exhibit 197 and asked to show the Tribunal the inaccurate and irreconcilable entries therein as testified to by him. His response was –

“in unit 11 – Imam Arohun, the total votes recorded is 270, but by my calculation it is supposed to be 275.”

He did not state the basis for his calculation. What he has stated however is that he was not at this unit when the votes were counted. He is therefore not in a position to challenge the results as reflected in form EC 8A.

The evidence in chief of PW25 is found on pages 91 – 93 of Vol.II of the petition. That his duties as the Local Government collation officer included the receipt of complaints from the wards collation supervisors

concerning the electoral forms and the entries made therein and bringing such complaints to the attention of the agents of the 3rdRespondent. That some of the complaints he received were inconsistencies in the electoral forms. That the votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents from all the polling units within the Local Government were obtained in a vitiating manner and circumstances. That in some polling units the votes cast exceeded the number of accredited voters and the number of voters in the register exceeding 750. He also complained that there was distribution of money, food and drinks to the security agents, electorates and INEC Officials. That he brought these complaints to the attention of the 3rd Respondent but he did nothing.

He mentioned some of the affected wards in the said Local Government, namely Olubu ‘A’ ward 01; Olubu ‘B’ ward 02, Olubu ‘C’ ward 03 and Olubu ‘D’ ward 04. Under cross-examination, he said he visited only 4 units on the day of election.

There are about 127 units in the Local Government. His evidence is therefore basically what was told to him by his ward agents who in turn got such information from the polling agents. He confirmed that at the end of the election, the ward agents submitted written reports to him, which he gave to his lawyer.

Out of the 11 wards in the Local Government, he has highlighted only 4. He admits signing Exhibit

225 which is form EC 8C for the Local Government. He also admits that the entries in Exhibit 225 are based on the entries in Exhibit 212 – pages 1 – 10, form EC 8B for the Local Government. He confirms under cross-examination that his evidence that votes credited to 1st and 2nd Respondents in all the polling units are unlawful votes obtained in a vitiating manner is based on information given to him by his agents.

Asked to name the electorates that were given food and money in his unit where he voted on the day of the election (unit 005 of ward 05), he says he does not know them.

RW13, RW14, RW15, RW17 and RW19 testified at the instance of the 1st Respondent. They were all polling agents of the 1st and 2ndRespondents in their respective units in the ward. RW13 – Akinola Sukurat Bolanle was the polling agent at unit 7 ward 2. RW14 - Ologunde Ademola was the polling agent at unit 12 ward 2, while RW15 – Rasheed Mukaila was the polling agent at unit 3 ward 2. RW17 – Oladeji Mutiu was the agent at unit 002 of ward 1 and RW19 – Atanda Isaac was the polling agent at Open Space Olotin unit 001 of ward 1.

All these agents testified that they were at their respective polling units from 7am till when election was concluded. That accreditation commenced at about 8am and all the eligible voters were accredited, and all those who were accredited and waited to vote, were allowed to vote. After voting, the ballot papers were

By IBrahIM LaWaL

•ArEGBESOLA •OMISOrE

sorted out, counted and the results announced openly. The results were then entered in form EC 8A. It was stamped and signed by the Presiding Officer and each party agent given a copy.

They all testified under cross-examination by counsel to the Petitioners that their activities on the day of election were restricted to their polling units. They all testified that election went on smoothly in their respective units and there was no protest from any agent after the results were announced. That all the agents signed on the original copy of form EC 8A. The result for unit 001 of ward 1 is contained on page 1 of Exhibit 197 (duplicate copy of form EC 8A). The certified true copy of the original copy of this result is on page 1 of Exhibit 74.

Under cross-examination of RW19, Petitioners counsel made a heavy weather on some cancellations found on these Exhibits. We note that item 8 and s/no.15 on Exhibit 74 were cancelled. We also note that these cancellations were signed. The number of valid votes was changed from 135 to 127. The initial score for PDP was stated to be zero but changed to twenty seven.

We find the evidence of these polling agents who remained at their polling units from beginning to conclusion of election, as to the conduct of the election, more reliable than the testimony of the ward agents/supervisors and Local Government collation agents who relied on information given to them by their agents at the polling units.

We do not find the alleged malpractices in the election conducted in this Local Government on 9/8/14 proved.

Pages 101-104 of the Judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Elizabeth Nguveren Kpejime; Hon. Justice Vincent Igometi Ofesi and Hon. Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi on the 6th day of February, 2015.

11.IreWOLe LOcaL GOVerNMeNT. In Irewole, the Petitioners in their pleadings

alleged that there are 11 wards and that the election in all the polling units of the 11 wards was marred by substantial non compliance with the Provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the Manual for Election Officials 2014 both of which were observed more in breach by the 3rd Respondent in the conduct of the election. The non compliance was not only substantial but substantially affected the outcome of the Election in all the polling units and the wards challenged such that the results returned there from do not represent the product of any proper election and ought to be disregarded or cancelled.

The Petitioners further alleged that the election in all the wards was characterized by Electoral malpractices and that there was intimidation and harassment of voters especially the supporters of the Petitioners. That eligible voters were truly induced with money by members and supporters of the 1st and 2nd Respondents. The Petitioners claimed that in all the units, the entries in forms EC 8A and EC 8B of the wards are irreconcilable and unreliable. The Petitioners further alleged that eligible voters were unjustifiably disenfranchised while ineligible persons were allowed to vote in the polling units in the ward. They complained that in polling unit 003, the result of the election was not recorded as required by law and Form EC 8A for the unit was not stamped. There were general allegations of non-recording of results in various units across the Local Government.

In proof of all the above, however, the Petitioners called three witnesses, they are the PW18, PW19, and PW20 who were supervisors in wards 1, 5, and 6 respectively. The legal implication of this is that the Petitioners have abandoned their claim in the other wards and units. The PW18 who adopted his statement on oath as his evidence in this petition admitted signing Exhibit 213, the collated result of ward 1. However in his adopted statement at pages 492 - 494 vol.II of the petition, the PW18 stated that the result of the election at St. John Primary School polling unit 001 was not correctly recorded and that the result sheet for that unit was not also stamped. In paragraph 3h, the PW18 also stated that the total number of valid votes recorded in the result sheet was more than the total number of votes cast in unit 002. That the result forms for that unit were not stamped. Paragraphs 3i – p of the PW18 statement under reference complained of non stamping of result sheets and improper recording of valid votes cast. It will be difficult to believe and accept the testimony of the PW18 on non stamping of the result sheets and improper recording of result in the face of Exhibits 85 to 85A – J. Exhibits 85 to 85A –J bear the stamp of Independent Electoral Commission on the face of the documents and there is nothing to indicate improper recording of results. There is also nothing to show arbitrary allocation of votes in favour of the 1st and 2nd Respondents. If there was any, it was incumbent on the PW18 to demonstrate same before the Tribunal. It is very important for the PW18 to have shown before the Tribunal such arbitrary and improper recording of votes cast. This he failed to do.

Though the allegations of non stamping and signing of the results by INEC and party agents respectively are very serious which could result in the nullification of election result, as was decided in the case ofOhuabunwa v. Duru (2009) All FWLR, part 450, 651 at 656 ratio 11, it must be proved by credible evidence before the Tribunal by the Petitioners as there is a presumption of correctness of results declared by INEC until it is rebutted.

On the allegations of harassment and intimidation as contained in the deposition of the PW18, the law is clear that it has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt as they are like other criminal offences, thus the Court of

Appeal Enugu Division in the case of Ogu v. Ekweremadu (2005) All FWLR part 260 page 1, at page 4 ratio 3 held amongst other things as follows:-

“Under a system of civil law, the burden is on the party alleging the commission of an offence to prove the allegation, by the same token, the standard of proof of election offences like other offences must be beyond reasonable doubt”

The cases of Ezike v. Ezeugwu (1992) 4 NWLR (Pt.236, 462 and Etuk v. Isemin (1992) NWLR (Pt.236) 402 were cited with approval. Beyond the above, such allegations of intimidation and harassment must also be traced to the Respondents or the Respondents’ agents. In the instant case all the PW18 said was that eligible voters were harassed and intimidated by supporters of the 1st Respondent, but there was no verifiable or credible evidence linking the 1st Respondent with the alleged acts.

Allegations of harassment and intimidation in our considered opinion have not been proved. Again the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division in the case of Chime v. Ezea (2009) All FWLR (Pt.470) page 660 at 670 ratio 9 held:

“Irregularities at an election which are neither the act of a candidate nor linked to him cannot affect his election. In the instant case, the Respondents before the trial Tribunal complained about irregularities in allotting of votes to the first Appellant and that there were no collation of results in places where there were voting due to non-availability of result sheets. The two hurdles the Respondents were to climb through, adducing cogent evidence were:-

(1)Whether the irregularities, particularly, allotment of votes have been established.

(2)Whether the allotment of votes can be attributable to the Appellants since there was no evidence on record from which irregularity of allotment of votes can be adduced, this was not established by the Respondent against the Appellants in the case”

In the case before us, it is our firm view that there was no legally acceptable evidence to hold that the allegations of intimidation and harassment were credibly established against the 1st and 2ndRespondents. In addition to all the above, the PW18 admitted under

cross-examination that his claims as in paragraphs 3j – p in his statement on oath are

what his agents told him. This amounts to hearsay which is inadmissible and that is why the Court of Appeal in the case of Olafemi v. Ayo (2010) All FWLR (Pt 526) pages 547 at 552 ratio D has this to say:

“ Where a witness gives evidence on a vital fact relying on information by another person, the evidence amounts to hearsay and would have no evidence value. The hearsay evidence would not be that of an eye witness. In the instant case, since the 1st Respondent cannot be at all the affected wards at the same time, reports of the criminal acts of the Appellants and the things were passed down to him which reports amount to hearsay evidence —————”

The cases of Ajadi v. Ajibola (2004) All FWLR (Pt.220) 1273 and Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005) 2 NWLR (Pt.910) 241 were referred to.

