as deadline expires in 48 hours: imoke asks fg to push appeal on bakassi

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61726

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

**

Mr & Mrs

Imoke asks FG to pushappeal on Bakassi

AS DEADLINE EXPIRES IN 48 HOURS:

BY HUGOODIOGOR, SONI

DANIEL, INNOCENTANABA,

JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU &

UDUMA KALU WITH

AGENCY REPORTS

LA G O S — C R O S SRiver State

Governor, Liyel Imoke,yesterday, made adesperate plea to theAttorney General of theFederation, MohammedAdoke, SAN, to push thedirective from PresidentGoodluck Jonathan bychallenging theInternational Court of

Continues on page 5

•OBJ rejected UN’s plan to keep Bakassi for 20 years

•We have solid case to present —Bakassi people

ACHEBE ON AWO:

Igbo, Yoruba leadersin verbal warfare •P. 50

Bakassi: Nigeria shouldcollaborate with SouthernCameroon to createnew state —Falana•P. 8

DELTA,BEYELSA

INFLOOD

TROUBLE:

Some of thes u b m e r g e dhouses inPatani andIsoko areas ofDelta andBayelsa States,yesterday.

•Committee could not sit last night

Police recoverbodies of murderedNNPC engineers •P. 9

CMYK

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012—3

CMYK


POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE


LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from Page 1

YESTERDAY was for learning; tomorrow willbe for growing, a consequence of what I do

today. Face life with the conviction that this daywill never return, that it may be the last opportunityyou’ll have to contribute all you have.

“BEAUTY shouldn’t be about changing yourselfto achieve an ideal or be more socially acceptable.Real beauty, the interesting, truly pleasing kind,is about honouring the beauty within you andwithout you. It’s about knowing that someoneelse’s definition of pretty has no hold over you.”—Golda Poretsky.

Sasha Azevedo gave a beautiful insight on theperception of beauty: “You’re a beautiful personon the inside, and nothing in the world can changethat about you.”

Limiting and developmental issues like jealousyis the result of one’s lack of self-confidence, self-worth, and self-acceptance. “The Lesson: If youcan’t accept yourself, then certainly no one elsewill.”

Sometimes event and situations make us worryand we put attention on the very things we wantto avoid, but the beauty of knowing that we canopen the door to receive abundantly from life liesin the attention too.

Create a beautiful mental picture of your dreamsand goals. Do this constantly and work towardsfulfilling them. Learn to let go. Dreams do cometrue. Yes, they do!

See another reporton Page 15

Justice, ICJ, judgmentceding of Bakassipeninsula to Cameroon.

Imoke made the appealfirst as intrigue andpersonality clash stalledthe meeting of thecommittee that wassupposed to meet lastnight.

The Cross River StateGovernor said the issue ofBakassi was not about oilwells but about Nigeria’sterritorial integrity andnational security. He saidsince Bakassi was part ofNigeria, it was the duty ofthe Federal Government toprotect Nigeria’s territory.

President GoodluckJonathan had constituted a10-man committee to lookinto the ceding of Bakassiwith a view to appealingagainst the ICJ judgmentbefore the expiration dateof October 10, 2012, withAdoke heading thecommittee.

It was, however, allegedthat the Attorney Generalwas foot-dragging towardsimplementing thedirectives of the Presidentdespite the fact that therewas no time to waste as the10-year window ofopportunity to appealagainst the judgmentexpires on Wednesday.

The composition of thecommittee with personswho have either shown lackof interest in the appeal forthe revision and thosewhose knowledge of theBakassi case is limited,was already a source ofdiscord, but the spanner inthe works of the committeewas thrown by the Attorney

General of theFederation, Adoke, whosaid the committee was tostudy the directives givenby Jonathan to find a wayround the Bakassiquagmire.

The divided House

A source close to thecommittee said the Housebecame divided asrepresentatives of theCross River StateGovernment, House ofRepresentatives and theSenate strongly saw theaction of the AGF as adeliberate attempt to stallthe effort to beat thedeadline of October 10,2012.

Sources said themeeting became heatedas the AGF and therepresentatives of theCross River StateGovernment becameembroiled in emotionalverbal attacks while themeeting was adjournedto enable tempers calmdown. The source saidthe AGF promised toreconvene the meeting at9.p.m. on Saturday but atpress time, no meetinghad been convened.

Vanguard learnt thatthe story that thecommittee sat to considerthe fresh fact was part ofthe blatant lies which asection of the media wasfed with to divide the focusof Nigerians.

Said a source: “Can youimagine that people likeProfessor WalterOfonagoro was notinvited by the FederalGovernment, rather, itwas Justice B.U.Njemanze, the Chief

Judge of Imo State, whoinvited Prof. Ofonagoro, buthe was not allowed to makea presentation."

Senator Ewah BasseyHenshaw told Vanguard:“What is playing out inAbuja is part of the granddesign by forces that wantto hand Bakassi over toCameroon. PresidentGoodluck Jonathan won theheart of Nigerians andBakassi people when heordered that there should bean appeal for a review incompliance with Article 61.It is not the duty of Nigeriansto say whether the US,France, UK, or any othercountry for that mattershould be happy with themoves being made byNigeria. It is an issue thatconcerns the lives ofNigerians and that shouldbe paramount in the mindsof every Nigerian.”

Mr. Maurice Ekong said:“We have told the world thatwe have a solid case, wehave told the world that wehave engaged a high profileinternational lawyer in thepast two months, is it not fairthat the AGF hears us out?Why are they alwaysexcluding the people ofBakassi from the meetingswhere their fate isdetermined? What does theAGF stand to gain if hefrustrates our case? We didnot just wake up to start thiscase, we have been on it butthe Federal Governmentturned a blind eye. Whatthey are trying to do now isto create the impression thatwe have no fresh fact, butwe have a solid case topresent.”

Govt officials in a fix

Meanwhile, topPresidential and CrossRiver State Governmentofficials were in a fix as atlast night, when it dawnedon them that no action hadbeen taken by the committeetowards filing any brief withthe ICJ.

As the deadline ran out,some officials from the stateare reported to have trieddesperately to seek theassistance of the SenatePresident, David Mark anda Principal officer to thePresident to prevail on thea senior minister to takenecessary action on thematter.

The delegation from CrossRiver State, which was ledby a Senator and someprominent leaders, were,however disappointed asthey were unable to meetMark and some seniorPresidential officials to briefthem on what was goingon.

Mark was said to haveexpressed seriousreservation over the wayand manner the matter hadbeen handled despite thepresidential directive lastWednesday and wasunwilling to say anythinguntil it resurfaces in theNational Assembly.

A source said that a topaide of the President, who

was contacted by thedelegation from CrossRiver State, regretted thatthere was nothing he coulddo since the man who wassaddled the job had turnedback his back on it, therewas nothing thePresidency could do aboutthe review of the case.

Another source who hasbeen following up on theBakassi matter lamented:“We went to see the SenatePresident with the hopethat he could talk to someof these recalcitrantgovernment officials tohave a rethink on theirdespicable dispositiontowards the issue, but wecould not meet with him.

“On the other hand, aprincipal aide to Mr.President told us that hewas left in a state ofconfusion since the mainperson who was giventhe task of handling thematter appears to besinging a different tone.

AGF can't go againstPresident's directive—Nwaosu

Meanwhile, a member ofthe inner bar, Chief LuciusNwaosu, SAN, has saidthe Attorney General of theFederation was not in aposition to go against adirective of the President.According to him, “He(AGF) is the mouth pieceof the government thatappointed him. He cannoton his own go against thedirect order of thePresident andCommander-in-Chief ofthe Armed Forces.

"My take is actually, if thegovernment appeals, it willgive us time to look at thematter properly. I think itwill be a great disservicenot to take the matter toappeal, particularly aspresiding Justice was saidto be a French man in acase where French colonyis a plaintiff. It is like askinga father to fine a son."

Activist calls forAGF's sack

As the controversycontinues to swell roundthe AGF, a social critic andhuman right activist,Comrade Okoi Obono-Obla, has called onPresident GoodluckJonathan to relieve theAttorney General andMinister of Justice, Adoke,of his position over hisalleged stance on theBakassi matter.

Infuriated by thedevelopment, Obono-Obla, an Abuja-basedhuman rights activist, saidit was treason for anygovernment official to gocontrary to the presidentialdirective which was on theprotection of the territorialintegrity of the country.

Also commenting on thealleged efforts of thegovernment official tofrustrate appealing against

ICJ ruling, Chairman ofCakebird DevelopmentCorperation, Dr. ChineduJideofo-Ogbuagu, warnedany government official toconsider the securityimplications of notrevisiting the ICJ ruling.

OBJ rejected UN’splan to keepBakassi for 20 years

Report, yesterday, furtherconfirmed that formerPresident OlusegunObasanjo shunned aproposal by the formerSecretary General of theUnited Nations, Mr KoffiAnnan, that Nigeriashould administer Bakassifor 20 years before handingit over to Cameroon.According to a reportpublished by onlinemedium, yesterday, on asecret US diplomatic cabledated Thursday, March 23,2006, originating from theUS embassy in Abuja, anemissary of the then UNSecretary General, Mr KoffiAnnan, was said to havevisited the US Mission inNigeria to discuss theproposal placed beforeChief Obasanjo toconvince him to withdrawNigerian soldiers from theterritory.

Annan’s emissaries tothe meeting were hisExecutive Director forPolitical Affairs, CarlosLopes, and his SpecialRepresentative for WestAfrica, Ahmedou Ould-Abdullah. Both officials metwith the embassy’s thenActing Political Counselor,who stood in forAmbassador RobinSanders.

A dispatch to Washingtonon the meeting detailedAnnan’s effort to getNigeria to hand over theterritory to Cameroon afteradministering it for about20 years. Annan’srepresentatives expressedhope that US discussionswith the parties on Bakassiwould complement theSecretary-General’sendeavours especially as itconcerned impressing“upon President Obasanjoand his aides that theNigerians must withdrawtheir military completelyfrom Bakassi.”

Obasanjo rejected theplan and went ahead to

sign the Green TreeAgreement to give Bakassito Cameroon.

According to anothercable dated January 28,2005, President Chirac’sadvisor on African Affairs,Michel de Bonnecorse,told then US AmbassadorMarquardt at a Parisconsultation that there wasneed to persuadeObasanjo to comply withthe ICJ ruling on Bakassi.

The cable said:“Bonnecorse said that atthe Francophonie summitin Ouagadougou,Obasanjo had tried to enlistChirac’s support forproposals which wouldleave Nigeria in control ofthe peninsula. Chirac,according to Bonnecorse,relayed the proposal toCameroonian PresidentBiya who, 15 days later,responded that theNigerian proposals wereunacceptable.

“Bonnecorse said thatBiya was trying to avoidreopening negotiationsover the Bakassisettlement, which Nigeriahad tried to organise atOuagadougou, underAlgerian auspices.

“Bonnecorse noted thatObasanjo had told Chiracthat his position was notbased on petroleuminterests, but on theconcerns of the Nigeriansliving in Bakassi aboutbeing transferred toCameroonian rule.Bonnecorse added thatObasanjo greatlyexaggerated the number ofNigerians in the region asone million, whereas therewere in fact only severalthousand there.

“Bonnecorse also openlyquestioned Obasanjo’sdenial of interest inpetroleum. Bonnecorsesaid that the situationshould become clearer nextweek, following Annan’sseparate meetings withObasanjo and Biya, butObasanjo needed tounderstand that the issuewas getting serious.

“As President of theAfrican Union and withNigeria advancing itscandidacy for a permanentUNSC seat, Nigerianeeded to resolve theBakassi issue inaccordance with the ICJ’sruling.”

Imoke asks FG to push appeal on Bakassi


Government agencies expressfear over powers granted NHRC

BY SONI DANIEL,ASSISTANT EDITOR

CAN condemns Mubi

massacre

Dangote donates N430m to floodvictims, women in Kogi

BY SAM EYOBOKA

FLOODING—From left: Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Ada Oduah; SA, Legal, Ministry of Aviation,Mac Jacob; Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza IbrahimMailafia during a visit to Ogbaru Local Govt. Area of Anambra State ravaged by flood.

�We 'll protect Nigerians, not hound them — NHRC

ABUJA—ENORMOUSpowers granted the

National Human RightsCommission, NHRC, bythe Federal Government,are now a subject of fear tomost government agenciesand departments with hu-man rights abuse records,Vanguard investigation hasindicated.

Many of the agencies, itwas learnt, are afraid thatthe Presidency had beenstampeded by humanrights groups to empowerthe NHRC with so muchpower that could make thecommission to be too pow-erful to control.

It was learnt that theMDAs were uncomfortablewith what some of them de-scribe as ‘new unlimitedpowers’ being given theNHRC by the new Actsigned into law by the Pres-ident recently.

A top government func-tionary, who is familiar withthe new powers vested onthe agency, pointed to thestoppage of the move by theFederal Capital TerritoryAdministration, FCTA, fromthe demolition of Mpapeslum by the NHRC.

The source said: “We arecertain the human rightscommission is likely to de-scend on more institutionsand individuals in govern-ment given the new unre-stricted powers at its dispos-al.

“It must have been em-boldened by its recent fightto stall the demolition of theMpape shanty by theFCTA.”

The source, who works inone of the parastatals, ex-pressed the fear that thewide powers granted theNHRC could be abused ifnot curtailed by the govern-ment.

Abuse of powers

Under the new Act, whichPresident Goodluck Jonath-an recently assented to, theNHRC has been grantedfull autonomy by the Fed-eral Government, as is thecase with similar institu-tions in other countries ofthe world.

The Act empowers thecommission to draw its rev-enue directly from the Con-solidated Revenue Fundand will no longer take or-ders from any other arm ofgovernment.

But the NHRC has dis-missed the fear by someMDAs over its powers asunnecessary, pointing outthat the powers were in-tended to strengthen theadministration of justiceand not to trample on thevery people and institutionsit was meant to protect.

Administration ofjustice

The Director of NHRC’sPublic Affairs and Commu-nication, Muhammad La-dan, told Vanguard in aninterview yesterday that thecommission’s power wouldnever be used against theinterest of Nigerians.

According to Ladan, thecommission sought theamendment of its 2004 Es-tablishment Act principallyto be able to protect therights of the Nigerian peo-ple and could therefore notturn round to work againsttheir interest.

Section 6 (2) of the newAct, which Vanguard sight-ed last night states: “When-ever it appears to the chair-man of the NHRC upon in-formation and after such in-quiry as he shall think nec-essary, that there is a rea-sonable cause to suspectthat in any place there is anevidence of the commissionof any offence, he may bywritten order direct an of-ficer of the commission toobtain a court order to en-ter into the premises to ob-tain evidence for prosecu-tion.

“The commission cansummon and interrogateany person, body or author-ity to appear before it for thepurpose of a public enquiryaimed at the resolution ofthe complaint of humanrights violation.

“The commission cancompel any person, body orauthority who, in its opin-ion, has any information re-lating to any matter underits investigation to furnishit with any information orproduce any document orother evidence which is inhis or her custody andwhich evidence relates toany matter being investigat-ed.

It is an offence for any-one to obstruct or do any-thing to prevent any mem-ber of the council or an em-ployee of the commissionfrom the lawful exercise ofany of the functions con-ferred on the commission bythe law.

CHRISTIAN Association of Nigeria, CAN,

has condemned recent kill-ing of over 40 students ofthe Federal Polytechnic,Mubi, Adamawa State Uni-versity and the School ofHealth Technology, in Ad-amawa State as the chair-man of CAN in North Eastzone, the Rev. ShuaibuByal has disagreed with theSenate recommendation ofcapital punishment for ter-rorist acts.

A statement signed by theNational Secretary of CAN,Rev. Musa Asake, said af-ter a study of the various re-ports on the issue coupledwith the latest informationthat there is currently astampede of students andlecturers who have takenadvantage of the free peri-od preceding the curfewimposed by the state gov-ernment to flee the institu-tions, CAN vehementlycondemns the barbaric act,suspected to have beenperpetrated by members ofthe Boko Haram sect.

It commiserates with fam-ilies who lost their lovedones, students and author-ities of the affected institu-tions.

“CAN rejects the theoryof election dispute as re-sponsible for the massacreof over 40 students, consid-ering the manner it was re-portedly carried out. It be-lieves that the reason is

phoney and that such a the-ory, arrived at in haste, canonly serve to shield the realculprits and cover up theirmotives.”

Continuing, he said: “Weare, however, consoled bythe directive of the Presi-dent, Dr. Goodluck Jonath-an that security agenciesshould promptly arrest thekillers of the students. ButCAN is of the view that theFederal Governmentshould go beyond this di-rective and ensure thatthose caught are made toface the full weight of thelaws.

It is unacceptable to CANthat students whose parentshave spent fortunes on theireducation would be cutdown by some elements inthe society whose trade-mark is blood and sorrow.

"The Association was hap-py that some arrests hadbeen made by the Police,and called on the NigeriaPolice Force to ensure thatthose arrested are the realculprits so that the innocentwould not suffer for the sinsof villains like the gunmen.

It added: “The Policeshould not arrest those flee-ing in the name of makinga breakthrough. Securityagencies must fish out thegunmen and there shouldbe no cover up,” stressingthat CAN believes in theoneness of Nigeria in ac-cordance with her secularstatus and would, therefore,kick against any divisiveactions of groups or indi-viduals".

...asks FG to fish out perpetrators

AFRICA’S foremostindustrialist and

president of the Dangoteconglomerate, AlhajiAliko Dangote, weekendannounced a donation ofN430 million to victims offlood disaster and wom-en empowerment inKogi State.

Kogi State hosts one ofDangote’s cement facto-ries believed to be one ofthe largest in the world.

The state also hostsDangote Academy ofLearning and Develop-ment where young localtalents are trained toboost the manpowerneeds of the nation’s in-dustries.

At a ceremony attend-ed by top governmentfunctionaries in the KogiState capital Lokoja, Al-

haji Aliko Dangote saidthe contribution giventhrough his DangoteFoundation, was meantto complement effort ofthe government in pro-viding relief materials tovictims of flood disasterand resettling them assoon as possible.

He said N50 millionworth of foodstuff and re-lief materials would bedonated, while N150 mil-lion would be given incash.

He also said N230 mil-lion would be distribut-ed to women to boost eco-nomic activities in thestate.

In a similar donation,last year, the DangoteFoundation gave outN600 million for the eco-nomic empowerment of

women in Kano State. In his speech titled:

Lending a helping hand,Dangote said he was se-riously touched by thepain and grief the victimswere passing through,saying it had led to lossof lives, property andmay lead to spread of dis-eases and epidemics.

“Obviously, the gov-ernment alone cannotshoulder this onerous re-sponsibility of bringingrelief to the victims.

The private sector andpublic-spirited individu-als should join handswith the government toassist the victims of thisnational disaster that hasravaged about 21 statesof the federation,” hesaid.

CMYK


8—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

BY OKEY NDIRIBE,GBENGA ARIYIBI &CHARLES KUMOLU

Achebe on Awo: Igbo, Yorubaleaders in 'verbal warfare'

FUND RAISING—From right: Mrs Abimbola Fashola, First Lady of Lagos State; Rev Sam Ogedengbe,representing Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State; Pastor Gabriel Adebayo, Pastor in-charge, YabaBaptist church; Mr Remi Olowude OON, Chief Launcher and Pastor Wale Adefarasin, Special Guestduring the Yaba Baptist Church N500 million fundraising for the multi-purpose building at the churchyesterday. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele.

