Thursday, october 16, 2016

Vol. 3 N0. 657 Thursday, July 4, 2013 N150 Vol. 4 N0. 962 Thursday, October 16, 2014 N150

Buhari formally declares to run for presidency

Insurgency: Nigeria, Cameroun to send joint operation pact to UN, AU P.6

...says I’ll battle corruption

Seven ministers quit as FEC bids farewell

P.4

2015 Budget: FG proposes

$78 oil benchmark

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

FEMI OYEWESO AND ADEOLA TUKURU Former Head of State,

Maj.-Gen. Muham-madu Buhari, yester-

day declared his intention to run for the presidency next

year and promised to tackle corruption in the country.

During his declaration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Bu-

Badeh

Okonjo-Iweala

P.52

Morocco 2015: Super Eagles claim fi rst AFCON win...beats Sudan 3-1

Again, health workers begin nationwide strike...accuse minister, NMA of fueling misunderstanding

P.2

...Council holds valedictory session

ROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, yester-day held a valedicto-

ry session for seven serving ministers leaving the cabi-net to pursue gubernatorial ambitions in their states.

President Goodluck Jon-athan had earlier given the ministers till next Monday to quit cabinet so that they could concentrate on their political ambitions.

Mutiny: Army arraigns 59 soldiers

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L-R: Outgoing ministers: Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu (Health); Dr. Samuel Ortom (State for Trade and Investment); Mr. Labaran Maku (Information) and Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

P.4

Seven ministers quit as FEC bids farewell

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net2 Thursday, October 16, 2014News

Again, health workers begin nationwide strike

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Gen. Mohammadu Buhari acknowledging cheers from the crowd at the declaration of intent for All Progressives Congress presidential race in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO ROTIMI OSASONA

KEMI OLAITANIBADAN

Health workers will from today begin an indefinite strike

over intractable crisis rocking the sector.

They include non-com-mencement of residency training programme for health professionals, non-implementation of new cal-duty allowance and non-payment of arrears of CONHESS 10.

National President of the Nigeria Union of Al-lied Health Professionals, NUAHP, Felix Faniran, who made the disclosure yesterday while address-ing journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said there was no going back on the ‘total and indefinite strike’.

NUAHP is an umbrella body of professionals like physiotherapists, medi-cal laboratory scientists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, optometrists, dietitians, medical social workers, clinical psycholo-gists and dental therapists.

Faniran, accused the Presidency, the Minister for Health, Prof. Onyebu-chi Chukwu and the lead-ers of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, of fuel-ing and sustaining the cri-sis in the sector since 2010.

He traced the origin of the present crisis to how the NMA allegedly frus-trated the bid to appoint the late Prof. Dora Akuny-ili as health minister a few years ago.

He said: “When it be-came apparent that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was unable to continue to discharge his duties as President due to ill health, his vice, Dr. Eb-ele Jonathan, was sworn in as Acting President after the Senate had proclaimed ‘doctrine of necessity’.

“Mr. President dissolved the erstwhile cabinet and proposed a new one. The name of Prof. Dora Akuny-ili, now of blessed memory and a prominent and vocal member of the previous administration, made the new list.

“Most public commen-tators expected her to be named Minister for Health. Sensing this, the Nigeria Medical Association en-gaged in media blackmail against the appointment of Dora or any other person than a medical practitioner of NMA member.

“This was the origin of the present crisis in the health sector. There had been other issues at stake whose roots were found in the administration of Gen. Babangida’s military re-gime, when Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti, a medical practitioner, was made minister of health from 1985-1993.

“Three major challenges were noticed in the Ran-some Kuti’s era which af-fected our people.”

Speaking on the current alleged partisanship and discriminatory attitude against his union, Fani-

ran said: “In May 2010, the unions in the health sector under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions, JO-HESU, presented a memo-randum to the government containing some demands.

“A presidential panel headed by Justice Abdula-hi Bello Gusau, was set up in August to look into the demands. This panel was inhibited from carrying out her duties by both the NMA and the minister of health by way of protests and criticisms on the part of NMA while the minister obstructed the committee by starving her of funds and issuance of circulars to pre-empt the outcome of the panel.

“Ultimately, the panel submitted its report in No-vembe 2011. Up till today, none of the 27 recommen-dations of the panel has been implemented.

“It should be noted that another panel, the Minis-terial Committee on Medi-cal/Dental Practitioners Residency Programmes which was set up the same day with Abdulahi Bello’s committee, did not only complete and submit its re-port as scheduled, the rec-ommendations are already being implemented. What a great discrimination?” he added.

He stressed that Chuk-wu in 2010 deliberately and unilaterally issued inter-

nal memo that robbed oth-er health professionals of the benefits they had been enjoying since 70s and ear-ly 80s including teaching, rural posting allowances, promotion from salary level 09 to 11, consultancy status and non-payment of specialist allowance.

“The five-point agree-ment signed in May 2012, remained un-implemented till today. These include promotion of our quali-fied members to the post of directors in the Federal Ministry of Health and agencies, having spent four to 15years on the grade of Assistant Deputy Director, extension of re-tirement age from 60 to

65years and 70years for non-consultants respec-tively and constitution of the management of boards of hospitals to reflect good presence of other health care professionals rather than the present situation where medical practitio-ners dominate each board with 10members out of 13leaving other profession-als with only one represen-tative,” he added.

On the likely groaning effects of the strike on the people, Faniran said gov-ernment should be held responsible, saying all known avenues to avert the avoidable development were explored with no re-sult.

This, according to him, has become imperative con-sidering the directive by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that public officers seeking elective positions must resign their appoint-ments before October 20.

The President at the FEC meeting stated that the af-fected ministers include Mr. Labaran Maku (Informa-tion), Chief Emeka Nwogu (Labour) and Prof. Onyebu-chi Chukwu (Health).

The ministers of state that will also quit the cabi-net include Senator Musiliu Obanikoro (Defence), Mr. Nyesom Wike (Education), Dr. Samuel Ortom (Industry, Trade and Investment) and

Darius Ishaku (Niger Delta).The President, however,

did not mention three other ministers that had shown interest in becoming gover-nors of their states.

They are Senator Bala Muhammed (Federal Capi-tal Territory), Taminu Turaki (Special Duties) and Bahir Yuguda (Minister of State, Finance)

At the valedictory ses-sion, President Jonathan stated that since the minis-ters had not formally writ-ten to the Secretary to the Government of the Federa-tion, Anyim Pius Anyim, indicating their interests to resign they would still be seen as council members.

However, with the vale-dictory session yesterday,

the seven ministers were not likely to attend the next FEC meeting on Wednesday.

Speaking on behalf of the Federal Government, Power Minister, Chinedu Nebo, commended the min-isters and prayed for the re-alisation of their ambitions.

Maku, who spoke on be-half of the outgoing minis-ters, commended the Presi-dent for his steadfastness, focus and integrity.

The minister, who stated that they did not lobby to become cabinet ministers, urged the President not to be distracted by the opposition.

Maku noted that Jona-than, like former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, ensured stability of the cabinet by not frequently

sacking or replacing coun-cil members.

Meanwhile, FEC yester-day approved N2.7bn con-tract for the reconstruction of some roads in the the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed this at a press briefing after the the FEC meeting.

According to the minis-ter, the roads and bridges which are located in the Wuse and Garki areas, were built in the 1980s and, there-fore, needed to be recon-structed and upgraded.

He explained that the project would be in two phases, saying that the first phase which started in 2012 and awarded at N2.5bn was

near completion.Minister of Special Du-

ties, Mr. Taminu Turaki, also disclosed that the council approved a contract for the purchase of branded special sporting equipment for dis-tribution to selected primary schools in the country.

He explained that the first batch of the equip-ment, which would cost N600m, would be distrib-uted to 981 primary schools with nine schools in each of the senatorial zones.

According to him, the contract for the sporting equipment was part of the intervention project of the National Lottery Trust Fund.

He maintained gov-ernment was planning

to ensure that talents in sports were discovered at a young age.

Turaki said by target-ing primary schools, gov-ernment would enhance skills and improve capac-ity development.

Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, also dis-closed that the council approved a draft national policy on labour migra-tion which would effec-tively manage the move-ment of labour across national and internation-al borders.

According to him, the policy would improve the image of the country and help to protect the dignity of Nigerians working in other countries.

3Thursday, October 16, 2014National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net

2015 budget: FG proposes $78 oil benchmark, N160 exchange rate


L-R: Managing Director, TNS-RMS, Thomas Walker; Digital Marketing Manager, Guaranty Trust Bank, Labisi Jinadu; Chief Digital Officer, Media ReachOMD, Patrick Gomes, and Communi-cations and Public Affairs Manager, Google West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, at the Google House Exclusive Demo event, organised by Google Nigeria in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R:Goodwill Ambassador of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)/Chief Executive Officer, MainOne Cable, Ms. Funke Opeke; Chairman, Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, and Goodwill Ambassador, Mr. Innocent Idibia, during a press conference and unveiling of the Ambassadors of Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos, on Tuesday.

L-R: Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minima; Cameroonian Chief of Defence Staff, Lt.-Gen. Claude Rene, and Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Alex Badeh, during the Nigeria/Cameroon Bilateral Conference on Trans-Border Operations in Abuja, yesterday.

GEORGE OJIABUJA

The Federal Govern-ment has proposed $78 as crude oil

benchmark price and an exchange rate of N160 to the US dollar for the 2015 budget proposal.

The projection was con-tained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, which was sent to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jona-than on Wednesday.

President Jonathan in a letter which accompanied the document noted that MTEF and FSP were pre-pared against the backdrop of the global economic un-certainty and developments in the domestic environ-ment.

In fixing the oil bench-mark, the MTEF stated that the proposal was driven by the need to be cautious in the revenue projections giv-en the volatile nature of oil production and the need to build the nation’s fiscal buf-

fers, which have been very useful in periods of revenue shocks.

Jonathan had last year, pegged the benchmark at $74 per barrel but the Joint Committee of the National Assembly, after several days of disagreement, finally put the benchmark at $77.5 per barrel.

The document also set oil production projection for 2015 at 2.2782m barrel per day, which was lower than the 2.3883m bpd for this fis-cal year.

The crude production projection for 2015, accord-ing to the document, was predicated on present reali-ties in the oil sector and ex-tensive consultations with relevant stakeholders.

For 2014, the document stated that the Federal Gov-ernment applied a risk fac-tor (production losses) of 300, 000 bpd to the oil pro-duction projection due to production shut-in, result-ing from the activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals in late 2012 and early 2013.

It however stated that

the risk factors had been reduced to 150, 000 bpd due to improved government ef-forts at tackling setbacks in the sector.

It further explained that the oil production figure for 2015 was lower than that of last year due to lack of new investments in the sector due to uncertainties owing to the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB.

However, the MTEF not-ed that oil production has been estimated at 2.327m bpd and 2.4067m bpd for 2016 and 2017 respectively.

“These projections are indicative of government’s position to improve actual production capacity of the oil sector,” it added.

The document further stated that the rising US oil output has had great impact on the oil market as prices hovered around $110 per barrel in the last three years despite OPEC’s production disruptions.

It noted that almost all the oil production lost over the past few years has been

UBONG UKPONGABUJA

Fifty nine out of the 60 soldiers accused of mutiny were, yester-

day, arraigned by the Nige-rian Army before a General Court Martial, GCM, sitting at the Army Headquarters, AHQ Garrison, Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja.

One of the 60 accused sol-diers earlier slated for trial could, however, not be ar-raigned following his poor state of health.

However, all the 59 sol-

diers pleaded not guilty to the two counts charge bordering on conspiracy to commit mutiny and mutiny.

The prosecution, led by Capt. J E. Nwosu, in an oral application to the Court Martial, said it intends to amend the charge, so as to strike out the name of LCpl Anthony Simeon, who is said to be medically unfit to take plea as required by law.

The prosecution said it was relying on Section 153 of the Criminal Code, which required an accused to be in court to take his plea person-

ally. The prosecution said he is also relying on Rule 82, Rules of Procedure to strike out Simeon’s name.

However, the defence counsel led by Major Oluwa-femi Oyebanji, rtd, holding brief for Femi Falana, SAN, counsel to the 60 accused soldiers, objected to the amendment on the ground that the 60 accused soldiers, were not standing trial indi-vidually but as a group.

The President of the Court Martial, Brigadier -General. M S Yusuf and

replaced by the US Shale boom and increased Cana-dian production.

“Consequently, the value of US import of Nigeria’s crude dropped by about 69 percent from $38bn in 2008 to $12bn in 2013.

“It is estimated that crude production in the US would average 9.3m bpd in 2015. It will debits highest level since 1972. This will

put further pressure on oil price,” it said.

The MTEF further stated that “Nigeria’s debt stock was the equivalent of about $65.26bn as at March 2014 with the Federal Govern-ment responsible for about 80 per cent, while the 36 states and the FCT account-ed for the balance of 20 per-cent.”

It implied a debt to GDP

ratio of 12.8 per cent. “The total debt stock is

comprised of external debt stock of $9.17bn and domes-tic debt stock of $56.09bn,” the document added.

The document further added that the Federal Gov-ernment has pegged the exchange rate at N160 per dollar as part of the instru-ments to implement the 2015 budget.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net4 Thursday, October 16, 2014Photo News

National News

L-R: Consul General, U.S. Consulate, Mr. Jeffery Hawkins; Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Leadership Initiative, Yinka Oyinlola; U.S. Ambassador, James Entwistle, and his wife, Pamela, during the Diplomatic Dialogue Series, where foreign policy meets the business community in Lagos, yesterday.




Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha (left) collecting his nomination form for the Imo State governorship primary from National Organising Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapher, at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.

2015: Buhari formally declares to run for presidencyNational Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 5Thursday, October 16, 2014 News

hari lamented that the rest of the world was looking at Nigeria as the home of cor-ruption.

“Nigeria is a country where stealing is not cor-ruption”.

He also explained that since 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had presided over our country’s decline.

“Nigeria in my experi-ence has never been so di-vided, so polarised by an un-thinking government hell bent on ruling and stealing forever whatever befalls the country.

“Mr. Chairman, we in APC are resolved to stop them in their tracks and res-cue Nigeria from the stran-glehold of PDP.

“I humbly wish to pres-ent myself before you, before all of Nigeria and before God seeking to be elected as APC’s presiden-tial candidate.

“We have worked very hard in the last 18 months to put up structures from the polling units to wards, local governments, states and the centre.

“These structures will lead to free and fair polls. There is no point in holding elections if they are not free and fair.

“Interference in the form of rigging, which the PDP government has practised since 2003, is the worst form of injustice - denying people their right to express their opinions. Whether they like it or not, injustice cannot en-dure,” he said.

He added that the last 16 years of PDP government had witnessed decline in all critical sectors of life in Ni-geria.

“There is now general in-security in the land, apart from Boko Haram, there is prevalence of armed rob-bery, kidnappings and kill-ings, cattle rustling, market and farmland arson.

“These outrages have taken a new and a frighten-ing dimension, disrupting economic and social life across whole communities.

“The economy continues to deteriorate while the gov-ernment continues to an-nounce fantastic growth fig-ures but manufacturing is down, agriculture is down, commerce is down.

“After 15 years and $20bn spent, we are generating be-tween 3,000 and 4,000 MW. No failure is more glaring

than this.We in APC are resolved

to bring change to Nigeria. We plan to do things differ-ently.

“We plan to put prior-ity on protection of lives and property, pursuing eco-nomic policies for shared prosperity and immediate attention on youth employ-ment, quality education for development, modernity and social mobility, agricul-tural productivity for taking millions out of poverty and ensuring food security,” Bu-hari said.

Also, the APC Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, said 14 governors were in support of the party and they were all determined to work to-gether to bring change to the country.

“If the PDP says they have an anti- corrupt person like him, they should show us .They don’t have one per-son and not even half. APC has provided an alternative for the country and we are tested and trusted.

“I heard Mr. President and PDP are claiming the glory of fighting Ebola. Riv-er State government spent N116m to fight Ebola and the Federal Government just brought N200m last week. If we had waited for the money, wouldn’t Ebola have spread round Rivers State? The PDP government didn’t do anything for us, so why are they publicising Ebola and claiming the glo-ry,” he said.

Amaechi also said that members of the APC would ensure that the party won the election. “We will use our body to fight this elec-tion.”

Meanwhile, former In-terim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, yesterday raised the alarm that Nigeria un-der the administration of President Goodluck Jona-than was gradually drifting towards autocracy.

Akande, who described the PDP as one of the “im-punity and power tyranny”, also accused the Jonathan administration of using di-visive propaganda to cause disaffection among the various ethnic nationali-ties, particularly the Yoruba race, to live in fear.

He, however, urged Ni-gerians to resist attempt by President Jonathan-led Federal Government to drift the nation into autoc-

racy through imposition of unwanted leaders in some states of the South-West.

The former Osun State governor said this while delivering his address as the Chairman at the First Dauda Adegbenro Founda-tion Memorial Lecture in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital yesterday.

The lecture was in hon-our of the former Premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Dauda Adegbenro.

Speaking at the event which had as its theme, “Is Nigeria democratising?”, Akande went down the memory lane and traced the origin of imposition of lead-ers on the Yoruba by federal authorities to the crisis that engulfed the Western Re-gion in the 1960s.

“We are back in similar era of using the regime of impunity in Jonathan’s fed-eral government to impose unwanted individuals as

leaders in each of the states of Yoruba land,” Akande said.

The APC chieftain said President Jonathan had been persecuting the Yoru-ba race since he emerged as President at the 2011 polls.

He stressed that the Pre-dident had marginalised the people of the South- West in the scheme of things in the country.

“Apart from marginalis-ing the Yoruba in all con-stitutional appointments of his government, Jonathan’s trait has always been to per-secute the Yoruba leaders who he perceived to have contrary views to his own.

“Jonathan’s first and most significant act of in-gratitude to the Yoruba was when he maliciously arrest-ed and prosecuted unjusti-fiably Dimeji Bankole and Senator Bola Tinubu.

“No government has ever disrespected the Yoruba like

the Jonathan administra-tion. But it is yet morning because a few of us with our followers are resolved to continue the struggle for a just and democratic Nigeria. More importantly, though for a Yoruba nation that can stand up against discrimination, nepotism and power tyranny.”

Akande also alleged that part of the strategy Presi-dent Jonathan was employ-ing which further reinforced his ingratitude was the use of divisive propaganda to cause disaffections among ethnic nationalities in the country for selfish reasons.

Akande also said Presi-dent Jonathan worked against the formation of APC, stressing that the Pres-ident did his best to make the party’s registration a tough task.

According to him, the Ac-tion Congress of Nigeria, ACN, going into alliance

with other opposition par-ties to form a strong opposi-tion in the mold of APC, does not translate to abandoning the South-West or looking for undue favours from the North as the Congress for Prograssive Change, CPC, and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, were not ruling party at the centre.

“No one can accuse the ACN leaders of cringing or for undue clinging to the northern leaders for selfish material gains by securing the merger of oppositions in Nigeria because federal power was not in the hands of the northern leaders of ANPP and CPC when the merger of opposition par-ties was enacted.”

Akande, however, told the gathering that APC was an answer to Nigerians’ de-mand, emphasising that the party was ready to confront the ruling PDP at future elections.

Lt. Colonel Ukpe Ukpe as Judge Advocate, after lis-tening to both parties, held that the charge should be amended to exclude LCpl Anthony Simeon and read Cpl Andrew Ogolekwu and 58 others.

The Court Martial also held that the prosecution has the right to strike out the

name of any accused person and represent the same for trial if and when it chooses to do so.

Consequently, the de-fence counsel prayed the Court Martial to stand down the case for an hour to enable them prepare their case, as the new charge is different from what they have originally

and the plea was granted by the court.

Upon resumption, the medical representative of the Defence Headquarters, DHQ Medical Centre, an-nounced that Cpl Andrew Ogolekwu and 58 others were fit to stand trial.

The prosecution in an oral statement told the court, that they are ready

to arraign the accused per-sons and open their case.

Reading out the charge, the prosecution said that the accused soldiers at Muleyi Primary School, Borno State, on August 4, 2014 conspired together to commit mutiny against the authority of the Nige-rian Army 7 Division, Mai-duguri, Borno State.

6 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014 News

GEORGE OJIABUJA

The new anti-terror-ism bill being pro-cessed by the Senate

targets support from 120 countries to collaborate with Nigeria on issues of trans-border crimes.

Entitled, “A Bill for an Act to make provisions for mutual Assistance in a Criminal Matters Bill, 2014,” the bill is sponsored by the Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba.

The bill passed second reading yesterday in the senate and was committed to the committee stage for public hearing.

In his lead debate, Ndo-ma-Egba explained that the Bill was designed to make comprehensive provisions to facilitate the exchange of mutual assistance in criminal matters between Nigeria and about 120 other foreign countries.

The lawmaker stated that with the advent of globalisation and advance-ment in communications technology, criminal activi-ties across national borders have continued to grow in momentum.

He said this has contin-ued to raise issues of ter-ritorial jurisdiction which in many ways constitute bottlenecks and a source of great challenge in the suc-cessful prosecution of these crimes.

He said the bottlenecks are particularly evident in areas where elements of the offence are committed or traceable to more than one jurisdiction.

In Nigeria today, the Sen-ate Leader added, the only legislation on the subject matter is the Mutual Assis-tance in Criminal Matters within the Commonwealth Act.

He noted that the Act has limited application to Com-

ROTIMI FADEYIABUJA

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday decried the increas-

ing disagreement between ministers and permanent secretaries in government ministries.

Jonathan, who spoke while swearing-in six new federal permanent secre-taries at the council cham-bers of the Presidential Villa, said there was need for government to work out a new framework that would check the trend.

The permanent secre-taries sworn in yesterday include Echano Sunday Togo (Benue State), Mrs. Mede Nana Fatima (Edo), Dr. Amina Mohammed Bello Shamaki (Kebbi) and

Mr. Istifanus Musa Mik Fuktur (Taraba).

Also sworn in were Mr. Bulus Zom Lolo (Kaduna) and Mallam Aminu Aliyu Bisalla (Niger).

Speaking further at the swearing in ceremony, Jonathan charged the permanent secretaries to bring back the good old days in civil service when the issue of discipline was taken seriously.

“Those days, you hardly see a permanent secretary querying a Director or a Director querying Assis-tant Director. In a system where there is no disci-pline, definitely you can not get the best output,” the President said.

Jonathan explained that government would not be able to achieve the desired result if ministers and permanent secretar-ies don’t work together.

“Lately, we have re-ceived too many com-plaints about cold relation-ships between permanent secretaries and ministers. If minister and perma-nent secretaries don’t work together, there is no way we can do what we are expected to do.

Ministers, perm secs’ rivalry worries Jonathan

Terrorism bill: Nigeria targets support of 120 countries

L-R: (front row) Member, Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), Amb. Babagana Wakil; Legal Officer, UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, Mareike Buettner, PRESCOM Chairman, Amb. Emmanuel Imohe; representative of the Chief of Army Staff, Col. Ridley Alexander, and former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr Marvel Akpoyibo, at an Expert Roundtable on Amendment of the Nigerian Firearm Act, in Abuja, yesterday.

Jonathan

monwealth countries and therefore does not serve the interest of Nigeria for mu-tual cooperation and collab-oration globally in the area of criminal matters.

Most Senators in their contributions supported the bill, saying it was long overdue.

Senate President David Mark in his comments not-ed that the bill will enhance the nation’s international image when passed into law.

Mark added that it was in the interest of the lawmak-ers to fast-track passage of the bill.

The Deputy Minor-ity Leader, Senator Ganiyu Solomon (Lagos West) in supporting the bill stated that it was shocking to him that the nation has no law to take care of trans-border crimes.

Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi, described the bill as another breath of fresh air “in the sense that it is coming to fill in the gaps in our law. Just like the world is global so also is crime and those that per-petuates them. It is good for our country and lawyers will be happy about it.”

Chairman Senator Com-

mittee on Drugs, Narcot-ics and Financial Crimes, Senator Victor Lar, said the bill was timely and seeks to restore the image of Ni-geria in the international community.

Chairman Senate Com-mittee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) said he supported the pas-sage of the bill due to its ne-cessity in the fight against corruption in the country.

He said it was imperative to know how many coun-tries are willing to cooper-ate with Nigeria since by passing the law does not au-tomatically makes it bind-

ing on other countries.Chairman Senate Com-

mittee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Umaru Dahiru, stated that the mutual as-sistance law “is our last link that is missing in our efforts to fight terrorism. This bill is a must for this country if we want to suc-cessfully fight terrorism.”

Chairman Senate Com-mittee on the Federal Cap-ital Territory (FCT), Sena-tor Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West), said the bill would minimise financial crimes and aid stability and peace of the country.

UBONG UKPONGABUJA

Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshal

Alex Badeh yesterday said the pact on the proposed cross-border military op-erations against the Boko Haram insurgency by Ni-geria, Cameroon and oth-er Lake Chad Basin Com-mission, countries would need the approval of the United Nations Security Council and the African Union before it could be implemented.

He disclosed this at the opening ceremony of a three-day inaugural coordinating conference on Nigeria Cameroon Trans-border Military

operations against Boko Haram.

According to him, the conference was conceived and organised as part of the ongoing efforts at en-gaging relevant stakehold-ers in their collective de-termination to address the challenges of terrorism and other acts of criminal-ity which the two coun-tries in particular and LCBC countries in general are being confronted with.

The CDS noted that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence had agreed that member states could conduct operations around common borders even as the draft resolu-tion for the legal frame-work is being worked out.

The CDS added that the

ministers also agreed to operationalise the multi-national task force which is to be headed by a chief of staff by November 20.

Badeh disclosed that he agreed to host the confer-ence so that both countries could develop a common strategy as they confront Boko Haram within their respective countries and along their borders.

He said until the reso-lution is drafted, it is im-perative they work out and agree on the operational details that will guide the conduct of their troops as they jointly conduct opera-tions against terrorism.

The CDS urged partici-pants at the conference to make use of the opportu-nity by articulating a ro-

bust strategy that would lead to the defeat of terror-ism within the sub region.

He appreciated the CDS and Cameroon defence forces for their country’s support and commitment to the fight against Boko Haram and other crimi-nalities.

This, he said, was clear-ly attested to by the recent success our two countries have recorded against Boko Haram in the past few weeks.

He appreciated all that have been achieved so far, adding that it is crucial that both nations consoli-date on the gains made and enhance the level of co-operation that current-ly exists between their two militaries.

Insurgency: Nigeria, Cameroon to send operations pact to UN, AU

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 7Thursday, October 16, 2014 News

Osun State Gover-nor, Rauf Areg-besola, yesterday

said that education is very critical to the realisation of sustainable national development and achieve-ment of national security.

This was even as the governor commended the Vice-chancellor of Oba-femi Awolowo University, OAU, who he said stood against “the highest civil-ian attempt to stage a coup against democracy” at the just concluded gover-norship election in Osun State.

The governor stated this while delivering lec-ture entitled: “Education as a Panacea to National Insecurity and Develop-

mental Challenges” at the 6th Prince Bola Ajibola annual lecture series, or-ganised by the Magna Cu-ria chambers of OAU held at the university’s Odudu-wa Hall in Ile-Ife.

Aregbesola noted that, for any society to achieve enduring progress, educa-tion must be the unavoid-able bedrock of its efforts.

He stated that for Ni-geria to develop human capacity for the kind of productivity that would impact on socio-economic development, the path to follow was the education track.

He added that lack of adequate investment in education by successive administrations in Nige-

Tenure policy: Job loss imminent in aviation agencies

Education crucial to development, security -Aregbesola

Vice President Namadi Sambo (left) presenting Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize, awarded to President Goodluck Jonathan by the Millennium Excellence Foundation of Akwa Ibom State, last weekend, in Abuja, yesterday.

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

Job loss appears immi-nent in the aviation industry, following the

impending forced retire-ment of no fewer than 100 technical personnel in the next six months in several agencies.

The Federal Govern-ment had in 2009 introduced a tenure policy through the then Head of the Civil Ser-vice of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, for all civil and public servants who had attained Grade Level 17 and above, or spent eight years in a manage-ment, position, to quit.

The policy had generat-ed controversy among avia-tion agencies in the past.

Investigations carried out by our correspondent revealed that at least 10 technical personnel, major-ly Air Traffic Controllers, ATC, of the Nigerian Air-space Management Agency, NAMA, would be affected by the government’s policy.

Others are in the Fed-eral Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, which will lose no fewer than 40 of its staff to the policy within the same period; the Ni-gerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET; Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, and Nige-rian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, Zaria.

Most of the depart-ments that would be af-fected by the policy in the next six months in all the

agencies are ATC, Legal, Information Communi-cation Technology, ICT, Communications, Medical, Aviation Security, AVSEC, and others.

Besides, a source close to the ministry who does not want his name men-tioned said that the policy was a clear contradiction of the condition of service in the public service rules.

The source said that for the disengagement of workers, such a staff must have spent 35 years in ser-vice or attained the age of 60 years.

For instance, a docu-ment obtained by our cor-respondent from the Com-mon Services Office, with reference number: HCSF/LU/MCA/T/133/9, dated

October 20, 2009 and signed by the Permanent Secre-tary in the office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Edugie Abebe, and addressed to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Avia-tion, Alh. Idris Kuta, stated that the policy was restric-tive to permanent secretar-ies and directors who had spent eight years on the post.

The circular emphasised that any application of the policy to officers outside the categories mentioned, ei-ther by the ministry or any of the parastatals, should be reversed, stressing that this was to avoid any embar-rassment to the government arising from the challenge of such action in court.

ria had crippled the educa-tional system, to an extent that what seems to matter was the acquisition of cer-tificates.

Aregbesola posited that there is no reason why the children and youths in parts of the North and the Niger Delta should not have the same quality edu-cation as their mates in other parts of the country.

The governor stressed that the restructuring of the educational system must be one that makes it possible for youths to de-velop their natural abili-ties to the highest extent feasible.

He added that youths must be trained to be self-reliant, creative and pro-

ductive. In an address, the

chairman of the occasion, Prof. Nurudeen Adedipe, who made a compari-son between Aregbesola and the president of the United States of America, through their philosophy of believing that every-thing can be done, de-scribed the governor as an uncommon man who has turned education around in the state.

The Vice Chancellor, VC of OAU, Prof. Bamitale Omole, who was repre-sented by the deputy, Prof. Ajayi Adebisi, stressed that the topic of the lec-ture was most appropriate at the time the nation is facing security challeng-

es.He said the governor

was in a better position to deliver a lecture on the

topic, going by his efforts in putting the state in a better position, especially in the education sector.

SEKINAH LAWAL AND MARCUS FATUNMOLE

A group of biosecu-rity experts has expressed hope

that functional biosecuri-ty can be an antidote to In-vasive Alien Species, IAS, among which is the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, that currently ravages part of West Africa.

They raised the hope yesterday in Abuja, at a stakeholder’s workshop on “Biosecurity and Health.”

Chairman, Aquatic Biosecurity Awareness Foundation, Chukwudi Edy Chukwu, said so long Ebola exists; the human race would be constantly at risk of sudden pandem-ic which could wipe away

entire humanity within a short time.

Biosecurity is a stra-tegic and integrated ap-proach that encompasses the policy and regulatory frameworks for analysing and managing relevant risks to human, animal, plant and associated risks to the environment.

Chukwu said the fo-rum focused on the battle against EVD by default. “The focus is on the pre-vention, control and man-agement of Invasive Alien Species, IAS, in all rami-fications of their conse-quences, including bioter-rorism.

According to him, the United Nations estimated that the disease would re-quire about $8bn to be con-tained.

The National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, is expected to

register 40 million Nigeri-ans by 2015.

Already, the scheme is carrying out an eight-city experiential campaign across the six geo-political zones.

The marketing cam-paign, according to the Assistant General Man-ager, AGM, Media and Public Relations, NHIS, Femi Isinlu, is aimed at reaching the generality of Nigerians, especially at the grassroots, as well as the informal sector with the NHIS value-essence “easy access to healthcare

for all.”Speaking yesterday

in Abuja, Isinlu said the new management of NHIS under the leader-ship of Dr. Femi Thomas, was determined to re-position the scheme by being responsive to the health needs of Nigeri-ans, as well as providing rapid access to quality health plan for all cat-egories of people.

He said: “The NMHIP is a GSM-based activa-tion platform, set to reg-ister users of all mobile telephone networks to the NHIS benefits, just at the dial of the relevant code for each network.

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‘NHIS targets 40m Nigerians by 2015’

Fashola promises to generate more power

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun addressing a crowd at Ayetoro during his assessment tour of Yewa North local government area, yesterday.

Lawyer threatens to go to court over teachers’ recruitment in Ondo

Alleged assault: Adeleke appears before panel

N47bn theft: Appeal Court reserves judgement in Akingbola’s appealWALE IGBINTADE

The Court of Appeal in Lagos yesterday reserved for judge-

ment, an appeal filed by a former managing director of the defunct Interconti-nental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, challenging the ruling of Justice Lateef La-wal-Akapo of an Ikeja High Court on the issue of juris-diction.

The appellate court pre-sided over by Justice Amina Augie reserved the appeal for judgement after counsel to the appellants and respon-dents adopted their brief of

arguments and highlighted cogent points from their briefs.

Akingbola and his co-de-fendant, a former financial officer of the bank, Bayo Dada, had filed two sepa-rate applications challeng-ing the jurisdiction of the lower court to entertain the 22-count charge filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion, EFCC.

But the trial court had in its ruling delivered on May 2, 2014 dismissed their ap-plications and held that the charges preferred against the appellants were within its competence and purview

to determine.Dissatisfied, Akingbola

and Dada filed two separate appeals against the ruling and urged the appellate court to set it aside.

Adopting their briefs of arguments yesterday, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the lead counsel to Akingbola, and Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, the lead counsel to Dada, urged the court to al-low the appeal and set aside the decision of the lower court.

In their separate argu-ments, counsel to the appel-lants, prayed the court to strike out the information before the lower court, as

FRANCIS SUBERU

Lagos State Gover-nor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has prom-

ised to expedite action on the construction and com-missioning of more Inde-pendent Power Plants, IPPs, to increase electricity sup-ply in the state.

Fashola, who made the promise while commis-sioning the Lagos Energy Academy, assured that more IPPs would soon be commis-sioned in the state to boost power supply.

The governor, while in-specting the facilities at the academy located at the State Electricity Board, Works Yard Road, GRA, Ikeja,

HAKEEM GBADAMOSIAKURE

Following the recent recruitment exercise of more teachers into

the Ondo State Teaching Service, an Akure-based lawyer, Femi Emmanuel, has threatened to take the state government to court over an alleged failure to include non-indigenes in the state in the exercise.

Emmanuel stated this in a letter of protest addressed and directed to Governor Olusegun Mimiko, lament-ing discrimination against non-indigenes in the re-cruitment of teachers.

According to him, most of the non- indigene appli-cants were sidelined in the exercise after indicating their state of origin, as in-dicated in the forms filled by the applicants.

BOLADALE BAMIGBOLAOSOGBO

Former governor of Osun State and a chieftain of the All

Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, yesterday ap-peared before the Com-mission of Inquiry on Disturbance of Public Peace investigating the alleged attack on him at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, meeting on April 2, before the par-ty’s governorship pri-mary.

Adeleke, who was in the race for the PDP governorship ticket,

added that the academy is expected to train power en-gineers and artisans who would provide the neces-sary human capital for light-ing Lagos and the country.

According to him, the academy will provide train-ing for young people to be-come technicians and elec-trical engineers, as well as provide training in genera-tion, transmission and dis-tribution.

Fashola explained that inside the academy, there are modules on the sub-station that people would see outside, which had been simulated, as well as provide transformers and all sorts of learning equip-ments and tools.

Harping on the Mainland

Independent Power Project, he said it was the sixth IPP the state was completing, saying that it is now going through pre-commissioning testing.

Fashola added that when commissioned, hopefully before the end of the month, the plant would now power LASUTH, the high court, Lagos State Police Com-mand and all public institu-tions in Ikeja.

He explained that what was behind the IPP was the sample of the solar instal-lations to be installed in all the public schools in Lagos State, adding that govern-ment already had contracts for 172 of them, in part-nership with the (United Kingdom) Department for

International Development, DFID, for which it had to provided counterpart fund-ing.

Fashola added: “Very soon, you would see this in-stalled in all our schools in Lagos, so we are taking the schools off regular genera-tors, carbon energy.

“In all the public schools, you would see the solar pan-els on top of them; that is where the energy is going to come from, and it would also have charging points for students who need to charge their IPADS.

“So, this is a foundation for moving our schools final-ly to electronic and e-learn-ing, because there would be regular and uninterrupted power,” he promised.

He said the constitution of the country does not al-low discrimination against non-indigenes, saying the action violated Section 42, Sub- Section 1 of the 1999 Constitution.

He argued that since the applicants’ parents pay taxes into the coffers of the state government, they should also be given equal right with the indigenes.

Emmanuel, however, threatened to institute le-gal action against the state government if the neces-sary quota was not given to the non-indigenes who applied for the teaching job.

The lawyer said the decision to challenge the employment process was aimed at protecting the future of all Nigerians, ir-respective of their place of birth or origin.

had petitioned the state government, claiming that the Minister of Po-lice Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan and Mr. Sogo Agboola, attacked him at the meeting convened by the committee that conducted the PDP gov-ernorship primary.

While being led in examination- in -chief by his counsel, Lekan Olayiwola, Adeleke al-leged that the respon-dents, Senator Iyiola Omisore Adesiyan and Agboola, had at a meet-ing held at Ideal Nest Hotel in Osogbo, ahead of the primary, assault-ed him.

contained in Charge No-1D/148C/2011.

They argued that the trial judge erred in law in his as-sumption of jurisdiction over the charge filed before him, in the face of the clear provision of Section 251 of the constitution and Sec-tion 8(1) of the Federal High Court Act.

They submitted that Sec-tion 251 of the constitution vests exclusive jurisdiction in the Federal High Court over the subject matter, stressing that Section 272(1) of the constitution, which provides for jurisdiction of the state high court, was subordinate to Section 251.

They further submitted that the lower court erred in law and came to a perverse decision in its interpretation and application of the word ‘also’ used in Section 251(3) of the constitution.

They added that the low-er court was in error when it concluded that the omis-sion of the word ‘exclusive’ in Section 251(3) relaxes the exclusivity of the criminal jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in respect of matters listed in the section.

Besides, they contended that the subject matter of the alleged offences, relates to banking operations and capital market issues, and

submitted that only the Fed-eral High Court has the ju-risdiction to entertain such matters, according to Sec-tion 251 of the constitution.

But counsel to the EFCC counsel, Chief Godwin Obla, SAN, in his argument, urged the court to dismiss the two appeals and uphold the deci-sion of the lower court.

He said the charge against the defendants bordered on stealing, which was differ-ent from that made against Nwosu.

Obla submitted that the counts against the appel-lants did no relate to bank-ing, CAMA, or capital mar-ket.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netSouth West Thursday, October 16, 20148

L-R: Deputy Comptroller, Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Lagos State Command, Alausa Passport Office, Olusola Ajisafe; Comptroller, Lagos State Command, Justina Amodu, and Deputy Comptroller, Immigration, Lagos Command, ECOWAS, Dora Amahian, at the presentation of 64-page e-Passport booklet to Governor Babatunde Fashola (right), in Lagos, on Tuesday.

Awosika: Family marks silver jubilee

Judge warns against dissipating N500m frozen Police funds

Lagos marks Horn-Free Day, reduces noise pollution

$1.69m fraud: Court discharges Ajudua

FRANKA OSAKWE

Twenty five years after the demise of Chief Victor Awosi-

ka, one of the pioneer medical practitioners in Nigeria and founder of Holy Trinity Hospital La-gos, he would be remem-bered in a week-long cere-monies slated for between Monday, October 20 and Saturday, October 25.

The activities commence with the commissioning of the intensive care unit for seriously ill persons at Holy Trinity Hospital, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja and culminate with a memorial service at Archbishop Vin-ning Memorial Cathedral Church GRA, Ikeja.

According to a state-ment signed by Dr. Busola Fasehun, the family fondly remembers Awosika for

his remarkable achieve-ments which have left in-delible marks as an athlete, scholar, author and pioneer medical practitioner.

Other activities which will take place Tuesday to Friday included formal handover of the renovat-ed Aso Rock 4 unit storey building classroom block in Government College Ibadan, GCI; annual Uni-versity of Ibadan medical student lecture; reception and award of scholarships at Awosika College, Ayo-tilerewa Estate, Ondo; visit to old people’s home, Ondo; visit to Christ orphan-age, Okebola street, Yaba, Ondo.

Aside pioneering the first Nigerian medical di-rectory, Awosika had au-thored books such as ‘An African Meditation’ and ‘A new Political Philosophy for Nigeria.’

WALE IGBINTADE

A Lagos High Court judge, Olatunde Oshodi, yesterday

warned that there will be consequences should any-thing happen to the N500 million frozen police fund lodged with Zenith Bank.

The court gave the warning while consider-ing various applications filed by judgment debtors, garnishee and other inter-ested party seeking to op-pose compliance with the payment of N500 million awarded to Mrs. Ebunolu-wa Awosika, the widow of the slain banker, Modebayo Awosika who was killed by the police in Lekki, Lagos on October 1, 2008.