PW19 and PW20 similarly adopted their statements on oath as their evidence. They were not party polling agents but ward supervisors in wards 5 and 6 respectively.

In his statement which he adopted, the PW19 raised allegations of irreconcilable and unreliable entries in Forms EC 8A and EC 8B for polling units in the ward, that eligible voters were unjustifiably not allowed to vote while ineligible persons were allowed to vote. Again that results were written with votes merely allocated to the 1st and 2ndRespondents by the 3rd Respondent’s agents. There were cases of over voting in the polling units. PW19 claimed that there were wide spread cases of intimidation, molestation, and harassment of the agents and supporters of the Petitioners by the agents and supporters of the 1st and 2nd Respondents while members of the security agents failed to do anything. The PW19 further said that forms EC 8A in units 003, 004, 005 and 008 were not stamped and that in unit 004, the total number of valid votes recorded in the result sheets exceeded the total number of votes cast.

PW19 during cross-examination admitted signing the results Exhibit 213. He was also accredited and voted. The entries in Exhibit 89c were not disputed by the PW19 and he also failed to demonstrate before the Tribunal what he claimed to be over voting in unit 004. His allegation of non stamping of forms EC 8A for units 003, 004, 005 and 008 was not established. See Exhibits 89, 89c, 89f and 89G. On the whole it is our view that the PW19 evidence added no value to the Petitioners’case.

As we have said before, the PW20 was a ward supervisor, he also made allegations of unreliable entries in forms EC 8A and EC 8B for the polling units in the ward ie (ward 6). That eligible voters were disallowed to vote while ineligible voters were allowed to vote. That votes were merely allocated to the 1st and 2nd Respondents by the 3rd Respondent’s agents. In paragraph 3b – j of his deposition on oath, he alleged that there were wide spread cases of intimidation, molestation, and harassment of the agents and supporters of the Petitioners by the agents and supporters of the 1st and 2nd Respondents while members of the security agencies failed to do anything. That there was no proper accreditation of voters in the polling units in the ward.

PW20 stated that in units 001 and 010, the total number of valid votes recorded in the result sheets exceeded the total number of valid votes cast in the units. PW20 further claimed in paragraph 3i of his deposition that the results as stated in forms EC 8A therein were not stamped.

However under cross-examination, the PW20 admitted that he voted on the day of the election at unit 3. That there are 12 units in his ward, but of the 12 units, he identified the results in 10 units which the Petitioners are challenging. PW20 also admitted that on the day of the election, he was going round the various units. PW20 admitted that he instructed all their polling agents to sign the results of the ward due to the threat to their life.

A careful consideration of the evidence of the PW20 shows that he voted after due accreditation on the day of the election. He could not however demonstrate to the Tribunal the alleged over voting in the face of Exhibit 248 (the register of voters) for the ward and units and Exhibit 198 which contains entries in respect of unit 003 ward 6. It was also clear that the results were duly stamped as shown in Exhibits 90B, 90C, 90E, 90F, 90H and 90J. Forms EC 8A as it affects polling units 008, 009, 011 and 012 bear the stamp of the presiding officer with his signature.

It is clear from all that we have said that the allegations made by PW20 of over voting, molestation of supporters of the Petitioners, and improper accreditation were not proved.

Pages 104-109 of the Judgment delivered by Hon Justice Elizabeth Nguveren Kpejime; Hon. Justice Vincent Igometi Ofosi and Hon. Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi on the 6th day of February, 2015.

•A cross section of All Progressives Congress (APC) lawyers jubilating at the court room after the declaration of Governor rauf Aregbesola as the winner of August 9, 2014 governorship election in the State of Osun at the Election Petition Tribunal that sat at High Court, Osogbo, recently.

16 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55517politics OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015politics

Leadership And Accountability In Period Of Moral Crisis Leadership And Accountability In Period Of Moral CrisisOn 15 May 1998, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) delivered the fourth annual

Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Lecture. That was three weeks before the death of General Sani Abacha and about four years before Buhari entered partisan politics. This speech was delivered almost 17 years ago, but for some few dated parts, it seems to define the essential Buhari and has so much resonance for the present.

ecONOMy1. The story of the economy

has been a very sad one. Its great potential has been shattered by an astonishing degree of embezzlement and a perennial failure by its managers to turn policies into projects or, on the rare occasion when they attempt, do so cost-effectively. And it is a long story because since the passage of the first generation of leaders we have been bedeviled by this managerial incompetence. It has been a series of lost opportunities.

2 . The bes t oppor tuni ty presented itself in 1970. The nation, under the military, had just concluded the war to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of the country. The populace was supportive of government efforts; the international community was generally friendly, non-hostile or feeling ashamed depending on individual country’s attitude to the civil war; oil was on the verge of becoming crucial and Nigeria had plenty of it. Very soon, as one Permanent Secretary then said, money would no longer be Nigeria’s problem; the problem would be how to spend it.

3. Since independence, the overal l performance of the national economy was one of non-sustainable unsteady expansion. The annual average growth rate during the first plan period, 1962-63, was 5.1%. It rose to 6.7% in 1963-64 but fell to 3.8% in 1964-65. It rose again to 5.7% in 1965-66 and fell again 4.2% in 1966-67. The performance of the economy was more buoyant during the Second National Development Plan (1970-74) period, indicating an average growth rate of about 8.2% per annum. This average, however, hides wild fluctuations from 18.4% in 1971-72, to 7.3% in 1972-73 to 9.5% in 1973-74 and 9.7% in 1974-75. During the Third National Development Plan, the GDP experienced its highest rate of growth, but it was to become growth without development. And the crisis began during the Fourth National Development Plan.

4. And from the period of the oil boom, government had taken up position as guardian of the economy by taking control of it commanding heights. Without taking a proper comprehensive look, it embarked on and then abandoned several economic development strategies. The cash-crop export-led strategy of the colonial era gave way to a Continued on page 18Continued on page 17

Continued from page 16

•BUHArI

•BUHArI

regime of import-substitution but this didn’t succeed as planned, nor did the process of indigenizing the ownership of business enterprises lead to the development of adequate managerial skills.

5. Due to collusion and other sharp practices and its inherent limitations the indigenization strategy failed to attain its objectives, and, in the process, it only helped to reduce the quantum of foreign investment in the economy. Then came the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) after the collapse of resistance to the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And instead of a graduated 60% devaluation of the Naira, the national currency experienced its greatest humiliation. Henceforth, disaster descended on the Nigerian people.

6. The new value of Naira – unrealistic, indefensible and the result of utter lack of patriotism is perhaps the most painful and most enduring act of official recklessness and lack of regard for the economic

well-being of Nigerians.7. With one announcement,

the government pauperized the majority of the people of this country. In a way, the devaluation of the Naira occasioned by SAP has contributed more than any single measure in destroying the moral fibre of Nigerians. Beside its direct effect on people’s savings and purchasing power, the devaluation of the Naira has had other more far-reaching effects on the economy.

8. From 1986 to 1992 inflation grew nine-fold. Even though the GDP grew by 5.4% per annum during the same period, its rate of growth declined to just a little over pre-86 level of 2% per annum. But for the people there was deterioration in their standards of living as real wages continued to decline.

9. For too long people have been short-changed by dishonest leadership and irresponsible elite. All too often this has been buried under a cover of ethnic, sectional and credal differences; and this

has so far been quite convenient for the elite. Perhaps the failure of government and the injury to the people will become more glaring now that concern for the well-being of people has been moved to centre-stage. If our future leadership wishes to be and remain relevant, people must be the focus and beneficiaries of all government activities. Henceforth, therefore the question of growth and economic development must be linked to the changes in the objective conditions of the people of the country and not by an impressive array of mere figures or other economic indicators.

10 . As one deve lopment economist said, the questions to ask about a country’s development are three: what has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to employment? What has been happening to inequality? If all these three have declined from higher levels, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development for the country concerned.

11. But poverty in Nigeria has for the past decades been increasing and is now pervasive; unemployment has reached record levels as thousands of our university graduates roam the towns without work to do, and inequality resulting from several distortions has been happening. The middle classes have all but been wiped out.

12. However, for the first time in several years Nigeria’s economy has begun to show signs of recovery. But the journey has not been painless or without costs. Currently Nigeria’s economy is reeling under the crushing weight of an external debt of about $30 billion and a domestic debt of more than N100 billion; and in spite of the measure Central Bank financed budget deficits (more than N120 billion during the period of structural adjustment alone), there is little on the ground to show for it. This is a far cry from the real self-sufficiency of the early post-independence period, before the spoilt directionless affluence of the early to mid-70s. Nigeria’s first generation leadership had wisely made agriculture the focus of its industrial development policy. In 1966, for instance, agriculture accounted for 66% of GDP but this share has, in the face of the rise of oil, steadily decreased to about 40% today. From a country self-sufficient in food production,

Nigeria became a net importer of food. We supplied palm seeds to Malaysia a little over 30 years ago. Today Malaysia is the world’s largest exporter while Nigeria can hardly satisfy its domestic demand. Thirty years ago Nigeria was the world’s leading exporter of groundnut and the third largest producer of cocoa. Today cocoa exports are negligible and the country doesn’t even satisfy its internal groundnut market.

13 . However, what the experience of countries like Malaysia teaches is that with a c lear plan and eff ic ient management resources, which Nigeria has of recent lacked, they are able to soar so high. We have a lot to learn from them. However, in the era of international deregulation, competition and lessened government interference in the economy, Nigeria will do well to carefully study its options before embarking on ill-thought out policies that will become tomorrow’s disasters. I am not unaware of the problems these countries are currently facing. This is entirely another matter and does not in any way weaken the argument that their methods are worth emulating.

