...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61675

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012**

Mr & Mrs

Subsidy fraud suspectsdocked, granted bail•Arisekola Alao's son, Abdulahi remains in EFCC custody

•Court adjourns cases till Oct 30 and Nov 13

•Bamanga Tukur's son is on his own — PDP

Continues on Page 5

DONUKOGBARA:Why? •P.17

BROADBAND—TheNigeria Broadband Forumorganized by the NigerianCommunications Commis-sion, NCC held in Lagosyesterday. From left: Sec-Gen of the African Telecom-munications Union, Mr.Abdoulkarim Soumaila;Executive Vice Chairman ofNCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah;Minister of CommunicationsTechnology, Mrs. OmobolaJohnson, and Mr. DesireKaryabwite of ITU at theevent.

SUSPECTS—From right: Fuel subsidy scam suspects, Mahmud Tukur, Abdulahi Alao, Mamman Nassir Ali and Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission (EFCC) official, during the suspects' arraignment at the Ikeja High Court, Lagos, yesterday.Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Gunmen kill four,raze police stationin Borno •P 6

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH, HENRY

UMORU & ONOZUREDANIA

LAGOS—THE longawaited prosecu-

tion of oil marketers whoallegedly defrauded theFederal Government ofN304 billion in the oilsubsidy scam com-menced, yesterday, atthe Ikeja judicial divisionof Lagos State HighCourt. Five directors ofthe affected oil compa-nies were arraigned.

Those who weredocked include

Salami, Oyinlola saga: We did not recant — MTN •P.7

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 3

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Subsidy fraud suspects docked,granted bailContinues from Page 1

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

The one you love and the one who loves you arenever, ever the same person—C. Palahniuk

ALL living things require love to survive, including ourselves. We must first attend to our

own needs for love before we can love others. Whenwe neglect ourselves emotionally, we become emo-tionally toxic and are not whole enough to give loveto others. When we change the inner dialogue fromthe inner critic to that of the inner companion, webolster our self-esteem and self-respect. Then weare free to nurture all individuals by being the car-ing, compassionate, thoughtful and kind beings wetruly are.

When we choose moderation in all aspects, webring balance into our lives and maintain our con-nection with our inner peace and true reality.

Wholeness is not realized in a moment. Through-out a lifetime, there must be constant effort and striv-ing toward self-perfection. In order to accomplishthis, we need the confidence to endure all situa-tions to reach our goal.

Mahmud Tukur, son ofAlhaji Bamanga Tukur,the incumbent chairmanof the Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP),Maman Nasir Ali, son ofAhmadu Ali, formerchairman of PDP, andAbdulahi Alao, son ofIbadan-based businessman, Alhaji AzeezArisekola-Alao. Thethree of them weregranted bail butArisekola-Alao’s son,Abdulahi will not enjoyhis freedom until he isgranted bail in his sec-ond case before anotherjudge, Justice HabeebAbiru.

Two others who werealso arraigned wereOchonogor Alex andChristian Taylor.

While one of thecharges came up beforeJustice Habeeb Abiru,two other charges wereentertained by JusticeAdeniyi Onigbanjo, alsoof the Ikeja High Court.

Contrary to expecta-tion, the Attorney Gen-eral of the Federation,Mohammed Adoke, inwhose instance the ar-raignment of the ac-cused was delayed tillyesterday to enable himpersonally handle thecases, was not in courtto lead the prosecutionteam.

EFCC counsel, MrRotimi Jacobs said theminister was away onofficial matters.

Just as it happened ,Wednesday, the EFCCclaimed ignorance of thewhereabouts of the firstdefendant, Wagbatsoma,who was not in court.His lawyer, however,told the court that hisclient travelled outside

the country but promisedhe would be availablenext Wednesday.

In the first case beforeJustice Habeeb Abiru,Arisekola-Alao’s son,Abdulahi and his com-pany, Axenergy werearraigned on a seven-count charge of con-spiracy, obtaining overN5 billion under falsepretence and forgery ofdocuments. After thecharge was read to him,he pleaded not guilty,while his counsel, Mr.Babajide Koku, SAN,applied for his bail.

The EFCC counsel,Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, how-ever, opposed the bailapplication arguing thathe needed to reply onpoint of law to the mo-tion for bail. AbdulahiAlao’s bail applicationwas therefore adjournedtill August 1.

In Justice AdeniyiOnigbanjo’s court,where Mahmud Tukur,Mamman Nasir,Abdulahi Alao, ChristianTaylor and Eterna Oiland Gas PLC. had theirday, they were all ac-cused of obtaining differ-ent sums of money run-ning into over six billionnaira under false pre-tence.

They were also ac-cused of forging severalimportation and ship-ping documents to al-legedly commit fraud.The prosecution allegedthat the accused had be-tween January and April2011 in Lagos, fraudu-lently obtained the sumof N1.8 billion from theFederal Government.They were accused ofobtaining the moneyfrom the Petroleum Sup-port Fund for the pur-

ported importation of80.3 million litres of Pre-mium Motor Spirit(PMS).

The accused personswere also alleged tohave forged a Bill of lad-ing dated April 28, 2011,which they used in facili-tating the fraud andtherefore contravenedSections 467 and 468 ofthe Criminal Code Lawsof Lagos State 2003.

They all pleaded notguilty to the charges andthen proceeded to arguetheir application for bail.

In spite of the strongopposition from theEFCC, JusticeOnigbanjo releasedthem on bail in the sumof N20 million with twoSureties in like sum.

According to the court,one of the sureties mustbe a blood relation of theaccused.

He said: “The othersurety must be a level 16officer in the Lagos Stateor Federal Civil Service.

“The sureties must pro-duce three years taxclearance and they mustbe verified by the chiefregistrar of the highcourt. The accused per-sons are to deposit theirinternational passportswith the EFCC whichmust not be releasedwithout the express per-mission of the court”.

Beside, one of thesureties is also expectedto own a property worthtwo hundred millionnaira in Lagos.

The judge, however,adjourned the case in-volving Tukur, Alex,Alao and Eterna Oil andGas till November 13while that of NasamanOil Services, Ali andTaylor was adjourned tillOctober 30, 2012.

You are on yourown, PDP toTukur’s son

Meanwhile the na-tional leadership of thePeoples DemocraticParty, PDP, yesterdaydistanced itself fromMahmud Tukur, the em-battled son of its Na-tional Chairman, AlhajiBamanga Tukur who isbeing prosecuted by theEconomic and FinancialCrimes Commission,EFCC over fuel subsidyfraud.

Addressing Journal-ists, yesterday, on theoutcome of the meetingof the National WorkingCommittee, NWC,Deputy National Chair-man, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja

who cleared the name ofthe PDP National Chair-man from the oil subsidyscandal, stressed thathis son was old enoughto carry his cross.

Flanked by the PDPNational Treasurer, BalaKaoje; the Deputy Na-tional Chairman notedthat the subsidy scandalas it relates to MahmudTukur, was not a partyissue and as such, thelaw should take itscourse.

He said: “On the issueof some PDP membersbeing involved in oilsubsidy, these are indi-viduals, everybody bearshis own cross. There aregovernors who are nowfacing prosecution as aresult of their actionsand inactions, so it is nota party thing.

“PDP did not sendanybody to go and mis-behave. Even if youmention my Chairman’s

son, he is up to age, as-suming he is to go to jailthey will not come andjail the National Chair-man, because he did notsend him. He is a manof age and he has hishousehold; he has hisfamily, everybody ac-counts for his own posi-tion and, of course, ithas been mentioned,until they are provedguilty they still remaininnocent.

“The party cannot justget out and breathedown on them and be-gin to condemn them,they will be given equalopportunity to defendthemselves in competentcourts of law, and untilthey are found guilty,then the party will comeout and take a position.For the party now to be-gin to condemn them isabsolutely prematureand prejudicial.”

Babalola flays opponents ofSovereign National Confrence

BY DAPO AKINRE-FON

LAGOS—A SENIOR member of the

inner bar Chief AfeBabalola, SAN, hasflayed opponents, espe-cially within the Na-tional Assembly, to theconvocation of a Sover-eign National Confer-ence, SNC, saying sov-ereignty resides in thepeople.

Chief Babalola saidthis yesterday at the 5thannual MOB lecture se-ries in commemorationof the 49th birthday an-niversary of Mr MichaelOpeyemi Bamidele. Thelecture entitled: “Legis-lating in troubled times:National Assembly andchallenges of legislatingfor good governance inNigeria”, held at theAlunmi hall, ChristSchool in Ado-Ekiti.

While attributing theproblems of the countryto defects in the 1999Constitution, he notedthat the process of con-stitution making is all-encompassing.

He said: “I have re-mained resolute in thebelief that many of theproblems currently fac-ing the country are a di-rect result of the lopsid-edness of the 1999 con-stitution. This is itselftraceable to the fact that

the 1999 Constitution onwhich our democraticgovernment is hinged,was imposed on us bythe military without anyinput by any of us”.

Babalola, who waschairman of the occa-sion, argued that “as aresult of this diversity, itwas and is still neces-sary that the constitutionmaking process shouldtake into recognition allfactors aimed at bringingabout a true peoplesconstitution”.

Backing his claim withSection 14 (2) of the1999 constitution, thelegal luminary said “thesovereign rights of Ni-gerians entitle them toamend the existing con-stitution or substitute anew one for the existingconstitution”.

Speaking further, hemaintained that “it is notfor those who wereelected under the exist-ing constitution and em-powered to govern, ruleor make laws and regu-lations under the exist-ing constitution to denythe people of Nigeriatheir sovereign right tojettison the old constitu-tion or substitute a newone for the existing con-stitution. The sovereignright belongs to the peo-ple and not to their del-egates”.

He disagreed with theSenate President, Sena-tor David Mark for op-posing the idea of con-vening a conference say-ing, “I consider thestatement of the Presi-dent of the Senate aspreemptory. I believethat Nigerians shouldhave the ultimate say asto whether a sovereignnational conference isnecessary or not. Again,I must emphasize thatsovereignty does not re-side in the presidencyor the executive, theNational Assembly orthe judiciary but in thepeople”.

The guest lecturer, Pro-fessor Kunle Ajayi, inhis address, said gov-ernment at all levelshave failed to perform intheir respective constitu-tional responsibilities.

Professor Ajayi, who isalso the head, Depart-ment of Political Science,Ekiti State University,blamed the present cropof politicians for failingto provide good govern-ance.

His words: “Bad gov-ernance rather thangood governance is whatgovernments are re-warding us for votingthem into power.”

He called on the elec-torate to hold public of-ficials accountable.

6—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Gunmen kill four, set police station ablaze in BornoBY NDAHIMARAMA

MAIDUGURI —FOUR people were

killed while several otherswere injured whengunmen, suspected to bemembers of the Jamatulahlis Sunnah lid Daawawal Jihad aka Boko

Haram, attacked a policestation in Gubio, theheadquarters of GubioLocal Government Area ofBorno State.

A resident, MallamUsman Gubio, said theattackers also burnt downa police station and thelocal governmentsecretariat.

According to him, “manypeople ran away from theirhouses and took refuge insafer places. We have neverexperienced such in thislocal government, but I donot know if any civilian waskilled. However, I sawabout four corpses of policeofficers being conveyed ina vehicle. Security is now

beefed up around the localgovernment and we alsolearnt that the police havemade some arrests.”

Gubio said when theyheard gun shots, they allrushed into their housesand locked the doors butlater they had to leave theirhouses when some of theirrelatives asked them to

leave the area, as it was nolonger safe.

Confirming the incident,the state PoliceCommissioner BalaHassan said "twopolicemen and one civilianwere killed in the attack inGubio local government.”

The Commissioner ofPolice did not give further

clarification as his phonewent off after he confirmedthe killings.

When newsmencontacted spokesman of theJoint Task Force, JTF,Operation Restore Order inBorno, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa,he said the situation inGubio was purely a policeaffair.

IMF to CBN: Leave Naira tomarket forces

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State (middle); Special Adviser/Project Coordinator, LagosEko Secondary Education Project, Ms. Ronke Azeez (right) in the symbolic presentation of a giantcheque of N256 million to pupils of award winning Junior Secondary Schools during the SecondEdition of the Governor’s Education Award and Secondary Schools Performance Award 2012, inLagos, yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

BY EMMA UJAH,ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

ABUJA — THEI n t e r n a t i o n a l

Monetary Fund, IMF,yesterday, released thereport of its 2011 Article IVConsultation with FederalGovernment officials,suggesting an adjustmentto the Naira exchange ratein line with market forces.

According to the report,“staff recommendedfocusing on a clear inflationobjective and allowinggradual adjustment of thenaira over time in responseto market conditions.”

The Breton WoodsInstitution, however,carefully avoided adefinitive position onasking that the Naira bedevalued as it said that theresult of its exchange rateassessment was mixed.

It said: “The threemethodologies providec o m p l e m e n t a r yperspectives on theexchange rate assessmentfor Nigeria, but the resultsmust be treated withcaution.”

Differences, it said, arosedue to the difficulty ofproperly modelling theunderlying macroeconomiclinks and the inherentdifficulty of incorporatingcritical country specificinformation into cross-country approaches.

“These differences are

most prominent for low-income countries and for oilexporters, whichcomplicates the assessmentfor Nigeria. Defining acurrent account norm iscomplex also because of therelatively poor dataquality,” the multilateralorgainsation said.

According to the fund,there was nothing in theresult of the assessmentsuggesting anyfundamental misalignmentof the nation’s exchangerate.

Naira is in line withequilibrium

It said: “One method —relating the value of thenaira to its fundamentaldeterminants — suggeststhat the naira is in line withequilibrium.

“Two other methods givemixed results: themacroeconomic balanceapproach suggests anundervaluation of 10¼ percent, reflecting projectedcurrent account balance thatis stronger than the norm;while the externalsustainability approach,comparing the projectedcurrent account surpluswith the level needed tostabilize net foreign assets,suggests that the naira isovervalued by 8½ percent.”

Fuel subsidy

The IMF disclosed thatFederal Governmentofficials anticipated that theelimination of the subsidywould be unpopular butviewed the subsidy asfiscally unsustainable andhighly distortionary.

It maintained: “Subsidyin Nigeria discouragedprivate investment indomestic refining capacity,resulting in a drain onforeign reserves throughthe importation of petroleumproducts. Moreover, givenrampant rent-seekingbehaviour and smuggling,a significant portion ofNigeria’s fuel subsidybenefits accrue to people inneighbouring countries.”

The Fund recommendedthat the authorities shouldcome up with additionalmeasures to offset at leasthalf of this cost of the 2012subsidy in order not tojeopardize the buildup ofreserves in the SovereignWealth Fund, which itidentified as the likelysource of funding for thesubsidy.

Sovereign WealthFund

It welcomed theestablishment of theSovereign Wealth Fund lastyear, given its strongerlegal framework comparedwith that of the ExcessCrude Account.

In November 2011, theSWF was capitalized witha transfer of $1 billion fromthe Excess Crude Account,which will be graduallywound down.

AMCON

Although the operationsof Asset ManagementCompany of Nigeria,AMCON, received a nodfrom the IMF, theorganisation said there wasneed to minimize fiscal andmoral hazard risks and thatthe operational capabilitiesof AMCON shouldcontinue to be strengthenedto maximize assetrecoveries.

“AMCON should aim towind up all operationsassociated with the recentcrisis within the envisaged12-year period. At the sametime, staff sees merit inmothballing AMCON, tohave it as a readilyavailable tool to respondquickly to future eventualbanking crises,” the Fundsuggested.

On the nation’s debtprofile, it said: “Based onthe joint World Bank-IMFlow-income country debtsustainability analysis,DSA, Nigeria remains at alow risk of debt distress. Inthe baseline scenario andin the case of thestandardized stress tests,Nigeria’s debt outlookremains robust.”

Jonathan challengesAfrican first ladies tospeak against abuses

BY BEN AGANDE

ABUJA — PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan

has challenged African FirstLadies to summon courageto speak out against abusesin the continent to promotepeace and stability.

President Jonathan, whodeclared open the AfricanFirst Ladies Peace Mission,AFLPM, in Abuja,yesterday, expressedoptimism that soon, Nigeriawill produce its first set offemale service chiefs.

According to him, therecent re-admittance ofwomen into the NigeriaDefence Academy, NDA, totrain to become combatantsoldiers was an indicationof the FederalGovernment's commitmentto uplifting the fortunes ofwomen.

According to him, “for thefirst time, we admittedwomen into the prestigiousNigerian Defence Academy

to prepare women as fullcombatants in the Army,Navy and Air Force.

“We have admittedwomen now into NDA andwe are hopeful that in fewyears to come, a womancould be Chief of ArmyStaff, Chief of Air Staff,Chief of Naval Staff or evenChief of Defence Staff.

“We have commenced thejourney and we’ll get there.I just listened to my sister,Banda, who advocatedwomen to grow to be headsof their armed forces."

He said as women andmothers, women had thepower “to control thegladiators that causeconflict in Africa and beingmothers can control theyouth used for violence”.

He pledged that hisadministration remainedresolute in theimplementation of policieson effective representationof women in all aspects ofgovernance.

PDP moves to brokerpeace betweenJonathan, Reps

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — THE nationalleadership of the

Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, said yesterday that ithas put in place machineryto look into theimpeachment threat ofPresident GoodluckJonathan by the House ofRepresentatives and theposition of the President aspart of moves to resolve thelogjam for the interest ofdemocracy.

Addressing journalists onthe outcome of the meetingof the National WorkingCommittee, NWC, DeputyNational Chairman, Dr.Sam Sam Jaja, who notedthat it was not the first timeany President would bethreatened withimpeachment, noted that inAmerica, several presidentshad been threatened withimpeachment.

He said: “The party istaking up the process

because there is a processwith which party meets thepeople. Many of them arePDP people, but they havetheir grievances.

“We will not also say thatthey are PDP people andof course we will lord itover them. This thing mustbe attended todiplomatically, so thatwherever anybody hasgone wrong, it will besorted out and eventuallythis storm will definitely diedown.

“The party has set upmachinery to look into allthe grievances of membersof the National Assemblyand what is the position ofthe President. There mustbe an area for the twoparties to meet and thisthing should be resolved forthe interest of democracy inthis country. So, there is nothreat actually, as it were, itis the usual thing thathappens in any democraticprocess.”

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—7

CAR STOPPER: Director of Policy, Army Headquarters, Major General Ekwenugo Chioba (middle)demonstrating the use of vehicle stoppers to religious leader while Chief of Civil Military Affairs, ArmyHeadquarters, Major General Bitrus Kwaji (right) watches during the presentation of some vehiclestoppers produced by the Army to stop car with bomb, at Army Headquarters, Abuja, yesterday. Photo:Gbemiga Olamikan.

Killing of 2 Indians: Indian govtdemands thorough investigation

BY VICTORIAOJEME

Biresh Yadav, 43, who iscurrently battling for his lifeat the MaiduguriUniversity TeachingHospital. The attackers alsotook away some moneybefore leaving.

“High Commission hasalready contactedconcerned Nigerianauthorities to seek anofficial report on thisgruesome incident. TheHigh Commission has also

sought a thoroughinvestigation by theconcerned Nigerianauthorities to establish theprecise motive of thisheinous crime and theperpetrators brought tobook.”

The Indian HighCommission in thestatement further regrettedthe shooting of its nationals,moreso when they wereactively involved in

providing employment toover 100 Nigerians.

The High Commissioncondoled with families ofvictims of the attack,adding: “Families of allthree affected Indians wereliving in Maiduguri despiteits current condition.

The High Commissionalso expressed solidaritywith the management of thecompany and other Indiansresiding in the area.

Atta Mills was great patriot, trueAfrican leader —Fashola, Saraki

Women are own greatest setback to empowerment —Tukur

BY HENRY UMORUBY OLASUNKANMIAKONI & DEMOLA

AKINYEMI

Salami vs Oyinlola: Wedid not recant — MTN

LAGOS— A MOBILEtelecommunication

company in Nigeria,MTN, has denied mediareports which alleged thatits officials recanted theirposition on the ownershipof two lines linked to theelection dispute in OsunState.

In a statement in Lagos,Corporate ServicesExecutive, MTN, Mr.Akinwale Goodluck, saidthe reports were ad e l i b e r a t emisrepresentation of theinformation given to thePolice by MTN officials inAbuja on Tuesday, inrespect of a petition filedagainst the company byPrince OlagunsoyeOyinlola.

He said: “We would liketo state categorically thatour officials did not recantearlier information given inrespect of the ownership ofthe two phone lines forwhich details of ownershipand call records wererequested from MTN.

"We have providedconsistent information tothe authorities as containedin our records at everystage that the informationhas been requested. For theavoidance of doubt, weexplained to the Police thatsince the SIM registrationexercise, the ownership ofthe lines for whichinformation was requestedhas changed and we gavethe Police the most recentrecords of the individualsto which those lines arecurrently registered. We

are not required by law toverify documents presentedto us as proof of identity bythose who register theirSIMs. We do not have theexpertise to do so.”

He stated that theharmonization exercisebetween the NCC’s SIMregistration records andthose of operators had notbeen concluded and assuch information held byoperators was technicallyincomplete. He explainedthat it was for all theaforementioned reasonsthat any information givento authorized securityorganisations by MTN, allcarry bold disclaimers,clearly stating that MTNcannot confirm theauthenticity of theinformation provided.

Goodluck said the MTNofficials who honoured theinvitation of the Police toprovide further informationand perspective on thematter did not make anystatement that differed fromtheir previous statements atall material times.

He said the company wasapolitical and non-partisan,and as such has no reasonto act in any unethicalmanner as being alleged bythe politician.

He noted that MTN hadmade strenuous effort toexplain the processes andprocedure of their businessand the reasons why allcustomer information andrecords are routinelypresented in a particularway.

ABUJA — THEgovernment of India,

yesterday, demandedthorough investigation intothe shooting of three of itsnationals by unknowngunmen in Maiduguri,Borno State capital, onWednesday.

Two victims of theshooting reportedly died onthe spot, while the third isin critical condition at theMaiduguri UniversityTeaching Hopsital.

The Indian HighCommission in Nigeria, instatement in Abuja said, MrShanker Saha, 35 years; MrBokull Chander Mondal,35 years, died in theshooting, while Mr BireshYadav, 43 years, wasseriously injured in theattack on the premises of M/S Adebar Trades andIndustries Limited, acompany involved in theprocessing and export ofGum Arabic.

The victims, according tothe statement, worked in thecompany and had been inNigeria since 2007.

The statement said: “ TheHigh Commission of Indiato Nigeria was shocked tolearn of an unprovokedarmed attack on thepremises of M/S AdebarTrades and IndustriesLimited in Maiduguri,Borno State on the morningof July 25.

“The attackers brutallymurdered Mr ShankerSaha, 35, and Mr BokullChander Mondal, 35, andseriously wounded Mr

ABUJA — NATIONALChairman of the

Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Alhaji BamangaTukur, yesterday, warnedthat if women must be in thevanguard of policy makingin the country, they must atall times supportthemselves to get to the top.

According to him, womenare own greatest set backto achieving politicalrelevance and positions.

Speaking yesterday at anE-Women conferenceorganised by the office ofPDP National WomanLeader, Mrs. KemaChikwe, Tukur however,noted that women in thePDP were taking theadvantage provided by theparty to leverage with menin party politics.

Represented by the PDPDeputy NationalChairman, Dr. Sam SamJaja, the PDP nationalchairman, however, hailedthe initiative of KemaChikwe for putting in place

LAGOS — GOVERNORBabatunde Fashola of

Lagos State, and theimmediate past Governor ofKwara State, SenatorBukola Saraki, havedescribed the late Presidentof Ghana, Prof. John AttaMills, as a great patriot,and a true African leader.

In their separatestatements, Fashola andSaraki noted that the lateAtta Mills succeeded,during his reign, to makeGhana a reference point notonly in the West Africansub-region but on theAfrican continent.

Fashola said: “He built onthe achievements of hispredecessors with his wiseand pragmatic approach togovernance and succeededin making Ghana areference point in WestAfrica and, indeed, thecontinent. Without doubt,

this generation willcontinue to draw inspirationfrom his life and times andcelebrate his exemplary lifeof service to the Ghanaiannation and Africa.”

Extending the goodwill ofthe government and peopleof Lagos State to the newPresident, the governorsaid: “As you assume thehigh office of President ofyour country to fill thevacuum created by thedemise of President Mills,our thoughts and prayerswill be with you as you leadyour country in mourningthe loss of a patriot and inbuilding on the legacies ofyour late President”.

In his statement, SenatorSaraki, representing KwaraCentral in the NationalAssembly, in a statement byhis Special Assistant onMedia, Mr BamikoleOmishore, said the lateGhanaian president “willforever remain in thememory of his people and

all those who knew himclosely as a true patriot ofhis native land, havingdevoted his life to thestruggle and goodgovernance in Ghana.”

According to thestatement, “he was loved byNigerians with hisinvaluable contribution tothe smooth bilateralrelationship between bothcountries. His death is ahuge loss to Africa and itsallies. I express my deepestsympathy and profoundcondolences to the entirenation of Ghana, mostespecially his relatives andclose associates

“I also use thisopportunity to wishPresident John DramaniMahama, the newpresident, all the best as hetakes up the enormous taskof leading Ghana and welook forward to continue tostrengthen the relationshipbetween Nigeria andGhana.”

a programme that wouldensure that more womenwere empowered to taketheir rightful place inpolitics.

According to Tukur, “thegreatest setback to womenempowerment is womenthemselves. They willrather support a man in anelection than support oneof their own. But things arechanging, they are nowcoming out in droves tochallenge the men forpolitical offices.

"Our party, the PDP, is theonly political party that hasensured that women areentitled to nominationforms, free of charge. By2015, women will occupynothing less than 50 percent in political positions inthis country.”

Earlier in her remarks,the PDP national womanleader, Dr. Kema Chikwe,appealed to PDP womenfrom across the country toavail themselves of theopportunity being providedby the E- WomenConference.

8—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) welcoming wife of the Central Africa RepublicPresident, Mrs. Francois Bozize, (2nd left), wife of Malawian President, Mrs. JoyceBanda (2nd right), Chairperson, African First Ladies Peace Mission, Dame PatienceJonathan (left),wife of Congolese President, Mrs. Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (3rd right)and others.

Dame Patience Jonathan (right) and wife of Sierra Leonean President, Mrs.Ernest Bai Koroma.A cross-section of participants at the summit.

Female Police Mobile Force mem-bers keeping watch.

Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku (right) and Health Min-ister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Dame Patience Jonathan (left) and wife of South African Presi-dent, Mrs. Jacob Zuma.

Wife of Ivorien President, Mrs.Alassane Ouattara (left) and Chairman,Civil Service Commission, DeaconessJoan Ayo.

Dame Patience Jonathan (left) and wife of Sen-egalese President, Mrs. Macky Sall.

Dame Patience Jonathan (right) andwife of King Mswati III of Swaziland.

Dame Patience Jonathan (right) wife of Congolese President, Mrs.Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (left) and wife of the Senate President,Mrs. Helen Mark.

7th Summit of the African First Ladies Peace Mission in Abuja,yesterday. Photos: Abayomi Adeshida.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—9

Lagos recruits non-education graduatesfor schools

Raises pass mark in schools to 50%

Lagos toconfiscateerring okada

NAFDACnabsCameroonianfake doctor

Woman, 67,dies in dawnfire

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

Briefly

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

Harvest

From left: Director-General, National Orientation Agency, NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri; Minister of Interior,Mr. Patrick Moro and Minister of Culture,Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, sharing ajoke at the host of Ethics First Programme of Do the Right Thing” by NOA in collaboration with GlobalPriority, USA, in Abuja.

Dana: Coroner threatens to arrestadamant firms, agencies

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH & ONO-

ZURE DANIA

LAGOS—A LagosCoroner, Magistrate

Oyetade Komolafe, yes-terday, said the court willissue bench warrantagainst some oil compa-nies and emergency reliefagencies who failed toappear before it.

The Coroner which isprobing the ill-fated Danaairline crash on June 3 atIju-Ishaga, Lagos, was atthe instance of the cham-bers of Falana & Falanaand Olisa Agbakoba.

Komolafe issued thethreat while respondingto Mr. Femi Falana’s sub-mission that some oil com-panies and agenciesserved with summonswere yet to appear beforeit.

Expected to be issuedwith bench warrant areRed Cross Society of Ni-geria, Conoil Plc, and To-tal Nigeria Limited.

Aside, Falana said it wasnot the responsibility ofthe Accident InvestigationBureau, AIB, to investi-gate cases of people whodied on the ground,charging the court to or-der the police to carry outthe investigation.

He said AIB was only toinvestigate the cause ofthe accident.

Komolafe also directedthat any witness who issubmitting depositionshould forward it to the

court two days before theday they would give evi-dence.

Following the submis-sion of the counsel to Ni-gerian Airspace Man-agement, Mr. ObiOkwusogu, SAN, partiesalso agreed to scheduleappearance of witnesses.

According to the sched-ule, Channels Television

and AIT, which were re-quested to show clips ofthe scene of the accidentare to appear on Monday.

Lagos State EmergencyManagement Authority,LASEMA, and JuliusBerger which had earlierbeen summoned butfailed to show up, werescheduled for Tuesdayalong with National

LAGOS—A 67-year-oldwoman was burnt to

death in an early morningfire at a wing of a twin-duplex on 511 Road,Festac Town, Lagos, yes-terday.

The Commander, FestacFire Station, ChinyereAzubuike, who confirmedthe incident, said the re-mains of the deceasedhad been handed over tothe police.

The Divisional PoliceOfficer in Festac,Muhammed Muazu, whoalso confirmed the death,said the woman’s hus-band, who is respondingto treatment in an hospi-tal, also sustained injuriesin the inferno.

An eye-witness said thecause of the fire remainedunknown as there was nopublic power supply inthe area at the time of theincident, and the kitchenof the house was unaf-fected.

The entire duplex, withwooden partitioning andfloor, was said to havebeen completely burnt,while the second duplexwas only slightly affected.

Meantime, a containeralso, yesterday, crushed afemale pedestrian atBerger area of Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

The trailer which washeading out ofLagos about 7a.m lost atyre and swerved out ofcontrol, before thecontainer tipped overlanding on the woman,who died instantly.

IKEJA—LAGOS StateGovernment has said

any motorcyclists, particu-larly commercial ones,apprehended for floutingthe state traffic lawswould henceforth havehis cycle confiscated with-out option of fine.

General Manager ofLagos State Traffic Man-agement Authority,LASTMA, Mr. BabatundeEdu, said this, yesterday,adding that the measurebecame necessary to curbincreasing rate of flagrantdisobedience to trafficlaws and danger to pub-lic safety.

He said: ''Okada ridersare fond of flouting traf-fic laws with little or no re-spect for other road-us-ers.”