CONTROVERSY surrounding the new book

written by Prof. ChinuaAchebe deepened yester-day with South West andSouth East leaders drawingsharp divisions over theaptness of claims in thebook that Chief ObafemiAwolowo implementedgenocidal policies againstIbos during the Biafran war.

While Odua Peoples Con-gress, OPC founder Dr. Fre-drick Fasheun accusedAchebe of living in the past,a number of South Westleaders berated Achebe asa frustrated man bent onpouring out his bitternessagainst a nationalist.

The denunciationsagainst Achebe were, how-ever, sharply rebutted by anumber of South East lead-ers, including the com-mander of the army of theBiafran Republic, Gen.Alex Madiebo (rtd.,) whosaid Achebe understatedthe hostility of Awolowo tothe Ibo nation during thecivil war.

While erstwhile governorof Enugu State and formerNational Chairman of thePeoples Democratic Party,PDP, Dr Okwesilieze Nwo-do said Achebe’s assertionswere correct, another formergovernor of Anambra State,Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinujuexpressed concern that theacrimony could jeopardiseon-going efforts to unify thepeople of the South.

In his new book, “Therewas a Country” Achebe al-leged among others thatAwolowo’s desperation forpower “drove him into afrenzy to go to every lengthto achieve his dreams. Inthe Biafran case it meanthatching up a diabolicalpolicy to reduce the num-bers of his enemies signifi-cantly through starvation,eliminating over two mil-lion people, mainly mem-bers of future generations.”

The claim has been metwith sharp denunciationsby Awoists and Yorubaleaders.

Achebe living in thepast — Fashehun

Continuing the rebuttalDr. Fasheun yesterday said:“Chinua Achebe is a frus-

trated person. He feels thatattacking noble people likeAwolowo is right. Awolowohas a reputable place in Ni-geria’s history. The trio ofAwolowo, Sardauna andZik were leaders who didwell for this country, hencetheir quality legaciesshould not be smeared inanyway. Achebe is living inthe past.” “Ibos no longer care aboutsuch lamentation, what theIbos are interested in is howthey can be more relevantin the mainstream of Nige-rian politics. So, Achebe’sattack on Awolowo is not inthe best interest of the po-litical aspirations of the Ibosin today’s Nigeria. What hehas done is to distort histo-ry.”

Achebe, not happythat a Yorubamanemerged Nobel prizewinner — Afuye

Also reacting, an avowedAwoist who is also the Com-missioner for Information inEkiti State, Mr FunminiyiAfuye said that as an Awoisthe detested the insinua-tions by Achebe on ChiefAwolowo in his book

He said: “With due re-spect to the erudite profes-sor it appears Achebe hasnot been able to come outfrom a deep frustration ofthe fact that a Yorubaman

emerged as the first winnerof the highest literaryaward, Nobel Prize in liter-ature.

“It was on record thatAwolowo checkmatedOjukwu from invadingYorubaland in his expan-sionist ambition when hewas matching his troops toLagos. He met his water-loo at the battle of Ore.”

The attacks nonetheless,support for Achebe camefrom the South East withGen. Madiebo, Chief ofStaff, Biafran Army, whoclaimed that the assertionsmade against Awolowowere understated.

Achebe has only saidthe truth—Gen. Madiebo

“What Chinua Achebehas written in his new bookconcerning the role the lateChief Obafemi Awolowoplayed during the civil waris the truth. However, thetruth is always bitter. In fact,Achebe was even diplomat-ic. If I am to write on thesame subject I would saymore than Achebe did.

“Those who are attackingAchebe over what he wroteare expressing their ownviews; I am neither con-demning them nor am Ipraising them.”

In his comments on thecontroversy, one time Gov-

ernor of Enugu State andformer National Chairmanof the People’s DemocraticParty, PDP, Dr.Okwesilieze Nwodo ex-pressed a similar view.

He said: “What Achebewrote in his new book is afact. Those who witnessedwhat happened during thecivil war can attest to the his-torical fact that Achebe re-corded in his book. As theMinister of Finance andVice-Chairman of the Fed-eral Executive Council un-der the military regimeheaded by Gen. YakubuGowon (rtd.), Awolowo im-plemented those policiesduring the Nigeria civil warand immediately after.

What Achebe wrotewas a fact—Nwodo

“Despite the fact that Ihad a lot of respect for himas one of the nation’s fore-most nationalists whofought for Nigeria's inde-pendence, we cannot forgetthat those policies were in-jurious to the Igbos. Thosepolicies were a violation ofthe fundamental humanrights of our people.”

“My response to thosewho have attacked Achebefor stating the truth is thatany country that cannot lookat its history and learn les-sons from it cannot survive. "The people of every na-tion have to learn from their

history in order to avoidmistakes of the past. It isbecause Nigerians haverefused to learn from histo-ry that we find ourselveswhere we are today in thiscountry.”

Go to court if youdon't like whatAchebe wrote–Mbadinuju

In his comments, formerGovernor of AnambraState, Dr. ChinwokeMbadinuju said: “Nobodycan question or doubt thecredentials and scholarshipof Chinua Achebe, espe-cially when it comes to hisspecial area of political lit-erature. He has been ad-judged as number one inthe world. It seems to methat what Achebe didamounted to an exercise ofhis constitutional right offreedom of expressionwhich cannot be abridgedbut can only be subjectedto libel or defamation ofcharacter, whichis actionable in court.”

He continued: “ Anybodywho doesn’t like whatAchebe has written could goto court and file an actionagainst Achebe for libel". Mbadinuju further ex-pressed hope that the on-going debate would nothamper the new spirit of co-operation prevailing in the

south. According to him: ”The

three southern geo-politicalzones of South-East, South-West and South-South havejust resolved to come into anew political alignment forthe future. And it is now thatthe devil is creeping in todislodge the political pro-gramme of the South. Theimplication is that ourfriends and brothers in theSouth-West may now beginto develop cold feet and gointo opposition again justbecause of one book byChinua Achebe. Since Iwouldn’t want anythingthat would jeopardize thisnew spirit of cooperation inthe South, I pray to God thatall groups or persons whofeel aggrieved by Achebe’snew book should have achange of heart to avertthis brewing misunder-standing in order to enableNigeria move forward. Thisis necessary in order to pre-vent another rift that maysnowball into a fresh roundof crisis of confidence.”

Ezeife calls forcaution

Another former Governorof Anambra State Dr.Chukwuemeka Ezeife onhis part chose to be very cau-tious.

He said: “Although, weshouldn’t speak ill of thedead, this does not meanthat historical facts ceasefrom being facts or must notbe mentioned. Facts arefacts but their emotional orsubjective interpretationmay depend on the per-spective of the user. I hopethe Igbo and Yoruba are notanxious to go back into theirsituation of parallel linesand parallel slaves in Ni-gerian politics. Awolowodidn’t join the war againstNigeria, but he didn’t startthe war against the Easternregion. He eventuallyjoined Gowon.”

In his reaction, Dr. SamNkire, National ChairmanProgressive Peoples Alli-ance, PPA, said though hehad put all that happenedbehind him during thosedark days behind the poli-cies exhibited wickedness.

He said: "Although, Iwas a teenager duringand after the civil war, Iwas old enough to fathera child. Those FederalGovernment policiesagainst Biafrans whichwere ascribed to ChiefAwolowo at that timecame to be as uncharita-ble andwicked. However, 42years after the war, myattitude now is to consignall that to history.”

“I recommend the bookto every patriotic Nigeri-an and not just studentsof history. Achebe mustnot be crucified for say-ing the truth."

�Achebe understated the fact — General Madiebo, others

�He is living in the past — Fashehun, others


Lagos govt clarifies permitted carnumber-plates

Police recover bodies of murderedNNPC engineers

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

Adeboye commends Lagos CJfor freeing 233 prisoners

Lagos inugurates 13-manPrimary Health Board

Orthopaedic institute needsN20m annually —Mgt

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

House C'ttee condemnsNDLEA's poor funding

BY ALBERT AKPOR

BY OLAYINKA LATO-NA

DONATION: From left: Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada; Presi-dent, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Executive Director, DangoteFoundation, Halima Dangote, during the donation of N430 million to theKogi State flood victims in Lokoja, weekend.

LAGOS—THE Inspector-General of Police

Special Task Force onAnti-Pipeline vandalismhas recovered the bodiesof three staff of Pipelinesand Product MarketingCompany, PPMC, a sub-sidiary of the NigerianNational Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, whowere killed by pipelinevandals at Arepo, OgunState, last month.

One of the bodieswhich were in their de-composing states wasidentified as that of theDeputy Manager in-charge of PipelinesRight of Way, PROW.They were recovered intwo shallow gravesaround the creeks wherethe vandals buried them.

The slain staff compris-ing engineers and tech-nicians , met their unpre-pared end on September8, 2012, after they hadgone to put out the rag-ing fire from a burstNNPC pipeline. Theyreportedly succeeded inputting out the firewhich raged for threedays and were about ef-fecting repairs on thedamaged part when thevandals stormed thescene.

The vandals as gath-ered, opened fire onthem, killing three ofthem at the spot whileothers managed to es-cape with bullet wounds.Not yet done, the van-dals thereafter, ab-sconded with the copsesof their victims.

Six suspects as gath-ered, were arrested dur-ing investigation by theTask Force, where one ofthe suspects identified asImerepamu Joel told theoperatives that he knewwhere bodies of the deadstaff were buried.

Head of the Task Force,Mr Friday Ibadin, an As-sistant Commissioner ofPolice, disclosed that ittook the policemen sixhours to sail to the spot.

Forty heavily armed po-licemen on speed boatsand a patrol helicopteraccording to him wereinvolved in the search.

Ibadin who spoke inLagos at the weekend,said: “We found in a de-composing state, bullet-ridden bodies of the threevictims. We learnt that

the body of the local se-curity guard employedby NNPC, Taye aka DeadMan, was cut intopieces and disposed off.

“Shortly after the inci-dent, the Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Moham-med Abubakar, reconsti-tuted the dissolved Antivandal team. It becameimportant to get to theroot of the incident thatled to the death of theseofficials. And in thecause of investigation,about six suspects werearrested. We gatheredfrom the confession ofone of the suspects,Imerepamu Ijebu Joel,that he knew where theNNPC staffers were bur-ied.

“Initially, he took ourteam to a spot and after

several hours, the bodieswere not found. At night,the Ijaw boys attemptedto dig one spot but werestopped by the policewho were on guard. Andtwo days later he openedup and agreed to take usto the real spot.

“It took six hours of sail-ing to get to the spot. Wehad 40 heavily armedmen, and we took alonga pathologist, a coroner,and the medical teamfrom NNPC that eventu-ally identified the bodies.They took us to a placewhere they claimed theybury non natives. Withthe assistance of oneJohn Bosco, Peter Opidi,and the suspect,Imerepamu Ijebu Joel,we were shown two shal-low graves. It was therethat we discovered thebodies and they havebeen deposited at a mor-tuary.”

BY EVELYN USMAN

LAGOS—THE LagosState Government

has said that private ve-hicles, irrespective of thestate’s number-platethey carry are free tomove on Lagos roads.

It however, explainedthat only vehicles oper-ating as commercial pub-lic transport will have toobtain the state’snumber- plate before be-ing allowed to operate inand on Lagos roads.

Commissioner forTransportation, MrKayode Opeifa, gave theexplanation while react-ing to a recent report that

LAGOS—THE GeneralOverseer of The Re-

deemed Christian Churchof God, RCCG, PastorEnoch Adejare Adeboye,yesterday, commended therecent kind gesture of theLagos Chief Judge, JusticeAyotunde Philips when shereleased over 200 inmatesfrom Kirikiri Prisons.

Making the remarks dur-ing a special prayer sessionfor lawyers, particularlythose still in active serviceand all judicial workersfrom across the country atthe RCCG national head-quarters, at Ebute-Meta in

LAGOS—THE Houseof Representatives

committee on drugs, nar-cotics and financialcrimes at the weekend,expressed dismay overpoor funding of the Na-tional Drug Law Enforce-ment Agency, NDLEA.

The committee ob-served that most of theanti-narcotic agency’sactivities have sufferedfrustration due to inad-

LAGOS—NOT lessthan N20 million is

needed annually to sus-tain the newly completedFederal College of Or-thopaedic Technology,FECOT, the Manage-ment of National Ortho-paedic Hospital, IgbobiLagos, NOHIL has said.

Disclosing this in La-gos, the Chief MedicalDirector of NOHIL, Dr.Wahab Yinusa who de-cried the dearth of pro-

LAGOS—THE LagosState Government,

weekend, inaugurated a13-Man PrimaryHealthcare Board to ad-dress challenges of de-livering and accessingquality healthcare at thegrassroots level.

The Board which hasDr. Babatunde Sagoe asChairman would alsoensure the attainment ofthe State ExecutiveCouncil set-out policyobjectives for PrimaryHealth Care, PHC, revi-

vehicles with other states’number-plates have beenbanned from plying La-gos roads.

He said that there hadnever been any time thatthe state governmentmade such pronounce-ment adding that numberplate is unified all overthe federation.

Opeifa, said the meas-ure to have commercialvehicles registered in thestate is necessary to en-able government haveadequate informationabout such vehicles aswell as to further ensurethe safety and security oflives of the people in thestate.

Regulation 41 sub sec-

tion 1 of the Road TrafficLaw stipulates that; “Noperson shall operate orcause to be operated acommercial vehicle with-out having obtained acommercial vehicle op-erator licence from theLagos State Govern-ment.”

He added that every li-cence issued for shallbear a distinct numberwhich shall be paintedconspicuously on thefront and rear part of thevehicle or in any othermanner as may be pre-scribed by the Ministryof Transportation.

The commissioner saidthat for emphasis, the

position of the state gov-ernment is that any com-mercial vehicle used forpublic transportationpurpose within Lagosmust obtain a permit fromthe state government. Inaddition, the owner ofsuch vehicle must havethe vehicle registered inLagos State.

According to Opeifa,Regulation 43 sub sec-tion 1 of the Law, said thata vehicle shall not beused or operated for com-mercial purposes unlessthe vehicle is registeredas a commercial vehiclewith the Lagos StateMotor Vehicle Adminis-tration Agency, MVAA.

Lagos, Adeboye said thechief judge’s exercise wasa step to de-congest pris-ons as well as an avenuefor innocent inmates await-ing trial to regain their free-dom.

Lamenting that some ofthe freed inmates hadstayed for over 12 years incustody awaiting trial, Pas-tor Adeboye used the occa-sion to call on the FederalGovernment to sort out bet-ter ways of rehabilitatingprisoners and arrest delayin justice dispensation, say-ing Nigerian prison systemharden majority of the pris-oners instead of makingthem better citizens.

equate funding by theFederal Government.

Chairman of the com-mittee, Mr. JagabaAdams Jagaba whomade this observationwhile on an oversightvisit to the agency’s for-mations across the coun-try said except the Fed-eral Government givespriority attention espe-cially, in the area offunding, the agency wason the brinks of extinc-tion.

fessional Prosthetistsand Orthotists said thecollege if well fundedwould fill the gap pres-ently being witnessed inthe area of medical reha-bilitation in the country.

Prosthetists are medi-cal professionals who as-sess, design and fabri-cate as well as see to thefitting of artificial limbs Orthotists provideassistive devices andbraces for patients withmusculoskeletal deficits.

BY CHIOMA OBINNA talisation in the state.Inaugurating the

Board, the State Com-missioner for Health, Dr.Jide Idris who observedthat the state’s popula-tion was more in the grass-roots urged the Board toimmediately address thechallenges of health

Responding, the Chair-man of the Board, Dr.Babatunde Sagoecommended the state in itsefforts to work in line withthe global concession tostrengthen health care sys-tems at the grassroots level.


Ogun PDP faction threatens courtaction against CP

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA —

THE Dayo Bayo-led Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Ogun Statehas threatened to sue theCommissioner of Police,Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye forhis alleged ‘criminalcomplicity’ in aiding andabetting the take-over ofthe party secretariat inthe state by anotherfaction.

The State PublicitySecretary, Waliu

Oladipupo disclosedthis through a statementmade available tonewsmen in Abeokutayesterday.

It would be recalledthat, a faction loyal to ex-President OlusegunObasanjo reportedlyinvaded the partySecretariat located onIBB Boulevard in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta .

Dayo-led faction of theparty which had been incharge of the partysecretariat was

dislodged on Friday withthe alleged assistance ofpolicemen in the state.

Reacting to the forcefultake-over, Bayo Dayo-ledexecutive accused thestate Commissioner ofPolice of taking sidewith Obasanjo’s faction.

The party said: “Up tillnow, the hoodlums,including some wantedcriminals, are still withinthe party Secretariat,having a free rein,shooting into the airintermittently and

brandishing AK 47 riflesand other ammunition.

“We shudder to thinkwhat could haveinformed the decision ofthe CommissionerOkoye, who is paid fromour commonwealth tokeep the peace, to lookaway in the face ofobvious threat to peace,law and order in our dearstate

“Our position has beenfurther affirmed byseveral court judgmentsin Lagos, Abuja andIlaro. Even the AssistantCommissioner of Policein-charge of the StateCriminal InvestigationDepartment, SCID, inhis report to Okoye,confirmed the BayoDayo-led Exco as theauthentic leadership ofthe party.

But, attempts to getreaction from the policeCommissioner failed asthe Police PublicRelations Officer,Muyiwa Adejobi couldnot be reached.

Teachers warn against possibleeducation collapse

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE — SECON-

dary school teach-ers under the auspices ofAcademic Staff Union ofSecondary Schools,ASUSS, have raised thealarm over the possiblecollapse of the educationsector because of attitu-de of the political class.

The union also said theproblem is compoundedby dearth of teachers inpublic schools.

Its National Presidentof the union, Mr.Charles Osaruyi, who

said this during thecelebration of WorldTeachers Day in Akure,said the acute shortageof teachers wasdangerous to thedevelopment of educa-tion in the country.

Osaruyi said: “There isan acute shortage ofteachers viz-a-vis thelarge number ofenrolment in our publicschools today and thisundoubtedly wasoccasioned by the massrenovation of schools inmost states of thefederation”

According to him, theexplosion in schoolswithout correspondingincrease in number ofteachers was dangerousfor the system.

He noted that aside therenovation of schools inmany states for theFederal Government'sfree and compulsoryprimary and secondaryschool education, moststates for politicalreasons without adeq-uate correspondingexpansion in facilities inexisting schools, buildmore schools toaccommodate the everincreasing students’population.

“Now a teacher,supervises and marks,on the average, 150-200students' scripts in aclass as against therecommended averageof between 35-40students by UNESCO.”

Osaruyi said as aresult of lack of interestin teaching profession atime is coming whenthere would not beteachers in schools.

The chairman of theunion, Mr. DayoAdebiyian also regrettedthat the failure of thecountry to develop couldbe blamed on the failureof the education sector.

