asuu to parents: don't send students back to campuses

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62026

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, DECEMBR 2, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

COLUMNIST:

•P.26

Continues on Page 5

•P.46

•We didn't issue the ultimatum— Vice-Chancellors•Presidency warns ASUU not to dare Govt•Mark cautions FG over sack threat

ANAMBRA ELECTION—Anambra State Governor-elect, Dr. Willie Obiano; Gov. Peter Obi; Chief Victor Umeh and the DeputyGovernor-elect, Dr. Nkem Okeke celebrating APGA’s victory at the last Anambra State gubernatorial election in Awka, yesterday.

ZenithnamedBankof the Year

Price of ricegoes up,scarcity looms

17

ANAMBRAAPGAPDPAPCLP

180, 17897,70095,96337,495

BY HENRY UMORUOLA AJAYI, JOHN-BOSCO AGBAKWU-

RU , JOSEPHERUNKE & IKENNA

ASOMBA

ABUJA—FORTYeight hours to the

deadline given by theFederal Government tostriking university lectur-ers to resume classes orbe sacked, the union hasremained adamant, ad

7

ELECTRICITY:New owners demandincrease in tariff

APGA dedicatesguber victory toOjukwu 14

ASUU TO PARENTS:

Don't send studentsback to campuses

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2013 — 3

CMYK

4—Vanguard, MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2013

CMYK

POCKET CARTOONVanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013—5

Don't send students backto campuses — ASUU

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Continues from page 1

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways thatwon’t work. Murphy’s Law is much less sanguineabout it: If you never try anything new, you’ll missout on many of life’s great disappointments

— Thomas Edison

THE beautiful outcome of Thomas Edison’s experiments is the electricity we all enjoy today.

“Our lives are not so different. Of course we need toaccept ourselves as we are, but we can’t stop there.We also need to value ourselves enough to makeneeded changes. It’s a simple formula: If we want tolive fully we have to keep growing. If we want to keepgrowing we have to adapt. And if we want to adaptwe have to try on new ways of thinking and new waysof doing. For me it’s about making my life an activescience.”

I recall the story of Vincent Van Gogh, one the mostsuccessful impressionist artist of all times, he was notrecognized for his gifts and talents during his era. Hesays, “what am I in the eyes of most people — anunknown, an eccentric, someone to like or not, evenif that were absolutely true, then I should one daylike to show by my work what such an eccentric hasin his heart. That my creativity, based more on lovein spite of everything, based more on a feeling of se-renity than on passion. Though I feel life’s pain some-times, there is still calmness, pure harmony and mu-sic inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poor-est cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my heart isdriven towards these things with an irresistible mo-mentum.” Ironically this artist was way ahead of histimes and his work is most renowned today. Hold onto your dreams and do everything you can to realisethem; they do come true.

Never stop doing little things for others, you willbe surprised that those little things occupy the big-gest parts of their hearts.

INSTALLATION—From left: Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi;Gov Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; his Wife Abiodun, after their installation bythe Alaafin in Oyo on Saturday.

vising parents not torisk the lives of their chil-dren by sending them tothe campuses.

The Presidency, on itspart accused ASUU lead-ers of treachery andwarned the university lec-turers not to dare the re-solve of government tocarry out its threat to sackthem if they failed toresume.

The Senate President,David Mark has also cau-tioned the Federal Gov-

ernment over the threat tosack the striking lecturersjust as the AllProgressives Congress(APC) slammed the gov-ernment for issuing thethreat.

Supervising Ministerfor Education, MrNyesom Wike last Thurs-day gave the lecturers aseven-day ultimatum toresume from their six-month strike or risk beingsacked. PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, how-ever, clarified, weekend,

in Bayelsa that the Fed-eral Government did notgive the ultimatum, stat-ing that it was given bythe Committee of ViceChancellors.

However, the Secretary-General of the Committeeof Vice Chancellors, Pro-fessor Mike Faborede de-nied the claim that hiscommittee gave the ulti-matum. He passed thebuck to the Committee ofPro-Chancellors.

ASUU meantime saidno academic activitieswould resume until theFederal Government per-fects and implementsresolutions reached withthe union.

The order given by theFederal Government thatuniversities across thecountry should resumeseems not to have anyimpact in the Universityof Ibadan.

A visit to the campus,yesterday, showed thatthe order had been ig-nored by students as theydid not turn up for re-sumption.

A student, Bolade whodid not want his surnamein print said the order wasdisregarded because theyknew the approach of theFederal Governmentwould only aggravate theface-off.

All the halls of resi-dence — Kuti Hall, Sul-tan Bello, Independence,Nnamdi Azikwe, QueenElizabeth and Idia Hallsin the institution were stilldeserted. Though, thehalls were opened, onlysome non academic staffand few students who didnot leave the campus atall were seen.

Describing the threat byFederal Government asheight of insensitivity, theacademic union asked itsmembers not to sign anyregister but to remain

calm and stay resolute.On denial by President

Goodluck Jonathan thathe never issued any ulti-matum to the union, theNational President ofASUU, Dr. Nasir Faggeand University of Ibadanchapter of the Union,ASUU said it was laugh-able.

Fagge said: “Com-rades, can you see theunfolding drama? Now,Jonathan says they didn’tgive ultimatum; that theVice Chancellors did andWike became their trum-pet; But NUC’s ultimatumis by Federal Governmentto us to resume or getsacked. And Wike’s pressaddress says “FG has di-rected, “NOT”VCs havedirected”Be calm, stayresolute. By God, we areon course”

Also speaking in thesame vein, UI ASUUchairman, Dr. SegunAjiboye asked parents notto risk the precious livesof “our students by re-leasing them, saying nolecturer will teach them.

“Don’t risk the lives ofyour children, keep yourchildren at home becauseASUU will not teach. Sol-diers and the police de-ployed by the FederalGovernment will notteach. Mr Wike can comeand teach in university. Itis a huge joke to sack pro-fessors. Our strike mustnot be in vain. Our stu-dents must see the re-sults. It is funny; wethought we are in a de-mocracy. I assure Nigeri-ans that we know what thelaw says about the strike.Our job is statute backed.We are not threatened.We do not trust the gov-ernment. The record ofthe government is clear.This government is dis-honouring agreements.Our members are re-solved to pursue this to alogical conclusion”

UI ASUU also sent atext message to its staffreads: “Dear members,stay calm and remainresolute. There is nothingwrong in asking govt todo what it says it will doimmediately. ASUU isnot making any new de-mands as the Minister ispropagating. Govern-ment is only repeating a‘one act play’ scripted bythe IBB dictatorship inearly 90s. It didn’t workthen, and, it won’t worknow.!all branches are in-tact. We cannot beintimidated!!united webargain, divided webeg!!!Aluta Continua.”

Don't dare Govt,Presidency warns

Meanwhile, the Presi-dency yesterday accused

the leadership of the Aca-demic Staff Union of Uni-versities, ASUU of treach-ery, just as it warned theuniversity lecturers not todare the resolve of gov-ernment to carry out itsthreat to sack them if theyfailed to resume.

According to the Presi-dency, ASUU leadershave gone contrary to thedesire of majority of theirchapters who have votedand agreed to end thestrike because of the per-sonal intervention ofPresident GoodluckJonathan, even as itboasted that it was jokingwith the threat of sackingthe lecturers.

Addressing Journalistsyesterday in Abuja, Sen-ior Special Assistant to thePresident on Public Af-fairs, Dr. Doyin Okupesaid that ASUU leader-ship came into negotia-tion with a mindset thatbetrayed what he termed,lack of understandingthat the nation and thegovernment were a con-tinuum.

Asked whether the Fed-eral Government can fillthe vacancies if the lec-turers were indeedsacked, he retorted: “Doyou think the governmentis joking?”

Okupe who noted thatthe 13-hour meetingJonathan held with ASUUended with a definiteagreement and resolu-tions acceptable to theASUU leadership, how-ever stressed that theleadership of ASUU wasexpected to consult withits members nationwideand report back to govern-ment within one week.

“The ASUU leadershiprather than take its re-sponsibility seriously,wasted seven days beforescheduling a meeting.When the meeting even-tually held the leadershipdecided to thwart andundemocratically over-ride the expressed will ofmajority of its chapters tocall off the strike. Thisaction is contrary to estab-lished practice and pro-cedure of any democraticlabour institution, which

ASUU is expected to be."The Secretary-General

of the Committee ofVice-Chancellors in atext message to Van-guard, last night, said:“The Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC), is-sued the ultimatum, notthe Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC).”

Mark cautions FGover threat

Senate President,David Mark has alsocautioned the federalgovernment on the useof threat to solve thelingering crisis withASUU.

The Senate Presidentfor the umpteenth timealso pleaded with ASUUto reconsider theirposition and return toclasses to salvage thealready batterededucation sector fromfurther deterioration.

Senator Mark whoadvised the FederalGovernment not to usethe sledgehammer onASUU on account of thefive months strike whenhe commissioned alecture theatre for theSchool of managementsciences at the KanoState Polytechnicdonated by SenatorKabiru Gaya, pleadedwith the teachers toresume classes whilenegations continue.

He said, “We havereached a situationwhere hardline positionswould worsen thesituation. My plea toASUU is to resumeclasses whilenegotiation continues.The strike has doneenough damage to ouruniversities. They havealso made their pointand I think we shouldreason together and endthis matter.

“Nobody, including theuniversity teachersthemselves can be saidto be enjoying thiscrisis. It is a huge coston government, parents,the management, staffand students of theuniversities.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY,DECEMBER 2, 2013

Burnt shops and houses in Sabon Gari village of Damboa council area of Borno Statewhen Boko Haram launched attacks in the community, weekend. Photo: Ndahi Inusa.

Gunmen kidnap 84-yr-oldex-Biafran soldier, wife

Demand N30m ransom

ASABA — EIGHTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Biafran war-

lord, Major Azum Asoya (rtd)was kidnapped, Friday night,by gunmen with his wife in hishometown, Okpanam, whileattending a burial ceremony atabout 10.30 pm.

A family source who pleadedanonymity confirmed the ab-duction. He told Vanguard,yesterday: “We have estab-lished contact with the kidnap-pers. They are demanding N30million but we are beggingthem to release our father un-hurt. That is the situation fornow.”

When Vanguard visited thefamily compound, sympathiz-ers were seen discussing theincident, pleading for his re-lease.

Meantime, the state policecommand’s spokesman, Mr.Lucky Uyabame, has said fourpersons have been arrested forkidnapping two persons atUgborodo community in thestate following the combinedeffort of the Military, DSS (De-partment of State Services) andthe Navy.

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

According to him, “they(names withheld) were ar-rested while others are atlarge in connection with ab-

ductions, following report fromconcerned elders andstakeholders of Ugborodocommunity.

"Suspects allegedly kid-napped two indigenes of thecommunity, tied them andsubjectd them to inhumantreatment.”

LAGOS — POPULARNollywood actor, Saheed

Balogun has dragged his ac-tress ex-wife, Fathia Balogun,to court over the use of his sur-name ‘Balogun’, insisting thatshe stop using the name.

The union which producedthree children lasted for manyyears before ending few yearsago.

Saheed has been trying to get

Saheed Balogun drags Fathia tocourt over surname

Fathia revert to her maidenname, but she insists she be-came popular using thatname and has no plans todrop the name.

In an interview she grantedin 2011, Fathia said: “Myname is Fathia Balogun andit's going to remain so for life.Nobody can ever change thator stop me from answeringthat name.”

Fathia and Saheed Balogun

Two factions fight over oba stool in Ondo communityBY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE — ANTI-RIOT policemen have been de-

ployed to Ode-Irele in Irelecouncil of Ondo State to pre-vent a bloody clash by factionsclaiming rights to the town'sthrone.

An attempt by a faction to thestool to install a parallel mon-arch for the town, weekend, re-

portedly almost led to a clashin the community.

Vanguard learnt that trou-ble started when some mem-bers of a rival ruling house ofOpetusin who got a favourableOkitipupa High Court rulingagainst the incumbent mon-arch, the Olofun of Irele ObaOlanrewaju Lebi of theOyenusi ruling house at-tempted to install one Prince

Bamidele Ekunsanmi.They reportedly forced open

the shrine of Malokun, localdeity that is said to be centralto the installation rites of anOlofun, and attempted to per-form traditional rites forEkunsanmi, a medical doctor.

Oba Lebi ascended thethrone in 1993.

But they were repelled andprevented by supporters of ObaLebi from performing the rites.

Police were invited and somearrest made.

Some policemen have beenstationed at strategic points inthe town especially the MalokunShrine to nip in the bud any cri-

sis.The state police image maker,

Wole Ogodo, confirmed thatpolicemen were deployed to thetown to prevent the two sidesfrom attacking each other and tomaintain peace in the commu-nity.

He said the Oretunsin rulinghouse got a judgment againstthe monarch but that the Oba hasappealed the judgment.

He noted that until the appealis determined, the status quoshould be maintained “becausenot only did the monarch ap-pealed, he also sought and gota stay of execution of the lowercourt pronouncement."

NSCDC arrests 2 suspectedillegal guards in Ogun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA—NIGERIASecurity and Civil De-

fence Corps, NSCDC, OgunState Command said it hadarrested two people who weresuspected to be working foran unlicenced private guardcompany in Abeokuta, OgunState.

The suspects, BabalolaElizabeth (female, 19) andBiola James, 20, were ar-rested at a popular eatery inAbeokuta, the Ogun Statecapital.

The Public Relations Officerof the NSCDC in the state,Kareem Olanrewaju, in astatement, weekend, said thesuspects were arrested be-

cause they acted contrary toCAP 367 of Private Guard Act,subsection 1( A to C).

“Since then, a seal order hasbeen placed on the SystemProtection and Security Serv-ices and some others who werefound operating illegally.While others have complied,System Protection failed toabide in spite of warnings bythe corps.

“The command will investi-gate thoroughly and deal withthe culprits in accordance withlaw as ignorance is not an ex-cuse except it is proved bycourt of competent jurisdiction.

“All the parties involved willbe questioned and dealt withaccording to the law."

NDLEAarrests36-yr-oldman forsmugglingdrugs

BY LAWANIMIKAIRU

LAGOS — OPERATIVES of the Na-

tional Drug Law En-forcement Agency,NDLEA, have arrested a36-year-old Nigerian liv-ing in South Africa fortrafficking 2.390kg ofmethamphetamine.

The arrest was made atthe Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport(MMIA) Lagos duringthe screening of Arik Airpassengers to South Af-rica.

According to OfoyejuMitchell, Head, PublicAffairs, NDLEA, duringinterrogation, the sus-pect, Otti IfeanyiRaphael, told investiga-tors that he came to Ni-geria for prayers forbusiness breakthrough.

He said: “I came toNigeria for prayers forbusiness breakthroughbut was asked to bring abag to South Africa bymy sponsor.

"I sell phone accesso-ries in South Africa butmy business has suf-fered heavy setback.This was the reason Icame home to seek spir-itual solution. Unfortu-nately, I was caught withdrugs on my way toSouth Africa.”

NDLEA commander atthe airport, HamzaUmar, said the drug wasdetected at the luggagechecking desk.

According to Hamza,“the drug was concealedat both sides of the bag.It was a good mode ofconcealment but notgood enough to escapeour notice. We have com-menced investigation,the suspect will becharged to court for un-lawful exportation.”

The suspect, a diplomaholder in Business Ad-ministration at the Fed-eral Polytechnic Oko hailsfrom Anambra State. Hehad lived in Johannes-burg for over 11 years.

Chairman/Chief Execu-tive of the Agency,Ahmadu Giade, saiddrug traffickers now havean uphill task of smug-gling drugs out of thecountry due to improvedsecurity checks.

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013—7

FUNERAL: From left— Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, DavidMark and Senator Ayogu Eze, at the burial of Senator Eze’s mother at Umuida, Enugu-Ezike, Igbo Eze North LocalGovernment Area, Enugu State, yesterday.

11 Nigerianfirms makeAfrica'stop 100

Jonathan, PDP governors meet

ELECTRICITY: New owners demand increase in tariff

THE NigerianNational Petroleum

Corporation, NNPC, hasbeen named Africa’s thirdmost valued brand.

However, South Africa’sfirms, mobile telecomsoperator, MTN, retailersShoprite and Woolworthswere named the top threeAfrican brands in the latestBrand Africa 100 ranking.

Other Nigerian brandsthat made the list in the top10 category includedDangote, 6; Globacom, 8;Guarantee Trust Bank,GTB, 14; United Bank forAfrica, UBA, 16; ZenithBank, 19 and First Bank,Intercontinental Bank, 20among others.

ABUJA— GOVERNORSelected on the platform of

the People's Democratic Party,PDP, yesterday, held a crucialmeeting in Abuja, with lastTuesday’s defection of five ofits governors to the AllProgressives Congress, APC,as top on the agenda.

The meeting, which tookplace at the Akwa Ibom StateGovernor’s Lodge, Asokoro,Abuja, had in attendance 12PDP governors.

It was gathered that themeeting was presided over byAkwa-Ibom State Governorand Chairman, PDP GovernorsForum, PDPGF, GodswillAkpabio.

At the end of the meetingwhich ended at 7.45pm, thegovernors later proceeded tothe Presidential Villa to meetwith President GoodluckJonathan.

Those in attendance weregovernors of Delta, Bayelsa,Akwa-Ibom, Cross River,Katsina, Kaduna, Plateau andEnugu states. Others were

Bauchi, Abia, Ebonyi andKogi.