BY MONSUR OLOW-OOPEJO

LAGOS—THE LagosState Government has

recruited graduates with-out teaching qualificationsto teach core subjects inits secondary schools,Commissioner for Educa-tion, Mrs. OlayinkaOladunjoye, said, yester-day

In a statement, the com-missioner declared thatthe recruitment of single-subject graduates wasaimed at providing jobs forunemployed youths andrepositioning educationstandard in the state.

She said the teachers

would teach core-subjectssuch as Mathematics,English, Biology, Chem-istry and Physics.

The commissioner ex-pressed the hope that therecruits would becomebetter teachers in theclassrooms, after sometraining.

Oladunjoye said: “Icharge those who got thejob to be committed andproductive so as to provethat the state governmenthas put the right teachersto teach in its schools.

Meantime, GovernorBabatunde Fashola, yes-terday, said the state hadraised promotion marksfor pupils in public schools

to 50 per cent, a measureaimed at improving thestandard of education inthe state schools.

Fashola also splashedN256 million on 128 pub-lic junior and senior sec-ondary schools in thestate under the Lagos Ekoproject.

The governor, whomade this remark at thesecond Governor’s Edu-cation Award in Ikeja,said any student who doesnot score a minimum of 50per cent in each of theirsubject coupled with 50per cent aggregate scorein their exams, will not bepromoted henceforth.

LAGOS—NATIONALAgency for Food and

Drug Administration andControl, NAFDAC, yes-terday, nabbed aCameroonian, who alleg-edly specialised in pre-scribing, selling and ad-ministering unregisteredChinese products to un-suspecting members ofthe public.

The man, JustinSitamze, who claimed tobe a medical doctor, wasarrested at his illegal clinicwithin the CentralMosque premises inAjegunle area of Lagos bya team of operatives fromEnforcement Directorateof the agency.

Acting on a tip-off, theofficials swooped on thepremises where the sus-pect was caught alongwith three of his staff.

LAGOS—THE AnnualAdult Harvest Thanks-

giving Service of Celes-tial Church of Christ,Iyanu Oluwa Parish,holds July 29 on thechurch premises,Powerline Street, Ikotun. According to the Shep-herd-in-Charge, Sup/Evan. Dr. S.O. Olajide,the harvest would bechaired by Most Evang.Akinrodoye.

Container

crushes another

Emergency ManagementAgency, NEMA.

AIB which was repre-sented by a counsel,Maureen Tsenongo, alsotold the coroner that sheintended to submit a writ-ten deposition and re-quested to make appear-ance on August 1, to en-able her bring its witness.

NUJ condemns attack on The Sun editor

IKEJA—LAGOS StateCouncil of Nigeria Un-

ion of Journalists,NUJ,has condemned the rob-bery attack on editor ofThe Sun newspaper, MrSteve Nwosu. In a statement in La-gos, yesterday, the coun-cil chairman, Mr. DejiElumoye, lamented thatthe country, especially theLagos area was graduallybecoming a safe haven formen of the underworld. He noted that the attackcarried out in Lagos onWednesday evening wasnot limited to Nwosu, ex-plaining that an official ofLagos State Traffic Man-agement Authority, wasalso attacked in Abule-Egba about the same time. The chairman urged thepolice to do all within itspowers to find Nwosu'sattackers as well as rid thestate of criminals. He also enjoined thegovernment at all levelsto put in place securitymeasures that wouldmake the state very safe

for residents. He thanked God that thebullet of the criminals didnot fall Nwosu, and

charged the state govern-ment not to allow Lagoswhich is the investors hubto slide into lawlessness.

CMYK

10—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

BY OLA AJAYI S-West PDP asks FemiGbajabiamila to resign

FIDAU PRAYER FOR AJIMOBI'S MOTHER...

AgunloyetacklesAkandeBY DAYO JOHNSON

Oro festival: Policemen nowin Remo trouble-prone areaBY DAUD OLATUNJI

Industrialists threaten to quit Ogunover decaying facilities, graft

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

IBADAN—PEOPLESDemocratic Party,PDP,

in the South-West hasgiven House of Repre-sentatives' MinorityLeader, Mr. FemiGbajabiamila, 14 daysultimatum to resign fol-lowing alleged admissionthat he was sanctioned byGeorgia Supreme Court.

In a statement by itsZonal Publicity Secretary,Mr. Kayode Babade, theparty said: “Since he hasadmitted that he was sanc-tioned by Georgia Su-preme Court for profes-sional misconduct andnegligence, the most hon-ourable thing to do is to

vacate his seat in theHouse of Representa-tives.”

The Supreme Court ofGeorgia had on February26, 2007 allegedly sus-pended Gbajabiamila frompractising law for 36months.

According to the party,Gbajabiamila, a memberof the Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, allegedlyadmitted violating Rule1.15(I) of the GeorgiaRules of ProfessionalConduct set forth in BarRule 4-102(d).

PDP claimed that he ac-cepted payment of$25,000 as settlement ofa client’s personal injuryclaims, deposited thosefunds in his attorneytrust account in January2003, failed to promptlydisburse those funds tohis client, withdrewthose funds for his ownuse, closed his practiceand moved out of thecountry.

The party said althoughhe ultimately paid the$25,000 to his client in2006, three years after hecollected the fund, hisconduct violated Rule1.15(I), which is punish-able by disbarment.

PDP added that said itwas ridiculous thatGbajabiamila could beusing the House of Rep-resentatives impeach-ment plot against Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathanas a defence for hisshady past, saying; “In asaner clime, what he(Gbajabiamila) wouldhave done was to vacatehis seat and apologise toNigerians.

“Or does it now meanthat a man who admittedthat he committed an of-fence and that he wassanctioned for it can jus-tify same by simplyclaiming that he waschampioning good gov-ernance and impeach-ment of the president?”

AKURE—FORMERMinister of State for

Defence, Dr. OluAgunloye, yesterday, re-acted to comments by Na-tional Chairman of ActionCongress of Nigeria,ACN, Chief Bisi Akande,that he was a mole in theparty.

Agunloye, who just de-fected to Labour Party,described Akande's com-ment as unfortunate anddisappointing. He saidACN was full of deceit.

Speaking at the secondterm declaration of Gov-ernor Olusegun Mimikoin Akure, Wednesday,Agunloye said he left theparty in protest over theimposition of the party'scandidate, Chief RotimiAkeredolu.

Also, spokesperson, Mr.Wemi Ajegbemiga,Agunloye’s OmoluabiCampaign Organisationsaid: “If Agunloye was amole, why did leaders ofthe party including BolaTinubu beg him not toleave their party.''

ABEOKUTA—FOLLOWING the loom-

ing clash between Is-lamic and Oro cultgroups in Remo area ofOgun State, the stategovernment has orderedthe deployment of police-men in the area to en-force peace.

The government alsoordered the Oro cultgroup to limit the ob-servance of its sched-uled festivals and rites toits immediate communi-ties.

Commissioner for Lo-cal Government andChieftaincy Affairs, Mr.

Muyiwa Oladipo, saidthis after an emergencypeace meeting inAbeokuta with leaders ofthe two groups, warningthem against flouting theorder.

ABEOKUTA—SOMEkey industrialists in

Ogun State, yesterday,threatened to fold up theircompanies over allegedinfrastructure decay andcorruption tendencies inthe state’s bureaucracyconfronting them.

They lamented that de-spite their regular pay-ment of taxes to govern-ment’s coffer and employ-ment of indigenes, thegovernment had ne-glected them in the pro-vision of good roads, wa-ter and power.

The industrialists, whoown companies located inthe state’s industrial axisof Ogijo, near Sagamu,Igbesa and Agbara inAdo-Odo/Ota Local Gov-ernment Areas expressedtheir disappointment dur-ing a facility tour by Ogun

State Council of Cham-bers of Commerce, Indus-try, Mines and Agricul-ture, OGUNCCIMA, totheir sites.

Addressing the leader-ship of the Chamber ledby President, Presidentof Ota-Agbara Chamberof Commerce Indus-tries, Mines and Agri-culture, OTAGCCIMA,Bayo Ikujenyo, theChief Executive Officerof African Fertiliser andChemical Limited, NaraYanan, emphasised thebody ’s disposition toleave the state.

He said: “We willsoon leave and allowNigerians to take overthe companies. We havewater problems and weare afraid of water-bornediseases that could re-sult. from this

'Government must

do something'

“We have over 10,000Nigerias in our employ-ment. I don’t see anystate that has thenumber of companies asOgun. We expect gov-ernment to do some-thing to checkmate ourplans.”

Also speaking in hisoffice during the tour,representative of Ogun-Guandon Free TradeZone in Igbesa, Mr.Omotayo Oduntan-Hiske, lamented de-plorable condition ofroads, high level of cor-ruption, inadequatepower supply, Customsand Immigration prob-lems.

Reacting to the com-plaints, Ikujenyo, whoexpressed worry overthe situation of infra-structure in the areas,

promised to pass the in-formation to the stategovernment.

According toIkujenyo, ' ' the chal-lenges were basicallyinfrastructure. Some ofthe roads were in de-plorable conditions. Youfind trucks breakingdown on the roads be-cause of potholes.

“Some are even in-volved in accidents.On inadequate powersupply, of course, re-cently there was animprovement in power.But, we believe gov-ernment can still dobetter.”

Ikujenyo explainedthe rationale behindthe tour, saying that itwas des igned byOTAGCCIMA to allowits members to tabletheir challenges in thestate.

From left: former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba; Gover-nor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Justice Badejo Adeniji, Chief Judge ofOyo State, at the eighth-day Fidau prayer for Alhaja Sikirat Ajimobi, mother ofGov. Ajimobi, in Ibadan, yesterday. Photo: Dare Fasube

Lagos flays attack on The Sun editorBY OLASUNKANMIAKONI & MONSUR

OLOWOOPEJO

IKEJA—LAGOS StateGovernment has con-

demned the armed rob-bery attack on the editorof The Sun newspaper,Mr. Steve Nwosu, de-scribing it as barbaric.

Meantime, residents ofMakoko community in theYaba Local Council Devel-opment Area, yesterday,shunned the meetingcalled by thegovernment

to dialogue over the on-going demolition of shan-ties in the Makoko wa-terfront.

Commissioner for Infor-mation and Strategy, Mr.Aderemi Ibirogba, la-mented that journalistswhose work were ex-pected to be appreciatedby all were now the sub-ject of attack in the coun-try.

He said: “Journalistsshould be the least proneto attack in this country.This is because they are

recognised as the protec-tors of the masses.”

While assuring resi-dents of thorough inves-tigation into the matter,Ibirogba reiterated gov-ernment’s determinationto protect life and propertyof all citizens irrespectiveof class, religion or ethnic-ity. On the meeting withMakoko residents, hesaid they shunned themeeting which was slatedfor 4 p.m. at the state sec-retariat, Ministry of Water-front and Infrastructure.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 —11

3 killed in renewed cult war in Benin

Bayelsa wades into oil firm,community row

Kidnapped doctors freed

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM& GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

BY EMMA ARUBI

BY EMMA AMAIZE

BY FESTUS AHON

Ogodor residents bemoanabandoned road project

Group alleges extortion by pipeline surveillance personnel

PA ADOLPHUS OkwunoduNwaokolobia, 92, of Obior,

Aniocha North Local Govern-ment Area, Delta State, is dead.

There will be Service of Songsat his residence, Ogbe-Agidivillage,Obior on Thursday, Au-gust 2, to be followed next daywith a Requiem Mass at StTheresa's of Avila CatholicChurch, Obior and thereafter in-terment.

Traditional rites and outing/thanksgiving service will takeplace on Saturday and Sundayrespectively.He is survived by awidow, children, grandchildrenand relations.

Passage

UGHELLI—UGHELLISouth Local Govern-

ment Secretariat, DeltaState, has been shut by theworkers, who are protestingthe swearing in of MrEmmanuel Uwadewhe bythe state executive of Ni-geria Union of Local Gov-ernment Employees,NULGE, as chairman of thecouncil’s branch of the un-ion for a second term in of-fice.

The council’s staff havealso demanded that all de-ductions from their salariesand remittance to NULGEas check-up dues be sus-pended pending the con-duct of credible election inthe council.

The strike was sequel to

BENIN—THE relativepeace that had hitherto

been enjoyed by residentsof Benin –City, Edo State,before and after the gover-norship election in thestate, was, yesterday, dis-rupted, when cult groupsunleashed terror amongthemselves in the City,leaving three personsdead.

Vanguard gathered thatno fewer than three personswere reportedly killedwhile several others wereseriously injured in a re-newed cult-clash in threedifferent locations in thecity between two rival cultgroups, the Air Lords, akaEiye and Black Axe.

It was learnt that some ofthe victims were killedwhen an argument ensuedamong them over the shar-ing of money allegedlygiven to them by politicians.

It was also gathered thattwo men riding on a mo-torcycle suspected to bemembers of the Eiyeconfraternity shot a mem-ber of a rival Black Axe cultgroup, whose name couldnot be ascertained at presstime.

As soon as this hap-pened, the Black Axe mem-bers were alleged to havestormed the Okhoro Road

WARRI—NIGER DeltaYouths Against Op-

pression, NDYAO, based inEscravos, Warri South-WestLocal Government Area ofDelta State, has called onthe federal and state gov-ernments to check the al-leged illegal activities of thepipeline surveillance andmaritime security person-nel on the Oporaza axis ofthe waterways.

YENAGOA—BAYELSAState Government has

intervened in the feud be-tween Shell Nigeria Explo-ration and ProductionCompany, SNEPECo, andGbarian community inYenagoa Local GovernmentArea of the state over al-leged neglect of the com-munity by the oil company.

A group of women fromthe community, early in theweek, laid siege to the com-pany, to drive home theirdemands for developmentinfrastructures and socialamenities.

A source told Vanguard,

ASABA—TWO medical doctors, kid-

napped in Delta State,last weekend, whichforced their colleagues todown tools for two dayshave been released.

State police com-mand’s spokesman, Mr.Charles Muka, who con-firmed the release, said“the doctors escapedfrom the kidnappers asour crack team closed inon their hideout in aHilux patrol van.”

The two medical doc-tors, who regained their

area apparently on a re-prisal mission and swoopedon two rival members, kill-ing them in the process.

The death on ZabayoRoad was said to have oc-curred at 11p.m., onWednesday, shortly beforethe arrival of joint securitypatrol team, OperationThunderstorm got to thescene in response to a dis-tress call from an unidenti-fied resident.

One of the victims, iden-tified as Nosa Ebohon akaBiggy, lived on Ojo Streetat Ugbowo axis of the City.

Biggy who just graduatedfrom the University ofBenin and waiting call upletter from the NationalYouth Service Corps,NYSC, it was gathered,was killed at 9a.m., afterdropping his mother off ather office, yesterday.

He was said to haveparked his car at a drink-ing joint on Uwasota Road,Ugbowo where he was hav-ing some drinks with hisfriends, when two uniden-tified men, in commandostyle on a motor bike shot

him at close range.He died on the spot and

his body was deposited atUniversity of Benin Teach-ing Hospital, UBTH mor-tuary.

When contacted, theCommissioner of Police,Mr Olayinka Balogun,who could not confirm theincidents, said he had justresumed at his office afterbeing away from the statefollowing his deploymentduring the election.

yesterday, “The BayelsaState Government is lead-ing discussions betweenShell and Koroama commu-nity in Gbarain Kingdomover their demands for so-cial amenities.”

Corporate Media Rela-tions Manager, SNEPCo,Mr. Tony Okonedo, how-

ever, said “Shell has im-plemented several projectsin Koroama, including pro-vision of potable water, con-struction of internal road,award of bursaries to stu-dents and undergraduatesand training of youths andwomen in an effort to de-velop human capital.

freedom in the earlyhours of yesterday, wereDr. Otobo Ugege, whowas kidnapped in frontof his house at EketteeWaterside, Warri and Dr.A.C. Ojumah, abductedin front of GovernmentHospital, Abraka.

Meanwhile, on thefoiled kidnap attempt ofthe state Head of Serv-ice, the PPRO said, “heis still in the hospital re-cuperating and we arealso searching for those,who attempted to kidnaphim.

Also, men of the statePolice Command have

arrested a suspected kid-napper over the kidnapof a lecturer with DeltaState University,DELSU, Abraka.

Details of the kidnap ofthe lecturer were stillsketchy but Muka toldVanguard, yesterday,that “we have arrested asuspect in connectionwith the kidnap of thelecturer with the assist-ance of the local vigi-lante group and also re-covered the lecturer ’slaptop. Efforts are on totrack down the fleeingkidnappers.”

The group, in a statementby its President, Mr. OfeNene, alleged that person-nel of the security outfitwere engaging in vices ofall kinds in the pretence ofdischarging their functions.

He argued that the ac-tions of these workers werecapable of threatening theexisting peace on the wa-terways on the Warri-Escravos axis of Delta Stateand called for a stop to the

unwarranted activities.He said: “It has come to

our notice that personnel ofthe security outfit engagedin “illicit and illegal acts ofextortion, intimidation,stealing and deadly threatto lives of communitydwellers in Escravos on theOporaza community area.

“They impede free move-ment on the waterways bystopping all boats headingto Escravos and forcefully

collect money and othervaluables from passengerswith a threat to sink theirboats and throw them intothe water if they do notcomply, thereby breedingfear, apprehension andundue tension in the area.”

He called for the quickintervention of the relevantauthorities to prevent an-other round of crisis in thestate.

Delta LG shuts down over NULGEelection

what the workers describedimposition of Uwadewhe aschairman of the union in thecouncil.

When our correspondentvisited the council secre-tariat, yesterday, offices ofthe various departmentswere under lock and key asthe workers were seen inclusters, discussing the situ-ation of things in the union.

The aggrieved workers ina communiqué at the endof their congress, describedthe swearing in ofUwadewhe as illegal andunconstitutional, addingthat the directive onUwadewhe “to in turnswear in members of hisdefunct executive whosetenure elapsed on June 10,2012 was also unacceptableand will be strongly re-sisted.”

W A R R I — R E S IDENTS of Ogodor

layout, Ekpan in UvwieLocal Government Area,Delta State, said they “aresuffering untold hardshipfollowing the abandonmentof a 1.2 kilometre roadproject by a constructioncompany two years aftermobilisation to site.”

The road, which is offNPA Expressway, linkinganother construction com-pany, was allegedlyawarded for N81 millionand was abandoned by thecompany which the con-struction company sub-letthe contract to.

A property owner, Mr.John Eyeshenetan, whospoke to newsmen on be-half of property owners andresidents of the area, saidefforts to Delta State Gov-ernment, ComradeOvuozourie Macaulay, wasyet to yield any result as theSSG only told the delega-tion that “he will do some-thing about it.”

According toEyeshenetan, “people areleaving the area as a resultof the worsening situationof the road which is dam-aging their cars.”

Investigations revealledthat the construction com-

As Police nab suspected kidnapper of DELSU lecturerpany allegedly abandonedthe project after an esti-mated millions had beenspent by the company tosand-fill and prime the roadwas not paid for.

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State (right) and Group President,SKIPPERS (Middle East FZE), Mr. Jitender Sachdeva, presenting a docu-ment to the Governor shortly after signing an MoU with the State Govern-ment in Yenagoa.

Late A. Nwaokolobia

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

Edo PDP crisis worsens

Warri North NULGE assuresworkers on welfare

BY BOSE ADELAJA

Urhobo community congratulatesOshiomhole

PDP chieftain lauds Uduaghan onhealth project

From right: Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority,LAMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola; GMD/CEO, Zenith Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele,Director of Finance, LAMATA, Mr. Iyiola Adegboye and Mrs. Toun Alawiye, AGM/Head, Lekki Branch during Mr. Emefiele’s visit to LAMATA, yesterday.

UGHELLI—A People’s Democratic

Party, PDP, chairman-ship hopeful for UghelliNorth Local GovernmentArea, Olorogun IsaacAkpoveta, hascommended the DeltaState governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghanfor approving the build-ing of an health care cen-tre in Ofuoma commu-nity in Ughelli North. Akpoveta, who made thecommendation in a chat withnewsmen at Ofuoma, yesterday,said the people appreciate theGovernor’s approval for the

LAGOS—URHOBO Social Club, Lagos, has con-

gratulated Mr Adams Oshiomholeon his re-election in the recentgovernorship election in EdoState.

The Club said Oshiomhole'selection for a second term in officebrought hope for Nigeria’s fledg-ling democracy.

In a statement by its President,Emmanuel Evue, the Club said,“Edo State under the leadership

BENIN CITY—THE factional crisis in Edo

State Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, has worsened, as a group inthe party, under the aegis ofStakeholders Forum, yesterday,urged the presidency and the na-tional leadership of the party todisregard any list presented to itby the current leadership of thestate PDP led by Chief DanOrbih.

The group in a statement byMr Kaseem Asunogie, said thatit has passed a vote of no confi-dence on the leadership of theparty in the state, and urged it toresign, following the recent de-feat suffered by the party in thejust concluded governorship elec-tion in the state.

It will be recalled that the stateexecutive of the party had passeda vote of confidence on ChiefOrbih, last Monday.

However, PDP StakeholdersForum lamented that “our partyrecorded the most scandalous andhumiliating defeat in the historyof the country in the just con-cluded governorship election.The forum did a critical reappraisalof all the electoral contest in EdoState since 2007 and resolvedthat Edo PDP, its executive andleadership do not have the ca-pacity and vision to lead our greatparty to any electoral victory,which is the goal of any politicalparty.

“The Forum has passed a voteof no confidence on the DanOrbih led executive. The forumcalls for immediate resignation ofthe party’s executive. The na-

KOKO—WARRI Northchapter of Nigeria

Union of Local Govern-ment Employees NULGE,Delta State, has promisedto run an open door policy,

even as it assured workersof better days ahead.

The newly elected chair-man of the branch, MrBodor Johnson, said afterbeing sworn in, that mem-bers should desist from actsof rivalry, insubordination,over zealousness and greedas these will dampen thespirit of true unionism andgood leadership.

During the ceremony atthe Legislative Chambers ofthe council in Koko, the ad-ministrative headquarters,Bodor charged members tosubmit to higher authorities,adding, “in any ship, therecan only be one captain.”

Bodor, who was sworn inalongside 24 other branchchairmen in Asaba, the statecapital called for prayersand support from membersto enable him and his teamsucceed in their new task.

building of Health Centre in thecommunity, noting that such ges-ture was worth commending.

He maintained thatUduaghan deserves commenda-tion because it was himself as,Commissioner of Health, that laidthe foundation stone of theSchool of Health Technology, add-ing that Governor Uduaghan hasbeen committed to developmentof the School and the community.

Meanwhile, a youth leader inthe community, Mr. ChrisEriyamremu yesterday alsothanked Governor Uduaghan forapproving the project, and main-tained that the people of Ofuomahave been supportive of thepresent administration of Gover-nor Uduaghan.

tional body of the party shouldinstitute a probe panel to inves-tigate the funding and financesof the party in the past four years.

The statement added: “An in-terim body should be constitutedto oversee the running of theparty in the state pending whencongress will be held to elect newofficers. The Federal Govern-

ment and the national leadershipof the party should disregard anylist of nomination for federal boardsor nomination from the currentleadership of the party in the state.The forum is committed to totalrestructuring, hence we appealto members of the party that havedecamped to come back so thatwe can rebuild our great party.”

BY LAZARUS IBEABUCHI of Oshiomhole has given theentire country a demonstrationof what election should be if allthe entire processes are correctlyobserved and practiced.

“We congratulate Oshiomholefor a well-deserved victory at thegubernatorial poll on July 14,2012. The Edo State people in-deed spoke and with the peace-ful atmosphere during the elec-tion, they did not hesitate to dem-onstrate the basic principle onwhich a free, fair and credible pollis based, one man one vote."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—13

Court restrains Umeh asAPGA chairman

BY TONY EDIKE

How Yar' Ádua saved mylife — Alamieyeseigha

ROTARY—From left; Mr Jacques Delmoitiez, President of BASF, Europe MEA; Prof. Dolapo Lufade-ju; Mr. Dipo Bailey, both Past District Governors of Rotary International in Nigeria and Mr. Ayo Fa-roun, Past President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi at the handing over of 20,000 mosquito nets to Rotary inNigeria by BASF in Lagos.

Mark calls for check onmenace of social media

NMA calls for immortalisationof Late Sen Dantong

...stops him from expelling, suspending any member

ENUGU—AN EnuguState High Court, yes-

terday, restrained the em-battled National Chairmanof All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, Chief Vic-

tor Umeh from “taking stepsto convoke a national, state,or local government exec-utive committee meeting ofthe party.”

Trial judge and ChiefJudge of the state, JusticeInnocent Umezulike, who

granted the injunction, re-strained Umeh from expel-ling any member of APGApending the hearing anddetermination of motion onnotice fixed for hearing onJuly 31, 2012.

It ordered that a substi-

tuted service of all originat-ing processes in the suit beserved on the defendant/re-spondent by pasting it onthe entrance of the com-pound of the defendant’shouse situated at GeraldStreet, Ekulu East Quartersby Ogui Junction, Enuguwithin the jurisdiction of thecourt.

A former chairman of UdiLocal Government Chapterof APGA, Ichie Jude Okoli,had approached the court,complaining that the ac-tions of Umeh “is capableof drowning the aspirationsof the party and some of itsmembers, including him-self; that it will cause irrep-arable damage and damag-es to the party.”

Okoli’s suit, recalled thatUmeh was the NationalTreasurer of the party, whoassumed the office of Na-tional Chairman in 2006 fora four-year term, followingthe removal of Chief Chek-was Okorie, adding that bythe virtue of the constitutionof APGA, the four year termexpired in 2010.

Okoli averred that the con-stitution equally providedthat the a national conven-tion be convoked for thepurpose of electing new of-ficers for the party in theNational Executive Com-mittee, State ExecutiveCommittee and Local Gov-ernment Executive Com-mittee after the expirationof four years.

He stated that despite theexpiration of the tenure ofUmeh in 2010, he contin-ued in office without anyvalid national conventionbelieved that his actionssince were illegal and ultravires the constitution of theparty and had the tenden-cy of escalating into seriouspolitical quagmire unlessrestrained by the court.

BY JOSEPH ERUNKE

ABUJA—FORMERBayelsa State Gover-

nor, Chief DiepreyeAlamieyeseigha, yesterday,said but for the late Presi-dent Umar Yar’Adua, hewoud have been killed thesame way Chief MKO Abi-ola, acclaimed winner ofJune 1993 presidentialelection and Alhaji ShehuYar’Adua died while in pris-on.

Alamieyeseigha said thelate president admonishedhim to accept certain con-ditions, which he did notdisclose so that he(Alamieyeseigha) will re-main alive.

He said late PresidentYar’Adua secretly hintedhim that despite his travails,a particular cabal was notdone yet and wanted himcompletely eliminated.

He spoke in Abuja, at thelaunch of a book authoredby his contemporary andformer Anambra State Gov-ernor, Dr ChinwokeMbadinuju.

The former Bayelsa Stategovernor, who was the chieflauncher on the occasion,was reacting to his col-league’s address, who hadreeled out all his bad expe-riences in office as gover-nor of Anambra State.

“You have said your ownexperiences in office as agovernor of your state but ifI state mine, you will seethat yours is nothing com-pared to what I passedthrough,” he said.

He disclosed that he waswriting a book on his polit-ical career, especially asgovernor of Bayelsa State,adding that it will soon beconcluded and subsequent-ly launched.

BY ANAYO OKOLI

...asks reporters to cross-check facts

UMUAHIA—SENATEPresident, Senator

David Mark, yesterday,called for a check on themenace of the social mediaon the Nigerian society,saying that people now usethem to demean their lead-ers.

Mark said the need tocheck the social media be-came necessary, as they donot have the avenue for re-traction of whatever theyhad done.

Senator Mark, who spokein Umuahia, Abia State,while declaring open a two-day retreat for Senate Presscorps, explained that the

media has come to stay, aspart of the process of gov-ernance in the country,since the return of demo-cratic government in 1999and performing its social re-sponsibility of checking theexcesses of the leaders.

Senator Mark, however,urged reporters to alwayscross check their facts be-fore writing so as not to mis-lead the people, who de-pend on them to knowwhat goes on around them.

The Senate President cit-ed as examples varied fig-ures usually quoted by var-ious media in times of trag-edies, saying that the fig-ures were always inconsist-ent.

BY CHIOMA OBIN-NA

PRESIDENT of Nigerian Medical Associa-

tion, NMA, Dr. OsahonEnabulele, yesterday,called for the immortalisa-tion of late Senator GyangDantong, who died in thestampede that followed at-tacks by Fulani herdsmenon July 8, 2012, when heand others were attendingthe burial of members oftheir community, who hadearlier been killed duringsimilar attacks.

NMA President made thiscall at the final burial ritesfor late Senator Dalyop Dan-tong in Jos, Plateau State.

Enabulele, who eulo-gised the virtues of late Sen-ator Dantong, recalled theroles played by the late Sen-ator in the passage of theNational Health Bill by thesixth National Assembly,his commitment to Univer-sal Health Coverage, theeradication of Polio in Ni-geria, his passion for peaceand unity amongst the com-munities in Jos.

To sustain the legacies oflate Senator Dantong, hecall for the National HealthBill to be passed andsigned in its undiluted orig-inal form as originally pre-sented to President Good-luck Jonathan for his as-sent.

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Elechi faults National Assembly overimpeachment plot against Jonathan

BY PETER OKUTU

BY ENYIM ENYIM

New salary for police 'll takeeffect soon — AIG

FRSC to arrest drivers with retreaded tyres

BY VINCENT UJU-MADU

MEETING—From left: Governor Rochas Okorocha and Justice Ben Nje-manze, Chief Judge of Imo State during a meeting with the Judges in thestate.

ABAKALIKI—GOVERNOR Martin

Elechi of Ebonyi State, yes-terday, faulted House ofRepresentatives’ impeach-ment threat against Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathanover the delayed implemen-tation of 2012 nationalbudget.

He argued that the actionof the House was not ap-propriate at this period,when the nation was goingthrough challenges, in-cluding air crashes, terror-ist onslaughts, tanker ex-plosions, fire disaster anddestructive floods, whichhad claimed many livesand destroyed propertyworth billions of naira.

Elechi, at the 2012 PressWeek organised by the Ni-geria Union of Journal ists,Ebonyi State Council, saidit was worrisome that mem-bers of the House of Repre-sentatives, who are sup-posed to be fully aware ofthe negative impact anddanger of any impeach-ment process at this periodof the nation’s history, could

be part of such move. Hecharged the political classto contribute their quota to-wards national transforma-tion

He said: “Again let us ex-amine the current issue ofthe impeachment threat bythe House of Representa-tives. If what we read in themedia is anything to go by,

the House is unhappy thatthe 2012 national budgethas attained, by it calcula-tion, 30 percent implemen-tation for which it hadthreatened that if by Sep-tember this year, the budg-et was not implemented100 percent, it will initiateimpeachment proceedingsagainst the President".