14. Accordingly, the best course for the Nigerian economy is to diversify and reduce its dependence on oil; and, at the same time drastically curtail the dominance of government even in some of the so-called commanding heights of the economy. This diversification will have several components. One, like the Nigerian economy of the immediate post-independence period, the new effort must be hinged on the development of agriculture as the centre of economic and industrial policy. In the 60s agriculture accounted for more than 60% of the GDP and it employed more than 70% of the nation’s workforce. Today, owing to oil-induced neglect, agriculture accounts for just 40% of the GDP and employs two-thirds of the working population. How will it be revived to its earlier levels?

15. In this there are important issues to contend with. There is question of funding and the backwardness of agricultural technology available to Nigerian farmers. This must be addressed urgently to raise productivity and ensure adequate rates of return. Two, coordinated policy of rural development must be put in place in order to arrest the rural-urban drift so that enough manpower to till the land stays on the land. Effort must also be put by the government to complete

the numerous irrigation projects lying across the country, and launch irrigation as an alternative or adjunct to rain-fed agriculture. A two pronged approach to agriculture is necessary. Large scale projects must conform to time honoured internationally accepted requirements of viability. Small farmers need timely inputs and access to small-scale credit.

16. In addition, the Nigerian system must be in possession of a rehabilitated and carefully maintained socio-economic infrastructure. The economic system in particular must be modernized to the standards of the 21st century so that it can compete, attract foreign funding and expertise and be able to create a modern financial system. Such a financial system will be able to raise all the capital that will be needed for the massive investment that will become necessary. We can then move from an emerging to a significant market.

17. Moreover, the Nigerian economy must accept that the commodity of the future is information. The sooner therefore

it provides for the eventual adequate computerization and the installation of complete information systems the better. Any economy left behind by the information revolution will not be able to easily catch up. Furthermore, appropriate linkages must be put in place so that the increased agricultural productivity feed agro-allied industries. In addition, the government will need to keep up its efforts in the exploitation of the country’s vast solid mineral resources, chiefly the metals and precious stones that abound across the country.

18. Finally, there should be a plan for the development and extensive training of the nation’s human capital resource for two reasons. Primarily in order to develop the manpower necessary to run a modern economy; and then in order to break into the manpower export group. In this the ECOWAS sub-regional zone looks at captive export market for Nigeria. However, in order to achieve any appreciable success in this endeavor it is necessary to embark on a massive revival

of education. If education was not the first casualty of Nigeria’s failure, it was the most dramatic. Standards had fallen so quickly and so completely that it began to look as if there never were any standards at all!

19. Clearly the next dispensation must devote a large chunk of the national resources to this sector and seek to rehabilitate it at all levels. While the necessary details can be worked out later, there seems to be an urgent need to rationalize the number of universities and the type of number of courses each could offer. This should be done with expanded enrollment to cope with the great number of graduates the new economy will require.

2 0 . W h i l e f i n a n c i a l accountability is the one that has such a hold on popular imagination, other aspects of accountability are equally as important; and their breach may be devastating. For instance, there are the important areas of religion, law and order and the press.

21. Unless the press, for instance, is accountable, there is very little hope that other areas – especially of leadership – will behave if only out of fear of exposure. I have always been of opinion that Nigeria’s press is among the freest in the world. This is no exaggeration. Around the world, this freedom is tempered with responsibility: only in Nigeria is a journalist able to write what he wishes in spite of the facts and go scot-free. In other parts of the world, particularly in the United States and UK, whose practices the Nigerian press wishes to copy, the journalist is generally a highly trained, conscientious, responsible professional code of conduct. In Nigeria neither of these appears to be demonstrably manifest.

22. The Nigerian journalist is also lucky - and perhaps professionally the worse for it – that Nigerian newsmakers exhibit a noticeable loathing for litigation such that victims of libel and slander prefer to silently curse their slanderers rather than sue and prolong their own agony. And as professional associations or forum for media professions – the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria have really taken their time as far as enforcing any measure of professional decorum on the practice of journalism is concerned. Under their very eyes characters have been slandered while countless innocent citizens have been libeled.

Continued from last edition

18 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55519

health

OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015eDucatioN

Job Vacancies In Nigeria

You can subscribe to Job Vacancies in Nigeria, Jobs in Nigeria via your e-mail: www.jobszilla.ng

New usual Limited Jobs in Lagos for sales executives

At New Usual Limited, we strive to innovate and lead with technology. We invest in innovative technologies that deliver business value in short time scales and help our customer use technology in ways that deliver the utmost in profitability and brand differentiation. Our people are carefully selected, well trained and highly motivated to deliver outstanding business and technical service.We are recruiting to fill the position of:Job Title: Sales ExecutiveLocation: LagosJob description/requirement Planning and management of sales activities.Must have three years Prerequisite sales experience.Management of product/ services mix, pricing and margin.Preparation of invoice and quotations for customers/potential clients.Responsible for development and finalization of proposal content, etc.Must have excellent presentation skills.Intermediate knowledge of Micro-Soft Office tools.Responding and follow-up on sales enquiries.Attending customers meetings to help qualify sales opportunities with sales team.Method of applicationInterested and qualified candidates should send their CV’s to: ikenna.odezugo@newusual.comApplication Deadline 27th February, 2015. ——————————————————————————————————————Finance assistant 6/accountant Job in Lagos at aBT associatesThe International Health Division is committed to the improvement of health and healthcare delivery around the world. Serving both the public and private sectors, our efforts include health policy research and evaluation, health promotion and disease prevention, health finance, and health systems management. Our impact is felt in policies that ensure healthcare access for women, children, and individuals with special needs, in strengthening health infrastructures, and HIV/AIDS solutions.We are recruiting to fill the position of: Job Title: Finance Assistant 6/Accountant req Id: 19961Location: Lagos key responsibilities Communicating effectively with the State Team Leader Manager (STL) and the Finance and Administration Manager (FAM), regarding contract documents, change orders, and other contract modifications, approvals, and any additional services related to billing.Reviewing all payments to be made at the state level for completeness, appropriateness, authorization and availability of funds.Ensuring proper maintenance of all state books of account under the supervision of the FAM.Working closely with the FAM to provide the state technical team members with advice on activity budgets, relative to procurement of goods and services invoicing and reimbursable expenses, while maintaining a continuous line of communication to clear any financial issues.Assisting all program staff to reconcile variances that occur in the application of cash and other spending in the course of implementing activities that are in line with the state work plans.Reviewing staff timesheets on a weekly and monthly basis, ensuring timeliness, correctness, and compliance with policies and procedures of Abt Associates Nigeria.Preparing balance sheet account reconcilements, as directed by the FAM and with approval of the STL.Providing support for annual audits, which may include research and reconcilement.Supporting the preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual state financial/expense reports including bank and cash reconciliations to be submitted to PATHS2 National Country Office (NCO) in Abuja.Preparing final invoice packages for approval by the STL and FAM, containing draft and final invoices for all billable state-level expenditures and including all required backup documentation.Handling the timely preparation and submission of taxes due and filing of tax returns, while ensuring that contracts are issued to clients in compliance with HR guidelines at the state level.Maintaining state-level payroll and budget spending records, in coordination with the FAM and NCO Operations Department.Skills PrerequisitesBachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Business Administration, or other relevant field preferred.At least 2 years of professional accounting experience, preferably in a development work setting.Ability to work well with others under deadline situations and respond to changes in priorities.Good written and verbal communication skills and strong organizational skills desirable.Strong service orientation and ability to work effectively in a challenging and diverse socio-economic and cultural environment.Proficient communication, interpersonal, analytical and organizational skills.Demonstrated self-management skills and ability to work with limited supervision.Intermediate to advanced computer literacy, including experience in Microsoft word processing, spreadsheets and accounting software, with knowledge of QuickBooks software or other accounting platform, a plus.Knowledge of standard contract terms, including hourly, lumps sum, not-to-exceed and how they are applied in the billing process.Minimum Qualifications(2+) years of experience and high school diploma OR the equivalent combination of education and experience.how to applyInterested and qualified candidates should:https://career4.successfactors.com—————————————————————————————————————dreams africa resource enterprises Job Opportunities in Nigeria, Fberuary 2015

Dreams Africa Resource Enterprises is currently seeking to employ suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:Job Title: Graduate TraineeLocation: LagosJob descriptionEntry Level Engineering responsible for preparing reports and developing plans and cost estimations for various engineering design projects.Perform engineering work in different fields such as water, construction management, infrastructure, wastewater, among other sectors.These workers assist with project management and administrative related tasks for several projects, such as environmental studies.They are required to check performance with specifications and plans through testing and field inspection.responsibilitiesEntry Level Engineering usually perform many of the following tasks:Supervising the construction of highways and buildings.Introducing new materials to make products.Testing the quality of products.Conducting surveys.Monitoring activities of the construction and design team.educationApplicants for Entry Level Engineering jobs need to have a High School Diploma and a Degree in Engineering or related subjects.Other way to enter to this industry is having equivalent experience for a related position available.Degrees for this field can be Bachelor’s Degrees in Mathematics, Physical Science or in Environmental, Chemical, Civil, Mechanical or other Engineering subjects.Those who have professional engineering experience or a Master’s Degree related to this industry have better job opportunities.Skills:Having organizational skills.Being able to articulate concepts and ideas both contextually and visually.Having good technical skills.Being able to work alone or with a team.Having IT skills.Being able to travel for inspections and meetings.Having good written and verbal communication skills.Being able to recognize discrepancies.Having strong work ethic.Being able to perform various tasks at the same time.Job Title: Human Resource AssistantLocation: LagosJob description Provides administrative support to the Human Resources Director on all personnel matters and assists with payroll processing.duties and responsibilitiesPerforms customer service functions by answering employee requests and questions.Conducts benefits enrollment for new employees.Verifies I-9 documentation and maintains books current.Submits the online investigation requests and assists with new employee background checks.Reconciles the benefits statements.Performs payroll/benefit-related reconciliations to General Ledger and other accounts.Conducts audits of various payroll, benefits or other HR programs and recommends any corrective action.Updates HR spreadsheet with employee change requests and processes paperwork.Assists with processing of terminations.