Before his death, the late Awosika was a Relationship Manager with First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

Due to the brutal mur-der confirmed by a coro-ner’s inquest, his widow commenced a fundamental rights action against the re-

MATTHEW IRINOYE

Justice Kudirat Ajo-se of a Lagos State High Court sitting

in Ikeja yesterday dis-charged Fred Ajudua of an alleged $1.69 million fraud instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC.

Ajudua is standing trial along with one Alex Oko-rie for allegedly defrauding two Dutch businessmen of $1.69 million.

The anti-graft agency had alleged that the defen-dants deceived the victims by claiming the money was for sundry payments to var-ious government officials.

The EFCC further al-leged that the defendants claimed that the payments would help them facilitate a contract worth $18 million on behalf of the complain-ants.

While the matter was before the court, Ajudua who claimed to be critically ill was refused bail and ac-companied by security op-

eratives and relatives.At the resumed hearing

of the suit that had suffered series of adjournments owing to the failure of the EFCC to produce some key foreign witnesses in the matter, the EFCC counsel, Mrs E.A. Sanusi, told the court that some of the prin-cipal witnesses in the mat-ter had vehemently refused to come to Nigerian to give evidence in the matter, cit-ing the recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the country.

She added that in the cir-

FRANCIS SUBERU

The hustle and bustle that characterise daily activities in

Lagos State lightened some-what yesterday as there was moderate compliance to the Horn-Free Day exercise an-nounced by the state gov-ernment.

The state government had designated October 15 as Horn-free day in which all motorists plying routes in Lagos metropolis were not allowed to use their horns.

National Mirror ob-served at different locations within the metropolis that drivers, especially the com-mercial drivers moderately

complied with the exercise, thereby reducing noise pol-lution in the city.

Some of the places moni-tored by our correspondent included Yaba, Ikeja, Ma-godo, Ikorodu Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ipaja, Ayobo, Abule-Egba and Agege.

In the aforementioned areas, compliance was rela-tively high as drivers spar-ingly used the horn while others did not make use of the horns at all. Rather, the danfo drivers resorted to hitting their vehicle parts when necessary to draw at-tention.

A private car owner, Amofokhai Audu, said he did not use his car horn on leaving his Abule Egba

home to the Lagos State Government Secretariat.

According to him, “I was very conscious and deter-mined to observe the horn-free day. I drove through Abule Egba intersection, through Abattoir to Agege and passed Agege with-out horning. I also drove through Acme Road with-out horning.

“On getting to Agidingbi Road, at a traffic point, I inadvertently pressed the horn lightly before I realised I had broken the horn-free day. I felt so bad and this served to spoil my day. Also, when the traffic light turned green, the vehicle in front of mine delayed in moving, and I never knew when I pressed the horn which I

cumstance, the EFCC had no option than to ask for the withdrawal of the charge.

After hearing EFCC submission, the presiding judge subsequently ordered that Ajudua be discharged of the charges.

Meanwhile, a sister case where Ajudua is accused of defrauding former Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi of $8.4 million while they were in custody at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos between November 2004 and June 2005, is still before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye.

immediately regretted.”Taiwo Olapade, a journal-

ist, said he drove through Ikorodu Road with much quietness as many motor-ists did not use the horn, but noted that he pressed his horn twice, adding that in Aguda, Surulere, there was no much compliance.

Mr. Emmanuel Odeyemi, who lives at Mafoluku area of Oshodi said he did not make use of the horn even when he drove through the densely populated Oshodi all through to Ikeja as he consciously observed the day.

He said many motorists in Oshodi, Airport Road and other places observed the horn-free day as horns were rarely used. Abba, IGP

spondents at the Lagos high court.

Consequently, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo (now retired) after hearing the matter awarded damages against Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and the Divi-sional Police Officer, Ma-roko, Victoria Island.

But the judgment was not satisfied by the Nigeria Police hence the judgment creditor commenced gar-nishee proceedings to en-force compliance. The gar-nishee was against seven of Nigeria’s commercial banks including Zenith Bank Plc.

Counsel to judgment creditor, Mr. Olasupo Sa-sore, SAN, insisted that the order was not complied with and in view of such disobedience commenced contempt proceedings to ensure compliance with the court order.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, counsel to Ze-nith Bank, Chief Felix Fag-bohungbe, SAN, informed the court that his client hds complied with the order in a further counter-affidavit deposed to by one Doyin Olowe attaching a balance of N589.5 million to the credit of Police Academy. As a result, the court termi-nated the contempt proceed-ings.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 9Thursday, October 16, 2014 South West

…co-defendants, ENSIEC, PDP absent

Meningitis: Anambra begins awareness campaign

A 94-year-old prisoner, Mr. Canice Egbunanne (4th r), who was granted pardon by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, during the 54th Independence Anniversary, being led out to freedom by some prison officials in Owerri, yesterday.

Court adjourns trial of Enugu LG boss DENNIS AGBOENUGU

Chairman, Igboeze south local gov-ernment in Enugu

State, Mr. Festus Ozioko, may lose his seat if the al-legation of electoral brig-andage leveled against him succeeds in court.

Princess Edith Ug-wuanyi, a Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, local government chairman-ship aspirant of the coun-cil had taken Ozoko to the state high court for acts of brigandage during the lo-cal government party pri-

FRANCIS EKPONEONITSHA

Worried by the re-cent outbreak of meningitis

in Nigeria which re-corded over 55,720 cases with 2,257 deaths in 2009, the National Primary Health Care Develop-ment Agency, NPHDA, in collaboration with Anambra State Ministry of Health, yesterday an-nounced October 2014 meningitis African Vac-cine (menAfrivac) cam-paign to begin on October 21 to 30 at all government health centres and other temporary fixed posts

such as churches, play-ground, schools among other designated areas in the state.

Briefing newsmen in his office at Awka, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike, described meningitis as a dangerous infectious dis-ease which is caused by a bacterium that affects many people and kills as well, noting that the epidemic is transmitted from person to person through droplets from the nose and mouth.

The commissioner said, “Meningitis is a huge problem as about 26 states in Nigeria includ-

ing the FCT are at very high risk of outbreaks,” adding that “about 5,000 Nigerians are affected by the disease.”

Akabuike identified high fever, headache, vomiting, sensitivity to light, stiff neck and confusion as the major signs of meningitis, add-ing that menAfrivac will only be effective against group A meninggoccoc-cal meningitis which, ac-cording to him, would be administered to 70 per-cent of the total popula-tion of the target group that falls between 1 to 29 years.

He stated that the over-

all aim of the campaign is to eliminate epidemics of meninggoccoccal men-ingitis due to serotype A from Nigeria.

According to him, “The specific objective of the campaign is to vaccinate 95 percent of all individu-als between 1-29 years of age in the meningitis belt of Nigeria with the new conjugate A meningitis vaccine and to establish a pharmaco-vigilance system for monitoring adverse events following immunisation. Anambra had the last case in 2012 but there were no casual-ties.”

Two partners in the

2015: Aspirants shun IGP’s seminar in ImoCHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

An t i - e l e c t o r a l crimes and vio-lence prevention

seminar organised by Imo State Police Com-mand for aspirants in preparation of the 2015 general election in the state was, yesterday, boy-cotted.

No aspirant from gov-ernorship to House of Assembly was seen at the seminar approved by the Inspector-General of Po-lice, Suleiman Abba, to mobilise political stake-holders in the state for general elections.

In his opening address however, the Commis-sioner of Police in the state, Abudulmajid Ali, said the workshop with topic “Developing the ca-pacity of stakeholders in politics and development of Imo State for effective 2015 general election, anti-electoral crimes and violence” was aimed at discouraging electoral crimes and violence in next year’s election in the state.

He said history of elec-tions in the state had shown that “we have not gotten it right, hence the need to brainstorm on the way forward with a view of identifying and addressing all areas of disagreement.”

While commending the IGP for granting permis-sion for the seminar, he said it would assist in no small measure in ensur-ing crime and violence-free elections in 2015.

According to him proliferation of arms, political rascalism and vandalism, thuggery and violence in different

campaign, Dr. Roseline Onyibe of World Health Organisation and Diden Gbofeyin of UNICEF expressed fear that the target age group may not participate in the exercise and urged all persons concerned, in-cluding the media and

faith-based organisa-tions to assist in the awareness campaign.

Earlier, the Director, Primary Health Care and disease Control in the ministry, Dr. Chukwudi Okoye, said the vaccine is free and effective as it protects for 10 years.

forms still negate the na-tion’s political process.

“These unholy acts will not be tolerated in the forthcoming elec-tions,” he warned.

While calling attention of the stakeholders to 2010 Electoral Act which provides the do’s and don’ts for all, he stated that the constitutional role of the police in main-taining law and order, security of life and prop-erty, arrest and prosecu-tion of offenders would be enforced to the fullest without fear or favour.

In his keynote address, the National President, Association for Public Policy Analysis, Com-rade Princewill Okorie, described electoral crime and violence as inhuman, anti-development, de-structive and unpatriotic.

He noted that electoral crime and violent acts as provided for in the 2010 Electoral Act were weakly enforced, adding that the trouble in the practice of democracy in the country was “because democracy stands on the shoulder of capitalists who are dominant.”

He, therefore, called for the setting up of a joint Imo State Electoral Crime and Violence com-mittee for the prevention of electoral crimes and violence.

mary last year.When the matter came

up for further mention yesterday, Ozioko who is the first defendant and the other two defendants, the PDP and the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC, failed to show up at the court.

The presiding judge, Justice Emehelu, in the in-terest of fair hearing, ad-journed the matter to No-vember 17, and urged the absentee parties to show up for defence.

Emehelu probed to af-firm that the absentee par-

ties were properly served, which was proved by the applicant’s counsel, Mr. Chijioke Eze.

Shortly after the matter was adjourned, Eze said his client is challenging the conduct of PDP pri-maries in Igboeze south council where the first de-fendant employed the use of brigandage to take over the chairmanship ticket of the local government.

“We are trying to say that politicians should learn that power is given by the mandate of the people.

“The PDP constitution

stipulates that guidelines must be followed and an aggrieved party can go to court after exhausting other avenues of amicable resolution which we have done because we’ve writ-ten them severally and they are not forthcoming and the judiciary is the last hope of the common man,” said Eze.

Eze stated that though the defendants were de-laying the case in a bid to evade justice, “justice can be delayed but it cannot be denied; what matters is that at the end, we get what we want.”

Abba, Inspector General of Police

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014South East10

Ex-militant leader alleges fraud in amnesty offi ceDENNIS NAKUPORT HARCOURT

A former Niger Delta militant leader, Orinaemi Hart, has

called on President Good-luck Jonathan to investi-gate the operations and management of the Am-nesty Office.

He alleged that the oper-ations of the Amnesty pro-gramme, including its em-powerment schemes, were fraught with massive fraud.

Hart, who made the call while speaking with jour-nalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, said though the Federal Government meant well by setting up the Am-nesty office, the probe was necessary to rid the organ-isation of rot.

The ex-agitator, who founded the erstwhile mili-tant group known as Okolo-ma Ikpangi, recalled that

though his group had 500 slots as at the time it was granted amnesty in October 2010, officials of the Amnes-ty Office had been paying his group for only 100 slots, using fictitious names and fronts.

He said: “There is rot and massive fraud in the imple-mentation of the amnesty programme. The Federal Government meant well by creating the office and using it to rehabilitate and empower former militants from the Niger Delta region.

“But a lot have gone wrong in the implementa-tion of the programme. That is why we are making this passionate appeal to the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to investigate the operations and manage-ment of the Amnesty Office.

“My group, Okoloma Ik-pangi, which was granted amnesty by President Good-

luck Jonathan in October 2010, is a victim of some of the underhand tactics em-ployed by some key officials of the amnesty office.”

The former creek war-lord also decried a situation whereby the monthly allow-ances of members of his group were routed through the personal account of one of the officials of the Am-nesty Office.

He said he had filed a suit against the Amnesty Office for ‘diverting’ funds meant for his group.

The repentant militant leader faulted the imple-mentation of some of the training programmes of the Amnesty Office, citing the case of seven persons sent to South Africa for training in aviation.

“The seven persons have since returned to Nigeria without any tangible quali-fication. This is against the

reason behind setting up the Amnesty Programme,” Hart said.

He identified the seven persons as Ayibanua Ama-chree, Oby Gift, Jerry Suo-bo, Federekumo Daonima, Rita Kalango, Gelegukuma Yekorogha and Kenneth Jeffery.

Hart appealed to Presi-dent Jonathan to direct the Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and other relevant agencies, to investigate his allegations against the Amnesty Office and its of-ficials.

L-R: PDP National Publicity Secretary, PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh; Delta State Chairman, Chief. Peter Nwaoboshi; National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, during the commissioning of the new PDP Secretariat building, in Asaba, yesterday.

Jonathan

Gov. Akpabio

THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHENWARRI

As part of moves to curtail rampant cases of double

taxation, the Nigerian Joint Tax Board, JBT, has tasked tax authorities in the coun-try to be careful on revenue generation to avoid mul-tiple charges on tax payers.

This is even as the Delta State Government yester-day expressed worry on the placement of Nigeria at 147 of the 189 economies in a recent World Bank report on doing business in the country.

Chairman of JTB, Kabir Mashi, expressed this view at the opening ceremony of the 130th meeting of the board holding at the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue new head office complex, Warri, the state’s commercial centre, with the theme: “Achieving Im-proved IGR Without Mul-tiple Taxation”.

Mashi said there was need for the tax authori-ties in the country to carry

Tax board warns against double taxation

out their activities in ac-cordance with the law and regulations guiding tax op-erations to ensure that tax payers are not burdened with the payment of mul-tiple taxes and levies which are not paid to the govern-ment.

JTB, the umbrella body of state and federal tax au-thorities in country, was established in 1961, with the primary aim of promoting uniformity and ensuring harmonisation of Personal Income Tax administration across the country.

Its powers are derived from the Personal Income Tax Act (as amended) and the board comprises the Federal Inland Revenue service, FIRS, the 36 states’ internal revenue boards, as well as other federal agen-cies like the Federal Minis-try of Finance.

While commending the Delta State governor for hosting the meeting, he ex-pressed optimism that the forum would provide solu-tions to some of the prevail-ing circumstances bedevil-ing taxation in the country.

Ethnic group accuses Akpabio of marginalisation WOLE OLADIMEJIABUJA

A group, Oron Think Tank, on behalf of the Oron ethic

nationality in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday petitioned President Goodluck Jona-than over what it described as ‘uncommon marginali-sation’ of the group in the state, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Its members stormed the National Assembly, with a plea to call Gover-nor Goodswill Akpabio to order.

The group also pe-titioned the National Chairman of Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu to intervene by calling on the governor not to deny Oron people the opportunity of producing his successor.

Speaking on the mar-ginalisation of the ethnic nationality, the chairman of the group, Comrade Okon Osung, who led the protest to the National As-sembly yesterday, insisted that even the governor had sometimes conceded in

C’River PDP chairman rejects debate for guber aspirants

one of his statements that the Oron people would like to have their turn in 2015.

The group threatened that they would go to any length in pushing for their rightful place in the scheme of things in the state, “especially when it is obvious that our communi-ty is producing over 80 per cent of the resources of the state, with nine oil wells.”

The group said any at-tempt to deny Oron and other minorities a shot at the governorship in 2015 would “culminate in a long-drawn battle of de-liberate marginalisation, exclusion and dis-inheri-tance, bordering on ethni-cide, waged since the in-ception of the governor’s tenure.”

RICHARD NDOMACALABAR

The Chairman of the Peoples’ Demo-cratic Party, PDP, in

Cross River State, Ntufam John Okon, has rejected an offer made by the state council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, to organise a debate for as-pirants seeking political office in the state.

The initiative, accord-ing to an invitation letter sent to aspirants from all political parties seeking political offices in the

state, particularly the gov-ernorship and National Assembly aspirants, the union said, was the union’s effort at deepening the democratic process ahead of the 2015 elections.

Briefing journalists in Calabar yesterday, the state secretary of NUJ, Nsa Gill, who signed the invitation letter to aspi-rants in conjunction with the union’s chairman, Ndoma Akpet, said that the state PDP chairman, Okon, told him in the pres-ence of party officials and members that “we want to

do our things internally. I will not accept any debate, and we will not accept any of our aspirants to partici-pate in that.”

The NUJ secretary maintained that even when the chairman was reminded that participa-tion in the debate was free of charge for aspirants, and that only what was ex-pected of his party was to let the union know those who had purchased intent and nomination forms, Okon reiterated that he would not accept any de-bate.

“You people should al-low us do our thing our own way. Maybe after pri-maries, we can participate facing other parties, but internally, we don’t want it. We want to do our own thing internally,” he quot-ed the PDP boss as saying.

The NUJ leadership, however, said it would forge ahead with plans for the debate platform, tak-ing into cognisance the timetable for the prima-ries of political parties.

It added that it had scheduled the debate at a convenient time.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Thursday, October 16, 2014 11South South

ROTIMI FADEYI ABUJA

The Presidency yes-terday stated that the incumbent,

Goodluck Jonathan is not in any way threatened by the declaration of former head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Con-gress, APC, to contest the 2015 Presidential election.

Senior Special Assis-tant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe while addressing State House Correspon-

dents, said most of the candidates of the opposi-tion were serial losers.

“You know the Yoruba have a proverb that says it is the biggest masquerade that comes out last. The declaration by the opposi-tion is not something new. Most of the candidates of the opposition are serial failures.

“Atiku has tried twice and has failed, Buhari has done so four times and failed. If you present yourself for an election, first, second, third and fourth times, what new

OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

Former chairman of the Federal Char-acter Commission,

FCC, and Kwara State gov-ernorship aspirant, Prof. Abdulraheem Oba, yester-day said since the death of patriarch of the Saraki dynasty, Dr. Olusola Saraki, it had lost its potency in Kwara State politics.

He said genuine Kwara people had decided to part ways with the inheritors of the name and had decided to pursue their own destiny.

Oba disclosed this yes-terday at the national secre-tariat of the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, when he picked the gubernatorial forms for the state election.

Oba said: “The Saraki name was when the owner

of that name, the revered Waziri of Ilorin was alive, but even before his depar-ture, his supposed inheri-tors decided and have been acting in manners that have rubbished that name.

“We agonise over the desecration of that name and are saying to the world that, that influence which is perceived belonged only to yesterday is buried with the man who owns the name. Whoever pretends to be using that name now is only doing so to deceive the people. The original and genuine people of Kwara State have decided to part ways with the inheritors and have decided to find and pursue a destiny of our own; free of opposition, free of politics of money bags. We have decided to take our fate into our hands.”

WOLE ADEDEJI

Christians in their scores at various locations yesterday

embarked on protests in Ilo-rin, the Kwara State capital, demanding the return of all missionary schools to the owners.

They went round all Christian schools conduct-ing prayers and calling on God to deliver Christians in the state from the hand of government who they alleged had of late been “abusing their faith and treating matters relating to Christians with disdain

and impunity.”A source at the Kwara

State Branch of the Chris-tian Association of Nige-ria, CAN yesterday told National Mirror that Chris-tian leaders in the state had held series of consultative meetings with the Gover-nor Abdulfatah Ahmed-led government which never produced fruitful results.

They alleged that large numbers of Muslim stu-dents were forced on Chris-tian schools with commen-surate Muslim teachers as well as forcing the schools to dedicate classrooms for Muslims to observe their prayers without respect to the Christian founders of the schools.

Also, the Christian Asso-ciation source told National Mirror that some Christian schools in the state were forced to erect mosques for Muslim students while non members of such school communities were request-ed to be allowed into the schools to observe ‘jum-

mat’ services and celebrate ‘maulud nabiyy’ festivals.

Meanwhile, the state government in a statement signed by Alhaji Wahab Oba, the Chief Press Sec-retary to the Governor said his boss “has restated the readiness of government to handover grant aided schools to proprietors who express the desire to wholly run the schools just as it is ready to fully take over those who are desirous of handing them over to gov-ernment.”

All schools in Kwara resumed yesterday after a prolonged holiday occa-sioned by the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease which stopped them from resum-ing earlier at the end of the conventional summer vaca-tion.

Christian schools, ac-cording to sources, since 2006 had been taken over through an act of govern-ment to become grant-aided schools, a development that conferred the ownership

status on the government which the Christian com-munities rose up to reject yesterday.

Demonstrating peace-fully in streets across the state, the protesters dis-played placards such as ‘We want our Schools back’, ‘We are taking back our schools because they belong to us’, ‘Government should stop grant-aiding our schools, we can run them on our own’, and ‘Enough of op-pression and injustice, we are taking back our schools, they belong to us.’

The spokesman of schools owned by the Christ Apostolic Church, Pastor Peter Ogunwale, in an in-terview with journalists had lamented that the in-cumbent “governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed had re-quested that the churches write the government of-ficially if they want their schools back and that they had done so a long time ago without any response from the government till now.”

Buhari, Atiku declaration, no threat to Jonathan –Presidency

L-R: Chairperson, Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) FCT, Mrs Patience Inalegwu; representative of IGP, AIG Mamman Tsafe; Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, Director-General, Wateraid, Mr Michael Ojo, with the pupils of POWA International Children School, at the 2014 Hand Washing Day Commemoration in Abuja, yesterday.

things are they bringing? Have they gone to school or are they bringing new things. We are absolutely unperturbed.”

According to him, President Jonathan would contest against serial los-ers, saying, “(These are) people who never win election, people who have no leadership quality and it is even worse now for them because this Presi-dent has been given four years platform where he

has demonstrated his ad-ministrative capability, ef-ficiency and delivery.”

Okupe noted that the APC was not relevant now, saying that it would only be relevant in 2019 upward.

On when Jonathan would declare his inten-tion to seek a second term in office, Okupe said the after due consideration, the President would soon take an appropriate deci-sion that would be in the

larger interest of the par-ty and the country.

Okupe said Jonathan has been under intense pressure from ordinary citizens, foreign and local interest groups in addition to his party that has called on him to seek re-election, adding that the President has done well and would not let them down.

He also dismissed re-ports that the President was trying to elongate his tenure through other

means than democratic with the excuse of the challenge of insurgency in the North East

“There is nothing like that. This president would not do a thing like that; there is no reason whatso-ever for this president to do that.

“This is the same presi-dent that over 12 million Nigerians have endorsed, putting down signatures on paper and asking him to come out and run.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014North12

JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

Barely a week after gunmen attacked University of Jos

and killed two policemen on duty, a private security personnel attached to Jos University Teaching Hos-pital, JUTH, was shot dead by unknown gunmen at his duty post at the hospi-tal yesterday.

Eyewitness said the in-cident caused panic at the hospital as gunmen, trying to force their way through the rear gate of the hospi-tal, shot the security man dead when he discovered

Gunmen attack JUTH, kill security guard

Kwara 2015: Saraki dynasty is dead, says aspirant

Christians protest Kwara’s takeover of missionary schools

Gov Ahmed

arms in their car boot. The security man died during treatment in the hospital. However the gun-men, whose mission was not clear, all escaped.

Confirming the sad in-cident, the Police Public Relations officer, DSP Abu Emmauel, said: “The Po-lice commissioner, Nasiru Oki, has deployed security personnel to the hospital following the incident. Efforts are in top gear to ensure perpetrators of the act are brought to book.”

He appealed to citizens of the state to remain calm as the police are out to en-sure safety of its citizens.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 13Thursday, October 16, 2014

Politics

Cash-for-arms: The politics, the hidden agendaThe confiscation by the South African authorities of two tranches of $9.3 and $5.7 million meant for the purchase of arms for the prosecution of the war against insurgency by Nigeria has sparked off a new diplomatic row, which implications may seriously jeopardise the relationship between the two sister African countries if not tactfully handled. GEORGE OJI, WOLE OLADIMEJI TORDUE SALEM, OMEIZA AJAYI and UBONG UKPONG take a lidistic look into the furore.

What began initially as a mere business transaction stand-off is gradually snowballing into a major diplomatic row between South Africa and Nigeria.

When last month the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the Na-tional Prosecuting Authority, NPA, of South Africa seized $9.3 million belonging to the Nigerian government and meant for the purchase of arms in South Africa for the prosecution of the Boko Haram insurgency challenges, the reason provided by the South African authorities for the action was that the proposed transaction violated its domestic policy, which prohibits the movement of physi-cal cash to and from the country to the maximum of $2,300 or its equivalent in foreign currency notes.

A privately-owned Nigerian jet had ferried into South Africa $9.3 million in cash. The cash was confiscated at the Lanseria airport, north of Johannesburg. The jet, accompanied by two Nigerians and an Israeli, was later traced to the national President of the Christian Associa-tion of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

While the South African authorities said they suspect-ed that the money was proceeds of illegal transactions, the Nigerian Federal Government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, was prompt to counter such claims, saying that the transaction was le-gitimate.

The Federal Government also went a step further to support its claims by providing public documents, which showed that the NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, personally is-sued the end-user certificate for the transaction. This was also as the government supported its claims with an en-tire “shop list,” covering the transactions, which included helicopters, aircraft rockets and ammunitions.

There were expectations that with the interventions of the Nigerian government and the supporting evidences that it was in the full know of the arms transactions, the South African government would show some understand-ing, amicably resolve the issue in a matter of days and ac-cordingly return the money to the Nigerian authorities.

Unfortunately, another subsequent arms transaction, this time, contracted through a South African bank, Stan-dard Bank and Nigeria, regrettably also resulted in the South African authorities seizing another $5.7 million, belonging to Nigeria.

Sources revealed that the latest arms transaction was between Cerberus Risk Solutions, an arms broker based in Cape Town and Societe D’Equipment Internationaux, a Nigerian company based in Abuja.

The report further revealed that the Nigerian company paid the said $5.7 million or R6 million (N1.2 billion) into Cerberu’s account at Standard Bank and following the inability of Cerberus to deliver on its own terms of the arms supply, it made efforts to return the money to the Nigerian company. It said Standard Bank became suspi-cious and alerted the NPA’s Assets Forfeiture Unit, AFU, which subsequently obtained a court order in the South Gauteng Court to seize the money.

This latest action by the South African authorities has left more questions than answers concerning the real rea-sons behind their motives.

Amongst others, the action of South Africa has ex-posed the insincerity of the country to support Nigeria in the prosecution of the insurgency battle threatening to disintegrate Nigeria.

Besides, the South Africans have demonstrated that they are only paying mere lip service to the joint com-mitment of African leaders to the stamping out of terror within the African continent.

By frustrating the efforts of Nigeria to acquire arms to confront the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency, the South Africans have unwittingly demonstrated their un-seriousness to global peace and security.

There is also a school of thought that believes that South Africa’s recalcitrancy and snobbish attitude in this whole fight against insurgency in Nigeria is borne out of sheer

jealousy over the recent World Bank re-basing of Nigeria’s economy, which led to the country relegating South Africa to the background, as Nigeria over took South Africa and emerged the biggest economy in the African continent.

APC kicks

Since the botched arms deals became public knowl-edge, the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, has come out to blame the Federal Government for not com-ing out clean on the deal, questioning the role and com-plicity of the CAN president in the whole deal, it also took a swipe at the involvement of the leader of the former militant, Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari in the transaction.

The party said the onus is on the Federal Government to let Nigerians know if the two Nigerians who were aboard the plane were secret service officials or pure civilians. While the CAN president has through two separate press statements distanced his involvement in the arms deal, Asa-ri-Dokubo has also come out to deny his involvement.

Asari-Dokubo in particular said he was performing the 2014 Hajj in Saudi Arabia when the money was reported to have been intercepted in South Africa, saying that the last time he visited South Africa was in the 2002 and could not have gone to any country without a visa.

He said: “Can you enter any country without a visa? No person can enter any country without a visa. Presently, I am in Saudi Arabia performing my Hajj as the Amirul Hajj of Bayelsa State and this can be confirmed. I flew Flynass from Kaduna on the 27th. So, it is really a shame that Lai Mohammed who has defiled the name of Allah has become a pathological and award-winning liar.

“APC has reduced itself to a party of liars just the same way their presidential candidate, notorious liar and con-

Jonathan Zuma

Wsr

2tln

pIHFth

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THE ACTION OF SOUTH AFRICA HAS EXPOSED THE INSINCERITY OF

THE COUNTRY TO SUPPORT NIGERIA IN THE

PROSECUTION OF THE FIGHT AGAINST INSURGENCY,

WHICH IS THREATENING TO DISINTEGRATE NIGERIA

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

14 Politics National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

firmed dictator, General Buhari, stage managed an assas-sination in order to gain cheap popularity, where more than 100 people were killed and he has not been put on tri-al. The evil they wish me will be visited on their homes,”

The Atiku angleFormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar is one formi-

dable politician within the APC fold. He had on many oc-casions in the past threatened to deal with the Jonathan administration, in the same vein some folks in his party had vowed to make the country ungovernable were Jona-than win the last general elections in 2011.

Abubakar is known to have a very robust relationship with President Zuma of South Africa. This explains why even during the burial of Dr Nelson Mandela, the former vice president was given a prime position to sit while the Nigerian delegation were confined to an obscure space. Could it be that Mr Zuma is trying to boost the chances of his friend by rubbing mud on the image of the present administration? Well, time reveals all things.

Economic diplomacy as weapon for NigeriaIn the face of the on-going arms face-off with South Af-

rica, observers believe that one covert instrument open to Nigeria to arm-twist South Africa to see reason to coop-erate with her is deploying economic sanctions against South Africa.

Current trade relationship between the two African countries is largely tilted in favour of South Africa, with about 12 South African companies doing robust business-es and carting billions of US dollars away from Nigeria to South Africa.

These companies include MTN, Power Giant, Eskom Nigeria, South African Airways, South African Brewer-ies (SAB miller), Stanbic/IBTC Bank of Nigeria, Mul-tichoice, Umgeni Water, Refresh Products, PEP Retail Stores, Shoprite, LTA Construction, Protea Hotels, Criti-cal Rescue International, South African-Nigeria Commu-nications, Global Outdoor Semces, Oracle, Airtime, just to mention a few of them. In addition, 14 Southern Afri-can companies have been contracted to collect revenues for the Power Holding Company of Nigeria ,PHCN.

Through the activities of these companies, observ-ers believe that South Africa literarily maintains firm footprints and foothold all over Nigeria’s economy. MTN alone, records annual profit in the region of billions of Naira, not to talk of the likes of Multichoice, which is the parent company for DSTV and GOtv, which provides ter-restrial services in Nigeria and also declares huge profits. Shoprite, a trading and food supplies outfit is gradually running out Nigerian businesses in the same line out of business and continues to establish new retail outfits across major commercial towns in the country.

Observers believe that one way Nigeria can get South Africa to fall in line is to threaten the business concerns of these South African companies. Already, some of the South African companies are alleged to be jittery that the diplomatic offensives between Nigeria and South Africa could adversely affect their operations.

Some diplomats in Nigeria are also concerned that despite the leeway given to South African companies to thrive in Nigeria, there are still officials of the country who are determined to frustrate Nigeria. Already, con-cerns are being expressed by South African authorities that the recent row over the seized funds may trigger off retaliatory actions by the Nigerian government.

An official of the South African National Prosecuting Authority said: “The issue could affect bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Africa.”

He specifically mentioned MTN — a South African-based cellphone and internet provider with tens of mil-

lions of subscribers in Nigeria, as a company that could be targeted in a reprisal action by Nigeria.

“You cannot be making so much money from Nigeria and then turn around and embarrass the people,” a gov-ernment official in Nigeria was reported as saying.

Other options open to NigeriaDiplomatic analysts opine that since it has become

obvious that South Africa has chosen to line behind the United States of America, USA, and its Western allies to frustrate moves by Nigeria to procure arms from them to prosecute the war on insurgency, it is high time the coun-

Cash-for-arms: The politics,

S’Africa/Nigeria face-off: Our stance’ll be Hon Hamisu Shira, a Peoples Dempcratic Party, PDP, chieftain from Bauchi State, and former chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Electoral Matters, tells WOLE OLADIMEJI why the threat by the Federal Government against South Africa business interests in Nigeria should be handled with care.

Do you think the Nigerian government’s stand on the cash seized by South Africa is justified?

I think the position Nigeria is taking on the issue of seizure of money by the South Africa would be detri-mental to her overall interest internationally. I think what our government needed to do is to look at the merit of the case and ascertain whether or not South Africa has breached any treaty or protocol signed between the two countries. I think that is the best way to go about the issue, especially when you look at the position taken by prominent politicians and opinion moulders in the country, people are not taking it lightly, some are even calling on Mr President to come out and make a state-ment and perhaps come out clean on the matter.

I quite agree that Nigerians may not be happy with the position but then, we should try to look at what hap-pened, what led to this illegal exportation of dollars, especially when the Federal Government is operating a cashless system. We must not try to take haphazard decision, moreso that Nigeria is going into election in 2015. This is a time that Nigeria is at a cross road and

we need the support of the international community and then when you look at the South Africa, interest, the multinational companies operating in Nigeria, but at the same time we must look at the global and inter-national interest so that it would supersede whatever parochial interest we may have in trying to deal with and resolve the matter.

Is South Africa right in seizing Nigeria’s money meant to procure arms. Don’t you see a gang up in the matter?

No, but the truth of the matter is that what we should try to look at is whether the position taken by South Africa has in any way breached her internal rule and regulation; whether Nigerians or the so call individual involved in this saga breached any of the South Afri-can laws and then we should try to put ourselves in the shoes of the South African and also put tNigeria posi-tion into South African shoes. Is Nigeria going to take the same issue lightly had it been a similar case involv-ing the citizen of South Africa coming to Nigeria and caught with such amount of money without declaring it. Is Nigeria going to take it lightly and say well, you have breached Nigerian law but because of our relation-ship with South Africa, we would allow you to go.

I don’t think Nigeria will have taken a different posi-tion if the South Africa committed the same offence in Nigeria. We must look at the larger interest and look at the relationship that existed between the two countries. Of course I know that we are competitors, we are the largest black Africans nation and I know we are compet-ing economically with South Africa, we consider them a rival but at the same time, such issue must be taken with due consideration and perhaps it is duty bound on Mr President to brief key officers of the National As-sembly so that they can put their heads together and see

Oritsejafor Asari-Dokubo


National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 15PoliticsThursday, October 16, 2014

I QUITE AGREE THAT NIGERIANS MAY NOT BE

HAPPY WITH THE POSITION BUT THEN, WE SHOULD TRY TO LOOK AT WHAT

HAPPENED

the hidden agenda

try looked elsewhere for such military support.In this regard, Nigeria has been urged to re-enact the

Sani Abacha foreign diplomacy era, which saw the coun-try pitching tent and doing business with the Asian coun-tries, particularly China when the West closed its doors to Nigeria because of alleged human rights violation and persisting military governance.

The believe that given the diplomatic and business rela-tionships between Nigeria and China, which has been in the upswing in the past 20 years or so and the rivalry between the US and China, the Peoples Republic of China will be fa-vourably disposed to opening its doors to Nigeria, not only to acquire the needed arms to fight insurgency, but to pro-vide training and other allied support to the country.

Besides China, analysts believe that Nigeria can also look the direction of Russia, North/South Korea and oth-

er Asian countries to transact arms business.Already, there are indications that the Federal Gov-

ernment may have started considering such options. For instance, the Federal Government recently elicited the cooperation of Belarus for the acquisition of about 12 M135 helicopters and military training support to fight the Boko Haram sect.

The acquisition of the helicopters would be funded from the $1 billion loan recently approved for the Federal Government by the National Assembly.

Presenting the report of the Senate Joint Committees on Finance and Local and Foreign Debt before the Sen-ate plenary a fortnight ago, Senator Ahmed Markafi said: “Belarus has accepted to give helicopters on instalmen-tal payment over a period of seven years and other hard-ware, armaments and equipment will be bought on same terms from other European countries.”

US’ double standardsDespite the initial assurances by the US government to

support Nigeria in its fight against insurgency through equipment, logistics supplies and personnel training, there are however enough grounds to show that she was merely playing lip services to those promises, as efforts by Nigeria to acquire sophisticated arms on its own to ef-fectively combat the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency has consistently been frustrated by the US.

The US does not only renege on its promises to Nigeria, but also goes the whole hug to use its global clout to im-pede efforts by Nigeria to acquire the necessary military equipment to combat the insurgents.

Even in the present case where the South African Gov-

ernment has continued to prove uncooperative with arms purchase from that country, analyst believe that the US must no doubt, be behind the insolence of the South Africans.

As Nigeria continues to wonder the reasons behind such uncooperative attitude by the US, analysts believe that there are more that meets the eyes here. A school of thought be-lieves that the US’ attitude to Nigeria in this arms issue must not be unconnected to the fact that the Americans are determined to ensure that the US’ prediction of a disinte-grated Nigeria come 2015 actually comes through.

There is also another school of thought that holds that the behavior of the Americans is geared at punishing the Nigerian government over its inability to halt the passage into law of the same sex marriage, which was strongly criticised by the West.

As these theories continue to find space in public discourse and Nigerians continue to spat at the US, her ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, while de-bunking the notion that his country was undermining Nigeria’s efforts to end the insurgency in the country ex-plained that the US was worried about the report of hu-man rights violation in the North-East by the Nigerian military authorities.

The Nigerian military has on its part made frantic ef-forts to explain that its troops were not responsible for the human rights abuses as claimed by the Amnesty In-ternational and foreign media. The military authorities have repeatedly insisted and given evidences to prove that insurgents dressed in military wares perpetrate the evil, but the explanations seem not to suffice as the US was al-leged to have made up its mind to use human rights issues as cheap avenue to get at Nigeria.

The irony of the situation is that while the US contin-ues to block all efforts by Nigeria to take delivery of arms to combat the insurgency, she continues to look the other way as members of the sect continues to take delivery of arms supplies, with which it uses to continue to destabi-lise Nigeria.

It is unfortunate that what has now become known as “Leahy Law” in the US only applies to Nigeria as a country and not to terrorists, else, how do the terrorists still procure arms when Nigeria as a country cannot buy arms to defend its citizens against terror?

Named after its sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy, the Leahy Law is a U.S. human rights law that prohibits both the US Department of State and the Department of De-fense from providing any form of military assistance to nations whose military units may have violated human rights with impunity.

Interestingly, the US has refused to enforce this law in the case of some countries. That it has chosen to enforce it in the case of Nigeria points to its subtle desire to allow the pre-diction of one of its organisations, that Nigeria will disinte-grate after the 2015 elections come to pass, despite that Boko Haram continues to behead defenseless citizens.

Perhaps, this might be very instructive. The 2011 Hu-man Rights Watch report exposed how the U.S. “contin-ued to aid and train Cambodia’s armed forces, including units with records of serious human rights violations such as Brigade 31, Battalion 70 and Airborne Brigade 911 - in violation of the Leahy Law.”

Also, despite criticisms of Israel’s policy and alleged high-handedness in Gaza, the US has never declined sending weapons to Israel. In any case, the law has never been enforced against Israel. This hypocritical stance of the US is more annoying considering that Nigeria is not even begging her for arms. Nigeria wants to buy arms from other countries since the US would not sell to her. The question is why would the US continue to block other countries like South Africa and Israel from selling arms to Nigeria? Perhaps, Nigeria may have to review her rela-tionship with the US.

detrimental to our global interest –Shira

through parliamentary intervention, how to bring solu-tion to the crisis; but at the end of the day, whichever way we try to look at it, I think Nigerians would not be happy with that position because it would look as if the Federal Government is trying to shield illegality com-mitted by certain individuals, especially because of the parties allegedly involved and the owners of this equip-ment that was used to commit the so called crime.

Do you believe in Federal Government’s efforts at fight-ing the insurgency.

Well, with the recent development and the achieve-ment made by the military in the last few weeks, I would say yes, because I think government is now serious. But when you look at how the whole issue has been handled, it should not have degenerated to this level if concerted efforts were made in the past. The fact that we are about to commence political activities in preparation for the general election, some of us from that region are begin-ning to entertain fear on whether or not there is going to be election in the North-East and I think, it is very very important for the Federal Government to take drastic

measures to ensure that it curtails the insurgent before the 2015 general election. Because we would not take it lightly if our region, for whatever reason, was disen-franchised from participating in the 2015 election.

Do you believe in 2015 general elections. Absolutely, I have every reason to believe that there is

going to be a well-conducted election in 2015.

Shira

e

eicMt

fG

oa“t

THE QUESTION IS WHY WOULD THE US CONTINUE

TO BLOCK OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE SOUTH AFRICA AND

ISRAEL FROM SELLING ARMS TO NIGERIA?

Politics National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 201416

All Progressives Congress, APC, Lagos State gubernatorial aspirant, Akinwunmi Ambode (left), receiving the party’s Nomination Form from Lagos APC chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale in Lagos, recently.

El-Rufai to supporters: Avoid politics of blackmail

Stakeholders urge Jonathan to allow FCT minister succeed Yuguda

Presidency: Group tasks APC on consensus candidate

Mainland youths support Jide Jimoh for Reps

AZA MSUEKADUNA

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and

All Progressives Con-gress, APC, gubernatorial aspirant in Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday advised his supporters not to engage in politics of blackmail ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He said this while ad-dressing his supporters in Kafanchan, Southern Kaduna, adding that APC members should not re-spond to blackmail poli-tics, but should instead stick to issue-based politics for their socio-economic development next year.

The former minister also condemned in strong terms the killing in South-ern Kaduna, commiser-ating with the affected communities describing the killings as “troubling and stand condemned, because life is sacred and only God creates human beings and there is no rea-son whatsoever for any man to take the life of an-other person.”

He said: “We shouldn’t personalise issues, it is not about el-Rufai, it is about the state and the people. It is about getting capable leadership to run government with justice, fear of God and vision.