Senator’s driver arraigned for manslaughter

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE — A privatedriver of senator

representing OndoNorth Senatorial District,Ajayi Borroffice,Michael Agunloye, hasbeen arraigned before anAkure Chief MagistrateCourt for manslaughter.

Agunloye was accusedof killing a 52-year-oldnurse, Mrs. FlorenceAduni Olusori.

The accused person,who was driving avehicle in the convoy ofthe Senator when theincident happened, wasaccused by the Police ofdriving dangerously andin the process killing the

woman.The family of the

Olusori had earlier inthe year lost their father.

Magistrate A. Fatusingranted him bail withN500.000 and a suretyin like sum.

He adjourned thehearing of the case toOctober 15.

Ilaro Christian monarch to be representedduring traditional festivals

ABEOKUTA —

THE Olu of Ilaroand paramont ruler ofYewaland, Oba KehindeOlugbenle has clearedthe air over allegedmixing of his Christianfaith with traditionalworship.

There has been adisquiet over theplanned participation ofthe paramount ruler, whowas an Area Pastor ofRedeemed ChristianChurch of God, RCCG,in Lagos before

BY DAUD OLATUNJI becoming the Olu ofIlaro in this year ’sE g u n g u n , G e l e d edisplay billed for thecoming Oronna Ilarofestival.

The festival, accordingto the programmebrochure, would featuretributes to Oronna andother deities in Ilaro,Egungun dance paradeand Gelede display,among others.

Addressing a pressconference weekend,the monarch who wasrepresented bychairman of the festival,

Chief Kayode Odunarosaid the Oba's Christianfaith is unshakable.

"Our Oba is a Christianand would delegate hischiefs to some of thefestivals," he said.

Odunaro, Chairman ofOronna Ilaro FestivalCentral Planning Com-mittee, however statedthat an application hasbeen sent to UNESCO’soffice on the need toenlist Ilaro which is theheadquarters ofYewaland as part oftourist centres inNigeria.

Aregbesola tasks Nigerians onreligious harmony

ADHERENTS OF

religions inNigeria have beencalled upon to live inpeace and harmony withone another.

Governor RaufAregbesola of Osun Statemade this call yesterdayat the 42nd AdultHarvest and ThanksGiving Service of theCelestial Church ofChrist, Osun ProvincialHeadquarters, Osogbo.

Aregbesola, who wasthe special guest ofhonour at the event, saidall religions preach

oneness of God but withmany ways of worship.

He wondered whythere should be crisisamong the people in theworship of God in asociety where everybodyhas constitutionalguarantee to practisereligion of their choices.

“There should be nocrisis among Muslimsand Christians as theyworship the same God.

“All religions preachgood deeds, goodcharacter and goodn e i g h b o u r l i n e s s , ”Aregbesola said.

Health workers canvass fundsfor AIDS treatment

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN — HEALTH

workers in the OyoState local governmentshave called forimmediate release ofcounterpart funding forthe management of HIV/AIDS across the state.

The call was made bythe health officials at athree-day workshop atthe Obafemi AwolowoUniversity, Ile Ifeweekend.

According to acommunique madeavailable in Ibadan, thehealth workers asked therelevant authorities toensure that the release ofthe fund for effectivemanagement of thedeadly disease is mademandatory.

To reduce the scourgeof the deadly virus, theyalso called onstakeholders to step upefforts in the campaign.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye (right) praying for the Judges and Lawyers duringthe church's Special Prayer for members of the Bar and the Bench at theRedeemed Christian Church of God, Throne of Grace Parish, Lagos Province1, Ebute Metta, Lagos, weekend. Photo:Lamidi Bamidele.

CMYK


Flood: 53,000 displaced, 11communities submerged in Delta

BY FESTUS AHON

BY JOHNBOSCO

AGBAKWURU

BY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

Delta sets up two resettlementcentres for Burutu flood victims

UG H E L L I — N Ofewer than 53,000

residents of 11 commu-nities in Patani LocalGovernment Area of Del-ta State, have been ren-dered homeless follow-ing the flooding of theirhomes as a result of theoverflow of the River Ni-ger. Their farmlandswere also submerged.

Ivrogbor, Umeh, Uzere,Ehwen, Edherie and Ig-bide, in Isoko South Lo-cal Government Area ofthe state had also beensubmerged by the flood,rendering over 1,000homeless. Motorists ply-ing the East-West Roadwere, weekend, strand-ed at Umeh Junction ofthe road, which was sub-merged by the flood.

Our correspondentwho visited the area, yes-terday, noted that Pata-ni, Abare, Torou-Angia-ma, Aven, Koloware,Ogor, Adobor, Bulu-Ang-iama, Uduophori,Ogolomo and Amatebewith a population of over60,000 were being de-serted. Odorubu andEbresegha were the onlytwo communities sparedout of the 13 communi-ties in Patani Council.

Most mud houses andsome brick structures inthe affected communitieswere destroyed. Trans-porters plying the Pata-

ni/Ughelli route had afield day as they hikedtransport fare from Pata-ni to Ughelli. Farmerswere seen with their fam-ilies in canoes harvest-ing their premature farmproduce.

Former Delta StateCommissioner for Lands,Survey and Urban De-

velopment, Mr. RaymosGuanah, whose house inPatani was also sub-merged, expressed wor-ry, lamenting that theentire council had beensubmerged save for twocommunities.

Guanah at the palace ofthe Pere of KaboweiKingdom, HRH L. M.

TWO resettlement

centres are to beopened by Delta StateGovernment at Ayakoro-mor and Enekoroghacommunities in BurutuNorth axis as part of ef-forts to rehabilitate floodvictims in Burutu LocalGovernment Area of thestate.

Member representingBurutu Constituency I inDelta State House of As-sembly, Mr. Daniel Yin-gi, spoke when he led ateam on an assessmentvisit to communities rav-aged by flood in his con-

stituency.The communities visit-

ed by the lawmaker wereAyakoromor, Gbekebor,Okpokunou, Okrika,Degbene, Dunuogusuand Enekorogha amongothers.

The team had difficul-ty accessing some of thecommunities because ofthe flood, which sub-merged both primaryand secondary schools,farmlands and houses.

Yingi sympathisedwith the victims and ex-pressed shock at the lev-el of destruction.

WORLD TEACHERS' DAY: From left: Chairman, Nigerian Union of Teachers, Delta State, Mr. Em-manuel Adhe; Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama; state Chairman of Nigeria LabourCongress, Mr. William Akporeha and Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Monitoring, Dr. Ruke-vwe Ugwumba, at the 2012 World Teachers' Day celebration in Asaba, weekend.

Senator presents relief materialsto flood victims in Delta

BY VICTOR

AHIUMA-YOUNG

SENATOR repre

senting DeltaNorth in the NationalAssembly, Dr. IfeanyiOkowa, has presentedfood items and cash tovictims of flood disasterin seven communities inDelta North SenatorialDistrict of the state.

Presenting the food

items and cash to thecommunities, which in-cluded Aboh, Omelug-boma, Power line, Ele-mechele, Ogbe Ofun,Okocha/Nnebisi andthose taking refuge atSaint Patrick's Collegerelief camp, Okowa de-scribed the flood as anational disaster.

He said the donationwas to help amelioratethe plight of the victims.

Flood sacks road linkingJonathan's hometown…As NEMA erects 68 tents for displaced persons

Rep weeps over displacementof 5,000 in C-River

CALABAR—MEM-

BER representingObubra/Etung constitu-ency of Cross River Statein the House of Repre-sentatives, Mr. JohnEnoh, wept openly,weekend, over the hav-oc wreaked on his peo-ple by ravaging flood,which displaced no few-er than 5,000 persons inEja community, turningthem into refugees intheir fatherland.

Enoh, who was on anassessment tour of Obu-

bra, as part of his constit-uency visit, could notcontrol his emotionwhile trying to consolethe people who were stilltaking refuge in a prima-ry school and the RomanCatholic Church in Eja,as the flood was yet torecede.

Presenting relief mate-rials to the affected 16communities of Obubra,the House of Represent-atives Committee Chair-man on Appropriation,said that of all the com-munities affected by theflood, Eja was the worsthit as the entire commu-nity submerged.

Dickson inaugurates emergencyflood management c'ttee

YE N A G O A —

BAYELSA StateGovernor, Mr. SeriakeDickson, has inaugurat-ed the State EmergencyResponse Flood Man-agement Committeecharged with the tasksof immediately evacuat-ing flood victims andproviding relief materi-als to all the local gov-ernment areas in thestate.

The committee, whichwas inaugurated by the

governor at GovernmentHouse, Yenagoa, has thedeputy governor, RearAdmiral GboribioghaJonah (rtd) as Chairmanwhile Secretary to theState Government, Prof.Edmund Oguru, is toserve as Secretary.

Dickson said govern-ment had designated theSamson Siasia SportsComplex, Yenagoa, ascamp for people dis-placed by the flood andurged the committee toidentify high grounds inthe local government ar-eas and set up camps.

BY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

Erebulu, said he, Dr.Chris Ekiyor, Mr. BraveEnode, and Mr. DoguboMologe, whose houseswere also submerged,had built a temporarycamp at the Patani/UzereRoad that is still underconstruction, to accom-modate displaced per-sons.

YENAGOA—THEOnuebum Road

linking Otuoke, hometown of President Good-luck Jonathan, in OgbiaLocal Government Area ofBayelsa State to Azikoro,a Yenagoa suburb, hasbeen cut off by flood.

Meantime, NationalEmergency ManagementAgency, NEMA, yester-day, said it had com-menced erecting 68 tentsin three temporary campsin Yenagoa for personsdisplaced by flood.

The agency said 24tents, construction ofwhich were ongoing at themoment, would be erect-

ed at Igbogene helipad toaccommodate displacedpersons from six councilsof the state who are cur-rently relocating toYenagoa for shelter.

The three emergencycamps, NEMA said, willbe located in Igbogene,the Samson Siasia SportComplex and at BishopDimeari Grammar School,all in Yengaoa.

Meanwhile, followingcollapse of OnuebumRoad linking Otuoke, ca-noe operators are nowmaking brisk business byferrying stranded com-muters from both endsacross the flooded sectionon the payment of N100per passenger.

The Azikoro-Agbura-Onuebu-Otuoke flank isthe shortest route to Og-bia town for Bayelsans

residing close to Ekekisurbub to down townYenagoa.

This reporter, who visit-ed the area, yesterday,noticed several strandedpassengers waiting forcanoes to be ferried acrossthe large pool of water,which could be mistakenfor a community lake.

Some other commuterswere seen pleading withtaxi drivers to take themback to Yenagoa whileothers went through Imi-ringi-Emeyal axis to getto their destinations.

A native of the area, whoidentified himself as Mr.Ezekiel Azibanator, a law-yer, called on PresidentJonathan to come to theaide of his kinsmen byproviding relief materialsto victims of the flood im-pacted communities.


Suspected assassins kill ex-LGboss in Akwa Ibom

BY TONY NYONG

UY O — F O R M E Rvice chairman of

Nsit Ubium Local Govern-ment Area of Akwa IbomState, Mr. Bassey Ekpo,has been killed by suspect-ed assassins.Vanguard gathered that

the 54-year-old father oftwo, who was killed in theHousing Extension part ofEniong/Ewet Housing Es-tate in Uyo, Akwa IbomState capital, was returninghome after the day’s busi-ness under a heavy down

pour when his assailantskilled him, dragged hisbody out of the car, andabandoned it in a nearbybush.

The suspected assassinsreportedly left the blood-stained vehicle and usedthe deceased’s phone toinform the wife that herhusband had been in-volved in an accident andthat the wife should go to acertain hospital to see him.Vanguard gathered that

as the wife and their twochildren were about to driveto the said hospital, they

spotted the husband’s cara few metres away fromtheir home.

They immediately madea call to the police, who re-sponded, and after a thor-ough search around thenearby bush found the life-less body of the slainpolitician.

When Vanguard contact-ed the state Police PublicRelations Officer, Mr. Etim,he asked for time to com-municate with theDivisional Police Officer incharge of Ewet HousingArea where the incident

VISIT: Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere (middle); Chairman, Ika Local Gov-ernment Area, Chief Saviour Enyiekere (left), and the Member representing Ika/Etim Ekpo constituen-cy in the state House of Assembly, Mr. Gabriel Toby, during the Deputy Governor’s visit to Ikot Uko Ikaboundary community, weekend.

Murder of UNIPORT students: Chief, 12others arrested

PORT HAR

COURT—A Chief inOmokere Aluu communityand 12 others have beenarrested in connection withthe killing of four studentsof University of Port Har-court, Rivers State, lastFriday over robbery allega-tion.

The students were burntin Omokere Aluu by someirate youths for allegedlystealing blackberry phonesand laptops.

State Police Public Rela-tions Officer, Mr. BenUgwuegbulam, in a state-ment, said those arrestedwould be thoroughlyquizzed over the incident.

The Police image makerwas silent on whether thedeceased students wererobbery suspects or not, butappealed to their parentsand students of the Univer-sity not to take the laws into

their hands as a result ofthe killings, andcondemned the killing ofthe students.

He said: “Rivers State Po-lice Command unequivo-cally condemns the grue-some killing of four UNI-PORT students on October5, by irate mob from Aluucommunity. The commandsympathises with thefamilies of the slainstudents and also appealsto them not to take the lawsinto their hands. Studentsof the university are urged

not to engage in any repris-al attack as such could leadto chaos and anarchy.

“The command has com-menced investigation intothe incident. Amazingsuccess has been recordedin that regard as 13persons, including the chiefof the community suspect-ed to have been involvedin the reprehensible, bar-baric act, have been arrest-ed based on credibleintelligence and video clipsof the killings. Suspects arebeing interrogated by crackpolice team.”

BY JIMITOTA

ONOYUME

BY CHARLES

KUMOLU

Investigate abandoned projectin Delta, group urges NDDC

Crisis brews in Edo communityover ownership of oil well

BY SIMON

EBEGBULEM

BENIN—CRISIS is

brewing in Obagie-Nunuamen and Oroghocommunities in Orhiom-won Local GovernmentArea of Edo State, over theownership of an oil wellin Iwevbo.

While chairman ofObagie-Nunuamen com-munity, Mr. Femi Aiwan-sedo, accused NewcrossPetroleum Limited, an oilcompany operating in thearea, of colluding withsome elders and chiefsfrom Orogho to claim theoil well, which accordingto him, belongs to Obag-ie community, the peopleof Orogho Dukedom, led

by Chief Aiyeki Okpamenaccused Aiwansedo ofimposing himself onObagie community asleader.

Addressing newsmen inBenin, Mr. Aiyeki Okpa-men, who spoke for peo-ple of Orogho Dukedom,said the Dukedom did notrecognise the leadershipof Aiwansedo, adding thathis current activities, if notchecked by the state gov-ernment, could lead tobreakdown of law and or-der in the communities.

But reacting, Aiwanse-do said that based on hiselection in 2006, he wasinvited to the palace ofOba of Benin via letterdated October 25, 2007 fora meeting with the royalfather scheduled for No-vember 27, 2007.

IJAW Peoples Con

gress, IPC, has calledon Niger Delta Develop-ment Commission,NDDC, to investigate anabandoned road pave-ment project in Ayakoro-

mo area of Delta State.IPC National President,

Mr. Ekanpou Ekewarid-ideke, in a statement, ex-plained that though theproject had long beenawarded to a contractor byNDDC, the contractorhandling the project dida shoddy job.

took place.He, however, assured

that the assassins would notescape the long arm of thelaw.


Robbers invade flood victims' campin Anambra

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

Kidnapped 4-yr-old girl releasedin Ebonyi

BY PETER OKUTU

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Motorists, commuters strandedon failed Enugu-PH Expressway

AB A K A L I K I —FOUR-year-old lit-

tle Miss Faith ChukwukaOkorie, of Ohaozara LocalGovernment Area of EbonyiState, who was penultimateFriday kidnapped by un-known gunmen had beenreleased.

The victim, who is thedaughter of a Primaryschool teacher in EbonyiState, Mr. ChukwukaOkorie, and pupil of Fed-eral Government College,Okposi, Nursery School inOhaozara Local Govern-ment Council, was releaseda week after by her abduc-tors, not until after her par-

ON I T S H A —TOUCHED by the

plight of the flood victims,the Nigeria Union of LocalGovernment Employees,NULGE, in the state, led byits President, Mr JerryNnubia, weekend, visitedthe various refugee campsin Ogbaru, Anambra Westand Anambra East LocalGovernment areas and do-nated 20 bags of rice eachto the three local govern-ments.

Nnubia, who describedthe natural disaster as un-

ents allegedly paidN400,000 ransom to the kid-nappers.Vanguard learnt that Lit-

tle Miss Faith was pickedup by her father at thepremises of Sacred HeartCatholic Parish, Onueke,Ezza South Local Govern-ment Council of the state atabout 8: am and taken to theDivisional Police Head-quarters, Obiozara, fordocumentation.

A source close to the fam-ily noted that the little girlwas expected to undergocertain medical examina-tion to ascertain her healthcondition as the EbonyiState Police Command hadbeen accused of lack of in-volvement in the rescue op-eration.

UMUAHIA—HUNDREDS of motorists

and commuters wereweekend stranded for sev-eral hours at the LokpantaNta [Cattle Market] portionof the dilapidated Enugu-Port Harcourt express roadas a result of the deplorablecondition of the Federalroad.

The road has become al-most impassable, to the ex-tent that motorists on bothsides of the road have vir-

tually turned to death traps.Motorists still risk plying

the road as there is no al-ternative from Enugu toOkigwe, Umuahia, Abaand Port Harcourt.

The only other alternativeinvolves going roundthrough Awka, in AnambraState, a journey that willtake no less than six hours.

An alternative local vil-lage route at Umuchieze inthe same Umunneochicouncil where idle youthscollect toll, has also gonebad.

BY ENYIM ENYIM

Anambra NULGE donatesto flood victims

fortunate, told the people tobe calm while efforts werebeing made by govern-ments at various levels toalleviate their plight.

Meanwhile, the surg-ing flood in some parts ofAnambra State has sackedlocal government and judi-ciary workers as well as thepolice in Ogbaru Local Gov-ernment Area.

Other affected buildingsin the area where the floodhad continued to wreakhavoc included schools,churches, health centres,farmlands and houses.

�As Obi warns against playing politics with flood crisis

AWKA—SOME people suspected to be

robbers have invadedthe Crowder MemorialPrimary School, Onitsha,

where 950 flood victimsare camped and cartedaway some of the fooditems and cash donatedto them.

This came as AnambraState governor, Peter

Obi, yesterday warnedagainst playing politicswith the human tragedythat had so far trailed theflooding ravaging partsof the country, andwarned those involved to

desist.The robbery happened

as a philanthropist, Mr.Patrick Obianwu, whovisited some of the dis-placed persons weekend,urged Governor PeterObi to take measures toprevent the outbreak ofepidemic in the commu-nities affected by theflood disaster ravagingparts of the state.

It was gathered that twoof the robbers who went tosteal at the Onitsha campwere apprehended, whileothers escaped.

Some of the flood victims,who were cursing the rob-bery suspects when Van-guard visited the camp,wondered why such an in-human treatment should bemeted out to them, espe-cially at this time.