Assists with the preparation of the performance review forms.Assists HR Director with various research projects and/or special projects.Assists with recruitment and interview process.Assists with the various employee discount coupons by contacting companies for coupons as directed by HR Manager.Schedules meetings and interviews as requested by HR Manager.Schedules conferences by reserving facilities at local hotels and/or restaurants.Makes photocopies, faxes documents and performs other clerical functions.Files papers and documents into appropriate employee files.Assists or prepares correspondence.Prepares new employee files.Processes mail.Performs other duties as assigned.CompetenciesTo perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position.Problem solving - the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner and gathers and analyzes information skillfullyInterpersonal Skills - the individual maintains confidentiality, remains open to others’ ideas and exhibits willingness to try new things.Oral communication - the individual speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations, demonstrates group presentation skills and conducts meetings.Written Communication - the individual edits work for spelling and grammar, presents numerical data effectively and is able to read and interpret written information.Job Title: Project ManagerLocation: LagosJob description Project managers ensure the project is completed on time and within budget, that the project’s objectives are met and that everyone else is doing their job properly.Projects are usually separate to usual day-today business activities and require a group of people to work together to achieve a set of specific objectives.Project managers oversee the project to ensure the desired result is achieved, the most efficient resources are used and the different interests involved are satisfied.responsibilitiesTypical responsibilities include:Agreeing project objectives.Representing the client’s or organisation’s interests.Providing advice on the management of projects.Organising the various professional people working on a project.Carrying out risk assessment.Making sure that all the aims of the project are met.Making sure the quality standards are met.Using IT systems to keep track of people and progress.Recruiting specialists and sub-contractors.Monitoring sub-contractors to ensure guidelines are maintained.Overseeing the accounting, costing and billing.

Method of applicationInterested and qualified candidates should send their applications to: jide.oyelade@dreamsafrica.comApplication Deadline 23rd March, 2015. ————————————————————————————————————Quality Assurance and Conformity Officer Job at UNIDO NigeriaUNIDO is the specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability.

UNIDO is recruiting to fill the position of:Job Title: Quality Assurance and Conformity OfficerLocation: NigeriaOrganizational Context UNIDO provides a variety of technical cooperation services which enhance developing countries’ capacity to trade and integrate into global value chains through effective participation in the rules-based global trading system.This necessitates taking actions in two directions: on the one hand, working on the supply side, enabling enterprises to manufacture products with high-export potential in the quantities and at the level of quality required by the markets and on the other it requires evidence of market conformity, enabling these same enterprises to ensure that their products conform to the relevant international quality standards, in particular private buyer’s, and technical requirements. Tasks:Under the direct supervision of the respective UNIDO Project Managers at HQ and/or in UNIDO Regional/Field Office, the Consultant will perform one or several of the following tasks:Perform analytical, diagnostic and assessment activities for the purpose of project identification, implementation or evaluation, as the case might be.Monitor overall project progress, fine-tune project strategy, activities or operation, as well as perform overall project supervision and administration over financial and manpower resources.Develop clear and concise inception, periodic, final, strategy, assessment, identification, planning, mission, training or ad hoc reporting frameworks and/or specific reports in relation to project activities, and maintain accurate project documentation.Deliver advisory, consulting, methodological, capacity building, evaluation and/or other specific professional services pertaining to the accomplishment of the project’s outputs as per the respective specific Terms of reference.Prepare, design, hold and/or oversee workshops, briefing and debriefing sessions, field visits, trainings and other project events.Facilitate project advocacy including but not limited to liaison with project’s government counterparts, partner UN agencies and other project stakeholders to ensure smooth project identification, implementation or evaluation.Duration:Varied from several days to several monthsduty station:Home-based, and/or at UNIDO Headquarters and/or in the field around the world.Qualification Requirementseducation:Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in a relevant fieldExperience:Relevant progressive practical experience at professional level acquired through work in a respective industry, central or local government, academia, non-governmental or professional services sector.Proven experience in one or more of the following areas: quality management; technical standardization; metrology; technical barriers to trade (TBT); sanitary and phytosanitary issues (SPS); quality management; laboratory testing; inspection and accreditation infrastructure; market surveillance; food safety; certification; product traceability, or an associated field.Prior experience in technical cooperation / technical assistance in developing countries is a distinct advantage.Language Skills:Fluency in English, working knowledge of the other UN official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and/or Spanish) is an asset.how to applyInterested and qualified candidates should:https://xr.unido.orgAfter Registration, submit your CV’s to: nqip-nigeria@unido.orgNote: For any queries, kindly contact the NQIP team.

Application Deadline 3rd March, 2015 ——————————————————————————————————————Lily homes Limited Jobs in Lagos for sales executives

Lily Homes Limited - Our client, a reputable Real Estate organization requires the service of result oriented young executives to be part of our team to properly penetrate and maintain a large share of the market.If your desire is to work in a fast paced result oriented environment with an ability to creatively think outside the box, then we suggest you apply to compete for the below position:Job Title: Sales ExecutiveLocation: Lagosresponsibilities Building and maintaining effective client relationship.Source and respond to request for proposals.Meet target.Generate sales lead and close sales.Assist in the development, review, and timely reporting on the company’s marketing strategy.Assist in customer Relationship Management.requirementsAt least a Degree from a recognized University with 3-5 years post NYSC experience.A self starter, with the ability to work with little or no supervision.Good project and time management skills with excellent Business development and sales attributes.3 Years proof of relevant Business Development and sales experience.Real estate experience will be an added advantage.Strong analytical, organizational and leadership skills.Method of applicationInterested and qualified candidates should send their applications to: ivoryhomesestate@gmail.comApplication Deadline 22nd March, 2015.

23. The practice of journalism in Nigeria – much like the general attitude of the average Nigerian to anything public and official – has been unable to shake off the adversary role that pioneer anti-colonial struggle gave it. To many a journalist, facts are not sacred because, to begin with, he doesn’t even know the facts. And even comments are not so free, because they are often paid for. It is clear that the press must do a lot more in order to redeem its image in the eyes of Nigerian public.

24. Today, this nation must find a way of making journalism behave responsibly without restricting the people’s right to know, and indeed without trampling on the rights of the journalists themselves. Without being able to do this, there is no hope that transparency and accountability will ever have a permanent place in the governance of this nation.

PuBLIc MOraLITy1. Religion is the anchor in the

lives of the majority of our people. Besides giving meaning and direction to us, it serves as a means of succour and support against the turbulence and vicissitudes of life. It gives people a value system that inculcates a sense of right and wrong and which ultimately becomes a more effective anti-crime saviour of society than any armed police force. Somehow, unfortunately, despite the attachment of our people to the letter of their faith and their readiness to defend it with their strength, there is no corresponding concern with its spirit; and, consequently, this has not translated into Nigerians becoming their brothers’ keepers. And nowhere is this failure so glaring as in the way and manner officials treat matter entrusted to them by virtue of their public office. Yet they are not shunned by our religious leaders. Our Ulama and Priest will pray for and bless every charlatan, bless every accursed occasion or deed so long as there is someone to foot their bill. Our society must reject this and quickly put these miscreants and pseudo-scholars out of business.

2. More importantly, we must also forcefully resist those who wish to set our society on the path of religious conflict. The recent past was unfortunate, the present is Not Good Enough; and it is our duty to create a future that should become a model for all multi-religious societies. We must get together or we shall all get it together. Our two principal religions share a heritage that ought to be used to forge links between our Muslims and Christians. Both are revealed, monotheistic faiths that teach tolerance and peaceful co-existence. The recent visit of the Pope was a good sign of tolerance and mutual determination to put

past mistrust aside.3. Christianity preaches love and

is founded upon love and belief in the one true God as the life of Jesus Christ (AS) symbolizes. Islam means peace and submission to the will of the same true God. The life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who, during his life time, interacted, received and discussed issues of theology with Christian priests rights inside Masjid an-Nabawi, his mosque and the second holiest sanctuary in Islam, should be sufficient as an indication to the type of brotherhood and tolerance that Islam teaches, demands and practices. If nowadays this type of interaction doesn’t exist, Muslims must search their souls, and ask themselves if they indeed copy the example of the Holy Prophet in their dealings with the People of the Book, as Christians are called in Islam. In the same vein our priests must be able to know that Islam is very different from what missionary education teaches, and to distinguish between that agenda of Christianity and the agenda if western imperialism. The Qur’an teaches Muslims that among those closest to them are the Christians.

4. Perhaps it can with justice be said that the problem of leadership is mist acute in the domain of religion; because, more than in other areas, leadership in the religious sphere tends to lead from behind. Leaders seem to wait to determine what the mob wishes to hear, and they tell exactly that. But the mob is frequently a blood-thirsty creature which has no place in the scheme of any of our civilized monotheistic faiths.

5. Whoever therefore in the name of either religion preaches intolerance is clearly an adherent of neither, and our society must evolve a way of unmasking the hidden agenda at work. We must understand provocation while it is being planned and stop it before it happens. We must educate our zealot to learn that his rights end where those of his neighbour begin. Everyone must be made to accept that we are all one vast family under the lordship of God; and it is He alone who can pass judgment over his bondsmen.

6. Knowing this, we should try to heal the wound of past conflicts whether caused by provocation, sour memories of history, external instigations or plain accident. For

the future I wish to suggest that Christians and Muslims must break down the barrier of suspicion, hostility and misunderstanding; and the best way to do this is by directly talking to each other. It is certainly time to begin a dialogue between Christianity and Islam at all levels – individual, communal, national and even international – to reassure ourselves, save our present, preserve the future, and have a basis for hope here and in the hereafter.