While the Niger Stategovernor, Babangida Aliyu, wasrepresented by his deputy,governors of Jigawa, Benue,Gombe, Taraba, Kebbi wereabsent.

The host governor, GodswillAkpabio declined commentswhen approached by journalists.

BY VICTORAHIUMA-YOUNG

NEW operators in thenation’s power sector

have asked for increase inelectricity tariff in the midst ofworsening power situation inthe country.

The operators have alreadyjerked up service charge fromN750 to N1,500 monthly.

This came as the FederalGovernment and organisedlabour are meeting today toreview labour issues in thesector especially non-payment of terminal benefitsfor thousands of sackedworkers, alleged victimisationof labour leaders in themassive sack of workersimmediately after the take-over of the assets of PowerHolding Company of Nigeria,PHCN, among others.

Vanguard gathered that theoperators met with theNational ElectricityRegulatory Commission,NERC, last week to demandfor increase in tariff.

It was gathered that theDirector-General of theCommission, Mr. SamAmadi, told the operators thatthey had no basis to ask forincrease when Nigerians werestill lamenting the negativeeffect of last increase and the

worsening power station inthe country.

He was said to have alsoblamed the new operators forthe massive sack of workersof the defunct PHCN, whichhad created shortage of

manpower and compoundedthe power situation.

According to Vanguardsources, the new operatorswere said to have dissociatedthemselves from the sack,blaming the Bureau for Public

Enterprises, BPE, for same.However, it was not

confirmed if NERC approvedthe increase in service chargefrom N750 to N1,500 monthlyless than one month after take-over of assets.

Presidency insensitive to Adamawa,says Nyako

BY SONI DANIEL,Regional Editor, North

GOVERNOR MurtalaNyako of Adamawa State,

yesterday, accused thePresidency of showing lack ofcompassion in dealing withissues relating to the welfareand progress of the people ofthe state.

Nyako, who is one of the fivegovernors that defected to theAPC last Tuesday in Abuja,faulted the imposition of astate of emergency on the stateby the Presidency.

The governor made hisfeelings public while playinghost to two top officials of theUnited States Embassy, whovisited him yesterday in Yola.

The two visitors were MariaBrower, the Deputy Chief ofMission US Embassy, Abujaand Michael Harvey of theUnited States Agency for

International Development,USAID.

Nyako informed his gueststhat the unjust imposition ofstate of emergency on the statehad inflicted untold social andeconomic hardships on thepeople and worsened the

poverty situation in the state.He said the situation had

robbed the state of services ofsome foreign technicalpartners, including theAmericans, who were workingon the Kiri Dam HydroelectricProject.

ABUJA— THE People'sDemocratic Party,

PDP, yesterday, described theAll Progressives Congress,APC, as a party of internalcontradictions, saying therecent treatment of a widow inBenin by Governor AdamsOshiomhole showed the partyto be really anti-people.

In a statement by its NationalPublicity Secretary, Chief OlisaMetuh, PDP said APC hadfinally unveiled itself and its

“inherent contradictions in themessianic pretenses of theAPC against its lead role in thecascading anti-people actionsand utterances.

“This minute, APCevangelises Nigerians on finepoints of good governanceand nationalism, claiming theyare the ones sent, while thenext minute the same APCleaders are caught with sharpsword on the soul of thenation.

“The actual meaning of APCis ‘Anti Peoples Congress’ and

this party’s main ideology isthe dehumanisation ofNigerians.

“Over the weekend, we sawthe Pharaoh Khufu of the 4thdynasty Egypt play out in Edo,where the sorrowful tears of adowntrodden widow, prostrateat the feet of the governor,pleading for leniency, couldneither provoke emotion,leniency nor restraint.

“Rather she got a piercingarrow of a wicked utteranceunbecoming of an electedpublic officer.”

BENIN WIDOW: APC is anti peoples congress— PDPBY HENRY UMORU

BY HENRY UMORU

BY UDUMA KALU

TUKUR TOLAMIDO:Yes, I'm avirus

THE NationalChairman of People's

Democratic Party, PDP,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur hasagreed with GovernorSule Lamido of JigawaState that he is a virus inthe party, pointing out,however, that he was anecessary virus for theentrenchment of demo-cratic culture, disciplineand good governance inthe party in particular andthe country in general.

Tukur also wished thatLamido would “soon catchthis necessary virus for thegood of PDP and thecountry.’’

This was contained in astatement by the SpecialAssistant on Media toTukur, Prince OliverOkpala, in Abujayesterday.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

CAPITAL DINNER: From left— Director-General, Securities and ExchangeCommission, SEC, Ms Arunma Otteh (left); presenting a gift to Senator Bala Mohammed,Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, during the Capital Market Community Retreat dinnerin Abuja.

No regrets leaving PDP for APC— Kwankwaso

Court okays Bi-Courtney'stakeover of aviation terminal

BARELY a week after defecting fromthe People’s Democratic Party, PDP,

to the All Progressives Congress, APC,Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of KanoState has said that he has left PDP forgood and has no regrets jumping ship.

The governor said if the Presidencyinvites him for any meeting henceforth,he would be attending such parleys inhis capacity as an APC governor andnot that of PDP.

The governor explained that hedecided to leave PDP because neitherthe Presidency nor the leadership of theparty had ever shown any modicum ofrespect to him or his office as agovernor.

Kwankwaso told Vanguard in aninterview that despite winning electiontwice as governor and working hardto promote PDP, the Presidency hadnever consulted him over any matterof appointing any Kano native into anypost in Nigeria.

The governor explained that contraryto the insinuation that he left PDP toactualise his presidential ambition, hejoined APC to work for the overallinterest and progress of Nigeria.

The governor maintained thatalthough all the seven governors arequalified to be president, they were notgoing there to contest presidentialelection but to help the new party winelection and reposition Nigeria.

Kwankwaso said: “In my politicalhistory, I have never seen a decisionthat is so popular with my people. Weare here in APC to strengthendemocracy and to make sure that itworks in this country.

‘I want respect'“I want to be respected while I win

election or when I am appointed intoan office. At the same time, I want tobe respected when I am out of office.

“They want to win election and theyneed us to be able to do so. We arerespected in APC. Right from the timethey started talking with us, they have

shown respect.“All of them realised they need us.

We realised that these are the peoplewe want. They can form a formidableparty to win election and challenge anti-people forces in this country.

Reminded that the FederalGovernment could use its might tofrustrate the switch-over to the newparty, Kwankwaso said that he did notcare about what his opponents wereplanning, as he had nothing to fear inhis political career.

He said: “I don’t care what is done. Iam not afraid to speak the truth.Politicians must be on their toes andnobody should sit down and claim thatall is well.

‘Nigerians willsoon flock to APC’

“The issue we are in now is that ofthose going to APC and those notgoing. But let me tell you that in a shortwhile you will see a mass movementof Nigerians flocking into APC.

“I am not afraid. I don’t see anydecision I have taken in recent yearsthat I so strongly believe in like thisAPC. I believe that it is a step in theright direction that will help thiscountry.”

On the suspicion that he was goingover to APC to actualise his presidentialbid, the governor said there was notruth in it.

Kwankwaso said: “Let me say thatthey are saying the same thing aboutall the seven governors. People aresaying the same thing about the othergovernors. Let it be put on record thatall the governors have the capacity andcognate experience to rule this country.

“I have never gone into any party withany mindset on any particular position.So I am not going to APC to bepresident or anything, but to build theparty and to ensure that it wins electionin Kano and Nigeria.

“We are connected to many otherstates and we want to win elections inNigeria.

“I am connected to every local

government in this country. My impact will befelt anywhere we are because many of thepeople have worked closely with me in differentcapacities.”

BY SONI DANIEL,Regional Editor, North

A Federal High Courtsitting in Lagos has

struck out an application byFederal Airports Authority ofNigeria, FAAN, in which it hadsought to restrain Bi-Courtneyfrom taking possession ofGeneral Aviation Terminal,GAT, Murtala MohammedAirport Domestic Terminal 2,Ikeja, Lagos.

The Court of Appeal had inits judgment affirmed Bi-Courtney’s ownership of theterminal.

Trial judge is Justice I. Buba.FAAN had in the application,

sought to stop Bi-Courtney “inrespect of the use andoperation of the MurtalaMohammed Airport DomesticTerminal 2, by the defendant(Bi-Courtney) pursuant to aconcession agreement execu-ted between the Federal Go-

vernment and the defendant.”It had also sought “to

restrain the defendant (Bi-Courtney) from taking overcontrol of the General AviationTerminal of the airport.”

FAAN had in an ex parteapplication, sought injunctivereliefs, which were granted bythe court on December 6, 2011.

Bi-Courtney, however,sought to set aside the interimorder granted to FAAN on theground that it concealed and/or failed to disclose materialfacts to the court in itsapplication upon which the exparte interim order ofDecember 6, 2011, wasgranted.

The court delivered a rulingon February 27, 2012, settingaside the interim order.

Bi-Courtney subsequently,filed an appeal challengingthe competence of the suitand seeking “an order ofcourt to strike it out for failureto fulfil condition precedentas contained in theconcession agreementbetween the parties oralternatively an orderdismissing the suit for being anabuse of court process.”


WEDDING: From left, Senate President,David Mark; newly wed couple,Chigozie Obasanjo and Bisoye; wife of the formerPresident, Chief Bola Obasanjo; Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and former President and father of thegroom, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at the wedding ceremony of Bisoye and Chigozie Obasanjo, in Abeokuta, weekend.Photo: Wumi Akinola

Opeyemi Bamidele dumps APC for LP

ADO EKITI — AFTER months ofhorse-trading and political manoeuvring, a

member of the House of Representatives in EkitiState under the platform of All ProgressivesCongress, APC, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele hasfinally dumped APC for Labour Party, LP.

Speaking while making his official declaration atEmure Ekiti, yesterday, Opeyemi said he was forcedto part ways with his former party because of whathe described as lack of internal democracy in APCand the way and manner some of his supporterswere allegedly discriminated against andoppressed by the ruling APC

At the declaration which was witnessed by someex -APC and PDP chieftains, including ProfessorJoseph Oluwasanmi, Prince Akin Olayisade, AkinOmole, Opeyemi said he decided to consult widelyand the general opinion was that he should seekfor alternative progressive party where he couldachieve his political ambition.

“In coming to this conclusion, we have had toconsult widely and in the process of ourconsultations, we had come to the realisation thatmany well-meaning stakeholders, both within andoutside of the political class in Ekiti State, aregenuinely desirous of sincere change.

“Also, after due consultation among stakeholders,including many of our community leaders and

founding fathers of our dear state,we have resolvedto adopt, as our political platform, the party of theworkers, the artisans, the women and the youth,which undisputedly is the Labour Party

“We are convinced the Labour Party is a credibleprogressive platform of convergence for ourindividual vision and commitment to internaldemocracy, which informed our individual decisionsto form a new alliance and change coalition.

He promised that he wouldmake public a formal declarationof his new found party and hisambition in yet to be agreed date.

Reacting, the interim chairmanof APC, Chief Jide Awe saidBamidele was never a member ofAPC, saying the party would notfeel his exit from the party.

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

Ondo seeksforeignpartners onscholarships

AKURE — IN a bid toexpand its

scholarship scheme, theOndo State government isto partner internationalagencies for foreignscholarship to assiststudents of the state origin.

Speaking with newsmenafter its inaugural meeting,the newly appointedChairman of the State’sScholarship Board, DayoAwude said in Akure thatthe new team would injectnew life into the board.

MonarchwarnsagainstAnambraexperience inEkiti

ADO EKITI — Afirst class monarch

and Ewi of Ado Ekiti,Oba Rufus Adejugbe, haswarned IndependentNational ElectoralCommission againstcorruption andinefficiency aswitnessed in AnambraState in the conduct of2014 governorshipelection in the state.

Oba Adejugbe wasspeaking in his palaceground, Ado Ekiti,weekend, while playinghost to the governorKayode Fayemi for thegrand finale of the tourof the 16 LocalGovernment Areas of thestate.

DMO puts Nigeria'sdebt at $8.2trn

BY GBENGA OLARINOYEOSOGBO — THE Debt Management Office,

DMO, has put Nigeria’s debt as at September thisyear at $8.2 trillion which he said is 22 per cent ofthe total Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

The Director General of the office, Dr. AbrahamNwankwo, who made this disclosure, maintainedthat the level of the debt is sustainable.

He stressed the need for the government at alllevels to encourage private sector borrowing for thedevelopment of some key sectors of the nation'seconomy.

Nwankwo also called for cooperation from allstakeholders to ensure sustainability of the publicdebt profile of the country.

Speaking at a three day retreat organised by theHouse of Representatives Committee on Aids, Loansand Debt Management at Ada, Osun State,weekend, Dr. Nwankwo said the increase in privatesector borrowing and decrease in governmentborrowing are the panacea to the challenges ofkeeping the nation's debt within sustainable level.

He said: "When private sector operators have morefunds to run their businesses, jobs will be createdand goods hitherto imported, will then be producedlocally, saving the nation of foreign exchange.”

LAGOS STATEGovernment has

debunked the claim that thePrincipal of Ikeja JuniorGrammar School, Mrs.Adesiyan Balogun hasbeen suspended fromoffice.

Commissioner forInformation and Strategy,Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, whomade this known, said: "Atno time did the stategovernment place thePrincipal on suspensionover a negative publicationin a national daily or for anyother reason.

Ibirogba affirmed that thesaid Principal was, in linewith Lagos State CivilService Rules, asked toexplain the situation in herschool to enablegovernment assess the trueposition of things and shehad since replied.

We did notsuspendprincipal— LASG


Deji of Akure, Oba Adesida dies at 63

AKURE — THE Deji ofAkureland and the

Chairman of the Ondo StateCouncil of Obas, Oba AdebiyiAdesida has died at the age of63.

He reigned for only threeyears having ascended thethrone in year 2011.

Late Adesida last attended apublic function in Lagos wherehe celebrated the marriageceremony of his son, AdetunjiOluwagbemiga two weekendsago.

Palace sources told Vanguardin Akure that the traditionalruler in Akure, died at about2.30a.m. yesterday, after a briefillness.

He was said to havecomplained of a slight headacheafter which he vomited thatnight and was attended to by ateam of medical doctors and thisstabilised his health conditionbefore he later retired to bed.

The traditional ruler was saidto have given up the ghost inhis sleep and effort by doctorsinvited to attend to him provedabortive as they confirmed himdead.

A visit to the palace indicatedthat palace chief and domesticstaff wore mournful look just asboth yound and old besiegedthe palace to confirm the rumour.

Many people gathered ingroups to discuss the demise ofthe Oba.

His personal staff were seenmoving out the personalbelongings of the late Oba to hispersonal house within themetropolis according to thetradition.

Immediately the news filteredto the owners of shops withinthe palace they raced to theirshops to evacuate their wares.

This was because immediatelyan Oba died the market locatedaround the palace called Oja

Oba -Oba’s market- would beshut until when anothertraditional ruler emerged whichdragged for months.

Their plan to evacuate theirshops, yesterday, which wasSunday, was to be able to makesales during the Christmas andNew years festivity.

Late Oba Adesida was bornin 1950, to the royal family ofPrince Josiah Stanley Adegboyeof the Ojijigogun RulingHouse.

He graduated from theUniversity of Ibadan with adegree in AgriculturalEconomics and obtained aMaster's in Agric Business andManagement.

Oba Adesida before hisascension to the throne workedas an Agricultural Credit Officerwith the Ondo StateAgricultural CreditCorporation, Obasanjo Farms atOta and later became one of theaides of the former President

Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999to 2009.

He became the Oba of the townfollowing the dethronement anddeposition of his predecessor,Oluwadamilare Adesina on June10, 2010, who allegedly beat uphis wife publicly.

He was recalled from abroadto become the traditional ruler ofthe ancient town -Ondo.

Oba Adesida hailed from theOjijigogun Ruling House.

During the context for thethrone, the late Oba defeated hisclose rival Prince AdemolaAdegoroye with a slim margin.

The state government and thefamily had not yet reacted to thedeath of the Oba.

But reacting, the state PDPthrough its Director of Publicity,Ayo Fadaka noted with concernnews of the untimely transitionof the Deji of Akure, Oba AdebiyiAdesida, Afunbiowo 11.

“His death is indeed a greatloss to Akure kingdom which he

the Deji of Akure, Oba AdebiyiAdesida.

In a message of condolenceissued on his behalf in Abuja byhis Special Adviser on Media andPublic Affairs, Mallam ImamImam, Tambuwal described theparamount ruler as a man ofculture who worked tirelessly forstability, unity and progress of hisdomain.

Ajimobi, Amosun tooAlso, Governor Abiola Ajimobi

of Oyo State while commiseratingwith the people and governmentof Ondo State, said the late Dejiwas a good monarch who wouldbe missed by the people and allhis friends, among whom he wasone.

In his own condolencemessage, by his Senior SpecialAssistant on Media, Mrs. FunmiWakama, Senator IbikunleAmosun of Ogun State describedhis death as shocking, as it cameat a time when his counsel wasneeded the most.

I am shocked to the marrow— Mimiko

The Ondo State Governor, Dr.Olusegun Mimiko has describedthe transition of the Deji of Akure,Oba Adebiyi Adegoke Adesida asshocking to the marrows.

Dr. Mimiko lamented that “thetiger has fallen into a deep sleep.”

The Governor in a statement byhis Chief Press Secretary, EniAkinsola, said the news of thedemise of the first class royalfather and Chairman of OndoState Council of Chiefs wasshocking to the marrows.”