“In the name of God, don’t blackmail any one; don’t engage anyone in harsh words, instead play issue-based poli-tics. Thank you for also not replying sponsored campaign of calumny, the beauty is, once you do thorough checks, you will realise that it is po-litically motivated, they have helped this project immensely because the society knows the truth.”

Princewill declares for Rivers’ governorshipDENNIS NAKUPORT HARCOURT

Former gubernato-rial candidate of the defunct Action

Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Rivers State in 2007, Prince Tonye Princewill, has formally declared his intention to run for the governorship seat in Riv-ers State.

He said his desire this time around is borne out

EZEKIEL TITUSBAUCHI

Apparently satisfied with the star per-formance of the

Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Bala Mo-hammed, stakeholders in Bauchi State Peoples Dem-ocratic Party, PDP, cutting across the 20 council areas, have urge, President Good-luck Jonathan to allow him succeed Bauchi State Gov-ernor, Isa Yuguda.

Senator Bala Kariya and former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to Yuguda, Babayo Ahmed, in separate statements while addressing a mammoth crowd of party supporters said that the FCT Minister should be allowed to return home to replicate the successes he has recorded in the FCT, with the monumen-tal infrastructural develop-ment of Bauchi State.

Reiterating that the call was coming from all nooks and cranny of Bauchi State, they said: “The call on the President to allow Moham-med to come and contest is the only panacea that can save the PDP from the oppo-sition party in the state and to avoid a repeat of the 2007 scenario where the party lost to the defunct All Nige-ria Peoples Party, ANPP.

Calling on the people not to compromise their man-date to politicians waiting to be anointed by so-called godfathers, they asked the people to remain resolute in ensuring the FCT Min-ister leads the state in the next dispensation.

They stressed that Bau-chi State urgently need cred-ible and sound politician in the mould of Mohammed who is capable of meeting the yearnings and aspira-tions of the people for Bau-chi’s economic recovery.

WALE IBRAHIMLOKOJA

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, Kogi State chapter

of ‘Buhari 2015 Support Group’ has urged the All Progressives Congress, APC, to adopt a consensus candidate for the February

OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

A socio-political or-ganisation in Lagos Mainland federal

constituency, ‘Mainland Youths for Good Gover-

of a collective will “to run, not an individual ambi-tion borne out of a single, self absorbing or self-cen-tred agenda.”

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday, Princewill, who will be contesting under the plat-form of the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, said the state has a huge potential, blessed with all kinds of resources most of which lay above the ground, not

15 Presidential election. This was contained in

a communiqué issued and signed by the group’s state co-ordinator and secretary, Yaku-bu Ugbolawo and J.O. Yusuf respectively at the end of its general meeting where offi-cers were elected in Lokoja.

Calling on all the presi-dential aspirants in APC to

under it. The statement said:

“In 2007, we had a state that only a few of us were proud of. Almost eight years later, we run the risk of returning to that state.

“Violence, kidnappings, politics of bitterness and ethnic divisions have re-emerged and the peace we all enjoyed is flickering like a candle in the wind. What went wrong? We have to save this state.

“In the days and weeks ahead, I will be collecting my nomination forms, unveiling my roadmap for the renewal of Riv-ers State and introducing my campaign team to the world at our new state of the art offices here in Port Harcourt.

“Have no fear. This train has only one stop and that stop is Brick House (Riv-ers Government House) in 2015.”

Bayelsa PDP assures defecting APC members of level playing fi eldOSAHON JULIUSYENAGOA

Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Bay-

elsa State has assured de-fectors from the All Pro-gressives Congress, APC, of a level playing field as the 2015 elections gather momentum.

This assurance was giv-en when leaders of the de-fectors met with PDP lead-ers in the state ahead of the 2015 general elections.

The meeting, convened by the PDP state Execu-tive Council, SEC, ed by Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), was attended by 9 repre-sentatives of the over 8,000 defectors led by Comrade

Miriki Ebikibina and Hon Sunday Frank-Okputu.

State Publicity Secre-tary of the PDP, Barr. Osom Macgbere, said the meet-ing with the defectors was an in-house arrangement, adding that the chairman met with them at the level in which their members were introduced.

Former state chairman

of the Conference of Ni-gerian Political Parties, CNPP, Frank-Okputu, con-firmed the meeting, saying that it was held to formally inform the PDP of their decision to move into the party and work towards the progress of the present administration at the state and the national levels.

He said: “We commend

the PDP for the warm re-ception and believe in the development strides of the present administra-tion in the state. We also commend it for the sup-port shown the Seriake Dickson administration. We have promised PDP of our undivided loyalty and we are ready to work.”

appreciate that the tasks of defeating the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, through the ballot box was enor-mous, the group called on every party member to make the necessary sacrifice.

It therefore explained that one of such sacrifice was subsuming individual ambition and interest un-

der the party’s and that of the country, noting that the former Head of State, General Muhammadu Bu-hari, is one of the several aspirants with capability to lead the country, to eradi-cate corruption and rapidly develop the country, adding that a Buhari candidature was a call to duty.

nance’, MYGG, has declared its support for the ambition of the incumbent chairman of Yaba local council devel-opment area, LCDA, Olajide Jimoh, to run for the House of Representatives seat to represent the constituency in

the National Assembly.In a statement signed

by MYGG’s president and secretary respectively, Nu-rudeen Obanla and Sylva-nus Chukwu, it stated that Jimoh has distinguished himself as a man commit-

ted to serving the people wherever he finds himself.

It said: “This is a man who has distinguished him-self as a lawmaker when he was a member of the state House of Assembly and is now doing wonders as a council chairman, we are very sure that he will repre-sent us well at the National Assembly.”

Describing Jimoh as a man who has taken grass-roots governance to the next level in Yaba LCDA, MYGG said: “Go and look at the records at the state House of Assembly, you will find out that Jimoh was one of the best lawmakers in the Assembly.”

Okey Wali’s kidnap saga: Matters arisingThis definitely is one of the most try-

ing times for Nigerian judiciary! This statement popped into my

mind when the news of the kidnap of the immediate past president of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Okey Wali SAN, filtered in last Sunday. This worrisome de-velopment, which came on the heels of the shameful judge-beating scandal in Ekiti State, has the potentiality of introducing terror into the nation’s judicial circle.

Everybody knows that a cowed judi-ciary is an ineffectual one. When the ju-dicial atmosphere is pervaded by fear of insecurity, and lawyers and judges do not feel safe in the society, one of the major pil-lars that sustain the society would become shaky, waiting to totter to the ground! And you and I know the final outcome of such prospect.

As of the time of writing this column, the whereabouts of the NBA ex-boss is unknown. The mind-numbing experi-ences of the former legal heavyweights, who had suffered the similar fate, came haunting the soul. A human rights activ-ist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), was kid-napped on 23 August 2013, while travelling along Ehor stretch of Benin-Auchi road on his way to Etsako, Edo State. His driv-er was kidnapped along with him. It was further reported that four policemen who attempted to rescue him, were ambushed and killed by the gunmen. The kidnappers later called to demand a sum of N150 mil-lion as ransom. He was freed after 20 days in captivity amidst unconfirmed reports that some ransom had been paid.

Not to be forgotten is also the kidnap-ping of the wife and daughter of a Su-preme Court Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vi-vour on May 10, 2013. They were held in captivity for more than three weeks by the armed bandits, who demanded $500,000 be-fore they could be released.

This trend has certainly introduced a dangerous dimension into the hitherto intractable security challenge of the coun-try. It constitutes a symbolic representa-tion of the infernal depth to which law and order has sunk. As one unfortunate inci-dent follows another in succession, it has become imperative for the governments at all levels to synergistically rise to rescue the nation from the brink of utter failure.

After all, the safety of lives and proper-ties is the preponderant duty of a govern-ment. Imagine the height of national em-barrassment that is spawned when a man of Okey Wali’s status is being blackmailed to offer ransom to some faceless and law-less elements as an inexorable barter for his life! It is tantamount to laying the icon of law and order prostrate. It is a symbolic stripping of our justice institution of its

aura and inviolability.Now that the monster called kidnap-

ping is fast becoming more and more indiscriminate in its choice of victims, nobody is feeling safe. There was a time in this country when headline-making kidnappings were only cases of foreign oil-workers. It was after this that the scope of the criminal enterprise was expanded and “democratised” to include the rich and not-so-rich. Kidnapping is now essen-tially a commercial project for all comers who could lay hand on guns and who are crazy enough to trade other people’s lives for filthy lucre. Every lazy bone now sees abduction as a shortcut to instant wealth; it has become magical money spinners for the ne’er do well.

Now a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the immediate past president of Af-rica’s largest body of lawyers could just be taken away at will by hoodlums! With the latest development, it could be said that the already fragile Nigerian institu-tional structure is about to suffer a further seismographic shock. Unfortunately the Nigerian security system, in all its rami-fications has, more often than not played the second best to the kidnappers. Goaded on by impunity, the kidnappers had been having a field day, ravaging the land reck-lessly, claiming victims among the lowly and the mighty and picking up easy dough almost for the asking.

With this fear of insecurity and uncer-tainty everywhere in the land, the now famous “America’s prophecy” that puta-tively hinted at Nigeria’s implosion and

disintegration in 2015, which has attracted heavy criticisms and denunciations from the Nigerian establishment, is becoming a probable theory. Every day, it seems some unseen forces are tinkering with the des-tiny of the nation in a manipulative game that nobody knows how it would end. Ev-ery day, numerous forces are at work to subvert law and order in the country. We cannot continue to accept the status quo where just about anybody can be whisked away by kidnappers. There must be an end to this chaos.

The current rulers of Nigeria, there-fore, need to do all within their power to re-orientate and rescue the nation from the fatalistic fulfilment of unwanted, but seemingly ineluctable destiny.

WE CANNOT CONTINUE TO ACCEPT THE STATUS

QUO WHERE JUST ABOUT ANYBODY CAN BE WHISKED AWAY BY

KIDNAPPERS

FRYNDUBUISI

[email protected] (08023016709 SMS only)

Professor Ndubuisi is of the Dept of Philosophy, UNILAG

EXISTENTIAL HUMANISM

There was an ironic twist of fate in Adamawa State’s politics recently. Murtala Nyako was impeached as

governor earlier this year. His deputy that would have gone with him played smart by submitting his resignation letter to the House of Assembly. The resignation let-ter that was meant to be a ‘private letter’ to the House was discussed on the floor of the house and subsequently accepted. With ex Governor Nyako impeached and his deputy ‘out’, Alhaji Umar Fintiri, the for-mer Speaker that played a major role in the impeachment saga, was sworn in as acting Governor.

Being as ambitious as any normal poli-tician, acting Governor Fintiri presented himself for the primaries to select the PDP gubernatorial candidate for the election and won. It was excitement for him and his supporters. He has already marshalled out his redemption programme for the state, both in acting capacity and as a hopeful substantive governor. Then followed a sud-den twist: The former deputy governor,

Confl ict between law and justice THE MACHIAVELLIAN DICTUM THAT THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS

IS A MISCONCEIVED APPROACH TO POLITICS

Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: [email protected] [email protected] or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

Mr. Bala Ngilari, approached the Federal Court, Abuja to declare his purported res-ignation a nullity. You and I know the res-ignation letter was ‘wrongly’ addressed to the Speaker of the House in breach of Sec-tion 306(1)(2) and (5) of the 1999 Constitu-tion (as amended).

The section is unequivocal that such a letter, when the need arises, should be ad-dressed to the substantive Governor and not the Speaker. The Abuja court expedi-tiously ruled that Fintiri was an illegal oc-cupant of the Office of Governor, and thus ordered that Ngilari be sworn in as the act-ing Governor. He subsequently issued an-other order stopping the Independent Na-tional Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting any bye election to the gover-norship office.

It is to be noted that Ngilari denied re-signing his position within the contempla-tion of the provision of section 306(1) (2) and (5) of the constitution, stressing that the purported resignation letter he for-warded to the Speaker was not meant to be acted on by the state House of Assembly. He deposed that the letter was intended to be a private correspondent and hence it was marked ‘secret’. Ngilari’s prayer to the court was granted and he had subsequent-ly be sworn in by the President, Custom-ary Court of Appeal, Justice Audu Lawan Lagre.

It was a big irony of fate. And as was re-ported, the ceremony was boycotted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in

the state; and state’s workers were also said to have rejected the court verdict. Vocalising their position, the leader of the protesting workers stated they would not accept any surreptitious attempt to extend the tenure of the ousted Murtala Nyako administra-tion. In deference and concerned of the ill feelings and divided opinion on his reversed political fortune, Gover-nor Ngilari has appealed to the people of the state to support his administra-tion, pledging to be fair and transpar-ent in all his dealings with them.

Nigerians of different political per-suasions have been reacting to this po-litical novelty and new jurisprudential lexicon. Former Lagos State Commis-sioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, reasoned that the removal of Fintiri by the Abuja Federal High Court had rekindled people’s hope in the nation’s judiciary, adding that Fintiri paid the ‘’price for treachery and betrayal”. He counselled politicians that have turned themselves into purchasable commodities to learn a lesson from the tragedy that has befallen Fintiri,

who he claimed betrayed impeached ex-Governor Nyako that made him.

For Fintiri, it is not over yet. He has already briefed his lawyer, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN) to appeal the judgement. He maintains that Ngilari actually resigned his appointment in a letter separately addressed to the state House of Assem-bly and the former governor. He is opti-mistic that justice would be done at the end of the day.

This particular matter has gone to further buttress the often held view that law, though touted as ’common knowl-edge’, is really complex. The moral issues in this case are, was the resig-nation letter written by Ngilari to the House meant to deceive them so that he would be spared the agony of impeach-ment; was his going to court part of his grand plan or an afterthought; and is there nothing disturbing about high and respectable public officer embarking on political expeditions just to protect self interests?

Many have argued that there is no morality in politics, and that the ambi-tion of every politician is winning elec-tions to be in power. This is like giving politics a bad name. The Machiavellian dictum that the end justifies the means is a misconceived approach to politics. The cultivation of such philosophy will expose the society and humanity to jeop-ardy. It will be interesting to see the final outcome of this intrigue.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 17Thursday, October 16, 2014 Views

KAYODEKETEFE

[email protected] 08032147720 (SMS only)

CRITICAL STROKES

18 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FG and $15m arms procurement saga

Lao Airlines Flight 301, a scheduled domestic pas-senger flight from Vientiane to Pakse, Laos, crashed on approach to Pakse International Airport in Laos, killing 49 people. The accident, the first involving an ATR 72–600, was the deadliest ever to occur on Laotian soil and the third-deadliest involving an ATR 72 behind Aero Caribbean Flight 883 and American Eagle Flight 4184 which both killed 68.

October 16, 2013 October 16, 1996

The attempted assassination of South Korean President, Chun Doo-hwan, during an official visit to Rangoon, the capital of Burma, occurred. Although Chun survived, the blast killed 17 members of his entourage, including four cabinet ministers; and injured 17 others. During the visit, President Doo-hwan planned to lay a wreath at the Mar-tyrs’ Mausoleum to commemorate Aung San, who founded independent Burma but was assassinated in 1947.

Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, was arrested in London on a warrant from Spain request-ing his extradition on murder charges. Pinochet (Novem-ber 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was an army general and dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990. Pinochet assumed power in Chile following a United States’-backed coup d’état on September 11, 1973, that overthrew the elected government of President Salvador Allende.

ON THIS DAY

The Presidency, according to recent reports, spoke up on the running controversy,

namely: the seizure by South African authorities of Nigeria’s $15m meant for the purchase of arms. On September 5, two Nige-rians and an Israeli colleague of theirs were picked up in South Africa while they were attempting to smuggle $9.3m cash conveyed in a chartered private jet to that country. Roughly three weeks thereafter, an additional $5.7m was seized when a South African company purportedly contracted to buy the arms tried to pay back the money for failing to meet its part of the deal.

Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Communication, Dr. Doyin Okupe, was reported as explain-ing lately that “the Nigerian government could not share all information about the issues at stake because they were security matters.” “It is an issue which we cannot just bring to (the) public domain. For goodness sake, we need to have some quiet innocent support… These are very seri-ous national security affairs and running a government is not the same thing as running a Shoprite, where everything is on the table and on display. There is nothing shady about the South African deal and the Office of the NSA (National Security Adviser) has

done very well because at the ap-propriate time, they came in that, ‘yes, this money belongs to us and this was what it was meant for;’ that explanation itself was okay. There is no hanky panky on this matter”, Okupe said.

The snort response of the FG to the arms-buying embarrassment is, however, not strange, considering that anything that has to do with se-curity in most nations is conducted in near absolute secrecy. In Nigeria of the present day, the secrecy could be likened to the darkness of the dead of the night, when the moon is on recess. The Boko Haram insur-gence and ever increasing crime wave nationwide can easily be cited as reasons why arms should be secretly procured from most ridicu-lous and curious sources.

Experts, however, view public procurement as a key function of any government, because it is an effective, efficient and honest pro-cess crucial to ensuring that scarce public resources (funds especially) are well spent; and that requisite public projects for which procure-ments are carried out are truly ac-complished. They also say that cor-ruption, inefficiency and waste are the bane of public procurement in most nations, globally speaking. Military procurement is said to be worse, as arms procurement pro-cedures locally or internationally provided virtually unquestionable paths for massive corruption and

waste of public funds.In the case of Nigeria, the

Public Procurement Act of 2007 established the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) as the regu-latory authority responsible for the monitoring and oversight of public procurement; harmonizing existing government policies and practices by regulating, setting standards and developing the legal framework and professional capac-ity for public procurement in the country. Indeed, the core objectives of the BPP was spelt out as ensur-ing economic efficiency; competi-tion (in other words, providing level playing ground for all strata of bidders for contracts); value for money; and transparency.

In a three-day procurement awareness seminar the Defence Headquarters organized earlier in the year for various personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces responsible for procurement, which had as its theme : ‘Understanding Public Pro-curement Policy Towards Efficient Defence Procurement in Nigeria’, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Marshal Alex Badeh, who was represented by Air Vice Marshall

A. A. Iya, Chief of Policy and Plans at the Defence Headquarters, paid glowing tributes to the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Emeka M. Eze, an engineer, and his staff for what he called the “cordial relationship (that existed) between the DHQ (Defence Headquarters) and the BPP in our collective efforts to be prudent in defence procurement to achieve national defence objectives”.

It would seem, however, that Bardeh’s commendation of the BPP was mere lip service, going by the South Africa arms scandal. Indeed, the leadership of the BPP did say in 2009 that 90 percent of bribes in Nigeria’s public sector could be traced to the procure-ment system; and that procure-ment in the military was excep-tionally ‘problematic’.

For these reasons and more, the FG ought to have averted any grain of suspicion in it rush from arms supply from South Africa, especially at a time when it was in search of $1bn loan to fund securi-ty imperatives; and when the office of the NSA claims it is under-funded in relation to tackling the challenges posed by insurgency in parts of the North. The common public impression is that the arms deal is suspect; and Nigerians won-der if that is how the $1bn security loan granted the Presidency by the National Assembly would be gradually frittered away.

THE COMMON PUBLIC IMPRESSION IS THAT THE ARMS DEAL IS

SUSPECT

October 16, 1998

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Thursday October 16, 2014Editorial

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

Tony Johnson (not real name) was excited when he was employed and

posted to a Federal Govern-ment college in the South West in 20O5 as a teacher on salary scale level 8.

For the Mathematics and Phys-ics teacher, the world was his oysters as he looked forward to a flourishing career. Indeed, every-thing appeared to be working in his favour, especially when he sat for the nationwide Federal Civil Service promotional exam four years later and emerged as one of the best.

He scored over 80 per cent in the exam and was promptly pro-moted to level 9. With a letter duly signed by the Director of Human Resources Management in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. S.A. Albase announcing his promotion and stating his new salary and allowances, Tony be-gan to envisage a new life and the good things of life coming his way through his promotion.

Five years after, Tony’s promo-tion has been on paper alone. He is yet to have a feel of the new salary and allowances spelt out in his letter. He is still on his old level 8 salary.

“I and my colleagues who were also promoted were seriously dis-turbed about this development.” he told National Mirror. “We were curious to know the reason for such treatment but there was no official explanation. The school authorities told us that only the Ministry of Education in Abuja that could explain why.”

Still wondering if he would ever taste the packages of his new status, Tony was invited for another promotional exam in 2011 and again, he excelled. He was promptly placed on level 10, also backed with an official letter signed by another director in the ministry, Dr. F.O. Ikibeh.

“I thought by this development, our case would be looked into and we would start enjoying the ben-

efit of our new status. But we were dead wrong. My two letters of pro-motion are mere papers,” Tony lamented. “I am still receiving the old salary that I started with nine years ago.”

He is not alone. Thousand of his colleagues in all cadres at the 104 unity colleges nationwide and other staff of the mainstream ministry are being promoted ev-

ery year on paper without the ac-companying benefits, and this has been the trend in the education ministry since 2007.

Some of the teachers told Na-tional Mirror that they had tried enduring the situation for years and continued their work, earn-ing the same salary every year.

However, with the nation’s eco-nomic realities, the teachers have

discovered that the static salary could no longer sustain them and their families.

“With the increasing prices of goods and services in the coun-try, our salaries are devalued on a daily basis such that we can no longer afford three square meals, let alone meet other financial obli-gations, especially at home. That was what pushed us to embark

on the ongoing strike,” said one of the teachers, who pleaded ano-nymity. National Mirror’s inves-tigations revealed that all along, the teachers under the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) had been meeting with the leadership of the ministry to address the is-sue, demanding payment of their

Why we are staying off class —Unity College teachers

King’s College, Lagos empty due to the strike

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

• We’re behind you, say parents

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 19

IN CONJUNCTION WITHEducation Today

Thursday, October 16, 2014

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY,ADO-EKITI (ABUAD)

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY,ADO-EKITI (ABUAD)

“The setting of this University is ‘Superlative’ and ‘Impressive’, with nothing of its kind that I have seen so far in the country or anywhere else” (Gen. Dr. Yakubu Gowon, GCFR,)

UI VC charges workers on unity

NUC assures varsities of support

Proliferation of forged certifi cates in public sector

202322

Jolaosho

L-R: Deputy Vice- Chancellor (Academic), Lagos State University, Ojo, Prof. Senapon Bakre; Registrar, Mr. Oladapo Lewis and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa at a press briefing on the institution’s external programmes, recently.

Our concern, to restore GCI’s lost glory — AlumniTUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

The former students of Government Col-lege Ibadan (GCI),

Oyo State have indicated their interest to bring back the lost glory of the institu-tion.

The alumni, under the aegis of Government Col-lege Ibadan Old Boys Asso-ciation (GCIOBA), on Mon-day, gave the indication at a press conference in Lagos to kick-start the 85th anniver-sary of the school, which is expected to be rounded off this Saturday.

Other activities for a week- long celebration in-clude: public lecture on “Challenges of re-inventing quality education in Nige-ria” and to be delivered by the Chairman, Governing Council, Lead City Univer-sity, Ibadan, Prof. Jide Owo-eye; Jumait service and novelty football match be-tween the old boys and their

counterparts from Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan with Governor Abiola Aji-mobi leading Lagelu’s team; election of new officers; un-veiling of Hall of Fame and GCIOBA awards, luncheon and merit awards to deserv-ing alumni. All these ac-cording to the group would take place between tomor-row and the day next.

Addressing the confer-ence, the National Presi-dent of the association, Chief Biodun Jolaosho, a 1964 set, lamented the de-teriorated state the college is today, saying something

needs to be done fast to sal-vage the situation.

According to him, the college from inception up to the late 70’s was known for excellence in academic, in-frastructures, curriculum development, character mouddling and extra-cur-riculum activities includ-ing sport.

Then, Jolaosho recalled, the boys drank from the fountain of knowledge of their teachers, both whites and black in arts, science and technical subjects and exposed to well- rounded ed-ucation that well equipped them for future challenges.

“But the story is entirely different today,” he stressed.

According to him, the college is confronting with such problems as decaying infrastructures, academic decadence, poor staffing, overcrowded classrooms, insecurity, sanitary chal-lenge and decaying sport culture, among others.

“There are also only

about 20 regular teachers in the whole school teach-ing over 3,000 students and the implication of all these is the poor performance of both the students and teach-ers,” he added.

Jolaosho, a management consultant said the associa-tion had determined to con-tinuously pulling resources together to reclaim lost vir-tues of the college and make it most preferred choice for the brilliant students.

He however disclosed that the association had spent about N150 million in the last 10 years to some amenities including class-rooms, pipe borne water, teachers’ common room, library and well-equipped science laboratories, among others.

Jolaosho promised that the group would not relent on its oars but intensify its effort to achieve the goal, saying all is necessary as government according to him cannot do it all alone.

The United Nation Education-al, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has

started discussing with partners on how best to inform and engage the international community on the provision of rounded education to citizenry through a global forum.

The forum to be hosted by Repub-lic of Korea and tagged: “2015 World Education Forum” is aimed at pre-paring the education agenda for the

World Education Forum important —UNESCO

next 15 years.The Secretary-General of the fo-

rum, Host Committee Secretariat in Korea, Mr. Young-gon Kim in a release by UNESCO, said the com-mittee was working with a core team of 12 people to set the scene for the big event.

He said heads of state and gov-ernment of various counties, civil society groups, experts, media and UN agencies, among others are all

expected for the forum.He said since education is recognised

as an essential condition for human ful-filment, peace, sustainable development, equality and responsible global citizenship, the forum would show good performance and shortfalls for the Education for All movement and hopefully set the agenda for the sector for the next 15 years.

Kim added that “The forum will be a suc-cess if all member countries agree on the goal and the targets of the forum.

Caleb varsity graduates 13 First Class students

UI VC charges workers on unity

Olukoju

Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State will this Saturday

hold its fourth convoca-tion ceremony with a total of 13 students graduating with First Class degree.

An industrialist of note, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode will also be conferred with an honorary doctorate de-gree in Public Administra-tion at the event while the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ayo-deji Olukoju will address the convocation.

The university’s spokes-person, Shola Emiola in a release, said Professor Adi-gun Agbaje of the Depart-ment of Political Science, University of Ibadan is the convocation lecturer. Adi-gun would speak on: “Lying in state: Leadership and the travails of democratic gov-ernance in Africa.”

Professor Agbaje, a First Class product from the University of Ibadan had served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the institu-tion before becoming the pioneer Director-General of the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, Lekki, Lagos.

He is an author and a journalist.

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

The Vice-Chancel-lor, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof.

Isaac Adewole has advised members of staff of the university, especially the managers to always work in unity and as a team.

He said that was the sur-est way by which the uni-versity could achieve the vision and mission of its founding fathers.

He gave the advice at a two-day retreat programme organised by the university for the top management staff and other key officers in Ijebu- Ode, Ogun State, recently.

The theme of the pro-gramme was “Challenges of the 21st Century Univer-sity Administrator.”

According to the vice-chancellor, “the Univer-sity of Ibadan has a com-bination of talents who are champions in their re-spective fields. So, the one thing that required is for ev-erybody to work as a team

member.”He further advised par-

ticipants not to be compla-cent with their present lev-els but to restrategise and reposition themselves for better service delivery back home.

Also speaking, the for-mer Registrar of the uni-versity, Chief Moji Ladipo, who spoke on “Administra-tive procedure: Things we overlook but are of great importance in our day-to-day administrative duties,” told participants to always be guided by a handbook in their administrative activi-ties.

The manual, she added, would need to be regularly updated and allow every member of staff across cad-res to perform his assigned roles effectively.

Other speakers at the event included: the former Bursar of the university, Alhaji J.A. Bankole, who spoke on “University fi-nancial regulations and procedures;” Dr. Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf from the National Universities Com-mission (NUC), who spoke on “E-learning as a model for sustainable transfor-mation in the education sector;” Prof. Babatunde Adeleke, former Vice-Chan-cellor, Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, and Mr. Tayo Aduloju, who spoke on “Breaking Barriers of Pes-simism and Despondency.” Adewole

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net20 Thursday, October 16, 2014Education Today

Daramola

NBTE promises journalists accreditation

FUTA, others partner on food research TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

The Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in conjunction

with the University of Alican-te, Spain and four other African universities have commenced research activities that would guarantee food security in West Africa.

The project, which is expect-ed to finish within 36 months, is titled: “Integrated soil fertility management for food security: Matching capacities in Anglo-

phone West African nations with local needs.” It is being funded by the European Union.

The sole aim of the project according to FUTA’s spokes-man, Mr. Adebanjo Adegbenro is to foster capacity building and regional integration in integrated soil fertility man-agement for food security in Anglophone West African uni-versities.

He said the University of Al-icante, Spain would coordinate the activities of the team and named other collaborating uni-versities to include University of Ghana, Accra; University of D Schang, Cameroon; Njala University, Sierra Leone and

University of The Gambia, Gambia.

Speaking on the collabora-tion, FUTA’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adebiyi Daramola said the project was in tandem with the university’s drive to contribute meaningfully to evolving solutions to pressing societal problems.

He noted that the universi-ty would continue to partner any institution or individual in and outside the country that share its vision of provid-ing solutions to societal prob-lems.

The author of Burning Hurt, Uny-ime-Ivy King would this Saturday in Enugu make a public reading

of the book.The event will take place at the Hidden

Treasures Bookstore in the coal city and audience would have the opportunity to discuss the inspirational book and interact with the author.

King from Akwa Ibom State will also sign copies for those who purchase the book at the event.

SAIDAT ALAUSA

The Vice-Chancellor, University of La-gos (UNILAG), Akoka, Prof. Raham-on Bello has said that the university

would continue to make research its prior-ity because of the relevance to the country’s development.

He made the remark at the closing cer-emony of the annual research conference and fair organised by the university last week.

The conference in its 9th edition this year had over 200 papers presentations, in-cluding posters and participants within and outside the university.

According to him, the university cannot strive as an institution without first class researchers and that is why the university will always make funds available to support genuine researches in the university.

“The number of participants at this year conference is a testimony to the seriousness and importance we place on our research activities in UNILAG,” he said.

Pointing out that the university creates research unit in the university so that re-searches were not left on the shelves, he told the organising committee to make the com-muniqué available so that it will be present-ed to authorities to show that the university has come up with solutions that can help the country.

“In the years ahead we should not only invite companies that will exhibit but also those that can make use of the researches at the conference and help improve the econo-my of the nation as well as make money for the researchers as well,” he said.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics and Research of the institution, Prof. Baba-jide Alo said the university through the con-ference would continue to collaborate with universities within and outside the country.

“Because of the elaborate way we organ-ise this conference yearly, the National Uni-versities Commission (NUC) has commend-ed the university and told other universities in the country to emulate us,” he said.

The Chairman of the Conference Plan-ning Committee and Dean, Faculty of Phar-macy, Prof. Olukemi Odukoya urged partic-ipants to make use of the information they got at the conference to develop the country so that the country could move forward at a reasonable pace.

Prizes were given to faculty’s best re-searchers at the conference while the over-all winner will be announced at a later date.

Burning Hurt for public reading in Enugu

UNILAG VC reiterates commitment to research

HAKEEM GBADAMOSIAKURE

The new Commandant of Police Secondary School, Akure, Ondo State, Mr. Geoffrey Iorbee has as-

sured parents and guardians of the safe-ty of their wards, especially against the Ebola Virus Disease.

He gave the assurance while receiv-ing both the new and returning students back to the school on Monday, saying adequate measures have already been put in place by the school authorities in

Police College attempts Ebola control, as students resume

collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the state government.

Iorbee, who is the Chief Superinten-dent of Police, said some of the measures put in place are the use of thermometer to check students’ temperature and the ster-ilising of hands.

He noted that government through the Ministry of Health and Police Education Authorities had earlier sensitized the school administrators and teachers to guide against the outbreak and spread of Ebola virus and other diseases.

The commandant appealed to parents

and guardians to cooperate with the school authorities by abiding with all the preventive measures in place.

He said “Teachers are ready and teaching materials are in place and aca-demic activities will commence in ear-nest�. We commend the cooperation of parents and guardians as well as our students in making the efforts a huge success.

Iorbee however, assured the parents of the safety of their children, saying the teachers are ready for additional re-sponsibilities in this regard.

L-r: Chairman on occasion and Principal, King’s College, Lagos, Otunba Oladele Olapeju assisted by his wife, Helen Olapeju receiving humanitarian ser-vice award from the newly installed President, Lekki Peninsula Lions Club, Lagos, Mrs. Rita Okon at the installation of new officers for the club, recently.

AZA MSUEKADUNA

The Executive Secretary of the Na-tional Board for Technical Education, (NBTE), Dr Adamu Kazaure, has said

the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Aca-demic outfit, the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ)’s application for accredita-tion has gotten the endorsement of the Gov-erning Board and would soon get the final approval.

Kazaure who acknowledged the signifi-

cant role played by Journalists said, the board would ensure that the academic outfit which is committed to training and retraining jour-nalists is duly accredited for journalists to be more professionally qualified, efficient in the discharge of their duties.

The secretary made this known in his of-fice when the NUJ National Executive mem-bers led by the President, Mallam Muham-mad Garba alongside the management staff of the IIJ paid him a courtesy visit.

Kazaure noted that the board has about 435 institutions under its supervision with sev-

eral other institutions seeking accreditation.Earlier, NUJ President Mallam Muham-

mad Garba commended the NBTE for the job well-done, saying the board has lifted the tech-nical and vocational standard of education in the country.

He appealed to the government to ensure adequate funding of the board to discharge its responsibilities effectively.

NUJ established since 1994 and offering di-ploma certificates in some courses particular-ly Journalism and journalism related cours-es. It has graduated no fewer than 7,000 so far.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 21Education TodayThursday, October 16, 2014

NUC assures varsities of support SAIDAT ALAUSA

The Executive Sec-retary, National Universities Com-

mission (NUC), Prof. Ju-lius Okogie has assured the Committee of Deans of Students’ Affairs of Nigerian Universities (CODESANU) of the com-mission’s continuous sup-port in lifting university

education in the country.He gave the assurance

when the new executive members of the committee paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

He advised the commit-tee members to constantly interact among themselves and share ideas and experi-ences that would move the committee forward.

He urged them to do their best in managing the

affairs of students diligent-ly and also try to resolve issues that arise between students and their vice-chancellors.

Responding, the Chair-man of the committee, Prof. Armstrong Matin-Adejo expressed joy for the guidance provided to the group by NUC, promising that the committee would constantly liaise with the commission for advice and

would equally do its best to standardise the affairs of students in their various institutions.

Also in the delegation team were the newly elect-ed Secretary-General, Prof Yemi Akegbejo-Samson; the Public Relations Officer, Hillary Ezeh and Treasurer, Dr. Veronica Okogbaa from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), among others.

Resumption: Parents should’ve insisted on Oct. 13 —VC

Makinde

L-R: Registrar, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Mrs. Josephine Akinyemi; Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Vincent Tenebe and former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his registration for master’s/PhD programme at the university in Lagos, recently.

SAIDAT ALAUSA

The Vice-Chancellor of Bab-cock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Prof. Kayode Ma-

kinde has said Nigerians should have insisted on October 13 as a resump-tion date for the primary and second-ary schools nationwide as earlier an-nounced by the Federal government when Ebola Virus was newly reported into the country.

He said such insistence would have prevented the government from play-ing politics with the resumption issue.

He stated this during the dedica-tion service held to welcome the stu-dents of Babcock Academy, Abeokuta, Ogun State, back to school, recently.

While commending both the Fed-eral and Lagos State governments for their prompt response to Ebola virus disease and its prevention, Prof. Ma-kinde said that Governor Babatunde Fashola in particular was not only a manager of resources, but a manager of crises.

Speaking on Babcock Academy, the vice-chancellor thanked God for making the dream of establishing the

school a reality.He commended the leadership of

Ogun conference which initiated and ensured the execution of the school project.

He said that he was highly satisfied with the level of achievement at the school so far.

Also speaking on the school, the Chairperson of Babcock University Schools Management Board, Dr. Ja-net Ola said that it was necessary to dedicate the new school to God before bringing in the pupils.

She commended the Principal of

the academy, Dr. Bola Adebowojo who she described as a dynamic woman for her hard work and commitment in ensuring that the school project was executed.

Earlier, in her welcome address, the principal expressed appreciation to the schools management board for moral and financial assistance so far.

She said that six classrooms, li-brary, sick bay, hostel for 64 students, transformer for power supply and se-curity post, among other facilities are ready at the permanent site.

She noted that with continued sup-port of all, the school would attain greater heights in the nearest future.

She said that the school started with 10 students last year at a tempo-rary site but today, the enrolment has increased to 40.

Speaking on the standard of the school, Dr. Adebowojo said that Bab-cock Academy, being an Adventist school would also practice Adventist system of education which is holistic in nature.

She therefore assured parents of the present and prospective students of the school that they would not be disappointed.

outstanding promotion arrears and other entitle-ments. The meetings have however not yielded any positive result.

The teachers claimed that a sum of N1.8 billion was released sometimes by the Ministry of Finance to its education’s counterpart to offset the promotion ar-rears. According to them, the education ministry has not, till date, accounted for the money.

“We were really pushed to the wall and left with no option than to go on this strike,” the Lagos Zonal Coordinator of the associa-tion, Mr. A. B. Lawal said: “And I don’t know why our political leaders always like to wait for workers to down tools before doing the need-ful. After all, a labourer de-serves his wages.”

Lawal explained that not until last week, govern-ment had been avoiding the leadership of the union.

According to him, sev-eral meetings had been scheduled by the minister over the matter with the union’s leaders but only for the union leaders to attend without government’s rep-resentative showing up.

He noted that the one held last Thursday which was at the instance of the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu was also led by a director in the minis-try.

At the meeting, accord-ing to him, both parties agreed on how to offset the total bill for normalcy to re-turn to schools.

“We were being owed something around N2.2 billion and government promised to pay the money in three instalments begin-ning with the promotion ar-rears from 2007 to 2013,” he explained. “By calculation, we are looking at about N527 million as the first payment and we are yet to receive the money.”

The Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike however told Na-tional Mirror that the gov-ernment had started pay-ing the arrears and would complete the payment this week.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, the minister promised that the government holds the agreement with the teach-

ers as sacrosanct.“I hope the teachers will

go back to the classrooms latest by this Wednesday (yesterday),” he main-tained.

But Lawal countered Wike’s statement, saying he was not aware of any teach-er who has been paid so far.

“We are waiting and I must say clearly that we cannot be fooled this time around. We will not sus-pend the strike until about 99 per cent of us have been paid. We cannot rely on promises. We need action. We are hungry and so also our family members,” La-wal said.

Meanwhile, students who are at the receiving end of the imbroglio as well as their parents lamented the development.

A student of King’s Col-lege, who simply identified himself as Caleb noted that he had already resumed from the long vacation when he learnt about the strike.

“I was brought to school on Saturday, September 11 and my dad had to come back again the next day to take me home and here we are since then,” he lament-ed.

Similarly, the Coordina-tor of the National Par-ent\Teacher Association of Nigeria, NPTAN, South West Zone, Deacon Olusoji Adams decried the devel-opment, putting the entire blame on the government.

He said the teachers did no wrong by asking for the money they had worked for as labourers. According to him, it is the government that has failed to meet its responsibilities.

“I don’t know why our political leaders behave as if they don’t know how important sound education is to the socio-economic development of the coun-try. They play politics with almost every issue. Politi-cians who earn multiple of what an average civil servant is earning and still enjoy free accommodation and meals are denied of their salaries and other en-titlements. So, government should settle the teachers for them to be able to go back to class. They also deserve to live happily like their counterparts in other ministries,” Olusoji main-tained.


Why we are staying off class —Unity College teachers

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net22 Education Today Thursday, October 16, 2014

LACK OF APPROPRIATE DISCIPLINARY ACTION WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE

ACT OF CERTIFICATE FORGERY IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED A SERIOUS CRIMINAL OFFENCE BUT RATHER A

SOCIAL MISDEMEANOR.

Education as I see itby Tosanwumi Otokunefor

[email protected] (email/SMS only)

Proliferation of forged certifi cates in public sector

Covenant varsity recycles waste, begins wealth project

Pupils of Great Lights Scholars Academy Jehu, Niger State, washing their hands as schools re-sumed the 2014/2015 academy session, on Monday. PHOTO: ROTIMI OSASONA

In line with the Federal Government directive, Sokoto State Govern-

ment has earmarked about 200m naira to purchase thermo-scanners, sanitiz-ers and other items for the prevention of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and other diseases in the state.

The State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Yu-suf Danchadi revealed this on Tuesday adding that the measure was put in place as schools reopened on Mon-day.

“These thermo-scanners, sanitizers, plastic tanks, buckets, towels and deter-gents are to be distributed to all the 229 junior and senior secondary schools across the 23 local govern-

ments.“We have placed an order

for all these items and they will soon be supplied for onward distribution to the schools.”

He disclosed that govern-ment had trained EVD desk officers in all the schools.

The Principal of Govern-ment Girls’ College, Sokoto, Dr. Fatima Mustapha, and his Nana Girls’ Secondary School counterpart, Mrs. Safiya Bello, expressed sat-isfaction with the turnout of the students.

“We are happy with the steps so far taken by the state government to prevent the spread of Ebola disease, especially the training of our staff members,” Musta-pha said.