7. We must always remember whether we believe in destiny or not, we will all die. Whether we believe in the hereafter or not, we will all go there. And whether we call ourselves secular or whatever, the truth is that ours is a very religious society, however short on example and however long on percept. And we should be proud of the fact that we are religious. We are not one bit impressed by the evolving legacy of this modern permissive godlessness which wishes to reject all kinds of authority. Freedom must limit itself or be limited by force when anarchy threatens to result. In obedience to God we recognize and must always uphold the necessity of the existence of the family unit, of the indispensability of organized society and leadership; and we accept the authority of parents, elders and those in constituted authority who promote justice.

crIsIs MaNaGeMeNT 1. The feeling of alienation and

dissatisfaction has not, and will not be solved by state creation. If anything, it would seem to expand with new creation. It is but one symptom of the failure of our common leadership for solutions to our current problems. A study of the First Republic will be a rewarding experience. I now wish to return in a little more detail to the subject of our lecture today: Ahmadu Bello, Sardaunan Sokoto.

2. We have a lot learn about the art of managing differences. And forging lasting bonds of unity from the true master of the game, the late Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Sarduanan Sokoto. The life of the Sarduana epitomizes for us the best example of how to put to work the very attribute of leadership we desperately need today. Ahmadu Bello was a man of commanding presence, with a very serious sense of purpose. He was extremely hardworking and always demanding no less from all his subordinates and other public officers. The accounts of those who worked directly with him was that he was competence and diligence personified.

•BUHArI

Leadership And Accountability In Period Of Moral Continued from 17

Concluded

20 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55521 ForeigN News OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Ukraine Heaps On Economic Pressure As Central Bank Confuses, Truce Takes Hold Reuters

For the recorDs

ukraINe came under greater economic pressure after unexpectedly banning most currency trading and then abruptly reversing course, wreaking

havoc on the hryvnia, just as a truce in the east took hold on Wednesday with no combat fatalities reported.

With the long-awaited ceasefire coming into force, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again threatened gas supplies for the fourth time in a decade if Moscow did not receive advance payment.

In rebel-held eastern Ukra ine , p ro -Russ ian s e p a r a t i s t s w e r e withdrawing heavy guns from the front. Kiev said it was too early to do likewise, but its acknowledgement that most of the front was quiet suggested it, too, could implement a truce that had appeared stillborn in the midst of a major rebel offensive last week.

The separatist war in the east has complicated efforts to stabilize an economy on the verge of bankruptcy, and the hryvnia currency has lost more than half its value so far this year after halving during all of 2014.

With the hryvnia currency in free fall as investors fled, the central bank halted nearly al l commercial currency trading until the end of the week.

Hours later, the bank reversed the decision, giving no explanation for the abrupt change in policy. But it came after a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who said the move was bad for the economy.

The ban had put the currency’s true value in limbo, with little or no trading taking place to set a price, before the bank jumped in to buy $80 million at an official rate of 28.046 to the dollar, close to the rate at the start of the week and 12.8 percent higher than the close after a plunge on Tuesday.

Exchange booths in Kiev were selling limited amounts of dollars for 39 hryvnias, around 20 percent worse than rates advertised in the windows of commercial banks where dollars were not available.

A construction worker exchanging dollars at a kiosk in a grocery shop in return for a bag filled with thousands of hryvnia laughed and told shoppers, “Soon we will have to walk around with suitcases for cash, like in the 1990s.”

C l e a r l y c o n c e r n e d about the developments, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it was ready to help Ukraine with its foreign currency issues.

“IMF staff are in close contact with the National Bank of Ukra ine and stand ready to assist in designing measures that will address excessive and temporary imbalances in the supply and demand for foreign exchange,” an IMF spokeswoman said in a statement released in

Washington.In a po t en t i a l new

blow, the Kremlin warned that Russia could halt gas supplies to Ukraine, which could disrupt flows to Europe, which receives around a third of its gas from Russia with 40 percent shipped via Ukraine.

Last year Russia cut off gas to Ukraine for six months without affecting Europe.

Criticizing Ukraine for cutting off gas to eastern regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists, Putin said, “Imagine these people

will be left without gas in winter. Not only that there is famine ... It smells of genocide.”

“ We h o p e . . . t h a t gas supplies will not be interrupted. But this does not depend only on us, it depends on the financial discipline of our Ukrainian partners,” Putin said.

REBEL ADVANCENews that no Ukrainian

troops had died at the front was the most unambiguous signal yet that the French- and German-brokered truce was taking root.

The rebels had initially spurned the ceasefire, insisting it did not apply to their main target, the town of Debaltseve, which they

stormed last week.Kiev has since accused

the separatists of reinforcing for a possible further assault deeper into territory the Kremlin calls “New Russia”. For now, however, the fighters appear determined to be seen as implementing the agreement.

Reuters journal i s t s , operating independently in rebel-held territory, saw columns of howitzers driven away from the front in several locations on Wednesday after initial moves on Tuesday.

A column of 24 self-propelled howitzers headed away from the front through the city of Makiyvka adjacent to the main rebel stronghold, Donetsk. Another five were spotted driving away from the front near Yenakiyve, further north.

The rebels have promised

that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will soon be able to verify that they have removed all heavy guns.

The OSCE says it cannot yet verify the withdrawal because the sides have not provided data on how many guns were in place before the truce. The European security body reported some shelling and shooting at various locations, including near Shyrokyne, a coastal town where Kiev has also reported fighting.

T h e K i e v m i l i t a r y nevertheless said the number of ceasefire violations had “significantly decreased” for a second night. No shooting was recorded in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol areas, it said. Overall, rebels had fired shells and mortars 15 times and opened fire four times

with light weapons during the 24-hour period.

Kiev fears the rebels, backed by Russian troops, may now be planning to capture Mariupol, a port of 500,000 people. Moscow denies aiding its sympathizers in east Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said additional sanctions against Russia were “teed up” should events in eastern Ukraine require a significant response.

B r i t a i n r u l e d o u t deploying combat troops to Ukraine, a day after it said it was sending 75 military trainers to help the Ukrainian army. Poland said it intended to send military instructors to train Ukrainian soldiers.

Philippine Army Kills 14 Islamic Militantsu.s.-trained army commandos on Thursday killed

14 Islamist militants belonging to the al-qaeda- linked Abu Sayyaf group in the first major battle

this year on a remote southern island, as the Philippines stepped up efforts to rescue foreign hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but most deadly of several Muslim groups fighting for independence in the south of the Roman Catholic country. It is estimated to have about 500 hard-core followers based mostly on Basilan and Jolo.

It has links with Jemaah Islamiah, a pan-Asian radical Musl im group blamed for a t tacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings and two Jakarta hotel bombings last month.

Troops used artillery and air strikes to hit the positions of about 300 Muslim rebels, who are holding three foreign captives, including a Malaysian and European, outs ide Pat ikul town, military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said.

“Our troops are trying to box in the Abu Sayyaf rebels for a decisive battle,” Padilla said, adding infantry and marine units have been positioned as containment forces to prevent militants from escaping the Patikul jungles.

Padilla said 14 militants were killed and 19 wounded in the two-day battle. Two soldiers were also killed and 14 were wounded after commandos chanced upon a large group of Abu Sayyaf led by Hatib Hajan

Sawajaan.Two Southeast Asian

militants from Singapore and Indonesia were involved in the fighting, together with Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama. Two Abu Sayyaf leaders are in the most wanted list of the U.S. State Department.

U .S . f o r ce s he lped evacuate the wounded

troops, four of them in critical condition. “They are not involved in combat, but we requested them to bring our wounded personnel to the main army base in Zamboanga City,” Padilla said.

Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the worst militant attack in the Philippines, the sinking of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004, in which 100 people

were killed.It has also been in the

spotlight for beheadings and high-profile kidnappings, most recently the abduction of two German nationals on Jolo, who were later freed. Newspapers said large ransoms were paid, although officials deny this.

Australian PM Strikes Conciliatory Note Over Indonesia Executions

ausTraLIaN Prime Minister Tony abbott strucka conciliatory tone on Thursday after speaking with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about the looming execution of two convicted australian drug traffickers.

Abbott said he spoke with his “friend” Widodo on Wednesday evening, adding that the Indonesian leader “absolutely understands our position ... and I think he is carefully considering Indonesia’s position”.

•U.S troops in Philippines.

The Time To Act Is NowBeing the text of a World Press Conference held on Saturday 21/02/2015.

THEME: State of the Nation…The 2015 General Elections, Matters arising.

Good morning, Gentlemen of the Press, Comrades, Compatriots,

esteemed Countrymen and women, This press conference is the initiative of Project Rescue Democracy (PRD) a coalition of over 60 Civil Society, Self-determination, Ethnic and Professional Groups, who, compelled by the recent happenings in our country regarding particularly the 2015 General Elections have elected a concerted collaborative effort as patriotic and public spirited groups desirous of rescuing our democracy and country from the abyss, yes we cannot fold our hands and watch politicians attempt tenure elongation under any guise or means. We cannot allow the musings of same, nor shall we watch unaddressed any attempt to further postpone the 2015 General Elections.

The signs are ominous as a very dark cloud hung over the Nigerian political horizon as a result of the impending violations of the tenets of democracy and the constitution by forces of evil who are determined to plunge the country into unwarranted chaos whose consequence portends grave danger to our collective peace and security.

There is a general rule of engagement in this trade which is known all over the world, it is definite that there will be a handover date because there is tenure for political office and as such, it is the responsibility of the elections management body to start preparing for the next general elections immediately after a general election and government has a responsibility to providing an enabling environment for the elections management body to perform its statutory responsibility. Then the dates are fixed, wherein all efforts are put in place in ensuring that the dates for the election and swearing of a new government remains sacrosanct.

But what we are seeing today is that all the known values of transparency, fairness and credibility of the electoral system are about to be compromised. We have observed that the principle of one man, one vote is about to be imperilled. The E-card reader which the electoral management body has introduced to promote the sanctity of one man, one vote is about to be circumvented by political actors. Or what do we make of the attempt by some members of the Senate to discredit the use of E-card reader during the presentation of the INEC Chairman on Wednesday 18th February, 2015?