He added that “not because wedo not know of the eventuality ofdeath, but that Afunbiowo II wasnot only vibrant and agile, he hadan aura of health and life aroundhim.”

BY DAYO JOHNSON

Osun PDP, APC tango overalleged mayhem plan

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

OSOGBO — BOTH theruling All Progressives Congress,

APC, and the main oppossition party, thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP, in OsunState have sharply disagreed overallegation of an attempt to cause mayhemin the state by a leading governorshipaspirant from the opposition party beforenext year's governorship election.

The interim state chairman of APC, Mr.Adelowo Adebiyi alleged that part of theplot of the said politician was to issueuniform similar to those of the OsunYouths Employment Scheme, OYES, tohoodlums brought to the state to causemayhem in some parts of the state,especially Osogbo, the state capital.

But the PDP chairman, Alhaji GaniOlaoluwa challenged the APC chairmanto name the so-called governorshipaspirant if he was sure of his facts.

Alhaji Olaoluwa asked if the peoplefrom Osun State who were arrested inImo State and who paraded themselvesas election observers during the

November 16 governorship electionin Anambra State were from PDP.

He added that all the four aspirantsof the PDP were people of integritywho had served Nigeriameritoriously in different capacities.

“Alhaji Fatai Akinbade was achairman of our party in the statebefore becoming SSG; Hon. Wole Okewas a two-time House ofRepresentatives member andchairman, House Committee onDefence; Senator Olasunkanmi wasa senator of the Federal Republic ofNigeria and also a fomer minister andSenator Iyiola Omisore is also a two-term senator and former deputygovernor of this state. So APC shouldtell the whole world who among themis capable of causing crisis,” headded.

Adebiyi stated that the said politicianhad concluded arrangements to causecrisis in the state through hissponsored uniform men whowouldappear like OYES cadets on somestreets in major towns in the state.

Ogun helpspropertyownersregulariseparticulars

OGUN STATEGovernment has

embarked on initiatives toelevate the infrastructuraldevelopment of the statewith the introduction of theHomeowners’ CharterProgramme which willenable homeownersregularise the legal statusand documentation of theirproperty.

Homeowners’ CharterProgramme, an integralpart of the government’smission to rebuild the state,will also provideenumeration data for themedium term planning forprovision of roads, schools,hospitals and otheressential services.

led until his death and the statetraditional institution which healso led as Chairman of theCouncil of Obas.

Jonathan condoles Mimiko,Akure people

President Goodluck Jonathanhas commiserated with governorOlusegun Mimiko, the people ofAkure and Ondo state on thedeath of the Deji of Akure, ObaAdebiyi Adesida.

In a statement by his SeniorSpecial Assistant, Media, DrRueben Abati, President Jonathanalso extended sincerecondolences to the family andrelatives of the late monarch whoascended the throne of hisforefathers in August 2010.

Tambuwal commiserates... Similarly, Speaker of the

House of Representatives, AminuWaziri Tambuwal commiseratedwith the government and peopleof Ondo State over the demise of

PRESENTATION: From left, Paul Wallace, Africa Editor of The Banker/FT; Ebele Ogbue, ManagingDirector/CEO, UBA Capital (Europe) Limited; Kennedy Uzoka, Deputy Managing Director, UBA Plc,with the ‘Bank of the Year’ award plaque won by UBA Senegal, and Michael Buerk, the award host,during the presentation ceremony, at Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane, London.


I’ll win 2015Delta guberpoll, boastsGbagi

Ijaw elders pass vote of confidenceon Jonathan

BY FESTUS AHON &AKPOKONAOMAFUAIRE

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

U G H E L L I —FORMER Min-

ister of State, Educationand chieftain of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,Olorogun Kenneth Gba-gi, has said that come2015 governorship elec-tion in Delta State, he willemerge the winner as hewas the only candidatewith the road map to takeDelta State to the prom-ised land.

Gbagi, who spoke inEffurun, Delta State,while fielding questionsfrom a team of journalists,insisted that the doctrineof zoning of elective po-sitions in Delta State andthe country was beingpromoted by lazy politi-cians, who were scared toengage in political battle.

According to him, zon-ing of elective offices haspromoted mediocrity inNigeria’s body politic,with the resultant conse-quence of bad leadershipwhich has bedevilled thecountry.

Gbagi insisted that Del-ta State and the countrycannot be caged into ac-cepting any candidate,come 2015, in the nameof zoning, maintainingthat the best candidatewith proven antecedentsand a flawless recordshould be voted for tolead the state, irrespec-tive of his or her ethnicgrouping.

He said: “I stand hereas the first chartered citi-zen of PDP. We did notzone, we have not zonedand zoning by its lan-guage is very unfortu-nate, a language for lazypeople who cannot dobattle and Delta State be-ing what it is, we woulddo battle to get the verybest.

“If you read what theSpeaker of the House ofAssembly said some daysago, he said that the irre-sponsibility of Nigeria to-day is borne out of thatlanguage called zoning.

“When you say every-body should wait that wehave zoned it to thesepeople, maybe the entirepeople from that zone arestupid people, so thestate would be saddledwith stupid people be-cause you have adoptedzoning.”

FLAG-OFF: From left: Senator Uche Chukwumerije; House Committee Chairman on Works,Mr. Ogbuefi Ozombachi; Works Minister; Mr. Mike Onolememen; Governor Theodore Orjiof Abia State and Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Mr. Ude Okochukwu, during theflag-off of the reconstruction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, at Leru, Abia State,yesterday .

Y E N A G O A — I J A Welders and leaders of thought,

weekend, urged President GoodluckJonathan to remain steadfast, selfless andcommitted to his responsibilities as Pres-ident of the country.

This was part the resolutions reachedat consultative meeting of Ijaw eldersand leaders of thought in Yenagoa, theBayelsa State capital.

The Ijaw opinion leaders also passeda vote of confidence on the President,expressing satisfaction with what theydescribed as his commitment to theprogress, peace, harmony and stabilityof the country.

A statement at the end of the consulta-tive meeting condemned the voices ofdistraction aimed at thwarting the loftyachievements of the Federal Govern-

Delta Centralpoll: APCcandidate,Emerhor goesto tribunal

BY AUSTINOGWUDA

ASABA—THE AllProgressives Con-

gress, APC, candidate inthe October 12, 2013Delta Central senatorialdistrict election, Oloro-gun O’Tega Emerhor,has challenged the elec-tion before the NationalAssembly Election Tribu-nal sitting in Asaba,seeking outright cancel-lation of the said elec-tion.

Respondents in thepetition are Senator Em-manuel Aguariavwodo,Peoples Democratic Par-ty, PDP, candidate; Inde-pendent National Elec-toral Commission,INEC; Resident Elector-al Commissioner, DeltaState; Commissioner ofPolice, Delta State andChief of Staff, NigerianArmy.

The petitioner is pray-ing the tribunal to de-clare that Aguariavwodowas not duly elected orreturned as senator forthe Delta Central sena-torial district by a major-ity of lawful votes at theby-election of October12, 2013.

He also wants the tri-bunal to declare that theelection of October 12,2013 upon which Aguar-iavwodo was declaredelected senator repre-senting Delta Centralsenatorial district wasinvalid by reason of cor-rupt practices or non-compliance with Elector-al Law.

ment under the leader-ship of Jonathan.

When to announce mysuccessor — Sanusi

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

LAGOS — THE Central Bankof Nigeria (CBN) Governor,

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi,has said that his successor shouldbe announced three months to theend of his tenure.

He also advised his successorto continue with his policy of tightmoney supply to consolidate onthe gains of the low inflation rateachievement of his tenure.

He spoke, weekend, in Lagosat the 5th anniversary of theWomen in Successful Career(WISCAR) where he deliveredthe keynote address and also fea-tured in a panel discussion.

Said he: “Tomorrow (today) itwill be six months to the end ofmy term, probably a bit early forthe government to start talkingabout the next person. But I dohope that about two or threemonths before then, there shouldbe some announcement.

“Central Bank governors don’tcomment on who they think theirsuccessor should be, it is not ourbusiness to do that, it is the Presi-dent’s decision. But If I have in-put at all, I will try to encouragethat we announce a successor twoto three months before the end ofmy tenure so that everybodyknows who that person is, whatthe views are so that people canprepare accordingly. By the way,some of the names are out therein the newspapers and more willcome out later.”

High interest rateResponding to criticism of the

high interest rate regime occa-sioned by the tight money supplyof the CBN, Sanusi said high in-terest rate is the price the economyhas to pay for low inflation rateand stable exchange rate.

He said: “If we bring down in-

flation, interest rate comes downin the long-term whenever in-flation comes down and I hopethe next CBN governor will con-tinue on that and by 2015 bringinflation down to four to sevenper cent. When you get Nigeriainto a country where inflation isfive per cent, interest rate willcome down.

“The interest rate cannot belooked at in isolation. I alwaystell people that delivering lowinterest rate is the easiest thinga central bank can do. If I printenough money today, interestrate will come down to three percent. But what will the rate ofinflation be? What would theexchange rate be?

Cash reserve“Recently I have been criti-

cised all over for the 50 per centcash reserve requirement on

public sector funds and I haveseen all sort economists and ana-lysts talk and that is fine.

“At the time I introduced the 50per cent CRR on public sectorfunds, the India Rupee lost 20per cent of its value, the SouthAfrican Rand lost 16 per cent ofits value, the Ghanaian Cedi lost15 per cent of its value, the Indo-nesia currency lost 18 per cent ofits value, the Brazilian Riel lost12 per cent of its value, the Nairalost only 2.3 per cent. Wherewould you have been if the Nairahad become N190 to a dollar?

“If you go to a bank, you getthe dollar at N158. If you buy fromthe other market, that is a differ-ent matter. If you are genuinebusiness, if you establish an L.C.from a bank, you don’t get thenaira at more than N158 to a dollarand that is the interbank rate.”

Unregistered Opel

Wagon at Trinity

D.V.

AUCTION! AUCTION!!

29, Akinyemi Street Amukoko


Police urged to caution chairman ofdissolved Obio/Akpor council

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

Amaechi asks FG to refundN105bn spent on federal roads

Rights violation: Courtdismisses EFCC’s appeal

PORT HAR-COURT—GOV-

ERNOR Rotimi Amaechiof Rivers State has en-joined the Federal Gov-ernment to refund aboutN105 billion expendedby the state on rehabili-tation of dilapidated fed-eral roads in the state.

The governor, week-end, in Port Harcourt,shortly after he receivedthe Port Harcourt cente-nary award, said that theBonny-Bodo federalroad project had beenabandoned, adding thatwork on the Port Har-court International Air-port was very slow, whencompared with similarprojects going on at oth-er international airportsin the country.

He said that he wouldonly identify with a pres-idential candidate in2015, who he was surewould protect the inter-ests of Rivers people,adding that he was vot-ed as governor to de-fend the interest of peo-ple of the state.

He said: “Show meone new thing to indi-cate that Rivers peoplehave benefitted from the

2.1 million votes given toPresident GoodluckJonathan in the 2011elections. I was votedinto office to defend theinterests of Rivers peo-ple and I will continueto defend their interests.The Bonny-Bodo feder-al road had been aban-

doned, the renovation ofthe Port Harcourt Inter-national Airport is veryslow. If you compare La-gos International Air-port, Kano, Benin, Enu-gu and others, you willunderstand that ours isbackward, but why isRivers State different?”

Rep urges Nigerians to seekempowerment from God

PORT HAR-COURT—OBIO/

Akpor Peoples Forum,has called on the Policein Rivers State to cautionMr. Timothy Nsirim fromsaying he would not re-spect the recent dissolu-tion of Obio/Akpor LocalGovernment Area by Gov-

ernor Rotimi Amaechi.Vice President of the

group, Mr Solomon Ikeg-wuru, who spoke to Van-guard yesterday, in PortHarcourt, said that thestatement was capable ofcausing crisis in thecouncil.

It will be recalled thatMr Nsirim and 17 coun-cillors of the council werereinstated by the judg-ment of a state High

Court in Port Harcourt, sixmonths after their sus-pension by the stateHouse of Assembly. Fivedays after their reinstate-ment, Governor Amaechiannounced the dissolu-tion of the council in astatement by the Secre-tary to the State Govern-ment, Mr George Feyii.

Nsirim and the 17 coun-cillors told newsmen thatthey would not complywith the dissolution orderby the state governor,saying that they wereelected by the people.They maintained that thegovernor had no powersto dissolve an electedcouncil. By the close ofwork last Friday, Nsirimhad not handed over tothe Head of Local Gov-ernment Administrationin the council, MrAzubuike Singer.

Meantime, Obio AkporPeoples Forum com-mended the governor forthe dissolution, sayingthat the developmentwould bring peace to thecouncil.

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

B E N I N — T H ECourt of Appeal

sitting in Benin, EdoState, has dismissed theappeal by Economic andFinancial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, againstthe judgment of a Feder-al High Court, Benin,which ordered the com-mission to payN1.1million to Mr. PhilipOdigie for the violation ofhis fundamental humanrights.

The appellate court inits judgment by JusticeTom Yakubu, dismissedEFCC’s appeal for lack-ing in merit and orderedthe commission to pay the

sum of N1.155 million tothe respondent. The courtalso affirmed the judg-ment of the trial judge,Justice V. Nwokorie ofthe Federal High CourtBenin on the issue.

EFCC in its appeal,had asked the appellatecourt to determine wheth-er the Federal HighCourt had the jurisdictionto entertain the respond-ent’s suit bearing in mindthat the arrest and initialdetention took place inBenin and whether theaward of N1m as damag-es against it was properamong others.

Dismissing the appeal,Justice Yakubu, said:“The appeal is fluffy andlacking in merits. I dis-miss it, accordingly.”

BY ONOZUREDANIA

A MEMBER of theHouse of repre-

sentatives, Mr NicholasMutu has urged Nige-rians to seek God’s em-powerment, which ac-cording to him was thepanacea for peacefulco-existence, long liveand happy living.

Speaking during theburial of his cousin, lateChief Eserubo Okporu,in Akugbene communi-

ty, Bomadi, Delta State,he pointed out that be-ing close to God, know-ing Him and working inaccordance to His dic-tates was all Nigeriansneed to achieve theirdream country.

Mutu, representingBomadi and Patani fed-eral constituency, said“there is a purpose forour being here on earth,and for us to fulfill Hisplans, we must seek forHis power in all aspectof our lives.”


CMYK


ANAMBRA: APGA dedicates victory to Ojukwu

OWERRI—THE CatholicArchbishop of Owerri

Ecclesiastical Province, HisGrace, Dr. Anthony Obinna,has cautioned GovernorRochas Okorocha of Imo Stateto stop running the state ashis private estate.

He said the state’sinternally generatedrevenues and federalallocations were people’scommonwealth and notpersonal assets.

The Archbishop’sadmonition was contained inhis sermon preached duringa Concelebrated Pontificalsung mass at MariaAssumpta Cathedral, Owerri,which was also attended byGovernor Okorocha, his wifeand members of theexpanded state executivecouncil.

“Federal allocations to ImoState, as well as internallygenerated revenues belong tothe people of the state and notpersonal income of theGovernor, which he can usethe way he likes,” ArchbishopObinna said.

He urged the governor notonly to run an inclusivegovernment but also carry thepeople along.

Archbishop Obinna said:

From left: Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, at an event in Abuja.

Adopts Jonathan as 2015 presidential candidateBY TONY EDIKE & VINCENT

UJUMADU

OBINNA TO OKOROCHA: Stop running ImoState as your private estate

AWKA—THE AllProgressive Grand

Alliance, APGA, has said itwas dedicating the victory ofits candidate in Anambragovernorship poll, Dr. WillieObiano, to the late leader ofthe party, Dim ChukwuemekaOdumegwu Ojukwu.

This came as jubilant youthsand women took to the streetsand community squares inAnambra State yesterday,following the declaration ofChief Willie Obiano, thecandidate of APGA as the winnerof the governorship election in thestate.

Jonathan for 2015The party also announced the

adoption of President GoodluckJonathan as its Presidentialcandidate for 2015 apparently inappreciation of his support for theparty in the governorship contest.

Leaders of the party, includingthe National Chairman, ChiefVictor Umeh, Governor Peter Obiand the Governor-elect, Dr. WillieObiano made these known whilebriefing newsmen, at theGovernor’s Lodge, Awka, wherethey expressed gratitude to thepeople of the state for renewingthe party’s tenure in the state.

Governor Obi who expressedgratitude to President Jonathanfor his tremendous support to thestate, which made thegovernorship election verysuccessful said that APGA wouldreciprocate the gesture byadopting him as the party’spresidential candidate in 2015election. He said the party wouldnot field any candidate in thepresidential election.

Umeh speaksUmeh, who spoke on behalf of

the party, said the APGA familywas very grateful to God for the“historic victory” which heattributed to the good works theGovernor Obi-led APGAgovernment had done in the statesince the past eight years.

He said: “On behalf of APGA, Iwant to say we are very gratefulto God for this historic victorywhich our party recorded after afierce but very easy battle for theparty going by the result of thiselection.

“We dedicate this victory to theevergreen memory of our lateleader, Dim ChukwuemekaOdumegwu Ojukwu, whosevision and legacy have beensustained by this emphatic victoryby APGA in this election. Thelight which our late leader put onwhile he was alive is nowshinning gloriously with thisvictory.”

JubilationMeanwhile, jubilant youths and

women took to streets and

community squares in AnambraState yesterday following thedeclaration of Chief WillieObiano, the candidate of AllProgressives Grand Alliance,APGA, as the winner of thegovernorship election in the state.