The swearing in of Mr. Da-vid Shikfu Paradang as the Comptroller-General of Im-

migration Service (CGIS) by Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan on June 12, 2013 may have unwittingly set the stage for what may be described as the one of the most outstanding revelations of corrupt practices in the Nigerian public sector in 2014. During this event, the president had charged the new CGIS to flush out bad eggs, viruses and all forms of bad characters in the immigra-tion service; a sector that is reputed to be plagued with incompetence and corruption.

Subsequent investigations have confirmed the worst fears of Mr. President; sixty percent of the employees of the parastatals are working with forged certificates! However, because of previous an-tecedents there is the belief that the whole exercise would turn out to be an exercise in futility as the indicted officers may not face any disciplinary action.

But the events unraveling at the National Immigration Service is just a reflection of a malady that has permeated the fabrics of our nationhood. The epidemic of forged certificates has ravaged virtually every public sector in Nigeria. The headlines could not have been more ominous. In Kogi State, Bauchi State, Plateau State, Edo State, the story is the same; the government is sacking teachers for possession of fake certificates.

The tertiary institutions have not been spared the agony of teach-ers with fake certificates either. In Ebonyi State College of Educa-tion, 15 lecturers were demoted for possession of fake certificates (Myschool.com). In Ibrahim Ba-damasi Babangida University (IBBU) Lapai, a female lecturer was sacked for forgery of a mas-ter’s degree certificate (Leadership Sunday). Of greater national em-barrassment is the involvement of serving ministers, governors and national assembly members in the controversy of fake certificates in Nigeria.

In all of these troubling statis-tics, the government or their repre-sentatives in the various ministries

and parastatals seem not to have grasped the import of the saga of fake documents as many of the culprits have remained in public service even after being caught in the very act. Many purported dis-missals have been clandestinely re-scinded under mounting pressure from the sponsoring godfathers. The case of the Edo State govern-ment was perhaps the most embar-rassing when teachers dismissed for fraudulently securing appoint-ments with fake certificates were publicly reabsorbed without any explanation.

The question begging for an answer however is how they got to such public positions notwith-standing the rigorous interviews

that candidates are subjected to in the process. Is it possible that a verification of the applicant’s qualifications is not an integral part of such interviews? Is it also possible that the screening pro-cesses do not attempt to assess the level of competence of the candi-date vis-à-vis the alleged qualifi-cation, the position desired and the responsibility to be entrusted?

It is however common knowl-edge that most of the screening exercises purportedly carried out to select candidates seeking employment in the public ser-vices are mere smoke screens to make believe that due processes are being followed. In actual fact, most of the vacancies have already been filled through po-litical patronage, tribal and social sentiments and outright corrupt practice even before the advertise-ment are placed. At the end of the day, those that are eventually em-ployed to midwife the transforma-tion agenda of Mr. President are the unqualified, the incompetent, the fraudulent and the corrupt.

There are no assurances that the earth-shaking discoveries in the Nigerian Immigration Ser-vices would not be swept under the carpet. Already there are suggestions that prominent poli-ticians, are seriously working to undermine the efforts of Mr. Paradang at sanitizing this very important parastatals. These po-litical and administrative godfa-

thers, who are beginning to assume some measure of omnipresence, are also behind the admission of many unqualified candidates into the nation’s universities and their contribution to the growing pool of graduates who cannot read and write.

The lack of appropriate disci-plinary action would suggest that the act of certificate forgery is no longer considered a serious crimi-nal offence but rather a social mis-demeanor. There are no prison terms for those caught in the very act. This perception will only in-crease the incidence of forged doc-uments in the public sector.

Mr. President, what you saw for yourself in the Nigerian Immigra-tion Service when you had to ap-point a Comptroller General of Im-migration is a common occurrence everywhere in the public sector. Ni-gerians have not forgotten the trag-edy that accompanied the bungled attempt to fill vacancies in the Im-migration service earlier this year. Mr. David Paradang has taken the bull by the horn in carrying out the onerous task you assigned to him at his inauguration. He should not only get rid of these impostors, but replace them promptly through a credible and transparent selection process that should exclude incom-petent, dishonest and fraudulent characters from the Immigration Service. He needs your maximum support to finish the task you as-signed to him!

Ebola: Sokoto earmarks N200m for kits

SAIDAT ALAUSA

Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, has embarked on a

wealth initiative to recycle refuse into useful prod-ucts.

The Chairman, Waste to Wealth Initiative of the uni-versity, Dr. David Olukanni announced the plan at the inauguration of the Waste to Wealth Project in the in-stitution last week.

Olukanni, a senior lec-turer in the Department of Civil Engineering said the initiative was about sus-tainability and mitigation of the effects of environ-mental pollution.

He also said the institu-tion would be looking at the waste management system in dealing with the concept of reducing refuse, recy-cling and recovery.

“The institution has en-gaged in a lot of sensitisa-tion programme to carry the entire university along on this project,” he said.

Olukanni said the ini-

tiative would be in phases with the first phase dealing with separation of waste in different bins.

He said the bins co-loured, green, red and blue would be sorted as food waste, paper and dispos-able waste and pet bottles respectively.

Olukanni said that food waste was organic, while

papers and disposable waste and pet bottles waste were inorganic.

“The papers and dispos-able waste will be repro-cessed into tissue paper, envelopes and other office materials and food waste will be used as fertilizer for the university farm,” he said.

He also said that “pet

bottle waste would be recy-cled to pellets’’ which could be used as virgin materials.

Dr. Kolawole Ajanaku, one of the members of the team, said that the initia-tive would begin from the institution and would be later extended to the wider community.

Ajanaku, a lecturer in the Department of Chemis-

try, said waste had hazard-ous effects on public health and that recycling waste would generate wealth.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof.

Charles Ayo, said the ini-tiative would boost inter-nal revenue generation and create a platform for a healthy and clean environ-ment.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net Education Today 23Thursday, October 16, 2014

EMEKA ONWUDINJO UNIZIK, AKWA

It was a moment of joy for the new gradu-ates and that of fulfillment on the part of the management of Paul University, Awka,

Anambra State last Friday as the institution held its maiden convocation ceremony amid fanfare.

The Vice- Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Gaius Igboeli told the graduating stu-dents to be worthy ambassadors of the institu-tion and Nigeria as a whole.

Two females, Peace Iruoma Ejianya and Chiemela Adaku Okeke from the departments of Economics and History & International Re-lations, from the 57 students graduated with First Class honours.

The ceremony was graced by the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; the first Vice-President of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; the proprietor of the institution, His Grace Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey; the Pro-Chancellor, Sir Nnamdi Udensi;

Rt. Rev. Bishop Christian Efobi, Rt. Rev. Bishop Alex Ibezim, HRH Igwe Gibson Nwosu and many others were also in attendance.

Addressing the convocation, the Vice- Chan-cellor of the institution, Prof. Gaius Igboeli ex-pressed his appreciation to Rev. Anikwenwa who had the vision for the faith-based institu-tion, stating that the personal burden which he has continued to carry for the university is unrivaled.

He congratulated the new students and their parents.

Prof. Igboeli disclosed that the university had been able to retain lecturers and other staff sufficient to maintain teaching, research

Edited by: Saidat [email protected] 08027633686

Ex-FUNAAB VC now NIAS president

... as varsity produces CODESANU Secretary

SAIDAT ALAUSA

A former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Univer-sity of Agriculture,

Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Is-rael Adu has been elected as the President of the Nigerian Insti-tute of Animal Science (NIAS).

A Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Professor Adu was elected at the third Joint Annual Meeting of the in-stitute and the Animal Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN), held recently at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Prof. Adu was the Vice-Chan-cellor of FUNAAB from 2001 to 2006 and he’s currently the Pro-Chancellor of McPherson Uni-versity, Ogun State.

Also appointed as council members of NIAS during the meeting were three other offi-cers from the university. They are the Dean of the College of Animal Science and Livestock Production (COLANIM), Prof. Christian Ikeobi; the Director of the Centre for Entrepre-neurial Studies, Prof. Olufemi Onifade, and Prof. Samuel Abi-ola, representing the Livestock Products Processing and Pres-ervation Discipline.

They would all serve for three years. vNIAS is the regu-latory agency for Animal Sci-ence practice with powers to regulate all matters pertaining to animal husbandry in the country.

Students and members of staff of the Lagos State University, Ojo during the faculty board procession in honour of the late lecturer, Professor Ademola Onifade of the Department of Physical and Health Education at the institution, last week

and other outreach programmes expected of a university.

On the part of enrolment, he asserted that the student enrolment had increased margin-ally over the years, growing from 107 in 2010 to 289 in 2013.

Expressing satisfaction on the quality of the graduates, Prof. Igboeli charged them to be worthy ambassadors of the institution and Nigeria at large.

Speaking shortly after the ceremony, Dr. Ekwueme said that the graduates had been trained both in character and learning, thank-ing the benefactors for their unrelenting sup-

port to the institution.Prof. Essien, representing, the executive

Secretary of National Universities Commis-sion (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie congratulated the institution’s management for the success recorded, urging them to make more prog-ress.

In his speech shortly after his conferment of the degree of Doctor of Civil Laws (D.C.L) honour of Paul University, Chief Anyaoku described the award as dear to him compared to other awards both national and interna-tional owing to the fact that it is from his own state and his own Anglican family.

The Dean of Student Af-fairs, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

(FUNNAB), Prof. Yemi Akegbejo-Samsons has been elected to the position of Secretary-General of the Committee of Deans of Stu-dents’ Affairs in Nigerian Univer-sities (CODESANU).

He was elected at the 10th con-ference of the committee held at the University of Abuja recently.

A Professor of Aquaculture and Fish Management, the new secre-tary-general is expected to serve for two years.

CODESANU was established in 1998 with the primary aim of pro-moting students’ welfare and the effective management of students’ affairs in the nation’s universities.

Poly students donate to school DAYO OJERINDERUGIPOLY, OWO

The Association of Ap-plied Sciences Stu-dents in the Faculty

of Applied Sciences, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, (Rugi-poly), Owo, Ondo State has donated computer accesso-ries, a millennium signpost, laboratory wears, and other equipment to the institu-tion.

Inaugurating the proj-ects, the Rector of the in-stitution, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun commended the students for donating the equipment, saying their availability would enhance learning in the institution.

He appreciated the efforts

of the Dean of the Faculty, Mr. Ogundahunsi, the Stu-dents’ Adviser, Mr. Ajigbo and the Faculty Officer, Mr. Akintan Akinyemi on the students and their leaders.

He however challenged the beneficiaries to make good use of the equipment.

Speaking earlier, the President of the associa-tion, Joel Tafa, said “the do-nations are the capital proj-ect for the year 2013/2014 and our contributions to enhance and complement the massive infrastructural development going on in the institution.” “It is all about what we can do to help the management and not only what they can do for us.”

He said the donation

would not be possible with-out the support of other �executives who are com-mitted in the bid to raise the standard of the department.

Also present at the dona-tion are the �six heads of departments under the Faculty of Applied Sci-ence.

One of the student of the faculty who spoke un-der anonymity said; “the donation was a good one which was channeled to-wards the right direction.

“At least the association money was not embezzled; rather we can all see how the money was spent. This is worth emulating by sub-sequent executives”, she said.

Be worthy ambassadors, VC charges graduates

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net24 Thursday, October 16, 2014

Media house awards scholarship to UNILORIN students

UI department marks 50th anniversary

Artists entertain OAU students

ALI TOYIN ABDUL300L LAW, UNILORIN

The joy of 10 female medical stu-dents of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara State knew

no bound recently when they made the list of beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme instituted by Media Trust Limit-ed, publishers of the Daily Trust, Week-ly Trust, Sunday Trust and Aminiya.

The beneficiaries were presented with their cheques at a ceremony held at the College of Health Sciences in the institu-tion last week under the medical scholar-ship scheme instituted by the company seven years ago.

The beneficiaries from three universi-ties in the three northern geo-political zones are selected annually and awarded scholarship to the tune of N100, 000 until the completion of their medical training.

Students from the University of Maidu-guri and their counterparts from Usman Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto completed the list.

Reacting to the development, the Pro-vost, College of Health Sciences, Univer-sity of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Johnson, de-scribed the initiative of Media Trust as a laudable one, which would go a long way in encouraging the female students and elevating them to be at par with their male counterparts.

Prof. Johnson said, “It was pleasant that you have chosen the so-called weaker sex and I think your philosophy of want-ing to encourage or elevate the other gen-der to get to class with the male gender is a laudable one.

While presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries on behalf of Media Trust, the company’s Administrative and Legal Officer, Mr. Umar Ibrahim, explained that the gesture was part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) aimed at encouraging the students to do more in the society.

The students of Sociology and An-thropology, University of Ibadan, Oyo State have joined their coun-

terparts from other universities in the country to celebrate the golden jubilee of the establishment of the department at the nation’s premier university.

The President of Nigerian Sociological and Anthropological Students` Associa-tion (NSASA), UI chapter, Mr. Tunde Oke-wole in a release, stated that a week-long celebration, which began since Monday with a rally and indoor games would also feature talent hunt, debate and public lec-tures.

He said the topic of the debate centred on the relevance of religion in the face of development in the 21st Century while an alumnus of the department and the gov-ernorship candidate under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State during the 2007 general elec-tions, Dr. Ade Dosumu would speak on “Contributions of leaders and followers to Nigeria’s predicaments.”

UNIZIK students create jobs for youths

Beyond eradication of Ebola virus

EMEKA ONWUDINJOUNIZIK, AKWA

In a bid to create jobs for unemployed youths and make environment

healthier in the country, stu-dents of Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State have come up with an innovation to turn polythene waste to wealth.

The student researchers who are studying Agricul-tural and Bio-resources en-gineering and formed them-selves into a formidable team have successfully turned polythene wastes into useful products.

The group believes that the innovation would not only create jobs but would also help in stemming the environmental pollution and flooding that characterise many cities around the coun-try.

Their leader, Mr. Ezene-kwe Elochukwu said the use of greenhouse structures in crop production would equally offer several ben-

efits ranging from increased overall yield with better qual-ity, efficient water utilisation, less use of harmful chemicals to protection from adverse cli-matic conditions, among other to the people.

He explained that his team had developed cheaper and flexible materials, which in-corporate considerable per-centage of waste polythene in the production process.

He disclosed that Benuwatts Company Limited and Peace Advocacy and Sustainable De-velopment Outreach (PASDO) had indicated their interest to sponsor the project and make it money spanning.

He said the research took them three years and that the sponsors had promised to turn the project into profitable ven-ture.

He said the process begin with waste collection and treatment, manufacturing, packaging and marketing and selling in and outside the country is expected to gener-ate jobs to thousands of work-ers directly and indirectly.

FEEDBACK

MAYOWA FASANYA

The whole world was left stunned and in awe of how Nigeria rose to the occasion and contained the deadly Ebola virus disease.

When the disease was brought into the country, fear gripped the heart of the world for two reasons. Firstly, Nigeria is the most popu-lous African nation, secondly, the disease has no cure and Nigeria’s record shows we have no capacity to contain the imminent escala-tion of the disease.

Many had predicted doom and there were incessant calls to United States of America to release its experimental drug, ZMAPP, which seemed effective on two Americans who contracted the dis-ease in Liberia.

The drug was not given and all hope seemed lost but out of the moon evoked the spirit of unity with which the disease was tackled.

The spirit of oneness, togetherness, unity, love, selflessness and patriotism without the thought of ethnic, political and religious af-finity, resurfaced in the country.

For the first time since independence, the combat against Ebola united and integrated every individual and facet of this country.

The spirit of “in the interest of all, not mine alone,” filled the country. The thought was that combating Ebola was not one per-son’s job so everyone became united creating awareness about the disease and how to avoid it. The government was also not left out as it forgot its political differences to solve the issue of the disease.

When the disease first came into the country on July 20 through

the American-Liberian Patrick Sawyer, the spirit of Naija was first exhibited by the management and staff of first consultants’ medical centre, the hospital that handled Sawyer’s case. Dr. Ameyo Adade-voh showed unrestrained love, selflessness and genuine patriotism as she physically prevented sawyer from leaving the hospital. That is the spirit of selflessness that has gone amiss in Nigeria. It’s about time we wake up and embrace the undying spirit of selflessness.

The manner in which the Lagos and Rivers State governments contained the cases of the disease in their domain leaves a lot to be desired. They zealously dissipated actions expected of the govern-ment bringing under control the spread of the disease by linking up with the Federal Ministry of Health. Commitment and dedication were also shown by the minister who acted as a link between the government and the people.

The combat against Ebola has largely been a concerted effort of all Nigerians and that has seen the country defeat the disease.

The victory over Ebola has shown that when we forget our dif-ferences and unite as a single front, there is so much we can do and achieve. Even the Americans that boast of advanced medical per-sonnel and equipment couldn’t help but send its medical delegate to study the model Nigeria used in containing Ebola.

Insecurity, lack of development, killing, corruption and lots more that has been our bane can all be gone if we approach them with the same spirit of oneness and unity that has seen us defeat Ebola.

In the light of this, I dare say that may the spirit of Ebola never die in Nigeria so that we can move forward.

Fasanya is a 300 level Mass Communication student of Uni-versity of Lagos, Akoka.

Prototype of the project being displayed at the institution.

AFEES LASISI, POL. SC. OAU, ILE-IFE

The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State was agog last weekend as Coca Cola Com-

pany of Nigeria stormed the institution with artists to entertain the students.

The show which took place at the car park of the Sport Complex was tagged “Coke Studio” started at 12noon and end-

ed at five hours after featuring the likes of Dammy Krane, Orezi, Reminisce and up-coming artists.

Also, the show was an avenue for upcom-ing students’ artists in singing, dancing and rapping to showcase their talents.

While these artists churned out several hit songs to entertain the students, the show reached its peak when Chinko, a 300-level of the Faculty of Law was paired to sing along with Reminisce after he won the heart

of students with his rapping skills. Chinko came into limelight with his

featuring in one Olamide’s song and he is rated as one of the best upcoming stu-dents’ artist in the country with his rap-ping skills.

While DJ was churning out music, the occupants of Obafemi Awolowo hall (awo hall) that are known for their “aroism” a popular joking and playing skills in OAU mounted the stage to dazzled their fellow students. These ‘Awo guys’ are widely known for their joking abilities.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 25Thursday, October 16, 2014 Education Today

z

Lay siege to, not on, Lagos

Journalist awards N10m scholarship El-Rufai delivers CIAPS lectureWALE IBRAHIMLOKOJA

No fewer than 200 students of high-er institutions

from the West Senatorial District of Kogi State are to benefit from this year’s edition of Senator Smart Adeyemi annual Schol-arship Award. A total of N10 million is earmarked for the award by the jour-nalist, who is now a serv-ing senator.

While distributing the application forms to the representatives of the prospective beneficiaries from the senatorial dis-trict in Lokoja, the state capital the Chairperson of Disbursement Com-mittee, Mrs. Joel Ebun said each of the ben-eficiaries would receive

N50, 000. She noted that the

scholarship was strictly for indigent students whose parents cannot afford to sponsor their education to tertiary in-

stitutions, irrespective of their political affilia-tions.

She explained that Ad-eyemi had been consis-tently assisting indigent but brilliant students in

the senatorial district fi-nancially to enable them their dreams.

She advised the intend-ing beneficiaries to justify the gesture by taking their studies very seriously.

L-R: Alumnus, Edo College, Benin City and pioneer Director-General, NAFDAC, Prof. Gabriel Osuide; inductee, Dr. Osarieme Bazuaye and Chairman, Edo College Old Boys Association (ECOBA), Lagos branch, Mr. Godwin Ize-Iyamu at a reunion get-together and induction of new members .

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

Former Minister of the Federal Capital Ter-ritory, Mallam Nasir

El-Rufai would be speaking at the forthcoming inaugu-ral Outcome-Based Educa-tion (OBE) programmes of the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies, CIAPS, Lagos.

He would speak on “Eth-ics, Education and Employ-ability.”

El-Rufai emerged as the most preferred guest speak-er over Ms. Oby Ezekwesili, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Prof. Pat Utomi in a survey conducted by the centre.

The OBE lectures which would commence on Octo-ber 31 according to Professor Anthony Kila, the centre Di-rector; “are outcome-based

educational programmes built on research and input obtained from dynamic or-ganisations about their re-cruitment needs, as well as their employment and devel-opment strategies”.

A major aim of the pro-gramme, he said, is to ad-dress the employability of fresh graduates and young people in the country.

Kila, a professor of Strat-egy and Development ex-plained that rather than focusing on just theory and academic curriculum, the centre is working with busi-nesses and various other organisations to establish the kind of graduates they need as well as the skills and knowledge these graduates should possess.

That way, he stressed, graduates would be trained for real jobs and careers rath-er than just for certificates.

THE first advertorial blunder today comes from THE NATION ON SUN-DAY of October 12: “…the PDP and

their self-adulating leader laid a siege on (to) Lagos under the guise of a rally.” (Full-page advertorial by Movement for New Nigeria)

THE NATION ON SUNDAY of October 5 welcomes us this weekend: “Delta police ar-rest pastor over (for) death of teenager” Fur-thermore, why not ‘teenager’s death’?

THE GUARDIAN Opinion Page of Sep-tember 29 takes over: “When my name was published (a comma) friends threw banters (banter) at me insinuating that by accepting to serve I had become a member of the dread-ed….”

Let us take some contributions before re-turning (no ‘back’ o!) to our spring.

FEEDBACKWHO is a correspondent? Our broadcasters

often call all their reporters ‘correspondents’. This should not be so. The reporter is no lon-ger a jack of all trades as his colleagues of yes-teryear. Their functions and skills are being differentiated as communication technology impacts the world. Specialization is also going on in journalism as in other professions. To-day a correspondent has a specialized knowl-edge, a generalist in his own field and subject. He/she is an experienced reporter on a beat—foreign or local—e.g. health, politics, culture or outside the country as a foreign correspon-dent. Therefore, the reference to every journal-ist or reporter as a correspondent on our radio and TV is unprofessional today. New editions of leading dictionaries have since reflected the current meaning and application. Ebere, who is to blame for the shortcoming: the journalist, his teacher, the editor or our educational sys-

tem? Please join the debate. (Sunny Ag-bontaen, Benin City, 08062998165)

THE next intervention is by Mr. Kola Danisa (07068074257): RayPower reported the row between Benjamin Adekunle’s first wife and the second wife over where to bury him, stating that the second wife “bursted into tears….” (Thursday, Octo-ber 2, News Bulletin at 6 p.m.) The past tense/past participle remains ‘burst’.

ALWAYS a pleasure reading your col-umn every Sunday. I am so happy that you are now into broadcast news in English. Tune in to Zuma FM 88.5 Suleja, Niger State. Listen to the news at 12 noon daily. Keep on correcting us, brother. (Oby Nwabufo, Abuja, 08036487027)

“WORDSWORTH” is worth my N200!” (Abbey Aminu, 08037125985)

Now back to our surgical clinic: “A well deserved honour” Adjectival application: A well-deserved honour”

“Olabisi Onabanjo varsity (sic) re-opens (reopens)”

“Army sets up another court-martial to try erring soldiers” In national and gram-matical Interest, end it at ‘court-martial’. The remaining four words are redundant because they are implied.

“Police tear gas (tear-gas) Hong Kong ‘Occupy Central pro-democracy demon-strators”

“This, he said, will (would) encourage other companies to do same.” I encour-age the inclusion of ‘the’ before ‘same’. It shows scholarship.

“Home-based players poise for action” I am sure they poised for action.

“Change in the form of development

programs tend to disturb the existing sys-tem of social stratification in any given society or locality.” The verb phrase deter-minant in this extract is ‘change’–not ‘pro-grammes’, which calls for ‘tends’.

“This fledging establishment….” Ei-ther: fledgeling or fledgling; never ‘fledg-ing’.

“The depletion of the ozone layer oth-erwise known as the greenhouse effect has further added to the spate of natural disaster worldwide.” Get it right: spate of natural disasters.

The next three errors are from SUNDAY TRIBUNE of September 28. My comments come after the quotes.

“The fear, it was learnt, is that demon-strators may break into these amoury and utilize the weapons.” Of course, a mob that accesses an armoury will use the arms. Therefore, the subordinate conjunction (utilise the weapons) is irrelevant. And the plural of ‘armoury’ is armouries.

“The main plank of the unanimity which came from grassroot Nigerians. “ Linguistic agreement: grassroots (always) Nigerians.

“Demanding that equity and justice be done in the matter, Oba Bajowa added that the people had been showing restrain be-cause….” Noun: restraint; verb: restrain. What applies here is the noun.

“Most of the questions put to the gov-ernor bordered around.…” (NTA Network News, October 2) Without any question: border on or upon (not around).

“But this particular money bag (sic) was not impressed and decided to remind us that we were poor.” (Source: as above)

A wealthy or an avaricious person is known as money-bags. A money-bag refers to a bag of money.

“The man was conspicuously absent….” This is quite an old line. If you belong to the transformative school, delete ‘conspicuous-ly’.

“By 8.30 p.m. the venues had been filled with invited guests and pressmen….” This sounds preposterous. A venue is filled by guests, but filled with inanimate objects.

“And, of course a maximum of 60 per cent which implies that either of the two parties….” ‘Either’ indicates two elements. Therefore ‘two’ is redundant here.

‘It is not enough for superiors to defend their subordinates set out on the field or be-lieve everything or allegations levied against other citizens.” We level allegations at.…

“Source close to the presidency also said that many delegates lobbied for ministerial appointments.” (Daily Newswatch, October 2) Either way: ‘a source close’ or ‘sources close…’ If singular, there must be a determi-nant (‘a’ or ‘the’), depending on context.

“In Akwa Ibom, they recommended the creation of Atlantic State comprising of Oron….” (Daily Newswatch, October 3) I rec-ommend the deletion of the second ‘of ’ in the extract.

“Crude oil prices soar higher” Would it have been lower? ‘Soar higher’ is obtuse!

“Financial allocation for waterways and airways far exceed that of the railways.” The verb determinant in this instance is ‘alloca-tion’; not ‘waterways’ and ‘airways’.

“The realignment of curves to improve train speeds have not been undertaken as….” Realignment…has; not have

26 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

L-R: Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency, Alhaji Mukhtar Usman; Special Adviser to the President on Aviation, Captain Shehu Iyal and General Manager, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Mr. Nnanna Ugbanga, during a press conference on the achievements of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in the aviation sector, in Abuja, on Monday.

Arik Air

FLIGHTSCHEDULE

Lag-Abj:07.15, 09.15, 10.20, 13.05, 15.20, 16.20, 16.50,18.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun).Abj-Lag: 07:15, 09.40, 10.20, 12.15, 15.15, 16.15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun); 12.15, 15.15, 16.15 (Sun) Lag-PH: 07:15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.10, 17.15 (Mon-Fri); 07.30, 11.40, 15.50 (Sat) 11.50, 3.50, 17.05 Sun) Abj-PH: 07.15, 11.20, 15.30 (Mon-Fri) 07.15, 16.00 (Sat) 13.10, 16.00 Sun)PH-Abj: 08.45, 12.50, 17.00 (Mon-Fri) 08.45, 17.30 (Sat) 14.40, 17.30 (Sun) Abv-Beni:08.00, 12.10 (Mon-Fri/Sat)08.56, 12.10 (Sun) Benin-Abj:09.55,13.30

Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. Abuja-Yola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00. Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50.Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00. Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-La-gos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat)Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily

Med-View Airline

Aero Contractors

27

WALE IGBINTADE

Aggrieved shareholders of defunct Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc and

Springbank Plc have asked the Court of Appeal, Lagos Divi-sion to order the new owners of the banks to compensate them following the revocation of the banks’ licences by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN in 2009.

The shareholders also urged the court set aside a Federal High Court judgement delivered by Jus-tice Charles Archibong, as he then was, which dismissed their origi-nating summons.

They submitted that the de-funct banks’ asset cannot be trans-ferred free of charge to another entity without compensation to the shareholders.

Respondents in the suit are, Ni-geria Deposit Insurance Corpora-tion, NDIC, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, Securities and Exchange Com-mission, SEC and Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Others are Mainstreet Bank, formerly Afribank, Keystone Bank Limited, formerly Bank PHB and Enterprise Bank Lim-ited, formerly Spring Bank.

When the matter came up yes-terday, appellants’ lawyer, Deacon Paul Ananaba (SAN) informed the court that the banks are about to be sold while the appeal is pend-

EMMANUEL OGBONNAYA

President Goodluck Jona-than has directed the Man-aging Director of the Bank

of Industry, BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, to approve with imme-diate effect the loan applications of all the youths who just graduat-ed from the Federal Institute of In-dustrial Research Oshodi FIIRO’s entrepreneurship programme.

The President gave the direc-tive in FIIRO yesterday, while de-claring open the institute’s Invest-

ment and Technology week, which has as its theme “Sustainable Job Creation through FIIRO Tech-nologies,” where the 120 youths drawn from the six-geo political zones of the country and had just graduated from FIIRO’s National Youth Techno-Entrepreneur Pro-gramme were presented to him.

According the President Jona-than who was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, he was aware of the giant strides made by FIIRO in the area of locally devel-oped technology transfer to would-be entrepreneurs, industrialists

and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs, since the in-stitute’s inception till date.

“With a population estimate of 165 million people, majority of whom are youths, it has become imperative to device creative and responsive means to tackle unem-ployment and by extension youth restiveness which has become prevalent in our society in recent times,” he said.

He noted that FIIRO in fulfil-ment of its mandate had dem-onstrated its commitment to the growth of MSMEs, not only

through the transfer of its de-velopment technology but also through the impacting of entre-preneurial skills for the effective management of these enterprises, which was why the Director Gen-eral of FIIRO was appointed into the MSME council inaugurated a few weeks ago.

“I would seize the opportunity to inform our young men and women that have just graduated, that the President had granted an intervention fund of N220bn to support you,’’ the Vice President said.

Aggrieved banks’ shareholders ask court for compensation

Jonathan directs BoI to grant automatic start-up loans to youths

28 31

Promoting cultural tourism through brand

experience

AGF advocates creation of special court for environmen-tal crimes

Telecoms executive, NCC bicker over lingering industry issues

BusinessNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

33

ing.AMCON is expected to respond

to the amended notice of appeal.Justice Augie adjourned till

January 21 for mention because other parties indicated they would file cross-appeals.

The appellants had through their counsel, Boniface Okezie, stated that Justice Archibong was misconceived when he validated the respondents’ action.

According to them, the respon-dents revoked the banks’ licences, transferred their assets free of charge to Mainstreet, Keystone and Enterprise banks, and de-

listed their shares from the ex-change.

These acts, they argued were in breach of the law, motivated by malice and were based on incon-sistent reasons not based on law.

They are seeking damages, while urging the appeal court to uphold their appeal.

The shareholder further al-leged that SEC, which ought to protect their investments, suc-cumbed to the CBN governor’s will and publicly approved the actions.

But, CBN and SEC are urging the appellate court to dismiss the

appeal as lacking in merit and with substantial cost.

They said the Appeal court cannot hear the originating sum-mons because it was not heard at the lower court.

“We submit that, having re-gard to the fact of the case and in all the circumstances of this case, the Court of Appeal has no juris-diction in the circumstances to consider the appellants’’ originat-ing summons which has not been argued at all at the lower court as urged by the appellants and there being no appealable decision thereon,” CBN and SEC said.

L-R: Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Women Affairs, Mrs. Riskat Akiode; Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and Chairperson, Ikotun-Igando LCDA, Hon. Morenike Adeshina-Williams, during the flag-off of the second phase of Economic Empowerment Programme in Ikotun, Lagos, recently.

AGF advocates creation of special court for environmental crimes

Air Uganda stops operations after revocation of AOC

Access Bank partners MoneyGram on Outbound services

MESHACK IDEHEN

The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has said it will sanction any

underwriting company or broker-age firm that failed to meet regu-latory requirements in the insur-ance industry.

Giving reasons for the recent withdrawal of 32 licenses of insur-ance brokers as a result of their inability to meet the requirements of the Insurance Act 2003, the As-sistant Director, Corporate Affairs of the commission, Mr. Salami Rasaaq, said the brokerage firms

were disciplined for their inability to render returns as at when due to the regulatory agency.

He said NAICOM did not and has not revoked the license of any Insurance Broker, explaining what the law says is that insur-ance brokers are given a period of one year to renew their licenses which is 12 months and at the end of the one year, if they did not re-new your license then they will be given a grace of three months and if at the end of the three months and they did not renew it, then it means they can’t do insurance broking in the market.

Rasaaq explained that the com-mission did not revoke the license

of any broker, but they failed to meet the requirements of the law, and that is where the commission came in to enforce the law when any company fall short of the re-quirement of the law.

According to him, any broker that had its license withdrawn cannot operate under the old name again, but may wish to re-start again; they will have to go through the process of registra-tion of a new company.

“If at the end of the day they still wish to practice insurance broking business, then they have to go and register with a new name according to the stipulated guide-line.”

OLUFEMI ADEOSUNABUJA

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed

Adoke has called for the estab-lishment of a special court to give expedite trial to environmental violators.

Adoke, who made the call in Abuja at the 2nd National Sensi-tisation Workshop for Judges and other Law Enforcement Officers, maintained that law alone is no sufficient instrument for obtain-ing compliance with environmen-tal laws.

The Sensitisation workshop, which is the second in the series is organised by the National Envi-ronmental Standards and Regula-tions Enforcement Agency, NES-REA, in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria and the United Nations Environ-ment Programme, NAP.

The workshop targets Judges of the Federal High Court be-cause they are the ones legally empower to adjudicate on envi-ronmental matters, the FHC be-ing the court of jurisdiction.

Represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Bola Odugbesan,

the AGF urged the judges to dis-cuss the possibility of the estab-lishment of an ‘Environmental Court’ to be dedicated solely for the handling of environmental-related cases.

According to him, for NESREA to effectively police the environ-ment, it needs the support of the judiciary and other law enforce-ment agencies in the country.

While maintaining that ne-glect of the environment could spell doom for the human race, Adoke lamented that there was a dearth of judicial pronounce-ment on matters connected with environmental law.

For the country to give envi-ronment the needed attention and pride of place, the nation’s number one legal officer advo-cated serious awareness creation.

He said,”There is the need for awareness creation on the exist-ing laws, environmental edu-cation on sustainable environ-mental management and public enlightenment; to create an en-vironmental consciousness that makes the law work for a green Nigeria.

Adding that,”Filling the im-plementation gaps of already existing environmental laws is key; dispensing environmental

UDO ONYEKA

Access Bank in partner-ship with MoneyGram has launched the first

outbound money transfer service in Nigeria. This partnership has triggered a new turn in Nigeria’s money transfer market and makes Access Bank the first MoneyGram partner to offer such service. The newly launched Money-Gram outbound money trans-fer service, marketed as “Naija Sends” allows Nigerians to send their naira abroad through any Access Bank branch and platform in Nigeria while the funds are received in the cur-rency of the receiving country. Speaking at the event, Victor Et-uokwu, Head; Personal Banking, Access Banking Plc said “What we promise our customers is speed, service and security. This means that we would offer them this service in a manner that is expeditious, quick, with minimal, but legal documentation; the ser-vice would be prompt and done in an environment that is secured. In other words, there would be no errors and there would not be fraud.”

According to Victor Etuokwu “There were some discussions around the limit, that it would be

necessary to increase it so that those at the bottom of the pyra-mid who do this type of trans-border transactions would be able to see this as an enabler for their business. If you put the limit so low, you will cut off some micro entrepreneurs. So, it is a welcome development that the regulator is sensitive to some ideas that would grow the economy.”

Also speaking at the event, Ola Isola, Head, Franchise Group, Ac-cess Bank Plc, said “I would call on all Nigerians to see this as a platform to relate with their loved ones and business partners across the world. So, be it payment for a child in school, medical payment, business purchases across the world, this is a safe and secured platform.

This is a platform that the people within the bottom of the pyramid are conversant with. The charges are competitive when you compare them with the alternative platforms. But we have to always note service because service that is not paid for is not sustainable.” Commenting on the launch, Mon-ey gram Regional Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Mrs. Kemi Okusanya, said the launch of “Naija Sends” has further deepened the brands reach and service in Nigeria.

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

Air Uganda board mem-bers have taken the de-cision to completely

disband the airline after the Ugandan Civil Aviation Author-ity, UCAA, revoked the Air Op-erators’ Certificates, AOCs, of all locally-based international car-riers in July as a result of what it claimed were safety concerns. Sources in the Ugandan Min-istry of Works and the UCAA who spoke to an online media on con-dition of anonymity confirmed that the airline’s board had sent a

letter to both government depart-ments last week informing them of their decision to disband.

The report monitored by our correspondent online, stated that despite Air Uganda having re-cently completed the most critical stages in its recertification pro-cess, its prolonged grounding cou-pled with Kampala’s decision to offer the carrier’s mainstay Juba route to rivals Ethiopian Airlines ,ET, Addis Ababa and RwandAir ,WB, Kigali had caused “massive financial and irreparable damage to the reputation of Air Uganda” with the board consequently view-ing relaunching as “unviable.”

Founded in 2007, Air Uganda op-erated three CRJ-200s on flights to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Dar-es-Salaam, Bujumbura, Kigali, Mog-adishu, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, and Juba.

The board is also reported to have dismissed a proposal from the Ugandan government in which it would take a stake in the carrier. Sources in Entebbe state the UCAA failed its latest Univer-sal Safety Oversight Audit Pro-gramme (USOAP), carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, earlier this year.

NAICOM to sanction brokers over regulatory requirements

justice, effective environmental governance and the rule of law are good instruments for the Ttainment of sustainable devel-opment.”

Speaking on the significance of the workshop, NESREA Direc-tor General, Dr. Mrs. Ngeri Bene-bo, stated that environmental crime had become a global crime in which judiciary had come to play a major role.

According to her, the meeting with the judges and other law enforcement agencies afford the

agency the opportunity to cross fertilize ideas on how to put is-sue of environment on the front burner.

Benebo said, ‘‘The main pur-pose is to have the synergy be-cause globally environmental crime has become serious global crime that InterPol is very much involved in it. The judiciary is very much involved in it and glob-ally environmental law is coming in every international discourse.

“With this forum, we can ex-plain what environmental issues

are and look at what is happening within the global community and they can tell us some difficulties they are having and what they don’t know so that at the end of day court of law will be able to attend to all environmental cases expeditiously.”

On the choice of Judges in the FHC, the DG also added, “When-ever we are doing anything, we take it in strides. In our law, the court of jurisdiction is the Fed-eral High Court.

28 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014Business News

Business News

L-R: Vice President Namadi Sambo, Director General, Federal Institute of Industral Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) Dr Gloria Elemo, Minister of Industry, Dr Olusegun Aganga and Managing Director\ceo, Bank of Industry (BOI) Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa at BOI stand during the opening ceremony of the FIIRO Investment and Technology week 2014 in Lagos, on Tuesday.

Lekoil fi nds oil at Otakipo, begins production in 2015

NCRIB to focus on disaster management

Oil producer Afren fi res CEO, 3 other execs in scandal

UDEME AKPAN

The nation’s dwindling crude oil output currently estimated at 2.5 million

barrels per day, including con-densate may witness an improve-ment as an indigenous operator; Lekoil has concluded plans to start commercial oil production in 2015.

The firm which has confirmed the presence of commercial crude oil reserves at Otakipo field stated in its latest report that pro-cessing of the Oil Prospecting Lease, OPL data was ongoing.

“Processing of the OPL 310 seismic data is ongoing with fast-track and time-migrated seismic

volumes expected in Q4 2014, prior to further drilling in 2015. Detailed well planning and engi-neering studies are underway, “it stated.

The firm stated, “Otakikpo field development planning is un-derway with production expected to commence in the second half of 2015.”

Already, consultants AGR TRACS International who re-viewed the surface and sub-surface data estimated gross unrisked 2C contingent oil re-sources at 56.75 MMbbl.

The report which confirmed that the report compares with 36 MMbbl when Lekoil acquired the asset in May stated, “AGR TRACS’ economic evaluations

suggest a development would be economic under $80, $100, and $120 oil price scenarios.”

It maintained that additional prospectivity exists in the south-ern (shallow water) portion of the acreage which would be de-fined by further studies and ap-praisal in due course.

The Chief Executive officer of the firm, Mr. Lekan Akinyanmi stated that the firm is pleased with the scientific confirmation of its initial view of the huge po-tentials of the field.

“As the Technical & Financial Partner, we are very pleased that AGR TRAC’s review has con-firmed our initial view of the at-tractiveness of the Otakikpo proj-ect,” it stated.

He stated, “This CPR increases estimated unrisked oil resources net to Lekoil by over 45per cent and has reinforced the economics of the development.”

The chief executive added, “This is a robust project that will provide us with near term pro-duction, cash flow and explora-tion upside as we continue to pur-sue our wider goal of becoming a much larger, Africa-focused E&P company.”

He stated that the firm was committed to the appraisal of the Ogo discovery and the develop-ment of Otakikpo.

“We remain committed to our strategy of building a substan-tial; Africa focused E&P business, diversified by risk, maturity of

assets and geography, “it stated.“Lekoil believes there may

be further prospectivity in the southern shallow-water portion of the acreage, which it plans to define by further studies and ap-praisal, “it stated.

“We entered into a farm out agreement with Afren PLC to acquire an overall 30 per cent eco-nomic interest, including a 17.14 per cent participating interest, in OPL 310, an offshore Nigerian as-set located in the Dahomey-Benin Basin, “it stated.

It stated that Otakikpo CPR post period end contained a 57.6per cent increase in gross 2C oil resource estimates to 56.75 mmbbl.