For a government to be legitimate in a democracy its, power must derive from the people through the ballot box which must be seen to be free, fair, transparent and credible, which are all under threat in the unfolding Nigeria’s case.

A whole lot of issues have been thrown up and are going to be thrown up to stop, derail, circumvent, discredit and frustrate the whole electoral process, from the issue of PVC, E-card reader to eligibility, security, threats of war, violence, intimidation, mudslinging, character assassination and so many other mundane issues which have no bearing with elections and sound democratic values.

The following are issues which we want to present to the whole world so as to call to order, anti democratic elements and forces of evil.

Free, fair, transparent and credible elections, a must!For a long time, Nigeria has basked in the embarrassment of controversial

elections, but we have come of age with the introduction of the E-card reader by the electoral management body that will forestall any form of rigging and manipulation which the Nigeria electoral system is known for. Unfortunately, we are shocked and disappointed that major political stakeholders are up in arms against the use of E-card reader which we all know will eliminate multiple voting, because the number of accredited voters will not be more than the number that will cast their votes as recorded by the E-card reader.

small arms and arms proliferation:The threats of war and violence have no place in democracy and must be

condemned. Thus, we are surprised that some characters in utter violation of democratic and civilized tenets have resorted to threatiocracy, that unless a particular candidate wins, there will be war and one would expect the security agencies to have responded to the threat by calling them to order, but we are not surprised that boko haram have been emboldened by such official negligence to issue threats against the conduct of the 2015 general elections. More so, we are disturbed by the proliferation of arms, small, big and deadly weapons. We are worried by the use of explosives in Okrika, Rivers State only recently which is a frightening dimension in electoral violence in our land. We use this opportunity to call on the security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities and urge them to further strengthen their intelligence gathering units to mop up all arms, ammunitions and explosives for us to have a violent free pre, during and post elections environment.

No to militarization of elections:The constitution is very clear and explicit as to the duties and

responsibilities of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as provided for in Section 217 and 218 of the 1999 constitution which states explicitly the role of the military and nowhere is it provided for in the aforementioned section of the constitution where the military is given powers to be involved in election matters. The Court of Appeal recently held that the military has no business in election matters. We want to add that election matters are purely civil matters which is called the festival of the voters, it is not a day of war, it is the day the voters through the ballot paper award a pass mark to a government or rejects it, that is the practice all over the world and Nigeria cannot be an exemption. So the use of the military to conduct elections, suppress voters, intimidate political opponents is an aberration and unconstitutional. However, we are surprised that Mr. Femi Fani Kayode is asserting that they are going to use the military irrespective of what the law says and we wonder, if he is a court of superior jurisdiction?

No to extension of election datesWe are opposed to any extension of the 2015 general elections by any

means whatsoever. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 in Section 135 (2) is clear as to the tenure of the government which is the handover date and any move or step taken against the actualisation of this date, will lead to serious constitutional crisis.

Transparency from the National assemblyWe shall continuously demand transparency and responsibility from

the National Assembly regarding their actions and or inactions targeted at compromising the electoral process as Nigerians shall demand for open voting at the floor of both Houses should any such matter come before the National Assembly.

?strict adherence to constitutionalismWe demand that Prof. Jega adhere strictly to the provisions of the

Electoral Act and the 1999 constitution empowering him to uphold the sanctity of March 28th and April 11th 2015 general elections dates without the interference of the Security Agencies, and to only postpone election in the places directly embroiled in uncontrollable crisis or war. We call on Professor Attahiru Jega to affirm his constitutional responsibility and refuse to be teleguided to carry out his statutory functions without fear or favour.

No to interim governmentIt is important to warn that Nigerians are opposed to any tinkering with

the current electoral process either by way of an illegal Interim National Government or military intervention and that March 28th and April 11th 2015 elections dates and May 29th Handover dates remain sacrosanct because any deviation will result in constitutional crisis that may implode the system.

Tenure elongationWe are not unaware of the proliferation of arms, armed conflict and

orchestrated crisis to heat up the polity and give plausible reasons for the intended six months tenure elongation of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

National securityWe demand that the National Security Adviser (NSA) and service

chiefs concentrate on their constitutional responsibility of defending and protecting the territorial integrity of the nation and hands off matters of election and electoral matters as recently upheld by the Court of Appeal because acting contrary for political expediency will be tantamount to violating the constitution.

collection of PVcWe call on all Nigerians to ensure that they collect their Permanent Voters

Card (PVC) which is the only guaranteed passport to vote on Election Day for a candidate of their choice devoid of intimidation, inducements, ethnic, religious and other mundane sentiments.

conclusionGentlemen of the press, it is said by Frantz Fanon that every generation

out of relative obscurity must discover its mission and either fulfil or betray it.

We are not unmindful of the pains and tragedy of the June 12, 1993 debacle and that we may not walk that path again, we insist that the government and INEC make March 28th and April 11th, 2015 and May 29th 2015 sacrosanct, immutable and definite.

We want it placed on record that times have changed and that what Nigerians permitted with little or no resistance in 1993, will not be allowed to repeat itself anymore as it’s obvious that the groundswell of public opinion is for the conduct of free, fair, transparent and credible polls come March 28th and April 11th 2015, no more, no less.

Signed:Comrade Titilope Akosa

Secretary.

W i d o d o h a s d e n i e d clemency to 11 convicts on death row, including Australian, French, and Brazilian nationals, ratcheting up diplomatic tensions amid repeated pleas for mercy.

Abbott had previously angered Jakarta by linking his pleas for clemency for the pair to Australia’s aid to Indonesia after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Jakarta responded by warning that threats were not part of diplomatic language.

“It was a positive sign that the conversation took place,” Abbott told reporters in Canberra. “It’s a sign of the depth of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia.”

He declined to comment on the conversation in detail.

“I don’t want to raise hope that might turn out to be dashed,” Abbott said.

“I want to ensure that as far as is humanly possible, I am speaking out for Australians and for Australian values, but I also have to respect and defend Australia’s friendships.”

Indonesian government officials have repeatedly said the planned executions, to be carried out by firing squads, would not be delayed or canceled despite diplomatic pressure. No date has been set for the executions.

“We understand the efforts made by Australia to represent their nationals. That’s the duty of all governments,” said Armanatha Nasir, spokesman

for Indonesia’s foreign ministry.

Widodo, who also took calls from Brazil, France, and the Netherlands this week, has warned those nations against interfering in Indonesia’s sovereign affairs.

Braz i l had a c i t i zen executed last month and another is among the next group on death row, along with a French national, the Australians and seven others. A Dutch citizen was executed last month.

“ W e a r e k e e p i n g communications open with Brazil and we anticipate only good things in our relations with other countries,” Nasir said.

Indones ia has ha rsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.

On Tuesday, a court in Jakarta threw out an appeal by the two Australians, Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31, against Widodo’s rejection of their request for presidential clemency.

Lawyers for the members of the so-called Bali Nine group of Australians, convicted in 2005 as the ringleaders of a plot to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, have said they plan to appeal against that decision.

22 OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015 55523health OSUN DEFENDEr Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Efficacy And Benefits Of Fruits Natural For Human Body FRUIT is one of the types of foods that

contain nutrients, vitamins and minerals are generally very good to eat every day.

Compared with chemical drugs supplements that are sold in stores, the fruit is much safer without the dangerous side effects as well as of the prices are generally much cheaper than supplements that have the same function.Below we can see the contents, properties and health benefits of some kind of fruit that is in the earth:

1. TOMaTO FruITs (TOMaTO)- Tomatoes contain vitamin A, B1 and C.- Tomatoes can help cleanse the liver and blood of our hearts.- Tomatoes can prevent various diseases and other health problems such as:a. bleeding gums.b. night blindness / kotok chicken.c. blood clotting.d. appendix.e. prostate cancer and breast cancer.

2. FruIT PaPaya (PaPaya)- Papaya contains vitamin C and provitamin A.- Papaya can help break down dietary fiber in the digestive system.- Papaya can Constructing smooth digestive tract.- Papaya can cope with or treat various diseases and other health problems such as:a. heal wounds.b. eliminate the infection.c. relieve allergies

3. BaNaNa FruIT (BaNaNa)- Bananas contain vitamins A, B1, B2 and C.- Bananas can help reduce stomach acid.- Bananas can help maintain water balance in the body.- Bananas can cope with or treat various diseases and other health problems such as:a. disorders of the stomach.b. heart disease and strokec. stressd. koleterol lowering levels in the blood.

4. FruIT MaNGO (MaNGO)- Mango contains vitamin A, E and C.- Mango can act as a disinfectant.- Mango can clean the blood.- Mango can cope with or treat various diseases and other health problems such as:a. body odor / dd / unpleasant body odor.b. lowering body heat during a fever.

5. sTraWBerry FruIT (sTraWBerry)- Strawberries contains provitamin A, vitamin B1, B and C.- Stobery substances contain antioxidants to fight free radicals.- Strawberries have their uses / other health functions such as:a. treat the health problems of the urinary bladder.b. a anti virusc. be anti-cancer

6. aPPLe FruIT (aPPLe)- Apples contain vitamin A, B and C.- Aple can help lower blood cholesterol levels.- Apple has a utility / other health functions such as:a. be anti-cancer substances.b. reduce appetite is too big.

7. FruIT OraNGe (OraNGe)- Orange contains vitamin A, B1, B2 and C.- Oranges containing anticancer for the body.- Juice can prevent and treat various diseases and other health problems such as:a. treat thrush.b. lower the risk of cardiovascular, cancer, and cataracts.

8. FruIT Pear / PIr (Pear)- Pear contains vitamin C and provitamin A.- Pear contains anti-oxidants that are good for health.- Pear can prevent various diseases and other health problems such as:a. reduce fever / body heat.b. menhilangkan dilute phlegm in cough and phlegm.