ONITSHA—FEDERALRoad Safety Commis-

sion, FRSC, in AnambraState, yesterday, threatenedto arrest commercial vehi-cle drivers operating withretreaded and expiredtyres.

FRSC commander in On-itsha unit, Mr Fred Okoh,said the planned operationwas to ensure the safety of

motorists and passengers inthe state.

He described as unfortu-nate, the sale and use of re-treaded tyres by both deal-ers and commercial vehicledrivers in not only Anam-bra but other states of thefederation.

Okoh said some of theroad accidents recorded onNigerian roads occurred asa result of retreaded tyres.

Speaking while decorat-ing three officers of the com-

mand, Okoh said theawareness would go a longway to reduce incessant autocrashes occasioned by theuse of retreaded tyres.

He said the unit had car-ried out extensive aware-ness on the dangers of re-treaded tyres at motor-parksand markets, adding that ithad concluded plans to col-laborate with relevant reg-ulatory bodies to ensure thequality of tyres sold in On-itsha markets.

AWKA—THE new salary scale proposed for

the police will take effectsoon, Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police, AIG, incharge of Zone 9, Umua-hia, Abia State, Mr. Solo-mon Olusegun, said, yes-terday, in Awka, AnambraState.

Olusegun, who was on avisit to Anambra State,urged officers and men ofthe force to exercise pa-tience, explaining that theInspector General of Police,Mr. Mohammed Abubakar,

had facilitated the imple-mentation of the new sala-ry scale.

He said: “I am aware thata new salary scheme iscoming, but we need timeto put things in order be-fore payment begins, as theIG is putting finishingtouches to it.”

He commended the An-ambra State Police Commis-sioner, Mr. Bala Nasarawaand officers of the com-mand for what he describedas their performance incrime fighting in the stateand urged them not to re-lent.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 15

CMYK

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Inner dimension offasting

BY ISHOLA BALO-GUN

RAMADAN TALK 07

N300m scam: ICPC raids MDG officein Benue, arrests accountant, others

BY PETER DURU

Bribery: Police detain 17officers in Kano

BY ABDULSALAMMOHAMMED

Plateaucrises:Womenadvocateprayers

Terrorism: Army gives anti-bombingdevices to churches, mosques

THE idea of fasting is definitely not to starve one-

self but to be on a differentspiritual plane altogether. Itis not a punishment but aspiritual exercise to go clos-er to God. In doing this, itmust be a period of total re-dedication to Allah with in-crease in activities that arein consonance with the dic-tates of Allah while alsoshunning the ways of shay-tan (devil). The fastingMuslim must ensure thatthe exercise goes far be-yond abstinence from eat-ing and drinking. It in-cludes a change of habitsthat will put you on the trackof righteousness. Some ofthem are as follows:

See not whatdispleases Allah

Cultivate a chaste regard,restraine yourself fromviewing anything that isreprehensible, or which dis-tracts the heart and divertsit from the remembrance ofGod. The Prophet said:

“The furtive glance is oneof the poisoned arrows ofSatan, on him be God’scurse. Whoever forsakes itfor fear of God, will receivefrom Him, great and gra-cious is He, a faith thesweetness of which he willfind within his heart.”

As related by Jabir fromAnas that Prophet Muham-mad, (s.a.w) said: ‘Fivethings break a man’s fast,these are lying, back-biting,scandal, perjury and a lust-ful gaze.’

Speak no evil

Guarding one’s tonguefrom vain talk, lying, back-biting, scandal, obscenity,rudeness, wrangling andcontroversy is beneficial; in-stead, occupy yourself withthe remembrance of Allahand with recitation of theQuran. This is otherwisetermed the fasting of thetongue. The Prophet said: ‘Fasting is a shield; so whenone of you is fasting heshould not use foul or fool-ish talk. If someone attackshim or insults him, let himsay:”I am fasting, I am fast-ing!”

LECTURE—Commandant AFIT, Air Vice Marshal Olusola Oshoniyi (right)and AVM Gabriel Olanrewaju (rtd), Moderator, during the 41st graduationlecture of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, yesterday. Photo:Olu Ajayi.

DONATION—From left, Prof David Oke, Chief Medical Director, Lagos StateUniversity Teaching Hospital, LASUTH; Dr Adeola Animashaun, HOD, Pae-diatrics; Mrs Abimbola Fashola, First Lady of Lagos State, and Member ofCOWLSO, during the presentation of medical equipment donated by Com-mittee of Wives of Lagos State Office, COWLSO, to LASUTH. Photo: Ke-hinde Gbadamosi.

A source told Vanguardthat the commission hadalso placed embargo on thebank accounts of the MDGoffice in Makurdi pendingan indepth investigationsinto the matter.

It was gathered thatthough, some of the offi-

cials of the office had beengranted bail by ICPC, theywere directed to report dai-ly at the Abuja office of thecommission.

When contacted on thematter, the state Coordina-tor of MDGs, Mr. Aikyor,who was also arrested by

ICPC operatives, said hewas not prepared to discussthe issue.

Attempts to reach theBenue State Head of ICPC,Prince Hassan Moham-med, proved abortive as hecould not be reached onphone.

BY CALEB AYANSINA He added that the anti-bombing devices would bedistributed to the represent-atives of Christian andMuslim bodies, who shouldin turn produce it in massfor distribution, stressingthat security is everybody’sbusiness.

He said, “it has been dis-covered that most attacksby suicide bombers are be-ing carried out with vehi-cles loaded with Impro-vised Explosive Devices.

“In order to disallowbombers from reachingtheir targets, this inventioncomes in handy as it force-fully stops any vehicle thatcomes in contact with it at

whatever speed. The un-folding security challengesconfronting the nationamongst which is the BokoHaram menace have con-tinued to hinder the con-gress of the transformationagenda of Mr President aswell as the development ofthe nation at large.

“The terrorists over theyears have continued to at-tack places of worship(churches and mosques) inorder to destabilize the na-tion. This necessitated theChief of Army Staff tocharge all corps and serv-ices of the Nigerian Armyto provide ways and meansof curtailing this menace.

BY AKANINYENEEZEKIEL

JOS—PLATEAU Statewomen under the aegis

of Women Without WallsInitiative, have appealed toresidents of the state to turnto God in prayers to healthe land and reverse Hisanger on the state in viewof the various atrocities com-mitted to defile the land.

The women spoke, yes-terday against the backdropof the recent flood disaster,which claimed scores oflives, especially womenand children, as well as theattacks, which took the livesof two prominent lawmak-ers and other residents ofthe state.

President of the group,Pastor Esther Ibanga andSecretary, Hajia KhadijahHawaja, commiseratedwith victims of the flood andcondemned the gruesomeacts of violence, which hadled to wanton destruction oflives and property, stress-ing that the constant blood-shed is defiling the landand would bring aboutGod’s wrath not only on thestate but on the nation.

KANO—POLICE inKano State, have de-

tained no fewer than 17 of-ficers and men of its com-mand over allegations ofextortion and bribery.

Kano Police Public Rela-tion Officer, Mr RilwanuDutse, told newsmen yes-terday, that the affected of-ficers were arrested by Xsquad team monitoring sev-eral duty posts in the an-cient city.

It will be recalled that

heavy presence of securityforces became order of theday in the state since theJanuary 20 attack by an Is-lamist sect, which lead toproliferation of check pointsto checkmate activities ofcriminals.

The spokesperson of thecommand explained thatthe action followed ‘bittercomplaint’ from the gener-al public bordering on actof misdemeanour againstofficers deployed in strate-gic places in the city, add-ing that the timely responsepaid off handsomely.

NUT shifts strike to Sept

BY FAVOURNNABUGWU & PRIS-

CILLA BADUGU

ABUJA—NIGERIANUnion of Teachers,

NUT, yesterday shifted itsearlier strike, schedulled forthis month till the end ofSeptember 2012, to enablethe remaining 11 state gov-ernors comply with the 27.5per cent enhanced salaryscale, an agreementreached between the unionand the governors threeyears ago.

NUT President, Mr

Michael Olukoya, said the11 defaulting state govern-ments, yet to comply withthe enhanced salary shoulddo so before the end of Sep-tember this year.

Olukoya, who briefednewsmen said the uniondid not wish to be perceivedas trouble shooters and assuch, has suspended thestrike, earlier slated forJuly 23, 2012 to give thestates more time to complyand also because of the in-tervention of the Ministerof Education, Prof Ruqqua-yat Rufa’i and pleas fromsome state governors.

MAKURDI—INDEPENDENT Corrupt

Practices Commission,ICPC, has raided theBenue State office of Mil-lennium DevelopmentGoals, MDGs, and arrest-ed the state coordinator,Mr. Timothy Aikyor, the ac-countant and other top offi-cials in the office.

Vanguard gathered thatthe action of ICPC was se-quel to several petitions ofalleged financial impropri-ety levelled against top of-ficials of the office amount-ing to over N300million.

A source told Vanguardthat the ICPC operatives,who stormed the office, ran-sacked the premises andtook away vital documentsfrom the accounts depart-ment and coordinator's of-fice.

It was also gathered thatthe arrested officials whowere few days ago whiskedto the ICPC headquartersin Abuja for questioninghad made useful statementsto operatives of commis-sion.

ABUJA—NIGERIANArmy, yesterday, un-

veiled and presented vehi-cle stoppers to somechurches and mosques, aspart of its corporate socialresponsibility.

The gesture is also aimedat curtailing the spate of at-tacks on worship centresacross the country.

Presenting the devices inAbuja, the Chief of CivilMilitary Affairs, MajorGen. Bitrus Kwaji, said thevehicle stoppers were de-signed to stop any vehiclefrom all angle at any speed.

Donu Kogbara SSSSSweetweetweetweetweet & & & & & SOURSOURSOURSOURSOUR

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 17

,,

SINCE Henry SeriakeDickson, the Bayelsa

State Governor, bestowed aPermanent Secretaryappointment on DamePatience Jonathan, I havespoken to several people –foreigners as well asNigerians – who have madeextremely disparagingremarks about the giver, therecipient and the recipient’sspouse.

Disparaging remarks galorehave also been made byreaders of various onlinepublications. Dickson hasbeen dismissed as ashameless arch-sychophant.The Dame has been describedas deluded, silly, graspingand ill-qualified. ThePresident has been roundlyabused for allowing his wifetoo much latitude.

Meanwhile, Mr. MorrisAlagoa, who is Chairman ofthe Bayelsa state chapter ofthe Civil LibertiesOrganisation, has made itclear that he regards thisdevelopment as“unacceptable” for a numberof reasons, including hisbelief that Perm Sec jobsshould not be dished out likepolitical appointments orhonorary university degreesand should only go toindividuals who have steadilyworked their way, on a full-time basis and for many years,to the top of the civil service.

Going downa dodgy path

I have said quite a few nicethings about The Dame and

Dickson in this column in thepast. But I have to criticiseboth of them on this occasionand say that I don’tunderstand why they havechosen to go down a dodgypath that was bound to leadthem into the painful,humiliating realm of mockeryand insults.

Why?Talk about playing into your

enemies’ hands! Do Dicksonand The Dame honestly, intheir hearts, think that shedeserves a slot that normallygoes to dedicated seniorcareer bureaucrats? Did theynot realise that they wouldexpose themselves tonegative comments such asthe following observation,which was attributed to writerKaanayo Nwachukwu on aninternet site I recently visited:

“Even the wives of Idi Amin,Eyadema, Omar Bongo,Mugabe, Charles Taylor,Jammeh, Mbasogo, Kerekou,Gbagbo, Ben-Ali, Mubarak,Ghaddafi, OlusegunObasanjo, Abacha,Babangida, Rawlings, DosSantos, Idris Deby, Paul Biya,Zenawi, Afewarki, Mobutu,Kabila, Bokassa…who haveruled and ruined Africa - and

for offering it to her, thequestions that keepreverberating through mymind are:

Why bother about aPerm Sec title

Why is The Damebothering with a Perm

WORDS like “bush” and“nincompoop” are

routinely and contemptuouslybandied around wheneverthe current administration isbeing discussed nowadays;and a lot of Yorubas, Fulanis,Middle Belters and Igboshave, in recent months, a)bitterly berated me forhassling them to vote for my“Big Brother ” GoodluckJonathan and b) assured methat they will never EVERvote for a Niger DeltanPresidential candidate againbecause they regard Jonathana huge flop.

I find this attitudeimmensely offensive andridiculously tribalistic.

Since I myself am deeplydisappointed in PresidentJonathan, I cannot blameanyone who shares my view

Sec title in the midst of all thisdamaging controversy whenthe title she already has – HerExcellency, First Lady Of TheFederal Republic Of Nigeria– puts her at the pinnacle ofour society? Is the Perm Secthing not a demotion ratherthan a promotion?!Whether we like it or not, FirstLadies in ANY country havemore status than females who

have been high achievers intheir own rights…and haveperformed impressively asbusinesswomen, lawyers,doctors, journalists orwhatever.

Do people queue up to meetMichelle Obama or SamanthaCameron because they aremega-talented professionalsor because they happen to bethe consorts of the Presidentof the United States and thePrime Minister of GreatBritain?

Grace Kelly, a dazzlinglybeautiful 1950s movie star,attracted tons of fawningadulation in her heyday. Butthere are different levels ofadulation; and it was not untilshe got hitched to PrinceRanier, the ruler of Monaco,that people started to curtseyin her presence and addressher as “Your SereneHighness”.

When The Dame embarks oncountrywide tours, do PermSecs in various states not lineup to almost kiss her feet? Sowhy did she acceptmembership of a group thatis compelled by convention totreat her like a reveredsuperior?

Being respected because ofwho you married is probablynot as satisfying as beingrespected for what you haveactually done. And The Damecan get the best of both worldsif she GENUINELY commitsherself to worthy causes.

Never again?!

that his leadership style isflawed. But I don’t see whyevery single Niger Deltanpolitician should be tarredwith the same brush!

Why should an

acknowledgement of oneperson’s weaknesses expandto the point where you blindlydespise the entire populationof an entire region? I don’tremember any of the folks whoare complaining aboutJonathan saying that weshould never again tolerate aNorthern or South-Westernpresident because of themultiple shortcomings ofShagari, IBB, Yar ’Adua,Abacha and Obasanjo!,

I’m yearned for Jonathan toshine and am so very sorrythat he hasn’t done wellenough. But Niger Deltansare as entitled to be ineffectiveor disastrous as indigenes ofother geopolitical zones! And,for the record, there are plentyof Niger Deltan men andwomen who will do better ifthey are given a chance.

continue to rule and ruin - arenot half as ambitious asPatience Jonathan”.

But I am more interested inthe personal angle than theethical, legal and proceduralaspects. So while most ofDickson and The Dame’sdetractors are focusing on

issues such as her eligibilityfor the post and his motives

When The Dame embarks oncountrywide tours, do Perm Secsin various states not line up toalmost kiss her feet? So why didshe accept membership of a groupthat is compelled by convention totreat her like a revered superior?

Gov.Henry Seriake Dickson

President Goodluck Jonathan

Dame Patience Jonathan

Responses to:donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk orto 0802 747 6458 (texts only).

PLEASE KINDLY NOTETHAT UNLESS YOU

SPECIFICALLY REQUESTANONYMITY, YOUR

COMMENTS MAY BEPUBLISHED IN

VANGUARD, WITH YOURNAMES AND NUMBERSOR EMAIL ADDRESSES

ATTACHED.

Ex-president OlusegunObasanjo

CMYK

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

BY ANDREW UDODIRI

*Mr. Udodiri, a social critic, wrote from Lagos.

Abia's environmentalchallengesAS a child growing up in the commercial city of Aba, Abia

state in the early eighties, I knew the city had a lot ofenvironmental challenges that appeared insurmountable at atime, despite several efforts by successive governments in thestate to tackle them. It was obvious, however, to the residentsthen that governments were not committed and sincere intackling the problems. Top on the list of the environmentalchallenges in the city then were flooding and refuse disposal.Both of them posed serious threat to our health andenvironmental wellbeing even as we no choice but to endure thehazard. Apart from the indiscriminate dumping of refuse atalmost every corner, the odour oozing out from it was enough tomake one sick all the time.

As more people trooped into the city for commercial activitiesand other means of eking out a living, the more the challengestook a dangerous dimension, as there were no places for refusedisposal. So most times residents dump their refuse into thedrainage, especially at night, believing it would be washedaway by flood when it rained. Some streets and roads weretaken over by heaps of refuse and people avoided using suchroads and streets for fear of being infected.

It was a situation that worsened the environmentalchallenges in the city as most drainage channels were totallyblocked, making it possible for flood to take over majority of theroads in the city whenever it rained. I could remember how ourparents would always prevent us from going out whenever itwas raining to avoid being carried away by flood or beinginfected in the contaminated flood.

That was my experience and that of my people in the city then.By the time I finished my secondary education in the earlynineties I left the city for further education in Enugu, though Ivisited there occasionally to buy clothes while I was in theuniversity because of the presence of good tailors there.

With the return of democracy in 1999, I had thought that thecity and state capital, Umuahia, would receive adequateattention from the state government, especially in tackling theenvironmental challenges. But disappointedly I didn’t witnesssuch intervention from the government when I visited the cityagain in 2005 while doing my national youth serviceprogramme in Cross River State. One of my friends there toldme that the government had continued to promise the residentsof plans to clear the heaps of refuse at various dump sites thathad become an eye sore, but nothing was ever done.

So it was a hopeless situation in Aba and for years I didn’t gothere again until recently when I was in Umuahia for some dayson official duty. Every morning from my hotel room window, Isaw some waste disposal trucks with the inscription of the AbiaState Environment Protection Agency, ASEPA, carrying wasteand some street sweepers sweeping the roads and watering theflowers planted on the dualised roads in the capital. On inquiryhow such development was made possible and whether suchhas been extended to the commercial city of Aba, I wasinformed that the present government in the state made itpossible with the revival of ASEPA and equipping the agencywith the necessary facilities, including more than 28 wastedisposal trucks, Eco poer truck, tippers, receptacles, bulldozers,graders, domestic waste bins, weight waste containers, motorvehicle waste basket, bio-degradable waste bag and others.

This was after the state government terminated thearrangement it entered into with Phoenix EnvironmentalService Limited for failure to live up to expectation inmanaging refuse in Aba. The government later entered intoagreement with ANCOLD Environmental to work in

partnership with ASEPA to ensure the clearing of wastedisposal in Aba.

Based on the popular adage which says that “seeing isbelieving”, I made out time and visited Aba to see things myselfand also see some of my friends after some years. On getting tothe city, right from the popular and notorious OsisiomaJunction, it was obvious that there was a massive improvementin the tackling of environmental challenges in the city. Flowershave been planted at junctions with a beautification design anddemarcation I found very attractive. There was no traffic jamsor congestion at the junction right down to the Aba/Owerri road.Most of the known refuse dump sites in the city were empty, withdisposal trucks on every street packing waste. Most of thedrainage channels were cleared and clean. I could not believethat it was the same filthy city I left few years ago.

I learnt also that ASEPA introduced a unique waste sortingdevice known as medical waste management devise, a veryspecial environmental management approach designed forsorting out medical-related waste for effective disposal. Myfriends told me that residents who infringe on environmentallaws are charged to mobile courts established by the stategovernment. This, I was told, has made the residents of the city,especially traders, to change their attitude towards managingrefuse to avoid incurring the wrath of the law. So in Aba andUmuahia today, the fear of ASEPA is the beginning of wisdomfor the residents, especially those who are not ready to obey theenvironmental laws of keeping their environments clean all thetimes.

The state government’s spirited effort in managing waste inthe state now, especially in Aba and Umuahia, is commendableand the residents should complement them by adhering strictlyto the rules of the game in disposing their refuse because it is nolonger business as usual.

THE London Olympic Games that begintoday will be the biggest security operationin peace time. A budget of $877-million isbehind civilian and military operations toprotect competitors and spectators. TheBritish will see more soldiers and armedsecurity personnel on their streets thanmany ever imagined.More awesome is the unseen details –

drones, satellites, missiles, high definition-cameraed helicopters that can pick out sus-pects, sniffer dogs and more than 2, 000games specific close circuit television cam-eras which would join another 4.2 millionsuch cameras that are part of normal Lon-don life.Unknown to many, London is one of the

most policed cities in the world, but with12,500 police officers, 12,200 soldiers, at

least 7,000 contracted civilian securityworkers and a further 5,500 troops in-volved in military operations outside gamessites, it would be a different London.Installation of six temporary high-veloci-

ty ground-to-air missile sites around EastLondon, including two on residential

As The Olympics BeginAs The Olympics BeginAs The Olympics BeginAs The Olympics BeginAs The Olympics Beginapartment blocks resulted in a law suit. Theresidents lost the bid to remove the missiles.Britain’s biggest warship, HMS Ocean, is

stationed on the River Thames, with RoyalFleet Auxiliary vessel Mounts Bay at Wey-mouth, Dorset, venues of sailing events. Sixhelicopters - three Royal Navy Sea Kingsand three RAF Pumas will join them.Nigeria’s chances at the Games lie more

with the women. They are leaders in mostof the sports where they have the opportu-nity to compete. They are just not givenenough credit for their results under allguises, including claims that the women’scategory of competitions is not as strong asthe men’s.Since winning their first Olympic medal

20 years ago, a bronze from the 4x100m

relay in Barcelona, our women have wonmedals at subsequent Games (with Chio-ma Ajunwa winning Nigeria first goldmedal, long jump, in 1996). The onlymedalless Games for them were Athens in2004. The 2010 Commonwealth Games inNew Delhi, saw the women winning mostof Nigeria’s medals. When Nigeria, firstfinished first at the All Africa Games in2003, medals from women competitors ex-ceeded those from the men.Of the six medals won at the Atlanta

Olympics, our women contributed one gold,one silver and two bronze. The football goldand bronze from boxing completed thecount. In Sydney 2000, women won two ofNigeria’s three silver medals until a finaldecision earlier this month elevated themen’s 4x400m relay silver to gold.London provides opportunity for our

women to increase their total collection ofa gold, three silver and five bronze med-als, almost half of Nigeria’s Olympic cacheof three gold, eight silver, and 12 bronzemedals.We wish the Olympic team success.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 —, JULY 27, 2012 —, JULY 27, 2012 —, JULY 27, 2012 —, JULY 27, 2012 — 19 19 19 19 19

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*Mr. Ainofenokhai, a public affairsanalyst, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.

BY JOHN AINOFENOKHAI

Power line executions (2)

Edo guber: Oserhiemen Osunbor'sgobblegook

MUCH of what it takes iscommon knowledge,

particularly to power sectorpersonnel, political leaders andaffected public officials at variouslevels of government.

The enforcement of ordinancesand codes pertaining to theutilization of space underneathpower transmission lines, is theobvious starting point.

These rules are not popular andtheir enforcement tends togenerate political friction andcontroversy.

One reason is that illicitoccupants and users of space nearpower lines are usually eitheroblivious or indifferent to thepossible consequences.

Another is the fact thattransgressors are, more often thannot, economic climbers anddisadvantaged individuals—towhom the enforcement of suchregulations seems oppressive.

Added to this is the “C-Factor”.

In many jurisdictions, a symbiosishas developed between corruptpower line officials and those whoinhabit or use space that is legallyoff-limits.

The transgressors apparentlyare, for PHCN officials and otherlike-minded actors, a regular andreliable source of bribes.Enforcing the codes andordinances would, therefore,threaten the income of theseavaricious interests.

Making headway, through thisthick undergrowth of intertwinedinterests, requires a very highdegree of determination andfocus. One notable instance of thisis the cutting-edge reforms of theAmaechi administration in RiversState.

Determined to sanitize PortHarcourt’s building regulations asit applied to power lines, the StateGovernment acted very decisively.It demolished illegal buildingsand fences in both socially decayed

and elite areas of the city--including some structuresbelonging to members of theGovernor’s own cabinet!

This, precisely, is the approachneeded--where it is applicable--tothe problem of illicit use of spaceunderneath power conductinglines. Instead, I am fearful thatPeter’s approach is typical of thekind of leadership we have beengetting from PHCN, in particular,and public safety administratorsgenerally.

According to The Punch,Peters complained that

PHCN has expended a lot ofresources “enlightening the publicon the dangers of the infringementand has even had to make a reporton the floor of the Oyo StateHouse of Assembly on the issue inthe past; all to no avail”.

This is curious because, by hisown admission, in the same report,the law requires individuals tokeep specified distances from thelines. I believe it is incumbent uponPHCN to do much more. When allelse fails, it should ask government

to demolish encroachingstructures and arrest habitualtransgressors.

This approach, of course, has itslimitation. It is not applicable orfeasible in every instance. In somecases, the power lines may need tobe re-routed, to circumvent highlypopulated areas. The physicalsecurity of residents will more thanjustify the added expense.

As a matter of policy, I believegovernment should look verycarefully at the use of un-insulatedwires for transmitting electricalpower in populated areas and thatthe legislature should holdhearing on the issue. An alternativeis needed to stringing high-tensionand naked low-tension wires overurban areas.

I am aware that insulation causeshigh-tension wires to overheat. Butlow-voltage wires--especially droplines, which carry current toresidential areas--can and shouldbe insulated. In short, thelegislature needs to outlaw nakedpower lines within town and cityboundaries.

The National Assembly shouldalso require that high-tension wiresbe kept completely out of urbanareas. This can be achievedthrough the use of drop (or “step-down”) lines to collect power fromoutlying high-tension conductorsand relay it to population centres.

In the eastern U.S.A., forexample, power lines in urban andresidential areas have long beeninsulated. Increasingly, insulatedlow-voltage wires are rununderground in populated areas,rather than being strung overheadon electrical poles.

The feasibility of adopting these

safety measures here, even thoughwe are not an advancedmanufacturing country, ought tobe explored. It seems to me, thatimporting insulated lines wouldmake much more sense than tocontinue to execute our people bybringing in naked wires.

There is also the possibility thatthe magnetism emanating fromhigh-tension power lines couldhave an adverse effect onindividuals living in closeproximity to them. This issue isbeing hotly debated; and the juryis still out.

Nevertheless, the U.S.Environmental Protection Agencyreports that a 1998 study of theincidence of childhood leukemia,conducted by an “expert workinggroup” of the American NationalInstitute of Health, found that“power line magnetic fields are apossible cause of cancer”.

As a short term expedient,transmission wires in populatedareas need to be properlymaintained and promptlyreplaced when found to bedefective. Stiff penalties ought tobe imposed on obstructing orrecalcitrant PHCN officials andany other administrator whoactions threaten public safety. In atime when power privatisation isa hot topic, our position on this willneed to be defined. Transmissionas far as I know remains a federalresponsibility. This may change inthe not too distant future and sopotential custodians of thisresponsibility need to be educatedon this reality. Current methodswill no longer sustain.

Concluded.

I AM not surprised that former Governorof Edo State on the platform of the Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP, for 18 months,Professor Oserhiemen AigberaodionOsunbor, has not been able to demonstrateto the world that he has the capacity to riseabove political parsimoniousness.

The truth is that he cannot do it (I willprove that shortly) and this is the tragedy ofthe man whose tenure was suddenlyterminated by the Court of Appeal onNovember 12, 2008 to pave the way for thetakeover of the reins of governance byAdams Aliu Oshiomhole of the ActionCongress of Nigeria, ACN.

Rather than show gratitude to the politicalstructure that brought him out from theacademia and made him what he hasbecome in the ecology of politics in EdoState by doing all within his powers tosustain the structure, Osunbor hasconsistently played the game of treacheryto undermine it.

In a piece I wrote before the July 14governorship election in Edo State entitled:“Edo governorship and Osunbor’s dansemacabre,” I had adverted people’s attentionto the fact that Osunbor was deeplyengrossed in a political macabre dance bypandering to the attraction of filthy lucreand narcissism.

I had posed the critical question as to whowould save Osunbor from himself and thatwas because he had gone too far in thepastime of vindictiveness and the blame-game which he now charges some PDPleaders with after playing emu in the grandconspiratorial alliance with Oshiomhole inthe governorship poll that largely did thePDP in.

In a publication in some nationalnewspapers (see Vanguard, Thursday, July19, 2012, page 11), Osunbor had reportedlysaid “Edo guber election result didn’tsurprise me.” He had tenuously claimedthat the PDP lost the governorship electionon February 25 when the party leadersallegedly manipulated the primaries thatproduced the candidate of the party:

Charles Airhiavbere.He had even tried to attribute to himself

some self-importance when he said: “Thosewhose mission at the primaries was todisgrace Osunbor have themselves beendisgraced without any exception. Theymade a costly mistake and should takeresponsibility for PDP’s woefulperformance…. So long as the partyremains in the hands of vindictive,unforgiving and self-centred leaders, whoendlessly engage in self glorification yetcould not win their wards, PDP seemsdoomed in Edo State”.

I disagree with his implicit propositionthat his candidature would have swungvictory for the PDP in the governorshipelection. For someone who came last (fifthposition) in the primaries of the party, howelse did he want to be told that he had beenrejected by the structure that threw him up.His rejection by elements within his partywas an indication of the greater rejection hewould have suffered in the hands of the Edoelectorate for understandable reasons.

His claims were thus unfounded;otherwise, if he knew he was popular andcould win on his own merit and/orperformance in office, why did he not seizethe platform of another party to pursue hisgovernorship ambition? But he wouldremain in the PDP to work against it fromwithin. This was a patently callous andungodly act by someone who is the greatestbeneficiary of the party in Edo State.

Those who are very familiar with thepolitics of Edo State PDP and the emergenceof Osunbor as the party’s governorshipcandidate know that he was gratuitouslyhanded the party’s governorship ticket in2007 because former President OlusegunObasanjo, who was then in the saddle,insisted he should be given the ticket.Otherwise, Odion Ugbesia (now a senator)would have emerged as the party ’scandidate; and, even if Ugbesia were not tobe in the race, Professor Julius Ihonvberelooked good to trounce Osunbor as he didin the February 25, 2012 primaries(Ihonvbere came fourth).

After he emerged as candidate in 2007,other aspirants campaigned for him.

Ihonvbere played a leading role in hiscampaign, tending to the reputation of hiscampaigns in the media. Osunbor hasgreatly benefitted from the large-heartedness of the party and its leadershipthat launched him into political limelightby sponsoring him to the Senate in 1999and 2003 as well as the governorship outingin 2007. I had expected that he should havebeen very grateful to the party and its leadersrather than bashing them. This goes to showhow greedy he is for power. Is he the onlyperson in the party?