Many people stayed up till12.00 midnight on Sunday whenthe winner of the election wasannounced by the state returningofficer, Professor James Epoke,and as soon as thepronouncement was made, canonshots were heard in manycommunities.

Some people who were alreadyasleep woke up and joined in thecelebration which lasted till thelater hours of the morning inmany communities.

Clerics thank GodIn some churches in parts of

Anambra State yesterday,officiating priests thanked God forassisting the people in makingtheir choice even in the face ofobvious frustration.

At his country home in Aguleriancient Kingdom in AnambraEast Local Government Area,Obiano read an acceptancespeech titled: ‘Sustaining ourSteady March to Progress’ inwhich he thanked God and thepeople for electing him and hisrunning mate, Dr. Nkem Okeke.

He called for continued supportto ensure that the progressalready made in the state byGovernor Peter Obi in the lasteight years was sustained.

Obiano on opponentsHe said: “Throughout history,

societies that have crossed thethreshold of development havealways worked togethercollectively as one. Developmentcomes faster where there is asocial contract between leadersand the people.

“History has shown that noremarkable advancement evercomes through without a price. Asindustrious people,Anambrarians are naturally builtfor the tasking commitment thatthe long stride to greatnessrequires.”

To his opponents in the election,Obiano said: “I extend my handof fellowship to all my brotherswho contested this election withme. I specifically urge my brothers:Tony Nwoye, Ifeanyi Ubah,Senator Chris Ngige, GodwinEzeemo and many others that Icannot easily mention now, to joinus in the march to make AnambraState a better place.

“Please always remember thatthe blood that binds us is thickerthan the politics that separates us.By my victory at the polls, thepeople have affirmed the longstruggle of our great father, DimChukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu and have also upheld hisview that our people shouldpreserve our heritage through oneunited political roof.”

The governor-elect said he andhis deputy, Dr. Nkem Okekewere ready and adequatelyprepared to expand theboundaries of development so asto place Anambra State on themap of rapidly advancing stateson all parameters ofdevelopment.

According to him, “we are fully

aware that after Governor Obi’sglorious reign, Anambra canonly advance to higher gloryand as inheritors of this traditionof purposeful leadership, weshall dedicate ourselves to a lifeof service to be able to meet theneeds of our people.”

Gov. Obi on the electionSpeaking after the election,

Governor Obi also said that the

election was a testimony that thosewho hoped on winning throughrigging of election would alwaysbe disappointed in the face ofcontinued improvement in thecountry’s electoral system.

He assured the people ofAnambra State that they havemade a good choice andexpressed confidence that the incoming government would notdisappoint them.

“The people of Imo State hadhoped that youradministration would be aninclusive one but so far, thatdoesn’t seem to be the case.”

Obinna was particularlyirked by Okorocha’sseeming refusal orreluctance to supportmission schools in the stateand advised him to borrow

a leaf from the neighbouringAnambra State, whereGovernor Peter Obi had beensupporting public and privateschools and hospitals.

“If you go to the missionhospital at Ihiala, AnambraState, you will not believe youreyes. It has been sotransformed that you will notrecognize it.

NITT boss to appear beforeReps tomorrow

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA—THE DirectorGeneral, Nigerian

Institute of TransportTechnology, NITT, D rAminu Yusuf, is to appearbefore the House ofRepresentatives Committeeon Land Transport onTuesday.

The DG is expected toexplain the state of budgetimplementation and otherproblems confronting theinstitute.

Yusuf, who was to meetwith the committee in aninteractive session last weekbut instead sent arepresentative, howeverexplained that his absencewas due to pressing official

engagements.The DG said he had absolute

respect for the House andinstitution of parliament andwould not engage in anythingthat might impugn the integrityof the House.

He said: “The parliament isthe bastion of democracy and Inever intended to disrespect ormalign the committee but I hadearlier scheduled assignmentsthat made me to send arepresentative.”

It wil be recalled that the DGhad two months ago told thecommittee that the problemsconfronting Nigeria’s transportindustry would only be solvedwith continuous improvementin infrastructure, technology andmanpower.

CMYK


80TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF PRINCESS PATIENCEIKUSEBIALA IN LAGOS. PIX: BUNMI AZEEZ.

From left: Senator Gbenga Obadara, Senator Gbenga Ashafa and Senator GaniyuSolomon.

From left: Chief Bisi Akande, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, PrincessPatience Ikusebiala, celebrant and Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s mother, Lagos Stategovernor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, his wife, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola and Hon. LolaAkande, during the 80th birthday of Princess Patience Ikusebiala, at K&G EventCentre,Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos.

Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King (left) and Hon. BasirOloto.

From left: Mr. Mutiu Are, Mr. Seyi Tinubu andMr. Wasiu Esinlokun.

From left: Chief Tajudeen Olusi, Omoba Mufi Adetoro, SenatorOluremi Tinubu and Princess Patience Ikusebiala, celebrant.

Princess Patience Ikusebiala with grand childrenon the occasion.

From left: Hon. Olusegun Olulade, Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuoso andHon. Olayinka Ogundimu.

OPINION

16 Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

ASUU and FG’s ultimatumBY MOSHOOD ISAH

THE media calls it breaking news. The news isthat the Federal Government has given the

Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, oneweek ultimatum to call off the ongoing strike. Theacting Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, statedthis while briefing journalists in Abuja. This maynot be unconnected to the frustration the union hasput the government through in a bid to end theniggling strike. I think to some extent the membersof ASUU are not considerate of students’ plight asthey fight the government. They are already losingthe sympathy of average Nigerians, including thiswriter, who believe they had no genuine causebecause of their latest demands on salary.

The government has virtually met most of theunion’s demand but the ASUU members are benton the immediate payment the four month wagesin arrears. Simply put, ASUU wants to receivesalary for the four months they refuse to work. I willallow my readers to judge that.

Before this development, Nigerians had been kepton suspense on the resumption day of the affecteduniversities, thinking the union may call-off thealmost five months old industrial action.

The ASUU embarked on an indefinite strike onJuly 1, 2013 following the failure of the FederalGovernment to implement part of the 2009 agreementreached by the two parties. The union’s demandsinclude the upward review of the retirement agefor professors from 65 to 70, adequate funding torevitalize the university system, progressive increaseof budgetary allocations to the education sector by26 per cent, transfer of Federal Governmentproperty to universities, setting up of research anddevelopment units by companies, payment ofearned allowances and renegotiation of the signedagreement. After a couple of meetings with

government delegations, including PresidentGoodluck Jonathan himself, it seems the nigglingissue still haven’t gotten a head way.

As a matter of fact, in the course of negotiationand shuttling from locations for executive meetings,the union lost one of its stalwarts, Professor FestusIyayi, former ASUU president and a lecturer in theUniversity of Benin. Despite dying on one ofNigerian death-traps called road and due to thereckless driving of government convoy, there wasstill no element of effort to end the strike in a bid toeulogize the innocent man who died in the cause.Instead both ASUU and government continue todilly-dally with the future of innocent universitystudents. Both sides continue to accuse each otherof insincerity. To be candid, both sides have not doneenough to see to the long-lasting end to strikes inthe universities.

For example, among the demands of the union,according to the Chairman of the University of Lagosbranch of the union, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, is thepayment of earned allowances which includedexcess workload, administrative responsibilities, andpostgraduate supervisory allowances, amongothers. He further said that a professor whosupervises postgraduate theses is supposed to bepaid N15,000 per student, adding: “The FederalGovernment has not paid any lecturer the thesessupervisory allowance. Logically, this demand isuncalled for. If the student who spend a lot of moneyon projects materials, researches and all that is notdemanding for project grant, I don’t think a professorthat only sits down in his office or anywhereconvenient to supervise the same project should go

on strike because he wants to be paid forsupervision. As a matter of fact, many lecturers onlylecture for few hours in a week and many timesmiss their classes. This does not affect their wagesin anyway. Thus, I don’t think the same personshould demand for extra allowances for perceivedexcess workload.

The union is already divided as some universitiesare already threatening to end their strike. As amatter of fact, Adekunle Ajasin University is alreadyrecruiting lecturers to replace the striking ones. Thisgoes a long way in extrapolating the insincerity ofthe cause itself. More so, it also goes a mile intelling us that even the union within itself knowthat its strike is unjust. Despite all the efforts andpromises by government, the union remainsadamant on its own outrageous demands. Thus, thegovernment which is being saddled with too muchresponsibilities have no choice than to coax theunion back to work.

With the new directive by the government tomembers of ASUU to return to work or face the ax,only demonstrate how much the union has frustratedthe effort of the government in order to settle thelong running strike. There are more issues to dwellon, than spending a lifetime to settle the demandsof the academic union. The union just has to shiftgrounds to accommodate the government and itsincessant pleading.

*Mr Isah, a commentator on national issues,

wrote from Garki II, Abuja

ON Wednesday, November 20, 2013, theHouse of Representatives passed the secondreading of a bunch of bills which, if theyeventually become law, may see corruptionin Nigeria go right through the roof anddrain the nation’s treasury into foreign bankvaults. Sponsored by Hons. Bamidele Faparusi,Udo Ibeji and Emmanuel Jime, the bills seekan act to amend the Code of ConductBureau and Tribunal Act, Cap. 15 LFN, 2004to allow public officers to operate bankaccounts outside Nigeria and other mattersconnected thereto.In simple words, if the bills become law, theCode of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal willno longer have the power to punish publicofficers for operating foreign accounts asthey will now be free by law to do so. Thepromoters of the amendment stand logic onits head by saying that since public officershave continued to operate foreign accountsby proxy due to the ineffectiveness of theextant law, it might as well be thrown open.We join the throng of well meaning

Against the ForeignAccounts Bill

Nigerians, especially lawyers, human rightsgroups, the media and some of the moreconscientious federal legislators to say aloud and emphatic “NO” to thisamendment. If the CCB is weak inimplementing the law, it should bestrengthened. But if the current class ofleaders are unwilling to strengthen theBureau, one day a regime that will bewilling to do so will surely come along, andthe long arm of the law will still catch up withthe offenders.We live in a world wheremoney laundering and looting of publictreasuries are no longer as attractive as theyused to be in the primitive past when foreign

banks colluded with corrupt individuals andmafias from around the world to hide dirtymoney. Such moneys are, in fact, beingreturned to the countries from where theywere stolen. It will amount to swimmingagainst the tide for our public officers to bepermitted to take our money out of thecountry, even if legitimately.If thisamendment passes, it will lead to massivecapital flight. It will also open the floodgatefor corruption, worsen the unemploymentsituation and heighten violent crimes andterrorism. The laws must support efforts toensure that Nigerian money is kept orinvested in Nigeria to help in expandingeconomic opportunities.The move to pass these bills is evil,unpatriotic and totally against the publicinterest. These are self-seeking bills thathave nothing to do with crediblerepresentation. We call on the House andthe Senate to kill the bills and focus effortson strengthening the war on corruption andabuse of power by those elected to representthe ordinary citizens.

CMYK


CMYK


A tribute to my triumvirateof heroines(3)

BY OGBEMI O. OMATETE

I FIRST came across thephrase a ‘Huge Construction

Site’ in November 1999 during atour of Germany sponsored bythe government of that country.The expression was used in aninformation pamphlet describingthe city of Berlin which was thenundergoing massivereconstruction aimed at giving itthe infrastructural facilitiesbefitting its status as capital of thenewly united Germany.

That phrase, however, aptlycaptured the scenario presentedon the streets of Berlin during theperiod. Every corner you turnedto, there was construction workgoing on, with giant equipmentdotting the landscape. Thus,when Asiwaju Bola AhmedTinubu, national leader of theAction Congress of Nigeria,ACN, in his speech on January24 during the commissioning ofthe first flyover bridge to be builtby the Ogun State Governmentin its 37 years of existence usedthe same expression to describethe situation in the state today,one could not but marvel at thebeauty of the expression.

Constructionprojects

With 16 major road constructionprojects going on simultaneouslyacross the state and otherreconstruction works on someother smaller roads, Ogun Statehas really become a bigconstruction site, where top civilengineering firms now competeto prove their competence. Theconstruction work on major roadsin Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Ota,Sagamu, Isheri, Magboro, Ilara,Ijohun, Ilashe, Ilishan, Ago

Junction/Oba Erinwole Junctionroad, 4.8 km Ilo Awela road inOta, 8.7 km OGTV-Breweryjunction road, 6 km MoshoodAbiola Way, 34 km Lafenwa -Ayetoro road, 9 km Ojere-Aseroroad, 5.6 km Somorin - Ajeboroad, 2.2 km Abiola WayJunction- Muda Lawal Stadium,850 metre Moriamo Oloromboroad, all in the state capital, areunder construction.

Other roads being modernizedby the Ogun State governmentare the 100 km Ilara-Ijohun-Ilaseroad, 25 km Ilishan-Ago Iwoyeroad, 29 km Mowe-Ofada-Ibaforoad, 9km Ejinrin-Oluwalogbonjunction in Ijebu Ode, 12 kmMagboro-Underpass road, Isheriroad and the very important 32km Sango-Agbado-Ojodu Road.

These roads are being handledby PW Nigeria Limited, ChinaConstruction EngineeringCompany (CCEC), Hi-Tech,Borini Prono, CSCC, FirstAugust, Siktobs and Zebra Gold.Most of these roads are atdifferent stages of completion tolevels ranging from two to 30percent and the last of the roads

is expected to have beencompleted by December nextyear. The latest road whereconstruction just started inOctober is the Sango-OjoduRoad which will solve theproblem of neglect suffered overthe years by the numerousresidents of the border towns withLagos.

Apart from being a move aimedat fulfilling his promise to thepeople of Ogun State andimplementing part of his fivecardinal programme, the roadconstruction projects haveimplications for other items onGovernor Ibikunle Amosun’sMission to Rebuild Ogun State.For instance, other aspects of theMission include employmentgeneration, industrialization,affordable housing, affordablequalitative education andefficient healthcare deliverysystem. With the roadconstruction, the problem ofunemployment plaguing a

continuously growing state likeOgun is being tackled. Theconstruction firms are employingthousands of skilled andunskilled workers. Their work isalso contributing to shoring upthe local economy as many otherallied businesses like supply ofsands, granite and othermaterials used in constructionwork are now thriving.

The road network is also partof the infrastructuraldevelopment necessary to attractgenuine investors who will liketo have their companies locatedin a place where there is easymovement of goods and persons.In any case, the stategovernment is expanding theroads in readiness for the futureconstruction of light rail tocomplement the roadtransportation system. On April9, the government signed anagreement with the CCECC, aChinese construction companyfor the construction of light railwhich will link up the major citiesin the state like Abeokuta, Ota,Sagamu and Ijebu Ode. Theplan, therefore, is to use the road

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF WOMEN:

flower beds, busstop, flyover atthe Ibarajunction andp e d e s t r i a nbridge. Allthese facilitiesare beingenjoyed by thegood people ofOgun State. Asat today, theseven kilometreSagamu-BeninE x p r e s s

To be continued

Map ofDeltaState

SHORTLY after the move,I received a letter through

my elementary school that I wasinvited to Government CollegeUghelli for “a short listexamination and interview.” Itold Aunt Oleghenju andshowed her the letter, which shetook but said very little. A coupleof weeks before the scheduleddate for the examination andinterview at Ughelli, my auntreminded me about it. Insteadof showing some excitement, Iremained indifferent, sayingthat I had forgotten about it andso was not prepared to go. Auntmust have been taken aback,although she did not show it.Later that evening, I was

fares and boarded lorrieswhere we sat on un-demarcated wooden plankslaid across the lorry, tightlypacked like cattle. We rodefacing backwards, oppositethe direction in which the lorrymoved. Our first stop was inWarri where we disembarkedat the motor park. Then wemoved to the Ughelli sectionof the park. Here, there weremore young boys millingaround trying to travel toUghelli. Just like in Sapele,there were no parents with us,unlike nowadays.Nevertheless, we all took ourturns boarding the Ughellibound lorries. Riding overrugged dirt roads, just like theSapele to Warri trip, we

arrived in Ughelli. With littleor no luggage, we walked allthe way from the Ughellimotor park to GovernmentCollege premises.

There, in front of me wasGovernment College Ughelli(GCU), magnificent beyondthe imagination of a thirteenyear-old boy; gorgeouslypainted buildingseverywhere, long two-storeyblocks and even longerbungalows, with several large“U” shaped houses andsimpler ones behind them, allneatly separated by well-laidout roads and surrounded bybeautiful flower hedges andlush green lawns.The onlyother place that I thoughtwould compare with it was theEuropean quarters thatsurrounded the famousAfrican Timber and Plywood(AT&P) Company in Sapele.But then I had never beeninside the quarters. Youngadults, school prefects, met usand took us to the variousbuildings (dormitories) wherewe were accommodated. Weate in the dinning hall, andwent to bed. Early the nextmorning we were awokenand taken on a jogging tripround the campus. Then, wewent to the shower area. Atthe back were four showerswhere you turned a tap andwater flowed on you; to theright was a large whiteenamel urinary, where waterflowed regularly to washed itout; and next to them werewhite enamel wash basins.

interview at Ughelli?” I saidnothing. “Do you know howmany parents are praying fortheir sons to get thisopportunity? Tell me youngman, why don’t you want to go?”“I have only my brown khakischool uniform and no otherclothes to wear when I go,” Imuttered. Aunt interjected, “Soif I bought you new white shortand white shirt, you will go?”“Yes,” I said nodding andsmiling. “I will buy you thewhite and white tomorrow. Yougo and study for the exam andinterview,” Aunt continued.That was it.