Meanwhile, GovernorPeter Obi of Anambra Statehas warned that it amountedto the worst form of cyni-cism for some people to beplay politics with humantragedy brought about bythe unfortunate floodingravaging parts of the coun-try.

Obi, who spokethrough his Senior Spe-cial Assistant on Media,Mr. Valentine Obienyem,was reacting to a state-ment credited to an offi-cial of Campaign for De-mocracy, CD, woh in-sinuated that the gover-nor was making show-manship with the floodissue without doingmuch.

The warning came as theunfortunate flooding wasravaging more communitiesin Ihiala local governmentarea of the state.

Obienyem, who spoke inAwka, recalled that Gover-nor Obi had to cancel histrip to Mexico and other en-gagements because of theflood issue.

�Two suspects nabbed

From left: Mr. Ben Uwajumogu, Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly; Mr.Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly; Chief Leo Stan- Eke,Chairman, Zinox Group and Chairman of the occasion and Ms Lisa Asugha, SpecialAssistant to the Governor of Imo State in Lagos Liaison Office, at a reception tohonour Mr Ben Uwajumogu by Umuihi-Ihinna Consultative Assembly in Lagos,weekend. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

OWERRI—SEVEN ofthe family of nine

who died after buryingtheir mother at Emekuku,Owerri North Local Gov-ernment Area of Imo State,were weekend buried inone long grave.

Speaking during a req-uiem mass for the departedsouls, the Catholic Arch-bishop of Owerri Ecclesias-tical Province, His Grace,Dr. Anthony J.V. Obinna,described the burial ofseven people from thesame family as not onlystrange but also horrible.

The Catholic cleric said.

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

Suffocation: Emekuku seven buriedin one grave “Though the gathering is a

sad one, it is out of love forthe deceased persons andfor the relatives that we arehere. We must remind our-selves of the reality ofdeath.”

He said the false rumourthat trailed the death of theEmekuku Nine portrayedlack of faith and unneces-sary fear of death.

“Christians must be wise,as well as realize that someopportunistic persons insociety cash in on momentsof temptation and tensionto get what they want.

“There are lots of 419 spir-itual people, who use theopportunity of poor faith to

do business, thus creatingproblems in families,”Obinna said.

He read out portions ofthe autopsy report releasedby the State Commissionerof Health, Dr. Joe Obi-Njoku, which confirmedthat the nine persons diedfrom suffocation after inhal-ing carbon monoxide froma generating set.

Meanwhile, the stategovernment has issuedclear directives on the useof electric generating sets,pointing out that to avoid arepeat of the ugly incident,families should build gen-erator houses away from liv-ing rooms.


Service chiefs: How BokoHaram influenced changes

ABUJA—INDICA-TIONS have emerged

in Abuja that last Thursday'sannouncement of newservice chiefs followed lastminute changes made byPresident GoodluckJonathan to avert crisiswithin the Armed Forces ifhis original plan had beenexecuted.

The new service chiefsinclude Vice Admiral OlaIbrahim, Chief of DefenceStaff; Rear Admiral DeleEzeoba, Chief of NavalStaff; and Air Vice MarshalAlex Badeh, Chief of AirStaff, while Lt. GeneralAzubuike Ihejirika, retained

his position as Chief ofArmy Staff, COAS.

Presidency sources toldVanguard, weekend, thatthe President did not em-bark on sweeping retire-ments in the Armed Forcesto prevent the Islamist sect,Boko Haram, from using itto win more converts andstrengthen its attack ma-chinery against the FederalGovernment.

Original planThe initial plan, accord-

ing to the sources, was thatthe COAS, who had pilotedthe Army in an exemplarymanner, especially in theface of the security situationin the country, was to be-come the Chief of Defence

Staff.One of the GOCs was to

be made Chief of ArmyStaff. The same plan was setdown for the Navy andAirforce.

Had the President goneahead with this initial plan,a sizeable majority of thenext line of generals in theArmy, Airforce and to a lessextent Navy, with North-erners comprising over 50percent of the personnel,would have been sweptaway from the ArmedForces, going by the termsand condition of service andseniority factor.

The President was said tohave reasoned that retiringso many generals as a re-sult of appointment of jun-

ior generals as ServiceChiefs, with many of themfrom the North, and at atime when the Boko Harammenace was still ravagingparts of the country, mayinadvertently providehighly trained specialistsand personnel for BokoHaram.

It will be recalled thatJonathan had recently al-leged that there were BokoHaram sympathisers in themilitary and the Presidency.

Northern factorAlready, the North is said

to be seething with ragethat the position of Chief ofArmy Staff and Chief ofDefence Staff, CDS, hascontinued to elude them.

The chances of formerChief of Air Staff, Air Mar-shal Mohammed Umar,who hails from Kano State,of becoming CDS was ham-pered by his two predeces-sors, Paul Dike and OluseyiPetinrin, and becomingCDS had been the stabilis-ing factor for the North inthe military hierarchy.

It was learnt that the de-cision to retain GeneralIhejirika, apart from the factthat he had taken the Armyto the next level and thePresident wanting him tocomplete most of the trans-formational activities goingon, was to ensure stabilityin the army and reorganiseit in a manner that internalcomplaint would be ad-dressed within the next sixto nine months.

Expected fall-outIf the initial plan had been

effected in the Navy andAirforce, no less than 16Rear Admirals and Air ViceMarshals would have beenretired in their prime. Thesources disclosed that thiswas what informed thechange of mind in thePresidency.

The Army, Navy andAirforce had been directedto expand the new transfor-mation and innovation de-partments in their servicesto create opportunities sothat when these generalseventually retire from activeservices, they would stillbecome useful and vital inresearch and improvementof operational tactics.

It was also alleged thatthe Presidency felt someof the personnel may fallprey to wealthy Nigeriansand politicians, who maywant to cash in on theiravailability and use theirexpertise in carrying outventures that may put thesafety, peace and stabilityof the nation in jeopardy.

BY KINGSLEY

OMONOBI

Reps blame failure in MDGson FG

HOUSE of Representatives Committee on

Millennium DevelopmentGoals, MDGs, has la-mented the paucity of funds

from the Federal Govern-ment towards achievingMDGs’ targets by 2015.

Chairman, House Com-mittee on MDGs, HassanDoguwa, who spoke inAbuja weekend blamed theFederal Government for de-faulting on the promises itmade to use the debt reliefgains in servicing the MDG

projects.Doguwa, who spoke

when he led other membersof the committee on an over-sight visit to the UniversalBasic Education Commis-sion, UBEC, called for con-certed efforts from the Fed-eral Government and otherstakeholders to achieve theMDGs.

He also alleged that gov-ernment had not beenprompt in the release offunds to ministries, depart-ments and agencies to meetthe MDGs target.

Dogara said: “Going bythe number of the ministrieswe have visited, I want tobe very frank with you andNigerians that because ofthe epileptic releases offunds by the Federal Gov-ernment to agencies, theMDGs are very unlikely tobe achieved.

“MDGs, like you know,are capital intensive projects;these are issues to do withmedical care, health caredelivery, development ofeducation facilities andstructures, teachers’ trainingand fighting killer diseases.”

BY FAVOUR

NNABUGWU

Senate Leader loses dad

ABUJA—SENATELeader, Victor

Ndoma-Egba, PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,Cross River Central, haslost his father.

According to a statementby the Senate Leader yes-terday, his father, JusticeEmmanuel Takom Ndoma-Egba (OFR), a retired Jus-tice of the Court of Appeal,died on Saturday, October6, in his hometown at Ikom,Cross River State.

The Senator said his fa-ther was appointed a judgeof the Cross River State

High Court and served inthe Calabar, Etinan andObibra divisions.

The statement read inpart: “Late Ndoma-Egbaestablished the Eket andOron judicial divisionswhere he was the pioneerjudge. He was elevatedto the Court of Appeal in1987 and served in Jos,Benin and Port Harcourtfrom where he retired in1992.

“After his retirement,he led a quiet life anddedicated himself fully tothe Presbyterian Church ofNigeria where he was bothan Elder and Trustee.”

BY HENRY UMORU

Minister signsperformance pact withaviation workers

AVIATION Minister,Princess Stella Oduah,

weekend, signed Perform-ance Contract Agreementswith the Permanent Secre-tary and MDs/CEOs of theagencies under the FederalMinistry of Aviation, warn-ing of severe consequencesfor failure and under-per-formance.

The ceremony, which heldat the Minister’s Confer-ence Room, was witnessedby the Minister of NationalPlanning, Dr.Shamsuddeen Usman, whowas represented by theExecutive Secretary of theNational Planning Com-mission, NPC, NtufamUgbo.

The Minister warned thePermanent Secretary, MsAnne Ene-Ita; ManagingDirectors of the Federal Air-ports Authority of Nigeria,FAAN, and Nigerian Air-space ManagementAgency, NAMA, Mr.George Ureisi and Mazi

Udoh respectively; Director-General of the NigerianMetereological Agency,NIMET, Dr. AnthonyAnuforum, and Commis-sioner, Accident Investiga-tions Bureau, Capt.Mukthar Usman, that therewas zero tolerance for un-der-performance in the min-istry.

She said: “As you are allaware, the TransformationAgenda of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is apact for service delivery andaccountability in Nigeria.

“In the same vein, theaviation sector transforma-tion programme focuses onbecoming a world-class pro-vider of safe, secure andcomfortable air transportsector that is self-sustainingand pivotal to the socio-eco-nomic growth of Nigeria.

“These objectives cannotbe achieved if we do not setour targets and be held ac-countable for our actions,decisions and promises.”

Jimeta flays northernleaders over Jonathan

Canadian Foreign Minister visits

BY BEN AGANDE

ABUJA—FORMER Inspector-General of Po-

lice, Alhaji MohammaduJimeta, yesterday, accusedmembers of the NorthernElders Forum of pullingdown pillars of nationalunity and “sowing seeds ofenmity, divisionism andpolitical hypocrisy to dis-tract Nigerians from thetruth” about the administra-tion of President GoodluckJonathan.

In a statement issued inAbuja, Alhaji Jimeta, whowas reacting to statementcredited to the NorthernElders Forum that theJonathan administration was

CANADIAN ForeignMinister, John Baird,

begins an official visit to Ni-geria today, a statementfrom the Canadian HighCommission in Abuja saidyesterday.

He is also expected inAustria and France in a visitthat would stretch till Octo-ber 12.

According to the state-ment, Baird will begin histrip in Abuja, Nigeria, andmeet with his Nigeriancounterpart, OlugbengaAshiru, during the inaugu-ral meeting of the Canada-

worse than that of formerPresident Obasanjo, accusedthe northern elders of beingmischievous and hypocriti-cal, saying “they have all atone time or another contrib-uted to the quagmire we findourselves today.”

However, in a statemententitled To those who caststones: comments on theNorthern Elders Forum onNigeria at 52, Jimeta saidinstead of standing upagainst tyranny and hypoc-risy to find real solutions tothe nation’s problems, theNorthern Elders “choosethe cowardly path of usingthis blame game as a dis-traction to create confusionand mistrust.”

Nigeria Bi-national Com-mission.

Both foreign ministerswill discuss cooperation onpolitical, economic, securityand development matters,even as the canadian for-eign minister will meet withmembers of Nigerian civilsociety.

In the staement madeavailable to Vanguard,Baird said: “Nigeria andCanada have a relationshipthat is rife with opportunitywhen it comes to economic,social and security coopera-tion. We know that securityand prosperity go hand inhand and will discuss waysto expand both.”

BY KENNETH

EHIGIATOR

HONOUR: From left— Mrs Abiola Tayo-Oyetibo, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo andChief Rotimi Jacobs, at a reception hosted by Mr. Oyetibo in honour of ChiefJacobs in Lagos, weekend. PHOTO: Lamidi Bamidele.

CMYK


Bakassi border issue: Demarche, update

Classified by Amb. Jackie Sanders

1. (C) Summary: The Secretary-Gener-al’s Executive Director for Political AffairsCarlos Lopes and Special Representativeof the Secretary-General (SRSG) for WestAfrica AhmedouOuld-Abdullah briefed Acting Polcouns onsensitive efforts underway to resolve theBakassi border issue. Lopes said SYGAnnan remained engaged on the issueand still intended to organise a summitwith Presidents Obasanjo and Biya in thesecond quarter of this year.

Lopes said planning was beingdirected from the SYG’s office. The SYGwas pursuing a proposal which wouldallow Nigeria to administer a portion ofthe peninsula for less than the 20 years.Lopes and Ould-Abdullah expressed hopethat U.S. discussions withNigeria and Cameroon would complementthe SYG’s mediation.

They stressed the importance of persuad-ing Nigeria to withdraw all its militaryforces beyond the demarcatedinternational border. They also hoped theU.S. would accept a role (together withthe UK, France and Germany) as awitness or guarantor to an agreement.

2. (C)USUN Acting Polcouns and Poloff,drawing from pointsin reftel, discussed the Bakassi issue withthe SYG’s Executive Director Lopes andSRSG Ould-Abdullah on March 14. Lopesexpressed appreciation for USG supportand offer of assistance for SYG Annan’smediation. Lopes gave assurances that

the SYG had not abandoned his media-tion.

Although distracted by other priorities inthe fall, the SYG had refocused attentionon Bakassi in January. Lopes noted thatthe Nigerians, despite acceptance of theICJ ruling, continued to delay its imple-mentation. There was littlelikelihood that the Nigerians would with-draw soon on their own. The SYG remainedcommitted to mediating what he hopedwould lead to a pragmatic solution thatPresidents Obasanjoand Biya would find acceptable and wouldensure a transfer ofsovereignty before Obasanjo left office.

3. (C) Lopes emphasised the sensitivityof the mediation. To ensure secrecy, theSYG had directed that planning for themediation be confined to a handful of offi-cials led by Lopes in New York and SRSGOuld-Abduallah.

(Note: Department of Political Affairs(DPA) officials confirmed that that infor-mation related to Bakassi was closely held,so much sothat Under Secretary-Generalof Political Affairs Gambari wasnot kept fully in the loop.)

4. (C) Lopes and Ould-Abdullah said theplan for a phased withdrawal of the Nige-rian military from Bakassi by July 2006 thatwas agreed upon within the framework ofthe Mixed Commission was positive in thatit fulfilled a pledge made by the two sidesat the tripartite summit in Geneva. How-ever, Nigeria’s implementation withoutsome additionalconsideration had always seemed prob-

lematic because the plan was subject tothe approval of the two presidents. (TheSYG’s approval was also required, but thiswas a formality.)

Given his prior experiences and politi-cal realities in both Nigeria and Cameroon,the SYG was under no illusion that anObasanjo-Biya agreement was easilyachievable. Nonetheless,he thought it possible. He had directedLopes and Ould-Abdullah to plan for atripartite summit, preferably in the secondquarter of the year, ie, by the end of June.

No date had been set as yet. However,Lopes said the SYG shared Cameroon’sconcern that a further delay, with his ownterm of office ending and Nigeria’s presi-dential elections looming, would reducethe chances of a resolution.

5. (C) Lopes did not go into much detailabout how he was proceeding with plan-ning other than to describe the process asa classic conflict-resolution exercise. Hesaid there would be no attempt to resur-rect what may or may not havebeen an agreement of the two presidentsfrom their private discussions with the SYGlast year. Ould-Abdullah noted thatBiya had disavowed the agreement.

Lopes also observed that Cameroon hadmade crystal clear that it would not acceptany payments. Thus, he said a lease-backformula was not viableand was no longer under consideration.

6. (C) That said, Lopes said the SYG’sinclination was still to nudge the two presi-dents to accept an interim arrangementthat would accelerate the withdrawal of the

Nigerian militaryfrom Bakassi. Current conceptual planningwas on developing a proposal that wouldallow the Nigerians to administer a por-tion of Bakassi for a limited period.

In general, he said he was focused ontwo issues: a transitional arrangement andthe status of the Bakassi population. Onthe former, he said any transition periodwould have be less than twenty years (aperiod supposedly discussed by the twopresidents last year)and preferably less than ten years. Lopesstated that he was making more headway“in narrowing the gap” on the issue of thestatus of the villagers. Lopes and Ould-Abdullah noted the importance of Nigeriafully withdrawing itsmilitary to the international demarcatedborder, apparently prior to any transitionalperiod.

7. (C) Lopes did not shed much morelight on the transitional arrangement un-der consideration. He did confirmthat Cameroon would retain the full rightto extract natural resources from Bakassiduring any transition period.

8. (C) Lopes and Ould-Abdullah saidthat if there was a bilateral agreement, itwas important to Cameroon thatcertain “friendly nations”—notably theU.S., UK, France andGermany—would be associated with thisBakassi agreement. Cameroon preferredinternational “guarantors.” If this wasnot feasible, Lopes said the countries wouldbe asked toserve as “witnesses.”

Continues from page 5

OPINION


SHE has been ‘walking the talk’ because underher watch, the Federal Executive Council, FEC,

has recorded the highest number of women holdingsome of the most strategic portfolios ranging fromFinance, Petroleum, Education, Aviation, Housing,Communications, Environment and, of course, Wom-en Affairs. Additionally, women are also junior min-isters in Defence,the Federal Capital Territory andForeign Affairs, bringing the total number to 11 fe-male ministers.

The First Lady, Patience Jonathan, does not claimto speak English language like the Queen of En-gland because it is not her mother tongue and shedoes not pretend to posses the wisdom of Socratesbecause she was just a school teacher before divineforces propelled her husband to the dizzying heightsof Aso Rock where as a good housewife she keepsour President company, but what both her friendsand foes can not deny is that she is passionate aboutthe cause of women and proud of her humblebeginning.Like every reasonable man and woman, lbelieve the foregoing lofty ideals are enough to earngarlands for Madam First Lady.

Yes, some Nigerians may be offended by her re-cent elevation to the rank of Permanent Secretary inBayelsa State civil service, arguing that she doesnot merit it. Again, it would appear that she has beena victim of poor communication because people arenot taking into cognisance the fact that the First Ladywas a school teacher in Rivers State from where she

Garlands for Madam First Lady

transferred her service to Bayelsa State about 14 yearsago when her husband was elected Deputy Gover-nor, then Governor, later Vice President and nowPresident.

Frankly, it is not impossible for a teacher to attainthe rank of Permanent Secretary in 14 years but Pa-tience Jonathan's rise has not been properly docu-mented and articulated hence the public odium itattracted.Being on sabbatical, leave of absence or onsecondment is not an anathema in the civil serviceof our country, so allegations that she has not beenat her duty post as a teacher are untenable becauseas the wife of a Deputy Governor, Governor, VicePresident and President in these past 14 years, Mad-am First Lady has been rendering more strategic ser-vice to this nation than as a school teacher.Let's faceit, do her critics prefer President Jonathan to sufferthe loneliness of a ‘bachelor’ in Aso Rock to the com-panionship of a dotting wife? At this critical time ofConstitution review by the NationalAssembly,NASS,the controversies thrown up by hercivil service job as opposed to public service dutiesshould be resolved through the creation of well de-fined constitutional roles for our first ladies.If thathappens,Patience Jonathan would have been thecatalyst for another landmark accomplishment for thefairer sex in Nigeria.