But I have always maintained that hisdecision to abandon the party by

supporting Oshiomhole was foolish andmorally indefensible. It shows how puerilehe is politically. It is on record that hisattitude in office as governor was not evensalutary to the wellbeing and unity of theparty in the State. Rather than buildharmony, Osunbor’s desperate attempt tobuild a new structure in the party whichwould bolster his re-election, precipitatedturmoil. He had used the instrumentality ofhis position as governor to destabilize theparty. He was so committed to the processof wresting control of the party from theleaders so that he would become the de-factoleader of the party.

The PDP and even Osunbor himself havenot fully recovered from the outcome of thatdisastrous enterprise. Having squanderedthe opportunity of acting as a binding forcefor the PDP by allowing unbridledaspiration for a second term in office anddesperation to control the party machineryto consume him, I had submitted that my

expectations were that Osunbor should havemaintained a low profile to allow thepassage of time to heal the wounds he hadinflicted on himself and the party instead ofrushing out in a bid to contest thegovernorship on the party platform.

He was no doubt deluded into believingthat he was popular and that his littleachievements (de-silting of drainages andrenovation of some roads) in office wouldspeak for him. But Oshiomhole for whomhe had worked against his own party (PDP)had said consequent upon taking over fromhim (Osunbor) in 2008 that he did not leavebehind any legacy.

And it is quite sad that Osunbor, aProfessor of Law and two-term leader of thePDP, would, perhaps, without the slightestprick of conscience, dump a party that hasmade him all that he is today in the politicalsphere. It is even sadder how Osunborattempted to rationalize the tragedy of hisabandoning the PDP and its candidate. Readhim: “Oshiomhole has promised to finishthe projects I started while in office,including the ones in this community. Hehas promised to sink more boreholes, andcomplete the construction of the road Istarted in Iruekpen. Oshiomhole is a niceperson. Outside politics, we are friends. Hehas even bought me a jeep just like the onehe used as his official car. The governor hasnever said anything against my person….”(THISDAY, Wednesday, May 30, 2013, page12).

I wondered if that was the bait that theComrade-Governor used to “destroy” him(Osunbor) completely politically. What wasa jeep to Osunbor? What was he doing withthe jeeps he had before? This sadly shows,perhaps, how unreasonable and isolatedOsunbor has become in the environment ofPDP politics.

As I wrote before, I had expected Osunborto engage in a conversation with himself(monologue), with the party (dialogue) andseek to retrace where the rains began to fallon him with a view to working towardsreconciliation with the elements that hewronged when he was in the saddle. Thisattitude would have projected him as a greatpolitician with his eyes on posterity. Butunfortunately, he has allowed egocentricityto shear him of political reasonableness.This is indeed sad!

I believegovernmentshould look atthe use of un-insulated wiresfor transmittingelectrical powerin populatedareas

I had expectedOsunbor to engage ina conversation withhimself...(and) theparty with a view toworking towardsreconciliation with theelements that hewronged when he wasin the saddle

20 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 21

CMYK

From left: Mr Adesola Adenusi, MD, Netserve Ltd; Sir William Park, first prize winner of the competition and MrsLydia Oladokun, Head, SAP Business One, West Africa at the presentation of SAP Solution One by Netserve Limitedto the winner at the Fate Foundation Annual Business Plan competition, in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

ECONOMIC expansion in the 25leading Rapid-Growth Markets

(RGMs) has started to slow sharplysince the beginning of this year but thiswill only be a temporary blip accordingto Ernst & Young’s quarterly Rapid-Growth Markets Forecast (RGMF).

RGMs, particularly in Asia, have the

Slowdown in rapid-growth markets to beshort-lived — Ernst & Young

necessary tools available to ease bothfiscal and monetary policy allowinggrowth to resume towards the end ofthe year.

Even with a slowdown in growth,RGMs are likely to weather theEurozone crisis and will remain theengines of global growth. GDP isforecast to expand by 4.9% this year instark contrast to the 0.6% contraction,

Africa needs well-regulated commodityexchanges — AfDB

AFRICAN countries can benefitimmensely from well-regulated

derivatives commodity exchanges –which in turn could provide a useful toolfor Africa’s development,” said AfricanDevelopment Bank (AfDB).

Manager, Regional Integration andTrade, AfDB, Mrs. Moono Mupotola,said this in an interview ahead ofthe bank’s sponsored Pan-AfricanWorkshop for Regulators ofDerivatives and CommodityExchanges, which commenced onWednesday in Gaborone, Botswana.

Explaining the rationale for theworkshop, she said, “At the AfDB, webelieve that efficient and well-regulated derivative and commodityexchanges are a key component ofthe overall commodity and capitalmarket development in Africa. Andit was with this in mind, that the AfDBchose to take the lead in organising thisevent. This is really in line with theBank’s role as a catalytic agent at theheart of Africa’s capital and financialmarkets. We are a knowledge broker, youunderstand, and this workshop gives usan opportunity to promote innovative

at best, that is expected in the Eurozone.Output in the RGMs is expected tocontinue to pick up by 6% in 2013 and6.5% in 2014.

However, there is a mixed pictureemerging across the world. AlthoughAsia is likely to lead the way, Africaremains resilient overall, with Ghanaand Nigeria among the 3 fastestgrowing of the RGMs this year.However, Central and Eastern Europeand Latin America are hindered by theslow growth in their key export marketsof the Eurozone and United Statesrespectively. If the Eurozone were to fallfurther into recession, RGMF predictsthat the Czech Republic and Polandwould be pushed into recession, withHong Kong and Malaysia also hit harddue to their dependence on global trade.

Carl Astorri, Senior Economic Adviserto Ernst & Young’s Rapid GrowthMarkets Forecast explains, “The RGMsare well placed to weather the majorrisks facing the global economy at thepresent time, given that they have thespace to relax fiscal and monetarypolicy. This has already happened insome RGMs including in all of theBRICs. It is likely that there will befurther easing of monetary policy inthe months ahead, particularly if theglobal economy deteriorates further.”

Alexis Karklins-Marchay, Co-Leader of the Emerging MarketsCentre at Ernst & Young comments,“Although slower expansion in therapid-growth markets is likely thisyear it will only be a blip and we willsee a return to significant growthtowards the end of the year. Soaringdomestic demand in economies starved,for some time, of investment andconsumption will offer business excitingnew markets for goods and services inthe years ahead.”

ideas and discourse on best practices onthis subject across the continent. Wehope that participants will leave with abetter understanding of the benefits thatarise from commodity exchanges andthe types of structures and regulationsthat can revolutionise African capitaland commodity markets. “

Dismissing the apprehension aboutderivatives following the globalfinancial crisis, she said, “Well, this istrue and we have to understand that inthe aftermath of the global financialcrisis which originated in 2008, therehas been significant debate at global,regional and national levels on thecauses of the crisis, and the roleplayed by different financialinstruments, regulators and so on.While forms of derivative financialinstrument may have played a part incausing or exacerbating the crisis, ithas also been recognised thatderivatives are important as riskmanagement instruments forcommodity chains, companies, banks,financial institutions and investors thatcan actually enhance the stability androbustness of financial systems, as longas they are structured and regulated inan appropriate manner.

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 26/07/2012

103.49 +0.07

88.20 -0.30

176.75 +1.30

2,234.00 +25.00

23.45 -0.04

SAPELE — The Nigeria Export/import Bank, NEXIM, has

assured Small and Medium ScaleEnterprises in Delta State of itsreadiness to finance them providedthey meet with the bank’s prerequisiteconditions.

The Chief Risk Manager of the Bank,Dr Emmanuel Moore, who representedthe Managing Director of the bank Mr.Robert Orya, gave the assurance whiledelivering a paper at the secondquarterly luncheon/seminar of SapeleChambers of Commerce IndustriesMines and Agriculture (SACCIMA), inSapele, Delta State.

Dr Moore gave the conditions forqualification for any facility that couldbe given by the bank to SMEs toinclude, formal business registration/incorporation of the intending recipientwith the Corporate Affairs Commissionin accordance with the CAC Act of 1990,registration with Nigeria Exportpromotion Council, a memorandum ofunderstanding/partnership agreementof recipients, evidence of Tax paymentby recipients and audited account forthe past two to three years.

Other conditions to be fulfilled by therecipients, according to Dr Moore,include, business plan of the recipients,board resolution of the directors,profoma-invoice, evidence of export/import order and possession of landedproperty which the recipients intend touse as security for the facility.

Chairman of SACCIMA, Prince DavidEweta, told journalists at the event thatthe loan conditions of Nexim bank wereeasier to fulfill than as obtained in mostcommercial banks, and said Deltanswould explore the opportunity to sourcefor loans from Nexim bank to financetheir small scale enterprises for thepurpose of expanding existingbusinesses as well as kicking off newones across the state.

NEXIM Bank assuresSMEs on businesssponsorship

BY PETER EGWUATU

BY GODWIN OGHRE

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

...GDP to fall in 2012 but rebound expected in 2013

CFA 0.2664 0.2764 0.2864KRONER 25.2478 25.3294 25.4109EURO 187.8674 188.4741 189.0807POUNDS 239.9246 240.6994 241.4741RIYAL 41.2863 41.4196 41.5529SDR 232.3374 233.0877 233.8379FRANC 156.404 156.9091 157.4141DOLLAR 154.84 155.34 155.84WAUA 231.3639 232.111 232.8581YEN 1.9783 1.9847 1.9911

22—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Stock market lost N9trn since downturn— CIS President

STANBIC IBTCBank has assured

capital market operatorsand its shareholders thattheir stake in the groupwill remain unchangedwhen its impendingholding companystructure is finalized. .

Mrs. Sola David-Borha,chief executive officer ofStanbic IBTC Bank,during a presentation onits fact behind 2011financials at the Lagosfloor of the NigerianStock Exchange(NSE) onWednesday, said theclarification had becomenecessary in order toallay concerns ofshareholders and capitalmarket operators whomay be worried about thepotential impact of therestructuring on the bank.

“The proposedrestructuring will result inno adverse changes to

Stanbic IBTC assures operators, shareholderson holding company structure

From left: Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, FIIRO,Oshodi, Dr.Glodia Elemo and Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Organics Nutrient Systems, Dr. KennyAcholonu, signing a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between FIIRO and Bio-Organics NutrienSystem Ltd, in Lagos.

THE President,C h a r t e r e d

Institute of Stockbrokers(CIS), Mr. AriyoOlushekun has decriedthe protracteddownturn of theNigerian capital market, saying the market hasactually lost N9 trillion

since the crisis started.Speaking at a dialogue

session of the Nigeriancapital marketcommunity with thecoordinating Minister ofthe economy andhonourable minister offinance, Dr. NgoziOkonjo Iweala, in Lagoson Tuesday,Olushekun, said, “ The

decline of the capitalmarket started in March2008. At the time, thegeneral perception wasthat it would be short-lived. However, theproblem persisted andby the end of 2008, theNSE All Share Index(ASI) had lost 45.8 percent of its value. From itspeak of N13.5 trillion,

the market has declinedto N7 trillion. If weexclude new listings,the market as actuallylost N9 trillion since thecrisis started.”

He further noted thatthe Nigerian capitalmarket had notresponded sufficientlyto the initiatives, actionsand intervention

measures taken by theFederal Government ,the Central Bank ofNigeria(CBN) , theSecurities and ExchangeCommission (SEC) andother regulatoryagencies since 2008,saying, “ Today(Tuesday), the marketremains hobbled by theeffects of theu n p r e c e d e n t e ddownturn.”

Nevertheless, the CISPresident commendedthe CoordinatingMinister for herpurposeful leadership inher actions towardsdriving thetransformation agenda ofthe Federal Governmentwith uncommon passionand vigour.

He expressed delighton the commitmentshown by the ministertowards ensuring that

BY PETER EGWUATU,NKIRUKA NNOROM

& CHINEDUIBEABUCHI

the health of theNigerian capital marketis restored withoutfurther delay.

To this development,the CIS President, urgedthe Federal Governmentto tackle the problem inthe Nigerian capitalmarket in a holisticmanner.

According to him, “Toomuch is at stake.Financial, physical andmental well-being of ourdear country and ourpeople are threatened.National productivitywould be determined oneway or the other and ourpeople are threatened.National productivitywould be determined oneway or the other by thedirection of theeconomy. The capitalmarket has a major roleto play in economicdevelopment.

BY PETER EGWUATU

NIGERIAN-basedAfrica Finance

Corporation, AFC, hasrenewed its N4 billion(US$25 million) tradefinance credit lineagreement with Easternand Southern AfricanTrade and DevelopmentBank, PTA Bank.

According to astatement by AFC, overthe last two years, it hasdeveloped a strongbusiness relationshipwith PTA Bank spanningdifferent areas.

“Apart from the directTrade Finance CreditLine, AFC additionallyhas a Risk ParticipationAgreement with PTABank, under which bothinstitutions arefinancing theimportation of co-mingled oil productsinto Zambia for refininginto refined petroleumproducts.

“AFC’s commitment tothe Risk Participationarrangement is US$70million, making a total ofUS$95 million infinancing collaborationbetween AFC and PTABank,” the Nigerian-based bank stated.

Continuing, the bankstated, “AFC is anAfrican-led internationalfinancial institution,established in 2007whose mission is toimprove African

AFC, PTA Bank renewN4bn trade finance deal

economies byproactively developingand financinginfrastructure, industrialand financial assets.

“AFC is involved as aninvestor, developer andfinancier of variousinfrastructure projects,and is gainingrecognition as thebenchmark institutionfor financing thedevelopment ofinfrastructure projects inAfrica.

“The corporation is theTechnical Adviser to theCentral Bank of Nigeria,CBN, on the N320billion (US$2.0 billion)Power and AviationIntervention Fund(PAIF). It is also the leadinvestor in CenpowerGeneration CompanyLimited (Cenpower),which is implementingthe (US$450 million)Kpone IPP project – a340 megawatt combinedcycle gas turbine powerplant in Tema, Ghana.

“AFC is the leadinvestor in the MainOne fibre optic cableproject, enhancing WestAfrica’s connection toEurope and the rest ofthe world through fasterand more technologicallyadvanced broadbandcapacity.

“AFC recentlyprovided financing to aleading IndependentPower Producer (IPP) inNigeria.”

the rights and ownershipof existing shareholdersof Stanbic IBTC. I wish tostate categorically that thevalue of your investmentwill not be adverselyaffected by the change inlegal structure. Forexample if a shareholderowns 1% of the bank hewill own 1% of the newholding company.” Sheadded that “the number ofshares held by ashareholder will howeverchange as four out ofevery five shares will becancelled. Theshareholder will be paid50 kobo for each sharecancelled and theremaining share will beconverted to a share in theholding company.”

The proposed sharecancellation means thatexcess capital will bereturned to shareholders,David-Borha said, addingthat the share capital ofthe bank will be reducedby a total of N7.5 billionas a result of cancellationof 15 billion out of the

current 18.75 billionordinary shares. Theholding company willhave 10 billion issuedand fully paid up sharesof 50 kobo. Shareholdersof the bank will becomeshareholders of StanbicIBTC Holdings with thesame proportionateownership, save foradjustments for fractionalshares, which will beconverted to cash.Subsequently, StanbicIBTC Bank will becomea wholly ownedsubsidiary of StanbicIBTC Holdings PLC andwill apply to the CBN fora commercial bankinglicense.

The new structure,David-Borha stated, issuch that shareholderswill benefit from the entirebusiness. In addition, thebank’s retail depositorswill not be exposed to therisks associated with thenon-banking activities ofthe remainder of thegroup. All customers ofStanbic IBTC and its

subsidiaries will continueto enjoy the servicescurrently providedthrough the othersubsidiaries.

David-Borha saidStanbic IBTC Bank willtransfer all of its shares inits five subsidiaries toStanbic IBTC HoldingsPLC. The operatingsubsidiaries of StanbicIBTC Holdings PLC areStanbic IBTC Bank(including StanbicNominees NigeriaLimited), Stanbic IBTCPension ManagersLimited, Stanbic IBTCAsset ManagementLimited, Stanbic IBTCStockbrokers Limited,Stanbic IBTC TrusteesLimited, Stanbic IBTCVentures Limited,Stanbic IBTC CapitalLimited and StanbicIBTC InvestmentsLimited. Stanbic IBTCCapital Limited andStanbic IBTCInvestments Limited arenewly incorporatedcompanies.

… Seeks holistic measure to tackle downturn

BY MICHAEL EBOH

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 – 23

THE most topical issue inNigeria’s oil and gas

industry, ‘arguably the mostvibrant in Africa’ right now isthe Petroleum IndustryBill,(PIB) and the only reasonit would come before fullderegulation of thedownstream oil sector issimply because it has beingprogrammed to encapsulatethe subject matter.

The PIB has since beenapproved by the federalExecutive Council and hasbeen forwarded to the NationalAssembly for proper scrutinyand ratification after which fullimplementation is expected.This report however takes alook at the prospects of a fulldownstream sectorderegulation after the passageof the bill as well as itsimportance especially in theface of in-depth corruptioncurrently ravaging thedownstream oil sector by virtueof the Petroleum Subsidy Fund(PSF).

Excerpts:On January 1,2012 the

Goodluck Jonathan led federalGovernment announced ashocking and unexpectedstoppage to the PetroleumSubsidy Fund,(PSF) therebysignaling an immediate sharpincrease in petrol pump pricesacross the country.

This action could be sodescribed because the federalgovernment seemed to haveallowed an atmosphere fordialogue with the people asgovernments selectedrepresentatives made upspecifically of the economicteam and a few other notableindividuals met with thepeoples unelectedrepresentative consisting of thecivil society groups, humanrights activists and the mediato discuss the all-knotty issueof subsidy removal/deregulation. However thegovernment’s action wassudden as it was generallypresumed that dialogue on thematter was still ongoing, but theof that action is all history now.

The action of governmentwas to signal moves towardsderegulation of the downstreamsector, but analysts were of theopinion that deregulationcannot achieve its aim whenimplemented in piecemeal andas such the removal of fuelsubsidy alone cannot addressthe issues and should havecome at the tail end of thederegulation exercise.

This report however is moreconcerned with the importanceof deregulating the downstreamoil sector after the passage ofthe much awaited PIB. The

downstream sector has lived onimportation for far too long andthe reason for this is traced tothe neglect over the years of oilpipelines earlier constructed totransport refined productsacross the country as well as thetotal collapse of almost all thenations refineries situated atWarri, Portharcourt and Kaduna.

Now questions have beenasked on why the countrycannot simply shore up itsrefining capacity to meet localdemands, but rather chooses todepend solely on importation ofrefined products even todetriment of economic growthand in the face of 2.4 million

Importance of full deregulation

in a post-PIB economy

•Senator David Mark •Wale Tinubu

By YEMIE ADEOYE

barrels of daily oil production.It is important to note that the

PIB when passed would beincomplete if the issue ofderegulation is not treated withthe importance it urgentlyrequires. It is also of note thatin view of recent happeningsand discoveries in the oilindustry, the country mustderegulate if it must be rid ofthe corruption which have sobadly permeate the system.

Current state of theCurrent state of theCurrent state of theCurrent state of theCurrent state of theNationNationNationNationNation

Nigeria, Africa’s highestexporter of crude currentlyconsumes approximately 60percent of all petroleum

products imported into SubSaharan Africa. In 2010 alone,over 6 Million Metric Tons ofpetroleum products wasimported into the country. Ofthis volume, The majority (73%)was for PMS importation. As aNation, The subsidy onPremium Motor Spirit (PMS)amounted to 25 percent of thegovernment’s total expenditurein 2010. This mode of publicspending has however withrecent developments proved tobe grossly unsustainable.

Dependence on ImportDependence on ImportDependence on ImportDependence on ImportDependence on ImportThe Nation produces its own

crude, and also has 4 refineriesin port-Harcourt, Warri andKaduna with a combinedcapacity (at full operation) of450,000 barrels per day. Theinitial plan was to leverage onthis production and refiningcapacity to supply petroleumproducts to the nation.

Unfortunately, a combinationof factors such as the growth inpopulation and thereforedemand, the ineffectiveness ofexisting product transportinfrastructure as well as theinefficiency of the refineries hasled to a situation where thecountry is a net importer ofpetroleum products. It is a factthat even in a case where allthe refineries operated at ahundred percent efficiency,

they would barely meet half ofthe existing national demandand this is what has originallybrought about massiveimportation of petroleumproducts into the country.However, an industry analystswho spoke to this writer on thecondition of anonymity positedthat the measure was originallythought to be temporary toenable ample time for therepairs and rehabilitation of thenations refineries andpipelines, this, according to himwould in effect bring down thevolumes of imported productsinto the country.

“This was to be done whilegovernment is also buildingmore refineries to at least meetup with national dailyconsumption demand, but all ofthis was not implementedtherefore encouragingcorruption through the PSFscheme and the rest as they sayis history”. Deregulating thedownstream sector wouldhowever put an end to thefollowing, Lack of investment inrefineries , Excessive,dependence on imports, Supplyand demand imbalancesleading to shortages,S m u g g l i n g / L e a k a g e s ,Inadequate Port and ReceptionCapacity, High Distribution andstorage costs, Uncompetitivemarket structure, InefficientPricing structure

Rent seeking, Budgetarypressure from unsustainablesubsidy payment, these factorsamidst others are the reason oureconomy only growstheoretically and neverpractically and the cheapest andmost sustainable way to checkthese is through byderegulating the downstreamsector of the oil industry andallowing different investors bothforeign and domestic to investacross the value-chain, fromrefining to pipelines to storagedepots etc.

Reasons for subsidyReasons for subsidyReasons for subsidyReasons for subsidyReasons for subsidy

Given the fact that importationof petroleum products isinevitable, the nation would beexposed to extreme priceinstability due to the volatilityof international markets. If wecouple this with the fact thatNigeria is one of the largestproducers of crude oil, ajustification may be made for thesubsidization of the refinedcrude oil products for Nigerians.

Unfortunately, thissubsidization has come at theprice of economic developmentand has become an untenableposition for the nation. In 2010,the subsidy contribution from theFederation was 1.2 Trillion Naira($8 Billion) and the 2011Subsidy payment is projected toapproach approximately 1.5Trillion Naira ($10 Billion). It isclear that these funds may bechannelled towards bettercauses that will accelerateeconomic development andallow the nation to better planits expenditure, and as can beseen in recent happenings inthe sector, subsidy has broughtabout intense corruption suchthat a developing nation whichis in dire need of resources fordevelopmental and otherprojects even as it is currentlyindebted to foreign nations isnow having controversies over403 billion naira, about 2.458billion dollars, and how torecover this sum. This moneywould have been better utilisedif there was deregulation.

Notable Challenges/Notable Challenges/Notable Challenges/Notable Challenges/Notable Challenges/Solutions toSolutions toSolutions toSolutions toSolutions toderegulationderegulationderegulationderegulationderegulation

There have been concernsraised over deregulation as itwould signal the removal of subsidy. It is however notablethat nothing comes withoutchallenges, and if allowed tosucceed with intensesupervision on the multipliereffect it would turn as the bestdecision for the country. Someof the concerns raised includes:

Increase in TransportationCost: It is a common assumptionthat transportation cost willincrease along with the removalof the subsidy. While this willbe true in the case of passengervehicles, most interstatetransportation is run on Dieselfuelled vehicles. Some states,e.g. Lagos, also have intercitytransportation that is fuelled byDiesel powered buses. Diesel isa deregulated product and assuch will not undergo a priceincrease based on the removalof subsidy from PMS.

Increase in Prices for Goodsand Services: The perceivedincrease in the price of goodsand services is also a concernthat must be quickly addressedto avoid an actual increasebased simply on the expectationof one. Goods such as farmproduce are transported acrossthe country on diesel poweredtrucks. Many services rely ongenerators due to the frequentinterruptions to power supplybut even these organizations runon diesel powered generators.

,

,

There have been concernsraised over deregulation as itwould signal the removal of subsidy. It is however notablethat nothing comes withoutchallenges, and if allowed tosucceed with intense supervisionon the multiplier effect it wouldturn as the best decision for thecountry.

CMYK

24—Vanguard24—Vanguard24—Vanguard24—Vanguard24—Vanguard, FRI, FRI, FRI, FRI, FRIDAY, JULY 27, DAY, JULY 27, DAY, JULY 27, DAY, JULY 27, DAY, JULY 27, 20122012201220122012

*Some displaced residents with their children

Baale of Sogunro(left) and the Alase of all Eguns.Photos: Bose Adelaja

Residents in Ajoke area journeying on canoe after the collapse of the foot bridge there

Demolition caughtus unawares— Makoko residents

MAKOKO, a waterfront community which has

been in existence since 1890, sud-denly became history after it was vis-ited by a demolition squad sent bythe Lagos State government onMonday and Tuesday last week.The demolition left over 200 of theresidents, including infants, preg-nant women and nursing mothers,homeless.

Before this development, Mako-ko was the preferred settlement ofmainly Eguns, most of whom arefishermen and women, and live bythe creeks. It also boasted some ofthe common features of a communi-ty such as mosques, churches andschools as well as some recreationalcentres where the residents retire toafter the day’s activities. Indeed, theoccupants claimed there is no placemore suitable for their habitation inthis world.

Suspensionon water

They also claim that no loss of lifehas been recorded in the place sincethe 17th Century and wondered whythe authorities at Alausa, the Lagosseat of government, could believethat any disaster can befall them nowsimply because they are livingclose to the water. For them, Mako-ko which is made up of many is-lands, is a place like no other. Andthis explains why it is home for thou-sands of people, including youths,the middle aged and the elderly whoare mostly fishermen by occupation.Their houses are mainly built withplanks, bamboos, palm sticks andfew with blocks. Some of these struc-tures are mainly suspended on wa-

BY BOSE ADELAJA

his structure was being demolished.Out of compassion, I assisted himto salvage some of his belongingsnot knowing another demolitionteam was already in my apartment.Thank God, my children and wifeswam to a safe place where we allmet.”

A pastor with the Mountain of Fireand Miracles Ministries, MFM,who pleaded anonymity told Van-guard Metro of how his churchbought a piece of land around thevicinity because many of his mem-bers reside in the area.

Incidentsof erosion

He said: “Some of them com-plained of distance and my seniorpastor asked us to get a piece of landnear them. We have done a lot ofsand filling before the structure waserected. We have witnessed severalincidents of erosion in the areawhich was not disastrous.”

As at 6.30 pm, Tuesday, Zeehine,a mother of two, said she had no-where to lay her head and will con-tinue to sleep in her canoe come rainor sunshine. However, two residentsof Agbami and Shogunro, SundayPemenu and George Olufele, saidthey were familiar with plans by

successive governments to demol-ish the area. They said: “We haveheard at one time or the other sincethe past 30 years of orders by gov-ernment for residents to vacate theplace. Many governors have comeand gone without carrying out thequit notice until last Monday.”

In a swift reaction, the communityheads, Baale Sogunro (Agbojeti),Chief Johnson Idunsa and the Alaseof all Eguns, Francis Agoyon, claimedthe land belonged to the Universityof Lagos and was given to theirforefathers around the 17th Century.Agbojeti said: “We received a noticefrom the government about nine daysago. We did not come here overnightbut the portion was allocated to us bythe Yaba Local Government.

“In those days, our grandparent,a fisherman, was going about hisbusiness when he met a man whogave him a piece of land on a plainground beside the University of La-gos, Akoka which he refused on ac-count of the fact that he wanted tobe close to water. He was later askedto acquire Makoko which becameour settlement till date. There is adocument to back it up. We are notafraid of demolition; we’re ready torelocate provided the governmentmakes alternative accommodationarrangement for us; but we want tobe close to water.”

ter while some are built on bare land.Although one cannot vouch for the

safety of the water of the nearby creek,the people make maximum use of itfor bathing and cooking althoughthey also defecate there. But sur-prisingly, they claim that they hard-ly fall sick in spite of the hazard theyare daily exposed to in their domain.Only a few of them have dealingswith the outside community, whilemajority have never left the commu-nity for any reason. Among the wom-en, making babies is more of a way

and shanties there.At Ajoke area, residents said the

40 metres long foot bridge linkingthem to others parts of the commu-nity caved in during the downpourof Thursday, adding that since thenmany of them now travel to neigh-bouring communities by boatswhich operators charge a fare ofN10 for the ride. Although some ofthe victims have been housed bytheir neighbours, others were seenhanging around the shanties or re-trieving their belongings on the wa-

There wasnobody tohelp mesalvage mybelongings;I lostN54,000,jewelry andhouseholditems in thedemolition

ter.A 65-year-old victim,

Madam Weno, saidshe lost cash and othervaluable items to thedemolition as she wason a sick bed when thedemoliton team visited.She said: “There wasnobody to help me sal-vage my belongings;my husband travelledto Badagry and mychildren were not athome.

I lost N54,000, jew-ellery and householditems in the demolition.I saw the flying boatafar, thinking theycame to buy fish until Isaw various equip-ment for the exercise. Iran for my dear life,leaving my belong-ings behind. So, I es-caped from there emp-ty handed.”

Another victim, a fa-ther of eight, Dele GayImado, said the exer-cise caught him un-

of life as they appear ig-norant of campaigns forbirth and populationcontrol.

Illicit activities alsothrive there, especiallythe sale of hard drugswhich are displayedand consumed with im-punity. Indeed, Mako-ko was a place wherelawlessness and care-free life reigned su-preme.

That was until theLagos State govern-ment issued a quit no-tice to them to vacate theplace after it was per-ceived that they havebecome increasingly ex-posed to the danger ofbeing swept away byflood, according to re-ports on climate changewhich poses seriousdanger on parts of thestate.

This move actuallycame to effect last Mon-day when the state gov-ernment moved in itsequipment to evict the residents anddemolished all the illegal structures

awares. He noted: “I went out tovisit my friend only to discover that

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 25

CMYK

26 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

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Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—27 FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—27 FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—27 FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—27 FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—27

From left: Mr. Chukwuma Ochonogor, Managing Director, Concept NovaLimited and Mr. Yinka Ipaye, Head of Fleet, Lagos State Signage andAdvertising Agency, at the public unveiling of FleeTrak AMS (a web basedfleet management software) at The WheatBaker, Lagos.

Lagos Trade Fair Complex to hostspecialised exhibitions in 2012

BY ETOP EKANEM

THE LagosInternational Trade

Fair Complex is set tohost specialized tradeexhibitions this year andin the years to come.

Addressing newsmenat the MurtalaM u h a m m e dInternational Airport,Lagos, Mr. MacksonDavis, Corporate AffairsManager of AulicNigeria Limited,managers of LagosInternational Trade FairComplex, said the multipurposed builtexhibition centre hadbeen undergoingrenovations and re-

development works tobring it back to itsinternational standard.

He said due tomishandling and underutilisation in the past,the complexdegenerated into a sorrystate, adding that afterthe concessioning of thecomplex, theconcessionaire AulicNigeria Limitedembarked on massiveworks to restore its lostglory.