British oil and gas produc-er Afren Plc sacked its chief executive, chief op-

erating officer and two associate directors after an independent review into unauthorised pay-ments found evidence of “gross misconduct”.

Shares in the company rose as much as 6.6 percent on Tuesday morning, which an analyst said was mainly on the conclusion of the review and that the incidents would not affect Afren’s opera-

tions.The probe also found that sev-

en more current and former em-ployees also received payments and Afren said it had begun dis-ciplinary action against these employees.

Afren said it would start le-gal proceedings against founder and CEO Osman Shahenshah, COO Shahid Ullah and associate directors Iain Wright and Galib Virani to recover money related to the payments.

MESHACK IDEHEN

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Bro-kers has said the useful-

ness of insurance in disaster management will take the centre stage at its forthcoming National Insurance Conference.

According to a statement from NCRIB, the theme of the confer-ence is: ‘Disaster management: Any role for insurance?’

Chairman of the organising committee, Mr. Sola Tinubu, said on Tuesday that the confer-ence, which is expected to draw participants from disaster and insurance management institu-tions in Nigeria and abroad, was to further examine the role of the insurance industry in disaster management in the country.

He stated that the insurance industry, which has the profes-sional obligations of risk mitiga-tion, had often been sidelined in disaster management in Nigeria, compared to the situation in oth-er parts of the globe.

Tinubu said the conference could not have been more timely than now considering the chain

The dismissed executives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Oriel Securities analyst Dra-gan Trajkov said the conclusion of the review and the lack of a material impact was positive.

“Although failing to comply with some of the listing rules could result in further fines from FCA, we believe the market has already punished the company for it,” Trajkov said in a note.

The review, conducted by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher ,WFG, began in July to deter-mine if three legitimate transac-tions with Afren’s partners Ori-ental Energy Resources Ltd and AMNI International Petroloeum Development Co Ltd in 2012 and 2013 should have been disclosed to the market.

The review found that Sha-henshah and Ullah had agreed with Oriental to receive 15 per-cent of the net cash flows that was due to Oriental from the Ebok oil field for 5 years from 2013 in exchange for $400 million in funding by Afren.

of events happening all over the world and leading to unprece-dented losses of human and ma-terial assets.

NCRIB opined that the Nigeri-an government should have seen the need to involve insurance practitioners in formulating poli-cies and establishment of insti-tutions to manage disasters and mitigate losses.

It stated that the conference would also feature the sub theme: ‘Insurance regulation: The global perspective’, which would pro-vide a robust platform for dis-cussing current trends with re-gards to insurance regulation in Nigeria.

According to the statement, the President, NCRIB, Mr. Ayo-dapo Shoderu, will lead a team to generate robust discourse on issues that have continued to af-fect the operations of insurance professionals in the country.

He stressed that the reason for the choice of the theme was to al-low for ventilation of views and opinions by eminent profession-als and stakeholders drawn from all sectors of the nation’s econo-my, particularly disaster manage-ment institutions.

Paga to participate in girls’ effect acceleratorJOHNSON OKANLAWON

Paga, a mobile payments service has been selected to participate in the Girl

Effect Accelerator, the world’s first global accelerator dedicated to benefiting girls in poverty.

A statement from the com-pany yesterday said the pro-gramme is being launched as a partnership between The Nike Foundation and Unreasonable Group.

Beginning on October 31, just outside of San Francisco, it will bring together 10 companies from across the world positioned to impact the lives of millions of adolescent girls living in poverty with world-class mentors, stra-tegic financing, and access to a global network of support.

The statement quoted Execu-tive Director of Global Innova-tion at the Nike Foundation, Shaifali Puri, as saying that less than two cents of every interna-tional development dollar goes

to girls – the very people who could do most to end poverty.

“As long as girls remain in-visible, the world misses out on a tremendous opportunity for change,” she said.

During the programme, rep-resentatives from Paga and the other selected companies will be meeting with 20 renowned men-tors including Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva.org, George Kembel, founder of the Stanford d.school, Seth Godin, serial en-trepreneur and author, and Paul

Polak who has uplifted over 20 million people from poverty.

Daniel Epstein, who is direct-ing the Girl Effect Accelerator and the founder of the Unreason-able Institute and Unreasonable Group said, “We aren’t working with your typical Silicon Valley start-up in this program. The 10 selected ventures currently op-erate in over 30 countries and av-eraged over $2m in revenue last year off of customers living on less than $2 a day.”

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 29Thursday, October 16, 2014

SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE

Nigerian government has been urged to invest more in its human capital to

ensure sustainable economic developments of the country. Chairman and Managing Direc-tor, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr Clay Neff, who gave the ad-vice recently during the visit of students of Chevron-sponsored Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills ,AWARES, of Pan Atlantic University, PAU, to Chevron head office in Lagos, said the only way to grow the nation’s wealth is through investments in human capital, adding that it is a founda-tion for sustainable development of the country.

Noting that no country’s wealth is measured by its natural resources, but by its human capi-

tal developments, Neff said, ‘we have a robust employee-learning and development programmes to equip them with verse knowl-edge, which translates to measur-able performance’.

“We recognize that our busi-ness success is deeply inter-twined with the success of the larger society and we believe, it is in our long term interest to add value to our society as we create value for our shareholders’”

Continuing, he said “’we there-fore go beyond the traditional contributions that may have physically-improved a neighbour-hood, but did little to influence the society in sustainable ways”.

He however, noted that the vi-sion of his company, is to be the energy company, most admired as a result of its partnership and performance, adding that, “’it is our practice to partner with rele-

vant stakeholders everywhere we operate in a bid to achieve com-mon business development goals.

In Nigeria for instance, he disclosed that, the company has established an enduring partner-ship with different stakeholders among who are governments, non–governmental organiza-tions, business organizations, communities as well as the media, noting that through programmes like AWARES, the company tends to build professional capacity and lasting partnerships with stake-holders.

According to his statement, “’in our partnership with the media, we seek for a better un-derstanding of our business, the challenges and potential. We ap-peal to you for accuracy, fairness and balance as you tell our sto-ries’”.

L-R: Director, Parastatals Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, Mr. Taiwo Ogundipe; Director-General, Mrs. Nellie Mayshak and Director, Pensioner Support Services, Mrs. Roz Ben-Okagbue, during a sensitisation workshop on pension management for the South-West in Ibadan, recently. PHOTO: NAN

Nigeria should invest more in human capital –Chevron MD

African markets are gradu-ally opening to Islamic finance, buoyed by gov-

ernments’ debut sales of sover-eign sukuk ,Islamic bonds and legislative efforts to make the sec-tor more attractive for companies across the region.

Despite the strong growth of Is-lamic finance in its core markets, the Middle East and southeast Asia, the industry has lagged in Africa, which is home to one in four of the world’s Muslims. This year, however, a string of trans-actions is helping to broaden the sector.

Governments across the conti-nent are using sukuk as a way to attract cash-rich Islamic inves-tors, with South Africa making a $500m issue in September and Senegal raising 100 billion CFA

francs ,$208m in June.The Tunisian government

could soon follow with a dollar-denominated deal that it hopes to place by year-end; Kenya is con-sidering a sukuk issue.

Nigeria’s Osun State made a small local-currency sukuk issue last year and Gambia has been is-suing short-term Islamic paper in its own currency for years, but the region’s booming dollar-denomi-nated bond market could hold the greatest promise.

The eurobond market in sub-Saharan Africa saw a record $14bn in issuance last year and the figure is $10bn so far this year, said Megan McDonald, global head of debt primary markets at South Africa’s Standard Bank.

Eventually, 15 percent to 20 percent of such issues could be

sukuk, as the market will develop over the next two to three years, said McDonald, whose bank was joint lead manager of South Af-rica’s debut sukuk issue.

“We do expect to see others, firstly government-linked insti-tutions in South Africa such as Transnet, Eskom and SANRAL, which the Treasury is hoping can tap the market.”

South Africa attracted $2.2 bil-lion in orders for its sukuk and has not ruled out tapping the mar-ket again, and interest in making issues is also coming from other state and national governments, McDonald said.

“The Treasury is open to com-ing back to the market. The sukuk programme is set up in such a way they can do that.”

Lawmakers, sukuk debutantes open Africa to Islamic fi nance

ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN

Etisalat Nigeria is making the commencement of a new school term more fun

for children with the introduc-tion of fantastic gifts in its Cliqlite Back-to-School promo.

T-shirts, notebooks, schoolbags and much more are up for grabs from October 2 to October 31 2014, with the purchase of a Cliqlite package for N28, 000 at any Eti-salat Experience Centre nation-wide.

Head, Youth Segment at Eti-salat, Elvis Daniel, noted that Cliqlite has several exceptional features which make it an impor-

tant educational tool for children. “Cliqlite’s unique parental

control feature helps you protect your child from negative materi-als all over the internet and also filters unwanted calls,” he high-lighted.

Elaborating on the benefits of Cliqlite, Daniel revealed that “Cliqlite offers free access to sev-en educational websites, free data to browse, free airtime on your child’s birthday and lots more.”

The Cliqlite Tab which comes preloaded with 14 NERDC ap-proved textbooks, yearly past questions from WAEC, JAMB AND IGCSE, interactive educa-tional videos and video games, is available at all Etisalat Experi-ence Centres.

Chinese computer maker Lenovo has again topped the International Data

Corporation’s (IDC) list as the world’s leading PC maker for the sixth straight quarter.

According to the IDC, during the third quarter of this year the Chinese company reached the 20 per cent global PC market share up from 19.4 per cent in the sec-ond quarter.

The company also grew 11.2 per cent year-on-year, gaining 2.3 points and extending its lead over the number two player HP.

Lenovo’s performance added up to more than 15.7 million shipments for the quarter, notes the company statement.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo said, “Reaching the 20 per cent mark in global PC share is a great milestone for Lenovo and we got there even faster than expected.”

“While others have been look-ing for a game plan that works, we have been executing ours

and the results speak for them-selves.”

“Not only have we reached an-other record high and solidified our PC leadership position for the 6th straight quarter, but we have diversified our business at the same time,” said Yuanqing.

He added, “PC was the first growth engine that launched Lenovo as a global leader, and it remains our core business. “

Meanwhile, Lenovo’s success comes on the back of a rebound-ing global PC market.

According to the IDC the glob-al PC industry also showed signs of improvement.

The world’s PC industry im-proved slightly with a modest decline of just -1.7 per cent, sig-nificantly better than IDC’s ear-lier prediction of a -4.1 per cent decline.

Chinese computer and smart device maker Lenovo has grown its PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by 33.3 per cent during the fourth quarter.

Lenovo tops PC market

Etisalat excites families with Cliqlite Back-to-School

Fidelity Bank fulfilled its promise to loyal custom-ers as winners in the

Save4 Scholarship promo were announced after a draw in the presence of excite customers.

According to a statement by the bank, a total of N12.7m was won by 31 loyal customers at the Sep-tember, 2014 draw of the Fidelity Save4 Scholarship promo held at the bank’s corporate head office.

The draw which was presided over by the Executive Director, Lagos & South West Bank, IK. Mbagwu saw Ruth Oyebanjo, a customer from the Central Busi-ness District, Abuja branch smile

home with the N2m star prize.An elated Oyebanjo could not

contain her joy when the good news was broken to her by the Savings Central Promo Commit-tee chairman, Emeka Obiagwu.

Thestar prize winner thanked the Bank for taking the initiative to, not only invest in the educa-tion sector but also encourage savings culture in the country. In all, three customers won N1m while seven went home with N500, 000.

Also 20 customers went home with N210, 000 and lots of consola-tion prizes were also won.

Fidelity unveils Save4 scholarship promo winners

30 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014Business Features

There was a mixed reaction recently at the annual Telecoms Executive Forum organised by the Association

of the Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, as telecos and mobile telephone services operators made frantic efforts to get the industry regulator, Nige-rian Communications Commission, NCC, to address grey areas that they consider un-friendly to the business environment.

Tagged: Telecoms Executive and Regula-tor 2014, the forum was cleverly designed to address issues that have repeatedly formed subject of discussion among stakeholders and executive chat among top echelons of the industry during their private discus-sions.

Although there were other issues pen-cilled down for discussion according to the President of ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi in his opening remark, what however got the fancy of the executives present were the is-sues of Infraco juxtapose the Open Access Model, the unending cry over local content and the grievances of stakeholders over the spectrum license auction.

Panel discussions were therefore setup to discuss each of the issues while the par-ticipants were later allowed to ask questions which the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah who beat all odds to be personally available at the Fo-rum was required to respond to.

Juwah had earlier in his keynote address to the telecos executive described the event as very crucial to the growth of the industry thereby giving the participants the leeway to bare their minds on all issues.

The first panel of discussion, which was on corporate governance in the indus-try, was chaired by the Country Manager, Ceregon Network, Mr. Tadesse Bekele.

Bekele in his opening remarks expressed optimism that about the essence of the fo-rum saying that it is an opportunity for the telecoms executive to rub minds with the leadership of the NCC adding that if the proposed Infraco is properly executed it will fulfilled the broadband policy objectives of the Federal Government.

At the end of each panel discussion, through which the panellist dwelled on is-

Telecoms executive, NCC bicker over lingering industry issues

Juwah Johnson

Not haviNg a revisioN at all for

the past eight years is Not good for the iNdustry’s survival aNd the objectives

of the NatioNal broadbaNd policy

iNitiated by the curreNt leadership of the MiNistry of coMMuNicatioNs

techNology, with the support of the federal

goverNMeNt

sues of concerning the proposed Infraco, Spectrum allocation, corporate governance as well as the open model access and the par-ticipants were allowed to ask questions and comment issues raised by the panellist.

Responding to one of the questions that relates to competence, Juwah observed that although he does not work for the operator yet his experience as the EVC has showed that there is a lot of display of incompetence on the side of most of the Nigerian compa-nies.

According to him, some companies are good in executing projects but some well known Nigerian companies believe they can collect money and not deliver on the project adding that the issue became so bad that it had to be reported to security agencies.

He said that was done to avoid a situation where people will think that it is the NCC that embezzled the money saying; “when we are clamouring to do a project we must ex-ecutive them. We are a government depart-ment, if we give you a project you must do it and if you do not do it we will not pay you.”

He said there is still a lot of lack of incom-petence in the industry noting that telecos and operators should “develop a culture of completing projects and not just to collect money and run away.”

On the need for the NCC to intervene for the industry to be able to generate employ-ment by limiting the effect of capitalisation on the growth of Nigerian- owned telecos, he said there are clear facts that the industry is not well capitalised stressing that that was reason for the collapse of the CDMA sector.

According to him, they all borrowed a lot of money from the banks and they were unable to pay back stating that that is why the industry needs foreigners to bring in companies that are well capitalised to do the major work while Nigerian companies ride on their infrastructure.

He however, observed that Nigerians are currently winners in wholesale license and service provision license saying that “in our restructuring of the value added services we hope that a lot of Nigerians who are creative and innovative can create applications that

can ride on the facilities of the incumbent service providers under strict regulations.”

On the need for local companies to part-ner with foreign telecos, he said, “if you read our catalogue for on the Infraco license it connotes that a partnership with a Nigerian company is necessary. You cannot do these things without having a Nigerian company.”

He said that to take part in such a compli-cated bid partnership with a Nigerian com-pany is needed adding however that the law of Nigeria permits hundred percent owner-ship saying that it is an issue that is political apart from being social-economic.

While calling on ATCON to raise the is-sue with the appropriate authority he said there are very few foreigners in the industry.

He explained that as big as MTN is to-day, it is managed by Nigerians saying that “there are very few foreigners and you can-not rule out zero level presence of foreign-ers but the fact remains that most telecos are

owned by Nigerians.”He said further that the issue of labour in

the industry does not fall under purvey of the NCC saying that Ministry of Labour and Productivity is responsible for that and that the NCC will follow the NCC Act to the latter.

In his responds to the EVC, President of ATCON noted that the agitations of local telecos is that what has been done in the oil and gas industry should be replicated in the telecoms industry saying that the telecos wants grant from government so that they can manufacture most of the hardware of the industry in Nigeria thereby creating jobs for the citizens.

Similarly, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Vodacom, Mrs. Nkechi Newton-Denila said that the demand for Spectrum was as re-sult of the demand for wireless connection and the discussion around it noting that when discussion began at NCC forum, focus seems to be on releasing more spectrum into the market and making national transmis-sion available.

She noted that what the NCC needs to look at was the existing spectrum that has been assigned to operators explaining that “this is a scarce resource, and each time there is a new spectrum opened it can only go to a few parties. And what should happen is that there should actually be a holistic view in terms of how we can provide and ensure ef-fective utilisation of spectrum that will en-able users to have access to broadband and proper quality services as well as very good prices especially at the hinterland.”

According to her, “the only way that can happened is if the NCC makes a commit-ment to provide incentives” saying that “in the last eight years we have been paying the same thing for spectrum, which takes large chunk of the cost of sales.”

She added, “Even that cost is not added when you are calculating the cost of sales and bandwidth charges noting that “for smaller companies like us that is quite a lot of money. If we have to be sustained in the market that is a double problem.”

Newton-Denila while calling the NCC to review the cost of spectrum said that the ef-fort of providing more spectrum to increase access to broadband at a low price will not be complete if the price of the spectrum al-location is high noting that in the last two years the cost of international capacity has come down to about 150 per cent because the international market is responding to the forces of supply.

She said further that since spectrum is scarce, the only way for prices to come down is only if there is a decision from the gov-ernment that here is what we are giving to support the operators to make the prices of broadband to land at the end user point at a reasonable price.

She urged the NCC to show commitment to bring down the prices of spectrum say-ing that not having a revision at all for the past eight years is not good for the industry survival and the objectives of the national broadband policy initiated by the current leadership of the Ministry of Communica-tions Technology and with full support of the Federal Government.

The 2014 Telecoms Executive Forum organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, ATCON, provided the needed opportunity for top executive of telecos and officials of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to deliberate on lingering industry issues. ISAIAH ERHIAWARIEN reports.

31National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

Info Tech

32 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

The highly anticipated Sam-sung Galaxy Note 4 will officially go on sale in Ni-

geria on Friday October 24, 2014. The device will be available for purchase through all authorized Samsung partner stores and tele-com operator stores nationwide.

Samsung Electronics West Africa’s Director of Information Technology and Mobile, Mr. Em-manouil Revmatas, said that a formal launch of the new device in Nigeria will take place at Sam-sung’s Experience Store in Ikeja City Mall, Lagos on the same day, with lots of exciting gifts and Samsung accessories for consum-ers that purchase the device at the event.

The Galaxy Note 4 retains its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 3’s whopping 5.7-inch screen, with substantial innovation and up-grade in design and performance. The screen now boasts a Quad High Definition Super AMOLED technology that stretches to 515 pixels per inch to allow users en-joy sharper images and brighter colours. Coupled with this is Sam-sung’s innovative adaptive dis-play that optimizes screen view depending on available lighting conditions. A sleek metal trim

and premium leather-feel back cover make the latest Note device the most desirable handset in the market.

Other highlights of the device include a powerful 3220mAh bat-tery that goes from zero to 50% battery charge in just 30 min-utes as well as an improved S Pen which now comes with two writing options, Calligraphy and Fountain and the ability to edit images using the device’s Snap Note feature.

As a special promo, Samsung is offering one free accessory with every purchase of the Galaxy Note 4 on the first day of sales at all of its dealer stores nationwide. The device is available in four co-lours - Frosted White, Charcoal Black, Bronze Gold and Blossom Pink.

Samsung Electronics Co. Lim-ited is a global leader in technol-ogy, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discov-ery, Samsung is transforming the worlds of televisions, smart-phones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appli-ances, LTE systems, medical de-vices, semiconductors and LED solutions.

A United States of America voice and social media mobile apps firm, Kirusa

has said that it will be launching some of its popular services in that country on Nigeria’s Etisalat network.

Kirusa’s partnership will see the launch of mobile services namely ‘Celeb Connect’ and ‘Sports Connect’ to be available to Etisalat Nigeria subscribers.

Celeb Connect links celebri-ties and fans, adding voice to their interactions, and provides a seamless flow of messages and creation of micro blogs.

With Sports Connect subscrib-ers can receive daily updates such as team news, pre and post-match analysis and quotes of team man-agers as well as players.

A statement from the company revealed that Etisalat Nigeria customers will be able to stay connected with their favourite celebs and also receive exclusive sports voice bytes on their mobile phones.

The services can be accessed on both smartphones and feature phones, the statement added.

Commenting on the launch, head of digital media at Etisalat Nigeria, Adia Sowho said, “We are excited to partner with Kiru-sa for Celeb and Sports Connect services. These popular services

attract customers’ attention and connect them to their favourite stars.”

Kirusa’s vice president of sales Taranjit Singh Batra add-ed, “While voice chatting with a celebrity used to be a dream ear-lier, we are making it a reality for Etisalat Nigeria subscribers with Celeb Connect. With Sports Connect, soccer fans will stay up-dated on all the football action, from Spanish League to Premier League, and all other soccer tour-naments around the world, right from their mobile phones.”

Registered in New Jersey, United States, in 2001 with the objective of connecting people through the power of the voice in emerging markets, the com-pany has also selected Ghana as its launch pad for InstaVoice in Africa due to the good relations it already enjoys with local telecom companies.

Already operating in about 15 African countries, Kirusa ser-vices are used by over 80 million mobile users in four continents. It serves 1.2 million calls a month.

InstaVoice is a free application that runs on the non-proprietary android operating system and it enables users send short or long voice messages on smartphones across networks.

IsaIah ErhIawarIEn

Global business perspec-tives that will shape the Nigerian business environ-

ment with particular reference to how cloud, big data, and mobile are transforming the modern business environment in other developed economies will soon be unveiled.

The global event which is com-ing under the auspices of Oracle, is expected to present new chal-lenges and tremendous opportuni-ties to Nigerian business owners and executives.

According to the Vice President of Marketing, Oracle Europe, Mid-dle East & Africa ,EMEA, Mr. Tim Payne, the event is tagged: 2014 Oracle Day Event noting that the event will offer delegates the op-portunity to explore how technolo-gies can change their business, and learn from Oracle experts on how to take control of their enter-prise IT future.

The event, which is a follow-up

to a similar one held in San Fran-cisco, is a global series of high-pro-file events as well a wide-ranging showcase for the innovations that will be unveiled in California soon.

The Oracle Day events, under the headline “Make Digital Dis-ruption an Opportunity for In-novation, will be run in 30 cities across Europe, Middle East and Africa, as part of a global event series.”

The Oracle Day event in Lagos is planned for 5 November 2014 and keynote speaker will be Ja-nusz Naklick, Vice President East-ern Central Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The Vice President of Mar-keting said that the event will be a powerhouse combination of business- and technology-focused tracks, all dedicated to one goal: showing attendees how the conver-gence of Cloud, Big Data and Mo-bile can change IT to a force that drives business innovation.

He noted that the event will showcase how Nigerian business will get the most from all the data

available to an organization, gen-erating actionable insights that lead to better decision making.

He added that Oracle experts will reveal how cloud solutions can provide greater agility, and lower costs and risk—with flex-ible, tailored deployments saying that participants will also benefit from talks on how Oracle’s com-plete, flexible mobile solutions can help organizations keep up with the demands of the modern work-force and learn how to extend and enhance existing applications and competitive advantage.

“Oracle OpenWorld is the indus-try’s most important conference, where the brightest minds meet the most innovative ideas. This year we’ll get the latest perspec-tives on strategy and innovation from worldwide technology and industry experts. And through our Oracle Day events, we want to take this insight out to as many people as we can across the EMEA region”, said the Vice President of Marketing, Oracle Europe, Middle East & Africa, EMEA .

Oracle plans business forum for Nigerian companies

Residents of the garden city, Port Harcourt are now set to enjoy the services of the

4G LTE broadband Internet access technology following the introduc-tion of the Smile Nigeria Internet network Service in the city.

Group Chief Operating Offi-cer, Smile Nigeria, Tom Allen who was in the city to unveil the Smile internet services said that, “Ni-geria is one of the most dynamic markets in the world, and mobile broadband will continue to play a crucial role in the transformation and development of the country.”

He noted that Smile is well equipped to play a significant role in the nation’s telecommu-nications industry assuring the residents of Port Harcourt that Smile’s best in class service deliv-ery will remain consistent.

Allen noted that the State will as a result of the roll-out be riding on the back of valuable experi-

Smile 4G LTE internet service arrives Port Harcourt

L-R: Country Manager, Ceregon Network, Mr. Tadesse Bekele, President of ATCON, Engr. Lanre Ajayi, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, Director of Regulatory Affairs, MTN, Mrs Ronke Oyewole, and Director of Regulatory Affairs, Vodacom, Mrs. Nkechi Newton-Denila with a cross section of the telecos executive at the 2014 Executive Forum.

tended to improve the customer’s experience stressing that the first innovation made a few weeks ago.

According to him, Smile cus-tomers can now dynamically select the speed of the service through a personalised online portal called MySmile saying that with this tool an individual can select the speed of the Smile data service and change it whenever.

Smile has also gone further, on the same personal portal page (MySmile); you can now select to disable access to high data sites. The objective of this is to give the customer more control and help them manage their data efficient and effectively.

Another innovative solution from Smile is the SmileON offer. With SmileON, if your data bun-dle runs out before the end of its validity period, you can still enjoy restricted access to the Smile ser-vice.

US firm plans sports app on Etisalat network

ences which Smile has garnered in the Nigerian market as well as the innovative services which has become synonymous with the company.

He said that Smile is excited about what it is already doing in both Ibadan and Lagos and now Port Harcourt noting that the Port Harcourt roll-out is very unique because the city will enjoy new services introduced by Smile from day one.

“We have the technology, people and partners to ensure that we de-liver what we promise and more”, adding that 4G LTE deployed by Smile is the most advanced global technological standard for wire-less data communications and represents a major change com-pared to older technologies such as 3G.

Allen said that Smile Nigeria has introduced several new in-novations in its offerings, all in-

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 ready for sale in Nigeria

Info Tech

Promoting cultural tourism through brand experience

Nigeria has been said to be a coun-try blessed with abundant natural resources. It is equally true that

Nigeria, with an estimated population of about 170million, also have over 300 eth-nic languages, which made the country one of the most culturally diverse nation on earth. These, analysts say is supposed to be a source of blessing as they believe effort should be made to tap into these cul-tural diversity for economic gain.

It is estimated that Nigeria earns about 5.5m dollars annually from tourism, but majority believe that the tourism sector has not been properly positioned for effec-tive economic impact.

Tourists are attracted by Nigeria’s cul-tural diversity, scenery, festival among others as each region has something unique to offer.

However, these cultural festivals have been in limbo and yearning for a lifeline to be celebrated as it done all over the world, This has become a cause for con-cern among custodians of these festivals and heritages who are calling on govern-ment and corporate organisations for at-tention and funding to make them more relevant and to generate the required eco-nomic value.

We have witnessed the growing fame of the Argungu Fishing festival in northern Nigeria, the Eyo festival in Lagos, South West Nigeria, and also the annual Calabar Festival all of which are rallying points for the peoples of those cultures, and some of them have consistently drawn visitors from far and wide. Besides being a rallying point, it is also said to these cul-tural festival hold economic potentials as alternative sources of foreign exchange if consciously packaged.

The annual Calabar festival of fashion and pageant is said to be leading in this regard, The Calabar Carnival has been held in Calabar since 2006, including band competitions, a parade, food and dancing. It has been called Nigeria’s biggest street party. The carnival may have as many as 50,000 costumed participants and 2 mil-lion spectators, and is broadcast on televi-sion across the country. It is the culmina-tion of the month-long Calabar festival

There is also the Argungu Fishing Fes-

Thursday, October 16, 2014 National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 33

Brands & Marketing

With all the developments and innovations by the current aWujale, the annual convergence has blossomed into an

international tourist attraction comparable, if not better than, the rio festival people go

to savour in brazil

world. The 2014 edition had as its theme, ‘Our People, Our Heritage”.

The over two-century old Ojude Oba Festival, which started as a show of cour-tesy and later snowballed into one of the biggest flagship cultural festivals that at-tract tourists from different parts of the world to Nigeria, has never witnessed such a golden touch in its celebration.

This much was clearly captured by the Awujale of Ijebu Land, Oba Sikiru Adet-ona, while speaking through the festival cordinator, Chief Fassy Yusuf, during the formal opening of the Goldberg Beer Village in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. “I must thank Goldberg larger beer for identify-ing with our great festival of over two century.This brand has brought a new twist and a touch of gold to the cultural festival celebration.”

Speaking during the official opening of the Beer Village, Kola Oluborode, Re-gional Trade Manager, Nigerian Brewer-ies Plc, stated that Goldberg lager beer will continue to identify and support rich culture in Western Nigeria and beyond. “This is the first time we are establishing a beer village as part of activities mark-ing the Ojude Oba Cultural Festival. We did it in Osun Osogbo Festival and we will continue to support rich culture,” Olu-borode said.

To spice up the Goldberg village, differ-ent live bands were brought to thrill the people for the entire period. The varieties in the music presentation made the vil-lage more appealing to people across dif-

tival in the north-western Nigerian state of Kebbi. It began in the year 1934, as a mark of the end of the centuries old hos-tility between the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kebbi Kingdom.

Not only were there economic benefits, these cultural festivals have helped in po-sitioning the different peoples, cultures and states in the cultural and tourist map of the world.

In the South West of Nigeria for in-stance, two major cultural festivals cele-brated in recent times will forever remain in the minds of the people. Not because it is the first time the festivals – Ojude Oba and Osun Osogbo Festivals – are being celebrated, but because of the way brands such as Goldberg lager beer have con-nected with the people to communicate the essence of the festivals, thus bringing to life and prominence the once pristine celebration.

The idea of brand partnering with cul-tural custodians in festivals is to bring about strategic and creative marketing and strategy to make each event memo-rable, and also a win win for all.

For Goldberg sponsoring of the Osun Oshogbo and Ojude Oba, it all started with the establishment of a Beer Village, where beer lovers came to get their favou-rite Goldberg larger beer and other Nige-rian Breweries brands.

The Ojude Oba Festival is an annual cultural festival which attracts illustri-ous sons and daughters of Ijebu land in diasporas and tourists from all over the

ferent ages, tribes and heritage. The Ojude Oba Festival is usually held

two days after the Ileya Celebration . Al-though the festival has its root in Islam, especially at the initial stage of its cel-ebration in Ijebu Land, the scope has ex-panded beyond religion. All indigenes of Ijebu, both at home and in the diaspora, are expected to come home for the festival and kill a ram, even if they are no longer Moslems. They are also expected to at-tend the Ojude Oba in order to dance with their age groups before the Awujale.

Speaking with journalists at his Ijebu Ode residence during 2014 Ojude Oba fes-tival, the Olori Omooba of Ijebu land and founder of FCMB, Otunba Subomi Balo-gun, traced the history of the festival to his ancestor, Oba Adesunbo Tunwase, the monarch who established the Ojude Oba as far back as 1892 as the story had it. “But Balogun Kuku was the one that mooted the idea and organised that the Muslim community should go and thank the Awujale.

‘With all the developments and innova-tions by the current Awujale, the annual convergence has blossomed into an inter-national tourist attraction comparable, if not better than, the Rio festival people go to savour in Brazil’, he said.

On the economic benefit to the people, Balogun noted: “The direct impact is that the business world is better for it. As you could see all over the places, from Lagos to Ijebu, from Ibadan to Ijebu, from all over the major towns and villages in ad-journing states, vehicular movements in and out of Ijebu-Ode reached an all-time high.

“In my reckoning, the impact is felt highly not only in Ijebuland, but through-out the world because as you are probably aware, an unimaginable number of our sons, daughters and their friends come from places as far as Australia for this cultural rendezvous”.

It is often said that when two or more are gathered, politics is inevitable. In-deed, this played out when the Awujale of Ijebu Land,Oba Sikiru Adetona, in his remarks, used the occasion to call for the creation of Ijebu State, stating that this will help and further strenghten the econ-omy of Ijebu land.

Dignitaries at the occasion include Gen. TY Danguma (Rtd) and his wife, Senator Daisy, who were the special guests for this year’s Ojude Oba Festival. The Danjumas could not holdback their excitement while giving the closing re-marks. According to him, for Ojude Oba to be this attractive to all the sponsors and to people all over the world,though it had its inception some decades ago, there is something the organisers are doing right. He thanked all the sponsors for making the event a reality.

Cultural tourism has been a growing form of destination branding, and in recent times corporate brands have been identifying with such celebration in form of sponsorship for a holistic experience. DAVID AUDU reports.

Cross section of participants at Ojude Oba Festival.

34 Thursday, October 16, 2014 National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.netBrands & Marketing

Contestants at this year’s edition of one of Africa’s first and longest running

reality TV show the Gulder Ul-timate Search, GUS, otherwise tagged The Mission are not find-ing it easy as they have to brave odds to make impact.

It is against this background that one of the contestants, Chinedu Ubachukwu, has ad-vised friends and family mem-bers to give a deep thought before competing on the pro-gramme.

He said that he would “dis-courage loved ones from com-peting on the show as it liter-ally stretches contestants to the limit”. Chinedu, who belongs to the Orange team said: “To be sincere, if I should leave here, I won’t advisea loved one to come here. But the loved one may think I don’t want him to prog-ress in life. Because he or she may think that I’ve come and I’ve made it and I don’t want him or her to make it. But here

in the jungle, it is really tough.”Otto Canon, another contes-

tant who only got in to Gulder Ultimate Search after four un-successful attempts admits that competing on the programme is very tough. He revealed: “There’s so much difference be-tween watching Gulder Ultimate Search on TV and experiencing Gulder Ultimate Search in real-ity. When you watch Gulder Ul-timate Search on TV, you really can’t tell what the feelings are like.”

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, at the weekend made a surprised visit to the GUS 11 camp and urged them not to give up on their dreams.

Accompanied the Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Brew-eries Plc, Mr. Kufre Ekanem, was impressed by how much the contestants had accom-plished with their bare hands in building their huts and surviv-ing in the jungle.

Microsoft Devices Group has formally announced the intro-

duction of Lumia 530 described as the most affordable to date and delivering an uncompro-mised smartphone experience with the latest Microsoft and Lumia innovations. The device has been available in Nigerian market at very affordable retail price since September 2014.

The new Lumia 530 is avail-able in Dual SIM3G and will expand the reach of Windows Phone as the first Lumia in-troduced below 100 euros, al-lowing more people to enjoy innovations and Microsoft ser-

vices found in high-end Lumia smartphones.

Speaking on the Lumia 530, Senior Marketing Manager, Microsoft Mobile Devices, West and Central Africa, Olumide Balogun stated that the device is made to help more people ex-perience the uncompromised Lumia technologies, third party apps, and Microsoft ser-vices that we deliver on our flagship products,“ adding that “Lumia 530 underscores our commitment to making afford-able smartphones for everyone, and introducing more people to the best of Microsoft.” He con-cluded.

GUS contestant counsels loved ones

Microsoft introduces new Nokia Lumia 530 Smartphone to Nigeria

Publishers are doing a u-turn over charging for content, with only 53

per cent saying they do or will charge over the next year, a drop of nine per cent year on year.

Last year, 62 per cent of pub-lishers said they would or do charge for content, according to a survey of 32 Association of Online Publishers mem-bers, covering more than 1,500 brands.

Twenty-one per cent said they currently charge for con-tent or plan to charge across “all” or the “majority” on sites in the next 12 months, com-pared with 27 per cent in 2013. This means that 47 per cent do not have a paywall or intend

on setting one up – with 38 per cent saying the same thing last year.

Almost 30 per cent of those questioned said that free mod-els will be the most prominent over the next year. However, according to the AOP, “this doesn’t mean the only model and in portfolios some could be paid, part paid or totally free”.

The report also pointed out that mobile continues to be top on the list of priorities for pub-lishers. Almost 70 per cent said that mobile and “behavioural targeting” are the most signifi-cant opportunity over the next 12 months. The AOP found that 74 per cent of respondents have mobile-optimised sites across the majority of their portfolios.

Publishers make u-turn over charging for content

DaviD auDu

The race for who controls the residential segment of the air conditioner mar-

ket in Nigeria has reeved up as Daikin, the newest of Japanese technology recently debutes in Nigerian.

The President, Daikin Middle East & Africa, Hiroshi Fujioka revealed this at the product intro-duction in Lagos recently.

He said the Daikin’s residential air conditioning product has been specially built to serve African and indeed Nigerian consumers.

He disclosed that the product

would be distributed, sold and service in Nigeria by Panaserv Nigeria.

The launch ceremony was an opportunity to unveils the latest product line up of 2014 models of air conditioners.

According to Fujioka, “Daikin air conditioners have been de-veloped in order to meet africa’s most challenging needs for the best air conditioning.”

Speaking on the product, the Promoter, Panaserv Nigeria Limited, Suraj Rupani the new entrant has built in protection against power supply fluctuations and blackout. “As standard, the equipment is protected against

over current, over voltage and un-der voltage,” he said.

Other features that come with the Japanese technology include energy saving feature which of-fers efficient operation on its equipment lower electricity con-sumption, up to grade A (EER).

Rupani said that Daikin indoor units offer whisper quiet, a huge departure from the current prod-ucts in the market.

Daikin is also fortified with turbo cooling, sleep mode, high indoor air quality, Mould-proof operation and anti-corrosion pro-tection, which offers high durabil-ity even under extreme weather conditions.

DaviD auDu

Executive Director Corona Schools Mrs. Olufunto Igun has charged corporate bod-

ies, organizations and individuals to emulate the good deeds of Dufil prima foods by making provision that would ensure a more secure and blissful future for the Nige-rian child.

Igun made the plea during an award presentation ceremony to winners of this year’s Indomie Independent Day Award, IIDA, in Lagos recently, which also coin-cided with the United Nation Day of the Girl-Child.

Addressing the gathering on the topic, Child Empowerment as Panacea for Future Development, she said proper attention to the Girl-Child is “the salvation for the nation’s future and the economy.

“The future of any nation or entity lies heavily on the chil-dren, whatever legacy we pass

on, whether good or bad could make or mar us as a nation. We therefore must rise up to our re-sponsibility as parent, guardians, schools, corporate organization and government to ensure that the right values are inculcated in the children.”

Speaking on the occasion, Sen-ator Gbenga Ashafa, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, also challenged corporate organi-zations in Nigeria to set apart cer-tain percentages of their profits to support projects that champion causes that uplifts and promoted the development of the Nigeria Girl-Child, adding that in doing they would be encouraging chil-dren to realize their dreams and at the same time contributing to national development.

He also charged the winners to channel the prized money to pay for their education to become better citizen in the society, add-ing that in years to come they will look back and remember what the

company have done for them.A former senator who was pres-

ent also commended the efforts of Dufil Prima foods. Senator Olo-runimbe Mamora noted that the brand that celebrates children also give hope to other children

In his welcome address, the Group Managing Director, Dufil Prima Foods, Mr Deepak Singhal, said the seventh edition which co-incides with the 2014 Internation-al Day of the Girl Child is targeted at identifying, recognising and re-warding children, who have done well in distinguishing themselves by carrying out exemplary heroic acts that have touched the lives of others positively.

“This event is noteworthy as it seeks to fill the gap that exists in celebrating and rewarding the positive efforts, strong character, and achievements of many young children who have exhibited vari-ous acts of courage and heroism at one time or the other within the country”.

Brands urged to emulate Dufil foods

L-R: Etisalat Customer, Nike Ibidun; Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher; another customer, Mike Onibe and Manager, Customer Care, Etisalat Nigeria, Yetunde Adegoke, at the Etisalat Experience Centre at the Palms, Lekki, during the 2014 Customer Care Week.

Air conditioner market stretches as Daikin enters the fray

Tel: 08023448199 E-mail: [email protected]

with Ayodeji Ayopo

Brand X-Ray

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 35

Clearline HMO has the sole vision to be a leader in the Health Management indus-

try, ensuring that every Nigerian has access to equitable and afford-able healthcare.

This has manifested in several strategies put in place to deepen equity for the brand amongst others in the industry. Clearline HMO has also established a solid reputation for excellence in cus-tomer service delivery. The com-pany not only has focus on quali-tative service but also enhancing customer satisfaction.

The Clearline brand has also hinged its corporate existence on a strategic roadmap of deepening consumer experiences. Clearline HMO, one of the leading Health Maintenance Organisation in Ni-geria has remained dynamic and vibrant brand in the healthcare industry. Clearline since incep-

tion has positioned itself with a differentiating edge.

One of the parameters that distinguish the Clearline brand from others is its’ strong pedi-gree and commitment to qualita-tive service delivery. This is one unique feature that distinguishes the brand from other brands. The service quality is one that is top class in approach and delivery. Clearline HMO has its presence in the key geographical zones in the country and takes its services to the grassroot through its retail health insurance scheme.

Clearline believes in qualita-tive and affordable healthcare to the entire citizenry. The organisa-tion prides itself as providing the best of health insurance services. The health plans of the company range from individual, corporate, ultimate health plan and Diaspo-ra Health.

Thursday, October 16, 2014 Brands & Marketing

Clearline HMO: Building a reputable brand

L-R: Mr. Toba Ogunsami of Pan Ocean Oil; Winner of refigerator, Joseph Ajagba; Senior Area Sales Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Rotimi Arogundade, and Senior Brand Manager, Legend and Life Beer, Mr. Rotimi Ayeni, during the Legend Taste and Tell activation in Lagos, recently.

