...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 62652

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015**

Mr & Mrs

•As EFCC boss seeks time-frame to dispense with cases•Senate backs Buhari on anti-graft war•Flag honour for Buhari during budget presentation next week

Continues on Page 5

Corruption: Over 400cases in courts — ICPC

By Soni Daniel,Regional Editor,North & Henry

Umoru

ABUJA — TheI n d e p e n d e n t

Corrupt Practices andother Related OffencesCommission (ICPC)disclosed, yesterday, itwas prosecuting over 400corruption-related casesin various courts acrossthe country even as itblamed the judiciary forthe drawbacks it sufferedin the course of

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N1.04 TRN FINE:MTN refuses to pay,threatens court action

Nigeria canno longerfund oilindustry— FG

GOWON GETS ECOWAS AWARD—ECOWAS Distinguished Awardee and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon(L); being congratulated by Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, while others watch at the 40th Anniversary of EconomicCommunity of West African States (ECOWAS), in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN.i

Lagos State Governor,Akinwunmi Ambode(right), presenting the2016 Budget to theSpeaker, Lagos StateHouse of Assembly,Mudashiru Obasa,yesterday.

See story Page 10

Panicky policy measures intensifies on Forex market 7

LagosbudgetsN665.588bnfor 2016

CMYK

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Lizard brain,fish brain

Our local govtproblem:Responses

SOUTH WEST IN2015: The issues,personalities (1)

Biafra: 5 killed, 7injured as IPOB,MASSOB clashwith JTF in Onitsha....As court ordersKanu's release 16

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POCKET CARTOONVanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—5

IT'S UP TO YOUBY AYO ADIO

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Over 400 cases in courts — ICPC

SAYINGS OF OUR PEOPLE

There is no how a bird can fly withoutpeople seeing its belly.

Continues from Page 1

YOU have not lived until some persons can saythat if not for you their life would have been

worthless. It’s up to you.

A problem is a chance for you to do your best—Duke Ellington

THE hardships you face are not things to runfrom. It isn’t that we are looking for a hard life,

but when difficulties come despite our best efforts, itcould be an indication that life is telling us to lookon the other end of the scale. You may find that thedegree to which you are having outer hardshipsmatches the degree to which you’re unfolding in amuch higher level in life. Remember, doing the bestat the moment puts you in the best place for the nextuplifting experience.

prosecuting the cases.ICPC Chairman, Mr.

Ekpo NTA, who disclosedthis when he appearedbefore the SenatorChukwuka Utazi-ledSenate committee on AntiCorruption and FinancialCrimes, however,pleaded with the NationalAssembly to look into itsfunding, adding that ifcorruption was the mainheadache in the country,the government mustinvest to curb it.

According to the ICPCboss, 90 per cent of theagency ’s budget wasspent annually onprosecution, while only 10per cent was expended onprevention, even as hestressed that the existingstructure wasunproductive and was notin consonance with therecommendations of theUnited Nations (UN).

Ekpo, who noted that 60per cent ought to havebeen spent on prevention,as against the currentpractice, blamed theinability of anti-corruptionagencies in the country tosuccessfully carryout theirfunctions on non-

availability of adequatebudgetary provisions byprevious governments.

The ICPC Chairman,who acknowledged someof the modest reforms thathave been initiated by theICPC in recent times,said: “Most of the time, wetalk about corruption. Noone spends time to talkabout anti-corruption.There is a clear distinctionbetween corruption andother financial crimes.When we were sworn in,I was being abused on adaily basis on the pagesof national newspapersbecause of my approach tofighting corruption.

“Our budgetaryprovisions every yearhave always been onfighting corruption. Only10 per cent is budgeted forprevention. Corruption isa transnational issue. Itgoes beyond Nigeria.People did not know thatwe had about 400 casesgoing on at the beginningof the year. We had toplace an advertisement forNigerians to know what ishappening.

EFCC boss seekstime frame for

cases

In a relateddevelopment, theChairman of theEconomic and FinancialCrimes Commission,EFCC, Mr. IbrahimMagu, has suggested alegislation that would fixa timeframe within whichcorruption cases shouldbe heard and determinedby the judiciary.

Magu, who spoke whilereceiving the chairmanand members of theSenate Committee onAnti-corruption andFinancial crimes in hisoffice, said that suchlegislation, like the oneguiding electoral matters,would go a long way toassist the commission intackling rising corruptionin Nigeria.

The chairman said thatNigeria was in a betterposition now to endcorruption given thepolitical will that nowexists and thedetermination by thelegislature and thejudiciary to back theEFCC against corruptpractices.