He said: “For a longtime, the works beingdone there appeared notto be visible ornoticeable but I amhappy and proud to saythat the effect of the

Preparationsunderwayfor 2ndAfrica TradeForum

works was beginning tosurface with admirableimpact. The beauty ofthe complex especiallythe exhibition area isonce more coming out.

Asked why the LagosChamber of Commerceis hosting their annualtrade fair somewhereoutside the complex thisyear, Davis explainedthat the Lagos Chamberof Commerce was notready for changes whichAulic Nigeria Limited isbringing into thecomplex, especially inthe use of standardexhibition stands/cubicles as against theuse of wooden shantystructures which theLagos Chamber ofCommerce has beenused to.

PREPARATIONS forthe second Africa

Trade Forum (ATF II) areunderway on the theme,"Boosting Intra-AfricanTrade and Establishingthe Continental FreeTrade Area (CFTA)." Theforum is a joint initiativeof the EconomicCommission for Africa(ECA), the AfricanUnion Commission(AUC) and the AfricanDevelopment Forum(AfDB) and is scheduledto be held from 24-26September 2012 inAddis Ababa.

According to Mr. AlanKyerematin, Head of theAfrica Trade PolicyForum at the ECA, ATFIIis being organisedagainst a backdrop ofincreasing commitmentsto boosting intra-Africantrade and establishing aCFTA. "The outcomes ofATF I held in 2011provided substantiveinput into thepreparations for theJanuary 2012 AfricanUnion Summit of Headsof State and Governmentmeeting on the theme;Boosting Intra-AfricaTrade." Mr. Kyerematinadded that the Summitformally endorsed aFramework, Road Mapand Architecture for fasttracking theestablishment of theCFTA and an Action Planfor Boosting Intra-African Trade.

ATF II, saidKyerematin, wouldreview key challenges inimplementing theagreed Action Plan onBoosting intra AfricanTrade and establishingthe CFTA and forge animplementing strategyin that regard.

CMYK

28—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27 , 2012—29

CMYK

INSIDEVConnect Fevervideo sets newrecord on YouTube

JAIL beckoned on controversial Nollywood starJim Iyke but mother na-

ture was kind and so, the Imostate born actor was saved.

Thanks to his parents whorescued him from a deter-mined Habiba Abubakar whowanted the tough talking ac-tor jailed for allegedly con-ning her out of N15million.

Jim Iyke's parents had gonewith cap in hand to beg theAbuja big girl to let by gonebe while the case got settledout of court. Pronto, Habibawithdrew the case in a showof respect to Jim's parents.

But the dust of the rumblehad hardly settled down whena bitter Habiba was quoted aslamenting to close friends that

I've learnt my lesson—I've learnt my lesson—I've learnt my lesson—I've learnt my lesson—I've learnt my lesson—Jim Iyke

Colorado shooting:

N15m Scandal:

the stress and strain she suf-fered as a result of the matter,forced her to the surgeon'stable and knives, to take awaythe extra pounds and wrinklesshe'd piled up during the pe-riod.

When our correspondent vis-ited Untamed Closet, JimIyke's fashion house, it was aremorseful Jim who disclosed-he's learnt his lesson.

“I've learnt to be silent overthe matter. It would also bereasonable to apologize toHabiba for pushing her intoembarking on plastic sur-gery”, he said.

The actor who admitted tomeeting Habibaba throughhis sister affirmed he madejokes out of Habiba’s tummy

BULLETS. Bullets. More Bullets. And evenmore bullets. One shot. Two shot. Three shot.More shot. Screams of agony. Cries of

babies. Yells of children. the dark night.Out of breathe. We grab those around us. We

run to red lights of exit signs amid the darkness.We lay prone on the floor. We pretend to be deadhoping someday we will breathe again. We jumpon top of those we love hoping that if one morebullet comes our way, it hits us and not them.hoping. Truly hope that the bullet hits me. a strangethought. A thought that we never thought we wouldhave thought.

We walk gently through life never imaginingmoments like these. There is no practice. Nomanual. No preparation. We rely purely on ourinstincts. Purely on the connection between ourthoughts and the movements of our bodies. Thereis no time for contemplation. No time for reason.No time for time itself. Only time for hope andprayers.

Deep prayers. Deep breaths. One breath. Twobreath. Three breath. No breath. Three men. Threemen jumped on top their girlfriends as bullets flewthrough Theater Nine at Century Cinemas inAurora, Colorado on Friday morning. Amidstchaos. Amidst gunfire. Amidst tear gas. These threemen thought of the women they loved and usedtheir bodies to protect them. They threw them tothe floor. Under the seats. They held them tight.They held onto their beautiful women as tight asthey possibly could. Lying on top of their bodies

How three men died taking bulletsfor their girlfriends

WRITTEN BY MICHAEL SKOLNIK

Continues on page 30

•Jim Iyke

•Jon and girlfriend Young

•Alex and girlfriend amada

•Matt and girlfriend Samantha Continues on page 30

•Vconnect

From a loadcarrier to DJ

• DJ Humility

I wear theI wear theI wear theI wear theI wear thebest whenbest whenbest whenbest whenbest whenI dressI dressI dressI dressI dress— Chiejine

30—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

He was a thorn in my flesh.

There was nothing he didn’t do

because of his independent

nature.Things got worse when his

father and I had to fend for the

family all alone with no support

from any quarter. Ben was so

stubborn that he ran away from

home to become a conductor.

While trying to deal with that,

he then became an ‘Alabaru’

(Carrier) in the market. This

really did hurt as he was the first

child and his younger ones were

looking up to him.”But thank God, she says, he

has turned out well.

and shape, but had on no occasionadvised Habiba to do any kind ofplastic surgery. According to Jim Iyke“I’m playful and jovial, and becauseI can make fun out of anything, I hadjokingly complained about Habiba’ssize sometime in my family house. Icrack the same jock even with my sis-ter, and we all laugh over it.

I don't think the claim you allegedHabiba is making is actually true. How

can she be claiming that I pushedher into the pain of plastic surgery?I really don’t have anything person-al with her. My sister said Habibatold her something of sort, but I neverbelieved it. I thought it was one ofthose gossips. Hearing it from youactually confirms that she said some-thing related to that. But would youbelieve that I will advise a marriedwoman against her wish to go for sur-gery? If she went through any kindof stress as a result of that, then I’msorry”.

I've learnt my lesson

in case a bullet came their way.All three of their girlfriends survived

this unfathomable early morningmassacre. Jansen Young, SamanthaYowler and Amanda Lindgren made itout of the theater that night to breatheanother breath. The breaths are hardto finish because the three men, thethree boyfriends took bullets. They tookbullets to save their ladies.

Jansen had the courage to recallthose last moments, “There was kindof a break in between each gunshot.Every gunshot, I was like, ‘This is it .. . I’m done for.’ Jon gave me one goodpush against that concrete again and

then . . . I didn’t really feel his armsagainst my back anymore but I knewhe was still there.” When thegunshots went quiet, Jansenrealized her boyfriend was shot. “Istarted shaking him and saying,‘Jon, Jon, we have to go . . . it’s timefor us to get out of here.” But hedidn’t move. His breath was gone.

However, his heroic act will foreverbe remembered. And so will thebravery of the other two men.

These were the last moments ofthree heroes. Jon Blunk, MattMcQuinn and Alex Teves..Remember these names.

How three men died...

Continued from page 29

Continued from page 29

FFFFFrrrrrom a load carrier tom a load carrier tom a load carrier tom a load carrier tom a load carrier to Do Do Do Do DJ:J:J:J:J:

DJ Humility's grass to grace story

BENEDICT Afagwu, otherwise

known as DJ Humility, is one of

Nigeria’s most prominent Disc Jockeys.

But unknown to many, the bulky

Delta State born dude who grew up as

a barrack boy was once a bus conductor

and a load carrier ('Alabaru').

Despite the high level discipline

handed down the children of the house

by his police father, DJ Humility was a

first class truant and an unrepentant

stubborn child who gave his mother

headache.Narrating the story of the DJ's story

is no other person than the woman who

saw it all, Mrs Agfagwu, his mother.

Recalling the bulky DJ’s childhood

days, Mama Ben as she is more fond-

ly called, says the itinerant nature of

the patriarch’s job left the six kids in

her care.“He is my first child and I tried to

bring my children up in the way of the

lord but Ben was especially stubborn.

•DJ Humility

WORKING towards achieving itshumanitarian goal in Nigeria, Taakra

Academy, owned and managed by Lady D,wife of Charly Boy, has taken its empow-erment scheme to the next level, as theAcademy makes frantic effort towards em-powering thousands of Nigerian youthcorps members who are currently servingin the FCT.

Lady Diane who visited the NYSC campin Kubwa , Abuja with other staff of TaakraAcademy Tuesday, revealed hercompany’s readiness to empower corpsmembers who desire to learn extra skillsat the most subsidized rates.

According to Lady D “ having noticedthe rate of unemployment in Nigeria, andconsidering the number of graduates pro-duced every year in Nigeria, it has be-come imperative that Taakra contributesin its own little way towards rehabilitat-ing Nigerian youths who are full ofthoughts on what lies ahead of them af-ter their service year”

While enlightening the youth corpsmembers on the several skill acquisitionprograms available at Taakra Academy,Lady Diane affirmed that corps memberswho join the academy would beprivileged to learn up to 10 differentskills within the duration of the program.The skills will include jewelry making,soap making, hat making, batik tie and

Taakra empowers Abuja corps members

THE much anticipated weddingof Naeto C and bride Nicole

Chikwe’s finally took placeyesterday July 21st, 2012. Thesimple but top-of-the range eventwas held at the Catholic Church ofDivine Mercy, Lekki, Lagos.

Nicole, an ex model and daughterof auto dealer, Jerry Chukwueke,got her elegant wedding dress fromUK-based Yemi Osunkoya ofKosibah Wedding Couture Bridaland Evening Wear.The ceremony was well attendedby the couple’s friends andgovernment functionaries(considering that Naeto C’s mum,Kema Chikwe was an ex Minister).Guests like erstwhile President ofNigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo,D’banj and many more werepresent at the high-class event.

*gets Porsche Cayennecar as wedding gift

Naeto C wedsNicole

dye, bag making, shoe making,nail design and fixing, makeupclass, event planning, Taakracreative crafts, silk screen printingand a host of others.

As at the time of this report,corps members who see this as anopportunity of a life time arebeginning to pick up their formsfrom the JOF building inGwarinpa, Abuja.

Dont Cry is a new video byAzadus featuring OJB. The

song is lifted from his new album titled“Above The See level” produced byOJB. The video is directed by Shellika(older brother of J Slick).Dont You Cry is a single coming fromthe forth coming album of Azadus a17tracks which also features artistes likeSound Sultan, Da Grin of blessedmemories,Tu Face, Lord of Ajasa KoffiandW4. It also feature other producerslike J Slick and Del Bee. The albumpromises to make a difference in themuisc industry.

Azadus returns

•Taakra

•Naeto C and wife

•Azadus

CMYK

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—31

FOR those wonderingwhy his face has

been scarce in movies,popular act andNollywood’s lover boyactor, Emeka Ike, hasfinally let the cat out ofthe bag.

Emeka recently in aninterview said he’spresently angry withNollywood. And as aresult, he’s temporarilyquitting acting in a bidto ‘strategize’.

According to him, he’snot happy with theindustry at the momentwhich has made him towithdraw all his moviesfrom the market.

Emeka says he doesn’twant to be associatedwith the ‘decay’ goingon in the industryhence, he prefers to‘stand out’.

He also revealed thathe’s coming out with hisown label, Emeka IkeProduction and thatmarketing of his movieswill be done under thelabel. And that anytransaction as touchinghim as an actor will bedone under his newlabel which separateshim from dealing with

Extra

I’m angry at Nollywood—Emeka IkeBY OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

Nollywood.“I have not quit

Nollywood in the realsense of the word. WhatI did was to withdraw allmy movies from themarket, and I mean allthe movies that arerelated with EmekaIke...and the reason isnot far fetched. I amangry with what is goingon in the industry. Myconscience would notallow me to go on withthe decay in the

industry. So, I feel thatwas the best thing to do,to dissociate myself fromthe problem and standout! So, henceforth, anyNollywood movie wouldnot involve Emeka Ike.Rather, I want to marketall my movies on thelabel of Emeka IkeProduction. If you wantto deal with me as anactor, you have to workwith me under the label.That clearly separatesme from Nollywood.”

MULTIPLE awardswinning actor,

Gabriel Afolayan hasfinally launched himselfinto the Nigerian musicscene with the recentrelease of the musicvideo of his hit single,

Gabriel Afolayan turns musician,drops single

"Kokoro Ife" (Love Bug).The son of a thespian,

Ade Love, and youngerbrother to one of themost accomplished filmmakers and directors,Kunle Afolayan hasblended his good actingskills with his musicartistry.

G-Fresh, as he is

fondly called by friends,released the musicvideo, which was shotand directed by Katung,as a way to helppromote the song andestablish him as amusician.The video sawGabriel infuse some bitsof his acting skills intothe music video.

He has also disclosedthat a new single willfollow shortly and thathe will not disappointhis fans.

In a recent chat withWG, Gabriel dismissedthe fear that his venturinginto the music industrywill affect his actingcareer, saying that "I willalways continue to makemovies that will keeppeople at the edge of theirsits while I continue toestablish myself in themusical terrain."

Gabriel said musicruns in the blood of hisfamily, and his venturinginto it now, is a clearconfirmation of what hislate father stood for whilehe was alive.

BENJAMIN NJOKU

•Gabriel

•Emeka Ike

CMYK

My parents threatenedMy parents threatenedMy parents threatenedMy parents threatenedMy parents threatenedto send me to theto send me to theto send me to theto send me to theto send me to thevillage because ofvillage because ofvillage because ofvillage because ofvillage because offootball football football football football — ChiejineRemember Ann Agumanu Chiejine? She was agoalkeeper to the Super Falcons team for 15years, winning the African Women Champion-ship (AWC) title five times and appearing in theFIFA World Cup on three consecutive times . Inthis interview, she talks about her experiencesas a former national team first choice goal keep-er and her personal lifestyle. Excerpts:

32—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Hi GROOVEGrowing upIt was tough growing up

with parents who wantedtheir children to becomedoctors, lawyers, andengineers. My parents neverwanted me to venture intofootball. They believed thatfootball is for men, not forwomen. It was so bad that theyhad to consult a doctor toascertain whether I’mcapable of bearing children.They were also worried that Iwould grow muscles whichwill affect me in future.Myparents were hard on me. Itwas a very difficult task. It gotto a point where theythreatened to send me to thevillage until the doctor as-sured them that I wasmedically okay. But I thankGod, even as an ex-player;you won’t even know I hadplayed football before now.

Today, I’m married withchildren and did not growmuscle. I got married in 1992.I started playing for thefemale national team in 1991,during the first female WorldCup that year. Even after I gotmarried, I was in Sweden andUnited States for the WorldCup. I didn’t have anyproblem. In a nutshell, I’mwhat I am today because offootball.

GoalkeepingI played outside right, which

is number seven during mytime. During one of ourmatches, they introduced meinto the game about fiveminutes to the end of thematch, and I wasn’t happyabout it. Then, the coach lateradvised me to start training asa goalkeeper because of myheight. I wondered where Iwas going to start from butmaybe, that’s how Godwanted it because about two tothree weeks after, I started

,

, I have been undergoing training andtrying to learn new things. i alsobrought new tactics into the game andimparting it on the young young ones.

training, in the post for myteam at a Lagos Statecompetition. And before Iknew it, I was adjudjed oneof the best goalkeepers. I gotinto the national team andplayed from 1991 to 2006 be-fore I retired and ventured intocoaching.

Comparing the experienceas a coach and a formerplayer

When I was a goal keeper, Iused to receive instructionsfrom my coach. But now thatI’m a coach, I find my self im-parting my experience andskills to the players. If I hadn’tbeen there, it would have beentough impacting on myplayers. When I give theminstructions, I tell them to doit this way or the other way,they understand me. For someplayers, I’m a role model; theywant to be like me. I also en-joy what I’m doing and find iteasy to get along with theplayers.

Life as a coachSo far, I have been

undergoing training andtrying to learn some newthings. I also brought newtactics into the game andimparting it on the youngones. I’ve also attendedseveral coaching courses with-in and outside the country toimprove upon my coachingskills.

Daily beauty routineI like make-ups a lot . I al-

ways use cleanser on my facebefore taking my bath. When I

make up, people tend to seea different Ann and I like itwhen people compliment meespecially on what I wear.

Secret of my looksHappiness and constant

exercises is the key. As a coachI lead by example by minimis-ing and watching what I eat.Sometimes, I eat once or twicein a day. And at night, I don’teat heavy foods. I eat a lot offruits and I like smiling all thetime. I believe these are thethings that keep me going.

FashionMy love for fashion and style

is boundless. I love designer

wears. Fashion has been partof me and I love it with a pas-sion. The fact remains that Ilike to be different and like tobe noticed whenever I dress.People compliment my goodlook wherever I go. In essence,I dress to make a difference.And most of the time, I wearclothes that are not too com-mon. I also have passion fordesigner shoes, bag andperfume.

Love for native attiresI love native attires a lot. I

like the big gorge wrappersand blouses.

Men and IOf course, men admire me

but the most important thing,is knowing your status as amarried woman.

When I get admired by men,the only thing I do is to ap-preciate them and no intima-cy.

Combining coaching andfamily

It’s all about being focused

and having an understandinghusband. My husband knowswhat I love doing. So, hedoesn’t see any need to stopme from doing what I enjoydoing. It’s not easy but heunderstands me. Out of hun-dred men, you can only getone. If I’m going for camping,I cook different pot of soup andstew and store them in thefridge to keep them going forsometime.

By December, I will becelebrating twenty years ofmarriage. I have a loving hus-band and children(two boysand two girls) who under-stand why I have to be awayfrom home for long. That iswhy when I get back, I don’tlike going out. I spend all mytime with them whenever I’mnot working.

Life outside coachingI like singing and dancing. I

also unwind with my husband.

Best meal/fruitsI like fried plantain and

eggs. I also like garden egg,paw-paw and pineapple.

*Chiejine

By KATE OBODO

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—33

Victor Ughara lends credenceto ‘local content’

VICTOR Ugharai s n ' t

a man who loves tobath in the glare ofpublic attention, his lifeis so quiet and he doeshis best to keep it justthat way. But as thesaying goes “a goldfishhas no hiding place”especially when thatgoldfish has a knack fordoing extraordinarythings like Ughara didwhen his company,

Global Services LimitedGlobal commissioned a1,500 metric tonscapacity barge in Warri,Delta State recently.

This feat by Victor aneconomist turnedengineer, according toexperts will no doubtbridge the high demandsfor barges by end usersin the oil and marineindustry.

SP gathered thatColby–1 as the barge

Lamai's political careeron the rise

Akin George Taylor moves toBanana Island with wife

D'Banjplayslord atNaeto Cwedding

THAT the Action Congress ofNigeria (ACN) annihilated

the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the gubernatorialelections of July 14 in Edo Statewhich Comrade AdamsOshiomhole,the incumbentgovernor was re-elected bylandslide, will be anunderstatement.

While the election marked theend of an era for some politicalold horses in the state who had

K OKOMASTER ,D'Banj is a man

known for his swaggerand one who likes todrive home just howmuch he is worth orhow he is supposed tobe seen. He is ashowman who rubs it inwhen he can help it. AtNaeto C wedding onSaturday the talentedsinger took centre stageof attention, even over-shadowing formerPresident OlusegunObasanjo.

The razzmatazz at thewedding was top drawand it seemedeverybody was a bit tooimportant to noticeanybody but the singerwould not have that ashe drove attention tohimself. When he drove

in to the church drive-way with his entourageand hangers-on and itappeared he wasn'tgetting the startreatment theKokomaster held up theline of traffic makingtheir way into thevenue. He stayed wellover 30 minutes in hisautomobile until anoth-er singer, Ikechukwuhad to come and get himinside.

Even Baba didn't holdup matters that long.Baba only took justabout 5 minutes to makehis entry and it wasWale Babalakin whocame to usher him inand when his security

details were unpleasanttowards journaliststrying to have a wordwith the former numberone citizen he didn'twaste time in rebukingthem “leave them alonethey are doing their job”

D'Banj's larger thanlife image at the eventwas all too glaring andit is not so much asurprise when the gistwas let loose that it washim who presented thecouple with N11 millionPorsche Cayenne.While some say it isLarry Onuegbu, AutoLounge owner, who asource say was a closefriend of Naeto C's sister,who gave out the car.

was christened was firstof its kind barge in thecountry and was builtfor Colby NigeriaLimited owned byPrince SunnyOmatseye atN110million to carryout the Bateren-Utonyibo creekcanalization project bythe Federalgovernment for theMinistry of Niger DeltaAffairs under the localcontent programme.

According to PrinceVictor Ughara MD/CEO, CoordinateGlobal ServicesLimited “I owe thisachievement to Godalmighty and also theassistance from thesteel producers andsome few banks thoughsome were not willingto help us.

"I studied economicsbut through learning,travelling andconsulting someengineers, I was ableto achieve this greatfeat. They thought itwill not be possible butthank God today thewhole idea of Localcontent has been put touse and we were ableto nurture it out”

hitherto held sway as moversand shakers, it appears it alsomarks the beginning of the riseof the political careers of someof the young elements in thePDP in the state.

One of such young Turkswhose political career islooking upwards despite theelectoral humiliation inflictedon the PDP in the justconcluded gubernatorialelections in the state is Citybusinessman and top South-South politician, Chief RichardLamai .

According to in-depthanalysis of the results of thegubernatorial polls in the state,the suave and youthfulpolitician was the only PDPchieftain in the whole of EdoState, who delivered his pollingunit –unit 4 ward2 in EtsakoCentral Local Government, in

T O K U N B ODurosaro, who

came to limelight ashead corporate affairs atOcean and Oil Plc andher hubby Akin GeorgeTaylor, who onlyrecently retired asexecutive director fromGuaranty Trust Bank areliving life to the fullest.

The couple recentlymoved to their newabode situated insideb i l l i o n a i r e ' shaven,Banana Island.An insider revealed toSP that the couple builtthe house and it isbelieved that AkinGeorge Taylor'sseverance package atG.T bank came handy infulfilling their desire.

Even though thecouple were not doingbadly at their previousabode in Victoria Islandtheir new home inBanana Island is a longshot better and of course,nothing beats living inyour own house.

•Sonny Omatseye

•D’Banj

•Akin GeorgeTaylor

• Richard Lamai

terms of votes to the party,despite hailing from same EdoNorth as the ComradeGovernor.Bba

This electoral achievement wehear ,has positioned the youngman in a pole position to play aprominent role in thereorganisation of the PeopleDemocratic Party in the statefollowing its humiliation by theACN.

CMYK

34 — Vanguard, FRIDAY , JULY 27, 2012

Marie Stopes raises $4.6bn for familyplanning

•Babatunde Osotimehin

Where passion isconcerned, no malesports journalist andenthusiast brings moreto the table than OgechiAdiukwu,a televisionsports producer whohas reported sports formore than a decadeand who has come tostay. President ofAfrican Women SportsReporters Unit(AWSRU), she has alsoserved in the famedPepsi Academy,presided over by theno-nonsense coach,Kashimawo Laloko. Shehas been in and out ofLondon over the pastmonths, keeping trackof the preparations forthe Olympics andLipstick caught up withher on her way back tothe “Biggest show onEarth.” She shares heraspirations in a shortchat, as well as herexperience as a ladycovering sports.

More ladies than ever arecovering sports nowadays.To what do you attributethis?

When I started 14 yearsago, there were not manyladies in my field but youknow failure is an orphan butsuccess has many parents.Maybe it’s because womennow get involved in varioussports that were once thepreserve of men.

Do you see the womentaking over?

It depends on what youmean but I have always saidwomen are going to be thefirst to take the World Cup.Our single Olympic goldcame from a woman, ChiomaAjunwa. The strongestathletes are PerpetuaNkwocha and BlessingOkagbare. They are pullingtheir weight and they maywell take over. You knowhow women are, verydetermined. Any woman yousee in sports really has thepassion

You just covered the LondonPrepare series. What’s the

Falcons will win Nigeria’s first WorldCup —Ogechi Adiukwu

advantage of that to us?The London Prepare

series was just Londongetting a taste of theOlympics. It gave them theopportunity of checking outthe security and so on. Justtry outs; they want to knowhow they will handle thecrowds, transportation,checking tickets. In fact it’sthe Olympics rehearsals. Itsbeen on over a year andthis is the final one.

What is your personalvision for Team Nigeria?

I was really heartened toknow we went to PortoNovo and did well. Theyhave cornered Africa so itstime to conquer the worldand if you look at theathletes, they are reallydetermined.

Former Nigerian healthminister, Professor

Babatunde Osotimeyin wasone of the speakers at theFamily Planning summitheld last week in London byMarie Stopes International,a London-based

organisation which opened itsregional office in Abuja,Nigeria, two years ago. TheUnited Nations PopulationFund (UNFPA), ExecutiveDirector, Dr BabatundeOsotimehin, takes to thestage. He begins bycommending Rwanda for

having the parliament withthe highest proportion of

women in the world.For British PrimeMinister, David

Cameron: “It’s asimple factthat ascountries getr i c h e r ,w o m e n

generally have fewer children.And by concentrating their

resources on a smaller numberof children, those children arehealthier, better educated andmore likely to get a job andbuild a prosperous future forthemselves and their ownchildren.

Family planning helps thatprocess along.” He

announced £500m in aid atthe Family Planning Summit2012 to increaseinternational access tocontraceptives. There wereother world leaders fromAfrica and beyond.

The summit held on 11thJuly, was hosted by the UKGovernment and the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundationto bring life-saving familyplanning services to under-served women in some of themost hard-to-reach locationsaround the world.

Days after the summit, aMarie Stopes officialannounced overall figure forcommitments post summit is$2bn from developingcountries and $2.6bn fromdonor community. Inaddition, Melinda Gatesannounced a new $560mfunding for family planningbetween now and 2020.

,

,Family planning helps thatprocess along.” He announced£500m in aid at the FamilyPlanning Summit 2012 toincrease international access tocontraceptives.

•Ogechi Adiukwu

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 35

MRS. K has just lost herhusband. She is

distraught. Her three childrenaged 5, 7 and 9 years gath-ered around her, wonderingwhat was going on. Friendsand neighbours were comingto console her. A few hours lat-er, a man and a womanwalked in and suddenly, thewoman walked straight to awailing Mrs. K, raised hervoice and said: “Wicked wom-an, you have killed my broth-er so that you will inherit hisproperty. That will never hap-pen! Over my dead body!”Mrs. K cringed on hearingthese words. Instead of com-forting words, she was being‘stabbed’. Before she could re-cover from that, another‘bomb’ exploded. This timefrom the man who said:“Where are the documents tomy brother’s house? Go andbring the keys to all the cars.We have come for ourbrother’s property.”

Welcome to the world of thewidow which seems to cave inbecause of the death of herhusband.

Two years ago, the UnitedNations General Assemblydeclared June 23 every yearas the International Widows’Day. The declaration calls onmember-states and otherinternational organisations toend all negative practicesassociated with widowhood.

Like someone rightly said, inthe western world, whensomeone dies, the question is:‘What killed him?’ But in mostparts of Africa, the question is:‘Who killed him?’ As a result,when a man dies, theassumption is that the wifemust have killed him so she ismade to pass through hell.

Speaking with Vanguardrecently, President of Enugu-based Widows DevelopmentOrganisation (WiDO), Dr.

Not Yet Uhuru with Widows’Rights — Eleanor Nwadinobi

•Eleanor Nwadinobi

By EBELE ORAKPO

Eleanor Nwadinobi, expressedjoy on the journey so far, andcalled on governments,individuals and corporateorganisations to do all in theirpower to make life moremeaningful for these widowsand their children. Excerpts:

The medical doctor/genderand human rights

consultant said her foray into theworld of widows started as aresult of two incidents in the early1990s.

“I had visited two bereavedpeople, one a man and the othera woman. I was uncomfortablewith the fact that the widow wastreated differently in comparisonto the widower and I was curiousto know the reason behind it,”she said. Curiosity, they say,killed the cat but rather than hercuriosity killing her, it led her todo something positive to drawthe attention of the world to thepitiable plight of widows,especially in Africa. She startedby carrying out a research onwidowhood practices in four

South Eastern states of Abia,Anambra, Enugu and Imo in1995.

At the end of the research, shepresented her findings at theMedical Women’s InternationalCongress in The Hague,Netherlands, whereupon shewas encouraged to start a non-governmental organisation.

Dr. Nwadinobi, the sub-Saharan Africa regional chair ofthe United Nations NGO/Dept.for Public Information ExecutiveCommittee continued: “I foundout that the general belief is thata woman is blamed for herhusband’s death. Certainpunitive mourning rites andpractices are performedsupposedly to dissuade women

relatives.Dethronement- a woman’s

status is said to improve whenshe marries, this status is lostwhen her husband dies. There-fore, she is forced to sit on thefloor and go through de-huma-nising rites because of this low-ered status. She loses her dig-nity in the process.

Defacement - It is generallybelieved that a woman’s beautyis for her husband. When hedies, she is forced to look veryunattractive and unkempt.”

Having discovered theproblems, Dr. Nwadinobi didnot rest on her oars as she wentfurther to seek solutions. First,she got together with someother women interested in

widows’ rights and registeredan NGO called WidowsDevelopment Organisation(WiDO).

According to the former na-tional president of the MedicalWomen’s Association of Nige-ria, the timing of the birth of theNGO coincided with the BeijingWorld Women’s Conference andthe raised level of awareness ofwomen’s rights. WiDO em-barked on a massive awarenesscampaign with assistance fromthe British Council and alsostarted a database of existinggroups of widows and individ-ual widows.

Speaking on the successesrecorded so far, Dr. Nwadinobisaid the humble efforts of WiDObegan yielding results whenin1997, members of WiDO wereappointed on to the EnuguState Widows WelfareCommittee with her aschairperson. Their task was tofind out the prevalent practicesin the state. The report of thecommittee showed that harmfultraditional widowhood riteswere still being practiced inEnugu State especially amongthe uneducated and pagans.

In 1998 at the MedicalWomen’s InternationalCongress, Nwadinobi putforward an urgent statement forthe elimination of obnoxiouspractices against widows in SaoPaulo, Brazil and in 1999 in theUSA, she presented a paper onthe findings at the Associationfor Women in Development(AWID) forum.