Clearline HMO is poised to of-fer superior service delivery to achieve its vision to provide first class healthcare service to Nige-rians. The organisation was re-cently accredited by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as one of the accredited HMO’s to provide health insurance ser-vices in the country. One distin-guishing feature of the Clearline HMO brand is the quality of its manpower as the boasts of tested and qualified management team.

The company’s helmsman,

Dr. Segun Ogundimu was a for-mer Commissioner for Health in Lagos state. The two Executive Directors are also tested and thor-oughbred medical practitioners, Dr. Isaac Akintunji and Dr. Baba-tunde Ladele. This is a claim oth-er HMO’s cannot boast of and this further underscores the superior edge of the Clearline HMO brand.

It is interesting to note that Healthcare brands are jostling for image projection to enhance visibility and gain consumers at-tention. The recent accreditation

carried out by the Natural Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) further reinforced competition amongst the HMO brands. One of the leading and foremost brands is Clearline HMO which is poised to raise the bar in the industry.

The commitment of Clearline HMO to total quality health-care cannot be underestimated. Clearline HMO has put neces-sary measures in place to gauge the perception of its audience across the country. It adopts the one-on-one engagement session approach through its provider’s forum to touch base with the audi-ence. Clearline HMO also engages in capacity building by upgrading the skills of health service provid-ers through training.

To further deepen its service delivery, Clearline HMO estab-lished a 24-hour service call cen-tre.

Star reward winners of reality showDaviD auDu

Star The Winner Is kept its promise recently as it pre-sented winners with grand

prize of N10m and a brand new car

However, in what could be de-scribed as one of the most unusu-al twist of all times in the history of reality music game show fate played a decisive role.

As is the usual tradition on the show, after the two final contes-tants had proved their vocal prow-ess and it was decision time they were offered two million naira to walk away or wait to see the 101 Jury results which would reveal who actually won the duel round and would be going home with a brand new car and N10m naira.

Both contestants were tested

with money and Job fell for the pressure and walked away with the money on the table, which au-tomatically qualified Micheal as the winner of Star The Winner Is Season 1.

When the jury finally reveal the results, it turned out that Job had higher votes but had opted to walk away with the N2million bait, thus forfeiting his winning spot to his counterpart Micheal Achu.

Fate and destiny definitely smiled on eventual winner Mi-cheal Achu, as it would have turned a bitter experience for him, if Job had not pressed the dreadful buzzer to walk away with N2million, Micheal would have gone home empty handed.

All this was after the six semi finalists went against each other over the battle for the life- chang-

Verve, Africa’s foremost payment card, has launched of its new

transparent debit card in part-nership with Wema bank.

The Verve transparent debit card is a lifestyle card targeted at consumers also desirous of retaining the full benefits of the payment card while adopting a trendy new translucent look.

Country Manager, Verve In-ternational, Oremeyi Akah said “The Verve transparent debit card is a lifestyle card offering

Publicis Groupe said it has paid £40.7 million for 20 per cent of the digital adtech

company Matomy Media Group as part of a strategic partnership.

Under the terms of the deal, Publicis Groupe has bought 17.93 million shares from existing shareholders for 227p each. Publi-cis Groupe also has the option to buy an additional 4.9 per cent of Matomy at the same price for the next 45 days.

Publicis Groupe will become the biggest shareholder in Ma-tomy. The chairman, Ilan Shiloah, is selling part of his stake and will own 15.44 per cent of the company following the deal, down from 24.38 per cent.

The company’s deputy chair-man and senior independent di-rector is Rupert Howell, the group transformation director at Trinity Mirror and a former managing director of brand and commercial at ITV.

ing grand prize of N10million and a brand new car.

Job Idoko and Micheal Achu delivered the best of their vocal chords and deserve to wear the much desired winning crown.

Other impressive contestants on the semifinal show include Brenda, Rhema, Shimar, Daniel, and Roxy.

Star The Winner Is fans and supporters nationwide went on a rampage on social media all expressing their thoughts on the most shocking results of all time.

Star The Winner Is definitely kept the promise offered from the maiden episode of the show in July to deliver nail biting and intriguing experiences to viewers nationwide and viewers are al-ready looking forward to the next season of the life- changing show.

the same benefits and rewards consumers have always associ-ated with the Verve card.”

“Consumers can still transfer and receive money from fam-ily and friends, update subscrip-tions, pay bills, make withdraw-als and so much more with the transparent debit card.”

“Wema Bank is the first Nige-rian bank to utilize the transpar-ent material for a Verve card, we also expect other banks to issue the card shortly,” she added.

The Tel Aviv-headquartered Matomy Media listed on the Lon-don Stock Exchange in July. In the first half of 2014, the company reported revenue of $129.1 million (£80.29 million), up 20 per cent year on year.

Maurice Lévy, the chairman and chief executive at Publicis Groupe, said: “Tel-Aviv is second only to the Silicon Valley in tech-nological innovation and patents. Matomy is fuelled by the innova-tors and technology experts of Is-rael, and has quickly risen to the top of this important market by creating a world leading, state-of-the-art platform.

“At Publicis Groupe, we make it a priority to invest in the brightest and most promising talents and technology that will give our cli-ents around the world unrivalled access to these services. We have pioneered and invested in new technology, open platforms, and partnerships.

Verve launches transparent debit card

Publicis Groupe buys into Israeli adtech company

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the big-gest U.S. bank, swung to a third-quarter profit from a year-earli-

er loss, while setting aside $1 billion for legal expenses.

Net income was $5.6 billion, or $1.36 a share, compared with a loss of $380 million, or 17 cents, a year ear-lier, the New York-based bank said Tuesday in a statement. Earnings were cut by 26 cents a share as the firm set aside funds for legal costs. Analysts had estimated adjusted earnings of $1.39 a share.

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, has spent the past two years working to resolve a jump in regula-tory probes only to find a new chal-lenge: his health. Dimon last month completed eight weeks of treatment for throat cancer, a condition he dis-closed in July, and may address ques-tions about his prognosis Tuesday. Other issues facing the bank include how it’s navigating Wall Street’s slowdown in bond trading.

“Despite challenges, we have con-tinued to deliver strong underlying performance, maintain our fortress balance sheet and liquidity, simplify the business and adapt to regulatory

JPMorgan posts third-quarter net income of $5.6bn

changes,” Dimon said in the state-ment.

Revenue in the quarter rose 5.4 per cent to $25.2 billion. Fixed-income trading revenue rose two per cent to $3.5 billion, fueled by strength in cur-rencies and emerging markets, beat-ing the $3.2 billion estimate from Da-vid Konrad, Macquarie Group Ltd.’s head of U.S. bank research.

JPMorgan, the biggest fixed-income trading firm, is grappling with sluggish activity in that market caused by central bank intervention. While Chief Financial Officer Mari-anne Lake has said low client volume will probably continue through the middle of 2015, fixed-income trading may have gotten a boost as volatility increased in the final weeks of the quarter.

Last week, Dimon made his first public appearance since getting treated, saying JPMorgan will prob-ably double its $250 million annual cyber-security budget within five years. The bank disclosed October 2 that hackers had obtained contact in-formation of 76 million households and seven million small businesses.

A surprise drop in United Kingdom inflation to the lowest level in five years

may give Mark Carney scope to keep interest rates at a record low for longer.

The rate of consumer-price growth declined in September to 1.2 per cent, the least since 2009, as falling oil prices and a stronger pound lowered the cost of imports. The report from the Office for National Statistics underscores the case for the Bank of England governor to maintain emergency policy settings as a deterioration in the euro-area economy threat-ens the U.K.’s expansion.

Officials left their benchmark at 0.5 per cent this month and Car-ney said yesterday that “a benign global inflationary environment” would be a key factor for the path of policy. Sterling, which has ap-preciated nearly seven per cent in the past year, slipped as investors bet the data will support rates be-ing left on hold further into next year.

“It’s getting more and more dif-ficult to see a short-term increase in rates,” said Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec Securities Ltd. in London. “It may well be that we don’t get a change in rates until summer next year, given the global outlook and the inflation environment.”

Germany cut its growth outlook and investor con-fidence fell to the weakest

level in two years as recession con-cerns mount in Europe’s biggest economy.

The Economy Ministry re-duced its 2014 economic-growth forecast to 1.2 per cent from 1.8 per cent, and its 2015 prediction to 1.3 per cent from two per cent. The ZEW Center for European Eco-nomic Research said its index of investor and analyst expectations slid to minus 3.6 in October from 6.9 in September, the 10th monthly decline and the first negative read-ing since November 2012.

ZEW President Clemens Fuest

The rate of consumer-price growth dropped from 1.5 percent in August. The September figure compares with the median esti-mate in a Bloomberg survey for 1.4 per cent. Core inflation also slowed to a five-year low.

Price growth has now been be-low the BOE’s two per cent target for nine months and the latest drop in the rate pushes the gov-ernor closer to having to write to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. A letter is trig-gered when inflation moves more than 1 percentage point away from the goal.

Prices for food and non-alco-holic drinks fell an annual 1.4 per cent in September, the most since 2002, and motor fuels dropped six per cent. If these were excluded,

inflation in September would have been 1.6 per cent. There was also a large downward effect from trans-port costs such as air fares.

The statistics office said it’s “plausible” that increased super-market competition, the appre-ciation of the pound and a drop in oil prices are playing a role in the broader trend of cooling inflation.

The pound plunged 0.7 per cent after the data were published and was at $1.5966 as of Tuesday in London. Sterling is the second-best performer over the past year in a basket of 10 developed-nation cur-rencies, after the dollar.

In the third quarter, inflation av-eraged 1.5 per cent. That compares with the BOE’s forecast in August for a rate of 1.81 per cent. It will update its projections next month.

“Low inflation gives the BOE room to wait before hiking rates,” said Rob Wood, chief U.K. econo-mist at Berenberg Bank in Lon-don. “We expect inflation to run below the Bank of England’s two per cent target until the back end of 2016.”

The BOE will refrain from rais-ing the benchmark for at least a year, according to forward rates on the sterling overnight interbank average compiled by Tullett Pre-bon Plc. Last week the contracts showed a 25 basis-point increase in August.

said he doesn’t rule out a technical recession, or two quarters of con-traction, and both he and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel called for more investment. That might aid the European Central Bank in its battle to revive the recovery in the 18-nation euro area.

“Financial investors are turning increasingly gloomy on the pros-pects for the German economy,” said Thomas Harjes, senior Euro-pean economist at Barclays Plc in Frankfurt. “Holiday effects played a role for the soft monthly August data prints but underlying growth momentum has also slowed.”

The euro declined and was at $1.2652, down 0.8 per cent, Tuesday in Frankfurt. Germany’s bench-mark DAX Index of stocks slid 0.5 per cent, taking its drop to 12 per cent since reaching a record in early July.

German gross domestic product shrank in the second quarter and factory orders, industrial output and exports plunged in August by the most since January 2009. The International Monetary Fund last week cut its growth forecasts for the euro area’s largest economy, and French Finance Minister Mi-chel Sapin said the signs of weak-ness show “no country is immune.”

Wolfgang Schaeuble, his Ger-man counterpart, blamed at least part of the slowdown on global crises such as the Ukraine conflict and the effect of sanctions against Russia. At the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington he said “we don’t have a recession in Germany.”

Gabriel said in a statement Tues-day that while domestic demand re-mains intact, the German economy is in “turbulent waters” and called for the reshaping of energy sys-tems and a rapid expansion of digi-tal broadband services.

“Germany has to invest signifi-cantly more in its infrastructure,” he said. “For the economic dy-namic, but above all for long-term growth and prosperity, investment plays a key role.”

Fuest said the ECB’s options for adding stimulus to the currency bloc are coming to an end and Ger-man politicians should consider investment programmes.

“I don’t think it would be a di-saster if the government would say we invest more in infrastructure now, even if that takes it slightly below a balanced budget,” he said in Mannheim. “There’s room for more investment and now’s a good time to do it.”

David Cameron

U.K. inflation rate falls to five-year low of 1.2%

Germany cuts growth outlook as recession peril mounts

36 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014Global News

Comcast Corp. will team up with Chinese investors to spend more than 20 billion

yuan ($3.3 billion) to build one of its Universal theme parks in Beijing.

The Chinese government has ap-proved the development of the theme park, which will be built on a 120-hect-are (300-acre) site and eventually ex-pand to 400 hectares, Comcast said in a statement yesterday. It will include new attractions specific to the Beijing park as well as the first Universal-theme hotel, the Philadelphia-based company said.

Comcast, the media and enter-tainment company with businesses spanning cable television, film and Internet services, is expanding in China to tap the growing middle class in the world’s second-biggest econo-my. The Beijing attraction will com-pete with a Walt Disney Co. theme park in Shanghai that is scheduled to open next year.

“We will create a unique experi-ence that spotlights hugely popular Western entertainment concepts as well as China’s rich cultural legacy,” Tom Williams, chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Parks & Resorts, said in the statement.

Universal Parks will own the Beijing park jointly with Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Invest-ment Co., a consortium of four state-owned companies that was founded in November 2013 to support the Bei-jing attraction, Comcast said.

It operates theme parks including Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Orlando, with at-tractions including The Wizarding

Comcast to invest in $3.3bn Universal Park in China

World of Harry Potter and Jurassic Park River Adventure.

Further details on the Beijing park including its opening timeframe will be provided at a later date, Comcast said. The attraction is expected to begin operating in 2019, state-run Bei-jing Daily reported October 13, citing China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

The proportion of middle-class urban households in China, with an-nual income of 60,000 yuan ($9,800) to 229,000 yuan, will jump to 76 percent by 2022 from 68 percent in 2012, ac-cording to a McKinsey & Co. estimate last year.

The Shanghai Disney Resort, with investment totaling more than $5 billion, includes two hotels and an outdoor recreational area and will be almost 1,000 acres in size when it opens, Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said in December. That would be roughly the size of the Universal Beijing park when the final phases are completed, according to Com-cast’s statement.

Angela Merkel

Xi Jinping

Stephen Harper

The Indian government has announced rules for setting up real estate investment

trusts, vehicles that may spur $20 bil-lion of property development. None of the money will be spent unless the country’s tax code is revised.

“REITs cannot take off in India until changes are made in the tax regime,” Anshuman Magazine, chairman of CBRE South Asia Pvt., said in a telephone interview from New Delhi. “Until these issues are resolved, there isn’t much incen-tive for developers to take the trust route.”

REITs will provide a new source of funds to debt-laden Indian devel-opers to construct malls and office buildings, bolstering Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi’s efforts to re-vive Asia’s No.3 economy. Tax rules that make it unattractive to sell a security in less than three years and concerns about levies to be paid by builders may prolong the wait for greater transparency in a sector where asset pricing often is opaque.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the country’s market regulator, released rules for estab-lishing REITs September 26, giving investors the ability to participate in the country’s property market with-out investing directly. The trusts will have to own assets valued at least five billion rupees ($82 million) and investors must put in a minimum of 200,000 rupees, the regulator said.

SEBI doesn’t oversee India’s tax regulations, though, and for now those remain a deterrent to creat-ing or investing in REITs, Magazine

$20bn property trusts in India delayed by tax rules

The United States economy looks better able to withstand the hit from a stronger dollar

and weaker global growth than the stock market did last week.

Foreign sales last year accounted for 46.3 per cent of revenues for com-panies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in 2013, leaving them prone to a rising greenback and the recent slowdowns in Europe and Asia, ac-cording to S&P Dow Jones Indices in New York. By contrast, U.S. ex-ports compose just 13.5 per cent of the economy.

“The U.S. economy is less open than the S&P revenue base,” said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York. “There are good reasons to think growth will continue to be above trend.”

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s megamerger ambi-tion may whet the indus-

try’s appetite for deals.There hasn’t been a major

North American railroad take-over since Warren Buffett’s purchase of Burlington North-ern Santa Fe in 2010. Now, the prospect of a deal between Cal-gary-based Canadian Pacific and $32 billion U.S. carrier CSX Corp. is sparking speculation of more acquisitions to come.

After being spurned by CSX, Canadian Pacific could make another approach or consider another target, said a person fa-miliar with the matter. CSX, the largest railroad in the eastern U.S., would also be a good fit for western carrier Union Pacific Corp., said Sanford C. Bern-stein & Co. Should Canadian Pacific triumph, the next logi-cal transcontinental combina-tion would be Norfolk Southern Corp. and Canadian National Railway Co., said Avondale Partners LLC.

“It certainly holds the po-tential to get the ball rolling,” Mark Levin, a Richmond, Vir-ginia-based analyst at BB&T Corp., said in a phone inter-view. “If CP were successful in

Hatzius sees the U.S. poised to expand 3.2 per cent next year, out-pacing the average annual rate of 2.2 per cent since the recession ended in June 2009. The brighter outlook helped soothe nerves at the weekend’s annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, otherwise dominated by renewed concern over Europe’s economy.

“The U.S. economy has finally shifted into a higher gear,” Karen Dynan, assistant secretary for eco-nomic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, told a conference or-ganised by the Institute of Interna-tional Finance. “There is a good bit of underlying momentum.”

That’s a relief when the euro-area is on the brink of a third recession since 2008, China is struggling with a property slump and a consumption tax hike has hurt Japan’s recovery. Such softness has sent the Bloom-berg Dollar Spot Index surging al-most seven per cent since June.

Investors tuned into the overseas malaise last week as the S&P 500 In-dex posted its biggest weekly drop in two years, falling 3.1 per cent to 1,906.13. In other signs of concern, yields on U.S. Treasury securities fell and oil tumbled in price by the most since January to enter a bear market.

“Can the U.S. really be an island

of growth?,” said Morgan Stanley’s co-chief economist Joachim Fels, posing the question from the audi-ence during an IMF conference pan-el. “The financial markets in the last few days have told us probably not.”

Federal Reserve officials have also turned cautious. “If foreign growth is weaker than anticipated, the consequences for the U.S. econ-omy could lead the Fed to remove accommodation more slowly than otherwise,” Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said October 11. Governor Daniel Tarullo said the same day he’s “worried about growth around the world right now.” Both spoke during the IMF conference.

Putting it all together, the impact of various international market moves on the domestic economy is about a wash, according to Hatzius. While a rising dollar will curtail exports and lower stocks will re-duce household wealth, a drop in long-term interest rates and energy prices will be a plus for the economy.

Michael Feroli, chief U.S. econo-mist for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, sees a “temporal distinc-tion” in the way the market moves will affect growth. Cheaper gaso-line will boost consumer spending “within a quarter or two” while the drag from a stronger greenback is “much more drawn out” over a year or more, he said.

their efforts with CSX, it would assuredly spur others to look at other possibilities.”

A deal would combine CSX’s network in the eastern U.S. with Canadian Pacific’s system spanning the width of its home country. A railroad across North America would eliminate the need for competing carriers to hand off cargo in the congested Chicago area. Long discussed by the railroad industry, east-west mergers haven’t gone forward in the face of regulatory oppo-sition. “An end-to-end merger, which essentially is what this would be, would give the rail system the ability to improve service levels dramatically,” Donald Broughton, a St. Louis-based analyst at Avondale, said in a phone interview. “It’s like a relay versus a single runner. You don’t have to hand the baton off.”

The prospect of a coast-to-coast railroad may also appeal to Union Pacific, said David Vernon of Bernstein. The Oma-ha, Nebraska-based company would probably get more oper-ating benefits out of a deal with CSX because of the greater traf-fic overlap between the two, he said.

A CSX deal would put the spotlight on $32 billion Norfolk Southern, the other eastern railroad, as the next potential target, Jason Seidl, a New York-based analyst at Cowen Group Inc., wrote in a note Monday.

Canadian National, Union Pacific or BNSF Railway Co. -- as Burlington Northern is now called -- are potential buyers. Each one could use a takeover of Norfolk Southern to form their own transcontinental rail-roads, should a merger between Canadian Pacific and CSX force them to “scramble to match the scale and pricing power of their peers,” Seidl wrote.

Obama

U.S. economy set to shrug off Wall Street growth worries

Canadian pacific bid sets up more railway-industry deals

said.The tax bill for starting a REIT

would be higher than for raising money through an initial share sale, Bhairav Dalal, associate director for tax and regulatory practice at Price-waterhouseCoopers in Mumbai, said in an e-mail. “Until a finance bill is passed to change certain rules, the tax cost might impact the returns of-fered to investors.”

Investors are disadvantaged by REITs because under existing rules shares in them must be held for three years before they are exempt from capital gains tax, unlike investments in “listed securities,” which gain the exemption after one year, Dalal said. There is also a lack of clarity on whether the developer setting up the trust would have to pay the so-called minimum alternative tax.

SEBI is in discussions with the fi-nance ministry to resolve tax issues that may be hindering the listing of REITs, SEBI Chairman U.K. Sinha said in Mumbai on October 8. He didn’t give a timeframe for when the code will be changed.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 37Thursday, October 16, 2014 Global News

Citigroup Inc., the United States lender that gets the most revenue from

overseas markets, announced plans to exit consumer bank-ing in 11 markets as Chief Ex-ecutive Officer Michael Corbat seeks to simplify the firm and boost returns.

The sale of the businesses, a majority of which already are under way, are expected to be completed by the end of next year, the bank said today in a statement. The units will be moved into the lender’s col-lection of unwanted assets for reporting purposes in the first quarter of 2015.

“I am committed to simplify-ing our company and allocating our finite resources to where we can generate the best re-turns for our shareholders,” Corbat, said in the statement. “While we have made progress optimising these 11 consumer markets, we believe our global consumer bank will achieve stronger performance by focus-ing on those countries where our scale and network provide

Citigroup to exit consumer banking in 11 markets

a competitive advantage.”The actions come two years

after Corbat was named CEO to replace Vikram Pandit, who made expanding into emerg-ing markets one of his central strategies. Since taking over, Corbat has announced plans to fire 11,000 workers and pull back from consumer banking in markets with low returns including Spain, Greece and Turkey.

With Tuesday’s announce-ment, New York-based Citi-group will exit consumer banking in Costa Rica, El Sal-vador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Japan, Guam, the Czech Republic, Egypt and Hungary, as well as the consum-er-finance business in Korea, according to the statement. It will continue to work with insti-tutional clients in those places.

The sales will leave Citi-group with a consumer foot-print that accounts for about 95 per cent of current revenue from 24 markets serving 57 mil-lion customers, according to the statement.

Narendra Modi

Even with some muted dissenting voices and a subsisting court case, world soccer governing body, FIFA, and the Nigerian government have recognised election of the new Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board chaired by Amaju Pinnick. But PAUL EREWUBA in this narrative, reports that the cyclical crisis may recur if the Super Eagles fail to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in 2015.

It has become a routine part-time of some sort for Nigeria Football Federa-tion (NFF) bigwigs. Any time the Super

Eagles fail to qualify or do well at any inter-national championship, the President of the NFF is ‘violently’ impeached or removed. It is always one crisis after another.

Although, the present leadership cri-sis at the NFF could be said to have a pre-cedence in when Kojo Williams was im-peached in less than two months in office in 2000, others believe it started in 2006 when Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima was forced out of office.

Galadima’s NFF, failed to qualify Nige-ria for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. His case was worsened when he told bewil-dered sports journalists at a press briefing that ‘qualification for the World Cup is not Nigeria’s birthright.’ This statement drew the ire of many Nigerians especially foot-ball lovers who called for his ‘head’. And the plot to impeach him by his cronies began. Eventually, he got the boot.

After Galadima was impeached in a controversial manner, Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi was elected. Lulu, in the election, beat other candidates including ex-interna-tional, Segun Odegbami, and ex-lawmaker, Lumumba Adeh.

Lulu served for four years amid several crises. One of which being when he literari-ly broke his back in the spat with the Nige-ria Premier League (NPL) headed by Chief Oyuki Obaseki.

Again, like his predecessor, Galadima, Lulu’s coffin was nailed when Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. And as soon as Nigeria came back from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he was forced out and dragged to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with some of his board members and secre-tary general, Bolaji Ojo-Oba.

Lulu was a former Federal Capital Ter-ritory (FCT) Director of Sports and chair-man of FCT Football Association, who was elected into the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) executive board for the first time in 2000 as vice chairman before he eventually emerged the federation’s presi-dent in 2006.

But while Lulu and other board mem-bers’ case was still being heard in court, Alhaji Aminu Maigari was made the acting president of the NFF. Maigari was in Lulu’s board and incidentally its former finance committee chairman. After the NFF Gen-eral Assembly dissolved Lulu’s board, Mai-gari contested just like Lulu and became president of the NFF in 2010.

Soon after Maigari emerged as NFF president, it became one crisis after anoth-er. It was court cases galore from different quarters. He eventually surmounted and bought peace, where peace could not be made.

But in the run up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, everything was going on well for Maigari until the Super Eagles failed to get to the quarter-finals of the Mundial. Before the match against France that saw the elimination of Nigeria, the players had threatened not to play and demanded pay-ment of their share from FIFA’s participa-

The government entered the fray and Mai-gari was picked up on arrival from Brazil at the airport by security officials on allega-tions of misappropriating World Cup funds and maladministration, but who was later released without any charge.

After his release, his traducers eventu-ally impeached him, with eight out of the 12 members of the board passing a vote of no confidence in him. Some of his allies, Ahmed ‘Fresh’ Yusuf and Chris Green were also banned from all football activities for between three and six months respectively,

Maigari Pinnick

The NFF Glass House caught fire in the midst of crises

AFTER MAIGARI EMERGED AS NFF PRESIDENT, IT BECAME ONE CRISIS AFTER ANOTHER. IT

WAS COURT CASES GALORE FROM DIFFERENT QUARTERS. HE EVENTUALLY SURMOUNTED AND

BOUGHT PEACE, WHERE PEACE COULD NOT BE MADE

tion fee. It took the intervention of the Senate President, David Mark, before they agreed to play.

The embarrassment was said to have forced President Goodluck Jonathan to send $3million cash through the Sports Minis-ter, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, in a presidential plane to Brazil for the players. This was aside the N2.3 billion earlier released for the World Cup and the $1.5m million received from FIFA for preparations.

National Mirror learnt that the Super Eagles’ protest was a carryover for some un-paid bonuses and allowances in South Africa during the AFCON 2013 in which Nigeria lifted the Unity Trophy for the third time. Al-though Eagles won the trophy, sources said the President was not happy with the embar-rassment the team’s stand-off caused the country and Maigari was warned against future reoccurrence. But another protest in Brazil by the same players over unpaid bo-nuses was said to be what necessitated Mai-gari’s forceful removal despite his achieve-ments.

While in Brazil, majority of NFF Execu-tive were aggrieved because of the way and manner Maigari was running NFF affairs as a one-man-show.

According to one of the aggrieved board members who spoke on condition of anonymity, Maigari allegedly went to Brazil with over 300 people, comprising of his Bau-chi State kits and kins, apart from his friends and cronies in Abuja, Lagos and other states.

“He kept us in a below standard hotel while he stayed in a five star hotel,” the board member said.

But, back home after the Brazil ‘jam-boree’ the NFF board members felt it was time Maigari was shown the exit door and they went into secret meetings, where they hatched and plotted the impeachment act.

while Hon. Suleiman Kwande was investi-gated for anti-board activities.

Consequently, an Extraordinary Con-gress of the NFF was called and the Maigari-led board was formally dissolved alongside the Nigeria National League ( NNL) and the Nigeria Nationwide League (NWL), with the delegates citing abuse of the statutes.

Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee, Obinna Ogba, who briefed jour-nalists after their meeting in Abuja, said the board was also dissolved for denying state football associations of their annual grants.

Pinnick’s election as panacea 38 National Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014 Insight

MELEE: Super Eagles keeper, Vincent Enyeama (L) and his defenders could not stop France in Brazil

who saw everything as government inter-ference and threatened once again, to ban Nigeria over the lingering crisis except due process was followed in the conduct of free, open and transparent elections. The crisis of who became the NFF President lingered and the issue was whether there would be another election or not.

But surprisingly, a day after the Maigari-led executive had its board meeting which saw the absence of some board members including the acting president, Umeh, the Glass House was engulfed by fire. The fire was said to have started from the office of the accountant before spreading to the ICT and the secretary’s office.

A fire service officer claimed that the fire was caused by electric spark but the ac-countant disclosed that he switched off ev-ery gadget in his office before he went home the previous day. The police as usual said they were going to brief the press as soon as they completed investigation. But Umeh claimed that it was sabotage.

There were allegations that saboteurs were responsible for the fire outbreak. Some claimed that some people must have been involved in some shady transactions while Maigari was away, while some claimed that it must have been that the money expended on the FIFA World Cup in Brazil was not ac-counted for properly, hence the inferno.

However, after a prolonged malady whether to hold an election or not, and

THERE SHOULD ALSO BE AN ACT

OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO BACK

THE EFFECTIVE RUNNING OF

NIGERIAN FOOTBALL

to NFF’s crisesFIFA’s insistence that Maigari must be al-lowed to return and supervise the elective congress, September 30, 2014 was upheld by all as the election date.

The tenure of Maigari came to an end when with an admixture of governmental threats, arm-twisting and roughshod, he re-grettably abandoned his quest to contest for a second term.

The much anticipated elective congress was finally held in Warri, Delta State, and Amaju Pinnick emerged as the new presi-dent of the NFF. He is to manage the affairs of the football house over the next four years.

The seven candidates who contested for the president position were Amanze Ucheg-bulam, Mike Umeh, Pinnick, Abba Yola, Dominic Iorfa, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Shehu Dikko.

Pinnick polled 32 votes in the second round of voting to emerge victorious. “I am so excited winning the election and I will make sure I lift Nigerian football high when I assume office,” Pinnick said at the venue of the congress in Warri.

Stakeholders say to avoid the pitfalls of his predecessors, Pinnick should be pre-pared to erase wrinkles that have eroded the growth of football and develop the game especially at the grassroots. The total inde-pendence of the NFF as a body in all areas including sourcing for funds must become a reality this time, while the government pro-vides support to help facilitate it.

There should also be an Act of the Na-tional Assembly to back the effective run-ning of Nigerian football. As a matter of urgent prerogative, there is need for proper and total cleansing of the Nigerian Pre-mier Football League (NPFL), the National League and the female football league.

The new NFF boss should also ensure that football is seen as independent, vol-untary and recreation activities, just like Nollywood and the entire entertainment/music industry that has witnessed growth over the years without government inter-vention. Also, football should be part of school curriculum as a compulsory subject as a way of driving the development of the sport from the grassroots.

The government should hands off the business of football in Nigeria. Govern-ment should only provide an enabling en-vironment and should rather play an advi-sory role that would ensure the growth of the game at all levels.

Pinnick is also expected to urgently sort out the contract issues of the technical crew of the national team by either extending Coach Stephen Keshi’s contract with the Su-per Eagles or hiring another knowledgeable tactician immediately, to continue the her-culean task of seeing to the possibility of the Eagles qualifying for the Morocco 2015 AFCON Finals, where they are expected to defend the trophy Nigeria won at the South Africa 2013 edition.

But with the unimpressive runs of the Super Eagles in their qualifying matches so far, the outlook is bleak, and Pinnick and his executive committee members, will sooner than later come under pressure from foot-ball crazy Nigerians.

However, Maigari lobbied his way back by using chairmen of state football asso-ciations, whose doggedness to maintain the status quo made the crisis to degenerate, prompting the Secretary to the Govern-ment of the Federation (SGF), Chief Pius Anyim, to intervene, especially after FIFA’s one week ultimatum after which Nigeria would be banned.

The intervention of the SGF earned Maigari a soft landing; his impeachment was overturned and he thereafter tendered his resignation letter.

A source close to the Glass House re-vealed then, “I can confirm to you that Aminu Maigari submitted his resigna-tion letter and the board accepted it. I can further tell you the federation forwarded a copy of the letter to FIFA immediately for necessary actions.”

A new twixt was added when a suit was filed by the wife of a former Nigeria Premier League (NPL) chairman, Rumson Baribote, who secured an injunction from a Jos High Court to restrain Maigari and his executive committee from running the af-fairs of football matters in Nigeria.

Hon. Justice P. L Lot of the Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos, granted the Order of Interlocutory Injunction restraining the president of the NFF, the executive commit-tee members as well as the NFF Congress from running affairs of Nigerian football pending the determination of the Motion on Notice before the court.

While the drama was on, a letter was said to have been written by FIFA for the re-instatement of Maigari. In the letter, FIFA stated that the impeachment proceeding on Maigari did not follow the laid down stat-utes and that Maigari must be allowed to conduct the election into the NFF board.

Based on the FIFA letter, the Minister of Sports, Danagogo, who had earlier, while obeying the court order, had sacked the en-tire management staff of the NFF, made a volte face and restored the status quo.

On resumption, an embattled Magari enthused, “Yes, the problems in Nigerian

football are over right now and hopefully we can move forward.” Little did he know that that was just the beginning of the crisis. While Maigari was resuming for the day’s job, the acting president, Chief Mike Umeh, also resumed hence there were two claim-ants to the president’s seat. Umeh claimed that the FIFA letter did not order Maigari’s reinstatement.

On the 28th of August, a congress was convened to fashion out a roadmap for an election on September 4, but before the com-mencement of the congress Maigari was whisked away by the men of the Depart-ment of State Security (DSS) and handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for interrogation.

In his absence, Umeh dissolved the board and the Congress progressed but with few members as some of them had gone to protest the arrest of their president at the DSS and SARS headquarters respectively.

Indeed, while some delegates were pro-testing at the DSS and SARS offices, the re-maining people on ground went ahead after the minister in company of the general sec-retary, Musa Amadu, declared the congress officially opened.

Soon after the minister addressed the congress, and left, Amadu also left out of an-noyance. The remaining FA chairmen and secretaries moved a motion for an election to be conducted. Election was conducted and Chris Giwa, a choice of the minister and others emerged as president and board members. Giwa assumed office at the NFF secretariat with heavy armed DSS and po-licemen escort.

When Maigari and others were re-leased, their faction went ahead to hold an-other congress at which they agreed in line with FIFA directive, that an election would be conducted on September 4 in Abuja. While the faction was holding its meeting, the Giwa-led board paid a courtesy visit to the minister in his Abuja office. Danagogo recognised Giwa as the duly elected NFF president .

This did not go down well with FIFA

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 39Thursday, October 16, 2014 Insight

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net40 Thursday, October 16, 2014Cocktail

John Hawkley (2nd- L) celebrating next to his 2058 pound winning entry at the 41st annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California

A Chinese bus’ secu-rity camera cap-tured footage of a

young woman’s cellphone spontaneously bursting into flames while she was charging the battery.

The video from an Oct. 4 bus ride in Nanchong shows the woman charg-ing her phone when the device suddenly bursts into flames, apparently

from a short circuit.The driver quickly

opened the vehicle’s door and the woman rushed the flaming phone out of the bus. No passengers were injured.

“When I heard the sound of the explosion, I hurried to open the doors,” the driver told Si-chuan News. “She calmly held the phone and got off

the bus. Then, she threw the phone at the ground and stepped on it to put out the flames.”

No passengers were in-jured, the bus company said. The company ad-vised passengers not to try charging phones with cheaply-made batteries.

The type of phone used by the woman was not re-ported.

Oddities

Pumpkin weighing 2,058 pounds displayed in contest

Cellphone bursts into flames in bus

Archaeologist uncovers ‘vampire grave’

A Bulgarian archae-ologist said he has uncovered “a

vampire grave” from the 13th century featuring the bones of a man with a stake driven through his chest.

Nikolai Ovcharov, an archaeologist nicknamed “Bulgaria’s Indiana Jones,” said he discovered “a vampire grave” while excavating the ruins of Perperikon, an ancient

city near the border with Greece.

“We have no doubts that once again we’re seeing an anti-vampire ritual being carried out,” Ovcharov told The Telegraph.

He said the skeleton, believed to be a man be-tween the ages of 40 and 50, had a heavy iron stake hammered into his chest after his death to prevent him from rising from the grave.

Napa man John Hawkley broke the North American

record for largest pump-kin with a 2,058-pound weigh in at the Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off.

Hawkley and his wife Patty won more than $13,000, earning $6 per pound and $1,000

for having the largest pumpkin in California.

“I don’t know,” said Hawkley about his growing method. “I just kept the water con-stant. I didn’t overfeed it. I took what I got.”

Russ Pugh, who had a pumpkin weigh in

at 1,828 pounds, was disqualified when his gourd began leaking on the scale.

California pumpkin growers faced some challenges this year from the California drought that has devas-tated crops in the state.

“It really depends on where you live and what the water restric-tions are,” said Russ Pugh, a Santa Rosa-area grower. “We have a 30 percent voluntary reduction, so I grew seven plants instead of 10.”

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 41Thursday, October 16, 2014 Capital Market

Stocks and the Unit-ed States dollar slumped and safe-

haven government debt rallied yesterday, as in-vestors around the globe resumed their flight from riskier assets after weak US and Chinese inflation figures.

Selling in stocks appeared panicky at the open on Wall Street, with major indexes down more than two per cent early in the session. Markets cut losses in half but indexes remained at multi-month lows.

Markets churned as inves-tors worried about a num-ber of issues: slowing global growth and how central banks will respond, a glut of oil supply that has slammed crude futures, and the Ebola outbreak.

“You couple this (weak

JOHNSON OKANLAWON

To drive away foreign companies from Ni-geria to other African

countries, indigenious com-panies have been advised to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Speaking at a media enhancement training or-ganized by PwC in Lagos, a partner with Pricewater-houseCoopers (PwC) on Tax and Regulatory Services, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele affirmed noted that their listing may compel non indigenous companies to leave.

“If all the companies operating in Nigeria with

shareholders’ funds in ex-cess of N40 billion or with annual turnover of over N80 billion are forced to list on the Nigerian bourse, the foreign firms may leave the country for other African countries because such it is not encouraging,” he said.

According to him, if pri-vate big companies list on the Exchange, the market may not have the capacity to absorb foreign companies shares.

Giving reason why the stock market may not ab-solve the share capital of the big entities, he said, “The investors will want to sell their shares in other com-

panies to buy the shares of companies like MTN, Glo, Chevron and so on.

“So if everybody is sell-ing and nobody is buying, prices will tumble and this may crash the market.”

He said the Nigerian stock market is low to ab-sorb the listing of big pri-vate companies.

Oyedele said, “When Dangote Cement came to the market, because of the huge shares it has, it could only list five per cent of its shares.

“The $80bn market capi-talization of the NSE is just a fraction of the market capitalisation of a company

like Apple with $500bn. If all the telecom companies and the International Oil Companies in the country are forced to list, the market will crash as prices of other stocks would fall.”

Responding to tax avoid-ance by many private com-panies, he said compelling companies to list is not a so-lution, as there is no connec-tion between tax avoidance and forcing the companies to list.

He said the amount of tax which MTN Nigeria, which is not listed on the Ex-change paid as tax last year was higher than what all the listed banks paid.

Experts urge indigenous companies to list on NSE

Stocks slump, bonds rally as global growth fears mount

JOHNSON OKANLAWON

The benchmark index of equities dropped further on the Nige-

rian Stock Exchange yester-day, as more blue chip com-panies lost values.

The All Share Index de-preciated 1.02 per cent to 39,278.47 points, compared to the decline of 0.92 per cent recorded the preced-ing day to close at 39,681.71 points.

Market capitalisation lost N133bn to close at N12.9trn, higher than the drop of N122bn recorded the preced-ing day to close at N13.1trn.

All sectorial indices shed weight except the Insurance Index, which appreciated 0.56 per cent to close at 147.26 points. The Alternative Se-curities Market closed flat at 951.09 points.

The NSE 30-Index lost 1.38 per cent to close at 1,775.14 points, while the Banking Index fell 1.32 per cent to close at 397.74 points.

The Consumer Goods Index was down 1.39 per cent to close at 972.80 points, while the Oil and Gas Index dipped 0.36 per cent to close at 437.32 points.

The Lotus Islamic In-dex declined 0.83 per cent

to close at 2,603.30 points, while the Industrial Index dropped 0.27 per cent to close at 2,692.20 points.

Forte Oil Plc led the gain-ers’ table with N9.00 or 4.31 per cent to close at N218.00 per share, followed by Uni-versity Press Limited with 15 kobo or 3.76 per cent to close at N4.14 per share.

Zenith Bank Plc rose 72 kobo or 3.37 per cent to close at N22.10 per share, while Mansard Insurance Plc ap-preciated eight kobo ot 2.75 per cent to close at N2.99 per share.

Mbenefit Plc added one kobo or 1.85 per cent to close

at 55 kobo per share.Conversely, FBN Hold-

ings Plc shed 78 kobo or 6.47 per cent to close at N11.28 per share, while NASCON Plc dipped 50 kobo or 5.49 per cent to close at N8.60 per share.

Oando Plc was down N1.22 or 4.98 per cent to close at N23.28 per share, while Ikeja Hotel Plc depreciated 16 kobo or 4.98 per cent to close at N3.05 per share.

UBA Plc fell 29 kobo or 4.93 per cent to close at N5.59 per share.

A total of 420 million shares valued at N4.61bn were traded in 5,497 deals.