Commonentrance

I ran home ahead of aunt andpicked up the book I boughtmonths earlier for the commonentrance. My preparation forthe short list examination andinterview into GovernmentCollege Ughelli hadcommenced.

On the penultimate day to theinterview at Ughelli, all excited,I took my bath very early andwore my new white short andshirt and was ready to go to themotor park. When Aunt saw mein my white and white as shehanded me my transport fares,she suggested that it would bebetter to travel in the brownkhaki since the white would beeasily be soiled. But nothingwas going to separate me frommy new white and white, so Ileft for the motor park in it. Imet many boys there travellingto Ughelli, too. We paid our

The second part of this discourse was publishedin the Friday edition of Vanguard

summoned beforean elderly man,Mr. Arayi, in thenext compound. Iwas scared but Iknew I hadcommitted nomischiefs lately.When I arrived,my aunt and otheradults were there.Mr. Arayi lookedat me and asked,“Youngman, did Ihear that you don’twant to go for

Ogun still a huge construction siteBY YUSUPH OLANIYONU

YUSUPH OLANIYYUSUPH OLANIYYUSUPH OLANIYYUSUPH OLANIYYUSUPH OLANIYONUONUONUONUONU

Iwoye, Mowe, Ibafo, Ofada,Sango, Agbado, Akute, Alagbole,among others, is a manifestationof the urban renewal andinfrastructural developmentwhich form part of the fivecardinal programme of theIbikunle Amosunadministration’s Mission toRebuild Ogun State.

The government commencedthis urban renewal programmewith the reconstruction andexpansion of the 2.4 kilometreIbara-Sokori-Totoro road whichwas used as a model for what isnow known as ‘Ogun Standard’roads. The already completedroad came with road furnitureincluding walkways, drainage,median with street lights and

,

,projects are to be complementedby ambitious housingprogramme which will help toaccommodate the people thatwill expectedly begin to relocateto Ogun State in search of jobsand a safe, peaceful abode. Withover N90 billion being investedon these infrastructuraldevelopment projects, there arethose who wonder where themoney is coming from.

The sources are many. Thereis the Internally GeneratedRevenue which has risen fromthe paltry sum of N700 millionper month that thisadministration inherited onassumption of office in May 2011to about N4 billion. The leakagesin the financial system have beenblocked. There are internal loansfrom local banks which are beingfrugally dispensed. There arealso funds from developmentpartners.

Olaniyonu is Commissioner forInformation and Strategy inOgun State.

construction toprepare thestate as thenext preferredi n v e s t o r s ’destination inWest Africa.The roadconstruction

Map ofOgun State

Most of these roads are atdifferent stages of completion tolevels ranging from two to 30percent and the last of the roads isexpected to have been completedby December next year


OPINION

G7 defection: Matters arising

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WHEN a major political event like thedefection of the rebellious members of thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the AllProgressives Congress, APC, takes place,it is easy to get confused. When confusionsets in, you will see people who should besober or suspicious rejoicing as though theyhave won a major trophy.

That is exactly what is happening tomembers and sympathisers of the APC. Allthey can see is that the governors in theirparty have increased from 11 to 16 with thepossibility of a further rise to 18; senatorsswelling to 48 and members of the Houseof Reps ballooning to 199, more than the147 which some media reports credited tothe PDP. Many Nigerians who have beenled to believe that the PDP has been themajor source of the nation’s political andeconomic problems, are delirious that theAPC is now in a much better position tooverthrow the PDP and lead Nigeria to thePromised Land where we will all livehappily ever after; a happy ending to afairy tale.

If you want to avoid getting caught up inthis kind of confusion; if you want to tameyour expectations to realistic levels; if youwant to spare yourself the grief of

,

in the centre. It is not about G7 joining tolike-minds in the APC in protest overPDP’s “public-private partnership” modelof infrastructural development, which willdeny the populace access to free orsubsidised services. In short, it is not aquest for better governance.

It is squarely a struggle for power. It isabout the primitive concerns of thepolitician, who is primarily in politics toacquire power to serve his personal,religious or regional interests (wherereligion and region will help him achieveaccess to power). I do not see how APC

who will challenge the President for theparty’s ticket; people who will employevery dirty trick to do so, includingsponsorship of Islamic terrorists andregional gang-ups. The G7 also containsexpiring governors who require protectionfrom the consequences of their actions inpower, which they feel, the PDP and thePresident may be unwilling to guarantee.

Inside the APC, it is also a game of power.Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu knew he couldnever create a political party that wouldwin a presidential election. He settled fora shortcut. The merger with the AllNigerian Peoples Party, ANPP and theCongress for Progressive Change, CPC,had enlarged his vineyard from six to 11states. Now with the coming of the G7’sfive governors, he has 16 in the kitty. Andthat is where his problems begin. Tinubuhas overshot his capacity. He now has 10states he cannot whimsically summon toLagos as he used to do with his defunctACN; ten states whose governors owe himno political debts; ten states, five of whichare governed by hotheaded politicianswith notorious track record of rebellion,indiscipline and disloyalty to their party.

That aside, Tinubu, the touted NationalLeader of the APC, is faced with an Arewachallenge, the magnitude of which will beapparent in no distant future. Arewa nowhas a commanding hold on the APC withits eight states compared to Tinubu’s six.But Arewa is not disputing the post ofNational Leader with Tinubu because theyknow the presidential slot is coming theirway. That, after all, is their real objective.Arewa, through General MuhammaduBuhari, tried to use ANPP and CPC

willingness to crudely deprive fellowNigerians of their citizenship rights dueto alleged destitution and being non-indigenes. APC and PDP rig elections intheir respective spheres of influence inequal measure. They commit acts ofimpunity within their theatres of authorityjust the same. They are equally prone tocorruption and lack of respect fortransparency and accountability.

All eyes of the major contenders are onthe presidential seat in 2015. The PDPwants President Goodluck Jonathan toretain his seat after the 2015 elections. Theyare not willing to listen to any suggestionto the contrary, not even the so-called oneterm “pact” allegedly signed by thePresident in 2011. The G7 has been easedout of the party because it is full of people

platforms to grab power back. It failed.Alhaji Atiku Abubakar tried to rally thefabled Arewa might within the PDP in 2011but failed to clinch the party’s presidentialticket. He and other ambitious Arewagovernors have tried again for 2015 onlyto be quietly eased out of the PDP.

As APC is a willing horse, Arewa willcooperate with Tinubu, the NationalLeader, until they put their hands on thegrand trophy. Then, Tinubu will be retired,with or without full benefits, dependinghow well he takes what is coming. Thesame thing happened when GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo prepared the 1976 to1979 transition to culminate in a Northernpresident. It also happened when the sameObasanjo, as elected president, preparedthe 2006/2007 transition to end with UmaruYar’ Adua to emerge as president. Butwhether Tinubu will be able to deliver thepresidency to Arewa this time around issomething we watch to see.

APC will have to keep its eyes peeledbecause among the defectors might be ahorde of PDP moles. I do not believe thatPDP will lie supine and allow APC toemerge and overwhelm it just like that,without trying to riddle the upstart partywith cankerworms. They have done itbefore. They sent Chief Etiebet and thelate Augustus Aikhomu to the ANPP todestroy the party and come back to PDPduring the Obasanjo years. They have themoney and the willing and experiencedhands to do it for them. These worms arelikely to strike when it is time to pick tickets.APC, a patchwork of political amalgams,might begin to yield at the seams. It willbe PDP’s time to take back what they havejust “lent” to the opposition. By then, forthe APC, it might be too late.

The road to 2015 and beyond will berougher for APC than PDP because of itsvolatile diversity, which is an alienexperience to Tinubu as a political leader.His admirers have started calling him a“master strategist”. Orji Uzor Kalu’sadmirers also called him exactly thatfanciful name. In fact, Mike Awoyinfa andDimgba Igwe wrote a biography of Kaluwith that title. But where is Kalu now?

The new APC mega party is an excellentopportunity for Tinubu to prove hisadmirers right.

FG's sack threat to ASUU: A throwback to the dark era of military ruleBY HASSAN TAIWO SOWETO&MICHAEL OGUNDELE

THE Education Rights Campaign,ERC, considers the threat by the Federal

Government to sack striking academic staffof public universities unless they resume dutieson or before December 4 as the height of DrGoodluck Jonathan presidency’s creepingdictatorship. This outrageous and provocativeorder by a supposedly elected government touniversity lecturers to resume work regardlessof whether or not their demands have beenmet is reminiscent of the dark days of militarydespotism. Above all, it demonstrates theregime’s contempt and absolute disregard forthe rights and interests of the working peopleof this country. No doubt, to implement thisthreat the Federal Government will have toemploy ruthless methods consisting of arrestand detention of ASUU leaders, mass sack ofits members, proscription of the union itselfand drafting of the police and the army tooccupy university campuses ostensibly tomaintain law and order!

Here we must quickly point out that it is notASUU but actually the Federal Governmentand its obstinate refusal to invest in revitalisingour decrepit public university system that issabotaging the education sector and keepingstudents perpetually at home.

The Supervising Minister of Education,Chief Nyesom Wike, while announcing this

threat, said the Federal Government has metall its commitments and obligations withrespect to the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement. Itmust be that the ruling elite somehow believesthat Nigerian people suffer from collectiveamnesia, otherwise how could a wholeMinister of the Federal Republic utter such ablatant lie?

Everybody knows the current strike wascaused by Federal Government refusal tohonour an agreement on university fundingand academic staff welfare signed with ASUUsince 2009. Since this strike started four monthsago, the Federal Government has ratherconsistently and under different ruse beenpresenting proposals that border onunilaterally renegotiating the agreement.Everyone knows that despite the consistentinsincerity of the Federal Government andinsults from Finance Minister, Okonjo Iweala,Senate President David Mark and Benue StateGovernor Gabriel Suswam, ASUU has had toshift some ground on several occasions sincethe strike started in order to accommodate theFederal Government. Everyone knows that atthe 13-hour marathon meeting by PresidentJonathan and ASUU executives and NLC andTUC representatives, the government stuck toits refusal to honour the 2009 agreement andinstead presented proposals which watered-down the basic ingredients of the 2009agreement but which ASUU graciously agreedto present to their members for consideration.

Everyone knows that a decision on thePresident’s proposals would have been madeby ASUU weeks before now had an unfortunatebut highly-suspicious accident involving theconvoy of Kogi State Governor Idris Wada notclaimed the life of its former president, Prof.Festus Iyayi, while travelling for ASUU’s NECmeeting.

Above all, everyone knows that the so-callednew demands which Nyesom Wike claimedASUU is making are in reality not newdemands but simple request that the FederalGovernment begins to implement its proposalsso that university lecturers can be rest assuredthat this is not another ruse to make ASUUsuspend its strike while government wouldagain fail to honour its promise. PresidentJonathan proposed at the November 4 meetingto give N200 billion for 2012 and 2013revitalisation of public universties. This isalmost December and not a kobo has beenreleased by the Federal Government. AllASUU is asking is for the President todemonstrate his alleged sincerity. However theFederal Government’s violent reaction to thissimple request of ASUU only goes to confirmour fear in the ERC that the government rightfrom beginning had no intention to honoureither the 2009 agreement or any agreementat all that would mean spending to revitaliseour collapsing public universities just a fractionof the billions being daily looted by Nigeria’scapitalist ruling elite and imperialist

multinational companies.We support ASUU’s demand that none of its

members be victimised for engaging in thestrike. We also demand that the salaries andallowances of all academic staff withheld underthe undemocratic “No Work, No Pay” ruleduring the course of the strike be paid in full.

Before now the ERC had warned of thecreeping militarisation of the country underPresident Jonathan through the use ofundemocratic policies and laws and more thanonce open use of armed police and the army toundermine the democratic rights of workersand ordinary Nigerians. We had earlier calledon the labour movement to intervene withprotests and demonstrations to halt thecontinued descent to civilian dictatorship.Already the government has demonstrated itsintolerance of the democratic rights oflecturers with brutal clampdown of the protestactions of ASUU members at a number ofuniversities a few weeks ago. Now as it appears,the government wants to intensify the attackson the striking university lecturers. Should thisbe allowed to happen, sooner than later theentire workers, students, youth and poor massesof this country would be similarly attacked bythe government. This is why it is important forthe labour movement to act now.

Tinubu, the touted National Leader ofthe APC, is faced with an Arewachallenge, the magnitude of which willbe apparent in no distant future

*Messrs Soweto & Ogundele are theNational Coordinator and NationalSecretary, respectively, of the EducationRights Campaign, ERC.

disappointment or the feeling of beingduped, the best thing to do is to askyourself: what really is this political furoreall about? What is the primary motivationbehind the actions being taken by the majorpolitical actors?

Let us start by ruling out ideologicaldifferences. This is not a fight overideology. It is not about G7 opposing thezoning principle of the PDP and thereforedefecting to APC. We know that APC alsooperates zoning, which is why itspresidential candidate will come fromArewa Muslim North in 2015. We don’tknow where the deputy will come from asyet. It is not about G7 believing in truefederalism or devolution of powers to thesecond tier of government as opposed toPDP wanting to keep power concentrated

differs from PDP interms of respect forthe rights ofNigerians. Ifanything, the APCgovernment inLagos State hasdemonstrated its

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013—————4747474747

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CMYK

,

,

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A CLAMOUR is arising from the polity: that of the Nigerian nation, there

is littie need to speak; the faults have beenmade clear to us all; there is need for re-jection of inherent cultural imperialism, togrow Nigerian-oriented culture-human,spiritual and materialistic and egalitarianculture to help Nigerians find their right-fu place in the maze. That our ancient glo-ry be recognised and that our nation besafeguarded and protected. The Nigeriandream of post-independence should arise-the Nigeria of brotherhood regardless oftribe, tongue or religion, be projected intoour modern vision.

The major fault seems our extreme neg-ativism which makes the Nigerian the mosteasily “conditioned” people of all times.This negativity must be overcome and at-tention must be paid to the careful orien-tation and development of individuals tothink and act in the interest of the nation.

This should be the keynote of our futureconfederation of the Nigerian people whomay have been led into evil ways and sep-arative thinking.

Is there a need for a “Talk Shop”?Yes. The dialogue will provide some per-

spective on how modernity has changedour culture and the character typing mostadaptive in the circumstance. Yes, becausemilitarisation of our society has under-mined the traditional conservative of yes-ter-years; it propelled new sets of jungle-fighting-politicians with a different socialagenda into positions of “Over lords”.These jungle-fighting politicians (whosemain emotion is primitive, greedy, lust, co-

National Conference: A call toreinvent Nigeria nowBY OLU OMA-WILLIAMS lourless and power worshipping) soon be-

came political entrepreneurs and estate/empire builders.

Some of the most successful of them op-erate by means of force, blackmail, briberyand corruption to gain wealth and politi-cal influence. They have constituted them-selves into what they term “progressives”.They represent rent-seekers, middle menwhose wealth and new values of material-ism have deepened class division anddestroyed traditiona limits. Another groupof jungle-fighters are the robber baronswho rationalised their exploitation of theNigerian people and resources under theideology of social Darwinism and progress.

A common tactic of all these jungle-fight-ing managers has been to hire hungry Ni-gerians as subordinates who feed their in-satiable narcism and keep them as depen-dent as possible. The jungle-fighter be-comes ungrateful to their subordinates oncehe no longer needs them! No doubt, totalorientation/re-orientation engineeredthrough conference of the nationalities re-mains a perquisite to our transformation.A belief in Nigerian human unity must beenclosed. This unity must be grasped assomething worth fighting and dying for; itmust constitute the new foundation for ourpolitical, religious and social reorganisa-tion; and must provide the theme for ourdevelopment.

Human unity, human understanding,human relationship, human fairplay, andthe essential oneness of all Nigerians-theseare the only concepts upon which to con-struct a new paradigm to induce equitablecompetition and to bring to an end the ex-ploitation of one section by another and

the hitherto unfair distribution of the na-tion’s wealth. As long as there exists ex-tremes of riches and poverty, Nigeriansare falling short of their high destiny. Thisconference (sovereign/not) as a strategyfor any social change must take account ofurban as well as rural citizens (not politi-cal parties, not government nominees andnot necessarily on religious/ regional di-vides) whose spirits influence the qualityof life for the people.

The conference needs be driven to yieldthe structure and context of project Nige-ria acceptable to all and thus enhancegrooming Nigerians to rally round thenational flag for glory and brotherhood.Today, majority of Nigerians, villagers es-pecially, have become powerless and vul-nerable people, whilst political junglefighters (oppressors) are among the mostpowerful, privileged and protected citi-zens. There is need for psycho-analyticalcharacterology audit to mould the ener-gies of Nigerians for the purpose of tiefunctioning of a unified modern Nigeriaand not leave it to conscious decision of

selfish gratification seekers acting to therequirements of an unacceptable culture.

Let the entrepreneurship in good Nige-rians not be stalled or hamstrung, but ratherengineered with its motivation completelyre-engineered.

Existing convoluted structural arrange-ment of the nation-state has only encour-aged the present generation to develop intheir heads and not in their hearts. Theemergence of wantom greed and incorpo-rate social ethic has eventually enhancedselfish individualism and transformed the

Nigerian state into a collective of unsecuredlooters. To achieve success in national har-mony, and moving the country forward forprogress, a new governance framework isimperative, driven by the people with goodleadership; not unpatriotic political entre-preneurs, nor security-seeking yes-menwho are excited by the chance to cut dealsand gamble with the soul of Nigeria. Agood citizen, as a responsive politician,defers to democracy driven by the peoplefor the people.