In June 2000, the soft-spoken lady was invited to

be a panelist at the United Na-tions General Assembly SpecialSession (UNGASS) in theUNIFEM Panel in New York,USA. “I presented a paper on TheMyths, Rituals and PrevalentWidowhood Rites. I had told themthat culture is a way of life passeddown from generation to gener-ation, but when culture ceases tobe a way of life and instead be-comes a threat to human exist-ence, it is better defined as tor-ture.”

Major breakthrough:On March 8, 2001, WiDO ex-

perienced a major breakthroughwhen a bill on widow’s rightssponsored by National Associa-tion of Women Journalists (NA-WOJ) was passed by the EnuguState House of Assembly.

The bill was later signed intolaw on June 28 of same year bythe state Governor.

So far, so good, but Dr. Nwadi-nobi believes it is not yet over untilit is over. Although a law waspassed on International Women’sDay, March 8, six years afterWiDO was founded, to outlaw theharmful practices against womenin Southeast Nigeria, more stillneeds to be done as 17 years lat-er, women are no longer asked tosleep with their husbands’ corps-es or drink the used water butwomen’s heads are still beingshaved. However, efforts are on-going to eliminate this practice aswell.

from killing their husbands.”She noted that some of the

harmful practices widows gothrough in Nigeria includedhaving their heads shaven, usu-ally with a rigid sharp objectsuch as a broken glass sodabottle; being forced to sleep withtheir dead husbands’ corpses;being forced to cry loudly for theentire village to hear; anddrinking the water that wasused to clean their husbands’dead bodies. At the end of theresearch, she summarised thefindings as the 3Ds thus:“Disinheritance- a situationwhere the widow and all herbelongings are taken over byher deceased husband’s

,

,

*Dr. Nwadinobi...Certain punitive mourning ritesand practices are performed supposedly to dissuadewomen from killing their husbands

*A widow having her hair shaven

Culture is a way of life passeddown from generation to gen-eration, but when culture ceas-

es to be a way of life and in-stead becomes a threat to hu-man existence, it is better de-

fined as torture

CMYK

With PRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUprinceosuagwu@gmail.com

36—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

IT’S like Disney Island inreality and the feeling is

indescribable. Sitting on redleather upholstery with a 5Dpair of specs, suddenly, theelectric motor fixed at thebase of the chairs come aliveand you are there imagininga roller coaster journeytaking you through thefantasy lands. The journeyis not smooth however,sometimes large snakes popup, bridges break,protruding sharp objectssuddenly appear and youfind yourself ducking yourhead from right to left.Meanwhile it is all make -believe because you aresitting in one place. In fact

GrGrGrGrGround zeround zeround zeround zeround zero in 5D to in 5D to in 5D to in 5D to in 5D tececececechhhhhentententententererererertttttainmentainmentainmentainmentainment

a simple act of removing theglass reduces the exercise towatching a television on anuneasy leather seat. But thefun is that after a round whichlasts about 10 minutes, theparticipants are highly elatedwith some reliving stories ofhaving forgotten theirproblems, pains and worrieswhile on the imaginative rollercoaster trip.

That is the beauty of 5Dimensional, 5D, technologywhich an entertainmentcentre, Ground Zero hasbrought to Nigeria. Located atthe heart of Ebutte Metta areaof Lagos, the company says itwas making it easy forNigerians to also enjoy the

•Roller-coaster travellers

5D, the latest multi-dimensional, digitaltechnology introduced incinemas all over the world.Grand Zero is making adebut of it in Nigeria andentire West Africa. It alsopromised to build cinemaswith the technology in all thesix geo political zones inNigeria

The 5D experience is acomputer technology thatmakes movie as interactiveas possible with viewerstotally involved. They wearglasses, being the platformwhere the software works, tofurther accentuate theexperience.

According to Grand Zero,the entertainment is good foreveryone to although a fewrestrictions abound.Including that certainmovies cannot be seen bychildren below the ages of10 and that adults that arehypertensive cannot see themovies since it may not bemedically advisable forthem.

Meanwhile Grand Zeroalso has other effects like the3D, combining the wind andwave motion and also the 4Dexperience which has waterspraying effects and evenrain fall. However, the 5Dtechnology experience wasbetter than all these,particularly with moreadvanced technology suchas rain, smoke, lathing, airbubbles and sunlight.

FOR Nigerian Muslimswho may find it difficult

to locate which direction isthe West to carry out theirprayers, there is actuallynothing to worry about now.This is because a London-based Turkish designerSoner Ozenc, has appliedhis wealth of knowledge intechnology to buildentertainment andinformation into the Muslimprayer mat. Tagged ELSajjadah, the new digitalprayer mat lights up whenit faces Mecca. With the aidof an embedded digitalcompass, it finds Meccabased on the mat’s currentlocation, especially if theuser feeds that informationto the mat’s tiny computer.Only two prototypes existand one was purchased bythe Museum of Modern Artin New York for its show last

EL Sajjadah: The prayermat that lights up whenfacing Mecca debuts

year on interactive design.Ozenc said he has notreceived any negativecomments about hisinvention yet but admits thelight is very strong and couldbe distracting. “But there isan off button on the side. Youjust turn it to off,” saidOzenc.

Ozenc is trying to raise$100,000 throughKickstarter.com, the onlinefundraising tool, to bring themat into mass production. Ifhe reaches his goal, for $500,donors can expect one of thefirst mats out of the factory.

Ozenc who prefers not toshare his own religiousbeliefs, said while workingtoward a Master’s degree inindustrial design about 10years ago, he began readingabout flying carpets inliterature. He also studiedelectro-luminescence, the

•El Sajjadaprayer mat

Immediately the emailfacility debuted, thetraditional postage

services knew the game wasup unless innovative upgradewas done on its services. Youknow, the email is fast, almostinstant delivery and feedbackis as instant as the flash oflight.

Incidentally the shortmessage services SMS,which accompanied the debutof GSM in Nigeria, also cameto make matter worse forpostal services. Today, the factremains that no matter theinnovations and upgrades thepostal services received,particularly in Nigeria, it hasbecome endangered specie.What with severalmodifications these servicesare going almost on dailybasis endearing them topeople no matter age andstatus.

email has become a part ofeveryday life. There are somany things you do with it:

Don’t have internet?Send mail by Gmail SMS

apply for a job, make aninquiry, get notified by yoursocial network, receive aphoto or an invitation thatmakes you smile, and justcommunicate back and forthwith your friends.

Although the Gmail team atGoogle for instance says thatthey put a lot of efforts toensure that messages aredelivered as soon as thesender hits “send” button,there are however, barriersthat sometimes arise betweenthe sender and his email: whatif he’s not by a computer? Orhis phone is not connected tothe internet? Or the internetis down or too slow, so thatemails just won’t load?

Besides, in recent times fora service to catch seriousattention, it must not only befast but must also be deliveredon the go. Mobility hasbecome the buzz word for techgeeks around the world.

To help solve these issues,

Google said it has createdGmail SMS which it said isavailable in Ghana, Nigeriaand Kenya.

The service makes itpossible for phone users tosend and receive emails asSMS messages using mobilephones, regardless of whetherthey have a data connectionlike Wifi or 3G. Gmail SMS

works on any phone, even themost basic ones which supportonly voice and SMS.

Gmail SMS automaticallyforwards emails as SMS textmessages to the phone andthe user can respond byreplying directly to the SMS.He can also control emailsreceived by replying with

commands such as MORE,PAUSE and RESUME.Additionally, compose a newemail as an SMS & send toany email address recipient -who will find your message inthe right email conversationthread!

So, for those that haven’tused the email before due toaccess, Gmail SMS isproviding a first platform.

Activating Gmail SMSservice

Activating this services takesfive registration

* Click your profile photo atthe top of any Gmail page andclick Account

* Click Open SMS settingsin the “Phone and SMS”section

* Add your phone number toreceive Gmail to that number

* Verify your phone numberby entering the verificationcode that would be instantlysent as SMS to your phoneand then

* Check the box for emailforwarding to your phone.

According to Google,sending GmailSMS takes thestandard SMS charge of theoperator used while receivingGmail SMS is free of charge.

technology thatmakes his mat glow,and which he hasincorporated intoother of hisdesigns, includinga wall clock and adecorative butterfly.“The mat doesn’thave a religiousorigin,” he said.

GmailSMS

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 37

CMYK

38— Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

We may not return toUS if . . . Kobe Bryant*Beckham offers them tips

Kobe Bryant is clearlythe richest athletehere in the London

Olympics.The American Basketball

star is worth $30m a year. Heearns just above $16m butrakes in above $18m onendorsements annually. Buthe is humility personified.

He chooses to be ordinaryhere, very accessible,meeting people, chatting andonly getting serious when intraining. Few days after hereacted sharply to a question,his answer is still beingdiscussed.

“What would it be like ifUSA does not win theBasketball gold? As asportsman will that beacceptable to you? Bryantjerked and for only thatmoment he chose not to be asportsman who should acceptvictory or defeat in the spiritof sportsmanship.

“No, that’s not acceptable,”he said with authority inManchester City where theytrained and security mentried to be overzealous inguarding the super starAmerican team. But Bryant isalways relaxed. The 12players in US team are worth$160m dollars annually. Andthis is excluding money fromcommercials andendorsements. When you addother sources, the team mayworth over $300m per a year.Could it be why the securitymen are all eyes on them?

“They may revoke ourcitizenship if we do not winthe gold,” Bryant said, adding“we are going to play hard.When you have this kind oftalent and we got here byhard work, the only thing weknow how to do is to playhard.. For us it is either we

win the gold ordon’t come back.They mightrevoke ourcitizenship.”

People are stilltalking about thisreaction fromBryant. It showshow hard they willreally play. Theyhave beend o m i n a t i n gbasketball in theOlympics butthey wonBronze inA t h e n s .However, they returned toBeijing to win thegold. Bryant wasin that team andsays “there’s nohonour more thanr e p r e s e n t i n gyour country in

the Olympics. It’s stupid tosuggest that the Olympicsshould be for Under 23s”

Bryant is a Man U fan anda friend of David Beckhamwho has helped him on howto cope with the Britishweather.

Greek jumper fails dopetestGreece’s world indoor

high jump championDimitris Chondrokoukis haspulled out of the LondonOlympics after testingpositive for a bannedsubstance, the athlete’s fathersaid.

“Dimitris will not take partin the Olympic Games,

leaving unfulfilled a dream ofa lifetime,” his father andcoach KyriakosChondrokoukis said in astatement.

The high jumper, who wasone of Greece’s best hopes fora medal in track and field,will seek a retest, his fathersaid.

US gymnast fallsin trainingUS women’s gymnastics

team alternate Anna Liwas held out of training onThursday following a fallduring her uneven barsroutine earlier in the week.

USA Gymnastics officials sayLi was advised by the medicalteam to skip practice as a

precaution. The 23-year-oldLi was training inBirmingham _ about twohours northwest of London _with the two other alternateson Tuesday when she fell.

Li was taken to the hospital,where tests revealed noinjury. It’s doubtful Li would

be available tocompete if one ofthe five U.S. teammembers isunable to go.

The women’steam competitionbegins Sunday,with teamsrequired to setrosters by Friday.

Injury hangs over RadcliffeWorld record holder

Paula Radcliffe risksfurther Olympic heartbreakwith her chances of competingin the marathon in Londonhanging by a thread due toinjury, British media reportedon Thursday.

“Shall we flip a coin?,” UKathletics head coach Charlesvan Commenee was quoted assaying when asked whetherthe 38-year-old would be fitfor her fifth and final Games.

“She has been walking a thinline every day for a decade,nothing has changed,” hesaid. “Paula is always aconcern.”

Radcliffe suffered a flaringof osteoarthritis in her left foota few weeks ago when sheflew to Munich to seecelebrity sports doctor HansWilhelm Mueller-Wohlfart.

The Briton has never won anOlympic medal and has beendogged by bad luck at

previous Games.She was forced to drop out

of the 2004 Athens marathonthrough illness and injury.She finished 23rd in Beijingafter her preparations werealso hampered by injury.

Last April she ended a halfmarathon in Vienna in tearsafter a slow time in a head-to-head with EthiopianHaile Gebrselassie, who hada seven minute 52 secondhandicap.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 —39

Soccer players adoreKelly HolmesSome of the stars

Nigerians adore everyweek on television are

here as lesser stars. Theyhave heroes that they alsoadore. What a great levelerthe Olympic Games are.

Kelly Holmes won two goldmedals for Britain at theAthens Olympics. She did soin the 1,500m and the 800m.She is adored by Britons andwas chosen to inspire Britishteams here including thesoccer team.

Ryan Giggs, Greg Bellamyand the rest of Team GreatBritain soccer players are stilltalking about the inspirationaladdress of Kelly Holmes.Footballers are used to pre-match and half time tacticaltalks by their managers. Butby the time Holmes hadfinished talking to them, they

looked small and admittedthat “there’s nothing like theOlympics.” Kelly Holmesmoved them including theircoach Stuart Pearce who madea great immediate impressionto this reporter at the Euro ’96where he manned the left backposition for an England teamthat included David Seaman,Addams, Garry Southgate,Garry Neville, Paul Ince, PaulGascoine, Teddy Sherignam,Steve Mcnaniman and thegreat hit man Alan Shearer.What a great team they were.Pearce was a no nonsensedefender and fondly calledMacho for his macho looksand doggedness. But beforea female double Olympic goldmedalist he felt small andcelebrated meeting her.

“Meeting Kelly Holmes wasincredible,” Greg Bellami

said. “She told us what toexpect. This is all new to us.It’s a lot different from whatwe are used to in football.There’s a lot more in theOlympics. You are eating withall the athletes. You stay in theGames village together. It alladds up to the experience ofbeing part of the Olympics.She told us to enjoy it andembrace the Olympics. Shesaid we should interact, meetother athletes and introduceourselves because not manywill recognize you. You are allequal at the Games Village,staying two in a room. I neverthought I would be involvedin something like this. This issomething I would cherish forthe rest of my life.”

For Giggs, the famousManchester United star whois captain of Britain’s Olympicsoccer team. “This was achance I couldn’t turn down.I hope it is not a one-off, Ihope in future Olympics therewill be Great Britain teams. Itfeels so special and theexperience is different.”

The players, who are fivestar heroes to football fansshare small but basicallyfurnished rooms – two to aroom in the Games Village.Truly, Olympic Games arespecial.

Bellamy said he would liketo meet Usain Bolt whileGiggs craved to meet RogerFederer. Jack Cork, theSouthampton midfielderchose Michael Phelps as hishero and an athlete he wouldlike to meet and shake.

So the stars Nigerians knowwill be gunning for theautographs of bigger stars. Itonly happens at theOlympics.

Organisersapologise forN/ Korea flagblunder

London 2012 organisershave apologised and

blamed human error forWednesday ’s flag mix-upwhen South Korea’s flagappeared alongside NorthKorea’s women’s football teamon stadium screens as playerswarmed up before theiropening match.

The team left the pitch inprotest at the blunder andinitially refused to play butthe game with Colombia atHampden Park, Glasgow,eventually kicked off morethan an hour late afterhurried corrections to thevideo rectified the spectacularmistake. On Thursday, NorthKorea’s Olympic teamaccepted repeated apologies.

Paul Deighton, the chiefexecutive of the Londonorganising committee for theOlympics, told BBC Radio 4’sToday programme: “It was amistake. It is as simple as that.We have apologised andtaken steps to make sure thatit cannot happen again. It wassimple human error.”

Kick-off was due at 7.45pmbut the aggrieved NorthKoreans did not restart theirwarmup until just before8.30pm, after the flag wasreplaced with the correct oneon the scoreboards followingextensive negotiations behindthe scenes. The matcheventually kicked off at8.50pm.

Federer,Murray maymeet in finalTop seeded Roger Federer

could meet Britain’sAndy Murray in the Olympictennis final in a repeat ofWimbledon earlier thismonth, after the pair weredrawn on opposite sides of thecompetition on Thursday.

Third seed Murray will takeon Federer ’s fellow-SwissStanislas Wawrinka in hisopening match.

Federer, the top seed andworld number one, will playColombia’s Alejandro Fallawhile Serbia’s NovakDjokovic, seeded two, willface Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

Women’s top seedBelarusian Victoria Azarenkawill play Romanian worldnumber 79 Irina-CameliaBegu in the first round whenthe competition kicks off laterthis week.

America’s Serena Williams,fresh from her fifthWimbledon title, takes onformer world number oneJelena Jankovic of Serbia.

Neither of Beijing’s singlesgold medallists will bereturning to defend theirtitles, after Spain’s RafaNadal was forced to pull outthrough injury and Russia’sElena Dementieva retired.

Expelledgymnastrefuses tosleepG reek triple jumper

Paraskevi Papachristouwas sleepless, bitter about herexclusion from the OlympicGames and felt thepunishment was excessive,she told Reuters on Thursday.

Papachristou waswithdrawn from Greece’s teamtwo days before the openingceremony after the country’sOlympic Committee said hercomments on her Twitteraccount about West Nile virusand the number of Africans inGreece were against theOlympic spirit.

“I have not slept at all andto be honest I am still tryingto come to terms with whathas happened,” the Athens-born athlete told Reuters in aninterview. “I am trying to staycalm otherwise I would losecontrol.

“I am thankful to my coachand family and so many otherpeople who have stuck byme.”

Papachristou, whoapologised on Wednesday forthe offending tweet, said hermain emotion was bitternessover her punishment, whichshe considered excessive.

“After so many years of hurtand sacrifices to try and getto my first Olympics I am verybitter and upset. But what hasupset me the most is theexcessive reaction and speedof the disciplinary decision,”she said.

Games will showUK can deliver—Cameron

The 2012 LondonOlympic Games is an

opportunity for the UK toshowcase “beyond doubt thatBritain can deliver ”,according to the PrimeM i n i s t e r .Speaking at the Olympic Parkin East London, DavidCameron said: “Look at whatwe’re capable of achieving asa nation, even at a difficulteconomic time.

This speech comes a dayafter US presidentialcandidate Mitt Romneyexpressed concern that theUK was not ready for thegames. Yesterday Olympicofficials were also forced toapologise to members of theNorth Korean women’sfootball team, after theirimages were shown next tothe South Korean flag.

CMYK

40 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—41

Continues on page 42

WHAT is your impressionof the retreat of the

Senate Committee onConstitutional Review thattook place in your state?

It is obviously a constitutionthat requires some tinkeringwith. There is no doubt that noconstitution is perfect. Americahas been trying to modify itsconstitution for several yearsnow and we just started in1999. Because of ourexperience in the last 13 yearsin dealing with theconstitution, many people haveexperienced the flaws and theybelieve we need to do somechanges. Then the Nigerianpeople who have beengoverned with the constitution,have also experienced theflaws. So everybody, whetheryou are in or outsidegovernment, believe that weneed to deal with theconstitution and I believe thatwhat will come out at the endwill be the people’sconstitution.

What provisions of theConstitution in your opiniondeserve immediate attention?

Why the Federal Governmentmust be restricted — Uduaghan•Says, I am not in a popularity test

BY EMMANUEL AZIKENPOLITICAL EDITOR

The Delta State capital, Asaba last weekend hosted the strategic retreat of the SenateCommittee on Constitution Review, SCCR. On the fringes of the retreat, Governor EmmanuelUduaghan took time off to field questions from a team of visiting journalists. Excerpts:

review the allocation formula.There has to be a proper wayof dealing with the funds that

governor that if we don’t go thatway, our security challengeswill continue to get worse.

To what percentage shouldderivation be increased to?

The minimum should be 50per cent.

When is Delta State likely tohave a local governmentelection and secondly, you arereported to be against theAnti-Kidnapping Bill passedby the House of Assembly?Why?

State Independent ElectoralCommission (DSIEC) expired.Unfortunately too, the DSIEChas been having its ownchallenges in the sense that themembership of the DSIEC withthe old law is lopsided andthere have always beencomplaints about themembership; some senatorialdistricts have more than others.So we sent an amendment tothe House to ensure that thereis equity and justice in the

representation at thecommission level. That hasbeen passed; we are justcollating the list now which wewill send to the House. Oncethat is put off, we will give themthree to four months and wewill do election.

The second question wasabout the kidnapping. First,what happened was that at thetime the bill was passed, Ididn’t give assent to it. Thenthey started a second one andthe time they brought it I wasalso not in office and thelifespan of that assemblypassed.

They have resuscitated thatbill, they have had a publichearing, they have not quitefinished and it has not beenbrought back to me. When theywere doing the public hearing,I sent my Attorney General togive them my own view. Andone of the things I did send himto do was to tell them that Idon’t believe in death sentencefor any crime because deathsentence has not stopped anycrime in this world.

Publichearing

I also believe that all humanbeings have the right to life, itis my principle. But the bill hasnot come back to me. I need tocorrect that impression. Whenthey bring it back to me and Ilook at it, then I will let youknow whether it is acceptableor not. Right now, there is nodispute between the executiveand the legislature.

There was a dispute betweenyour administration and anelder statesman in this state.What is the status of thatdispute now?

We have reconciled fully.Nothing is static in this world,I don’t make permanentenemies and I don’t thinkanybody should makepermanent enemies. In anycase we were not evenenemies, we only had politicaldifferences. He had theadvantage of age, experienceas a former commissioner,minister, senator (and) he hasbeen a lot of things so he hadthat experience. He had hisown style of putting upwhatever he had against meand I also had my own style ofdealing with it by not firstresponding, being abusive and

*Uduaghan: Federal Government taking too much

There are twofederating units inNigeria, the federalgovernment and thestates. The truth isthat the localgovernment is not afederating unit; theHouse of Assemblycan make laws for thegoverning of localgovernment councils.In my first tenure, Idid a localgovernment electionso you cannot accuseme that I have notconducted a localgovernment electionbefore. Unfortunately,their tenure finishedsometime last yearand you know we hadthe highest number ofelections in DeltaState at about thatperiod.

The tenure of thoselocal governmentsfinished and almost atthe same time, thetenure of the Delta

For us in the South-South and as a state,the issue is really,what kind offederation are wepracticing? Thevarious governmentsshould be able tomanage their affairs,s o m e h o windependently, withall of us convergingat the centre.

Kind offederalism

The FederalGovernment is takingtoo many things andshould be confined tocertain areas and letthe states do a lotmore than they aredoing now. Whyshould the federalgovernment go tobuild primary schoolsand healthcare

come from oil: whogets what? Who hasthe right to get what?

And we the states ofthe Niger Delta, theoil producingcommunities, becauseof the challenge wehave and thedifficulties in theterrain and indeveloping our area,justice and fair playdemands we shouldbe getting 100 percent and paying tax atthe centre. But if thatarrangement is noton, then they shouldincrease thederivation to thevarious oil-producingareas. And then weneed to review oursecurity arrangementand one of the areasthat we believeshould be reviewed isthe area that states that

TheFederalGovernmentis taking toomany thingsand shouldbe confinedto certainareas andlet the statesdo a lotmore thanthey aredoing now

centres or boreholes? Webelieve that the states shouldhandle these. We also need to

the States should have theirown police. Everybody knowsand I speak in my position as a *Uduaghan: I am not in a popularity test

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

42—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Why the Federal Government mustbe restricted — Uduaghan

Continues from page 41

Funds) no matter how small they are,to develop other areas of the economywhich are almost totally zero now. Letus develop other areas of the economyso that in future (whether near or far;oil is not something you can rely on fully,there might be fall in price, it can finish,) whether we have oil or not we can havea stable economy. What has happenedis that because we have oil, we seemedto have forgotten the other areas of theeconomy. Not just in this state aloneeven in the nation.

Delta State is a rich state comparedto a state like Akwa Ibom, but is thestate spending judiciously?

Really I hate comparisons. That waswhy when you said we are rich I wantedto be clear on what the richness is about.The state you called now, our allocationis not as much as theirs. It has neverbeen since the past five years; we don’t

something in some of these places; itmight not be as much as what you aredoing in Asaba but whatever you aredoing in Asaba you have to do near thatin Warri.

We have many urban centres that youhave to pay attention to at the sametime. You go to some states and the statecapital is the only urban centre andpeople are assessing from just gettingto the state capital. But you cannot dothat for Delta. You cannot come to Asabaand assess from only Asaba and go back.A lot of people will take on you if youmake assessment from only Asaba. Thatmeans that our development has to bemore widespread than many otherplaces.

When people say, ‘He is not doingmuch’ they don’t take some of thesefactors into place. In any case, peoplehave different programmes. I am not in

*Uduaghan: Human beings have right to life

rude, taking him as an elder,listening. Reading some of thethings he was talking about andthe ones I could do, I did them. Itgot to a point that everybodydecided that it was enough andthat it was not in the interest ofthe state or the interest ofanybody.

Do you share in the fear thatNigeria could break up soon?

It is not possible. Forget it.Nigeria will not break up. In fact,the review of the constitution isnot even going close to that at all.We have our contacts, we haveour feelers, we have our friends,nobody is contemplating abreakup.

What is the reason behind yourvision of Delta Beyond Oil?

What I am saying is that we canuse those funds (Derivation

a popularity test. If I want tobe in a popularity test, I willjust come as a governor andask what the people like,maybe renovate all the schoolsand leave other thingsundone. It is easy to bepopular but governance for meis not about popularity. For me,if you come in and go in apopularity test, you arecreating problems for the nextperson coming in.

For me, governance is aboutstrategizing for the good of thepeople for a long time and thestrategy you are putting up isnot just for you alone but forthe person coming after youand other people comingthereafter. But you that isstarting that strategic planning,obviously you cannot bepopular. It is like you areplanting a mango tree, nobodysees the mango tree becauseyou are already planting it onthe ground and you just waterit.

All they see is maybe thesand that is being watered,they cannot appreciate what

have the same allocation.Two, states have differentproblems and challenges.

Producingcommunities

This is the only state ormaybe Ondo, wherewhatever we get, especiallythe derivation part, thegovernor does not spend allthe derivation money. Whatwe are talking about now,when it comes, I have todivide it into two; 50 percent goes to the state leveland 50 per cent goes to anoutfit we call the Delta StateOil Producing AreasDevelopment Commission,to be able to deal with theoil producing communities.I needed to explain that. Sothe bit that is left is what Ihave to use for the wholestate including the oilproducing areas. I still haveto deal with them from thismoney. Two, I have achallenge of having thehighest number of urbancentres in Nigeria. In Delta State, thereis Asaba, there is Warri, there is Agbor,there is Sapele, there is Ughelli; andall of them are urban centres that canbe state capitals. When you are doingsomething in Asaba you also have to beconscious that you also have to do

you are doing. Specifically, what we aredoing is trying to strategize not just fortoday but for the future of the state. Andwhat is the strategy we are adopting?We are adopting a strategy in which weare using the money that is coming nowto prepare for tomorrow.

It is easy tobe popularbutgovernancefor me is notaboutpopularity

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—43

*Jonathan: In the eye of the storm *Emodi: Says it is a media fascination

Senator Joy Emodi’s personae and performance as a legislator may haverecommended her as the administration’s contact person with the legislature. Thequestion has, however, arisen as to whether the woman dubbed Joy of the Senate cansoothe the administration in its present agonies?

Impeachment Threat: Emodi’s emotionsand emolument issues

BY EMMANUEL AZIKENPOLITICAL EDITOR

NOT many were surprisedthat President Goodluck

Jonathan went across partylines to pick Senator Joy Emodias his focus person in theadministration’s dealings withthe National Assembly lastyear.Her appointment as SpecialAdviser, National Assemblywas expected to help facilitatesmooth relationship betweenthe executive and thelegislative branches ofgovernment.

However, the grit and grip ofthe popular lawmaker areincreasingly being tested by theensuing crisis between theHouse of Representatives andthe presidency over thea d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ simplementation of the 2012budget.

At issue is the generalgrievance of the lawmakersthat the administration hasunderperformed in itsimplementation of the capitalside of the budget.

Even with the abundance offunds the administration isreportedly underperforming itsexecution of the capital budget.In many instances not morethan 30% of the budget hasbeen executed even in theseventh month of the year.

Educationalinstitutions

That complaint is indeed nota new one. That indeed hasbeen the sorry story since 1999.Mrs. Emodi as a lawmaker andespecially as Chairman of theSenate Committee onEducation was herself verypassionate in ensuring thatvotes for the country ’seducational institutionsreached them unimpeded.

It was largely on account of“The original motion had only

two prayers and afterTambuwal’s maturedstewardship of the House,further heaped praises on thespeaker claiming thatTambuwal and the presidentwere on the same page on mostissues.

Appealing to the media toplay a matured role in itsreportage of the issue, she said:“I want to appeal to the Mediaas the Fourth Estate of theRealm to report in positive waysthat will help promote ourgovernance efforts andstrengthen the democraticprocess.

Sensational reportage of keynational issue such as this doesnot help the country in any wayas it creates unnecessarytension in the polity. Themedia has a responsibility tobuild up and support the effortof the government atdelivering the dividends ofgood governance to thecitizens”.

Emodi’s effortsnonetheless, other

administration officials alsopoint at a major crisis arisingfrom what they cite as thevengeful role of some housemembers.

The administration supportersclaim that the impeachmentthreat which emanated at thepenultimate Thursday sitting ofthe House, arose from angerover their failure to get theirthird quarter allowance on orbefore that day.

Sources revealed thatFinance Ministry officialsfailed or refused to provide abank guarantee that wouldhave enabled the House get aloan to cover the payment of thethird quarter allocation.

Federationaccount

The need for the loan arosefrom the failure of the FederalAccounts Allocation Committee,FAAC to share the federationaccount before that Thursday’ssitting which remarkably wasthe day the house proceededon vacation.

“That anger was boiling overand that fired the angst of manyhouse members,” one sourcedisclosed.

The anger apparentlycombined with otheroutstanding issues includingthe poor budget performanceand the seeming actions of the

president to ignore notableresolutions of the house.

Among the strong resolutionsof the house that have beenignored even with ignominywas that seeking the dismissalof Ms Arumah Oteh as theDirector General of theSecurities and ExchangeCommission, SEC.

Though the allocation to theHouse has now been paid, theissue of the poorimplementation of the budgethas continued to stir. Membersare resolved to for once put theadministration on its toestowards ensuring that the goodlife distills down to thepopulace.

“This is not about us, it isabout what happens to thecommon man,” a senior officialof the house told Vanguard.

Remarkably, some Housemembers it was learnt haveformed themselves into agroup to ensure that they keepwatch over the implementationof the budget during the Housevacation.

As it is, the issues are nowbeyond emotion as canvassedby Emodi or emoluments assuggested by some critics of theHouse of Representatives.

Seeking todouse thetension,Emodi whohas in the pastmadereference toSpeakerAminuTambuwal’smaturedstewardship ofthe House,further heapedpraises on thespeakerclaiming thatTambuwal andthe presidentwere on thesame page onmost issues

deliberations andan amendment byHon. OgbuefiOzomgbachi, onlyone prayer wascarried and it hadnothing to do withi m p e a c h m e n tthreat,” Mrs.Emodi said in herfirst openi n t e r v e n t i o nthrough a pressstatement lastTuesday.