Magu said: “Some ofour cases have draggedon for so long due to nofault of ours. It may not beout of place if theCommittee looks at thepossibility of adapting theprovision of the ElectoralAct which specifies timeframe for determination ofelection petitions, tocorruption matters.

“I believe that, if thereis a time frame for thedetermination ofcorruption cases, it willspeed up adjudication incourt.

“There is not a bettertime than now to fight thewar on corruption as wehave the support from allangles: The political willof Mr. President is there;the judiciary is solidlybehind us and theNational Assembly is100% in support ofEFCC.”

He also drew theattention of the NationalAssembly Committee tothe problem of

accommodation facing theagency as a result of thedelay in the completion ofits national headquartersin Abuja, and pleadedwith them to interven toget it done before long.

“I am sure that some ofyou are aware of thechallenges which thecommission face in thedischarge of its mandate.One of the challenges isa c c o m m o d a t i o nconstraints. We operatefrom rented apartmentsscattered across Abuja.

“Without belabouringthis fact, I wish to call onthe committee to use itsgood offices to ensurespeedy completion of ourhead office. I amdelighted that you will bevisiting the site to see foryourselves, the progressof work.

“The commission israpidly expanding itsoperations with theopening of more offices.This will exact morepressure on availableresources as provisionswould have to be made forthe effective running ofthese offices.

“We will need morevehicles for operation,furniture and other officeequipment. I will alsowant the committee toassist in fast-tracking theCommission’s cases incourt,” Magu pleaded.

Senate backsBuhari'santi-corruptionwar

*All senators to holdflag on Tuesday tohonour Buhari duringbudget presentation

Meanwhile, the Senatesaid, yesterday, that itwould support PresidentMuhammadu Buhari inhis present anti-corruption war as part ofmoves to place Nigeriaamong one of the topnations in the world, justas it said that the crusadewould help free Nigeria ofall acts of indiscipline.

According to the Senate,given the economicrecession confronting thecountry due to the fall ofoil price in theinternational market, ithas become imperative togive legislative support tothe efforts of PresidentBuhari in his drivetowards nippingcorruption in the bud andpossibly to a zero level aspart of moves to boost theeconomic profile ofNigeria.

As part of its support forthe anti-graft war ofPresident Buhari, theSenate agreed, yesterday,that all federal lawmakersshould attend nextTuesday’s joint sessionwith national flags in theirhands during the 2016budget presentation bythe President.

These were sequel toresolutions of a motiontitled, “The need for

legislative support togovernment’s anti-corruption drive”, by theSenate Deputy MinorityLeader, SenatorEmmanuel Bwacha (PDPTaraba South).

In his presentation,Senator Bwacha whocalled for Senate’s totalsupport for the war inview of enormous damagecorruption has done to thedevelopment of thenation, said: “Corruptionhas brought untoldhardship to millions ofNigerians who are livingbelow poverty level someof whom have beenrushed to their earlygraves aside putting us asa people and as a nation,permanently at thebackward position interms of development inthe comity of nations”.

The Senate alsodirected its Committeeon Judiciary, HumanRights and LegalMatters to review alllaws relating toeconomic / f inanc ia lcrimes and corruptiontowards achievingspeedy dispensation ofjustice as it relates tocorruption cases, evenas it directed itsCommittee onInformation and NationalOrientation as well asEducation, to embark ona deliberate civiceducation programme forthe citizenry, the youthsin primary, secondaryand tertiary institutions.

In his remarks on themotion, the SenatePresident, BukolaSaraki, who noted thatthe Senate was fully insupport of the waragainst corruption byPresident Buhari,described corruption asone of the majorchallenges facing thenation and stressed theneed for government tomake anti-corruptionagencies trulyindependent andequipped to carry outtheir functionseffectively.

He charged hiscolleagues on effectiveoversight functionswhich he said “is key tothe fight againstcorruption.

Also yesterday, thesenate summoned theDirector General,Nigerian Law School

over what it termed,excessive tuition feecharged by the school,just as it also urged thefederal government toincrease funding of theschool and asked thecommittee on judiciary,human rights and legalmatters to ensure that itcarries out its oversightfunctions to worktowards reducing thecharges.

The Senate took thesedecisions following amotion by Senator ShehuSani, APC, KadunaCentral and titled “theexcessive tuition feecharged by the NigerianLaw School.”