Our problems lay not necessarily in eth-nicity, but in decline of the protestant eth-ic, lack of trust, unwillingness of the citi-zenry and ignoble actions of political op-pressors. But the real psychological issueis to recognise the Nigerian humanity onequal terms. A major poser for this confer-ence in re-inventing Nigerian is explora-tion of our cognitive style (culture, behav-iour, symbol, religion/history, etc) as a psy-chic finger print for determining the fateof Nigeria: How does the Nigerian satisfysurvival needs for food, shelter, and safe-ty, existential needs for devotion, unity and

BY SUNNY IKHIOYA

Who will save Anambra fromitself

THE issue of Anambra Stateis a classical case study of a

paradox. A state with so much po-tentials in both human and ma-terial resources struggling to finda headway. A state that has pro-duced great leaders for Nigeria -Azikiwes, Okigbos, Ekwensis,Ekwuemes, Anyaokus, Ojukwusand many others, finding it diffi-cult to get leadership to pilot itsaffairs.

A state that, through itscitizens, exported true democra-cy to other lands - Azikiwe, An-yaoku et al - could not conductitself, a credible election to pro-duce a genuine leader.

A state of commerce, with ar-guably the largest market in Af-rica at Onitsha; a people thathave spread their commerce toall nooks and crannies of thecountry, with diverse exposures,could not bring themselves to-gether to agree on who governsthem. They could not bring thedexterity used in electing marketleaders all across the country tobear on who should rule them atthe state level.

A state which is like a beaconto the whole of the South East - ifAnambra gets it right, it willextend to the other states . Why isAnambra State finding it difficultto do it right? Is it out of sheergreed? Or the much acclaimedrepublican nature of the Igbos?Is it in their mores and cultures?

Or, a hereditary trait that wecannot do anything about? Whycan’t they conduct elections withcivility? Why do leaders refuse toaccept defeat?

It is true that the Igbo man ex-hibits a lot of hubris as part ofhis characterisation - ChinuaAchebe wrote so in his bookTHERE WAS A COUNTRY(p.76)... the dangers of hubris,overweening pride, and thought-lessness...- but is that enough forthem not to agree on a commoncandidate, even amongst theirown stock?

The civil war has brought outthe mercantile nature of the Igboman. Anambra State was in thefront line of the Nigerian civil warand the place was greatly rav-aged, that it became a survivalof the fittest situation. Anythingto survive became the norm andvalues were thrown overboard.Money became the primarymeans of recognition. With mon-ey, you have power, if you do nothave money, you are nobody.

As a result of challenges facingthe Nigerian business environ-ment, the quickest access to mon-ey is to be in government. In gov-ernment, you have power andunlimited cash to throw aroundthat even EFCC cannot query.That is why people like the Ubabrothers will do all they can tohave control. Money has so muchbecome the issue that the aver-age Anambrarian does not careabout their common wealth,

which is the government businessand infrastructures.

In fact, at a time, the seat ofpower and the state broadcast-ing corporation were attackedand vandalised by men in oppo-sition backed by money and pow-er. Till date, no arrest or chargeshave been brought against allthose who perpetrated these acts.

If we say the Igbos are republi-cans in nature, Is it not supposedto be an advantage to democra-cy? Republican(ism) recognisesno divine King ship or ruler ship.It is based on individuals andgroupings. It recognises the ma-jority. Why has it not worked inthe Anambra? It has not workedbecause, like the hubris traitearlier mentioned, the Igbos areone of the few tribes in the worldthat still practice discriminationamongst themselves.

They classify some people asOsu and others as true blood. Thetrue blood will never accept theleadership of an Osu man, nomatter how well read, wealthy,intelligent and exposed the osuman is. So, this caste beliefmakes it difficult for true repre-

sentation to be achieved and thishas also been extended to reli-gious denominations; you nowfind the Catholics pitching theircamps against the Anglicans, andso on.

Still on the hubris factor, wehave noticed that in the aca-demia, it is usually a helluva fightto put leaders into positions ofVice Chancellors and other head-ship positions. This, they say,isbecause of the “book-book” and“too know” factors that will notmake one concede leadership tothe other. Such is the situation inAnambra State. In the PDP alone,they could not agree on acandidate until the SupremeCourt decision, one week to theelection. Professor ChukwumaSoludo had to part ways with hisown in-law, Dora Akuyinlibecause of clash in theirgubernatorial interests. In fact,Anambra State has created arecord in terms of number of can-didates filing up for a governorship election. With all of theirintelligence, why can’t they agreeon a simple democratic processto elect their leader.

The situation in Anambra is sosad that it has become the “dogin a manger” cast. If I cannot getit, let nobody get it. That is whythree opposition parties: APC,PDP and LP, perennial rivals,decided to come together as onebody to fight APGA which led inthe earlier poll conducted.

It is time for the collectiveAnambrarians to sit down and re-think their positions. Whose in-terest should come first, is it thecollective or personal ambitions.

The unity of Anambra will ex-

tend to other parts of the countryas the Anambra man is the mostwidely distributed Nigerian be-cause of his trading activities,like the Ogbomosho man in theSouth West and the Hausa/Fulaninomads of the North. So, bring-ing stability to their system willserve a positive influence on oth-ers.

It is important for the diversegroups in Anambra to come to-gether and place their collectivetalents on the table- so to say- tomove the state forward. Talentsin trade, commerce, exposures toother climes, industry, even lead-ership from key individuals likeAnyoaku.

Politics must not be a do or dieaffair. It is the empowerment ofa few individuals to run the af-fairs of the state on behalf of thecollective. Its goal is for the ben-efit of the people.

Those who are not ready to sub-ordinate themselves to the collec-tive will of the people do not de-serve to be in position of govern-ing the people. In other words, ifyou cannot serve others, do notexpect to receive service from thepeople.

The present gladiators in theAnambra gubernatorial electionshould therefore, sincerely reviewtheir actions and act in accor-dance with the common will.

Anyone amongst them thatemerges as winner should be giv-en recognition by all. There isalways another time. Next timemay be yours.

*Mr Ikhioya, a commentator onnational issues, wrote from La-gos

*Mr. Oma-Williams, a CharteredAccountant & Management Consultant,wrote from Lagos.

effectiveness? Right now, majority of Ni-gerians are disillusioned; and disintegra-tion will only heighten segmented disillu-sionment. Therefore, the conference mustpave the way to discover a ‘messiah’ of amodern Nigeria to:Define progress forNigeria, *Get Nigeria moving in anenduring new era embodying a newcompetitive, adventurous spirit with fami-ly values of respect and self-reliance.

Gladiators in theAnambra guber-natorial electionshould sincerelyreview their ac-tions and act inaccordance withthe common will

Our problems lay not necessarily in ethnicity, but indecline of the protestant ethic, lack of trust, unwilling-ness of the citizenry and ignoble actions of political op-pressors

•Ekweremadu: Let there be single term


Continues on page 49

ON single termWHEN the matter came

up at the level of our committeewe were mindful of the politicalatmosphere, we also tried to drawinspiration from what happenedin other jurisdictions, especiallyin Latin America in the seventieswhere they had circumstances inwhich the issue of transition fromone president to another was amajor issue and was causingcrises within their region and theydecided to amend theirconstitution at the time to createsingle term in each of thosecountries, and it was for atransition period.

This helped to stabilise theirdemocracy and now, some of themare amending their constitutionsto go back to two terms of maybefour or five years. So, we felt thatit was something we couldrecommend to our country.

Issue ofsuccession

If you look at what is going onin Nigeria, in both the new PDPand APC are based on the issueof succession. We believe stronglythat that matter is something thatcould be revisited.

But I think the mistake we madein our recommendation waswhen we said incumbents wouldnot benefit from it, and I thinkthere was then some kind ofcoalition of forces to defeat it.

Yes, I believe that if the playersin the polity, that is, thestakeholders are able to cometogether, I believe strongly that itis one way to deal with thesituation. It could be a win-winsituation for everybody and Ibelieve that the one way it couldwork is...now people have beenelected for four years, now leteverybody complete the four year

How we can solve allour problems — Ekweremadu

tenure for which they have beenelected and we can through thedoctrine of necessity do some kindof transition of two years in whichcase, those who are now presentoccupants like the president andthe governors who are finishingtheir term, could now do another

two years that will end in 2017.You see, some of those who arefighting the president, I hear thattheir complaint is that if thepresident gets a second termwhen they are gone that they maystart chasing them. Now if weagree that that could be a way to

solve the problem, after two yearsboth the president and those othergovernors will now exit and thefear will not be there and I believeit will bring down the temperatureof politics.

Of course we don’t have muchproblem with the legislative

THE Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR, has for the second legislative sessionrunning been the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review. In his first advent between 2007and 2011, he led the committee in the first substantive alteration of the 1999 Constitution after two failed attemptsin the preceding legislative sessions. The Ekweremadu Committee is again headed towards other fundamentalalterations of the Committee before the middle of next year. Senator Ekweremadu, in a session with newsmenexpounds on the committee’s positions on some of the issues and juxtaposes his own personal position on someof the issues which he affirms would bring solution on some of the raging issues in the polity. Ekweremadu whowas a key associate of Senate President David Mark in the postulation of the Doctrine of Necessity, in the sessionsuggests the invocation of another doctrine of necessity for the extension of the term of President GoodluckJonathan and all serving governors for the realization of a single term for executive office holders and then theEl dorado he says the nation urgently needs. Excerpts:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

positions, we can go ahead andhold the legislative elections in2015. The advantage will be thatif we do the legislative electionsin 2015, and then we do executiveelections in 2017, then we willhave two year gap for INEC tohave a breathing space to preparewell. You can see what ishappening in Anambra now.INEC needs sufficient time torecover from one election toanother.

I think it is something that weneed to reflect on and see if it issomething that can help to resolvesome of the challenges that arehaving now. And I do hope thatif we are able to do that and weall agree to it, that it is going tosolve even some of the securitychallenges because I do believethat some of the security problemswe are having, some of them arefrom the tension arising frompolitically charged atmosphere.

So, somehow, everybody willbenefit from it, both the president,the governors and all that and allwe need to do is to exercise somepatience and give them two moreyears and they will all exit andwe will start on a clean slate andgo forward.

Cost ofelection

If you say it is five years, sixyears or seven years, we will allagree so that the cost of all thesere-elections and all that and allthe problems that come with itwould have been resolved andpeople will now know that if I ama president or a governor, I havea certain number of years andwhen I finish, I am not going tohunt the president or stop himfrom running again.

Right now what is happeningis that if the governor wants a re-election, he will do all kinds ofthings to stop the opposition andon the other hand someone elsewill accuse the governor of allkinds of stupid things because hewants to have himself elected, soit causes all kinds of problems.

Even the cost of the electionitself, I don’t think that Nigeriacan continue to sustain that. Iknow how much money we havespent on INEC and besides Iknow that politicians themselvesspend a lot of money which mostof them don’t ever declare. So, itis a huge cost to the country, butif we say let there be single termespecially for the executivepositions, some of these costs willhave to be reduced.

So, I am sure that it is somethingthat we have to reflect on, it hasthe potential of dealing with thepolitically charged atmosphere, ithas a way of helping to reducethe cost of election in this countryand I believe that it will even helpin driving a solution to thesecurity challenges.State Police: Every Nigerian

•Extend Jonathan’s tenure to 2017•Extend tenure of all governors to 2017•Implement Single Term for President and Govs from 2017

Vanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 —49

knows my position on this. I havemy personal position, I have myofficial position because I belongto an institution. The Senate atthe level of the Committee onConstitution Amendmentrejected the suggestion for statepolice and so we could not takeit even to the floor and as aperson, it was my job andresponsibility to present thereport of the committee and Ineeded to explain to mycolleagues why we were unableto make that recommendationand the reason we gave was thatthough it has its advantages, butthat Nigeria was not ripe for itand that it was something for thefuture. That is the official positionof the committee that I head.

Now as an individual, I believestrongly that we can never, neverresolve our security challengesin Nigeria as long as we aredoing what we are doing now.Never, never! Let’s continue whatwe are doing, in five years if wemeet again, it would be the sameproblem that we would behaving.

The reason is clear. No othercountry is doing what we aredoing in terms of policing. Mostcountries, especially thefederations, have adopted whatI call decentralised policing andindeed, the issue of state policeis even anachronistic. What isdone is multilevel policing ordecentralised policing.

Decentralisedpolicing

You see, the security challengeshave become very complicated,so you will have to bring acomplicated process to addressit. You cant have a federal type ofgovernment and then adopt theunitary police system and expectthat to succeed.

Even the white men when theycame, they knew that acentralised police can not workin Nigeria and so, the kind ofpolice they set up was the NativeAuthority Police and it worked.

They also introduced thePrisons which were NativeAuthority based and it was later,I think in 1936 that the FederalPolice was set up.

So both the Federal Police andthe local government police wereexisting together until 1966 whenthe army took over.

How we can solve all our problems — EkweremaduContinues from page 48 Unfortunately, the army had set

up a committee, to review thattype of policing at the time and itcame to the conclusion thatpeople were using it to intimidatepolitical enemies and it wasbound to happen because thewhite men did not bother to setup a structure that wouldregulate that kind of police. Therewas nothing like Police ServiceCommission with clearguidelines on how to structurethese Native Authority Police andto be able to determine whatbounds they must stop.

Crimebusiness

But instead of the army findinga solution to reform thatarrangement and make sure thatthere was a level of control orregulation, what they did wasthat they threw away the babywith the bath water and nowcancelled other levels of policeand set up a central policesystem which we have now.

What happened after that? Firstwas armed robbery becausearmed robbers were now goingabout their business everywherebecause you keep postingpolicemen from Kano to Enugu,from Enugu to Calabar, fromCalabar to Ibadan, so you bringpeople who do not know theplace and the armed robbers aretaking advantage of it. So, afterthe armed robbers have takenover the place, now you havekidnappers, ritualists and allsorts of people coming into thecrime business.

The police we have they are notgrounded, they don’t know theenvironment they are operating.Let’s give an example that yousend a male Southerner, maybe,a Christian to Sokoto and thenin the course of his beat and hestarts pursuing the person. Onceyou run into a house, he cannotgo further because if there is awoman who is staying there, heis not allowed to go into thehouse.

So, there are culturaldifferences that we have torespect and the only way we cando that is to get a policeman whois part of the culture of the place,who respects the culture andknows the environment and whostays there and as long as he isdoing the police work, he knowseverybody there.

What they do now in mostcountries is not state police, butdecentralized policing or multi-level policing which means thatin Abuja for instance, we willhave the federal police, then wewill have the Abuja FederalCapital Territory Police, thenthose of us who live in Apo, willhave our own police and then theUniversity of Abuja will have itsown police and these are all wellcoordinated. So, if there is anoffence in Apo for instance, thefirst police you will call is thepoliceman who lives on yourstreet and the man appears therein seconds.

So, if he thinks it is somethingthat he cannot handle, then hewill call his colleagues who livein other areas of Apo and if itbecomes too much for them, they

will call the FCT police and if itis still too much for them, theywill now call in the federal policeand by the time you finish allthese, they would have arrestedthe criminal.

In America they commit crimeeverywhere and everyday, butthe difference is that no matterwhere you go, they will find youbecause they are everywhereand they know what happenswithin the environment theyoperate.

Are you going to debate therecommendations of theNational Dialogue?

What problem do you have withour debating it?

There is a perception that if thepeople say that this is what theywant that you shouldn’t tamperwith it?

Legislative process is a timeconsuming process and it ismeticulous. The product of alegislative process is expected toendure for a very long time andthat is why it is painstaking. So,if it is brought to parliament it hasto go through the whole processbecause people’s lives areinvolved and there is nolegislation more important thanthe constitution. So, if somepeople come together and agreeon a constitution and bring it to

the parliament, we have to lookat it line by line, to make surethat everything is right becauseafter all, they are the duly electedrepresentatives of the people.

There may not be fundamentalchanges to it, but they are goingto be subjected to debate becauseseveral heads are better thanone. It is critical that it should besubjected to legislative processand when that happens we wouldbe assured that the whole processhas been completed.

There is no way you can sitdown in Abuja, bring somepeople together, they craft aconstitution together and itbecomes law. It doesn’t happenanywhere in the world.

Ultimatelegislative body

Assuming we had a militaryregime, it is possible that you canbring people, set up aConstituent Assembly becausethere is no parliament and sothey can agree on whatever theywant to be the constitution. Butnot where you have an institutionrecognized by the constitution asthe ultimate legislative body andyou go and duplicate thatinstitution by bringing another setof people by asking them to goand do a constitution. You areasking for anarchy.

We hope that those who willcome for the national dialoguewill realize this, and know thatnobody can escape the necessityof sending the outcome to theNational Assembly and even tothe State assemblies so that it willgo through the whole hog inaccordance with the law.

Why have been hot and coldon creation of new states?

We have never said that it isimpossible, what we haveconsistently said is that it is verydifficult and I still maintain thatit is difficult. Because a situationwhere you have to generatecertain signatures and then bringit to the National Assembly, whichwill then deliberate on it and thensend it to the IndependentNational Electoral Commissionfor referendum within the areathat wants to be a state and afterthat you will now send it to allthe states of the federationirrespective of where thedemand is coming from.

If you are requesting for a statein Calabar, you will have to sendit to Sokoto and when they finish,in those State Houses ofAssembly, you will bring it backto the National Assembly to voteand it is only when it passesthrough that it now becomes astate. If that is not difficult, Iwonder then what is difficult.

We are not saying that it isimpossible, but we encouragepeople to try the process, let’s seehow far that they can go.