9. casheW FruIT seeds red / red casheW (Guava)- Guava contains vitamin C very much.- Guava contains antioxidant and anticancer agents.- Guava has a utility / other health functions such as:a. lower blood cholesterol levelsb. treat infections.c. keep treating canker sores.d. accelerate blood circulation.

e. launched the digestive tract.f. prevent constipation.

10. FruIT WaTerMeLON (Watermelon)- Watermelon contains vitamin C and provitamin A.- Watermelon can be allergenic.- Watermelon has a utility / other health functions such as:such as:a. lower cholesterol levels.b. prevent and restrain a heart attack.

11. FruIT MeLON (honeydew)- Melon contains vitamin C and provitamin A.- Melon contains anti-cancer and anti-oxidant.- Melon has a utility / other health functions

such as:a. prevent blood clots.b. cleanse the skin.c. menlancarkan digestive tract.d. kolestrerol lower levels.

12. carrOT FruIT (carrOT)- Carrots are rich in vitamin A.- Carrot good for maintaining eye health.- Carrots have a utility / other health functions such as:a. improve immunity and physical endurance.b. keep the heart healthy.

13. sTar FruIT FruIT (sTar FruIT)- Star fruit contains vitamin C and provitamin A.- Starfruit can help facilitate digestion of food.

10 Health Benefits Of Eggs For KidsTHE next time your kid complains too

much about eating eggs, you can list him the benefits given below!

1. complete Protein:Eggs are a complete protein food. Each egg

contains 6 grams of protein per serving.Proteins are the building blocks for a young

body and are required for new cell generation and regeneration of cells. Eggs help kids grow bigger and stronger.

Ensure that your kids consume one egg a day and you don’t need to give him a multivitamin at all!

2. eggs contain Lutein and zeaxanthin:Eggs are an excellent source of lutein and

Zeaxanthin, which are essential for healthy eyes.

They keep vision sharp and reduces the impact macular degeneration.

They also ensure the health of the retina.3. eggs contain choline:Choline helps in building the membranes

of the cells.It also important for the development of

the brain.Choline is also responsible for the molecules

of the brain which signal the nerves. 1 egg contains 100 mcg of choline.

4. eggs contain Omega-3s:Omega 3 a re hea l thy fa t s found

predominantly in fish.Omega 3 helps in early brain development

and cognitive memory.Regular consumption of eggs can help delay

the onset of arthritis and heart diseases as the kids mature into adults.

5. eggs are replete With Vitamin d:Eggs are an excellent source of vitamin D .Vitamin D is important for the bone health

of growing kids.Egg is the only food based source of

vitamin D.6. eggs help In healthy hair and Nails:Eggs contain 9 essential amino acids which

help in the growth of the healthy nails and hair for kids.

Kids are always chewing off their nails or breaking them and eggs ensure faster regrowth.

You can also use egg as a natural conditioner!7. complete Balance Of Fats:Eggs contain the right balance of saturated

and unsaturated fats which make it an excellent snack for growing bodies.

We are fighting childhood obesity on a global scale and hence we can feed eggs to the kids without any worries about obesity.

Try poached or boiled eggs, rather than fried ones!

8. eggs have Minimal cholesterol:Eggs have minimal harmful cholesterol. In

Fact, consumption of eggs leads to a spike in the HDL (good cholesterol).

This is extremely important keeping in mind the global children obesity epidemic.

You can prepare eggs with minimal fats lesser oil or boiled eggs ) to ensure that you kid receive adequate nutrition without the harmful effects.

9. eggs contain B12 Vitamin:Eggs are an excellent source of the B12

vitamin. It is better to get this vitamin naturally, thank in pill form.

Vit B12 is essential for neural health.This vitamin is also called cobalamin. It is

important for your child’s brain and nervous system development.

10. eggs contain Folic acid:This water soluble vitamin is equally

essential for the neural health of kids.A folate deficiency can lead to weakness

and nerve damage.So, it is essential to load up on eggs for the

right dose of folic acids.All these benefits reiterate the importance

of eggs in the diet of kids. Try and incorporate eggs in as many forms as possible as it is a versatile food.

Hope you liked our information about eggs for kids. Do share your experiences in the comments below.

- Starfruit has a utility / other health functions such as:a. lowering blood pressure.b. lower levels / levels of cholesterol in the body.

14. PINeaPPLe FruIT (PINeaPPLe)- Pineapple contains vitamin B and C.- Pineapple can prevent heart attacks and strokes / receipt.- Pineapple can treat a variety of diseases and other health problems such as:a. heal wounds.b. cure the infection in the digestive tract.To be healthy naturally without chemicals eat a variety of fruits to taste every day for the health of our precious bodies.

1 1 B e n e fi t s O f G r e e n T e a NOT for the love of the taste — no way! I

drink it because I’m told it’s good for me…or, to be honest, the real reason I

drink it is because I believe it help keeps my weight in check. But recently I decided to look into it a bit deeper and see what are all these other benefits of green tea people talk of.

Why Green Tea?Green tea has been used as a medicine for

thousands of years, originating in China but widely used throughout Asia this beverage has a multitude of uses from lowering blood pressure to preventing cancer. The reason that green tea has more health benefits attached to it than black tea is (apparently) due to the processing. Black tea is processed in a way that allows for fermentation whereas green tea’s processing avoids the fermentation process. As a result, green tea retains maximum amount of antioxidants and poly-phenols the substances that give green tea its many benefits.

Here’s a list of some of its amazing benefits — benefits that you may not have been aware of. Some of these benefits are still being debated, so please do your own research if you want to use green tea for medicinal purposes.

Weight Loss. Green tea increases the metabolism. The polyphenol found in green tea works to intensify levels of fat oxidation and the rate at which your body turns food into calories.

Diabetes. Green tea apparently helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of

blood sugar after eating. This can prevent high insulin spikes and resulting fat storage.

Heart Disease. Scientists think, green tea works on the lining of blood vessels, helping keep them stay relaxed and better able to withstand changes in blood pressure. It may also protect against the formation of clots, which are the primary cause of heart attacks.

Esophageal Cancer. It can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, but it is also widely thought to kill cancer cells in general without damaging the healthy tissue around them.

Cholesterol. Green tea reduces bad cholesterol in the blood and improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It is said to delay the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Studies carried out on mice showed that green tea protected brain cells from dying and restored damaged brain cells.

Tooth Decay. Studies suggests that the chemical antioxidant “catechin” in tea can destroy bacteria and viruses that cause throat infections, dental caries and other dental conditions

Blood Pressure. Regular consumption of green tea is thought to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

Depression. Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in tea leaves. It is this substance that is thought to provide a relaxing and tranquilizing effect and be a great benefit to tea drinkers.

Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial. Tea catechins are strong antibacterial and antiviral agents which make them effective for treating everything from influenza to cancer. In some studies green tea has been shown to inhibit the spread of many diseases.

Skincare. Green tea can apparently also help with wrinkles and the signs of aging, This is because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated that green tea applied topically can reduce sun damage.

How Much?These are some of the many benefits but the

reality is one cup of tea a day will not give you all the abundant gains. The jury is out on how many cups are necessary; some say as little as two cups a day while others five cups — and more still say you can drink up to ten cups a day. If you are thinking of going down this route, you may want to consider taking a green tea supplement instead (it would keep you out of the bathroom).

Another thing to point out is that there is caffeine in green tea — so if you are sensitive to caffeine then one cup should be your limit. Green tea also contains tannins (which can decrease the absorption of iron and folic acid), so if you are pregnant or trying to conceive then green tea may not be ideal for you. You can try mixing green tea with other healthy ingredients such as ginger.

For the rest of us with all these abundant benefits…it’s a wonder we drink anything else.

Fashion & LifestyleWith

eNIOLa aGBaJe and OkPOMu shOLa

healthy Living7 Best Foods To eat For healthy eyes

A l a r g e n u m b e r o f individuals, through close research and observations,

has been shown to be suffering from various optical problems including Cataract. In view of this, we bring to your disposal, some foods that have been proven to aid better sight.

1. carrOTs: They are an excellent source

of Vitamin A and Beta-carotene that promotes overall eye health. Vitamin A is crucial for the surface of the eyes and lids, while Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the cells of the eyes from free radical damage. Also, the beta-carotene helps to lower the risks of cataract and macular degeneration.

2. LeaFy GreeNs Lettuce, spinach and generally,

every type of vegetable are good for not only the eyes, but the whole body. These vegetables contain very potent antioxidants (Zeaxanthin and Lutein), which helps lower the risks of chronic eye diseases.

3. cOrN Now, this is one of the most

popular vegetable known to mankind and one way or the other, everybody has consumed corn. Corn is fortified with Vitamin C, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B1 and Folate. Consuming corn on a regular basis lowers risks of Cataracts and helps prevent the loss of yellow pigments in the eyes.

4. OLIVe OIL The major reason why olive

oil is so beneficial to your eyes is that it helps your body absorb nutrients from the other foods that can help keep your eyes healthy.

It is therefore advisable to drizzle olive oil over your mixed salad to absorb all of the nutrients from the tomatoes and leafy greens, and cook your sweet potatoes and meat with olive oil to get the most nutrients.

5. Turkey One of the best and extremely

tasty foods to eat for a healthy eye is Turkey. It is rich in both the B-vitamins Niacin and Zinc. It is also fortified with B-vitamins tryptophan, phosphorus, protein and selenium. It is low in cholesterol and saturated fat. It can easily be substituted for both beef and chicken. The regular consumption of turkey keeps the eyes healthy and can help prevent cataract.

6. TOMaTOes They are great source of

carotenoids, including Lycopene, a great antioxidant, which helps protect the retina and other areas of the eye from the light- induced damages. It also helps protect your cells from damage and prevents prostrate, stomach and lung cancer. Tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C that helps protect the eyes and vision. It can be added to your everyday meal either as garnishing or dressing or by drinking the juice, which is packed with essential vitamins and minerals.