Equities shed 1% on high cap stocks

Stock Updates

GAINERSCOMPANY OPENING CLOSING CHANGE % CHANGE

CHAMPION 12.35 13.60 1.25 10.12

IKEJAHOTEL 2.00 2.20 0.20 10.00

CONOIL 47.01 49.36 2.35 5.00

RTBRISCOE 0.85 0.89 0.04 4.71

LEARNAFRCA 1.32 1.38 0.06 4.55

ACADEMY 1.32 1.38 0.06 4.55

SKYEBANK 2.87 3.00 0.13 4.53

FIDSON 3.33 3.48 0.15 4.50

COSTAIN 0.90 0.94 0.04 4.44

WEMABANK 0.95 0.99 0.04 4.21

LOSERSCOMPANY OPENING CLOSING CHANGE % CHANGE

PREMBREW 4.40 4.18 -0.22 -5.00

STANBIC 35.00 33.25 -1.75 -5.00

AGLEVENT 1.54 1.47 -0.07 -4.55

GUINNESS 195.70 186.97 -8.73 -4.46

MAYBAKER 1.72 1.66 -0.06 -3.49

UBN 9.39 9.10 -0.29 -3.09

CAVERTON 5.00 4.85 -0.15 -3.00

NPFMCRFBK 1.00 0.97 -0.03 -3.00

UBA 6.65 6.51 -0.14 -2.11

COURTVILLE 0.52 0.51 -0.01 -1.92

Market indicatorsAll-Share Index 40,995.02 points

Market capitalisation 13.5trn

Source: NSE

data) with fears about the spread of Ebola, with the recent downtrend and what we had today, the mindset has been a flight to safety and cash is certainly a safe place to be in,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernards-ville, New Jersey.

Flight from risk resulted in a massive rally in US Trea-suries, pushing the 10-year note’s yield as low as 1.865 per cent, its lowest since May 2013.

Declining bond yields and sharp moves in US fed-eral funds futures contracts showed investors now believe the US Federal Reserve is un-likely to raise rates in 2015.

That view fueled a selloff in the dollar. Soft US retail sales and inflation data fed the view that the Fed would delay its first rate hike, which

weighed on the US currency.“Weak retail sales, re-as-

sessment of the Fed outlook, and all-time high long posi-tions - dangerous cocktail right here,” said Jens Nord-vig, strategist at Nomura FX Global.

China’s consumer infla-tion slowed more than ex-pected in September to a near five-year low, adding to concerns that global growth is cooling fast.

Prices paid by US busi-nesses also fell in Septem-ber, as falling energy prices meant receding inflation concerns.

“The outperformance of the dollar over the past sev-eral months was largely re-lated to the expectation that growth would outperform in the US,” said Brian Dainger-field, currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland

in Stamford, Connecticut.“The concern that US

growth momentum will slow has been heightened,” he said.

The euro was last up 0.8 per cent against the dollar at $1.2754, just below a three-week high of $1.2885 hit earlier in the session. The greenback lost 0.7 per cent against the yen at 106.27.

At the same time, risk aversion pulled money into US and German govern-ment debt, pushing the US benchmark yield to a ses-sion low below two per cent, its lowest in 16 months and 10-year Bund yields below 0.8 per cent to a record low.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT were last yielding 2.043 per cent, the lowest since May 2013.

Description Price Yield Price Yield

13.05 16-AUG-2016 1.84 100.45 12.74 100.60 12.65

15.10 27-APR-2017 2.53 105.15 12.65 105.30 12.58

16.00 29-JUN-2019 4.70 110.75 12.87 111.05 12.79

16.39 27-JAN-2022 7.29 116.70 12.78 117.00 12.73

14.20 14-MAR-2024 9.41 107.65 12.77 107.95 12.72

10.00 23-JUL-2030 15.77 82.30 12.61 82.60 12.55

Tenor Rate (%)

O/N 10.7083

1M 12.8145

3M 13.5112

6M 14.3623

Maturity Date Bid Offer

15-Jan-15 10.85 11.16

9-Apr-15 11.15 11.78

3-Sep-15 10.75 11.88

Treasury Bills

NIBOR

FGN Bonds

Bid Offer

Closing Market Prices of October 15, 2014

The Fixings of October 15, 2014

1st Tier Securities1st Tier SecuritiesSector Company name No Of Deals Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares(N)

Stock exchange daily equities summaryEquities as at October 15, 2014

Sector Company name No Of Deals Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares(N)

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014 Capital Market42

Lt.-Gen Minimah, Chief of Army staff

PRISCILLA DENNISMINNA

The Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, chieftains of the

nine local governments of Niger East senatorial district have unanimous-ly dumped newly-elected Senator Shem Nuhu Zag-bayi, for Governor Muázu Babangida Aliyu as the sole candidate of the sena-torial district in the 2015 general elections.

The decision was taken by party chairmen and their secretaries at a spe-cial North-Central zonal integration committee meeting presided over by Alhaji Mamman Gambo,

the vice chairman and Barrister Tanko Beji, deputy state chairman, at the state secretariat of the party in Minna, where they also zoned elective positions to the three emirates of the senatorial district.

Under the arrange-ment, Minna Emirate, where Governor Aliyu hails from, is expected to produce the senator of the zone; Suleja, the min-isterial slot, while Kagara Emirate Council was allo-cated the speakership of Niger State House of As-sembly.

The move has put to rest speculations that the door had been firmly

Niger East PDP endorses Aliyu for Senate

Shettima inaugurates panel on primary education

2015: Security agencies warn Kwara politicians

Kebbi State Governor, Saidu Dakingari (right) and Chairman of Board of Trustees, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, at the Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Birnin Kebbi, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

JAMES ABRAHAMJOS

The Nigerian Army yesterday paraded two fake soldiers

who were arrested for impersonation as briga-dier-general and orderly, respectively.

The suspects identi-fied as Aliyu Haussaini Bre and Ibrahim Moham-med were paraded at the Headquarters of the 3rd Division, Nigerian Army, Maxwell Khobe Canton-ment in Plateau State by the division’s public rela-tions officer and the com-mander, Provost Group, Col. Texas Chukwu and Col. Arnold Okoro, re-spectively, on behalf of the General Officer Com-manding, Major-General John Zaruma.

According to Chukwu, the suspects were ar-rested on September 17 in Bauchi State, after a tip-off.

He added that while Aliyu, a 46-year-old Fu-lani man from Adamawa State impersonated as an officer of the rank of brigadier-general, Ibra-him, 40, and Kanuri by tribe served as his assis-tant.

Chukwu said that a search conducted at Ali-yu’s house in Kaduna led to the recovery of Nige-rian Army uniforms with assorted ranks, as well as a Peugeot 406 saloon car.

He disclosed that the suspects confessed that the reason for imperson-

ating military officers was to give them easy ac-cess to the corridors of power, and to help them secure contracts.

Chukwu further dis-closed that, upon interro-gation, the suspects, who had been in the business since 2006, listed the con-tracts they had executed through impersonation, including construction and renovation of Ad-amawa State University’s clinic in 2010 at a cost of N2.45m; rehabilation and overhaul of 250KVA MARAPO generator, and two units of 160 KVA Cumings generator for the Nigerian Televi-sion Authority, NTA, in Abuja in 2011 at the cost of N2.2m, as well as sup-ply of Mili beverage for the Federal Road Mainte-nance Agency, FERMA, also in Abuja, in 2012, at the cost of N1.8m.

Col. Okoro, who cor-roborated Chukwu’s ac-count, warned the gen-eral public to be vigilant, adding that the suspects would be handed over to the police for prosecu-tion.

Army parades fake general, orderly

INUSA NDAHIMAIDUGURI

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has inaugu-

rated a 19-man committee on the resuscitation of pri-mary education in the state.

Inaugurating the com-mittee yesterday at the

Government House, Maidu-guri, Shettima said his ad-ministration accorded high priority to the education sector, adding that he was determined to actualise his dream by taking children of school age off the streets.

He said education is the bedrock of any develop-ment, and as such, his ad-

WOLE ADEDEJIILORIN

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the Kwara State

Police Command yesterday warned politicians to exer-cise caution in their elec-tioneering campaigns.

Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Saliu Garba, gave the warning at a political stakeholders’ meeting with the commanders of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Cus-toms Service, Immigration, Federal Road Safety Com-mission and the Vigilante groups in the state held at the police officers’ mess.

Garba stated that the se-curity agencies in the state

had resolved to decisively deal with anyone caught en-gaging in any act that could run tantamount to an ex-pected smooth and peaceful process towards, during and after the general election.

At the meeting, tagged “Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Se-curity/Stakeholders Meet-ing”, the commissioner said politicians should know that officers and men of se-curity agencies in the state are not politicians.

He added that while the politicians were expected to conduct themselves in a most lawful manner, the security agencies were prepared to create a level-playing ground for political

parties, as long as the game is played according to the rules, to sustain peace in the state.

Also speaking, the Kwara State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Fa-ruk Akanbi, called for the mopping up of proliferated arms and ammunition by miscreants, popularly called ‘Good Boys’ in the state.

Meanwhile, the police command paraded 15 per-sons, including a 16-year-old girl arrested for suspected armed robbery, rape, car snatching, house-breaking and cultism, leading to the killing of three persons, as well as illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and dangerous charms.

closed against Nuhu in the senatorial race next year.

Declaring the meeting open, the zonal chairman and secretary told stake-holders that the leaders of the party that they decid-ed to stand by the zoning formula already in opera-tion and had shared the positions to emirates of the senatorial district.

Also, speaking on be-half of the nine local government chairmen of the PDP, Mr. Yakubu Garba, the Chairman of Gurara local government PDP and the chairman of the senatorial PDP chair-men’s forum, said after extensive deliberations, they all accepted to zone the offices.

He said the step was

ministration had sponsored many students to study in different institutions abroad, especially in the ar-eas of medicine, engineer-ing and other important courses.

The governor stated that the committee`s terms of reference include; assessing the facilities and classroom

adopted to ensure equity, justice and fair play, so that the PDP could emerge victorious in the general election.

However, the Chairman of Minna local govern-ment council PDP, Alhaji Shehu Gomina, took the meeting by surprise as he pleaded with other stake-holders to endorse Gov-ernor Aliyu as the sole

candidate from Minna Emirate Council, a motion which they all accepted.

State Vice Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Mamman Gambo appealed to the lo-cal government chairmen to seek the support of the other five local govern-ment PDP chairmen in the emirate to secure their support on the decision reached.

accommodation of prima-ry schools, introduction of at least one meal in each of the primary schools, among others.

The pilot programme, according to the governor, is to take off in four local governments; Biu, Jere, Monguno and Maiduguri metropolitan council.

The 19-man commit-tee has a former commis-sioner of education, Dr. Mohammed El-nur Dongel, as chairman, with the Per-manent Secretary in the Universal Primary Educa-tion Board, UPEB, Alhaji Mallam Alau, as secretary.

Responding, the chair-man of the committee, Dongel, thanked the gover-nor for finding them wor-thy to serve

He assured the governor that they would justify the confidence reposed in them by dedicating themselves to service for the people of the state.

The chairman said with the calibre of people in the committee, he was opti-mistic that that they would successfully carry out their assignment.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 43Thursday, October 16, 2014 North

Leonard okachie

Last Saturday was the commemoration of the International Day for

the Girl Child, a day declared by the United Nations to recog-nise girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face around the world.

The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 on December 19, 2011 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child. The theme for 2014 is “Empowering Adoles-cent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence.”

This year’s theme was chosen in recognition of the importance of investing in and empowering girls during adolescence and preventing and eliminating the various forms of violence they experience.

Unfortunately, many people, even the young girls are not aware of this special day. And in different parts of the world es-pecially Africa, adolescent girls are objects of violence as they face all forms of intimidation, harassment, discrimination, threat and even death. Cases of rape are swept under the carpet in Nigeria for fear of stigmati-sation. As result, the culture of silence pervades, for fear of the unknown.

In his message to commemo-rate the day, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all governments to take action to end all forms of violence against girls in all parts of the world, adding that together they must create a world where vio-lence against women and girls is never tolerated and girls are al-ways empowered to reach their

Ending cycle of violence against girls

School girls at an empowerment seminar.

gender violence and promoting the empowerment of girls and women must be at the heart of our global agenda.

“To end the cycle of violence against adolescent girls we must go beyond raising aware-ness and take action to equip girls with knowledge, skills, re-sources and power to determine their own path in life. We must provide them with safe trans-port, and access to sources of energy and water, quality health services and supportive envi-ronments that will allow them to thrive.

However, on April 14, the world woke to the rude shock of the news of the abduction of 234 schools girls in Chibok, a town in the north-eastern part of Ni-geria, by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram. The inci-dent drew global attention and trended with hashtag #Bring-BackOurGirls. Incidentally, 57 of the girls escaped, while the remaining 219 are still miss-ing as today marks 195 days in captivity. Efforts by the Nige-rian government and other con-cerned groups yield little or no result.

In her message for the day, ones of Forbes 2014 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and one of World’s Most Powerful Fe-male Entrepreneurs Of 2014,

full potential.He said: “All over the world,

an alarming number of adoles-cent girls are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated and even mur-dered. The threat of violence at the hands of family members, partners, teachers and peers grossly violates their rights, di-minishes their power and sup-presses their potential.

“This violence is exacerbated and reinforced by the multiple deprivations adolescent girls face, including unequal access to education, skills, informa-tion, sexual and reproductive health services, and social and economic resources. Girls are subjected to discriminatory so-cial norms and harmful practic-es – such as female genital mu-tilation -- that perpetuate a cycle of violence. A culture of im-punity allows violence against adolescent girls to continue un-abated. Conflict and humanitar-ian crises dramatically increase the risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.

“My UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is engaging governments, inter-national organizations, civil society groups, the media and citizens everywhere to raise awareness and increase politi-cal will and resources for pre-venting and ending violence against women and girls. A parallel campaign – HeForShe – emphasizes that gender equal-ity is not just a women’s issue by enrolling males to act against all forms of violence and discrimi-nation against women and girls.

“As we define the post-2015 development framework and review progress achieved un-der the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, ending

Mrs. Folorunso Alakija said: “As we celebrate girls and young women today, I remind them, to be a dreamer, planner and a be-liever to be an achiever. The sky is not your limit but your step-ping stone to success.”

Similarly, the United Nations Women, Executive Director, Mrs. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka describes the day as opportu-nity to step up collective action to break the cycle of violence against girls and women, stress-ing “Girls themselves are part of the solution. They are a pow-erhouse of talent, creativity and potential.”

South African talk show host & entrepreneur, Felicia Mabuza Suttle who has a new book, Live Your Dream, an inspirational book on steps to success, also in her message noted that we edu-cate and empower the girl child, we are assured a kinder and gen-tler world.

“Patriarchy has not worked. Let’s try both patriarchy and matriachy by educating and em-powering boys and girls equally, for a balanced world. No soci-ety can thrive by utilizing half its resources– men. We need to educate and empower the girl child to ensure all our resources are fully utilized. Educating and empowering girls results in a progressive nation that can com-

pete at all levels,” she said.The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

laureate Malala Yousafzai, and the youngest ever to win the prize at 17 equally said:“My message to children all around the world is that they should stand up for their rights. I felt more powerful and more coura-geous because this award is not just a piece of metal or a medal you wear or an award you keep in your room. This is really an encouragement for me to go for-ward.”

Touched by the violence against women in Africa, the US First Lady Michelle Obama while speaking at recently at the Mandela Washington Fellow-ship Summit for young African leaders, said: “As an African American woman, this conver-sation is deeply personal to me. The roots of my family tree are in Africa… the blood of Africa runs through my veins, and I care deeply about Africa’s fu-ture.

“Now, the status of women in Africa is also personal to me as a woman…it saddens and con-fuses me to see that too often, women in some parts of Africa are still denied the rights and opportunities they deserve to realize their potential. Now, let’s be very clear: In many countries in Africa, women have made tre-mendous strides. More girls are attending school. More women are starting businesses. Mater-nal mortality has plummeted. And more women are serving in parliaments than ever before.

“In fact, in some countries, more than 30 percent of legis-lators are women. In Rwanda, it’s over 50 percent — which, by the way, is more than double the percentage of women in the U.S.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net44 Thursday, October 16, 2014Young & Next Generation

The 2013 edition of Love musical

Dakolo, Gordons, others for love musical

An airplane being strucked by light ning

Airplanes get struck by lightning frequently. Fortunately, they’re built to handle it.

The average commercial airliner gets hit by lightning a little more than once a year, according to Lightning Tech-nologies Inc., a Massachusetts-based company that manufactures lightning protection for aircraft. Sometimes the plane itself triggers the lightning by fly-ing through charged clouds, resulting in static discharge off the aircraft.

Lightning has, on occasion, brought down planes. The last commercial air-craft crash caused by lightning in the United States occurred in 1963 over

Author urges prayer for Nigerian youths

Do planes get struck by lightning?Elkton, Md. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, a lightning strike ignited a fuel tank, causing the “explosive disintegra-tion” of the left outer wing. All 81 pas-sengers and crew perished.

Most of the time, however, planes weather lightning just fine. The NTSB database, which contains reports on more than 140,000 aviation accidents dating back to 1962, lists only 24 inci-dents caused by lightning strikes, in-cluding the Elkton crash. Most of the other 23 incidents involved small pri-vate planes or helicopters (and in one case, a hot-air balloon). And only four

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 45Young & Next GenerationThursday, October 16, 2014

peace and progress of the nation, to deliver it from Satan’s captivity.

The not-for -sale book notes that terror-ists in Nigeria are enough danger, blowing alarms of war for the nation’s disintegra-tion, while youths are jobless more than any other country in Africa and the whole worlds possibly.

Though the book is not entirely about the youths, it contains 35 powerful prayer points subtitled, Prayers Against Youth Violence, dedicated to this age group.

Some of the prayer points include: “Great God, thank you for the gift of children and youth in the country, in the name of Jesus.

“Let your presence manifest among the children and youths in this country, in name of Jesus. Let the powers that promote vio-lence among the youths be cast out, in the name of Jesus.

“Every enemy of peace among the youth, wherever you are, be destroyed in the name of Jesus. Every plan of the devil against the youth be frustrated, in the name of Jesus.

Holy Ghost fire, burn to ashes every ene-my of the youths in this land, in the name of

Science for kids

StorieS: Leonard okachie

Nigerian youths are in for lots of fun as critically acclaimed Soul singer Timi Dakolo and superstar

music-man DJ Xclusive will bring Lagos alive on November 2, 2014. They join co-median Gordons, singer Yinka Davis and a host of others for this love musical.

The event is organized by Limitless Minds Africa in conjunction with Cool fm and Oracle Experience Limited. ‘Love Is…the Musical’ holds at The Eko Con-vention Centre, in Lagos.

Additional highlights of the night will be special appearanc-es from popular OAPs like Mannie and ZOE.

To be hosted by TV personality Andre Blaze, the extraordinary show will show-case exhilarating performances from in-ternationally trained dance profession-als from around the world.

The show is created and directed by Ice Nweke. The inspiring intimate story is a clear portrait of the lives of three

beautiful women on a journey in search of the true meaning of love.

Nweke has successfully merged the world of Realism, Expressionism and Surrealism into one beautiful master-piece on various stages globally.

Produced by Clementine Vervelde, the musical is a richly textured stage produc-tion that captures the deep-rooted insecu-rity in relationships, which is currently spreading into the fibres of our society.

Other special guest artists include Ranti Ihimoyan, Donna the Poet, Sheila, Efe Paul and Sasu, Frank Konwea and Kay Strings.

According to the director, ‘the musi-cal is a polished production, with classy costumes and stunning vocals. Advance theatre: comic and dramatic, sensual and lyrical, acrobatic, romantic and ulti-mately inspiring dance moves’.

“Dance is often the best way to express your emotions and feelings; Love is the show is a combination of music drama and spoken words all in the endeavour to give a definition to the word love” Nweke added.

other incidents involved fatalities, for a total of 11 deaths.

Why doesn’t getting hit with a 30-mil-lion volt bolt of electricity faze most aircraft? Careful engineering protects them.

Most plane bodies are made of alumi-num, which conducts electricity around the shell of the plane without letting it in, according to Lightning Technolo-gies, Inc. Electronics and navigation equipment are grounded and protected from electrical surges. Fuel tanks are tested to ensure they can withstand a lightning strike without allowing dan-gerous sparks.

But all of that engineering doesn’t mean pilots get a pass on flying into thunderstorms: NTSB reports are lit-tered with accidents caused by severe turbulence , icy conditions and nasty crosswinds.

Source: livescience

Jesus. Father Lord, create more jobs for the youth in this land, in the name of Jesus...”

Other segment s of the book are Prayers for Nigeria to avert war in 2015 and beyond, Prayers against sponsors of rebellion, Prayers for national cohesion, Prayers for the President, Prayers against cabals and looters,Prayers against Ebola among others.

Prayer Campaign for Nigeria was borne out of an encounter the author had at a bank in the United States of American, where he attended a prayer conference. One of the bank managers Barry Robinson con-fronted him with a question that increased his burden for our beloved country Nigeria. He asked “Why is Nigerian government not releasing the girls?”

Every effort to explain how hard the gov-ernment has being trying to release the girls did not satisfy Barry. With a heavy heart Madueke walked out of the bank. To make matters worse, the outbreak of Ebola Virus in Nigeria went viral in global media. Sub-sequently, Nigeria and Nigerians became victim of systematic isolation and discrimi-nation.

Forthwith, he assembled his prayer team (Prayer Emancipation Mission) for prayers; where he conceived the vision to put down effective prayers to intercede for Nigeria, in confronting the challenges of today.

He therefore seeks to involve all lovers of Nigeria in athe prayer movement and says that one of the best ways to achieve this feat would be to donate a free copy of the book to every person who would commit to stand with Nigeria in prayers, especially during this time.

He says : “There are quite a lot of serious-minded and holy individuals in this country, who wish and cry for a better Nigeria, but do not know how and what to pray about.

“I’m therefore convinced that if everyone can pray, the Lord will bless this country and restore His peace in Nigeria. Hence, ev-eryone needs to get involved in this prayer movement. Well meaning individuals can also sponsor the printing of this book in large quantity so that every Nigerian can get a free copy. People outside the Nigeria can get it from Amazon and can also spon-sor the printing of the books locally.”

At this trying moment in Nigeria, when the country is confronted with many challenges, with the children

and youths mostly affected, the solution is to ask God to direct the teeming youth popu-lation.

This is why a notable spiritual welfare expert, Prayer Madueke has written a book entitled ‘Prayer Campaign for Nigeria’.

It is a 161-page prayer book that calls for urgent intercessions by all who care for the

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net46 Thursday, October 16, 2014

NMMA Board of Trustees at the presentation of NMMA 2014 Report

Beat FM concert

Again National Mirror shines at NMMA 2014 nominees’ listStorieS: Leonard okachie

Again, National Mirror Newspapers has proved its dominance in the newspaper industry with 13 nomi-

nations in the print category in the 2014 Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA.It led the 2013 edition with 22 nominations.

In the nominees’ list released on Mon-day by the organisers, National Mirror is second only to the Tell Magazine which has 14 nominations. It was based on en-tries submitted by practitioners for media works done in 2013.

The list which was published on NMMA website has multiple awards winning jour-nalist Isioma Madike of Sunday Mirror leading with six nominations, while Ad-edeji Ademigbuji of National Mirror was nominated in two categories.

Others from National Mirror who have a nomination are Afolabi Gambari, Udeme Akpan, Sina Fadare, Chukwuemeka Eme-nike and Muritala Ayinla.

According to the Panel of Assessors’ Report presented to the Board of the Trustees recently, a total of 1,307 eligible entries were received from 886 entrants for NMMA 2014.

The panel headed by Prof. Ralph Akin-feleye stated that 1,124 entries from 774 entrants were received in the Print catego-ries, 97 entries came in from 79 entrants in the Radio categories and 86 entries were received from 63 entrants in the Television categories.

Prof Akinfeleye in the summary report said: “These submissions of entries reflect

the confidence of the entrants on the qual-ity of their works to meet the standard of excellence prescribed by the NMMA Trust.

“A total of 53 award categories were keenly contested for this year and after the meticulous screening exercise by mem-bers of the Panel of Assessors and it is noteworthy that for the first time in the last five years winners are declared for all the 53 NMMA award categories as they all met the prescribed benchmark of 70% total average score by all assessors in the group.”

The Panel of Assessors also noted that there were general improvements in the entries assessed.

Meanwhile, the 22nd edition of the an-

nual media excellence event in Nigeria and Africa is set to come alive in Owerri, Imo State on Friday, October 31st to Sun-day, November 2nd 2014. The event is be-ing grandly hosted by public and private sectors of Imo State, ably led by Governor Rochas Okorocha.

It will certainly host the best of media practitioners, veterans and chief execu-tives for a 3- day grand event in Owerri, Imo State.

The highlight of the event would be the Grand Presentation Award Ceremony on Saturday, November 1, 2014 where winners would emerge from the over 150 outstand-ing media practitioners who have been nominated for the 53 categories of NMMA

awards keenly contested for in 2014.Other activities lined up for the event

is the Media Leaders Roundtable to be chaired by the Imo State Governor where special papers would be delivered by veter-an media practitioners and academicians on ‘FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: the role of media in reporting issues of na-tional interest’.

Amongst other events scheduled for the NMMA 2014 is the Nite of tribute to media leaders who passed on recently and other departed media icons; the media tour across Imo State by media practitioners to witness the developmental projects on-going by the State Governor and other in-teresting activities.

The Chairman, NMMA Board of Trust-ees, Engr. Vincent Maduka, OFR, ex-pressed his optimism about the successful hosting of the NMMA 2014 in Imo state. He noted that the NMMA has raised the bar of media excellence in Nigeria by setting the precedence for other media award schemes nationally and internationally.

He added that “NMMA enjoys the goodwill of both private and the public sectors because of its credibility which could be seen in the progress and posi-tions of NMMA alumni, many of whom have gone to garner several interna-tional media awards in the past twenty years’.

Each of the winners of the NMMA 2014 will receive the Gong of Excellence, a cer-tificate and a token of one hundred thou-sand Naira at the Grand Award Presenta-tion ceremony.

The pouring rain on the night did little to stop the crowd that thronged the Landmark Events Centre on Victoria

Island to witness electrifying performances by Nigeria’s biggest stars on the same stage.

The Tripple Nine concert, one of the big-gest concerts of 2014 was held to commemo-rate the 5th anniversary of top Lagos radio station the Beat 99.9 fm, was headlined by South Africa’s darling group Mi Casa, who put up a scintillating performance.

The groups’ lead singer J’something left the audience impressed with his vocal dex-terity while his band mates showed off their skills on the musical instruments after-wards, leaving the crowd yearning for more.

Also sharing the Live stage on the night was Kennis Music act Joe El who rendered his popular single “you’re in love” much to the delight of the ladies. Multi talented act Sound Sultan brought his smile, his A-game as well as his Naija Ninja crew to the fore - captivating the audience with ease.

Yemi Alade was definitely a force to reck-on with as many swore they never knew she was that much a performer. The “Johnny” singer hit the high notes excellently while defending her self-styled King of Queens moniker with impressive dance moves – all on high heels!

Beat 99.9fm thrills with anniversary concert Fans of Omawunmi were not disap-

pointed either as the songstress, dressed in a cute Cinderella-like mini gown, delivered as promised.

Sonorous diva Waje hypnotized the crowd with a soulful rendition of her single “no be you” off her self-titled album, while also debuting the video to the song.

Controversy aside, Tiwa Savage who had recently been dogged with rumours of a rift with her hubby and manager, gave a stunning performance alongside her sexy looking dancers, while reeling out a medley of her hits. She was after-wards joined on stage by some of her Ma-vin label mates to perform the monster hit “Dorobuchi”.

The guys were not left out as fans en-joyed memorable performances by Dammy Krane, Ill bliss, Timi Dakolo, Burna Boy and 2face Idibia, while an obviously moved M.I who stood in disbelief at the passion and frenzy being experienced from the crowd as he performed his past hits, dramatically knelt on stage to plead with fans for being away for too long.

Fans will also remember the flawless dance moves of P-square and their dance group as they performed hot tracks off their latest album for the first time in Ni-

geria. Their performance was almost “flawed” by a freak accident after one of the twins lost footing and fell off the stage. He was however back on his feet in a min-ute and the band completed the set like professionals.

Music lovers were also entertained by

...Imo is host

music mixes from the turntables of Dj Spin all, Dj Lambo, Cool Dj Jimmy Jatt, Dj Nep-tune and Dj Caise.

On air personalities of the Beat 99.9 also came out on stage to thank fans and listeners for tuning in and being there all along.

Tosyn at work.

StorieS: Leonard okachie

Top Radio 90.9fm award win-ning host, singer and media personality Tosyn Bucknor,

popularly referred to as “Area Boss” is fully back on her scheduled engage-ments, after a fall at work in July 2014 saw her being off air for over nine weeks.

Despite being off air, Tosyn was still very active on her social media chan-nels, website and weekly podcast - ”The Tosyn Bucknor Show” which has fea-tured American recording artist Jer-emih.

Tosyn now known as the “Voice of Lagos” gave listeners another reason to smile on the official resumption of her morning radio show. Fans, friends and family both within and outside Nigeria, gave her a grand welcome back.

Radio host, Tosyn Bucknor, is back

Wole Soyinka Centre calls for 2014 award entriesThe ninth edition of the Wole Soy-

inka Award for Investigative Re-porting opens for submission of

entries. This is happening as the 2013 winners

return from a one-week study tour to the United Kingdom which spanned from Monday 29 September to Friday 3 Octo-ber, 2014. The international exposure included classes at the Thomson Founda-tion as well as visits to some media or-ganisations in the UK.

According to a statement by the Cen-tre Coordinator, Motunrayo Alaka, the

award is open to any Nigerian profes-sional reporter or team of reporters (full time or freelancers), who have produced a published story whether through print or electronic media (television; radio or online) primarily targeted at and re-ceived by a Nigerian audience.

Entries will be scored by a panel of judges drawn from the media and related professions who are passionate about in-vestigative reporting. Towards strength-ening the judging process, the Wole Soy-inka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), introduced an entry coding

In a statement, Tosyn touched by the huge warmth and support of her fans said, “WOW! Guys, you’d never know what a little fall can do to you but I am so happy to be back on air! Thank you for all your messages, calls and texts while I was gone. It meant everything!”

While back at work, Tosyn kicked things off on her morning radio show with two exclusive mouth-wa-tering interviews, which featured Nigerian Hip hop artist, Vector and singer, songwriter Brymo, where she also premiered his latest songs. Tosyn also made a guest appear-ance with Special Slimz on the MTV Base Top Ten Countdown.

With her fans excited again, more fresh, alternative and positive vibes are expected from top media personal-ity Tosyn Bucknor, always willing to share her unique charm.

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 47MediaThursday, October 16, 2014

abiodun nejoADO EKITI

Wife of Ekiti State governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, has lamented that incursion of people with

questionable characters into journalism through the social media is a dangerous dimension that needs to be checked.

The governor’s wife, who said the pro-fession was being endangered by such, charged journalists to uphold the tenets of the profession.

Mrs. Fayemi, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Ekiti State National Union of Journalist (NUJ) Press Centre, named after her, expressed delight that her husband had raised the bar of governance, ensured peace and brought about unprecedented develop-ment in the state in the last four years.

While thanking journalists who had faithfully reported and documented her husband’s achievements, Mrs. Fayemi promised to continue with her Ekiti Devel-opment Fund dream through uplifting the plight of women and children.

The governor’s wife had donated N3 million to ensure completion of the NUJ project started years ago but abandoned until the Laolu Omosilade-led state NUJ executive completed it.

Speaking at the event, the NUJ Na-

joeL ajayi ABUJA

As part of its contribution toward s good governance in Nigeria Photo-journalists Association of Nigeria

(PJAN) Abuja chapter is organising a 2-day photo exhibition tagged “DEMOCRACY ARCHIVE” scheduled for today and tomor-row at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja.

PJAN president Mr. Abayomi Fayese stated this in Abuja recently, noting that the exhibition will feature the display of contemporary and historical pictures of Nigeria’s journey to democratic gover-nance as well as creative images and pic-tures of all human endeavours.

He said: “The exhibition is aimed at de-picting some of the landmark events in the country as a way of promoting our demo-cratic core values for good governance.

“As Nigeria celebrates her 54th Inde-pendence Anniversary and Nation hood, the Association deems it fit to showcase the evolved of events that have shaped the unity and cohesion of this country as an indivisible nation.

“It is an agreeable fact that the media have been in the forefront of many major events that have contributed effectively in enthroning good governance, and as a mat-ter of responsibility, applied the basic prin-ciples of patriotism, accountability, trans-parency and objectivity in the discharge of their duties while upholding the sanctity of truth and fairness at all times.

“The photo exhibition as planned by PJAN is in line with the communica-

Activities of quacks endanger journalism –Mrs. Fayemi

Photojournalists hold exhibition on democratic governance

tional President, Malam Garuba Moham-med, who appreciated the support of the woman and the Fayemi administration to the profession, urged journalists in the country to key into the union’s insurance scheme.

Mohammed, represented by the Nation-al Deputy President of the union, Mr. Roti-mi Obamuwagun, said it was regrettable that majority of journalists were yet to key into the insurance scheme describing it as unfortunate.

He said: “The life we have is not ours and the owner can take it at anytime. But if you key into the scheme, you are rest as-sured that your immediate family will not suffer after your death.”

Mrs. Fayemi

system that makes the details of media house and by-line of entrants anony-mous to judges in 2012. This has helped to further increase the credibility of the award programme.

The 2014 award will honour works that expose corruption, human rights abuses and regulatory failures from the print, broadcast (radio and television); online, local government, photo, climate change, sports, health, editorial cartoon and re-port women categories.

The report women category is intro-duced this year as a part of WSCIJ’s

Report Women! project. The project is geared at increasing the reportage of girls and women issues in the Nigerian media. The award will reward the most outstanding story which focuses on ac-cess and or abuse status of the girl or woman. The best work in the broadcast category will also win the VinMartin Ilo grant for investigative reporting.

The deadline for submission of entries is Friday, 24 October, 2014. Interested re-porters may visit www.wscij.org for de-tails of the 2014 award.

tion theory of “agenda setting”, a concept which believes that the media set the pace on public perceptions as well as stimulate the reader’s memory on daily issues in the polity.

“The saying “one picture is worth a thou-sand words” demonstrates the importance of pictures in modern-day journalism and the information that they convey as being the true or evidence of the truthfulness of a news story for people to effectively un-derstand and not question whatever they heard or read.”

Speaking further, he argued that picture illustrates happening better; “While the written word is essential to communica-tion, pictures can make a point even more meaningful as they elicit emotions and stimulate the thought process. That is the strength of photography, making a greater impression on the readers.

“Photographs help to bring out the sub-ject matter and also ease understanding of the subject matter in question. Absence of photographs in the newspapers and televi-sion makes reading and viewing boring and less interesting,” he said.

Amongst the dignitary expected to grace the two-day exhibition are prominent Ni-gerians, the corporate world, media, dip-lomatic missions and photo enthusiasts across the country.

It will be declared opened by Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, alongside the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed and Min-ister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net48 Thursday, October 16, 2014 National Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.net

With the recent outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease, The Federal Ministry of Health, with the states, through the National Council on Health, has

adequately contained further spread of the diseaseMINISTER OF HEALTH, PROF. ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU

Community Mirror48

DENNIS NAKUPORT HARCOURT

Four persons who spe-cialise in stealing electricity metres

belonging to the Port Har-court Electricity Distribu-tion Company, PHEDC, have been arrested by the police.

A statement signed by company’s Manager of Cor-

porate Communications, Jonah Iboma said their ar-rest followed complaints in some parts of city.

The statement said the electricity company has been inundated with com-plaints of incessant by-pass of electricity meters by some of its customers.

It lamented that the in-cessant theft was affecting business operations in the

area, urging those engage in the illicit act to desist or face the wrath of the law.

The statement said,” Before their arrest occu-pants of 7, Iyalla Close, off Abuloma Estate, had been disconnected for default for nonpayment of bills, illegal reconnection and meter by-pass.

Earlier, advice offered by the PHED for the consum-

ers to desist from such il-legal acts fell on deaf ears, even as they resorted to threatening the staff.

As a result, the estate and other recalcitrant consum-ers were reported to the law enforcement agency, which led to the arrest of some oc-cupants in question,” it said.

The company recalled that 34 cases of energy theft have been recorded at the

Four suspects arrested for meter theft Four suspects arrested for meter theft

DENNIS NAKUPORT HARCOURT

The National Agency for Food, Drug Ad-ministration and

Control, NAFDAC, has charged bakery owners in Edo State to observe laid down standards to avoid endangering the health of consumers.

Edo State Co-ordinator of NAFDAC, Mr. David West gave the advice while addressing Master Bakers during a one-day stake-holder’s seminar in Auchi.

West urged the bakers to maintain good hygiene, adequate maintenance of equipment and fac-tory building, good waste disposal and sanitation among others.

A statement signed NAFDAC’s Public Rela-

tions Officer, South-South, Cyril Monye said that hygiene was germane, as bread is a staple food and often consumed by all seg-ments of the society.

It said,”It is pertinent that NAFDAC continues to inform and educate bak-ers on good practices such as the use of permitted im-provers, preservatives and other additives, producing and distributing the prod-uct hygienically in a man-ner that enables it to be safe for consumers.”

David West warned against the use of Potassi-um Bromate which decom-poses vitamins in bread, causes renal failure and hearing losses in humans, saying further studies re-vealed that it is also carci-nogenic.

He stated that other

Workers repairing a damaged section of railway tracks in Ilorin,Kwara State, yesterday. Photo: NAN

Trans Amadi Business Unit, while other incidents were reported at Rumuola ,Ru-muodomaya , Ikot-Ekpene and Calabar Business Units respectively.

“The Port Harcourt Elec-

tricity Distribution Compa-ny wishes to reiterate its re-solve to stop at nothing until the issue of energy theft, which has hampered busi-ness growth is completely stamped out”, Iboma said.

FRANCIS EKPONEONITSHA

Senate President, Da-vid Mark and Anam-bra State Governor,

Willie Obiano, have indicat-ed interests to be part of the 15th anniversary and fund raising of the Rehabilita-tion Centre for Disabled, Old and Tramps, RECDOT, Ozubulu in Ekwusigo local government area of Anam-bra State.

The centre presently has 160 inmates as against only nine at establishment. The home was established to bring God’s love to the needy through providing them with basic needs and vocational training.

The event which is to hold Saturday October 25, 2014 will be attended by His Eminence , Francis Cardinal Arinze as special Father of the day and Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, who will be Mother of the day.

A press statement from the founder and Manag-ing Director of RECDOT , Mrs Rosemary Odunukwe, said the guests have given their words to honour the event, even as she said that the Archbishop of Onitsha,

Most Rev. Valerian Okeke and Archbishop of Benin, Most Reverend Akubueze will also be in attendance. Others include Rt Rev Prof G.I.N Okpala, Anglican Bishop of Nnewi , Most Reverend Hilary Paul Odili Okeke , Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, traditional rul-ers of Ozubulu and Nnewi Igwe Nnamdi Oruche , and Igwe K.O.N Orizu 111.

The Occasion will be used to raise fund for com-pletion of the physiothera-py and orthopaedic units of the institute.

Speaking Odunukwe said, “It is the desire of the institution to remove children from the streets. We began the adoption of abandoned children,as we were apparently touched by such inhumanity”.

Mark, others to grace anniversary of institution

banned addictives in-clude: Nitrogen Trichlo-ride and Ammonium Persulphate,even as he urged bakery owners to always use NAFDAC ap-proved bread enhancers.

He listed the agency’s approved enhancers to include Ascorbic Acid, L-Cysteine Hydrochloride,

NAFDAC charges bakeries to observe standards

The Cross River State Special Adviser on Community and

Primary Healthcare has said that the forthcoming immunisation campaign is scheduled for October 17 – 26, 2014.

The Special Adviser who was speaking through the State Immunization Officer, SIO, Mrs. Felicia

Eyaba, commended the people for their tireless efforts in safe-guarding the health of children through immunisation.

Emphasising on the campaign, she said that the exercise is targeted at those between 1- 29 years of age for menin-gitis; while Oral Polio Vaccine, OPV will be for

children between from 0 – 59 months, adding, that immunisation would be provided throughout for 10 ten days in health fa-cilities, schools, mosques/churches and on streets..

An appeal was made to improve the quality of the exercise by paying atten-tion to high risk wards/ and settlements, provid-

ing counterpart funds for additional teams, gloves and hand sanitisers, amongst others.

The special adviser expressed appreciation to the government and the people for previous support towards reduc-ing these diseases and the achievement of MDG goals.

Immunisation campaign kicks off in Cross River

Butylated Hydroxyon-isole, Ascorbic Palmitate and Ascorbic Steaarate.

He said NAFDAC was partnering with Master Bakers in Edo State to check the use of banned addictives, so as to prevent cancer, bakers’ eczema, kidney failure and hear-ing losses. Mark

Thursday, October 16, 2014 Community Mirror National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net49

Organisation to implement health Organisation to implement health policies in Gombe policies in Gombe

Members of a cultural troupe at the Gunuvi Festival of Arts and Culture in Badagry, Lagos, yesterday.

MATTHEW IRINOYE

A Lagos based prop-erty development company, Union

Property Developers Lim-ited, has accused the Nige-rian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, of ab-sconding with a total of N15 million being unpaid rent for its property at 168, Oba-

femi Awolowo Way, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, which, until 4th April 4, 2014, served as the Lagos zonal office of the corporation.

Aside NTDC, other de-fendants in the suit are Ms Sally Mbanefo, Director General NTDC, and Ms Ola Wright, a consultant en-gaged by NTDC to negotiate on behalf of the corpora-tion in some of the meetings pending filing of the instant suit in court.