“What actuallyhappened duringthe debate onb u d g e timplementationwas that theminority leader, inhis contribution,m e n t i o n e di m p e a c h m e n twhich was noteven put to vote,”the Special Advisersaid.

Seeking to dousethe tension, Emodiwho has in the pastmade reference toSpeaker Aminu

her efforts that two ofthe federalinstitutions, partly inappreciation of herroles, conferreddoctorate degreeson her.

Against thatb a c k g r o u n d ,many are nowlooking up to seehow she wouldnavigate the issue ofthe administration’sinabilities toperform.

As members of theHouse ofRepresentativespointed out at thep e n u l t i m a t eThursday session,failure to implementa budget which isitself a law, is ani m p e a c h a b l eoffence.

In her interventioninto the crisis, Dr.Emodi has sought toplay down the crisisalleging that themedia is crying wolfwhere there is none.

CMYK

Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB): Some unresolvedissues

AT last, the correct version ofthe Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB) has been sent to theNational Assembly fordeliberation and enactmentinto law. To be fair, taking acursory look at the bill, it lookslike an elegant document – aDictionary of the PetroleumIndustry. The Senate Presidentwho described it as the ‘Bible‘of the petroleum industrymeant well. This is a credit tothose crafty hands that draftedthe bill. The expectation is thatthe legislators would do justiceto such an importantdocument.

The bill, according to itssponsors, is a necessarydocument to explain thepetroleum industry and to markits relevance to the welfare ofthe people and economicdevelopment of the country. Tomany Nigerians, the petroleumindustry law would open thegate to prosperity and changethe perception in certainquarters that oil is not ablessing but a disaster to thenation.

However, the legislatorsshould be able to differentiatebetween realism and undueoptimism. On the question ofthe ownership of petroleumresources, a provision of theBill says, “The entire propertyand control of all petroleum in,under or upon any lands withinNigeria, its territorial waters,on which forms part of itscontinental shelf and theExclusive Economic area isvested in the Government ofthe Federation”.

This simply means that oilbelongs to the FederalGovernment only. This runswidely against the notion of ourfriends in the difficult andheavily polluted terrains of theNiger Delta that ‘oil‘ belongs

to them and the commonphrase of ‘our oil ‘being usedto develop Nigeria.

The seemingly bogus claim ofthe Federal Government(subject to legal definition) hasduly affected its determinationin the provisions of the Bill tohave full control of the oilindustry. It may seem nicewhen there is that pleasantcoincidence of having aPresident and the Minister ofPetroleum Resources comingfrom the same state of the NigerDelta with the hope that theinterests of the oil producingstates would be favourablyconsidered. What happenswhen the king who does notknow “Joseph” is on the throne?

The intention of the FederalGovernment in having fullcontrol of the industry isreflected in the powers givento the Minister of PetroleumResources. Some of these are(a) Be responsible for theformulation, determination andmonitoring of Governmentpolicy for the PetroleumIndustry in Nigeria; (b) Advisethe Government on all matters

pertaining to the PetroleumIndustry and also have directaccess and seek information byright from agencies benefitingfrom licenses under the Act.

The power of the Minister istotal because acting on theadvice of the Inspectorate orAgency, can grant, amend,renew, extend or revokeupstream/downstream licensesand leases pursuant to theprovisions of the Act. Anotherprovision of the Bill whichneeds close attention by thelegislators is that which statesthat, “ when enacted, thePetroleum Industry Act, will, inaddition to the Ministry ofPetroleum Resources providefor the establishment of nineagencies responsible for theoperations of the oil and gassector.

These agencies will beanswerable to the Minister ofPetroleum Resources. Itappears funny that in anattempt to dismantle theNigerian National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC); the billmakes provision for the creationof 9 agencies, each with a

board (paid chairman andmembers). It looks like aninvitation to undesirable wasteof funds and unnecessarybureaucracy.

The logical argument is thatif in managing the NNPC(which is either a governmentagency or a public venture),there is a lot of bungling andfumbling, managing nineagencies could be a directinvitation to chaos anddisaster! Since the officials ofthese agencies would beappointed by the President oron the advice of the Minister,it could be a case of politicalnice jobs for the good boys. Thebill also provides for the returnof the badly damagedPetroleum EqualizationFund. Under the completederegulation of thedownstream sector of the oilindustry, there should be noneed for uniform price ofpetroleum products in thecountry.

There is a provision for fullderegulation of thedownstream sector of the oilindustry which stipulates thatthe price of products shall bederegulated to ensure (a)market related prices (b)adequate supply of petroleumproducts (c) removal ofeconomic distortions and (d)the creation of fair market valuefor petroleum products in theNigerian economy. To myunderstanding, fullderegulation would allowmarketers to procure theirproducts (crude oil), refinethem, store them and transportthem to their depots and totheir customers through theirnetwork of retail outlets.

The pricing is normally basedon the cost of crude, refinerycharges, storage anddistribution costs and

44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

WHAT is your stance onthe renaming of the Uni-

versity of Lagos after ChiefMoshood Abiola?

I have the highest respect forthe office and person of thePresident. Let me also say thatI recognise the imperative ofhonouring late Chief M.K.OAbiola for the enormous sacri-fice he made on June 12 andin preserving our democraticexperiment. I believe that hedeserves to be immortalised.

I also believe that all opera-tors in a democracy must be-have as democrats and thatdemocracy is noted for certainfundamentals. These funda-mentals include due process,rule of law, constitutionalism,supremacy of the constitution,respect for fundamental rights,

UNILAG: Why Jonathan should reversehimself on name change

BY INNOCENT ANABA

Mr Wahab Shittu is a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos anda private prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC. In this interview, he speaks passionately on why the proposedrenaming of the University of Lagos after Chief Moshood Abiola should bereversed. Excerpts:

respect for process and proce-dures, transparency and ac-countability, zero tolerance forcorruption. All these are encap-sulated in good governance.So I believe that under a de-mocracy, the underlining phi-losophy of democracy is thatsovereignty lies with the peo-ple and that all actions shouldbe carried out with the peoplein mind.

The renaming of UNILAG bypresidential proclamation with-out consultation with all thestakeholders including theSenate fails to recognise thefact that UNILAG was createdby an Act of Parliament. Andas such, for you to be able totamper with an Act of Parlia-ment, you have to do so by aconstitutional amendment. Thisprocess ought to be carried outand approved before the Pres-

ident announces such achange, if necessary.

But as it is now, what hashappened is the subversion ofdue process, clearly the subver-sion of rule of law and the sub-version of constitutionalism.

Legislativeauthority

You don’t put the cart beforethe horse. So, given these cir-cumstances, what the Nation-al Assembly ought to do in or-der to preserve their legislativeauthority and enhance the doc-trine of separation of powers,is to throw out the bill becausethe legislature is not a rubber-stamp of the executive.

Abiola himself will not be hap-py to see that in an attempt toimmortalise him due processwas subverted. He himself said

Abiola?Well, it will cost a lot in the

sense that University of Lagoshas become a brand indepen-dent of the history of Abiola.Abiola has its own independenthistory. UNILAG also has itsown independent history. Youdon’t use one history to sup-plant another history withoutdisastrous consequences. Ifyou rename it, it is like killingthe brand, a brand that isknown nationally and interna-tionally with its own peculiari-ties.

*Shittu

07059197616

you cannot shave a man’s headbehind his back. Using thatanalogy, how do you shave thehead of UNILAG behind theback of UNILAG?

My advice to Mr President isthat he should be a listeningPresident. If he reverses backto the previous name and thenlooks elsewhere to immortaliseAbiola, it will not be a sign ofweakness. Indeed, it would bea demonstration of high states-manship.

Do you agree with some thatsome other university or sta-dium should be used to im-mortalize Abiola?

That argument overlooks thefact that Abiola was a multidi-mensional person who touchedlives in several ways. He wasthe pillar of sports.

If you don’t want to name anyedifice that has any sports sig-nificance to his memory, whynot name the Eagle Square inAbuja after him, or why notname a democratic institute af-ter him, or why not declareJune 12 M.K.O Abiola Day andthen organise activities yearlyaround that date with federalgovernment participation andapproval?

What would it cost the Uni-versity of Lagos if the univer-sity bears the name Moshood

allowance forprofits. Government shouldnot interfere with the pricingmechanism but ensure that noabnormal price is charged. Theprovision of DownstreamPetroleum Regulatory Agencieswith its board (chairman andmembers) may not benecessary or may be limited inits activities to providing afavourable atmosphere for thegrowth of the sector throughimproved infrastructuraldevelopments which wouldinvite foreign and Nigerianinvestments. The existinggovernment facilities shouldeither be leased or sold to theexisting viable marketingorganizations in the country.

There should be no room forgovernment to come ‘throughthe back door‘ to control anddisorganize the downstreamsector after it has beensincerely deregulated. Another provision in the PIB isthat every company that isinvolved in the oil and gasexploration and production isrequired to remit into a fundon a monthly basis, 10% of itsnet profit. The fund is for theeconomic development of theoil producing areas. This, tome, is begging the question onhaving shares and control inthe oil resources of the area. Itwould have been better to givea certain percentage of controland revenue in the agencyresponsible for themanagement of revenue andexpenditure of the oilresources. This would havebeen possible if the envisagedNational Oil Company (NOC)is saddled with theresponsibilities of fundingproduction and sharing incomeaccording to designatedagreement amongshareholders.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012—45

THE encounter betweenRep. Opeyemi Bamidele

and a group of newsmen was likea reunion of a fraternity of old.Even though a lawyer, Bamidelecame to public renown as amedia man of sorts. Bamidelehad distinguished himself as acivil rights activist andsubsequently as a mediastrategist for the Alliance forDemocracy in Lagos State beforehis appointment as aCommissioner in the BolaAhmed Tinubu cabinet.

He was variouslyCommissioner for Informationand Strategy, Lagos StateCommissioner for Youth, Sportsand Social Development, SpecialAdviser to the Governor, SeniorSpecial Assistant to the Governorand before then, Lagos StateNational Director of Publicity,Alliance for Democracy.

Why I can’t bite the hands thatfed me — Rep. Bamidele

BY GBENGA OKE

POLITICALENCOUNTER

in Lagos, it would also beimportant that I should also makemyself available to be ofrelevance to the people of EkitiState, my place of birth,” he said.

“I felt it would be important,that someday, when the history

”And of course, I am a memberof a political party, where theyare no pretensions as to wherewe stand. The party is committedto democracy, but we have ourown distinct definition of internaldemocracy, and a lot of factors gointo it, than just being the mostpopular aspirant among themembers of the party.”

“So the leadership of the partydecided; it wasn’t particularly aneasy decision for me to take, butI had to remain consistent, andagain, I wasn’t going to bite anyfinger that God has used to feedme or to jump start my politicalcareer.”

Activist turnedpolitician

In referring to “not biting thehand that had fed him” was offcourse not a veiled phrase towatchers of the activist turnedpolitician. He inevitably referredto the ACN political leader,Asiwaju Tinubu who facilitatedhis political emergence in Lagos.

“It was a decision I had to takein good faith, and I left it in God’shands. But today, in the Houseof Reps, I want to say that I donot have any regrets being there.I went there believing that Godpreceded me to the place, and itbecame manifest on the very daythe House was inaugurated, theman who was chosen as speakerinvited me to his office.”

“Rt Hon Aminu WaziriTambuwal offered me the positionof the Chairman of the House AdHoc Committee on Media andPublic Affairs, and that was thefirst committee that would be setup by him, and the onlycommittee for a period of fourmonths that the Ad Hocassignment lasted.”

Constituency projects: So,what has he been able to do forhis constituents? Opeyemi whoclaims to be feeding off on thelaw practice he established

before going into politics claimedthat he has dedicated his totalsalary from the House to the lessprivileged in his constituency.

“In the last one year to the gloryof God, I can say that my salaryhas gone into this venture. Thefirst round was to go to widows.We actually empowered 200widows from within myconstituency. Again, I must saythat this is not something that Ihave been handling on my own.We have a Fund AdvisoryCommittee that is headed by aretired Chief Judge, who is alsothe traditional ruler of my town,he is retired Justice AdemolaAjakaye, the Oluyin of Iyin. Heis there with two other traditional

constituency, using theintervention fund madeavailable to the NationalAssembly members by theFederal Government.”

“In the 2012 budget, I haveattracted six primary healthcentres to my community, andthey will be spread in sixdifferent towns. Also fourdifferent 300KVA transformers,and a total of 11 boreholes indifferent communities in theremote towns and villages of theconstituency, and two youthdevelopment and vocationaltraining centres among otherthings.”

Lawan saga: Given the oozingodour emanating from theFarouk Lawan saga in theHouse, Opeyemi was asked hisbearing on the issue.

“I will put it this way, the imageof the House, I will say hassuffered a setback, but the imageof the House is not dented.”

“I do not have the illusion thatin a house where there are 360people, and in a senate of 109people, that we won’toccasionally have situations tomanage.”

“As much as possible, webelieve that whatever happens,if any member of the house isgiven an assignment, either anad hoc assignment or aschairman or member of astanding committee, and you goon a frolick of your own, and endup soiling yourself or creating acolour of integrity that couldpossibly affect the image of thehouse, then we need to dissociatethe house.”

Hembe andFarouk Lawan

“And that is what we had to doin the matter of Hembe andFarouk Lawan. We have not evencondemned Farouk Lawan; he

*Rep Opeyemi Bamidele: We have not even condemned Farouk Lawan

of that small state,where the growth ofthe economy and ofour democracy hasremained extremelynascent for such along time, it would bewritten someday thatmy own name willalso go down inhistory as one ofthose who actuallycame to join hands tohelp uplift the state.That was the reasonwhy I decided to goto Ekiti and run forelection.”

But after winningthe party primariesfor the Ekiti CentralSenate seat he waspassed over. Howdid he feel?

“All I can say is thatthe leadership of theparty decided that anumber of otherfactors would alsocome into play. Theyincluded issues ofage; a lot of theleaders felt age wason my side. Some ofthem also felt thatgiven the number ofus who wereinterested, I was theyoungest. Again,they also felt thatlooking at

Although he madehis name in Lagos, itwas to his native EkitiState that he resortedto in the approach tothe 2011 generalelections. His originalintention was to runfor the Senate, but ahuge controversy andthe intervention of theparty elders acting onthe Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN’sown uniquedefinition of internaldemocracy weighedagainst him.

Party'sticket

He was, however,not left completelybarren as the partyelders handed over tohim the party’s ticketfor the n Ijero/EkitiWest/Efon FederalConstituency, in theHouse ofRepresentatives.

So, why did he optto run for election inEkiti State and notLagos where he cuthis political teeth wasnaturally the firstquestion that came upduring the interactionin a Chinese eat out

rulers as well as a representativeof the Conference of NigerianPolitical Parties in Ekiti, who isthe State Chairman of the CPC.”I was curious to ask why therewas no representative of thePeoples Democratic Party, PDPon the committee, but I never gotthe opportunity to ask that.

“Beyond that, at the level ofbrick and mortar, in the last oneyear, I have tried to also help withsome of our communitydevelopment projects.

“In the 2012 budget, by thegrace of God, I have been able toinfluence a good number ofconstituency projects into my

who elected him that can recallhim, if they so feel. If they stillfeel he has the integrity torepresent them, they can leavehim.

“There are moral issues, but wehave not come to any conclusion;we have not condemned him. Wewill allow the security agenciesto finish their investigations. Wealso would wait for the committeeon ethics and privileges to finishits work. But it is part of thelegislative agenda that if anyonedoes anything to compromisehimself, we will distance thehouse from him.”

has not beensuspended as amember of theHouse of Reps.

You know therules of the housegives us the powerto do that; we cansuspend him fromcoming to thathouse; we cannotremove him as amember that is whythe constitutionmakes provision fora recall process.

It is only those

somewhere in Ikeja area ofLagos.

“To the glory of God, I wasn’tdoing badly in the politics ofLagos. But I got to a point whereI said it wouldn’t really matterhow much God has promoted me

opportunities that had beenoffered, I had more than someother people. So it was a questionof just trying to use their ownwisdom.”

Internal democracy: Notinghis political fidelity, he continued:

The imageof the House,I will say hassuffered asetback, butthe image ofthe House isnot dented

*Bamidele...House has suffered a setback

CMYK

46 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

email: isholaism@yahoo.co.ukTel: 08098097290

‘O Allah, bring back Gawat

,

,

Bismillahi Rahamani Raheem.Wasalatu wasalam ala seyidinaMuhammad, wa ala alihi, waashabihi, wasselim.

Indomie to spend N30m on feeding of1m Muslims during Ramadan

Let it be known that these areranting of mischief makers whothink absolute powers reside inman. Nay! There is no poweror wisdom except with Allah,the Almighty. No human cando anything except that whichis decreed to be done by Allah

ALHAJI Aremu Gawat doesnot need much

introduction. For twenty-fiveyears, he has endeared himselfto the hearths of Muslims andnon-Muslims during the monthof Ramadan. They always lookforward to Ramadan and on NTAwhere Aremu Gawat will bewaiting to dole out the gifts inunimaginable proportions fromthe first day to the last day of themonth. He sources differenttypes of gifts raging fromhousehold items to edible items,cash, and hajj slots fromindividuals and organisationsand doles it out to Muslims andnon-Muslims during Ramadan.But about 11 days to Ramadan,the ace broadcaster disappeared,and since, there has not been anyclue about his whereabouts’. Thepsychological trauma this has leftto the family is unimaginable.Chief Imams heads oforganisations and societies,Muslim leaders have notrelented in offering prayers forhis safe return. Our believe is thathe will return safely.

It is however disheartening thatsome people have decided to belike the Ashabu towilu-lisani,(people with long tongue)making unfortunate comments.

They say baseless things as:“where are the Alfas,” “where arethe powers they claim to havewithout using such to at least geta clue of Gawat’s whereabouts,”et cetera as if these peopledecide the fate of man. Somehave mischievously queried theso-called spiritual powers -nokalis in Yoruba parlance of theAlfas. Others also deridedsaying well meaning Muslimscould not make use of theirconnection and money to find outGawat. Let it be known that theseare ranting of mischief makerswho think absolute powers residein man. Nay! There is no poweror wisdom except with Allah, theAlmighty. No human can doanything except that which isdecreed to be done by Allah.

During the time of the prophet,about 4th-5th Hijrah,immediately after a war with theunbelievers who had waged waron Muslims, the Prophet’s camelwhich the prophet rode to the

battle field, Qaswa, got missing.Three among those who followedhim met at a corner to review theincidence of the missing camel.One of the three musketeer said:“how could somebody be sent byGod and yet his camel wasmissing and he knows not herwhereabouts?” He derided himsaying: “Angel Jubril who comesto give him revelation could noteven tell him where his camelwas.” “Was he truly sent by Godand other bla… bla? The secondperson expressly repudiated thatcomment, saying it did not matterif he did not find his camel thathe still remained the prophet ofGod. The third person washowever indifferent about thesituation and thus, he wascautious in his comment. As theycontinued with their meeting,Angel Jubril was sent by Allah toreveal their discussion to theprophet and where they were.The Prophet immediately told hisfollowers that these people aremeeting somewhere discussingabout him on the missing camel

and other details of theirdiscussion. He also gave a vividdescription of the one whoderided him and where theywere. Amarah who was with theprophet, upon hearing this went

after these men. On reachingthem, he asked: who amongstyou derided the prophet on themissing camel? Who said: “if theprophet was a messenger ofAllah, he would have knownwhere he camel was; and that hewas not sent by God,” Amarahasked. They were speechlessstarring at each other. Followingthe description of the prophet onwho among them was particularly

mischievous, Amarah said: it wasyou Seidu pointing at him. Heconfessed asking for forgiveness.Amarah dragged him to theProphet. Seidu knelt before theProphet apologizing. TheProphet forgave him butexplained to him that, he wasonly a man and not God; hesubmits to Allah with everythingthat HE wills. “I know nothingexcept that which He made meto know”. Opinions were differedamong the followers on how topunish him but the Prophetinsisted he be forgiven andordered he should be freed. Atthat point God revealed to himwhere his camel was lying.“There is she, there is she!” TheProphet shouted pointing to adirection. The followers rusheddown to the direction which hepointed and the camel wasfound. The bracelets on herneck got hooked to an objectmaking it difficult for her tomove. You can read it in theScientific Facts in the Life ofProphet Muhammad, page 34.

We as Muslims can onlycontinue to pray for the safereturn of our brother. We beseechAllah and for the sake ofRamadan, to bring him backsafely before the end of theglorious month. How manyhomes would have been affectedthrough his programmes thismonth; how many would havefound happiness in receiving hisgifts and also getting theopportunity to go to Hajj throughEdide Ejisari? O’ Allah where everhe is, it is not hidden from you;guide and protect him and bringhim back to us safely. We cannotchallenge Your authority, but webeseech you for sake of our nobleProphet Muhammad (s.a.w) toundo anything against AbdulRazaqAremu Gawat and bring him backsafely. Bihaqi la aola wala kuwatailaa bila aliyul-azeem. Amin.

AS the blessed month ofRamadan commences,

one vital issue thatimmediately comes to mind isetiquette with mosque duringthe blessed month. Muslimswho are well informed abouttheir faith will surely know therelevance of the topic especiallyin the month of Ramadan.During the month, Muslimsboth the regular ones and thefresher storm the mosques inlarge numbers and mostMosques that used to have fewworshipers now are being filledto capacity. Large numbers ofMuslims frequent variousMosques for Ibadan (worship)which are hitherto not thenorm. In the proscess of usingthe mosque, many Muslimsinadvertently abuse theMosque. Thus for the benefit ofsuch people, below areinformation and rules thatguide in the use of Mosque(though not limited to themonth of Ramadan).Mosque is a place reserved anddedicated for the worship ofAllah, (Salat, seekingknowledge, recitation of theglorious Qur’an, Fikr (reflectionor meditation), lectures,counseling, and other acts ofworship.

Therefore, a person visitingthe mosque: must be a Muslim;must cover his/her nakedness;must be in a state of cleanliness;men may wear light perfumes;go to the Mosque in a dignifiedmanner; enter with right leg,saying: “auzu billahil azeem,

IN commemoration of theongoing Muslim fasting

in the month of Ramadan,DUFIL Prima Foods Plcmakers of Nigeria’s noodlesbrand - Indomie InstantNoodles has announced itsplan to feed one millionMuslims by providing freemeal during the break of fast(Iftar) across the nationduring the 30 days fastingperiod which commenced onFriday July 20, 2012. According to the PublicRelations Manager, DUFILPrima Foods Plc, Mr.Temitope Ashiwaju, thecompany is identifying withMuslims during the 30 daysfasting period as part of itsCorporate SocialResponsibility initiative byserving cooked Indomie

products, served in wellpacked foilplates during ‘Iftar’(EveningBreak) at various popularcentral Mosques across thec o u n t r y . Ashiwaju revealed thatIndomie as the leadingNoodles brand in Nigeriabelieves strongly inconnecting with its consumersthrough varied engagementplatforms and that the monthof Ramadan provides suchunique opportunity to connectwith and engage the Muslimc o n s u m e r s . On the logistics ofdistribution, “We haveidentified several centralmosques across the countrywhere a total of 25,000cartons of foil packedIndomie will be served freelyat the time of breaking the

fast at each of these mosqueson a cycle basis, as in onemosque per day and thus ina week, we cover theidentified mosques of thatcity and the cycle continues”,he said.Ashiwaju stressed furtherthat the council of Imams inthe various locations acrossthe country have given theirsupport to ensure the successof the exercise and the Imamsof each mosque will supervisethe distribution of freshlyprepared Indomie to membersduring the ‘Iftar ’.He declared that the exerciseis expected to last throughoutthe 30 days Ramadan seasonin all central Mosques acrossthe country during which anestimated 1 Million peoplewould have been fed.

BY HARUN RAZAQ

Mosque etiquette during Ramadan

wabiwajhil kareem,wasultaninihil qadeem,minash shaitanir rrajeembismillahi wassalatu wassallamu ala rasuli llahi,Allahumma iftahlee abwaabarahmatika” and then exit withthe left foot first saying:”bismillahi wassalatu wassallamu ala rasuli llahi,Allahumma inni as’aluka minfadlika, Allahumma ‘isimniminash shaitaani rajeem”;should observed two Rak’ats asa form of salutation to themosque before he/she sitsdown; must adopt a barrier(Satrah) in front when praying;must straightening the rowsand close the gaps; should involve in act of worship suchas nawafil, (non-obligatorysalat), remembrance of Allah,tilawah (recitation of Qur’an),dua’ (supplication) etc., beforethe commencement of obligatorysalat. But if it has commenced,he should rather join theobligatory prayer. Also relatedto Mosque etiquette ismaintaining the Mosque.Regular attention should bepaid to the mosque bymaintaining it from time to time(by sweeping, washing withsome nice fragrance) in orderto attract worshippers.Managers of Mosques inNigeria are there by advised toemulate the management of thetwo Holy mosques of Makkahand Madinah who are doingwell in this aspect as witnessedby this writer during his Hajjfew years ago.

•Rasaq Aremu Gawat: Still missing

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 47

Libraryscientists

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

Edo guber election petitiontribunal constituted

Community threatens to shutdown operation of coy

Ilado, Inagbe communities toembark on 5-yr devt plan

WORKSHOP—From left; Director, Press/Public Relations, Lagos State Min-istry of Information and Strategy; Mrs. Ronke Osho, Coordinator, ENA-BLE, Lagos; Mr. Niyi Ladoja, Consultant/Managing Director, Ashton andLayton; Mr. Gbenga Adebija and Chief Information Officer, Ministry of In-formation and Strategy, Tayo Akanle during a workshop for informationofficers in MDAs organized by the Ministry in conjunction with ENABLE inLagos.

LAUNCH—From left: Senior Manager, SME Segment, Mrs. Barbara Anozia;Senior Manager, Corporate Accounts, Mr. Mohammed Aliyu; and SeniorManager SME & Regional Accounts, Mrs. Omotayo Ojutalayo, all of MTNNigeria at the launch of MTN HyNet in Port Harcourt, yesterday Photo:Nwankpa Chijioke.

Bauchi PDP blames non-conduct of LGpoll on CPC's suit

Bayelsa CP assures oncrime prevention

Farmers'exhibition

Rotary

on his victory at the poll.It was gathered that the

General Airhiavbere is se-riously considering going

to election tribunal to chal-lenge the declaration of Os-hiomhole as winner of theelection.

BY FESTUS AHON

UGHELLI—BAYELSAState Commissioner of

Police, Mr. Chris Olakpe,has said the Nigeria PoliceForce was determined tocurb crime in the country,urging members of thepublic to assist the policewith information that couldlead to the tracking downof hoodlums.

Olakpe, in a chat withnewsmen in his hometown, Idheze, Isoko SouthLocal Government Area,Delta State, moments afterthe Idheze Community/Elite group hosted him, saidthe cooperation of Nigeri-ans was needed to put thesecurity challenges posedby the Boko Haram andother forms of crime to thecountry under check.

Reiterating that it was im-possible for security agentsalone to curb the menaceof terrorists and armed rob-

bery in the country, he ap-pealed to well meaningNigerians to invest in crimecontrol in their domains.

BY SUSAN EDEH

BAUCHI—THE BauchiState People’s Demo-

cratic Party, PDP, yesterdayblamed the suit filed by theCongress for ProgressiveChange, CPC, for delay inconducting local govern-ment elections in the state.

Assistant State PublicitySecretary of PDP, Alhaji Ba-shir Bukar who disclosedthis said “the tenured of theimmediate passed councilchairmen had expired andbecause of the litigations,government found itself ina difficult position, there-fore it cannot violate courtorder.

"After government dis-solved the councils, we can-not leave them without ahead, so government con-stituted caretaker commit-tees to oversee the affairs ofthe councils.

"Before we could organ-

ise the local governmentelections again, CPC fileda case in court, so we haveto wait for the court to de-termine the suit before wecan organised electionssince our party and our gov-ernment are law abiding.”

Group honours Okorocha's wife

IMO State Towns Development Association, IST-

DAL, will tomorrow at theLagoon restaurant, Victoria-Island, Lagos, hold a civicreception in honour of theImo State First Lady, LoloNneoma Okorocha.

According to the Head,Summit Media and Public-

ity, Mrs Ijeoma Nwajames,the First Lady of LagosState, MrsAbimbola Fasho-la will be the Special Guestof Honour. This event, shesaid, will be under the dis-tinguished chairmanship ofChief Dozie Irechukwu andEngr, Uche Ibeagi.

THE South-West states inin collaboration with

Chubbies and Fields willsoon host the first farmersand food fair in Ado Ekiti,Ekiti State capital in Sep-tember. The exhibition hasthe support of the OoduaChambers of Commerceand Industry.

According to the leadpartners in Chubbies andFields, Dr Akin Ajiboyeand Mr Dimeji Fatunla, theexhibition will draw partic-ipants from South-Weststates and foreign stake-holders who are concernedabout tackling the emerg-ing food crisis across theWest African sub-region.

The organisers said theevent will showcase realand potentials for agrarianrevolution in the SouthWest. “We hope this willlead to revolution in theagrarian sector across theSouth-West.

LAGOS State Government, traditional rulers,

leaders of community de-velopment Associations,CDAs, and residents of Il-ado and Inagbe islands inLagos, have resolved toembark on a five-year de-velopment programme toenable the islands realizetheir true potentials as thebest tourist destinations inWest Africa. The decision was taken ata Town Hall Meeting or-ganised by the Onilado ofIlado, Oba MobadenleOyekan, Esimikan II, fol-lowing a charge by Gover-nor Babatunde Fashola dur-ing the recent presentation

of certificate and staff of of-fice to the Oba.

The meeting which tookplace at the Oba’s Palace,was attended by represent-atives of the Lagos Stategovernment, Chairman ofAmuwo Odofin Local Gov-ernment , representatives ofthe Lagos State Police Com-missioner, Baales in Iladoand Inagbe, leaders ofCommunity DevelopmentAssociations in the area, aswell as youth and religiousleaders.

The Baales took turns tospeak on the challenges oftheir domains and their ex-pectations from the govern-ment.

LIBRARY and Information Scientists, LIS,

across Africa are seeking aunified body that will ena-ble it fast-track the devel-opment of the sector.

The body to be known asthe African Library Informa-tion Association and Insti-tutions, AfLIA, will supportthe library and informationprofession that anticipatesand responds to the needsof communities in Africaand drive high standards inlibrary and informationservices and professionalpractices.

THE people of Aghoro 1and 2, Ekeremor Local

Government Area of Bayel-sa State, under the aegis ofCombine SurveillanceSquad of Aghoro, yester-day, threatened to shut theoperation of Sterling GlobalServices, if the companyfails to meet their demands.