Strikingly,when Franklin Delano Roosevelt waselected to the presidency of USA (1933-1945), Elean-or, his wife, was reluctant in assuming the role offirst lady but she proved herself to be a good innova-tor when she became the first activist-first lady by

calling press conferences and keeping the public upto date on government policies, in particular, "thenew deal”. She is also on record to have persuadedher husband to create the National Youth Adminis-tration, NYA, which provided financial aid to stu-dents and job training to young men and womenamongst other great accomplishments.So First Lady,Patience Jonathan is in good company when she pro-posed that 35 percent of public and civil service jobsshould be reserved for women for which l became avictim when my political party barred me from con-testing for the House of Representatives seat for Ikafederal constituency in Delta State because it wasoccupied by a lady whom it was alleged the FirstLady had instructed the party machinery to ‘deliv-er’. The rest they say is history but as our dear ener-getic First Lady battles exhaustion related illness ina German hospital, she deserves our sympathy notjeers. She would make history again if and when thecharismatic Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN governor,Sanusi Lamido Sanusi makes good his promise tointroduce the controversial N5,000 currency notes intothe Nigerian financial system with Nigerian hero-ines-Margaret Ekpo, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti andGambo Sawaba as mascot, emblem or symbol on thenew currency.

Concluded

•Mr Onyibe, a former broadcaster and commissioner,wrote from Abuja.

Continued from Friday

BY MAGNUS ONYIBE

Ondo — INEC’s next school

WOULD the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, use

Ondo State to continue its learning proc-esses? Since INEC Chairman, ProfessorAttahiru Jega came into office two yearsago, INEC has promised to be better withevery election.

Before the 2011 elections, Jega told around table in Lagos: “Let me inform youthat when the new commission was put inplace, there was a retreat at Obudu. Thecommission’s report was studied by mem-bers of the commission and in the reportthere was indication that there are about87 ways of rigging elections that were dis-covered and since that time INEC hasbeen doing everything possible block thoseloopholes.”

The 2011 elections either did not benefitfrom INEC’s knowledge, or the malprac-tices in the elections were not among the87 that INEC knew. Jega told the same au-dience: “It is not our skills, knowledge andexperience that will make the electoralprocess successful. Instead, it is our actionsthat will make or mar the process. Conse-

quently, it is our resolve in INEC to be guid-ed by transparency, integrity, credibility,impartiality and dedication.”

Debates will trail these promises, but mostimportantly, the software Jega praised in2010 has not changed anything. Jega hassaid: “The significance of the new softwareis that it will tackle many of the lingeringchallenges that had questioned the credi-bility of our voters’ register. The system willno doubt lead to improvements in the ac-curacy and convenience with which theregister can be revised and updated. Thenew direct data capturing machines is aclear departure from other machines usedin the last registration exercise.”

Are the direct data capturing machinesstill in use? INEC has held one off elec-tions in Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa,

Cross River, Delta, Edo, Kogi, Rivers, Soko-to states since then, with the challenges ap-pearing more overwhelming each time.Last July’s election in Edo State witnessedlate arrival of materials in an unprece-dented magnitude that affected even Be-nin City, the state capital. INEC had no ex-planation for the flaws.

Updating of voters’ register is an assign-ment INEC has abandoned. It gave up theattempt in Edo State after complaintsabout compromise of the process.

INEC should use the Ondo State gover-norship polls on 20 October — just 12 daysaway — to showcase improvements it hasmade, following lessons from Edo whichshares similar terrain with Ondo.

Free and fair elections would be chal-lenged in Ondo. The opposition is fierce,and the incumbent governor believes hehas done enough to be returned. The con-test should remain healthy.

Security of voters should be a priority. Vi-olence has no part in democratic decisionsand politicians should advise their follow-ers accordingly.

CMYK

Gambo Jimeta’s home truth for NEF

I

,,


MOHAMMED GamboJimeta, former InspectorGeneral of Police, fired asurprising broadside at theNorthern Elders Forum, NEF,last week. For describing theGoodluck Jonathan regime as“worse than that of Obasanjo”in its perceived “anti-North”stance, Jimeta described theNEF as choosing the “cowardlypath to create confusion andmistrust” among Nigerians. Healso reminded those of themwho sit in judgement againstthe President that there are

Gambo Jimeta’s home truth for NEF

Ndi Igbo, South-South People’sAssembly, Middle Belt Forum, NorthernElders’ Forum and Arewa ConsultativeForum.

From there they make all manners of

I must agree with Gambo Jimeta,without the slightest fear ofcontradiction, that northern elders havebeen the most irresponsible of the restof their types. They dominated the affairsof this nation for over forty years,securing the lion’s share out of the oil

millions of Nigerian fingers pointing atthem as the major cause of Nigeria’sproblems.

He certainly did not pull punchesbecause he even used the word“hypocritical” in describing theirassessment of the regime.

Out of work former

office holders

I find it very surprising because GamboJimeta has always struck the posture ofbeing among the “Northern Elders”; theclub of out-of-work, out-of-favour formeroffice holders and beneficiaries ofsectional northern domination of thecountry who gather from time to time tobleat for power to be returned to theNorth.

After a spell of silence they suddenlyfound their voices again following therecent public declaration by former Vice

Ah, an ‘ethnic beer'!

I COULD not believe my eyes whenI started seeing this new beer

pandering to the political sensibilities ofIgbo people. It is called Hero Lager. Ithas on its logo the controversial RisingSun of Biafra, and its promoters boldlyadvertise it with the greeting: Igbo kwenu! This beer obviously portrays itselfas a beer of Biafra-loving Igbo people; alager honouring the late hero of Igbostruggle, Dim ChukwuemekaOdumegwu Ojukwu.

On enquiry, I discovered that a SouthAfrican company with a prominentAnambra politician as a major investorwants to use Hero Lager to muscle outanother local lager, Life, which hasrecently been acquired by NigerianBreweries PLC.

I see it as a huge gamble when a

commercial product openly delves intopolitics, especially the politics of Ojukwuand Biafra, as well as the politics ofethnicity. There are other provinciallagers which, like Life, have weatheredthe storm of the business environmentfor over thirty years. These includeTrophy and “33 Export”, which are verystrong in certain parts of the South West,and Champion in Akwa Ibom, yet theywisely avoided politics and self-circumscription in the market.

The projection that Hero’s marketershave chosen can alienate non-Igbos andanti-Biafrans. So, it had better be a goodlager. To be sure, Igbo people will notdrink a bad beer even though it greetsIgbo kwe nu! and flashes the BiafranSun.

President Atiku Abubakar, that he wouldrun again for president in 2015. As if oncue, Atiku’s disgruntled personaloracles, Professor Ango Abdullahi andAlhaji Lawal Kaita, have been boasting- once more - that the North would snatchpower by force from Jonathan in 2015for fouling the zoning arrangement ofthe ruling party.

self-serving demands on the federalgovernment. Usually, when you findsome of them, like Alhaji Jimeta, comingout openly against the rest it is becausethey have secured a favourable spot withthe reigning federal government. Themoment they lose that spot they driftback to vicious the pack ofprebendarians.

,,

I must agree with Gambo Jimeta, without the

slightest fear of contradiction, that northern elders

have been the most irresponsible of the rest of their

types. They dominated the affairs of this nation for

over forty years, securing the lion’s share out of the oil

resources of the Niger Delta, occupying choice

positions in the armed forces, the state agencies and

bureaucracy of the federation; calling the political

shots, enthroning and toppling presidents, and still

came out of it all leaving the nation in shambles and

their native North in much greater shambles

resources of the Niger Delta, occupyingchoice positions in the armed forces, thestate agencies and bureaucracy of thefederation; calling the political shots,enthroning and toppling presidents, andstill came out of it all leaving the nationin shambles and their native North inmuch greater shambles.

They inherited so much from theBritish colonialists and grabbed muchmore for themselves when they were inpower and yet left the nation and theirpeople with little to show for it other thandesperate poverty and Jihadistterrorism. Their failure had nothing todo with their religion or culture, sinceIslam and Muslims are oftenprogressive forces in many parts of theworld, especially the United ArabsEmirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, SaudiArabia and even Western Nigeria. It wasthe anti-national born-to-rule mentality,and the delusion of conquest of the restof the country that made all theunsavoury difference in Arewa leaders.They will never be satisfied with anyNigerian president unless he comes fromtheir cultural zone, for then, they willbe back on the gravy train of the 1960’s,1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s, or so theythink.

They should wake up from their self-imposed slumber to the fact that Nigeriahas changed. They should join handswith the rest of the country to build oneunited nation, where true justice andequity will reign. That is the NewNigeria that is unfolding and willendure.

Those still dreaming of a return to OldNigeria will only die in frustration.

The political elite of thiscountry have beenexemplary in their singularcollective lack of patriotism.Most of them who wereproduced in the early 1960’sand started working for thefederal government as fromthen are now retired, idleand seriously dependent ongovernment, since theyhave little or no business orprofessional acumen. Theyhave drifted into theseirritating regional and tribalattention-seeking “forums”,such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze

Alhaji Gambo Jimeta


,

,

,

,

2015: Kwara and its changingpolitical environment

BY ABDULLAH ISHAQ

CHANGE is constant. Thistruism best describes the po-

litical situation in Kwara, a stategradually shedding its politicalimage as the Sarakis’ fiefdom.Until the 2011 general electionswhen they nearly lost the gover-norship seat, the Sarakis were thelone voice in the state politics,dictating the way of life. Oppo-sition parties, their candidates,most time disenchanted lackeysof the Saraki political clan,would contest election, lose anddisappear. They would resurfacein four years, weakened and dis-credited. That would leave theSarakis holding the yam and theknife, caring little about humancapital or even infrastructuraldevelopment and waiting to ma-nipulate their way back to gov-ernment in future polls.

Today the Sarakis no longerhave a field day in Kwara State,their extremism and disregardfor public sentiments now beingexposed by a consistent, strongand credible opposition led bythe Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN, whose governorship can-didate in the 2011 poll, Moham-med Dele Belgore (SAN), has re-mained a strong (and alterna-tive) voice in the state politics.Kwarans now have opposingviews on how their state is run –the absence of which was large-ly responsible for the way the Sa-rakis had run the state like a fief-

dom over the years.Evidences abound that

Kwarans, including many in thegovernment, are happy about thisand are latching onto the brav-ery and outspokenness of theACN to let out what was clearly apent-up anger at what they callmisrule, oppression and corrup-tion of the past years. The emer-gent culture of protest outsideand within the state civil service– historically unheard of becauseof the fear of silent suppression,impunities and arbitrary sackfrom work as in the case of somelevel 14 civil servants who formerGovernor Bukola Sarakireportedly asked to sign theirletter of resignation before theirpromotion or cases of court ortribunal rulings that were neverrespected as in the case of theformer governor refusing tohonour the ruling of electiontribunal and Appeal Court rul-ings that sacked some PDP law-makers from Offa and declaredthe opposition candidates dulyelected – underscores the chang-ing political environment inKwara State.

It is now commonplace to seehitherto shy Kwarans storm thestreet to protest the impunities oftheir government: fuel subsidyprotest, looting and destructionof PDP secretariat in Ilorin, themotorcyclists’ protest and attackon a top government figure, Bibi-ire Ajape, the IEDPU’s well-coor-dinated open opposition to thegovernment’s land policy and

open protest by Malete commu-nities of the government’s landpolicy, are a few examples. Thepeople are no longer intimidat-ed by the powers and influenceof the Sarakis because attentionis now easily turned on them –thanks to the opposition and thesocial media.

This is not to say that theyhave been defeated. No. But

the days of barefaced impunitiesseem gone. For instance, it is nolonger easy (it was the norm be-fore) to lay claim to some blan-ket achievements. On May 28when the state governmentclaimed to have tarred over600kilometres road in one yearand were even bold enough to listsome of them, the oppositionquickly rushed to the media in adetailed advertorial to exposethe lies with incontrovertiblefacts. It was the same thing ontwitter, where young Kwaransspent days dismantling what theycall the edifice of lie by the stategovernment.

This ultimately leads to thequestion of 2015. It is interest-ing that even the Sarakis are now

forced to acknowledge the exist-ence of political opposition inKwara, despite the initial denials.They now blame everything on theopposition. It is not certain whowill win the crown. What iscertain, however, is that theSarakis would go to the 2015election more fragmented, morediscredited and therefore lesspowerful to orchestrate the sortof rigging that marred the 2011general elections.

Contrary to the claims made incommissioned newspaper arti-cles and manipulated video clipson television screens, Kwaransstill cannot feel the impact of gov-ernance. They are annoyed eventhe more by bogus claims in themedia. It is like committing twogrievous sins: the sin of poor per-formance and the sin of lyingagainst the people.

The opposition has also raisedmany instances of corruption,controversial loans and poor gov-ernance. Unfortunately for theSarakis, their support base (theuneducated, old and dying, butlarge men and women votingpublic) is waning by the day andthe ‘money power’, long reliedupon to sway poor voters, may nolonger save them because theyouths, now forming the largestvoting bloc, have learnt to collectmoney and still vote againstthem.

Ahmed and Saraki Jnr mighthave parted ways after all. Thedenials notwithstanding, twomain camps have alreadyemerged within the PDP: loyalistsof Saraki Jnr and those grum-bling about the new godfather’sarrogance and poor leadership.The latter believes Ahmed shouldassert himself. Who wins is a mat-ter of strategy. The cold war be-

tween Ahmed and AssemblySpeaker Razaq Atunwa is a symp-tom of this rivalry. Another groupis emerging on the sidelines of thetwo above: those routing for theformer PDP National Chairman,Kawu Baraje, as the next gover-nor in 2015, an ambition ridingon bona fide Ilorin indigene’s sen-timent sure to truncate in its em-bryonic stage the Saraki Jnr’semergence as the new godfather.

In case Saraki Jnr used thePDP structure to sideline

Ahmed in the 2015 race, and thatis likely if the infighting contin-ues, that would combine withAhmed’s poor showing to makeKwara South a no-go area for thePDP. So far the expectations ofthe Kwara South elite, especiallythose of Igbomina stock, whoditched their traditional opposi-tion to bad governance and al-leged Saraki’s oppression, havenot been met and they could usethe 2015 to retrace their steps.

The coming together of the Sa-rakis after the 2011 poll is not inany way an added strength forthem. It is for many Kwarans, in-cluding many top former Sarak-ite politicians who went to ACPN,a confirmation of deceit and con-spiracy to sustain the Saraki po-litical dynasty. Many of themwith integrity may seek to taketheir pound of flesh as seen in therecent defection to ACN of the in-fluential Chief Ayeni faction ofACPN. The so-called Saraki/IdiApe reconciliation is at best afluke. It has not, will not and can-not address the core issues of thedispute.

*Mr Ishaq, a political analyst,wrote from Ilorin, Kwara State

52 years after independence, publiceducation remains in shambles

BY HASSAN TAIWO SOWETO

THE Education Rights Campaign ,

( ERC, uses the occasion of Nigeria’s52nd independence anniversary to againpoint attention to the colossal collapse ofpublic education across the country anddemand immediate government invest-ment to arrest the decay and revive quali-ty and standard in primary, secondary andtertiary tiers of the educational system.

We also use this occasion to call for theimmediate reversal of hiked fees at the La-gos State University, LASU, Ekiti StateUniversity, EKSU and the Osun StateUniversity, UNIOSUN. We reject all at-tempts to introduce tuition fee as recom-mended by the Oronsaye committeereport. We call for the provision of freeand functional education at all levels.

The only fitting way to mark this inde-pendence anniversary is by mass protestsand demonstration of the working mass-es, students and poor against the ruinouspolicies of successive governments in Ni-geria which have turned Nigeria to an un-der-develo+ping nation 52 years after flagindependence. While all socio-economicindices certainly point to reversals in allfields of life, including infrastructures,health, housing, job provision, security,etc, as the nation clocks 52, the conditionof public education is indeed very appall-ing.

Fifty-two years ago, the nation’s educa-tion system was at its infancy with verylow enrollment and very few schools anduniversities. However, there were effortsby the government in the First Republic toexpand educational access to all nooksand crannies in order to develop the in-digenous productive force. The first uni-versities were established around thisperiod. Most notable of this era was the

free education policy of the governmentin the old Western Region which openedthe doors of education to many, includingthe children of poor working class andpeasant families who would not have hadthe means to pay fees. Many politicaloffice holders from the South West todaywho now often say that free education isimpossible were in fact beneficiaries of thisfree education policy.

Today the clock of historical progresshas been unwound. The impressive ad-vance in public education recorded in theFirst and Second republics have all beencompletely unraveled by successive mili-tary and civilian governments through neo-liberal capitalist policies of educationunder-funding and commercialisation.While 52 years ago many an illiterate par-ents (including farmers and hunters in thewild) were having literate children whowere able to educate themselves up to thelimit of their abilities, today this wholeprocess has been reversed with the horrif-ic but occurring prospect of completelyliterate parents now having half-literateand stark illiterate children because ofinability to afford the cost of education.

This reality is borne out by the cold harshstatistics of over 12 million children outof school with a huge percentage of thisbeing girls. All of Nigeria’s universitiescan all admit a little over 200, 000 newentrants annually yet over 1.5 million can-didates write UTME annually. This isaside hundreds of thousands who nevermake it beyond senior secondary schoolclass before privations forces them to gointo menial jobs, apprenticeship, crimesand prostitution. These are the lost gener-ations – a generation deprived of knowl-edge and completely out of tune with thedemands of the 21st century and they arelost thanks to over 30 years of unrelentingneo-liberal attacks on public education!

Indeed since the late 1980s and moresharply since the last general elections inApril 2011, all political parties in powerat Federal and state levels have taken dras-tic steps to further attacks on the right toaffordable and quality public education.This is on top of the poor conditions ofteaching and living infrastructures in pri-mary, secondary and tertiary schoolswhich have in turn seriously reduced thequality and standard of education.

There is hardly any state in Nigeriatoday where fees have not been hiked

beyond what poor working families canafford. The political party in power doesnot matter. It is one historical irony ofour time that governments formed by theAction Congress of Nigeria, ACN, whichclaims to be the descendant of ObafemiAwolowo’s political dynasty, are leadingthe neo-liberal assault on public educa-tion today. In fact, students are worse offand are faced with frightening and un-precedented fee hikes in states where so-called progressive opposition politicalparties like the ACN are in power.

Fees at LASU, EKSU and UNIOSUNare some of the highest fees in anyuniversity in Nigeria today. The fees ofsome of these universities rival privateuniversities’ and these monstrous feeswere hiked by supposedly progressive ACNstate governments upholding the legacy

of Obafemi Awolowo!

Last year LASU fees were increasedby as much as 750% with medical

students being charged up to N345, 750!Because many could not afford it, admis-sion in 2011/2012 session fell by about30%! Indeed in this year’s post-UTME,students seeking admission to LASUsharply dropped. Most alarming was theover 2000 students who merited admis-sion having passed post-UTME, aside oth-er requirements, but had to forfeit theiradmissions because they could not affordthe fees!Now on top of all these, the Peo-ples Democratic Party, PDP -led FederalGovernment is planning to introduce tu-ition fees! Few months ago, a Federal Gov-ernment committee headed by Mr. StephenOronsaye identified “the tuition-free poli-cy of government for undergraduates infederal universities, the over-dependencyon government funding by universities …,as among the factors responsible for thesharp decline in the quality of standardsin tertiary education”. The committeetherefore proposed introduction of tuitionfees of between N450, 000 and N525, 000!