•Ekweremadu: Elections cause of most of our problems

•Proclaim a Doctrine of Necessity.•Instead of contesting in 2015, President Jonathan’s tenure should be extendedto 2017 and he leaves office.•The tenure of all governors would also be extended to 2015 and they wouldall leave office in 2017.•The new president and new governors would serve single term.•National Assembly, and State Assembly elections would still hold in 2015which will give a break between executive and legislative elections.•Introduce Multi Level Policing in the country.

EKWEREMADU'S POSTULATIONS

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY

5050505050 — — — — — V V V V Vanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard,,,,, MOND MOND MOND MOND MONDAAAAAYYYYY, , , , , DECEMBER 2,DECEMBER 2,DECEMBER 2,DECEMBER 2,DECEMBER 2, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Pretty Lunatic’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

HOME & ABROAD By Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

LIBRA; If you back your financial plans with concreteand positive actions things’ll go according to your desire.If you fail to realise importance of your spouse you wouldwork your way into avoidable trouble; aren’t you tired ofcrisis?

SCORPIO; Your intelligence, competence and level ofconcentration may today bring you envy, which you don’tdeserve within your working arena in a negative form but.

SAGITTARIUS; The Moon highlights your Solarsecond house of money which is good but, if you try to buytrue love with money, you’ll be disappointed

CAPRICORN; The. Moon in your Star sign’ll gives younew confidence and with new supports from the powers-that-be, it’s like you are now un-stop-able. But be cautious,especially with the veterans within your base of operation

AQUARIUS; Better days are ahead of you but, you willtoday need to do away with non-productive argument and/or agreement. Try to be more diplomatic now.

PISCES; If what you’re doing today’ll depend ontomorrow’s event it’s better you’re more careful now. Eventhings may not go according to your personal plans today.Yet it’s important you plan both your immediate and farfuture carefully now

ARIES; If you take to aggression, your ego would bedeflated by your superior colleagues, but your being co-operative in a civilised way’ll prevent trouble

TAURUS; Those willing to put you to shame one way orthe other’ll be disappointed with the turn of things today.It’s good to secure support of your spouse.

GEMINI; You’ve had enough of fun in the recent timesand it’s now time you settle down for hard work in order toprevent avoidable trouble. Be patient please.

CANCER; Your concentration level and determinationare the pillars of your success today. Yet you’ll need torespect your senior colleagues and protect your image

LEO; It’s true you’re willing to work harder but you justhave to drop both aggression and mental arrogance toallow things to roll accordingly. Then, you’re accidentprone within your working arena. Respect the law and itsagents today.

VIRGO; Serious thought may be giving to matters ofthe heart but it’s better you tarry a while. Joint ventures ofshort duration today may be an invitation to avoidabletrouble

Success for me?Dear Joshua,I am interested in your Astrological counselling. Kindly

tell me everything about myself, especially my financeand career; would I be rich eventually, if yes what shouldI do to make it happen quickly.

Suleyman Enugu.

Dear Suleyman,There are indications of financial success for you but you

can not change what Almighty God Has designed for youtalking about the timing (the quickness you talked in yourletter) Certainly however no failure for you.

Mercury –the planet of education and Accountancy,together with mighty Sun at positive angle to planets inVirgo (another Accounting Star sign) attracted you to bothAccountancy profession and the academic world. Trulyyou did not make wrong choice of career.

Money will eventually come along this line but it’ll notbe as faster as if you take to OIL RELATED BUSINESS.Because Neptune (the planet of OIL) was very comfortablewhen you were born. It will not be out of place if you havefilling stations as time goes by, because you are basicallya GAS PERSON. Another money spinning vocation foryou include writing either along your line or for filmmaking industry; it is important you exhibit the higherquotient of creativity in your inner-self. Yes your dream ofbecoming A Professor will come to reality. Politics isanother area you are not looking at now but will surelycome. Do you say why? Because Aquarius is equallypolitical

Venus that was powerfully placed when you were bornis all about MONEY. Thus you have special ability tomake money. And as it was at positive angle to disciplinedSaturn, you are not giving to serious frivolity. One majorchallenge here is envy by others but you will eventuallyovercome. Another source of challenges is your love lifewhich looks not totally balanced.

Basically you are a family minded person. You are equallyloving and caring. But sometimes your love of freedomget better off you to the resentment of your closerpartner(s).Then some other times it is other party’s faultmaking love-business very interesting. And unless youare more careful and determined you may marry morethan once.

Think less...

I believe we allthink of one

thing or the other.I also b elieve thatwe either think ofourselves orothers. Where theworld is today andwhere it will be

tomorrow, is afunction of ourthought. Theworld is where it istoday and how it istoday because ofthe way we thinkand what we think

about.If I may ask you,

what do you thinkabout most of thetimes? Do youthink more oryourself? Do youthink more of your

personal gain? Doyou think often ofwhat is in it foryou?For a harmonious

world, think less ofyourself, thinkmore of others,and think of thegeneral good.

VVVVVanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 — , MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 — , MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 — , MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 — , MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 — 51 51 51 51 51

B-R-I-E-F-SB-R-I-E-F-SB-R-I-E-F-SB-R-I-E-F-SB-R-I-E-F-S

•Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela

Mandela's grandson faces assault chargesSOUTH Africa will

charge one ofNelson Mandela’sgrandsons with assaultand brandishing a gun atanother man, aprosecutor’s official saidyesterday in a furtherembarrassment for theanti-apartheid hero’slarge and fractiousfamily.

Mandla Mandela isdue to appear in court onFriday, Luxolo Tyali, aspokesman for theNational ProsecutingAuthority, told Reuters.“The NPA has decided toprosecute him andsummons have beenissued,” Tyali said.

South Africa’s SundayTimes newspaper saidthe younger Mandelawas reported to havedrawn a gun on a 44-year-old teacher whosevehicle had collided withone driven by a guest ofMandla Mandela’s.

The teacher later had toundergo emergencysurgery to remove ablood clot from his brain,the newspaper said. A

••• as securitymen fire tear gasin Tahrir Square

EGYPTIAN securityforces fired teargas

in Cairo’s Tahrir Squareto disperse anti-government protesterson ysterday, as a newconstitution thatreinforces the military’spolitical power edgedcloser to approval.

The draft constitution

reflects how the balanceof power has shifted inEgypt since secular-minded generalsdeposed IslamistPresident MohamedMursi in July after massprotests against him. Itcontains language thatcould ban Islamistparties outright.

Thai protests escalate amidviolence

TENSION continuesto rise in Thailand’s

capital, Bangkok, afterthe dispersal of red-shirted governmentsupporters followingdeadly clashes witho p p o s i t i o n

demonstrators.Riot police fired tear-gasat protesters trying toforce their way into theoffice compound of theprime minister, YingluckShinawatra, andBangkok’s policeheadquarters yesterday.

White House urges N/Korea tofree US man

THE White House hasurged North Korea to

release Merrill Newman,an 85-year-old US veteranof the Korean War who hasbeen held in North Koreancustody since last month.

“Given Mr Newman’sadvanced age and health

conditions, we urge theDPRK to release MrNewman so he may returnhome and reunite with hisfamily,” Caitlin Hayden, aspokeswoman for theWhite House NationalSecurity Council, said onSaturday.

spokesman for theyounger Mandela hassaid the incident neverhappened and theaccusation was “purefabrication”.

Tyali spelled out thecharges facing MandlaMandela but declined togive details of theincident.

Mandla Mandela madeheadlines earlier this yearwhen a judge orderedhim to return the remainsof three of NelsonMandela’s children -including those of hisfather - from a memorialcenter dedicated to hisgrandfather where he hadmoved them two yearsago.

4 killed, 63 injured in New York train disaster

Emegency workers work at the site of the New York train crash

FOUR people have beenkilled and 63 injured in

a passenger train disasterin the Bronx area of NewYork City.Eleven of theinjured were believed to bein critical condition inhospital.

The Metro-North train’slocomotive and carriagesderailed as the train wentinto a bend in the railwayline near Spuyten Duyvilstation.

At least one eyewitnesssaid the train , the 05:54from Poughkeepsie toGrand Central Station wastravelling much faster thannormal at the time.

None of the carriageswent into the adjacentHudson or Harlem rivers -although pictures from thescene suggest this nearlyhappened.

The train appeared to begoing “a lot faster’’ than

normal as it approached thecurve coming into thestation, passenger FrankTatulli told WABC-TV.

M e t r o p o l i t a nTransportation Authorityspokeswoman MarjorieAnders said the curvewhere the derailmentoccurred was in a slowspeed area, and that thetrain’s black box recordershould be able to tell howfast the train was travelling.

Mali’s Tuaregfighters endceasefire

SEPARATIST Tuaregrebels have ended a

five-month-old ceasefirewith Mali’s governmentand are taking up armsfollowing violence inKidal.

The declaration at theweekend came a day afterMalian troops clashedwith stone-throwingprotesters who blocked avisit by Oumar Tatam Ly,Mali’s prime minister, toKidal, a rebel-controllednortheastern town.

Several demonstratorswere wounded but therewere conflicting accountsof how the incidentstarted.

“The political andmilitary wings of theAzawad declare the liftingof the ceasefire with thecentral government inBamako,” said a statementby Attaye Ag Mohamed,one of the founders of theMNLA, or the NationalMovement for theLiberation of Azawad.

The West African countryis in the process ofreturning to civilian ruleafter a Tuareg uprisingthat led to a coup last yearand the occupation ofthe north of the countryby al-Qaeda-linkedfighters.

Over 100,000 defy protest ban in Ukraine

MORE than 100,000demonstrators have

chased away police to rallyin the centre of Ukraine’scapital, defying agovernment ban on protestsin Independence Square, inthe biggest show of anger

over the president’s refusalto sign an agreement withthe European Union.

Chants of “revolution’’resounded across a sea ofEU and Ukrainian flags onthe square, where the

government had prohibitedrallies starting yesterday.

A group of protesters useda tractor to try to breakthrough police lines nearthe office of President ViktorYanukovich, eyewitnessessaid.

Canadian police arrest man spying for China

CANADIAN police havearrested a Toronto man

suspected of seeking to giveChina classified informationabout Canadian shipbuild-ing procurement policies, se-

curity officials said yester-day.

Jennifer Strachan, a chiefsuperintendent with theRoyal Canadian MountedPolice, told a news confer-

ence that Canadian citizenQing Quentin Huang, 53,faced two charges of at-tempting to communicatewith a foreign entity.

Egypt’s draft constitution givesarmy political role

EGYPT’s new constitution, according to

a draft text completed onSaturday nearly fivemonths after the armydeposed an Islamistpresident, will bolster themilitary’s hand and banreligious parties.

The constitution, ex-pected to be put to a ref-erendum in December, ispart of an army-planned

political transition meantto lead to parliamentaryand presidential elec-tions next year.

“In the early hours ofthe morning the assem-bly (reached) an overallconsensus over the con-stitution articles,” itschairman, former ArabLeague chief AmrMoussa, told a newsconference.

Iran assures Gulf states onnuclear deal

IRANIAN ForeignMinister Mohammad

Javad Zarif assured GulfArab states yesterdayhis country’s nucleardeal with the West is intheir interest and alsoannounced plans to visitSaudi Arabia.

“The solution to this

issue serves theinterests of all countriesin the region. It is not atthe expense of any statein the region,” Zarif saidat a joint newsconference after meetingKuwaiti counterpartSheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah.

CAR interim leader deniesgenocide threat

CENTRAL African Republic transitional

leader Michel Djotodiaon Saturday denied Eu-ropean assertions that hiscountry was on the brinkof genocide and all-outinter-religious war.

The impoverished butmineral-rich nation of 4.6million has descendedinto chaos since Djotodialed Seleka rebels, many ofthem from neighbouring

Chad and Sudan, to theriverside capital inMarch, ousting PresidentFrancois Bozize.

Though Djotodia hasdissolved the rebel coali-tion, which has been ac-cused of human rightsabuses, his government’sfailure to stem the vio-lence has prompted callsat the U.N. SecurityCouncil for internationalintervention to restore or-der.


OJO CANTONMENT:Ojikutu family demands N24bncompensation

BY JUDE NJOKU

LAGOS — THE land dispute between the OjikutuFamily and the Nigerian Army over acquisition

of 166.6 acres of land, part of which was used tobuild the Military Cantonment in Ojo, Lagos, tooka new twist last week, as the family demanded pay-ment of N24 billion compensation and compoundinterest on delayed payment since 1974.

The family, represented by Alhaji Shehu Ojikutu,Alhaja Amori Animashaun, Chief (Mrs) IyaboForesythe and Abajomi Ojikutu, explained that ifthe Nigerian Army fails to pay the money, it (fam-ily) “would seek to attract public opinion and seekredress under international charters to obtain re-prieve.”

The family in a statement dated November 25,2013, recalled a letter it wrote to the Minister ofDefence. In the said letter, the family craved, amongother things, “the release and gazetting of the 160acres of our land outside the fenced portion of theOjo Army Cantonment land and the removal of all

several entreatiesthereon,” the family la-mented.

They noted that theMinistry of Defence in aletter reference AD/LAD/006/T/136, dated April24, 2013, informed thefamily of a pending in-spection by a 13-maninter-ministerial com-mittee constituted to re-solve outstanding issuesover the unused 160acres of land excisedand fenced off from theOjo Military Canton-ment.

The family said: “Theimmediate past Ministerof State for Defencegranted an approval forout of court settlement

and seven days site inspection visit of the Ojo Mili-tary Cantonment, Lagos by the inter-ministerial com-mittee to resolve the whole issue.

"'The said Minister of State for Defence. accordingto our investigation, vide reference letter No.AD/LAD/006/116 approved the release of the unusedland and the exercise would involve the processingof the Deed of Release and official gazette of thereturned land to address the issue once and for all.”

Vanguard gathered from court proceedings thatthe Nigerian Army maintained that it did not knowthe Ojikutu Family and has no dealings with theclaimants. The Army insisted that it only knows theFederal Ministry of Works and Housing.

No unused portion of the land is beingsold—Army

In an affidavit he deposed to, Lt-Col R J. Alexanderposited that no part of the land had been released.

He said: “To my knowledge, no part of the land hasbeen released. But records available in my office showsthat compensation has been duly paid for the land.

"It is not true that the unused portion of the land isbeing sold. No personnel of the Nigerian Army in-cluding the Chief of Army Staff has power to sell landbelonging to the Army.”

Describing the claimants as busy bodies and insist-ing that he only knew the second defendant (Minis-try of Works), Lt. Col Alexander agreed that "ExhibitM refers to the plaintiff as number 13 and name of thecounsel list thereon. I don’t know if their cousel waspaid any money.”

structures constructed on same indisregard of the court order; andan undertaking given by the At-torney-General of the Federationand the Ministry of Defence aswell as the immediate payment ofcompensation for the used portion(6.66 acres) plus interest on de-layed payment since acquisition in1974.”

Fenced off portion beingsold off

Attached to the statement weredocuments and an allegation thatthe excised and fenced off portion“is now being sold off privately andillegally by the Nigerian Army tothemselves and to private indi-viduals with payments beingmade directly to the Chief of ArmyStaff bank account contrary to thepurpose of acquisition, the court order made over13 years ago and the undertaking given to the HighCourt by the Attorney-General of the Federation andMinistry of Defence.”

In the 14-point statement, the family claimed thatthe Federal Ministry of Works and Housing throughwhom the land was acquired by the Federal Gov-ernment of Nigeria, duly notified the Nigerian Armyof the Ojikutu Family ownership without any ad-verse claim from any other party.

The statement said: “However, no compensationwhatsoever has been paid till date in spite of theOjikutu family having made claims to the FederalMinistry of Works and Housing.

"Evidence before the Federal High Court showedthat 160 acres of the initial 166.6 acres of the landin question that was acquired for public use wasfenced off by the army from the Ojo Military Can-tonment’s land.”

Out of court settlement

The family further recalled that it was invited bythe Ministry of Defence to Abuja between August 6and 8, 2012 for the purpose of an amicable resolu-tion and out of court settlement of the almost 14-year-old suit which is still pending at a FederalHigh Court in Lagos.

“The outcome of the meeting which was held alittle over a year ago is yet to be communicated tothe Ojikutu family by the Ministry of Defence, dueto opposition by the Chief of Army Staff in spite of

Lt. Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, Chief of Army Staff

Mohammed Bello Adoke, Attorney-Gen-eral of the Federation

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addressed as Mrs.

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former documents

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public please take note.

K O M O L A F E — I ,formerly known asand addressed asMiss Komolafe AgnesAjibola, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Ogunwusi AgnesAjibola. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of namesThis is to certify that thenames Alobu PerpetuaEbere and OgbodoPerpetua Ebere, refer toone and the sameperson as NnajiPerpetua Ebere. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

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Correction of nameThis is to notify thegeneral public that myname was wronglywritten in NECO Ex-amination held inJune/July 2012 withExamination No.23966665JB, as WilkeyLois, instead of WilkieLois. All former docu-ments remain valid.NECO and generalpublic please take note.

01- 8737025

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VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE


•Continued from BP

on Saturday after FranckBeria was sent off.

The Nigerian has nowgone 945 minutes withoutconceding a goal as Lillehave not lost in 10 match-es. He is closing in on theLigue 1 record of 1,176minutes held by GaetanHuard during the 1992-93 season with Bordeaux.

He was voted the bestplayer in the French topflight for the month ofOctober.