In a suit FHC/L/CS/1308/14, pending before a Federal High Court sit-ting in Lagos, Union Prop-erty Developers Limited, suing by its lawyer, Afolabi/Ayo Ogunmoyero and Co explained that in the year 2007, an oral agreement was reached between it and NTDC, wherein the agency took a lease of the aforesaid

property for three years commencing on 1st March, 2007 for N10million per an-num. The company further stated that the total rent of N30 million was duly paid by NTDC in advance as agreed between the parties.

In the statement of claim dated 29th August, 2014, Union Property Developers Limited, through its coun-sel, Nojim Tairu, stated that upon the expiration of the initial term of three years on 28th February, 2010, the parties representatives met and negotiated the rent renewal for another three years which was agreed at N11.5 million per annum for a fresh term commencing from 1st March, 2010 to 28th February, 2013.

The plaintiff however stated that sometime in 2012, NTDC indicated inten-

tion to renew its lease term for another three years, whereupon both parties negotiated on the terms for renewal.

Union Property Develop-ers Limited further stated that ever since the signing of new agreement and de-spite several reminder let-ters to NTDC, the agency has failed, neglected or refused to make necessary payment to legalise its con-tinued occupation of the property in question.

“Notwithstanding that the corporation was already in arrears of rent which was due for payment in advance, the defendants complained to the plaintiff sometime before the 10th of June, 2013 of leakages on a part of the roof which caused stains on the ceiling board thereof.

“Consequent upon the

defendants’ aforesaid com-plaint, the plaintiff prompt-ly carried out necessary replacement and repairs in line with its aforesaid contractual obligation. By letter dated 11th June, 2013, the plaintiff formally noti-fied the first and second de-fendants of the completion of the repair and replace-ment of the affected ceiling boards. In the said letter, the plaintiff also reminded the first and second defendants of the obligation to the out-standing rent of N34.5 mil-lion for the renewed term”, the statement of claim read.

Union Property Develop-ers Limited further stated that after several reminders through letters to both the first and second defendants, without response, NTDC on 9th January, 2014 eventually broke its silence as to its un-

usual delay in the payment of its rent obligation, where-by it expressly stated that the delay was “as a result of financial constraints se-verely limiting our ability to continue as tenants in your property”.

The property develop-ers also stated that despite NTDC announced desire to vacate the premises earlier than the date of ex-piration of its tenancy, it said that at the end of the first year the defendants did not vacate the prem-ises contrary to its earlier representation.

Union Property De-velopers Limited further stated that although NTDC eventually vacated the said property on 4th April, 2014, it however failed to pay the due rent, even till the date of filing the instant suit.

Tourism corporation accused of rent default

DANJUMA WILLIAMSGOMBE

Save the Children, an International NGO, has decried the inad-

equacy of medical doctors in Gombe State as it offers to partner the state gov-ernment in implementing the Human Resource for Health, HRH, policy.

Making this known af-ter the formal launch of the policy, the advocacy adviser of the NGO in Abuja, Ra-matu Budah Aliyu regret-ted that with about three million populations, the

state has only 90 doctors. According to her, ‘Save

the Children’ has been try-ing to work with the gov-ernment to review its poli-cies and plans so it will be able to meet with their chal-lenges in terms of getting enough health workers to the rural areas where there is high mortality rate.

Aliyu said that of the 90 doctors, not up to five will cover 100,000 pa-tients. Therefore, the gov-ernment would do well if it strategies on how to deploy more number of health workers and to

where they are needed, especially in rural areas.

She said the organisa-tion will continue to work with the government to make the HRH policy a reality, adding that, “it’s just a document now; we know that documents are easy to make but we want to make it a reality by making it possible to get to the mother and her child in the rural area”.

Ramatu Aliyu was optimistic of the policy succeeding. She said, “Gombe has been one of the reformed minded

states, we have had a lot of welcoming hands and we have had limited bottlenecks compared to many others where we have been working”.

“The people are ready to embrace new reforms to see how they can change the state. Howev-er, there are lot of other challenges like bureau-cracy and political will but with a lot of advocacy by civil society groups, media, the government is beginning to think on this issues and is open-ing up,” Ramatu said.

Mbanefo, NTDC DG

THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHENWARRI

The Christ Apos-tolic Church, CAC, in Delta State, has

appealed to good spirited Nigerians to come to the aid of Pastor John Kayo-da, whose wife and four children were consumed in an early morning fire outbreak in Warri.

The church called on Christian bodies and the state government to as-sist the cleric in cash and kind.

Addressing newsmen at a press briefing, chair-man of the church coun-cil, Pastor Emmanuel Orode, said the call be-came necessary consider-ing the magnitude of the tragedy.

Until the incident, Pas-tor Kayoda, was the pre-siding pastor of CAC Otu-mara, Warri.

Pastor Orode said given the magnitude of the human and material loss suffered by Pastor Kayoda, the church would appreciate the brotherly intervention of other re-ligious bodies and well-meaning Nigerians.

While describing the incident as worse that un-derwent by Job,he posited

that any assistance would not only help the cleric to resettle, but also rebuild his confidence in God and the body of Christ.

“We appeal to all Nige-rians to come to his aid. He is starting life afresh. His situation is worse than that of a bachelor. We need to rehabilitate him. We appeal to God’s people to assist him in kind and cash.

We are all affected by reason of belonging to the same body of Christ. What affects one part of the body affects the rest”, he said.

Meanwhile, Pastor Orode also disclosed that mass burial had already be orgainsed for the corpses, of while burial arrangement for the pas-tor’s wife, Grace begins today with a service of songs,even as her re-mains will be interred at Odovie, Ughelli North Lo-cal Government Area of the state.

However, the church commended the concerns from Christians, especially the visit of delegates of the President of CAC world-wide, Pastor Abraham Akinosun and his wife for their assistances and prayers for the victim.

Church pleads assistance for bereaved cleric

Another US nurse contracts Ebola, 132 passengers under surveillance

Oscar Pistorius offered $34,000 to the family of girlfriend Reeva Steen-kamp after he killed her, but they re-jected it because they did not want “blood money,” a prosecutor said Tuesday at the sentencing hearing for the double-amputee athlete.

Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel also referred to separate monthly payments of $550 that Pistorius ap-parently did make to Steenkamp’s parents after they asked for help. Nel said those would be paid back in full.

The revelations emerged while Nel was cross-examining a social worker over what Pistorius’ pun-ishment should be for shooting Steenkamp. The social worker testi-fied that Pistorius should be placed under house arrest, rather than sent to prison, after his conviction for cul-pable homicide, or negligent killing.

Pistorius offered cash after killing, says prosecutor

Four UN peacekeepers injured in CAR ambush

Four UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic were wounded yesterday in an ambush in the capital Bangui, the United Nations said.

Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Christian “anti-balaka” militias ambushed the UN police patrol in the northwestern part of the city near the airport.

“The peacekeepers returned fire and four were wounded, three by grenade and one by gunfire,” he said. “They are currently receiving medical care.”

The nationalities of the wounded peacekeepers were not immediately known.

Mozambique’s opposition alleges fraud in election

Mozambique’s main opposition party said it found an incident of possible fraud during voting in the national election yesterday.

Renamo officials at a polling station in the north-western Tete province say they prevented boxes stuffed with ballots already marked in favor of the Frelimo candidate, Filipe Nyusi, from entering a local polling station. Some Renamo officials were arrested and others reported the incident to international observers.

“We insisted that we wanted to see the ballot boxes but they refused to let us in,” said Lynda Harper, a European Union observer who was at the polling station.

WORLD BULLETIN

a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, who was infected in West Africa and diagnosed in Texas where he had flown to visit family.

Vinson was among 76 hospital workers who cared for Duncan, a Liberian citizen who died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyte-rian a week ago.

At an early morning news con-ference, a bleary eyed Dr. Daniel Varga, the hospital’s chief clini-cal officer, called Vinson’s infec-

tion “an unprecedented crisis.”“This is a heroic person, a

person who has dedicated her life to helping others and is a servant leader,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said during a news conference.

Jenkins called the second diagnosis a “gut shot” to the hospital staff. He acknowledged that officials are making contin-gency plans and that others who treated Duncan may develop Ebola as well.

Algerian police tried to push their way into the president’s headquarters

yesterday in an unprecedented protest movement prompted by violence against security forces in the south. The whereabouts of the long-ailing president were unclear.

The unrest in southern Alge-ria and protests in the capital come amid concerns that Presi-dent Abdelaziz Bouteflika is too ill to rule Africa’s largest coun-try, an ally in U.S. efforts against terrorism. Bouteflika, who helped bring stability to Algeria after a decade of bloodshed, has barely been seen in public since his re-election in April.

In the second day of protests in Algiers, about 300 police offi-cers marched to the president’s

office, wearing their blue uni-forms but apparently unarmed. Some tried to push their way past the front gate but were stopped by presidential guards.

The president’s chief of staff, Ahmed Ouyahia, emerged to try to talk to protesters, but quickly went back inside after being met with boos and hisses.

The police demanded to see the prime minister instead. They also sought the resignation of security chief Gen. Abdel-ghani Hamel, chanting “Hamel, Get Out!”

The protesters are showing support for colleagues in the ri-ot-torn southern oasis city Ghar-daia, where security forces have reportedly been attacked. About a dozen people have been killed and many shops burned in riots

Algerian police march on president’s offi ce

PAUL ARHEWEWITH AGENCY REPORTS

Another US health care worker has been infect-ed with Ebola, flew on a

domestic airplane a day before her diagnosis, and health au-thorities said yesterday they are seeking to interview 132 people on that flight.

The nurse, identified by WFAA-TV as Amber Joy Vinson, 29, reported a fever on Tuesday and was immediately isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hos-pital in Dallas, officials said.

The US Centres for Disease Control said the woman “exhib-ited no signs or symptoms of ill-ness while on flight 1143, accord-ing to the crew,” but the agency wants to speak with passengers anyway to determine if anyone is at risk.

“Because of the proximity in time between the evening flight and first report of illness the fol-lowing morning, CDC is reach-ing out to passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth Oct. 13,” the CDC said in a state-ment.

“Passengers who may have travelled on flight 1143 should contact CDC at 1 800 CDC-INFO (1 800 232-4636).”

A sign points to the entrance to the emergency room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, where U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan was treated before he died

Members of Algeria police force demonstrate outside the Algerian presidency ‘background’ in Algiers, yesterday

Ebola is transmitted by close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. It is not con-tagious until a patient begins to show symptoms such as fever, aches, vomiting or diarrhoea.

The second case of US transmission of Ebola was an-nounced by Dallas officials on Wednesday, and follows the diag-nosis on Sunday of nurse Nina Pham.

Both health care workers were infected while caring for

US intensifi es air strikes as Syria confl ict destabilises Turkey 51

To regulate content is something for dictatorships

– Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

since December, as Berber and Arab communities compete for scarce jobs and housing there. Thousands of police have been sent there to quell the violence.

Algeria often sees small pro-tests by those frustrated by the distribution of the country’s oil

and gas wealth, but police have not been known to demonstrate before.

“For an institution such as the police to rebel, that is a first,” said sociologist Nacer Djabi, linking the situation to “a vacuum of power.”

World NewsNational Mirror

www.nationalmirroronline.net50 Thursday, October 16, 2014

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 51Thursday, October 16, 2014 World News

A Saudi court yesterday sentenced prominent Shiite cleric and anti-

government protest leader Nimr al-Nimr to death after convicting him of sedition, his family said.

The verdict risks a further escalation of tensions with

Saudi Arabia’s minority Shiite community.

Nimr was a driving force be-hind demonstrations against the Sunni authorities that erupted in 2011 in the oil-flush east, alongside a Shiite-led pro-test movement in neighbouring Bahrain.

The cleric was also convicted of seeking “foreign meddling” in the country, a reference to Iran, his brother Mohammed al-Nimr wrote on Twitter.

He was found guilty of “dis-obeying” the kingdom’s rulers and taking up arms against se-curity forces, his brother said.

Saudi Shiite cleric sentenced to death for sedition

The Hong Kong police department is investigating reports that officers used excessive force against pro-democracy protesters.

Local TV showed images of officers beating a handcuffed protester on Wednesday in some of the worst clashes since the street demonstrations began.

The protester’s lawyer told the BBC his client had suffered serious injuries.

Hong Kong’s security chief said the officers had been “temporarily removed from their current duties”.

The incident occurred as po-lice cleared an underpass near government buildings.

In a separate development, the BBC’s English-language news website has been blocked in mainland China.

It was unclear whether the blackout was connected with the Hong Kong situation. key where Kurds are furious

with Ankara over its refusal to help protect their kin in Syria.

The plight of the Syrian Kurds in Kobani provoked ri-ots among Turkey’s 15 million Kurds last week in which at least 35 people were killed.

Turkish warplanes were re-ported to have attacked Kurdish rebel targets in southeast Tur-key after the army said it had been attacked by the banned PKK Kurdish militant group, risking reigniting a three-de-

cade conflict that killed 40,000 people before a ceasefire was declared two years ago.

Kurds inside Kobani said the U.S.-led strikes on Islamic State had helped, but that the mili-tants, who have besieged the town for weeks, were still on the attack.

“Today there were air strikes throughout the day, which is a first. And sometimes we saw one plane carrying out two strikes, dropping two bombs at a time,” said Abdulrahman

Gok, a journalist with a local Kurdish paper who is inside the town.

“The strikes are still continu-ing,” he said by telephone, as an explosion sounded in the back-ground.

“In the afternoon, Islamic State intensified its shelling of the town,” he said. “The fact that they’re not conducting face-to-face, close-distance fight but instead shelling the town from afar is evidence that they have been pushed back a bit.”

American-led forces have sharply intensified air strikes in the past

two days against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria’s Turkish border after the jihadists’ advance began to de-stabilize Turkey.

The coalition had conducted 21 attacks on the militants near the Syrian Kurdish town of Ko-bani over Monday and Tuesday and appeared to have slowed Islamic State advances there, the U.S. military said, but cau-tioned the situation remained fluid.

U.S. President Barack Obama voiced deep concern on Tuesday about the situation in Kobani as well as in Iraq’s Anbar prov-ince, which U.S. troops fought to secure during the Iraq war and is now at risk of being seized by Islamic State militants.

“Coalition air strikes will continue in both of these ar-eas,” Obama told military lead-ers from coalition partners in-cluding Turkey, Arab states and Western allies during a meeting outside Washington.

The fight against Islamic State will be among the items on the agenda when Obama holds a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders, the White House said.

War on the militants in Syria is threatening to unravel a deli-cate peace in neighbouring Tur-

Hong Kong police to investigate protesters’ beating

WORLD BULLETIN US intensifi es air strikes as Syria confl ict destabilises Turkey

Turkish Kurds watching the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the south-eastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Putin

Shia rebels and suspected Sunni al-Qaeda militants have been engaged in heavy fighting in southern Yemen.

Security officials and tribal sources said at least 10 people were killed in clashes around the town of Radaa in Bayda province late on Tuesday.

Al-Qaeda vowed to confront the rebels, known as Houthis, after their takeover in the capi-tal, Sanaa, last month.

They have since sought to expand the territory under their control, and took the Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday.

The move came as President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi named a new prime minister after securing the backing of the rebels and their main oppo-nents, Sunni Islamist and tribal fighters loyal to the Islah party.

Rebels clash with al-Qaeda in Yemen

Sri Lanka yesterday banned foreigners from a former battle zone, the government said, weeks after the United Na-tions began an investigation into alleged war crimes in the final phase of a 26-year conflict between the army and separat-ist rebels.

President Mahinda Raj-apaksa in August rejected entry visas for U.N. officials for the war crime investigation. His administration has said an ex-ternal investigation is unneces-sary and Sri Lanka can conduct its own.

“Prior permission for the foreigners to visit the north will be implemented,” the govern-ment’s Information Depart-ment said in a text message. “Foreigners or relevant orga-nizations have to write to the defence ministry for approval.”

It did not give any reason for the decision.

Sri Lanka bans foreigners from old war zone amid UN probe

Putin, Poroshenko to discuss gas deal, peace moves in Italy

efforts, and concrete outcomes and tangible results.”

Although Putin announced this week that Russian troops near the border with Ukraine would be pulled back, Western officials want to see clear evi-

dence that Moscow is withdraw-ing troops and military equip-ment from east Ukraine.

Moscow denies arming the rebels or sending troops, de-spite what the West says is over-whelming evidence to the con-

trary.The Kremlin said Putin and

Poroshenko had discussed peace moves in a phone call on Tuesday.

Italian Prime Minister Mat-teo Renzi will host the meeting between Putin and Poroshenko during a summit of European and Asian leaders, Renzi’s of-fice said.

The meeting will also be at-tended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Presi-dent Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron as well as Herman Van Rom-puy, the chairman of European Union leaders, and EU Com-mission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Russian President Vladi-mir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko

will look for ways to settle a dis-pute over natural gas supplies and end months of conflict in east Ukraine at talks in Italy this week.

The meeting in Milan on Friday, is an encouraging sign for Moscow, Kiev and Brussels, which fears Russia’s decision to cut supplies to Ukraine because of unpaid bills could threaten disruptions in the gas flow to the rest of Europe this winter.

European leaders hope the presidents’ third meeting since Poroshenko was elected in May can help the sides build on a much-violated ceasefire agreed by government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on September 5.

“I think there are some posi-tive signs. It seems like we are entering a more promising and positive chapter of the whole puzzle about the crisis in and around Ukraine,” said Vygaud-as Usackas, the European Union’s ambassador to Russia.

But, he told Reuters the 28-na-tion bloc wanted “sustainable

Thursday September 4, 201452 National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Thursday, October 16, 2014

SportWe cannot afford to just gloss over a comprehensive reshaping of the NFF

Technical Department– Former NFA’s technical director, Kasimawo Laloko

B’ball: 7 Nigerian refs att end FIBA course 55

Eagles claim Eagles claim fi rst AFCON winfi rst AFCON win… Beat Sudan 3-1

The Coach Stephen Keshi-tutored Super Eagles kept their Africa Cup of Na-

tions (AFCON) 2015 qualifying hopes alive after they defeated the Falcons of Sudan 3-1 at Abu-ja National Stadium yesterday.

Super Eagles captained by goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama showed their intent to attack right from the onset with a few speculative efforts from dis-tance.

CSKA Moscow winger, Ahmed Musa, scored twice and China-based striker, Aaron

well taken shot was saved by Sudanese goalkeeper, Akram El Hadi.

The Eagles were by far the superior side in the second half and eventually sealed the win in the 89th minute, as Musa picked up the ball on the edge of box before beating one defender and slotting into the far corner.

Nigeria now has four points from four matches but are still behind Group A leaders, South Africa and Congo in second, who played out a barren draw in their own match.

Samuel scored Nigeria’s third goal, while Salah Ibrahim Jizoli netted for the Falcons of Jedi-ane as the Sudanese are called.

But the goals did not come until the second half, as much of the game’s flow in the first half was disrupted by the heavy downpour in Abuja. But the Ea-gles had a chance to break the deadlock in the 38th minute, as a long range shot from Hope Ak-pan sailed just over the bar.

John Obi Mikel almost gave the Nigerians the lead just before the halftime break, but

JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

Confusion and uncertain-ty for a possible CAF reprimand trail the vic-

tory of Nigeria’s Super Eagles in their nervy 3-1 win over visiting Falcons of Sudan, fol-lowing invasion of the Abuja National Stadium by jubilant fans immediately after the match.

Despite heavy security pres-ence, Abuja fans who were of-fered free tickets to watch the AFCON qualifying game beat the cordon thrown by helpless security men and jumped the

barricading fence.The fans in an unusual man-

ner forced out Eagles’ Jersey from some of the players, who scampered to safety.

Reacting, President of Nige-ria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, said, “The fans were only expressing how they felt about the win. As a federation, we will take re-sponsibility for their actions.

“I feel very bad about it, but to me it’s part of showing the intensity of their love to the Super Eagles, so we will take responsibility for that and try and prevent such behaviour for future occurrences.”

Nigeria 3 1 Sudan

Cameroun 2 0 S/Leone

CIV 1 3 DR Congo

Angola 4 0 Lesotho

Ghana 3 1 Guinea

Zambia 3 0 Niger

Togo 1 0 Uganda

S/Africa 0 0 Congo

Mali 2 2 Ethiopia

B/Faso 1 0 Gabon

Cape Verde 1 0 Mozambique

Results

Abuja fans invade pitch

Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa scoring his second goal against Sudan last night at the Abuja National Stadium. PHOTO: NAN

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 53Thursday, October 16, 2014 Sports

Steenkamp’s parents admit accepting £6,300 from Pistorius

daughter’s shooting death - until last month because they were in “financial difficulties,’’ they said. Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV star, had helped her parents out with money.

De Bruyn said he had also ap-proached Pistorius’ legal team over a possible civil settlement and Pistorius made the $34,000 (£21,327) offer after selling what he said was his last asset, a car. The parents considered it and turned it down.

The world-famous athlete has had to sell many of his as-sets, including the luxurious house where he killed Steen-kamp, to pay his high-powered defence team during a lengthy murder trial.

who has made over 450 appear-ances for the Reds since mak-ing his debut in 1998, feels pret-ty much the same today.

Gerrard posted on Insta-gram: “11 years ago today I became the captain of my boy-hood team one of the proudest days of my career. It’s a huge honour to captain this great club.”

The parents of Reeva Steenkamp will not pur-sue a civil claim against

Oscar Pistorius for killing their daughter and will pay back cash he gave them because they don’t want his money, they said on Wednesday in a statement that was read out during the athlete’s sentencing hearing.

Barry and June Steenkamp will pay back around $10,000 (£6273) that Pistorius gave them in monthly instalments for nearly two years to help with their living expenses, they said in a statement initially released through their lawyer.

The Steenkamps accepted monthly payments of $550 (£345) from Pistorius from March 2013 - weeks after their

Steven Gerrard is celebrat-ing 11 years as captain of Liverpool - with team-

mate Jordan Henderson rating him the best skipper in the busi-ness

The Merseyside-born mid-fielder took over the armband from Sami Hyypia and led the Reds to a 3-0 victory at Anfield.

Gerrard admitted at the time that it was a dream to be made captain of the club he joined as a nine-year-old.

“I was captain of my school side and I used to go along to Anfield to watch the team,” Gerrard said in 2003.

“I used to watch Barnes with the captain’s armband and dream that one day it would be me captaining the team I love.”

The former England captain,

Sterling

Gerrard

Gerrard celebrates 11 years as Liverpool captain

European Qualifi ers:

Ryan Giggs has sym-pathised with Raheem Sterling after the Liv-

erpool winger sparked contro-versy by telling manager Roy Hodgson he was too tired to play for England.

The 19-year-old was left on the bench for the start of the European Qualifier against Estonia in Tallinn, which Eng-land won 1-0.

Raheem’s a talented player and you have to be careful when you’re a young player. It’s a short career and you have to look towards the future.”

Manchester United assis-tant manager Giggs made his debut for the Reds at the age of 17 and carried on playing until calling time last May at the age of 40.

“It’s tough when you’re a young player,” Giggs told Sky Sports News HQ. “He’s an ex-plosive player, he’s a player who is exciting, a player you would pay and go and watch.

“Unfortunately, he’s at Liv-erpool who are our biggest rivals,” added Giggs, who was collecting a ‘legend of football award’ while guest of honour at the HMV Football Extrava-ganza in London.

Ryan Giggs admits it can be tough playing top-flight foot-ball as a teenager.

“But he’s a talented player and you have got to be careful

you over tax that and he gets the type of injuries early on in his career, it could be det-rimental and shorten his ca-reer.”

However, former England captain Alan Shearer says tiredness was never a factor during his eight-year stint with the national team.

“To play for England at any level, in any game, you would grab the opportunity with both hands.”

when you’re a young player, it’s a short career and you have to look towards the future.

“Speaking from my own ex-perience, I wanted to train ev-ery day, I wanted to play every day and I’m sure he’s no differ-ent.”

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, speaking at the same event, also believes care should be taken with young players to avoid the risk of burn out.

Sam Allardyce feels that the demands put on today’s young players need to be managed so that they have an injury-free development.

“The biggest thing a man-ager has to cope with is when someone as talented as Ra-heem Sterling comes along is the criticism you get when you do rest him and the criticism you get when you do leave him out,” said Allardyce.

“But protection of the as-set is very, very important and particularly for Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool. Today’s world of football is so quick, it demands so much, physically and mentally.

“If a young man is still de-veloping, and when I say devel-oping I don’t mean his talent but his muscular development; his body is still growing, his muscles are still growing, his bones are still growing, and if

Giggs backs Sterling

However, Podolski, who came off the bench to play the second half against Ireland. says there is no need to panic and puts Ger-many’s recent struggles down to bad luck.

“The fact that the media want to call it a crisis is ex-pected,” said the Arsenal for-ward. “It was not our aspiration to win just one point in these two games.”We didn’t play bad games at all but anyway, this is football and it wasn’t enough.

“We had many players who played in the World Cup. So maybe it’s just bad luck.”

Germany are three points behind Poland and Ireland in Group D, and will be expected to win comfortably when they host Gibraltar next month.

The Arsenal forward ad-mits his side have per-formed well below expec-

tation in their last two matches but feels there is nothing to wor-ry about at the moment

Lukas Podolski insists there is no crisis within the Germany national team despite their poor start to Euro 2016 qualification.

Germany’s only victory since beating Argentina in July’s World Cup final came against Scotland in September, a Thom-as Muller double securing a 2-1 win.

Joachim Low’s side subse-quently slumped to a first defeat against Poland at the weekend, before being held to a 1-1 draw by the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday.

Germany are just unlucky –Podolski

Podolski

54 Sports National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.netThursday, October 16, 2014

El-Kanemi Warriors’ Arinze Obioma has emerged winner of the

5th Glo Premier League Won-der Goal Award, beating off challenge from Heartland’s Julius Ubido and Super Ea-gles invitee and Dolphins for-ward, Emem Eduok.

In a statement, the League Management Company (LMC) said that in the lat-est poll for the Wonder Goal Award, Arinze attracted 59.3% of the votes by fans who participated in the on-line voting while Heartland’s Ubido came second with 23.7 votes and Eduok finished third with 17% of the votes.

He is the fifth to win the award previously won by Rangers duo of Osaguona Ighodaro and Emeka Eze and Bayelsa United’s Oghogho Oduokpe and Enyimba’s Ra-sheed Olabiyi.

The award is an initiative of the LMC aimed at deep-ening clubs and community engagement and to showcase some of the quality goals scored by players in the Glo Premier League as well as the team effort behind those goals.

Arinze was nominated for his goal against Lobi Stars in a Match Day 6 fixture played at the Kano Pillars Stadium on April 13. He had received a pass while backing the Lobi Stars goal and executed a turn-around to fire to the far left side of the keeper in his side’s 2-0 win against the Benue team.

The player will receive the cash prize of N100, 000 attached to the award and is expected to donate 50% of the reward to a Charity of his choice in the city where the club is based. The award will be presented to Arinze on Match Day 34 in Kano on Sunday during their match against Nembe City.

El-Kanemi’s Arinze clinches Wonder Goal Award

Asaba to host NOC’s AGM, elections

Golf: Benin Ladies Open tees-off tomorrow

AWC: Okon delighted at s/fi nals ticket

IraborNigeria coach, Edwin

Okon, is a happy man after his team became

the first team to reach the semi-finals at the ongoing 9th African Women Championship (AWC), Namibia 2014.

Super Falcons booked their place after a 6-0 thrashing of deb-utants Zambia in their Group B clash on Tuesday at the Sam Nu-joma Stadium in Windhoek.

Striker Desire Oparanozie scored a brace while Ngozi Oko-bi, Osinachi Ohale, Asisat Oshoa-

on Friday, we have put in place all logistics for a successful tourna-ment considering the number of golfers that are expected to par-ticipate in the three day event,” Ade-Akhani said.

“We are hoping to receive about 60 lady golfers and about 70 men golfers from various parts of the country that will now storm Benin City to compete among our golfers for the prestigious prices.

“Apart from this, other events lined up for the three-day cham-pionship include the children cadre whereby our children will be given the opportunity to par-ticipate among themselves. We have realised that there is need to encourage the young athletes as is done in other sports and that

IFEANYI EDUZOR

About 200 men and lady golfers from all states of the country are expected

to participate in the forthcom-ing 20th edition of the annual Benin Ladies Open Golf Cham-pionship that will tee- off tomor-row on the course of the Golf Section of the prestigious Benin Golf Club.

Lady Captain of the Club, Bar-rister Gloria Ade- Akhani, told our correspondent that all ar-rangements had been put in place for a successful event, even as she noted that the competition would be colourful and competitive

“As the championship tee-offs

la and Perpetua Nkwocha also scored one each for the biggest win of the tournament so far.

Nigeria has six points, and face hosts Namibia in their ultimate Group A match tomorrow, while Cote d’Ivoire, with three points as the hosts will battle it out with Zambia at the Independence Sta-dium, also in Windhoek.

With Falcons place already se-cured, Okon told Cafonline.com, “We are excited to book our tick-et. We are happy to have won our two games but it’s not over yet.

is why we are including children in the game to enable us discover more talent in the game of golf.”

Akhani while promising that the organisers will not compro-mise standard at the champion-ship expressed regret that apart from IDSL that has responded to their request for sponsorship oth-er corporate organisations were yet to key into the tournament.

The championship which will end on Sunday, October 19, will see the top five best gross winners and four best net winners going home with trophies.

There will also be a special cat-egory award for handicap 29-36 while the winner and runner-up in the children event will also go home with exciting prizes.

“We are not perfect just as ev-ery team. You cannot get it right all the time, but we hope to get better.”

Meanwhile, Super Falcons de-fender, Ngozi Ebere, is still revel-ing in being named the TN Mo-bile Woman of the Match in the 6-0 defeat of Zambia.

“I’m excited to be named the best player of the match. I dedi-cate the award to the Almighty God,” she said.

“We are happy to win our two games so far and hope to improve

The Executive Board of the Nigeria Olympic Com-mittee (NOC) yesterday

approved Asaba, capital of Delta State, as the venue for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elections, as well as a Merit Award Night. The election will hold on November 20, 2014.

Asaba was overwhelmingly voted for after NOC President, Sani Ndanusa, announced that the State Governor, Dr. Emmanu-el Uduaghan, had accepted to host the AGM.

To this regard, nomination forms to the executive positions would be available at the Secretar-iat of the NOC, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and the NOC’s Li-aison office in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory from October 20, 2014.

The deadline for the return of nomination forms would be two weeks from October 20, 2014.

At the AGM in Asaba, the NOC would confer the Best Cur-rent Athlete Award to Common-wealth and Africa 100m women’s champion,, Blessing Okagbare, while the Distinguished Athlete Award would go to Table Tennis Trojan, Segun Toriola.

Governor Uduaghan would be conferred with the Olympic Sport Friendly Personality Award for his outstanding performance in sports, while President of Athlet-ics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Evangelist Solomon Ogba, would be conferred with the Sport Ad-ministrator Award.

Post humous awards on Pro-motion of Olympism would go to Late Alhaji Raheem Adejumo, late Chief Abraham Ordia and Al-haji K. A. B Olowu.

in our remaining games. We will work hard to win the trophy,” Eb-ere who plays for River Angels FC added.

The 23-year old becomes the second Nigerian player to be named best player after Ngozi Okobi in the opening match against Cote d’Ivoire.

Nigeria are the most successful team in the history of the cham-pionship with six triumphs; 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010, and are on course for a record extend-ing seventh title.

…as Ebere revels in Woman of the Match

Super Falcons, before their first match against Cote d’Ivoire

National Mirrorwww.nationalmirroronline.net 55Thursday, October 16, 2014 Sports

PAUL EREWUBA

Lagos referees, Lai Alimi, Olusegun Adekanmbi, Samuel Sofoluwe, Razak

Okedeyi and Joseph Patrick, alongside Musa Gambo from Kano, and FCT referee, Opey-emi Ogunleye, are taking part in the FIBA Referees Clinic/Examination which started in Cotonou, Benin Republic, yes-terday.

The three-day assessment, which ends tomorrow, will see the seven Nigerian regional

referees join their other Afri-can colleagues to be tested on the newly revised 2014 Official Basketball rules approved by the FIBA central board as well as physical evaluation.

Nigeria currently has three FIBA referees, Kingsley Ojeab-

The four finalists that will compete in the fe-male event of the maid-

en Nigeria Table Tennis Feder-ation (NTTF) national league emerged yesterday at the Mo-lade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

Despite tied with four other teams after six matches, Union Bank Sports topped the table after the technical officials considered head-to-head to as-certain the qualified teams.

Five teams were tied on 10 points but after using the head-to-head to confirm the list of qualified teams, Union Bank topped while the Nige-

Nigeria, 63 others for C’wealth taekwondo tourney

B’ball: 7 Nigerian refs attend FIBA course

NTTF league ends tomorrow…Union Bank, 3 others for final

uru, who stands as the first Ni-gerian referee to officiate at any FIBA organised senior event, when he arbitrated at the maid-en FIBA World Cup in Spain in September. Oyo State’s Tunde Popoola and Yinka Famogbi-yele from Osun State make up

ria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) finished sec-ond.

Others that made the top four for the grand finale are Nigeria Police team and Springfresh Smashers.

Unfortunately for giant kill-ing team, G-20, they failed to make the cut after the head-to-head rule was applied.

From the start of the compe-tition, G-20 was the cynosure of all eyes causing major up-sets in some of their matches. But all their efforts became futile after losing to teams like Springfresh and others to lose out from the top four slots.

the Nigerian FIBA big three.Nigeria will have a total of

10 referees eligible to officiate both continental and interna-tional competitions from 2015 if the seven referees complete and pass out in flying colours at the end of the seminar.

Meanwhile, the top eight in the men’s event will be decided Thursday as matches will be concluded in the tournament.

However, arrangement is in place by the NTTF to put up a glamorous grand finale come tomorrow.

Nigeria and 63 other nations are expect-ed to feature in the

6th Commonwealth Tae-kwondo Championships, holding in Edinburgh, Scotland, in November.

In the last five editions, Nigeria did not feature in the competition but this year, Nigeria will be mak-ing its debut in the compe-tition.

President, Nigeria Tae-kwondo Federation (NTF), George Ashiru, said the participation of Team Ni-geria has been confirmed while the tournament is sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

The tournament is also part of efforts by the Com-monwealth Taekwondo Union (CTU) to strengthen taekwondo’s bid to be in-cluded on the programme of sports for the 2022 Com-monwealth Games holding either Durban in South Africa, or Edmonton in Canada.

Ashiru, who is also the Vice President of CTU is excited, saying, that the long years of Nigeria’s absence from the competi-tion may have affected the country’s rating among the Commonwealth na-tions, but he however ex-pressed optimism that Nigeria would make its presence felt in Scotland come November.

Having received enor-mous support from the Na-tional Sports Commission (NSC) to prosecute of its programmes, the NTF boss is hopeful that the commis-sion would surely back the team in its quest to make Nigeria proud in the com-petition.

“We want to continue to thank NSC because dur-ing the Glasgow Common-wealth Games camping, our athletes were also part of the exercise and this alone has confirmed that the commission would continue to support us. We are hopeful to be in Edin-burgh as the athletes are yearning to return to ac-tion again as this competi-tion will also help them to garner points,” he said.

A Dodan Warriors player (left) being blocked by Kano Pillars players in a DSTV league game

Tosin Oribamishe

Printed and Published by Global Media Mirror Ltd: Head Offi ce: Mirror House, 155/161 Broad Street, Lagos Tel: 07027107407, Abuja Offi ce: NICON Insurance House, Second Floor, Central Business District Area, Abuja Tel: 08070428249, Advert hotline: 01-8446073, Port-Harcourt Offi ce: Suite 115, NICON Hotel, 6, Benjamin Opara Street, Off Olusegun Obasanjo Rd, GRA Phaze 3, Phone: 07032323254 Email: [email protected].

Editor: SEYI FASUGBA. All correspondence to PMB 10001, Marina, Lagos. Printed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Akure. ISSN 0794-232X.

Vol. 04 No. 961 Thursday, October 16, 2014 N150

WORLD RECORD

The fastest hat-trick of tries scored from the start of a match is 6 min 54 sec by Chris Thorman (UK) playing the semi-final of the Buddies National

League Cup at Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK on 19 May 2002.

Fastest rugby league hat-trick

As a habit, the only virtue former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s critics will grudgingly concede to

him is his matchless love for his country that set him apart from all his peers. Once while serving as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters - military equivalent of Vice President - under the late General Murtala Muhammed regime, Obasanjo was about to enter a crucial state meet-ing when he received a message that his two-year old son, Dayo, had just died. Yet, he went into the meeting and participated actively.

Afterwards, he informed his colleagues of his misfortune before the meeting. Ap-palled, his colleagues wondered why he didn’t rush home in the light of some-thing so serious. His response, as narrat-ed by one of his biographers, Dr. Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, was: “My son is dead, I can-

not bring him back. This country is wait-ing and I cannot keep her waiting”. Even in that period of nationalistic fervor, it is hard to imagine any act that could beat that. Later in life he was to reaffirm this passionate love for country in different guises, including when he was called upon to be the head of state after the assassina-tion of General Muhammed. Obasanjo refused, declaring he was through with the army and everything associated with government since the nation is so unap-preciative.

Again, according to Onukaba, it was only after an inspired General Emmanu-el Abisoye had pointedly suggested that if Obasanjo would not accept, then they might as well invite leader of the failed coup that claimed Muhammed’s life, Col. Buka Suka Dimka to take over, that Obasanjo felt sufficiently moved to accept the challenge. Not many people would also give Baba the credit he rightly deserved over what he did when he took over.

He followed in Muhammed’s footsteps to the letter - from the pan-African thrust of Nigeria’s foreign, policy which weakened apartheid in South Africa and fast tracked the liberation of some Southern African countries, to the all-important midwifing of the first ever successful transition from military to civilian rule in 1979. And yet despite all the many sacrifices that Baba had made for his country, his critics still prefer to judge him from their jaundiced perspectives.

But that is changing, ipso facto. Nowa-

days, Baba’s critics are either relapsing into silence, or sheepishly shifting ground, and grudgingly admitting that they had been wrong about him all along. When his son, Lt. Col. Adeboye, was recently shot in combat while fighting insurgents in Adamawa, one of his ardent critics, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar called me to admit that if Baba could allow his own son to be in the line of fire even though he could shield him with a single phone call, he (Umar) sent his best salute; admitting, finally that Baba is genuine. Not that it ever matters to Baba, who is applauding.

Then there was the funny issue of the so-called Third Term saga. Baba is possi-bly the only one of the 170 million Nige-rians that is being judged, convicted and sentenced for an offence he never com-mitted! Some people have shockingly and stubbornly insisted Baba was the sponsor of the advocacy for a tenure elongation campaign. On his part he had consistent-

ly insisted he had nothing to do with it, and had challenged anybody with clear evidence to the contrary to come forward. Nobody has so far been able to provide such evidence. Former FCT minister Na-sir el-Rufai’s attempt, in his book, The Ac-cidental Public Servant, was no more than an unsubstantiated claim. And, in spite of himself, el-Rufai was indeed among the earliest callers to the Abeokuta residence of Baba to seek his countenance in his (el-Rufai’s) political adventures. That in itself is enough to counteract whatever allega-tions are contained in the former minis-ter’s book of disputed recollections.

Even those who ask the logical question of why Baba did not stop the advocates of tenure elongation are merely being mis-chievous. The former president has main-tained that he did not stop them because he was convinced the best way to kill the project once and for all was to allow it to exhaust itself; reasoning correctly that if those who pushed for it tried and failed, then no one would ever try it again.

The infamous project ran its course, got burnt out and finally died; and our democracy was the richer for it. That is why, thank God, Baba now has the moral authority to tell Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is himself toying with a similar idea, “Don’t do it”.

After 2007, Baba had kept a respectable distance from Aso Rock until the need arose when then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s terminal illness presented a political crisis that required a command-ing voice to intervene. Again Baba stepped forward and advised Yar’Adua to “take the part of hounour” by relinquishing power since he was apparently too sick to carry on. That remark set in motion the series of events that enabled Dr. Jonathan to assume power as Acting President. This stabilized the polity and prevented what could have been a protracted politi-cal stalemate.

Muhammad, Honorary Media Ad-viser to former President Obasanjo, wrote via [email protected]

Sport Extra

Andy Murray admitted yes-terday that he is prepared for all possibilities as the

race for the last handful of spots at the World Tour Finals heats up with less than three weeks left in the sea-son.

“It (making the eight-man cham-pionships in London) is a goal for

every player at the start of the year,” said the 2013 Wimbledon champion who opens play today in the second round of the Austrian Open against Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

“There are a lot of seeding advan-tages with being in the top eight. I will

be trying my best to make it to Lon-don over the next two or three events.

“I hope I get there, but there are strong players competing for the same places. I’ve got to play well this week if I’m to try and win the title.

“I’m not under pressure. I’d like

World Tour fi nals:World Tour fi nals: Murray keeping emotions in check Murray keeping emotions in check

Murray

Garba Deen Muhammad

Guest Columnist

Gritty OBJ takes centre stage again

THE ONLY VIRTUE FORMER PRESIDENT

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO’S CRITICS

WILL GRUDGINGLY CONCEDE TO HIM IS HIS MATCHLESS LOVE FOR

HIS COUNTRY

to get there. But if not, then it’s just not to be. If I don’t qualify, I don’t de-serve it.”

Murray stands provisional tenth in the points, one spot behind Vien-na top seed and fellow year-end rival David Ferrer.

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