The ERC condemns this attempt to com-pletely make education the preserve of thefew rich, politicians and treasury looters.Education is the inalienable right of allpeople and it is the duty and responsibili-ty of the government to ensure none of itscitizens are denied access to quality edu-cation on the basis of inability to pay. Allthe Oronsaye committee has achievedwith its report on education is to put theblame of the collapse of public educationon the victim: students and their poorworking class parents. Meanwhile it isgovernment neo-liberal education policiescoupled with over 30 years of underfund-ing that is responsible for the collapse ofquality and standard in public education.

The ERC warns that by introducing tu-ition fee, the already bad condition of pub-lic education will take a sharp turn for theworse.

*Mr Soweto is the National Coordina-tor, Education Rights Campaign, ERC.

It is nowcommonplace tosee hitherto shyKwarans stormthe street toprotest theimpunities oftheirgovernment

The ERC condemnsthis attempt to com-pletely makeeducation thepreserve of the fewrich, politicians andtreasury looters;education is theinalienable right of allpeople

12 DAYS

TO GO

•L-r: Senator Bolu Kunlere, Ondo Southern Senatorial District; Labour Party State Chairman, Chief OluOgidan; Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye andSpeaker Ondo House of Assembly, Mr Samuel Adesina during the Labour Party Mega rally in theSouthern Senatorial District of the State in Okitipupa …weekend

THE reported endorsementof Dr. Segun Mimiko by

Pastor Tunde Bakare is beingmocked by the ACN whichyesterday noted that thepastor and prophet is notedmore for his many failedpredictions.

“Pastor Bakare is notoriousfor being on the losing side.He supported Gen.Muhammad Buhari in the lastpresidential election andpushed the much loved manwith his ambition to becomevice president until their partylost woefully,” the Director ofPublicity of the AkeredoluCampaign Organisation,Idowu Ajanaku said in a

ACN mocks Bakare’s endorsement of Mimiko

statement.“The man seems derailed

and confused; he is a deadwood politician whosepastoral calling has beencompletely muddled up withpartisan politics.”

“Nobody will take himserious, a man who hasabused respected men of Godin the land like PastorAdeboye of the RedeemedChurch of God, PastorOyedepo of Winners andPastor Olukoya of theMountain of Fire andMiracles Ministries.”

“How many of hispredictions have come topass. He predicted that

Obasanjo will not becomepresident in 1999 but the manended up spending eightyears in office. He is a politicalirritant who has no structurein south-west.”

“Bakare is not an indigeneof Ondo State so he does noknow where the shoe pinches,Ondo indigenes areclamoring for change in themanner they came out toattend ACN rallies.

If ACN could win in Ogunwhere Bakare hails from andcould also win in Ikeja wherehe resides, then ACN will winregardless of his endorsementin Ondo.”

THE People’s DemocraticParty, (PDP) candidate at the

forthcoming governorshipelection in Ondo State, ChiefOlusola Oke has said that ifelected governor of the state, hewould create wealth for the poormasses and uplift the people outof abject poverty by generatingemployment.

He also argued that the presentadministration in the state has notdone enough in tackling themenace of un-employment just ashe lampooned the Mimikoadministration for abandoning allprojects of the previousadministration led by Dr.Olusegun Agagu.

Speaking in Lagos at theweekend, Oke promised that ifvoted into power, he will lift thepeople out of poverty bygenerating employment, creatingwealth, as well as enablingagricultural and industrialrevolutions.

His words, “People are poor

BY GBENGA OKE

Oke promises employmentbecause of government policieswhich do not create alternativeemployer of labour, alternativegenerators of wealth for thepeople of the state”.

“The projects that were meantto open up the economy of OndoState, to open up the coastalresources, the forest resourcesand bring about sustainabledevelopment, were allabandoned by the Mimikoadministration and thegovernment encouragescosmetic projects like buildingbus stops, building markets,building fountain and mega-schools which have not impactedon the lives of the masses”.

Explaining how he wouldgenerate employment, Oke saidhe would save a lot of money bydoing away with most of the 800advisers of the incumbentgovernor most of whom hedescribed as sit-at-home incomeearners and use the resources toemploy graduates in identifiedareas of need in Ministries andParastatals.

Watch your utterances,Mimiko cautions Tinubu

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKEREDOLU CampaignOrganization (ACO) has

called on the Commissioner ofPolice in Ondo State toinvestigate the allegedimportation of thugs to thestate by a chieftain of theLabour Party,LP.It also claimed that the thugswere moved into the state inbatches, adding that theywere being camped at agovernment owned hotel.

A statement by DirectorMedia and Publicity of ACO

ACN accuses LP of importing thugs

Mr. Idowu Ajanakub said thethugs numbering over 300were brought for the purposeof rigging the October 20election.

His words: ‘’ACO hereby callon the commissioner of policeand other security agents totake note and investigateurgently because ACNmembers will not fold theirarms and be molested by somethugs imported by a chieftainof LP from the eastern part ofthe country. ‘’

GOVERNOR OlusegunMimiko of Ondo State

has called on the NationalLeader of the Action Congressof Nigeria (ACN), SenatorBola Tinubu to embracedecorum in all his publicoutings, noting that thosewhose track records are in thepublic domain must treadcautiously.

Mimiko, who spoke atOkitipupa at the LabourParty,LP, Mega Rally said thatthe people of the state wouldnot be part of a phoney anddeceitful integration as beingpreached by the leadership ofthe ACN.

He further state that he hadplaced the state on the pathof sustainable development.

His words:’’In Ondo State,the ACN is not on ground andthey will meet their politicalwaterloo here. Please, askthem what are they doing inOsun that we have not donebetter? In any of their States,

Ondo State is better managedthan them They talked aboutintegration, if they want tointegrate the South West, is itgoing to be in one person’spockets? If that is integration,then Ondo State will never bea part of such a phoney anddeceitful integration.’’

In addition, Mimiko said, ‘’Isalute Babtunde Fashola,whatever anybody may say, hehas shown a flash of brilliancein governance. But the 8years before Fashola, whatdid they do in Lagos?

They used 8 years to buildjust one Millennium School;we in Ondo State, in justthree and a half years, havebuilt world class megaschools all over the state.’’

Continuing, he said, ‘’WhatI know is that those who saythey want to capture OndoState will lose their depositsin Ondo State on October 20,they will meet their politicalwaterloo. I also know that inOndo State, we are a proudpeople with a proud heritage.’

THE Mimiko CampaignOrganisation,MCO, has

described the threat by ActionCongress of Nigeria (ACN)that it would in conjunctionwith the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) resort to self helpunless the Director of theState Security Services inOndo State is redeployed, asan invitation to a state ofanarchy.

It also dismissed thestatement as reckless anddangerous, noting that it wasa justification of strident criesin the past that the twoleading opposition partieswere working against theinterest of the state.

ACN had at the weekendthrough the Director of Mediaof the Akeredolu Campaign

You’re inciting violence, Mimiko tells ACNBY DAYO JOHNSON Organisation (ACO) Mr

Idowu Ajanaku, called for theremoval of the SSS boss in thestate accusing her of bias.

A statement by the Directorof Publicity and MediaRelations of MCO, MrKolawole Olabisi said thethreat by the parties must betreated with grave concern bysecurity agents.

According to him, ‘’Whatthe ACN and the PDP aredoing is to work together andto cause so much violence tointimidate the electorate notto come out especially inareas they see as impregnableto their nefarious plans to rig.This had been the antics of theACN in particular and it ismerely angling for theredeployment of securityofficers who are in theirpayroll to Ondo State.

It has happened in all theStates they are controlling.’’

Olabisi further said, ‘’Thestatement is nothing butinciting and a cleardeclaration of a state ofanarchy by these desperadoswho cannot win a ward in afreeand fair election in theState unless throughsubterfuge.’’

Continuing he said, ‘’Weurge the security operativesnot to take this startling butequally frightening revelationlightly for it was a rareconfession that could onlyhave been divinely inspiredfrom those who want to turnOndo State into a cauldron ofviolence. It must not beallowed to be swept under thecarpet. ”


CMYK

IN 1890, when Britain andGermany decided on the Rio

del Rey Boundary, the Germanshad wanted Bakassi to be givento them, mainly to enable themdevelop commercial shrimp fish-ing industry there. The place isapparently crawling with shrimpsand crayfish. On that occasion, theBritish Foreign Office turneddown the request. But a BritishForeign Office official, Mr.Trench, was anxious to please:“The few square miles of bog, andone or two Negro villages thatwould be added to German terri-tory by giving up the presentfrontier, are quite secondary and/or subordinate….. These protect-ed subjects easily rebuild theirhomes.”

Sir Claude Macdonald, theCommissioner and Consul-Gen-eral of Niger Coast Protectorate,also described Bakassi thus: “Theground in dispute is a strip of dis-mal swamp…..peopled by a fewmiserable fisher folk.”

That was in the nineteenth cen-tury, at the height of social dar-winism, racism and the patroniz-

uprooted from their homes, andexpropriated of their landed prop-erty with arbitrary impunity.

In the Colony and Protectorateof Nigeria, things were different.When the Colonial Governmentwanted land from the land own-ers of Lagos, for use as crownland, they negotiated treaties oflease or sale with the native landowners, and paid them for theirland. In the Protectorate of South-ern Nigeria, when the BritishGovernment wanted the land ofDiobu chiefs for the building ofthe new town, Railway terminal,and seaport of Port Harcourt; andthe European Quarters, the Co-lonial Government purchased ahuge area of land from the Diobuchiefs in 1913. On that occasion,the Diobu chiefs retained the ser-vices of Herbert Macaulay, an ex-perienced land surveyor, and lat-er, father of the Nigerian nation,to help them with their negotia-tions. Lagos was a colony, Diobuwas in a Protectorate.

In German Cameroon, it wasdifferent. The Germans went forlarge plantations, timber conces-sions, plantations of palm fruitsand kernels, and commercial ag-

call that on May 16, 1981, Came-roonian Gendarmes fired on Ni-gerian soldiers patrolling theCreeks around Akwa Yafe River.They shot and killed five Nigeri-an soldiers, including an officer,and fled into the creeks in theirboats. Nigerians were incensedand demanded urgent reprisals.

The Nigerian military were anx-ious to go in there and avengethe death of their fellow soldiers.President Shehu Shagari gavePresident Ahidjo seven days ul-timatum to find the culprits andimpose appropriate sanctions.

Immediateapology

Additionally, Nigeria demand-ed an immediate apology, repa-rations, and compensation for thefamily of the bereaved PresidentAhidjo, ordinarily a very obstinateman, bluntly refused. He insist-ed that “the incident occurred inRio del Rey, in Cameroon’s terri-toried waters.” That was reveal-ing. He repeated that explana-tion in writing, in several ex-changes with President Shagari.

His patience exhausted, Presi-dent Shagari decided to mobilizethe troops for an invasion of Cam-eroons to teach them a lesson,because they had been testing thepatience of Nigeria in several in-cidents of harassment of Nigeri-an fishermen in Nigerian fishingports of Bakassi. An experiencedGeneral was directed to preparehis invasion plans for the approv-al of the National Defence Coun-cil, which he did.

The troops massed at designat-ed locations at the borders. Allthat was needed was for the Pres-ident to designate the D-Day, andthe troops will move into Came-roon. Both Nations were that closeto war. President Shagari was,however, restrained from issuingthe necessary order because thearea in question had barely comeout of the civil war, eleven yearsearlier.

He did not want another war inthe same location, so close, in time,to the last one. Fortunately, wisecounsel prevailed. Edem Kodjo,

Secretary-General of the OAUreported that the French had sentword that French Intelligence hadreported massive war prepara-tions on the Nigerian side of theborder. The OAU President,Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, SiakaStevens of Sierra Leone and sev-eral other African heads of stateintervened and urged restraint.Eventually, the French Govern-ment intervened and directed thePresident of Cameroons to backdown. He did, and paid the re-quired compensation, promisedto punish the culprits, and issuedthe apology demanded, on July20, 1981.

One would have thought thatthe Nigerian defence team couldhave contacted President Shagari,for a briefing on that incident.They could have contacted anddiscussed with each of our formerpresidents, and garnered mate-rial of great evidential value fromsuch interaction, since the formerpresidents are alive and well, andby constitutional right, membersof the National Council of State.Nigeria is fortunate in being oneof the few African nations today,none of whose former rulers is liv-ing in exile. Surprisingly, our law-yers at The Hague failed to ex-ploit the evidential value of thatincident even though that was theflash point in our mutual relationsfor a very long time.

Exchangeof letters

That exchange of letters showedthat Ahidjo was aware that theboundary was at Rio del Rey. Thetwo countries have never disput-ed the validity of the Rio del ReyBoundary at Bakassi Peninsulasince 1960, when they both be-came independent of their re-spective colonial rulers. The twocountries had enjoyed years ofpeace, without incident, beforethe incident in 1981. Also, therewas the flash point in 1993/94when the Cameroonian Armydecided to engage the NigerianArmed Forces over Bakassi. TheNigerian Army chased them outof Bakassi completely, and only

Continues from Friday

Continues on page 45

,

,


restrained itself from crossing intoeast Bakassi, east of the Rio delRey, to avoid being accused ofcommitting aggression in aneighbour’s territory.

Surprisingly, Cameroon rushedto the UN Security Council, theUN and the OAU, accused Nige-ria of invading her territory, andfiled proceedings against Nige-ria at the ICJ. Cameroon was noteven a member of the ICJ sinceher independence in 1960. Shebecame a member of the ICJ justto be able to file this case. Nige-ria could have made “good faith”an issue in this dispute, sinceunder Articles 74 and 83 of therules of the UN Conference onLaw of the Seas (UNCLOS), ne-gotiating in “good faith” was in-cumbent on all parties in a dis-pute over maritime boundaries.

Cameroon always capitalizedon mistakes made in the courseof negotiations, each time an er-

Prof Walter Ofonagoro here asserts that Go-

won and Ahidjo negotiated behind closed

doors to alienate Bakassi to Cameroun and that

no one had the opportunity to examine or com-

ment on the initial agreement they reached

The NigerianArmy chasedthem out ofBakassi com-pletely, and onlyrestrained itselffrom crossinginto east Bakassi,east of the Riodel Rey, to avoidbeing accused ofcommitting ag-gression in aneighbour’sterritory

British govt handedover Bakassi toNigeria atindependence

ing liberalism of Victorian En-gland. The world has changed agreat deal in the last 120 years,and we are now in the 21st Cen-tury. Arrangements such as theseto uproot people from their an-cestral homes, and their own land,are no longer the order of the day.It was mainly in colonies of set-tlement like Colonial America,Colonial South Africa, ColonialKenya High Lands, Rhodesia(North and South), and Namib-ia, that “Natives” were arbitrarily

riculture. So theyseized huge areas ofland from the natives,and turned them intoplantation labourers.The policy of each co-lonial power regardingland, varied with itseconomic objectives.One does not expect,therefore, that the sameBritish Governmentthat would lease, orbuy land from British“protected subjects” inDiobu, would be ex-propriating another setof British subjects, in

the same Protectorate, the sameyear. The 1st World War changedall of that, and the British Gov-ernment never handed overBakassi to any one until 1960,when they handed it over to Ni-geria at Independence.

Killing of fiveNigerian soldiers

Let us return briefly to the Ni-gerian legal defence team at TheHague. Many Nigerians will re-

PROF WALTER OFONAGORO

Results of the voting in plebiscite districts in southern Camerouns

CMYK


British govt handed over Bakassito Nigeria at independence

Continues tomorrow

,

,The two Heads of

States decided todiscuss the matterbetween themselvesbehind closeddoors. Only theChief Surveyors ofNigeria and theCameroons wereinvited into thesecret meetingbetween GeneralGowon and Ah-madu Ahidjo. At theend of the negotia-tions, the two lead-ers at a ceremony,which I, and otherofficials attended,signed a communi-qué and initialed amap which showedthe boundary linesagreed by both ofthem. We did nothave the opportuni-ty to examine orcomment on theinitial agreementreached by the twoleaders

ror of monumental proportions ismade. They have always refusedto have any errors corrected, in-stead, they obstinately persistedin refusing to have such “errors”corrected, until they ultimatelyprofited thereby. Such posturecannot encourage good will andfuture cordial relations. Surpris-ingly, the Nigerian defence teamnever raised such issues at TheHague. They always preferred toplay “big brother,” even at the riskof jeopardizing fundamental na-tional interest, such as the secu-rity of the territorial interests ofthe South-South and South-EastStates of Nigeria. (Italics mine).

Bakassi and theNigerian Civil War

We must now take a brief lookat the Nigerian Civil war, to seewhat connection, if any, it has hadon the instant case. All indicationspoint in that direction, includingthe posture of our legal team atThe Hague. There is a very strongfeeling in Nigeria that the cessionof Bakassi was intended to com-pensate Cameroon, for standingbehind Nigeria, during the diffi-cult years of the Civil War.

It is generally believed, that ifCameroon had not helped Nige-ria seal up the Eastern border, theonly border Biafra had with theoutside world, with the sea bor-der tightly blockaded by the wellequipped Nigerian Navy, the sto-ry of the civil war which endedon January 12, 1970, could havebeen different. Justice Elias, thenAttorney General of the Federa-tion and Minister of Justice, gavea hint of that issue in his famous“Legal Opinion” addressed to hisExternal Affairs counterpart Dr.Okoi Arikpo, on Bakassi, datedSeptember 3, 1970.

In that document, in addition tolegal issues raised in them, mostof which have been discussed inthis paper, he did stress that “Ev-ery effort should be exerted on ourside to ensure that Nigeria doesnot show ingratitude to a sister

country that stood by us duringthe civil war. Accordingly, Istrongly urge that these recom-mendations of the Nigeria – Cam-eroons Joint Boundary Commis-sion dated August 14, 1970,should be implemented expedi-tiously. ”

Those who argue that the pol-icies that Nigeria adopted in go-ing into the Yaoundé II and Ma-roua agreements of April 4, 1971and June 1, 1975, were based onthe famous “Elias Legal Opinion”of September 3, 1970, need tothink again. The decision to adoptthe Anglo-German Treaty ofMarch 11, 1913 as a basis formoving forward in the Nigeria/Cameroon Boundary negotia-tions, had already been takenbefore Dr. Elias was consulted.

In those circumstances, his con-clusion was inescapable, but onlyif one ignores, or somehow ma-nipulates Articles 21 and 25 of thatAgreement out of reckoning, be-cause they are the safeguards forthe Rio del Rey boundary, theCalabar/Cross River Basin, andthe sea roads to Calabar Sea Port.As we have seen, Article 21 wasbrushed aside, and it was a man-datory Article; and Article 25 wascompletely ignored, in order toproduce the Ngo/Coker bound-ary line.

Violation oftwo articles

These were never the intentionsof the United Kingdom and Ger-many in drafting the agreementof March 11, 1913. The violationof these two Articles of the Treatyhad disastrous consequences forNigeria, and the Cross RiverState. It also meant that the termsof the Treaty of March 11, 1913,as intended by Britain and Ger-many who negotiated that Treatywere completely, disregarded.The Treaty of March 11, 1913,could not, therefore, have beenthe basis for Yaoundé I and II, andMaroua Declarations.