Enyeama

1980 and 1994 Africa Na-tions Cup winning Eagles,there was strong under-standing among the play-ers, every player knew theposition to be and get theball at a particular timeeven if you close youreyes.”

Elsewhere, in his regu-lar Sunday column, Ode-gbami commended the in-dividual brilliance of theSuper Eagles players, say-ing, “the strength of thepresent team is youthful-ness, hunger to succeed,unity and discipline in theteam, the players’ enthusi-asm and athleticism.”

Odegbami, however be-lieves to succeed at theWorld Cup, the team needsmore technical depth andtactical discipline.

Odegbami

The award was present-ed by Gombe State Gover-nor, Dr Ibrahim HassanDankwambo to round offthe Annual General Meet-ing of the Nigeria OlympicCommittee which was heldlast week.

At the night of glitz at theGovernment house in Go-mbe, the Nigeria FootballFederation with the stringof successes recorded bythe Golden Eaglets and theSuper Eagles who won theAfrican Cup of Nations andqualified Nigeria for the2014 World Cup in Brazilnext year was adjudged theMost Improved Sport Fed-eration and received a glit-tering trophy for bringingback joy to Nigerians infootball. When the award tothe NFF was announced,the rapturous applause thatfollowed no doubt showedthat it was one well de-served.

Others who walked tallwith awards in the nightinclude, Chief host, Gover-nor of Gombe State DrDankwambo who won theIcon of Grassroots SportsDevelopment award, Direc-tor General of the NationalSports Commission, HonGbenga Elegbeleye wonthe award for Outstanding

Okagbare contribution to sports de-velopment while IOCmember Engr Habu Gumelwon the award for Out-standing Achievement inSports Administration. DrLanre Glover, Major Gen-eral Adamu Dyeri, Gener-al Ayeni also won awardswhile D’Tigers(male na-tional Basketball team) wonthe award for the Outstand-ing Team of the year.

For his exemplary lead-ership style that has yield-ed results within such ashort period as Sports Min-ister, Mallam Bolaji Abdul-lahi was honoured with the

award for Champion of aNew Sport Architecture.

President of the NOC,Engr. Sani M. Ndanusasaid that the awards werepurely based on merit andwas meant to encouragethe winners and others tostrive hard and to know thatNigerians were apprecia-tive of their contributions tothe country.

Governor Dankwambopraised the NOC for beingblessed with the quality ofleaders as exemplified byEngr Ndanusa and prom-ised to turn Gombe State toa Mecca of sports.

Substitute Ronny Rode-lin scored the only goalfor Lille in the 47thminute.

“It wasn’t easy, I thinkwe went through everytype of emotion,” Lillecoach Rene Girard toldmedia.

“Ten matches in a rowwithout conceding agoal, that’s a first in mycareer,” added Girard.

“It shows the characterof this team.”

Lille are in the top threebehind Monaco andPSG.



SUPER Eagles andFenerbahce forward

Emmanuel Emenike con-tinued his impressive formfor the Yellow Canaries onSaturday night by gettingon the score sheet for his5th league goal in the 3-3home draw againstMichael Eneramo’s Be-siktas. While Emenikestarted and played the en-tire duration of the encoun-ter, his compatriot on theopposite bench Eneramowho has struggled forplaying time since arrivingat Besiktas in the summersat out the clash.

A ninth minute strike

Emenike on targetbroke the deadlock to putthe visitors in front but aswift response by Fener-bahce through Emenikerestored parity three min-utes later.

Mousa Sow struck in-side the 37th minute to putthe home side in front buta sloppy defending in theclosing stages of the sec-ond half by Fenerbahcesaw Besiktas netting andequalizer and eventuallytaking the lead just beforethe half time whistle asHugo Almeida strucktwice within three minutesto hand Besiktas a 3-2 leadat half time.

CROSS River State atthe weekend in Ilor-

in retained its title at theSterling Bank-sponsored6th National SchoolSports Festival after com-ing top on the overallmedals’ table, therebywinning the trophy forkeeps after winning it forthree consecutive times.

The state finished with115 gold, 78 silver and 61bronze medals. Lagoscame second, after gar-nering 49 gold, 43 silverand 54 bronze medals;Anambra with the largestnumber of contingent was

Nat’l School Sports Festival:Cross River retains title

third with 48 gold, 49 sil-ver and 63 bronze med-als.

Ondo State came forth,with 32 gold, 46 silverand 56 bronze medals,while host state was fifthwith16 gold, 21 silverand 30 bronze medals.

Benue and Adamawaended the festival with-out a medal to show fortheir effort.

The climax of the clos-ing ceremony was the fi-nal of the football eventin the U-17 category andthe 4X100 meters relay inU-13 and U-15 categories.

•Abdullahi

CMYK

The vexing Keshiquestion(s)

I had set out to entitle this week’s column Diary ofa football traveler ( whatever that means). I want-

ed to use the column to talk about very interestingexperiences as I jumped in and out of planes in thecourse of my football assignments.

I had wanted to talk about my new gait as I receivedaccolades over Nigeria’s double barrel achievementof winning the FIFA U-17 trophy and qualifying forthe world Cup. Congratulations,Felicitations…..became a familiar refrain in my earsas I basked in the euphoria of a once again proudfootball playing country.

I wanted to talk about the Algerian football fans whoas early as noon had jam packed the stadium in Blidafor a match whose kick off was fixed for 7pm.

Security wise, the public address system had to beused to tell the fans to get back home that there wasno more space in the stadium. Then came the effortsto control their long wait even as the cold bit deep.

What a crowd, all clad in green and white and ev-ery single one of them clutching a national flag, sing-ing repeatedly with the flags held aloft.

This is the crowd referred to in football parlance asthe twelfth player! About a week later I found myselfin Lubumbashi for the second leg final of the CAFConfederation Cup between CS Sfaxien and ToutPuissant Mazembe.

Again what a crowd that turned out at theT.P.Mazembe Stadium to cheer their team to victory.In the 20,000 capacity stadium you could hardly findten people who were not in the famous T.P colours ofwhite and black. What an atmosphere and ambienceto behold.

On arriving Nairobi last Tuesday and seeing a FIFAplane parked on the tarmac, I had wondered whyNigeria was excluded this year from the World Cuptrophy tour. Would have been very proper to have thatCup come visiting , come buoy our expectations as apeople as we prepare to travel to the land of footballSamba.

Still in Nairobi, I believed it was not fair for me tohave to travel out of the country before I could readabout Nigerian teams involved in a continental bas-

ketball competition. The Daily Nation Newspaper in-formed me that morning that USIU of Kenya had de-feated Dolphins of Nigeria by 61-44 in the AfricanWomen’s Basketball Club Championship going on inMekness in Morocco.

The paper went on to say that another Nigerian ClubFirst Deep Water was better placed, beating EaglesWings also of Kenya by 71 baskets to 69. I now under-stand why the so called lesser sports demand a bitmore interest from journalists in their sports!

I wanted to talk about all these and more, but decid-ed to focus on the current situation, the vexing Keshiquestion, one in which the media has latched on andis not ready to let go until the Eagles board their planeto Brazil.

The question comes in different forms.“ Sir don’t you think that the way we played against

Ethiopia, though we won, that we need to strengthenour technical bench?”

Or, “ Sir don’t you think it will be counter produc-


tive to employ a foreign coach to destabilize Keshiand his colleagues now that they have done a fine jobto qualify us for the world cup?

There is even a third question bordering on the re-turn of players Keshi has considered surplus to hisrequirements.

Most of the time, I have told my young colleaguesthat “ I don’t think anything” and that they shouldspare me the catch of being a member of the TechnicalCommittee of the NFF. The committee does not haveto meet on this. I have a personal opinion. That it isup to Keshi to decide what he wants for his team ei-ther on the technical bench or on the reserve bench.

Despite the good intentions, history does not favourus going into the world cup with changed coaches. Ibelieve we have learnt our lesson, just as we knowthat qualification is now behind us and just going toBrazil to make the numbers will not be enough. It isthe wish of millions of people to see Nigeria as thatAfrican country that wins the world Cup and to beable to do so you must at least get to the final throughthe quarter and semi final stages.

I believe I can rest this case this way.

Golden Eaglets parents

THIS column would not have been complete if Idid not go back to last week and what some have

described as “…. your best column ever”That some of those credits came from colleagues like

Onochie, Ubani, Sadiq Daba ( Yes the same ) delightsyours truly. There was the NFF President himself whowished President Jonathan will get to read it andvowed to do everything possible to guarantee the fu-ture of those kids.

Dr Ferife, Dandy Idundun, the popular couturierTex Egbedi, Chief Asudo Godwin, Francis Ibe, TitiAdelanwa and others too many to mention…….I wishI could publish your comments which were as hilari-ous as the column itself. Happy that we used humourto drive the message home.

See you next week.

,,Despite the good intentions, historydoes not favour us going into theworld cup with changed coaches

CMYK


LIVERPOOL lostground on table-

topping Arsenal as strikesfrom Jake Livermore andDavid Meyler, as well asa Martin Skrtel own goal,handed Hull a surprise 3-1 victory at the KC Stadi-um.

The Reds were withoutthe prolific Daniel Stur-ridge as he began whatcould be a stint of up toeight weeks on the side-lines after suffering ankleligament damage in train-ing on Friday.

Rodgers had recalledVictor Moses and Ra-heem Sterling, the lattermaking his first startsince October 5, but theyproved inadequate re-placements for Sturridgeand Liverpool’s consola-tion, a first-half equalis-er, came from the morereliable source of a StevenGerrard free-kick.

Hull had gone aheadthrough Livermore’s firstof the season, via anoth-er Skrtel deflection, andtook a deserved leadwhen Meyler buried alow shot in the 72ndminute.

Rodgers side lost allsense of shape as they at-tempted to retrieve thegame and conceded athird when Tom Huddle-stone’s off-target effortwas nodded home bySkrtel.

SHOLA Ameobi hashailed the ‘togeth-

erness’ in the Newcas-tle United squad afterthey recorded a fourthstraight league win, witha 2-1 win over WestBrom .

“It’s been a fantasticNovember for us.

”A lot has been made ofour consistency and Ithink we’ve proved we’rea side that can bring itweek in week out, andthat was a tough game for

Moses falls with LiverpoolWAYNE Rooney

scored a brace,including a penalty, asManchester United twicecame from behind to draw2-2 at Tottenham Hotspuron Sunday night, but itwas a reality check for thePremier League champi-ons.

Spurs led twice,through a Kyle Walkerfree kick and then a stun-ning strike from Sandro,but Rooney hit back oneach occasion to extendUnited’s unbeaten recordto 12 games in all their

Rooney rescues Man Ucompetitions.

However, David Moyes’side were thankful to leaveWhite Hart Lane with apoint, but having alsodrawn 2-2 at Cardiff Citylast weekend, this was an-other missed opportunityto gain ground on the topfour.

Following the euphoriaof the 5-0 midweek thrash-ing of Bayer Leverkusen inthe Champions League,United remain in eighthplace in the PremierLeague, nine points be-hind leaders Arsenal.

Ameobi hails Newcastle fighting spiritus but we’ve grinded itout and we’re all delight-ed. ”I think there’s a to-getherness in the squad,”the experienced forwardtold Sky Sports.

”Obviously if you’regoing to win games ev-erybody has to pull in theright direction and we’vegot a system here thatwe’ve all bought into andit’s working for us andwe’re delighted we’reable to give our fans thatsort of victory.

KEVIN Strootmanleveled in the final

minute to rescue Roma’sunbeaten record as thecapital side snatched a 1-1 draw at Atalanta in theItalian league on Sun-day.

There was better newsfor AC Milan as a MarioBalotelli free kick helpedit beat Catania 3-1 for itsfirst win in six leaguematches, while a last-minute equalizer sawSampdoria earn a 1-1draw at Inter Milan, infront of new NerazzurriPresident Erick Thohir.

Davide Brivio’s freekick seemed enough toinflict a first defeat onRoma, but Strootmanpounced at the death.

Roma remain unbeaten

FULHAM have confirmed the sacking

of Martin Jol and imme-diately inserted ReneMeulensteen as first-team boss.

The Dutchman’s sack-ing comes on the back offive Premier League de-feats which leaves Ful-

ham 18th in the table.‘Today I spoke with

Martin to thank him forhis efforts on behalf ofFulham Football Clubover the past three sea-sons and, in particular,since my becoming chair-man earlier this year,’ saidShahid Khan.'

ARSENAL managerArsene Wenger is

Wenger wary of title talkrefusing to get swept upin all the title talk sur-rounding the club.

“Let’s go a few moregames,” said Wenger.

“It’s still a bit early forme, but what is good forus is that we can showconsistency and that’s al-ways a very good sign fora team.

“Every win makes youa bit stronger.

“If we can take care ofthe concentration leveland the desire to improvethen we will have a goodchance.”

He added: “The differ-

ence between the teamsnow is not very big.

“As soon as you relax abit or are not focused 100per cent you drop pointsso that’s basically one ofour targets is to go intothe game every time with100 per cent focus.”Fulham fire Jol

MARIO Balotelliwas substituted

by AC Milan coach Mas-similiano Allegri in theSerie A Sunday lunch-time win over Cataniaafter appearing to accuseNicolas Spolli of racial

Balotelli ‘racially abused’abuse.

Balotelli, who scoredMilan’s second goal ofthe game, had to be heldback by his teammatesafter confronting Spollifollowing a tackle with theCatania defender.

Hull City's defender Maynor Figueroa (R) is tackled byLiverpool's VictorMoses during the English Premier League match at the KC Stadium yesterday,Hull City won 3-1. Photo: AFP

•Rooney celebrates

•Totti

•Wenger

•Ameobi

CMYK

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How to Play Sudoku

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

VVVVVanguard,anguard,anguard,anguard,anguard, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013 MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

Across1 Employer (4)4 Objective (3)6 Saucy (4)8 Steal (6)9 Spot (6)10 Append (3)12 Tender (5)14 Obscure (5)15 Nobleman (5)18 Refuse (6)20 Started (6)24 Famous (5)26 Frighten (5)28 Shy (5)30 Newt (3)32 Prey (6)33 Elevated (6)34 Idol (4)35 Faucet (3)36 Entrance (4)

Down2 Unbending (5)3 Mirror (7)4 Atmosphere (4)5 Object (4)6 Leaf (5)7 Hermit (7)11 Fellow (3)12 Lubricate (3)13 Fish-eggs (3)16 Vase (3)17 Child (3)19 Slope (7)21 Favourite (3)22 Revising (7)23 Defective (3)25 Away (3)27 Proportion (5)29 Clumsy (5)30 Discharge (4)31 Excursion (4)

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

Across: 2, Feast 7, Demur 8, Cache 10, Mak-er 12, Zoo 13, Hades 15, Matelot 17, Eroded19, Net 20, Rickets 23, Veer 25, Ease 26, De-luded 30, Fit 31, Demise 34, Saluted 37,Model 38, Cos 39, Depot 40, Legal 41, Tower42, Seem

Down: 1, Debar 2, Fumed 3, Eraser 4, Seem5, Gazette 6, Shoot 9, Col 11, Ranked 13,Heavy 14, Doped 16, Tee 18, Diluted 21, Sap-id 22, Revel 24, Refusal 27, Lit 28, Demote29, Faced 32, Motor 33, Sewer 35, Log 36,Dear.

Continues on Page 53

FORMER Green Ea-gles captain and

1980 Africa Cup of Na-tions winner, Segun Ode-gbami has said there isstill time for the currentSuper Eagles to improve,as he believes the teamlacks cohesion.

The former nationalteam and Shooting Starswinger, who was nick-named ‘Mathematical’ inhis playing days, toldRadio Nigeria that thecurrent Super Eagles lackcohesion, as they are yetto properly blend.

“The present Super Ea-gles lack cohesion, theyare a bunch of individualtalents and skilful playersand they can only makea good team in a tourna-ment like the World Cupif they are properlyblended,” Odegbamisaid.

Continuing, Odegbamirecalled, “If you study the

Odegbami: Eagleslack cohesion

NIGERIA’S Trackand Long Jump

Queen, Blessing Okag-bare has been honouredwith the prestigiousaward of 2013 Athlete ofthe Year by the NigeriaOlympic Committee,NOC, for her incredibleperformance in the yearunder review.

Okagbare’s sterlingperformance at the Mos-cow World Athleticschampionship where shewon silver and bronzemedals in the long jumpand tracks and shattereda 14-year jinx whichplagued the country nodoubt put her in goodstead for the award.

Okagbare wins NOC’sAthlete of Year award•As Maigari nips it in football

Continues on Page 53

•Okagbare

VINCENT Enyeamastayed in top form to

help 10-man Lille win 1-0 away at Valenciennes

Red-hotEnyeamacontinues toshine

EPLSpurs 2 Man Utd 2Chelsea 3 Southampton 1Hull 3 Liverpool 1Man City 3 Swansea 0SERIE ACatania 1 AC Milan 3Atalanta 1 Roma 1Cagliari 2 Sassuolo 2Chievo 3 Livorno 0Inter 1 Sampdoria1LA LIGABetis 2 Vallecano 0Granada 1 Sevilla 2BUNDESLIGAHannover 2 Frankfirt 0LIGUE IBordeaux 4 Ajaccio 0Bastia 2 Gaillard 0

Results

Moses fallswith Liverpool

— P.55 Continues on Page 53

•Enyeama

SHIELD... Italy striker, Mario Balotelli shields the ball from Super Eagles, God-frey Oboabona, during the Nigeria Vs Italy international friendly at CravenCottage, England recently. The match ended 2-2 •Gov. Dankwambo

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