In a statement on behalfof the two communities, Mr.Ebi Eyarakpor, said sincethey were tired of the com-pany’s failed promises ofempowering the youthsand women of the commu-nities, “we give them sev-

en days ultimatum to stopits operation for discussionof the way forward, else wewill force them to do so,” hesaid.

He added “despite theneglect, we have been sup-porting the company’s op-erations. But as it is now,we are tired and want thecompany to stop its opera-tion to create room for us todiscuss the way forward.”

Eyarakpor, noted that ifthe company fails to stop itsoperation, they would beleft with no option than toshut their operations.

Group blames non-constitutionof boards on perm secs

A group, Akwa IbomEquity Frontiers, yes-

terday, blamed permanentsecretaries in the state civilservice for the delay in theconstitution of boards andcommissions in Akwa IbomState.

The group which met inAbuja, condemned what itdescribed as the ‘overzeal-ousness of some bureau-crats who have suddenlyamassed political powers,even when they are not po-litical appointees, and havebeen lobbying to delay theconstitution of new boardsand agencies by the Stategovernment.’

It said “qualified support-ers of the governor are lan-guishing while the boardsremained ineffective andinefficient,” maintainingthat permanent secretarieslacked the drive to take po-litical decisions.

Its chairman, Dr. Okope-di Ekungulor, advocatedthe equitable and fair dis-tribution of appointments aswell as the prompt consti-tution of the boards as a wayof pacifying socio-politicaland interest groups whowere seen working tireless-ly for the re-emergence ofChief Akpabio in the lastpolls in the state.

BENIN—EDO StateGovernorship Election

Petition Tribunal, to enter-tain petitions arising fromthe outcome of the July 14,2012 governorship electionin the state has been con-stituted.

A statement by Mrs. J. Al-iyu, Secretary, Tribunal, EdoState, said the venue of thetribunal is the High Courtof Justice Complex, Court1, Sapele Road, Benin City.

She enjoined the Police,State Security Service, SSSand the general public totake note that Nigerians inrespective of their politicalpersuasions have declaredthe July 14, 2012 Edo Stategovernorship election to bebest conducted in the coun-try apart from the June 12,1993 presidential election,presumed won by lateChief Moshood Abiola.

It will be recalled that al-though President Good-Luck Jonathan and top Peo-ples Democratic Party, PDPmembers across the coun-try had congratulated Gov-ernor Adams Oshiomholeon his victory, PDP gover-norship candidate in thestate, Gen. Charles Airhia-vbere has so far refused tocongratulate Oshiomhole

PRESIDENT, RotaryClub of Maryland, La-

gos, Rosemary Ifeonye, hasurged Nigerian leaders toembrace the cardinal tenetsof the Rotary International’sfour-way tests and inculcatethe best use of their talentsand time to improve the lotsof the masses.

Ifeonye, who made theremark during her installa-tion as 11th president of theclub for 2012 and 2013 Ro-tary year, reiterated theneed for people, society andgovernment to align on acommon ground to fight cor-ruption.

She called for the overhaulof the socio-economic infra-structure, especially thepower sector which will inturn provide job opportuni-ty to the citizenry and urgedstakeholders in the econo-my to pull their resourcestogether and provide for themasses in order to promotecontinued peaceful co-ex-istence.

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A H M E D — I ,formerly knownand addressed asMiss AminaAhmed, nowwish to be knownand addressed asMrs. AminaIdoko. All formerd o c u m e n t sremain valid.General publicplease take note.

M U S TA F A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as BinUmar Mustafa, nowwish to be knownand addressed asBunu Abba Idris.All formerdocuments remainvalid. NigeriaI m m i g r a t i o nService and thegeneral publicplease take note.

YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU RL A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E ) K I O S K4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE ADVERTHOTLINE

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50 — 50 — 50 — 50 — 50 — VVVVVanguardanguardanguardanguardanguard, FRID, FRID, FRID, FRID, FRIDAAAAAYYYYY, JUL, JUL, JUL, JUL, JULY 27, Y 27, Y 27, Y 27, Y 27, 20122012201220122012

Syrian forces bombard Aleppo and Damascus

DAMASCUS andAleppo came under

shell fire yesterday astroops loyal to PresidentBashar al-Assad steppedup efforts to crush rebelsthreatening the govern-ment’s two main powercenters.

One of the most seniorfigures to defect from As-sad’s inner circle, Briga-dier General Manaf Tlas,put himself forward assomeone who could helpunite the fragmented op-position inside and out-side Syria on a plan for atransfer of power.

Turkey laid down amarker by threatening toact against “terrorists” innorthern Syria, a refer-ence to Kurdish militantslinked with the KurdistanPeople’s Party (PKK).

Turkish Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan said hewould strike against Kur-dish militants in Syria ifneed be, mirroring Anka-ra’s policy of attackingPKK bases in northernIraq used for the group’slong-running armedstruggle in southeast Tur-

key.Turkey, a former friend

of Assad and now one ofhis severest critics, closedits border posts with Syriaon Wednesday to all trafficexcept Syrian refugees. Abomb attack that killed fourof Assad’s closest lieuten-ants in Damascus lastweek and the surge offighting there and in Alep-po prompted predictionsamong the 46-year-oldpresident’s enemies thathis time in power wasnearly over.

Nevertheless, his forceshave hit back hard, driv-ing rebels out of most ofDamascus, where opposi-tion sources report execu-tions of insurgents, andthen counter-attacking inAleppo, using helicoptergunships backed by com-bat aircraft.

Residents in the capitalreported a shell landing insouthern districts everyminute on Thursday morn-ing. Helicopters attackedHajar al-Aswad, one of thelast rebel-held districts inthe city after days of streetfighting, activists said.

Russia slams Assad over chemical weapons threat

RUSSIA has joined theleague of nations crit-

ical of Syria’s declarationbeen Syria’s key protec-tor throughout the 16-month uprising thatevolved into a full-blowncivil war, shielding As-sad’s regime from inter-national sanctions andproviding it with weap-ons despite an interna-tional outcry. And after theopposition attack lastweek that killed fourmembers of his inner cir-cle, the Syrian strongman

may have to seriouslythink about a getaway sce-nario, for which Russia’shelp will be essential.

“Assad can’t afford not tolisten to Russian signals,”said Fyodor Lukyanov, theeditor of Russia in Global

Affairs magazine. “Heunderstands quite wellthat if he angers Russia, itwill step back, leaving himto his doom.”

Lukyanov and other an-alysts say that Russia ismaintaining a constant di-

alogue with Assad andwarning him againstcrossing red lines, but itsclout is limited. “Russiacertainly can’t force Assadto step down,” Lukyanovsaid.

US cautions against massacre

THE United States saidyesterday that it ap-

peared that forces loyal toSyrian President Basharal-Assad were “lining up”

for a massacre in the cityof Aleppo, but again ruledout military intervention inthe conflict.

The U.S. State Depart-ment said that credible re-ports of tank columns mov-ing on Aleppo along withair strikes by helicoptersand fixed-wing aircraftrepresented a “serious es-calation” of the govern-ment’s efforts to crush anarmed rebellion.

“This is the concern: thatwe will see a massacre inAleppo and that’s whatthe regime appears to belining up for,” State De-partment spokeswomanVictoria Nuland said.

“Our hearts are with thepeople of Aleppo, andagain this is another des-perate attempt by a re-gime that is going downto maintain control, andwe are greatly concernedabout what they are capa-ble of in Aleppo.”

Romney meets Cameron amid Olympic Games gaff

REPUBLICAN Partypresidential hopeful,

Mitt Romney met BritishPrime Minister, DavidCameron yesterdayamid controversies trig-gered off by his dim viewof the London OlympicGames which opens to-day.

Both leaders met at No.10 Downing Streetwhere Cameron told re-porters that discussedthe comments made byMitt Romney on thepreparation of LondonOlympic games. For the

second day in a row,Romney’s visit to Lon-

don has been marred bycomments the prepara-tions for the 2012 Sum-

mer Olympics was “dis-concerting.”

In an interview withNBC News on Wednes-day, Romney, who hascampaigned on his ex-perience running the2002 Winter Olympics inSalt Lake City, wasasked if he thought Lon-don was “ready” for thegames.

•President Obama

•David Cameron •Mitt Romney

President Bashar al-Assad

Obama seeks tougher gun-control law

Cuba celebrates Revolution Day

CUBAN PresidentRaul Castro said

yesterday that his govern-ment is willing to mendfences with bitter Cold Warfoe the United States andsit down to discuss any-thing, as long as it is a con-versation between equals.

At the end of a Revolu-tion Day ceremony mark-

ing the 59th anniversaryof a failed uprisingagainst a military bar-racks, Castro grabbed themicrophone for apparent-ly impromptu remarks.He echoed previous state-ments that no topic is off-limits, including U.S. con-cerns about democracy,freedom of the press and

human rights on the is-land, as long as it is a con-versation between equals.

The July 26 nationalholiday was often used tomake major announce-ments when Castro’s old-er brother Fidel was pres-ident, but there were noneon yesterday.

IN his broadest remarks on gun control

yet in the aftermath of themass shooting at a Col-orado movie theater,President Barack Obamahas called for tougherbackground checks de-signed to keep guns outof the hands of crimi-nals and the mentallyill.

“A lot of gun ownerswould agree that AK-47sbelong in the hands of

soldiers, not in thehands of criminals —that they belong on thebattlefield of war, not onthe streets of our cities,”the president, who hascalled for reimposingthe Assault WeaponsBan, said in a speech tothe National UrbanLeague.

“I believe the majori-ty of gun owners wouldagree that we should doeverything possible toprevent criminals andfugitives from purchas-ing weapons; that weshould check some-one’s criminal recordbefore they can checkout a gun seller; that amentally unbalancedindividual should notbe able to get his handson a gun so easily,” he

said. “These stepsshouldn’t be controver-sial. They should becommon sense.” ButObama also offered anod to the difficult poli-tics of gun control, por-traying himself as a be-liever in the individualright to bear arms, andacknowledging thatcalls to action after anincident like the one inAurora often fade.

“When there is an ex-traordinarily heart-breaking tragedy likethe one we saw, there’salways an outcry imme-diately after for action.And there’s talk of newreforms, and there’s talkof new legislation,”Obama said in hisspeech.

Spain feels debt heat as Greece faces default

SPAIN paid the second highest yield on

short-term debt since thebirth of the euro at an auc-tion on Tuesday, and EUofficials said Greece had

little hope of meeting theterms of its bailout, cast-ing fresh doubt on its fu-ture in the euro zone.

Spain’s increasinglydesperate struggle to put

its finances right has seenits borrowing costs soar tolevels that are not man-ageable indefinitely, re-flecting a growing beliefthat it will need a sover-

eign bailout the euro zonecan barely afford. It hasbecome the recent focusfor investors, but Greece -where the sovereign debtcrisis began - remains apowder keg.

Syrian rebel fighters in Aleppo yesterday

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 51

52 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

African athlete seeks UK asylumAfrican athlete seeks UK asylumAfrican athlete seeks UK asylumAfrican athlete seeks UK asylumAfrican athlete seeks UK asylumAN Olympic athlete

has walked into apolice station in Britain– and asked for asylum.

The male competitorreportedly turned up atBridewell Police Stationin Leeds, Yorks, on Tues-day.

He is believed to haveentered Britain as a le-gitimate member of theOlympic squad of anEast African country.

The sportsman is cur-rently having his appli-cation processed in thenormal way after policepassed the case to the

UK Border Agency(UKBA).

Immigration officialshave warned that up totwo per cent of athletes,team officials and sup-porters may claim ref-

uge in the UK duringand after the Games – ortry to stay on once theirvisas expire.

A number of interna-tional Olympic teamshave training camps in

Yorkshire, the largestbeing the Chinese teamin Leeds.

A Home Office spokes-man said it was expect-ed that all athletes tak-ing part in the Gameswould leave when theiraccreditation expiresand any applications forasylum would be dealtwith according to stan-dard immigration proce-dures.

A spokesman for WestYorkshire Police said asy-lum applications were amatter for the UKBA.

London, July 25

I PLAYED football but not to the level that officialsneeded my passport for any outing. Injury did not

allow me to proceed.I, therefore, don’t have passport age as our footballers

or young sports men and women do. When a footballersays his age, it is a common thing to ask weather it is realor passport age. I have never lowered my age for anyreason but London Accreditation officials did that here.It was an error that delayed my accreditation for 24 hours.

On arrival in London on Wednesday, a friendly andconversational volunteer had Mitchel Obi, the ace sportsanalyst and commentator and myself to the desk wherewe could sort out our accreditation. In less than threeminutes Mitchel had his accreditation hanging on hisneck. The story was not same for me. After few minutesof trying to verify my document from the computer, alady volunteer on the accreditation desk told me “sorry,we cannot process your accreditation here. You may haveto go to the Main Press Center.”

I asked what the problem was and she said the age inour document is not the same with that in your pass-port.” I screamed, asking how that could have happened.They could not provide an answer. I was shocked. I filledmy forms properly and never made any such mistake.Actually, the age in my document here in London is 10years younger. I did not take it lying low and wanted toraise issues there at the airport. Mitchel laughed andsaid I was lucky for being 10 years younger. He recalledwhen such a thing happened to him and another visaand accreditation had to be issued to him as the one hecarried were based on the wrong age in his form. Well,they did not need to do that here and the problem wassorted out at the Main Press Center near the OlympicStadium 24 hours later. After they mixed up South Ko-rea’s anthem and flag for North Korea’s during a soccergame for North Korea mine appears a lesser problemand I am no longer complaining. Prime Minister DavidCameroun said yesterday that they would leave a legacyas hosts. I have turned 10 years younger in London, alegacy in a way.

A classy BeggarA classy BeggarA classy BeggarA classy BeggarA classy BeggarWHEN the sun shines here people go naked on

the streets. Yes, this means nothing here. It’s normal in Europe

and America to almost be nude when it’s summer andthe sun warms up the atmosphere. What Africans athome will marvel at is normal here. But at the BrixtonTrain Station a beggar added something to the menand women who appeared to be competing over skimpy wears that are so transparent you will preferto look away than to look on if you must keep yoursanity. A man was playing some melodious tunes onsaxaphone and the effect was so strong that somecouples really coupled tightly while listening to themusic.

They were just there while many walkedpast. Some dropped money in a container beside theman. He was a beggar with a difference. At least, heprovided entertainment and had something for hiseffort. I saw a similar scene at Victoria Train Stationbut the setting was different. The Jamaicans and oth-er blacks in South London heat up the place and nowthat the Olympics are here it is a daily carnival insouth London and the Olympic fever may be felt herethan East London which hosts the games. The man inVictoria Station played great guiter and peopledropped money but did not create scene, not so atBrixton where passers-by make a show of everything.The Olympic Games are here.

TTTTToriola, Oshonaikoriola, Oshonaikoriola, Oshonaikoriola, Oshonaikoriola, Oshonaike frighte frighte frighte frighte frighten opponentsen opponentsen opponentsen opponentsen opponentsAS Table Tennis gets

ready to dazzlecrowd at the London2012, two of NigerianPing-Pongers, SegunToriola and Funke Oshi-naike are coming onboard with their intimi-dating records.

Segun Toriola is one ofthe most outstandingathletes in the LondonOlympics making hissixth appearance in theGames. It is an incredi-ble record and that alonehas sent shivers downthe spine of many of hisopponents. Thousandsof athletes crave for oneOlympics and for oneathlete to have partici-pated in six Olympics isawesome.

Toriola is not alone.Nigeria’s Queen of theTable, Funke Oshinaikeis also ready to sparklenot only with her fiercestrokes but also makinga bold statement withher fifth appearance inthe Olympics. The twoNigerians have shotthemselves into the his-tory book but will domore by capping theirextraordinary recordswith medals.

‘’I thank God that I amstill alive to play in my6th Olympics. I promiseto do my best. Any ath-lete who promises to wina particular medal beforethe Games is a liar. WithGod, all things are pos-sible”, Toriola said.

When the Nigeriansstep into their ExcelNorth Arena on July 28,

power, subtlety andlightning fast-reflexeswould be on display. Funke Oshonaike needsmore energy to fight offthe challenge of IranianShahsavari Neda in herfirst game while EdemOffiong fights off Egyp-tian challenge of Me-shref Dina.

And the Master, superstrokes of Toriola wouldcome to play againstCanadian Ho Andrewhile Aruna Quadri con-fronts Machado Carlesof Spain.

Table Tennis Coach,Richard Edem expectstough battles since all at-tention would be fo-cused on the Men andWomen singles whichhappens to be the onesNigerians qualified for.

Abdullahi: A Daniel comes to A Daniel comes to A Daniel comes to A Daniel comes to A Daniel comes tojudgementjudgementjudgementjudgementjudgement

NIGERIAN athleteshave never experi-

enced this atmosphere ofpeace and smooth orga-nization for a long time.

Mallam Bolaji Abdul-lahi, the honourableMinister of Sports hasbrought his fiat to bearby ordering that the wel-fare of Nigerian athletesshould come first beforethat of officials. And thisorder has brought tre-mendous joy to TeamNigerian athletes.

‘’These athletes arethe reason for you and I

to be in London for theGames. We shouldplace the athletes at theheart of whatever we do.If you want the best fromthem, you must givethem the best”, Abdulla-hi was quoted as tellingofficials in a meeting ascribe described as in-tense.

‘’He did not mincewords by telling themthat the welfare of ath-letes come first beforeothers”, the scribe said.

Daily passes to theOlympic Village where

the athletes stay is lim-ited but the Ministerwarned that whateverquota Nigeria getsshould go to the athletesfirst before consideringany other official or theirfamilies.

The Minister said thathe should not even beenconsidered for suchpasses before athletes.

The athletes are hap-py and are hailing theMinister. One popularathlete while talkingabout the developmentsaid; ‘’A Daniel hascome to judgement”.

Amokachi returns to the Olympics

10 years younger in London10 years younger in London10 years younger in London10 years younger in London10 years younger in London

SUPER Eagles assistantcoach, Daniel Amoka-

chi is in London for theSummer Olympics.

‘But Amokachi who wongold at the Atlanta 96Olympics will not be inLondon as an athlete or aspart of Team Nigeria.

Rather he will be there tocover the Games for cabletv channel, Supersportwhich has secured therights to transmit the eventsof the games to millions ofits subscribers across theglobe.

Announcing the sched-

ule for Olympics transmis-sion Wednesday in Lagos,DSTV Nigeria public rela-tions officer, Segun Fayosesaid, apart from Amokachiwho would be doing mag-azine programmes for theorganisation, there wouldbe five other reporters cut

across Africa, including Ni-geria’s Chisom Mbonufrom Supersport Nigeriawho will cover teams fromall the West African sub-region and Team Nigeriain particular.

“We will beam all eventsinvolving Nigeria live andthat will include the ex-ploits of D’Tigers, Nige-ria’s male basketball team,”

•Toriola

Olympics Diary:

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 53

CMYK

54 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Vanguard, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 — 55

London ready to do it their own wayLondon ready to do it their own wayLondon ready to do it their own wayLondon ready to do it their own wayLondon ready to do it their own wayContinues from B/P

Opening ceremony: Boltic takes over flagfrom Maryam AS the zero hour for to

day’s opening cere-mony of the London 2012Olympics, approaches,the baton for the flagbear-er for Team Contingenthas changed hands. Thenew flagbearer is 96kgFreestyle Wrestler, BolticSinivie.

Usman Maryam ofWeightlifting(+75kg)was earlier named to bethe flagbearer beforeTeam Nigeria made thechanges after a meeting.

Deputy Chef de Mis-sion, Al-Hassan Yakmutinformed that the changebecame necessary sincethe coach of Maryamwould not want her to bestressed at the openingceremony.

‘’The opening ceremo-

ny is going to stretch intothe morning of Saturdayand Maryam will be com-peting soon after the cer-emony. It is for strategicreasons. We don’t want towear her out in the cere-monies. We’ve haveplaced our athletes at theheart of the Games”, Yak-mut said.

He however said thatthe new flagbearer, Bolt-ic has all the qualities tocarry Nigeria’s flag at theepoch opening ceremony.‘’Boltic is not new toevents like this. He hasbeen around and has wonseveral medals for Nige-ria at internationalevents”, Yakmut who hasbeen working with theprecision of a General atwar said.

pass whatBeijing offered and re-minded all that theywould do it their ownway. But as time draggedon they grew in confi-dence and now say theywill organise the bestgames ever. And they in-tend to begin with theopening ceremony.

Typical of Britons, theyhave boasted about to-day’s show more than thecitizens of the past gamesdid about the shows theyhosted. England winseverything in the mediabut when it matters mostthey fail and begin to of-fer excuses that deniedthem the best. They stilldon’t believe their lastteam to the EuropeanChampionship was aw-ful. Before the competi-tion, just like the pastWorld Cups, they boast-

ed of winning but nevercame close to doing so.

However, they are good in inventingthings. Interestingly butunfortunately to them,other countries lateroutdo them in their game.They invented footballbut the game eludedthem and Brazil came tobe known as custodiansof the beautiful game.The theme song for Euro’96 that they hosted andwhich this reporter cov-ered was ”Football iscoming home.” Theywanted to win it andprove to the world thatfootball has come home,to where it began. Butthey did not even get tothe final although theypresented what remainstheir best team in moderntimes.

With David Seaman,Tony Adams, Nevile,

Southgate, Pearce, Ince,Gascoigne, McMana-man, Sherignham, andShearer, they looked asolid team. But Germanybeat them in the semifi-nal and football never re-turned home. Tennisstarted here but they arestill searching for a Brit-on who will win Wimble-don in these moderntimes. Pierre de Courba-tin, the legend behind themodern Olympics visitedEngland to develop ideasthat led to the first mod-ern Olympics in 1896 buton August 12 when thefinal medals table wouldbe out and the curtaindrawn here, Britain maynot likely be among thetop finishers.

That’s why today ’sopening ceremonymeans a lot to them. Theattitude here is “If ’wecannot win the

games let’s make thegreatest impression withthe opening ceremony.” They have promised theworld a grandiose showthat will remain green inthe memories of all for therest of their lives. Atlanta’96 captured musical en-tertainment at it’s best.Sydney dramatised theirinteresting history, cap-tured the life of AustralianBushman before civilisa-tion came, the war that fol-lowed between the invad-ing Europeans who werebanished and dumpedin their lands as ex con-victs who must not asso-ciate with noble men andhow peace was achievedbetween the Aborigines,the original owners of theland and the Europeanswho are now Aussies in astrong and unitedA u s t r a l i a e t c .Sydney made sea life

symbolic and upped drama in a waythat is yet to be matched.

Athens acted the Olym-pic story but emphasizedthe many gods that maketheir history unique.Beijing was pure scienceand magic. Weather fore-cast read that rain wouldfall in their opening cer-emony. They blew a mix-ture of carbon monoxideand some other substanc-es into the sky and heldthe rain. AJU! JUJU?They took the openingceremony to al e v e l L o n d o ninitially admitted thatthey would not match.They know it will be dif-ficult to surpass Beijingand they want do it theirown way.

They will have musicand dramatise the UnionJack, spicing it with mo-narchical perspectives.

The world will judgethem when they are donetoday. Tips onthe opening ceremonyshow that it will still be agreat show even if theydo not match Beijingand Sydney. Openingceremonies are always great spectacles and aprobable indication ofwhat follows. But with the anthem and flag ofNorth Korea being mis-taken for South Korea’s,forcing protests thathave already dented theorganisation here, withsecurity issuesand shrewd intent tomaximise in areas wherepast hosts offered tremen-dous hospitality, thegames are already beingbashed by the interna-tional media. The open-ing ceremony offers Lon-don a chance to make agood impression. It be-gins tonight at 9pm.

Oyedeji, Ahmed promise Tunisia hellContinues from B/P

uncommon transfor-mation of the D’Tigerssaid that they havemoved away from un-der-dogs to power-house.

The Tigers would con-front fellow Africans, Tu-nisia, who are Africa’schampions in the open-ing of hostilities on Sun-day here in London.

‘’Things havechanged. We are nolonger the D’Tigers theyused to know. They toohave confessed at thesudden transformationof the Nigerian team.We’ll sort things out onthe court on Sunday”,

the lanky jolly good Bas-ketball player said.

He was not alone. Hiscoach, Sani Ahmedagreed with his playerand said that they don’tdwell on titles andwould not see Tunisia asAfrican championswhen they aim for thebasket on Sunday.

‘’We have respect forall the teams here. It isnot easy for teams toqualify to be part of theOlympics. We respectthem but on the courts,my brother, there is norespect. We are here tomake a point and tobring honour to millionsof Nigerians”, Ahmednoted.

Igali entIgali entIgali entIgali entIgali entererererers global Hall of Fs global Hall of Fs global Hall of Fs global Hall of Fs global Hall of Fameameameameame

TEAM Nigeria Wrestling Technical Ad-

viser, Dr Daniel Igalihas added anotherfeather to his cap as he

will be inducted into theInternational WrestlingHall of Fame next Fri-day (August 3 ) in Lon-don.

Igali, a Sydney 2000Olympic Champion inthe Freestyle wrestling isone of seven inducteesinto the Federation In-ternational de LuttesAssociees (FILA), theinternational Olympicgoverning body for thesport of wrestling.

“To me it is as big asbecoming an Olympicchampion,” says Igali.

Continuing, the Nige-ria- born Canadian said,“I will always feel pridein winning gold for Can-ada. I feel confident too

that the wrestling talentcoming forward amongstall countries competingat these Games in Lon-don holds much promisefor the sport.”

It’s an honour en parwith winning his Olym-pic gold medal – that’show Simon Fraser Uni-versity (SFU) alumnusIgali feels about hisAug. 3 induction into theInternational WrestlingHall of Fame.

“Daniel’s induction ishuge for all involved insport in Canada and Ni-geria as well,” says SFUwrestling coach MikeJones, who is expectedto be in London for theevent.

Team Nigeria Captain is anhonour — Chukwumerije

BEIJING Olympicsbronze medalist,

Chika Chukwumerije hasdescribed his beingnamed as Team Captainof Team Nigeria to theLondon Olympics as anhonour bestowed on him

The Taekwondoist, nodoubt, is a symbol of hu-mility, hardwork, disci-pline and a role model.

‘’This is a huge honourplaced on my shoulder bymy country. It is not a ti-tle or a CV. It is massivehonour done to me to bethe captain of a greatteam like Team Nigeria. Iam most humbled by thishonour and respect”,Chukwumerije popularlycalled Yaya by his friendsstated.

The athlete had come tothe secretariat of Team Ni-geria alongside his teammate, Isa Mohammedand coach Keum Sihwanwhen volunteers who rec-ognized him swarmed onhim to take autographsand pictures. He obligeddespite a 29-hour ener-gy-sapping journey from

Istanbul to London.One of the Volunteers

quipped; ‘’I’m in lovewith this guy. He is orga-nized, humble and re-spectful”.

•Igali

•Boltic

CMYK

How to Play SudokuPlace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can

have two of the same number).Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also

nine 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.

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

TODAY'S PUZZLESTODAY'S PUZZLESTODAY'S PUZZLESTODAY'S PUZZLESTODAY'S PUZZLES YESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSYESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

London ready tLondon ready tLondon ready tLondon ready tLondon ready to do it their oo do it their oo do it their oo do it their oo do it their own wwn wwn wwn wwn waaaaayyyyy

LONDON WONDER: The opening ceremony has become almost as important as the sport itself.Continues on Page 55

WHAT will Londonoffer to the world?

The opening ceremo-ny of the Olympics goesa long way to score theGames in the minds ofmillions of observers.

And countries spendhuge resources to show what they are and whatthey are capable ofdoing. Sometimes, agreat opening ceremonymay remain the issuethroughout the Gamesand cover up organisa-tional lapses that wouldhave, ordinarily, scored

the Games low in theminds of all.

In the past four recentGames, Sydney andBeijing stand outas magnificent and stu-pendous shows that peo-ple still talk about tilldate. Beijing was so fullof science and technol-ogy that London, thenext hosts were so awedthat they said ”well, wewill do it our own way.”They did not believe thatthey could match or sur

Basketball: Nigeria Vs Tunisia

Oyedeji, Ahmed promise Tunisia hellTHE story of Nigeria’s

male Basketballteam to the Olympics islike that of rising from

grass to grace or zero tohero. It is more like theBiblical rejected stone.

Olumide Ayodeji, one

of the henchmen whohas toiled towards this

Continues on Page 55

•African athlete•African athlete•African athlete•African athlete•African athleteseeks UK asylumseeks UK asylumseeks UK asylumseeks UK asylumseeks UK asylum— Pg 54— Pg 54— Pg 54— Pg 54— Pg 54

•Boltic takes•Boltic takes•Boltic takes•Boltic takes•Boltic takesover flag fromover flag fromover flag fromover flag fromover flag fromMaryam — PgMaryam — PgMaryam — PgMaryam — PgMaryam — Pg 55 55 55 55 55

More Olympicstories on pages38, 39, 54, 55 &Sports Vanguard

pull-out

ACROSS1 Leap (6)5 Business (6)8 Produce (8)9 Misplace (4)10 Individual (3)12 Belt (5)15 Nourished (3)17 Allow (3)18 Sick (3)19 Tag (3)20 Should (5)21 Tavern (3)22 Scull (3)23 Tin (3)24 Novel (3)26 Tally (5)29 Merry (3)33 Pay (4)35 Floor (6)36 Substitute (6)

DOWN2 Groom (5)3 Thought (4)4 Allowance (5)5 Boxing ring (5)6 Rasp (4)7 Outcome (5)10 Frequently (5)11 Jostle (5)12 Tempest (5)13 Correct (5)14 Toss (5)15 Throw (5)16 Fop (5)25 Precise (5)27 Liberally (5)28 Offspring (5)30 Proficient (5)31 Kit (4)32 Gambol (4)

ACROSS: 1, Brag 4, Fig 6, Seek 8, Horrid 9,Wrench 10, Eon 12, Stiff 14, Break 15, Fiend18, Tavern 20, Assume 24, Demon 26, False28, Burst 30, Sly 32, Cajole 33, Auburn 34,Stir 35, Mud 36, Deed.

DOWN: 2, Roost 3, Giraffee 4, Fade 5,Gown 6, Spear 7, Exclaim 11, Own 12, Sot13, Fir 16, End 17, Dam 19, Adamant 21,Sob 22, Snubbed 23, Eat 25, Eel 27, Scour29, Spree 30, Seem 31, Yard.

Honduras 2 Morocco 2Japan 1 Spain 0Mexico 0 Korea Republic 0UAE 1 Uruguay 2Gabon 1 Switzerland 1

TODAY'S EVENTSArchery (Men & Women

Results: Men football

CMYK

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