President Shehu Shagari in hisautobiographical work, Beckoned

to Serve, also expressed the be-lief that Bakassi was somehow agift to Cameroon, from GeneralGowon, for services rendered inthe civil war. He had accompa-nied General Gowon to theYaoundé Summit of April 1971,and recalls what transpired: “I wasprivileged to be in the entourageof General Gowon as a FederalCommissioner on that occasion.Although I participated in the bi-lateral talks, between the Nigeri-an and Cameroonian delega-tions, I did not participate in thenegotiations on the issue ofboundary disputes.

"The two Heads of States decid-ed to discuss the matter betweenthemselves behind closed doors.Only the Chief Surveyors of Ni-geria and the Cameroons wereinvited into the secret meetingbetween General Gowon andAhmadu Ahidjo. At the end of thenegotiations, the two leaders at aceremony, which I, and other of-ficials attended, signed a commu-niqué and initialed a map whichshowed the boundary linesagreed by both of them.

"We did not have the opportu-nity to examine or comment onthe initial agreement reached bythe two leaders, but we under-stood that the details were to beworked out later. It was not until1975 that General Gowon metwith his Cameroonian counter-part at Maroua in the Cameroonswhen the final agreement onwhat was to be known as the Cok-er/Ngo line were finally agreedupon. It was clearly understoodthat the Agreement signed by thetwo leaders would become law

only after it was ratified by thelegislature of each of the twocountries.

"In the case of Nigeria, the leg-islature at that time was the Su-preme Military Council, but inCameroon, the elected legislaturetook no time in ratifying theAgreement since it was heavilyin their favour.

Seriousanomalies

"The Nigerian Supreme Mili-tary Council, however, refused toratify that agreement because itnoticed serious anomalies in thewhole exercise which gave awaysubstantial part of what shouldhave been Nigerian territory toCameroon on the ground thatCameroon already got some oilrigs placed in the territorial wa-ters of the disputed area whichthey were not prepared to re-move.

It is generally believed thatGeneral Gowon made this gen-erous concession to the Cameroonin recognition and appreciationof that country’s stand behindNigeria during the difficult peri-od of the Nigerian civil war. Itturned out, however, that an over-whelming number of Nigeriansincluding members of the Su-preme Military Council, believedthat Nigeria had been over-gen-erous and wished that we oughtto have shown our appreciationto Cameroon in some other way,instead of surrendering ourrights, and those of future gener-ations to another nation”.

Nnanna Ochereome, in hisPeople and Politics column of theVanguard, published on October17, 2002, entitled “Why we lostBakassi Peninsula”, also supportsthis view, quoting one Okon Bas-sey of The Chronicle, a Calabar-based, State-Government ownedNewspaper, who he had met atBakassi in April, 1994.

He states that at the start of thecrisis between Col. Ojukwu andCol. Gowon, which eventuallyescalated to the Civil War, IsaacAdaka Boro, who had just beenre-absorbed into the NigerianArmy at the time, after the seces-sion of the Biafra, had been incommand of the Nigerian Armyunit at Bakassi, which guardedthe entrance to the Cross Riverestuary.

Results of the voting in plebiscite districts in southern Camerouns

Continues frompage 44


JUSTICE DolapoAkinsanya’s reputation as a

fearless and courageouswoman in the judiciary was notachieved recently. She came tonational limelight in 1993 whenas a judge in the Lagos Statejudiciary she delivered thejudgment that removed thelegal framework under whichthe interim nationalgovernment contraption ofChief Ernest Shonekan hadvainly sought to legitimiseitself.

Now retired from the bench,Justice Akinsanya as head of afive man local governmentelection tribunal in Lagos State,again came to fore lastThursday with a judgment ona nationally watched proxypolitical battle in Lagos.

In its judgment, the JusticeAkinsanya led paneloverturned the declaration ofthe Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN’s Adewale Adeniji as thewinner of the local governmentchairmanship election in Ikoyi/Obalende development councilconducted last October. Evenmore, the panel in a 4 to 1decision, declared the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP’sBabajide Obanikoro as thewinner of the election.

The reverberation of thejudgment was cause forcelebration for the longsuffering Lagos PDP whichuntil now had not made anyelectoral impact in the statesince the advent of the AsiwajuBola Tinubu phenomenon.What is even being celebrated

The little proxy war in Lagos

•Tinubu: ACN National Leader •Obanikoro: PDP leader

,

,

•Akinsanya: Giant Killer or what?

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,

POLITICAL EDITOR

•Lagos state: Is ACN hegemony crumbling?

by the Lagos PDP is the fact thatthe national leader of the ACN,Asiwaju Tinubu has hisregistered home within Ikoyi/Obalende council area.

“We commend members ofthe panel for being bold todeclare the judgment in favourof PDP in an area where theresidence of the national leaderof the ACN, Bola AhmedTinubu is and our councillorcandidate was also declaredwinner in the ward whereformer Governor Tinuburesides,” Barrister TaofeekGani, the PDP’s state publicitysecretary told Vanguard at the

the PDP to ever win in Lagos."It is not possible for the PDPto defeat ACN in any councilin Lagos . ACN is the mostpopular party in the state,” theACN’s Assistant PublicitySecretary, Chief FunsoOlogunde declared shortlyafter the judgment.

In a more comprehensiverebuttal, the ACN through itsstate publicity secretary,Comrade Joe Igbokwe said thejudgment was a vindication ofthe fact that elections truly tookplace in the state and thewillingness of the ACN to openup the democratic space unlikethe trend in PDP controlledstates.

“We challenge the PDP andits allies to allow for suchcredible process in the statesthey govern. A situation whereit is only in Lagos that adifferent party from the one thatcontrols the state can lay claimto victory and go to the tribunalto have such claim affirmedshould worry the PDP, whichdelights in closing thedemocratic space in all statesit control through fair and foulmeans and striving to employall means to control localgovernment councils in statesit does not control.”

“We want them to learnimmensely from the Lagos Stateprocess and give other parties

fair chances of contesting andwinning elections in the statesthey control,” Igbokwe said ashe disclosed that the party wasstill considering an appeal.

Steadfast insupport for party

“We acknowledge that wemay not win it all and that ifwe eventually lose the case atthe appeal, it is no big deal tolose one out of 57 LCDAs. Weurge our members to remainform and steadfast in theirsupport for our great party.”

The notice of an appeal wasbeing received with ominoussigns in the PDP at theweekend as Taofeek feared theworst.

“The ACN chairman said ourvictory will not last and thatthey will get it back. I don’tknow what he means becauseit was a verdict of 4 to 1 and forhim to say that the victory willnot last it means that they areup to another Salami style attheir own level here but we willresist it.”

“The people of Ikoyi/Obalende have spoken, theyvoted and their votes mustcount and the court has alsoconfirmed that we were votedfor and that we won. So, if theycome up with any thing thatwill prcepitate violence.”

The judgment was cause for

celebration for the long suffering

Lagos PDP which until now had not

made any electoral impact in the state

since the advent of the Tinubu

phenomenon

The court verdict on the outcome of last October’s election in

Ikoyi/Obalende Development Council Area of Lagos State is a

tonic for the long suffering opposition PDP in the state. Is it

sustainable?

weekend.Remarkably, the PDP’s

candidate, Babajide, is the sonof Senator Musiliu Obanikoro,Nigeria’s current HighCommissioner to Ghana and aformer Local GovernmentChairman in the State. SenatorObanikoro was also at one timea commissioner in the Tinubucabinet before going to theSenate from where he jumpedship to the PDP.

After cancellations of allegedillegal votes and otherdeductions, the Akinsanya ledpanel declared that Obanikorowon the election by 6780 votesto 6,248 votes attained by hisACN counterpart.

The local government election

of last October was the first onethat the PDP had participatedin since the creation of the 57local councils by the Tinubuadministration. The PDP hadbefore last October boycottedthe council polls on the premisethat the councils were illegallycreated. In other nationalelections, however, the ACN inalmost every caseoverwhelmed the PDP.

When the PDP, however,decided to participate in thelocal government elections lastyear, only few could have giventhe party any hope of successdespite the internal divisions

that bedeviled the ACN priorto the polls on account ofalleged imposition ofcandidates.

At the end of polling the PDPclaimed to have been cheatedout of some chairmanshippositions it claimed to havewon, notably the princely Ikoyi/Obalende council and Badagry.

Protests by national and localofficers of the party werefollowed by admonitions fromACN leaders that they shouldgo to court. The outcome of thecourt battle in the Ikoyi/Obalende council was JusticeAkinsanya’s remarkableverdict. The Lagos ACN wasquick to rebut the declarationdeclaring it an impossibility for

CMYK



A month before Election Day, President

Barack Obama’s cam-paign and Democratsposted an impressivefundraising haul, easingthe party’s concerns thathe would face a signifi-cant money disadvantageagainst his well-financedRepublican rival in thecrucial closing days.Romney shrugged off adrop in unemployment,an issue at the heart of therace, contending it’s“crystal clear” a jobs cri-sis endures.

Bolstered by the Dem-ocratic National Conven-tion, Obama and his par-ty Saturday reported acombined take of $181million for September,their best fundraisingmonth of the campaignand just short of theirrecord of $190 million inthe 2008 campaign, alsoin September. Romney’scampaign has not re-leased its report for themonth yet.

It was oddly quiet onemonth out. Obama tooktime off for a 20th anni-versary celebration withhis wife, Michelle, post-poned from the day of thefirst presidential debatelast week, while Romneydevoted time to prepar-ing for the next debate,Oct. 16 in Hempstead,N.Y., before a Saturdayevening rally in Apopka,Fla..The latest fundrais-ing report showed

Obama raises more fund,despite debate flop

Obama and the Democrat-ic National Committeeimproving on their take ofabout $114 million in Au-gust, when Obamagained a narrow edge inthe money race after trail-ing Romney and Repub-licans for three straightmonths. The Romneycampaign has refused torelease its Septemberfundraising numbers,which are due Oct. 20, orsay if they will make themavailable early as has be-

come custom.Aides have suggested

that fundraising sufferedin the final weeks of themonth as polls foundRomney falling behindObama. Following Rom-ney ’s debate perfor-mance, they were pri-vately optimistic the num-bers would improve tohelp fuel a television ad-vertising blitz over thecampaign’s final monthin as many battlegroundstates as possible.

•President Obama

DESPITE Mitt Romney’s strong de-

bate performance no gainhas come his way to con-vince more voters he un-derstands them or is a“good person” eventhough he has narrowedPresident BarackObama’s overall polllead, according to a Reu-

Romney struggles in polls

ters/Ipsos survey re-leased on Saturday.

Just a month before theNovember 6 election, theDemocratic president isahead of his Republicanchallenger on characterattributes that can winover undecided voterswho have not beenswayed on policy points.

Romney gained in a fewareas, but not at Obama’sexpense despite the in-cumbent’s lackluster per-formance in the first pres-idential debate onWednesday. On the broadquestion of who they willvote for in November,Obama kept his slim 2percentage point leadover Romney among like-ly voters - 47 to 45 per-cent - in the online sur-vey.

The gap was un-changed from Friday,when Obama led by 46 to44 percent in the trackingpoll. His lead was 6 per-centage points before thetwo men first went head-to-head in Denver.

“We haven’t seen addi-tional gains from Rom-ney. This suggests to methat this is more of abounce than a permanentshift,” Ipsos pollster JuliaClark said. The poll didnot show Obama backersshifting to Romney. Rath-er, Romney’s small gainson a few of the issuescame from people whohad been undecided.

HUGO Chavez loyalists blew bugles

in a wake up call for vot-ers yesterday as the Ven-ezuelan leader faced thebiggest electoral chal-lenge yet to his socialistrule from a young rivaltapping into discontentover crime and cronyism.

Henrique Capriles, acentrist state governor,edged toward the still-popular Chavez in finalpolls thanks to a vigorouscampaign that united theopposition and made himits best chance of endingthe president’s 14-yeartenure. Chavez has usedrecord oil revenue to sup-port ideological alliesaround the world whilepreaching a fiercely anti-American line, so theelection is being watchedeagerly from the UnitedStates to Belarus andIran.

Queues formed at some

Venezuelans clamour for

Chavez

polling centers long be-fore they opened, anddespite a few delays vot-ing was going smoothly.“The battle has started!”the flamboyant formersoldier wrote in an earlymorning rallying cry onTwitter. “Today we willwrite another chapter inhistory.”

Chavez loyalists in poorneighborhoods, where hedraws his most ferventfollowing, blew buglesand trumpets in the pre-dawn wake-up call. In thecenter of Caracas, somered-clad fans shouted“Long live Chavez!” fromthe back of trucks.Chavez, 58, staged a re-markable comeback fromcancer this year. But hecould not match the en-ergy of past campaigns -or the pace set by his 40-year-old basketball-lov-ing opponent.

How Vigilante grouprounded-up burglars

By DONALD ARJI &ADA ONWUNALI

•The suspects

•The Broken roof

THEY were surreptitious and calculated

as they arrived a sparse-ly populated village ofEra in Abule, Iyana-Eraof Oto-Awori LGA, of La-gos state. Their mission?To sneak into one of thebuildings and cart awaywhatever they could laytheir hands on. But theywere not so smartenough to observe thatan eagle-eyed member ofa vigilante group in thecommunity was on theirtrail as they made theirmoves.

Unfortunately, theywere rounded up as soonas they succeeded inforcing their way intothe building to com-mence their nefariousactivities. The man be-hind the arrest of thethieves simply gave hisname as Mr. AfolabiOmotosho while thethieves identified them-selves as Kunle,23 andSegun, 24. Reports say,the duo were earlierspotted in the communi-ty walking aimlessly bya passerby who laternoticed that both Kunleand Segun had de-

CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

toured, sneaked into thecompound of a residentpopularly called Alhajiand were making franticefforts to enter into thebuilding through theroof. The passerbypromptly alerted mem-bers of the neighbour-hood watch operatingunder the aegis of TheVigilante Group of Nige-ria VGN, Era zone andgot them arrested.

The unnamed passerbytold Crime Alert that hesuspected movementsaround the said houseand did not like it hencehe raised an alarm. Thesuspects, it was gath-ered, were aware thatthe occupants of thehouse were not aroundand therefore used theopportunity to get intothe house and cart awaysome valuable proper-ties, but unknown tothem, they were beingmonitored.

Immediately the neigh-bours noticed that thesuspects had enteredinto the house, theyrushed to call the leaderof the vigilance groupwhose office was not farfrom the crime scene.He too, alerted other

members and in a twin-kle of an eye, the sus-pected burglars wererounded up.

In an interview, theleader of the Vigilan-

te group Mr.S.A Omo-tosho, said his office isopposite the crime sceneadding that he was onroutine patrol of the areawhen a man and womanran to him to say that twomen had just scaled thefence of a house oppositehis office.

“So I quickly, calledmy boys, we went to thehouse and noticed thatthe gate was under lockand key; which invari-ably means that the own-ers of the house were notaround. I called Alhajiwho was the owner of thehouse to quickly comeback from wherever hewent; that his house wasbeing burgled bythieves.

I therefore, told myboys to pass through thefence which the suspectsused so that we will notalert them.

When we got into thecompound, we found outthat the thieves used theceiling to get into thebuilding because thedoor to the building waspadlocked too. I instruct-ed two of my boys topass through the ceilingto get the boys. When myboys got into the build-ing, they discovered thatthe thieves were ran-sacking all the proper-ties for valuables andanything they couldsteal. Upon noticing thattheir games were up,they quickly surren-dered. When Alhaji cameback he was very happyand was full of appreci-ation.

As at the time of filingthis report, the two sus-pects have been handedover to the police for fur-ther investigation.

CMYK

CMYK



l-r: Chairman, Marketing & Sponsorship Committee ofEko 2012, Chief Molade Okoya Thomas; Senior Brand,Maltina; Mrs Ngozi Nkwoji, and MD/CEO,NigerianBreweries Plc, Mr Nicolaas Vervelde, during thepresentation of N10m cheque in support of the 18thNational Sports Festival

L-r: Senator Gbenga Obadara, Prince Ademola Dada,Island club president and Senator Gbenga Ashafa duringthe independence dinner at Island Club, Onikan, Lagos

Bakassi: Nigeria should collaborate with Southern Cameroonto create new state —Falana

By ABDULWAHABABDULAH

With only two days left for Nigeria to take a decision to either file itsbrief or not before the International Court of Justice, ICJ, to contest theownership of Bakassi peninsula and the seize-less debates trailinggovernment’s action in releasing the area to Cameroon, a Lagos lawyerand social critic, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has raised some fresh facts whichhe expects the country to consider to settle the imbroglio facing the oil richBakassi region.

IS the action of the Senate asking the Federal

Government to contest ICJjudgment justified?The Senate or the NationalAssembly has woken up toolate. Judgment was deliv-ered ten years ago, the

Green Tree Agreement wassigned in 2006, Bakassiwas handed over to Cam-eroon in 2008. As far as theinternational community isconcerned the dispute hasbeen resolved. Why has theSenate allowed the matterto get this far before pass-ing a resolution? In 2006,I filed an action on behalf

of Bakassi people whochallenged the cession. Thecase was struck out due tolack of diligent prosecution.

Our clients abandonedthe case. The people ofSouthern Cameroon alsofiled a suit at the FederalHigh Court. An order wasmade in their favour. Fromthere they took their case for

self determination to theAfrican Commission onHuman and Peoples Rightsin Banjul, Gambia. I metthem at the African HumanRights Court in Arusha,Tanzania in March thisyear. The advice of the ex-perts that Nigeria shouldcollaborate with the peopleof Southern Cameroon toreclaim Bakassi has beenignored. The legal gambleat the Hague cost Nigeria$300 million.

But the Bakassi peoplewere deceived by the rul-ing class to believe that re-settlement was the best op-tion. By the terms of theGreen Tree Agreement the

people are not to be relo-cated but to remain in theisland in perpetuity withoutany harassment or intimi-dation. But intimidation hasbeen going on without anychallenge on the part of theNigerian Government.However, the sum of N2.5billion was collected andcornered for the resettle-ment. Since the Island wasceded the FGN has contin-ued to pay the statutory al-locations of Bakassi LG tothe Cross River State JointLG Account on a monthlybasis.

Is it advisable to appealagainst the ICJ ruling?The “fresh evidence” for thereview of the ICJ ruling isemanating from Prof WalterOfonagoro and Alhaji BabaGana Kingibe who wereministers under the Abachajunta. Why was the evi-dence not made availableto the lawyers when thecase was pending at theHague?

Owing to the crass negli-gence of the FGN the evi-dence being paraded nowwas not produced and ten-dered during the proceed-ings of the ICJ. Yet by vir-tue of Article 61 of the ICJStatute a review based onnegligence of a party to asuit is not permitted! Howdo we convince the ICJ toset aside its ruling in viewof the official irresponsibil-ity?

What is the the way out?To quickly link up with thepeople of southern Came-roon who are agitating for

independence. EncourageBakassi people to fightalong with them. That willforce the UN to intervene.At that stage we shoulddemand for plebiscite orreferendum for the peopleof Southern Cameroon in-cluding Bakassi to decidetheir political destiny.Meanwhile, let Nigeria filea complaint against Came-roon over the violations ofthe Green Tree Agreement.