7.sWeeT POTaTOes Sweet potatoes have got to

be everyone’s favourite type of tuber. They are amazing at helping cater for healthy eyes, as they are a great source of Beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, fibres, manganese and potassium, which are all essential

healthy LivingTop 5 Foods For Perfect skinNOTHING speaks better

than a beautiful and healthy skin and nothing

attracts people more than a glowing and alluring skin. Although, it has suddenly been difficult in recent times to maintain a healthy and blemish-free skin, but here are some few tips on how to maintain that special glow of your skin through the consumption of some very affordable food items everyday.

1. The red BeLL PePPer The red bell pepper popularly

known as “Tatase” is a very tasty vegetable that can be enjoyed either cooked or used as dressing for a meal. One red bell pepper contains more than a 100% of our daily Vitamin C needs, Vitamin B6 and some significant amount of dietary fibre. It is rich in carotenoids that help prevent your skin from wrinkles and also increases blood circulation to the skin, thereby helping you have that youthful look and glowing skin.

2. dark chOcOLaTe Dark chocolate is rich in

antioxidants, fatty acids and flavanols that promotes glowing skin. These antioxidants help reduce roughness in your skin and protects it against sun

damages. It also contains cocoa, which relaxes the arteries and increase blood circulation that leads to a smooth and healthier skin.

3. saLMON Salmon is an excellent sea food

that helps fight stress, anxiety and depression. It also provides the body with most of our daily Vitamin D needs. Salmons are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids that are excellent for eradicating inflammation, wrinkles and acne. Omega-3 also helps hydrate the skin from inside out.

4. cOcONuT OIL Coconut oil is one of the richest

sources of saturated fat with about 90% of calories of saturated fat. Coconut oil is rich in Vitamin E for keeping your skin moist, soft and free of wrinkles. It also

contains Lauric acid, a powerful ant ibac ter ia l and ant iv i ra l agent that keeps away viruses, inflammation, infections and acne. The application of coconut oil on the skin and also consumption of at least one tablespoon full of raw coconut oil daily helps the skin radiate and gives it that healthy outward glow.

5. GreeN Tea Well, everybody knows that

green tea is good for the body, but what we don’t know is that it is a great source of antioxidants and amino acids that helps relax your body and lower stress. Green tea releases Catechins, a kind of antioxidant with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. It also helps reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure.

Reflectiondepth Of Our strengthDAYS of our life are sometimes

filled with so much struggle. Some of us even call it

“hustle”. Each day is like a new, fresh battle day. We fight for space and thrive for recognition. I guess that’s part of our makeup. Living things are bound to compete and fight in order to remain a living being.

While struggling daily, we get disappointed, heart-broken, hurt or injured; creating scars and wounds. These make some of us weak, depressed with the thought that we cannot carry on.

We get carried away in our deep thoughts and conflict. Too busy to take a break, too occupied to breathe again. Too busy chasing one thing we can’t control; TIME. Deadlines are set, appointments are made and in our efforts to meet up with time, several events unfold and some leave us knocked out, battered and bruised. Then we go back to our “can’t (s) and negativity. A man once said: “Our deepest fear is not that we are

inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measures “. Over 100 trillion cells lay within a living human body, in which over 180 million cells are generated every minute. The cells in us are more than the number of stars in the galaxy.

Within us lay great strength, capacity and energy. Possibility; great might to do just anything we want to do. Beneath every obstacle lies a way out. No problem is without a solution. Only if we are too afraid to take the risks it demands. This is where motivation and persistence come in.

In 1945, Anna Jarmics hands were amputated due to an explosion of a grenade. Recovery was slow and painful. Back then, there were no rehabilitation facilities to aid recovery and no anaesthetics. How do you do when you are ten years old with no hands. She went to school, learnt how to pick up a pencil. Despite no fingers

or thumbs, she learnt how to write and hold things.

Though it was hard and almost impossible, but Anna was not a quitter. “Impossible “ did not exist in her vocabulary. While working as a security guard, Anna broke her back. She had to go through two major operation procedures. No hands, broken back, also a single mother of four; how harder can life get. As circumstances set boundaries, Anna found a way to thrive and shine brighter.

Anna Jarmics is an award-winning artist, whose water-colour paintings have been winning ribbon at Calgary Stampede for decades. She also had many championship wins including gold medals in darts at the senior Olympics.

No matter how life gets, there is always a reason to get tougher and triumph, because we can do anything.

FashionGetting dressed up For The WeekendTH E w e e k e n d i s

e v e r y b o d y ’s m o s t anticipated time of the

week. Mostly because it’s the time to unwind and have fun. Majorly, weekends are known for all kinds of fun activities; weddings, birthday parties, house warming and all other types of get-together. Friends get to hang-out, shop at the mall, go to the beach, see a movie and catch-up on basically all fun stuffs.

After very busy weekdays, it would be rather inappropriate to be caught in our working or serious outfits during the weekend. This time of the week is when it will be easy for us to put on something less serious and uptight but still elegant and

stunning. Casual dresses, jeans and

tops and a pair of flat or heeled shoes or even sandals, as the case may be will do the magic. For the men, you can rock your jeans or short with a T-shirt and a casual footwear (loafers,

sneakers) or even a very simple slippers to go with it.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

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Let’s Resolve To Have Peaceful Elections

AUDACIOUS ExPLOIT

with MurTaLa aGBOOLa

TeL: 0806-119-7897e-mail: murtalamuag@yahoo.com

IN 28 days time, Nigerians would be queuing up to vote in the president ia l and Nat ional

Assembly elections. This may not be the first election in the fourth republic but it has generated a lot of interest from all Nigerians. In the classical sense, Nigeria is not practicing a two-party system, but two parties stand out as the formidable ones.

The fourth republic started with President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) being elected in 1999. Since then, it has been PDP all the way. Late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, who died in office, won in 2007 before the sitting president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan contested and won in 2011.

The behemoth called PDP was so much comfortable with its entrenched system that it began to boast that it would rule the country for at least sixty years.

This was at a time that the opposition parties were not strong enough to meet force with force with the PDP. When the four parties, All Progressives Congress (APC), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria People’s Congress (ANPP), and a splinter faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) attempted a merger, the PDP dismissed it with a wave of hand. Their coming together was consummated into the All Progressives Congress (APC), which has become the nemesis of the PDP. The PDP, besides being inept about the governance of the country, has now seen the major opposition party as a big threat. For once, the PDP feels threatened and what they thought was their birthright has suddenly evaporated.

The air of conceitedness has given way to consultation and mending of fences within the party. The implosion that occurred within the party gave way to some governors and leaders of the party leaving for the opposition APC.

Senators , Members of the House of Representatives and State Parliamentarians also left in droves to the APC. Our democracy became the better for it. Our political enlightenment and disposition became enriched. President Jonathan was compelled to leave his comfort zone to reach out to people he felt could be of help to achieve his re-election bid.

There is no campaign in Nigeria that has been so intense and frenzied like this one. The social media is not left out. The traditional media, both print and broadcast have enjoyed good patronage. Past deeds of leaders have been unearthed. Statements, policies and actions of our leaders in the past have been brought to the limelight.

All these points to one fact, which is, we need to be mindful of what we do now. It also tells us that we are developing to a level that our would-be leaders’ past are exposed to make

them acceptable to the people they are governing.

To prevent violence, peace-pacts were signed across the country; first at the national level amongst the presidential candidates under the supervision of the ers twhi le Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Mr Emeka Anyaoku. President Jonathan of PDP, General Muhammadu Buhari of APC and other presidential candidates were involved.

The essence of the peace-pact was to ensure that the election is violence-free. It is to ensure that peace prevails during electioneering campaigns and the election proper. The same pacts were signed in most states.

However, the peace-pacts not withstanding, violence has erupted in some states, especially in Rivers

State.The violence that erupted at

Okirika in River State during the electioneering campaign of the APC recently is to say the least unfortunate and despicable. Okirika is the hometown of the First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan.

According to available information, the first request by APC was turned down by the police authorities in Rivers State, ostensibly to allow them time to provide proper security coverage. The second request was equally turned down because it coincided with the time the First Lady, Mrs Jonathan was scheduled to visit her hometown.

The third request was granted and considered safe by the police authorities to enable the APC to undertake the campaign rally. Not only was a policeman killed, Mr Charles Eruka, a Senior

Correspondent of the Channels Television, a private broadcast outfit based in Lagos, was stabbed in the neck. Hardly had the organizers begun the campaign rally, when some thugs started to shoot sporadically into the air and into the crowd to disperse them.

The fundamental question then is, of what use are the peace-pacts? President Jonathan’s presidential campaign train was also attacked in the North. All these ugly incidences do not solve our problems.

It is not enough for the leaders to sign peace-pacts without internal iz ing i t with their followers. The fanfare that goes with signing the parts under klieglights is not what we need. There should be robust connection between political leaders and their followers, such that they would heed to the counsel of their leaders. Some of these followers tend to believe, albeit wrongly, that they can only become relevant, if they kill and main in the name of the leader.

President Jonathan has said it openly and clear that his ambition is not worth the life of any Nigerian. Has he pursued politics without bitterness?

In the interim, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the media and the political parties should continue with their political education. However, in the long run, formal education is the panacea to all these problems. Citizens armed with education believe they have prospects to become relevant in the future, hence, would not lay down their lives for others. The tragedy of our dispensation is that illiterates and some uninformed persons believe that without their mentors in power, they are doomed forever. In their own myopic thinking, they think that they should do everything to protect the interest of their leaders.

With the foregoing, it becomes very clear that we must all resolve to have a peaceful election. We should start from our homes, our mosques, churches, and our neighbourhood to educate people on the vanity of power, which does not require killing. The enl ightenment should not be left to either leaders of political parties alone or the media. It is our responsibility to contribute to the success of the forthcoming election. In the interest of everybody and the nation, we should pursue our interest legitimately, so that we live to vote another time. By the time you will be reading this column in four weeks time, we would be on the queue voting to elect our new President.

•JEGA