Did the Federal Govern-ment’s lawyers handle theBakassi case well?The Sani Abacha junta dis-banded the team of expertswho were engaged to han-dle the case. Theexperts advised Nigerianot to submit to the juris-diction of the ICJ. They ad-vised the Government onthe best way to reclaimBakassi from Cameroon.

Some guys who wantedto make money plottedagainst the experts. Theywere accused of NADECOtendencies as one of them,Prof Itse Sagay, SAN wasaccused of being too closeto the late Chief GaniFawehinmi, SAN. For thatreason the team wasdropped. At thatjuncture, many peoplewho had not the slightestidea of international lawwere assembled to handlethe case. No doubt, someof the lawyers are compe-tent people but the case wasvery bad. So we should nothave joined issues withCameroon because we hadphysical advantage of theterritory. Our people werein the island protected byour armed troops.

CMYK

CMYK


52— Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

CHELSEA midfielder Oscar is doing

his best to convince su-perstar Neymar to ignoreDani Alves and move toStamford Bridge.

Alves has been trying tolure Neymar from Santosto Barcelona while RealMadrid are also keen onthe 20-year-old Brazil in-ternational. Neymar said:‘Oscar messages me totell me what a great clubChelsea is and what agreat city London is.

NIGERIA FootballFederation at the

weekend decamped thewomen Under-17 team,who were sent packingfrom the FIFA Under-17Women World Cup in Az-erbaijan.

The Flamingos arrivedlast Friday night and theywere advised to go totheir respective homes,just as coach PeterDedevbo disclosed thathis players let him down

NFF decamps Flamingos

in the crucial moment af-ter they were unceremo-niously dispatched byFrance in the quarterfi-nals.

“We didn’t take ourchances and I can’t ex-plain why. These are thesame players who werescoring goals but when itmattered most theycouldn’t find the back ofthe net.

“We really regret ourouster’’, said Dedevbo.

A superb ObafemiMartins strike

proved the difference asLevante defeated city ri-vals Valencia 1-0 in theearly La Liga kick off onSunday.

The pacy Obafemi, whojoined last month fromRussian club Rubin Ka-zan, sped on to a longclearance from Levantegoalkeeper Gustavo Mu-nua in the 22nd minuteat the Estadio Ciutat deValencia.

Obafemi lifts Levante

The former Inter Milanand Newcastle forwardcontrolled the bouncingball on his chest beforesmashing an unstoppableshot into the roof of thenet past Vicente Guaita.

Valencia saw plenty ofthe ball but were toothlessin attack and slipped to athird defeat in sevenleague outings this sea-son, leaving them in 14thon eight points, two be-hind Levante whoclimbed to 11th.

Oscar wants Neymar atChelsea

“He and Dani are bothvery good salesmen fortheir clubs. ‘When thetime is right I will listento the right offers that myagent has for me.

“It is very simple - if Bar-celona are interested youlisten, if Real Madrid areinterested you listen, ifChelsea are interestedyou listen.

“There are maybe fiveclubs in the world that youknow you must at least lis-ten to.”

BY JACOB AJOM

IT was fun and fanfareas the Navy Sailing

Club, Navy Town Lagos,joined the rest of the na-tion in celebrating Nige-ria’s 52nd Independenceanniversary.

Typical of their calling,the club treated guests tolots of competition in wa-ter sports which includ-ed Kayak , rowing andSailing. There were com-petitions in the boys,girls, men and womencategories.

Kaniko Stephen wonthe Kayak event in theBoys category. YakweDaniel and Auta Saadtook second and thirdpositions, respectively. Inthe girls category, it wasRakiya Momoh, ChikaAmechi and Joy Momohthat won first, second andthird places.

Navy Sailing club marksNigeria at 52

Men’s Kayak sawOrugbami Moses, blaz-ing the trail as IzilienEmmanuel and Pere Ol-ubo Timi followed whilein the women’s categoryJaphet Lilian, Omoshey-in Esther and MatthewJoy placed first secondand third respectively. In the GP 14, the pair ofAB Orji Monday andIjagwa Friday took thefirst position followed byOnyekachi Okereke andJoseph Smart whileOrUgbami Moses andMatthew Alaba took therear.

The Guest of Honourfor the day was the FlagOfficer Commanding theWestern Naval Com-mand, Rear AdmiralAmin Ikioda while thefather of the Day was theFlag Officer Command-ing Naval Training Com-mand, Rear Adiral Azu-buike Ajonu

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This to confirm that thenames Tiyoyo Enyohwo-hwo, and Tiyoyo Enyohworefer to one and same per-son as Tiyoyo Enyohwo-hwo Dennis, I now wish tobe known and addressed asTiyoyo Enyohwohwo Den-nis. All former documentsremain valid. General pub-lic please take note.

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SALUBI—I, former-ly known and ad-dressed as MissBrenda Chukwu-dumebi Salubi, nowwish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Brenda Chuk-wudumebi Egbule-fu. All former docu-ments remain valid.General publicplease take note.

DANJUMA—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissAisha Lilian Danju-ma, now wish to beknown and ad-dressed as Mrs.Aisha Lilian DaudaMajanbu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Gen-eral public pleasetake note.

ADENIJI—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissAdebisi OluwatoyinAdeniji, now wish tobe known and ad-dressed as Mrs.Adebisi AbayomiAfolabi. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General pub-lic please take note.

MBADIWE—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissRebecca ChinyeakaMbadiwe, now wishto be known and ad-dressed as Mrs.Rebecca MbadiweAwofisayo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Gener-al public please takenote.

KAIGAMA—I, for-merly known and ad-dressed as AllbrightAhmadu AlabudahKaigama, now wishto be known and ad-dressed as AllbrightAhmadu Kaigah-madt. All former doc-uments remain valid.General publicplease take note.

ANULIGO—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissUchechi StephanieAnuligo, now wishto be known and ad-dressed as Mrs.Uchechi StephanieAroh. All former doc-uments remain val-id. General publicplease take note.

OGBONNAYA —I,formerly known andaddressed as MissChidinma VictoriaOgbonnaya, nowwish to be knownand addressed asMrs. EhimwenmaVictoria Nappier. Allformer documentsremain valid. Gener-al public please takenote.

OTOGHILE—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissFaith OmoyemwenOtoghile, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Faith OmoyemwenIdaewoh. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General pub-lic please take note.

DORSU—I, for-merly known andaddressed as MissAyenor Dorsu, nowwish to be knownand addressed asMrs. AyenorDaniel Edun. Allformer documentsremain valid. Gen-eral public pleasetake note

OKORUWA—I, for-merly known andaddressed as Mrs.Okoruwa AdesuwaRosemary, now wishto be known and ad-dressed as Mrs. Ide-mudia AdesuwaRosemary. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General pub-lic please take note.

CMYK



CAF Champions League,Sunshine Stars and thetragedy of Nigerian football

LAST Saturday at the Dipo Dina Stadium, IjebuOde, Sunshine Stars of Nigeria were involved

in what was obviously their biggest continental matchever and the opposition don’t come bigger than AlAhly of Egypt.

Also mention the fact that this was the Semi final ofCAF’s flagship club football competition, the CAFChampions League where the winner earns the rightto play in the final of the FIFA Club Cup and all itsattendant exposure and benefits. Ask Tout PuissantMazembe.

Fifteen minutes to kick off, I stood with veteran broad-caster Mitchell Obi lamenting, bemoaning the poorturnout, less than three thousand spectators, in a sta-dium that seats over 15 thousand… and to think thatthe gates were thrown open, free of any charge.

And then the match. What a cracker. A six goalsclassic that can best be described as a good advertise-ment for African football, if you were not a Nigerianand a Sunshine Stars supporter.

At three goals apiece, the first assumption is thatthe Nigerians are out, except they play a 4-4 draw orbeat the Egyptians with whatever goal margin in thereturn leg….a mission that is not impossible givenSunshine’s away record!

Before we laugh it away as wishful thinking giventhe pedigree of the opposition, we are quick to bereminded that Kano Pillars found themselves in a sim-ilar position and triumphed. A team that finds itselftwo goals down against Al Ahly and still claws herway back to end it 3-3 may be a team with characterafter all

Anyway, that is a topic for another discussion, per-haps in two weeks time.

Presently I want to remember that earlier in the yearthe players of Sunshine Stars found themselves in aposition where their SIGN ON FEES had not beenpaid and decided to go on strike to press for theirdemands.

Linus Mba and I had the opportunity to address theboys. We told them we will help them fight for thepayment of their wages and that they should not losesight of the bigger picture…the benefits they stood toderive individually should they do well in Africa.

We also gave them the classic example of Dolphins,a club that chose the eve of a continental assignmentto strike, refuse to train and when eventually theirdemands were met, they went to the field and couldnot play, and were thrown out of Africa in their veryfirst match.

The players of Sunshine accepted the position andwent back to work.

You can imagine my surprise and fright when I learntthat over five months after that incident, the players

Medrana Tamen was out injured for close to sevenminutes and while they were busy treating him, hiscolleagues played one goal down, one man short!

Let my focus this morning be on a monster that hasimpacted negatively on the game in this country. TheSIGN ON FEES PHENOMENON. The sooner wedo away with this fraud induced aspect of our foot-ball, the better for all of us.

Those who run football in this country have to cometogether and review the situation where a player comesinto a club, “ negotiates” for sign on fees, gets as muchas five million naira and ends the season without kick-ing a ball even when he must have been paid fifty percent of that amount before the season starts.

Incidentally, this is a country where 99 per cent ofthe clubs are owned by government. A club will there-fore commit a state to sign an obligation of as much as300 million naira only to renege when time comes forpayment and the resultant blackmail and holding ev-ery body to ransom whenever the situation arises.

Perhaps I should not use the word ‘black mail’ be-cause a worker deserves his wages and the momentyou agree to pay you just must pay. The coacheswho are “partners” in the whole deal sometimes fuelthe fire because when the players are paid they arealso guaranteed their dues.

I mentioned ‘fraud’ earlier to depict the fact that thereare certain players coaches and managers bring intothe team, just for the purpose of collecting sign onfees which they control. You can imagine a coach whobrings as many as four players into a club, helps themnegotiate a cumulative sign on fees of about 16 mil-lion and ends up taking more than fifty percent…youcan imagine…not mentioning the percentage he getsfrom their salaries as well, salaries that are paid bythe ministry of sports every month without recourse towhether that player has kicked a ball since he joinedthe club.

The solution is enhanced bonuses. A player can earnas little as one hundred thousand naira, but if thatplayer is guaranteed a winning bonus of say fifty thou-sand at away and thirty thousand at home you canimagine how much a regular and productive playerwill make at the end of a month.

I know the efforts made by the Ondo State FootballAgency to clear the sign on fees of the players. Butthis is an Agency that also runs two other clubs andby the time you add up the figures, the amount be-comes so outrageous and so distracting to a Governorbusy seeking re-election.

The near tragedy of Sunshine Stars should not beallowed to repeat itself even as we get set for the mir-acle of Cairo. Can someone say AMEN?

See you next week.

At three goals apiece, the firstassumption is that the Nigeriansare out, except they play a 4-4draw or beat the Egyptians withwhatever goal margin in thereturn leg…a mission that is notimpossible given Sunshine’saway record! ,

,

had not been paid and they decided to go on strike,two weeks to their all important semi final clashagainst Al Ahly.

This is it, I said to myself. THIS IS THE END OFTHE ROAD.

A week to the match, they were paid and they re-sumed training, but this was definitely not enough.The damage had been done.

Last Saturday in Ijebu Ode, Nigerians and indeedAfricans saw players that were rusty, slow and unco-ordinated and before you could say Paul Bassey, theywere two goals down…….

Then came panic on the technical bench, hystericalreactions of management, forced substitutions (twoby the 41st minute) exposing the team to dangershould there be injuries later in the match! Disen-chantment all round.

Later in the match, as the players struggled to makeamends, injury threatened in the form of incessantmuscle pulls…in one instance the mid field live wire

85th minute winner byRaimi Kola in Dakar toadvance to Algeria 2013on a 4-1 aggregate.

The little West Africannation will feature in theirsecond AYC after theyhosted the 2005 edition ofthe competition and

F/EaglesContinued from BP

qualified to play in thatyear’s FIFA U20 WorldCup.

Gabon will also be inAlgeria after theydefeated Burkina Faso 2-0 at home to advance 4-2on aggregate. Mali alsobooked their passage tothe biennial tournamentproper after theydumped Zambia 3-0 inBamako. The first clashended in a 2-2 draw.

ended in a thrilling 3-3draw at the Dipo DinaStadium in Ijebu-Ode,Ogun State at theweekend.

But Ahly assistant coachMohammed Youssef, hasadvised Sunshine Starsto forget about a goodresult in the second leg.The Egyptians made theonly Nigerian clubfighting continental battleto pay for their sloppydefending and they led 2-0 before the break. ButSunshine fought back tolevel at 2-2, before Ahlycame asking questionswhich Sunshine failed toanswer. However, OsascoPrecious curled home afree kick six minutes fromfull time to level scores at3-3.

“It is not over. We willgo to Cairo and get theresult that will take us tothe final. If we get thekind of officiating that wehad here in Cairo, we willget to the final,” statedSunshine coach, GbengaOgunbote.

But his Egyptian

Forget it, Ahly coach tells Sunshine

is so because some ofthem have little issues tosort out at their clubs andwe expect to have a fullhouse at Tuesday trainingsession”, enthused HeadCoach Stephen Keshi.

The national teamdeparts for Calabar onMonday morning and thetechnical crew hasalready scheduled atraining session forMonday evening at theAbraham Odia SportsComplex inside theUniversity of Calabar.Officials say there isabsolutely no time to

Enyeama

counterpart, Youssefbelieves all that could bewishful thinking.

“We were close tosnatching the victory buta draw is a good result forAhly. We have anothergame in Egypt. Ourplayers did their best. Wehad many scoringchances.

“In the second leg wewill do everything toqualify for the final.

Sunshine can forgetabout it,” said the coach.

Sunshine will bank onthe fact that they haveposted impressive resultsin their travels to NorthAfrica, the last being a 2-1 win over Algeria’s AsoChlef during the groupstages.

“We still have secondleg to play. It hashappened before and wesurvived it. We will again

waste ahead ofSaturday ’s crunchqualifier against the LoneStar of Liberia.

Arrangements havesince been made for allthe invited players to findtheir way to Calabar andas usual the MetropolitanHotel in the heart of thecity will be the campingsite for the national team.

Keshi at the weekend,named seven homebased players to join the15 foreign based earlierannounced for theencounter on Saturday inthe Cross River statecapital.

Continued from BP

Continued from BP

take the battle to Al Ahlyin the second leg’’. saidSunshine’s midfielder,Tamen Mendrano.

In the other semi-finalmatch defendingchampions Esperance ofTunisia drew 0-0 with DRCongo outfit TPMazembe on Sunday.The two clubs haveshared the last threeChampions League titlesbetween themselves,with the Congolese sidewinning in 2009 and2010.

MILAN DERBY....AC Milan’s Riccardo Montolivo (R) contests for the ballwith Inter’s Diego Alberto Milito during yesterday’s Milan derby at the SanSiro Stadium. PHOTO: AFP

CMYK


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e-mail: [email protected]

How to Play SudokuTHE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCT0BER 8, 2012

TODAY'S PUZZLEAcross:

1 Component (4)4 Project (3)6 Neat (4)8 Offhand (6)9 Confront (6)10 Pull (3)12 Confess (5)14 Sharpen (5)15 List (5)18 Harsh (6)20 Stroll (6)24 Lament (5)26 Level (5)28 Perform (5)30 Chop (3)32 Tiny (6)33 Source (6)34 Gala (4)35 Groove (3)36 Want (4)

Down:

2 Mild (5)3 Learned (7)4 Jar (4)5 Melt (4)6 Implicit (5)7 Plunder (7)11 Lubricate (3)12 Donkey (3)13 Sailor (3)16 Cot (3)17 Stray (3)19 Ask (7)21 Epoch (3)22 Refer to (7)23 Newt (3)25 Freeze (3)27 Sharp (5)29 Scold (5)30 Successor (4)31 Habit (4)

Across: 2, Smoke 7, Shape 8, Allot 10, Inlet12, Eel 13, Arena 15, Erratic 17, Detect 19,Ion 20, Erected 23, Pair 25, Dial 26, Cubicle30, Sat 31, Ensign 34, Control 37, Inert 38,Ail 39, Range 40, Aspen 41, Match 42, Break

Down: 1, Share 2, Spine 3, Menace 4,Knee 5, Cleaned 6, Solid 9, Let 11, Trick-le 13, Adapt 14, Ethic 16, Rot 18, Traitor21, Dixie 22, Glint 24, Rustler 27, Bar 28,Enigma 29, Boast 32, Sneak 33, Grace35, Nip 36, Lair

FLYING Eaglesyesterday thrashed

visiting Amajita of SouthAfrica 3-1 in the secondleg of the African YouthChampionship qualifiersto book a place in nextyear’s tournament to behosted in Algeria with a4-2 aggregate score.

Abudul Jaleel Ajagunscored a brace and AlhajiJero made it three in thethrilling encounterdecided at the IlorinTownship Stadium.

Flying Eagles’ coachJohn Obuh expressedsatisfaction with histeam’s performanceadding that the hardesttask was now to defendthe title they won in SouthAfrica in 2011.

In other matches, Beninbeat Senegal to qualify,while 2011 second placedCameroon wereeliminated by DR Congowith a 4-2 aggregatescore.

Benin recorded adouble over Senegal onSaturday courtesy of an

F/Eagles pound S/Africa's Amajita 3-1•Qualify for Algeria 2013

BY BEN EFE

SUNSHINE Stars ofAkure are hopeful of

upstaging Al Ahly ofEgypt in Cairo after thefirst leg CAF ChampionsLeague semi-final tie

Forget it, Ahly coach tells SunshineChampions League

Continues on Page 54 Continues on Page 54

SUPER Eagles firstchoice goalkeeper,

Vincent Enyeama, Israelibased shot stopper,Austin Ejide and RealBetis of Spain midfielder,Nosa Igiebor, are among

Enyeama, Ejide hit camp todaythe early birds expectedin the Super Eaglescamp in Calabar onMonday.

The trio will be joinedby the rest of the squadon Tuesday morning as

some of them had lategames last night and willlink up with the rest ofthe squad on Tuesday.“All the players will behere on Tuesday and that

Continues on Page 54

EL-CLASSICO.... Messi celebrates after scoring against Real Madridyesterday.

HORSE RIDE.... Ronaldo celebrates his goalwith Ramos. Photos: AFP

THE much-talkedabout El Clasico

match between Barcelonaand Real Madrid at theCamp Nou last nigh end-ed in a 2-2 draw, with thetwo best players in theworld, Lionel Messi andCristiano Ronaldo scor-

ing two goals each.Ronaldo fired Real

Madrid 1-0 up beforeMessi levelled scores andwent on to score his sec-ond of the night only forthe Portuguese forward tosquare things up for thevisitors.

El Clasico: Messi 2 Ronaldo 2

CMYK