Sani who complainedthat the school wasbecoming unaffordable,said that the centralregistration is put atN295,250 and N20,000for other charges,leading to a cumulativeamount of 315,000 Naira,adding, “The cumulativefees of 350,000 naira isexcessively highincluding the cost ofliving for the period ofthe studies.

“In 2014, a 30 year-oldprospective student ofthe Nigerian Law schoolcommitted suicidebecause he could notafford the tuition fees.”

Also, yesterday, theSenate urged the federalgovernment to urgentlytake steps to check thetrend of increasingpopulation growth ofNigeria, just as it urgedthe federal governmentto sensitise Nigerians onthe need for familyplanning to curtail thepopulation explosion inthe country.

It also mandated itsCommittee on NationalIdentity and NationalPopulation to liaise withthe National PopulationCommission, with a viewto articulating a clearpolicy on population tocheck the increasinggrowth rate in thecountry.

These resolutions weresequel to a motion titled,“Global populationincrease and need tointegrate the nationalpolicy on populationwith overalldevelopment planning inthe country ”andsponsored by Senator IsaHamma Misau, APCBauchi Central.

From left: Kayode Lawal, Executive Director, Sterling Bank; Yemi Adeola,MD/CEO, and Yemi Odubiyi, Executive Director/COO, at the Sterling Bank’sMD/CEO annual press conference in Lagos. PHOTO: AKEEM SALAU

6 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 , 2015

Policerecover 3vehicles,AK-47 rifle,ammunitionfromhoodlumsin Aba

Beheaded man found at base of prayingmountain in Ondo

By Dayo Johnson

By UgochukwuAlaribe

By Onozure Dania

AT THE MERCY OF HARMATTAN: People warming themselvesbeside an open fire at Gwagwalada in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

AKURE—DETECTIVES inOndo State Police Command

are investigating the death of anunidentified man who wasreportedly beheaded beside amountain where people pray andworship at Amese Community inAkure, the state capital.

Severed headHis severed head could not be

foundand the body was left in apool of its blood.

Worshippers who trooped to themountain for their weekly specialservice reportedly met theheadless body of the victim at thebase of the mountain.

Those who came earlyaccording to investigations fledfollowing the discovery of theheadless body at the base of themountain for fear of Policeharassment.Vanguard gathered that the

morning service was suspendedas leaders of those who usuallyorganize the weekly worshipprogramme went to the Ijapopolice station to lodge a formalcomplaint.

Reports had it that those whowent to police station to lodgecomplaint were detained byofficers on duty, before detectiveswere sent to the scene of thecrime to remove the headlessbody.

An eyewitness who spoke withnewsmen said: “After the matterhad been reported at Ijapo PoliceStation, the policemen thatcombed the entire area startedarresting residentsindiscriminately. Those that wentto report the incident at policestation were also detained.

“When we complained thepolice said the arrest of thepeople was part of theirinvestigation though we don’tknow how the corpse got there.“

Also, some residents in nearbycommunities accused the Policeof leaving the community wherethe incident happened to their

areas to make incriminate arrests,demanding money for bail.

Meanwhile, many residents inthe community where the incidenthappened had fled for fear ofharassment and arrest by thePolice.

Incident turned intomoney making venture

They alleged that the Policeinstead of investigating theincident had turned it into amoney making venture.

Police detectives informed the

Vanguard that the deceasedmight have been killedsomewhere far from the area andthe corpse dumped at the base ofthe mountain.

When contacted, the Policespokesman, Femi Joseph,confirmed the ugly incident, sayingthat police detectives have startedinvestigations into the murder ofthe man.

Joseph, however, denied policeharassment and extortion asalleged by residents of thecommunities.

No arrestAccording to him, “The

police did not arrest anybody,when we got information aboutthe incident, we sent our menthere to evacuate the body. Wewere just inviting some of theresidents and asking one ortwo questions from them. Wedid not arrest or demandanything.“

Meanwhile, the headlesscorpse has been deposited atthe Specialist hospital inAkure.

2 elderly sureties arraigned as suspectjumps bail

LAGOS—A septuagenarianand sexagenarian, who

stood surety for theirneighbour, were yesterdayarraigned before an IgbosereMagistrate's Court, Lagos, forallegedly failing to producethe person they stood suretyfor. The defendants, ElijahBamidele, 76, and GideonAjayi, 60, are facing a twocount charge bordering oninterfering with theadministration of justice.

ABA—THE Police inAba, Abia State, has

recovered three vehiclesand an AK 47 rifle with 59rounds of live ammunitionstolen by hoodlums.

Policemen, while onpatrol, recovered an AK-47rifle with 59 rounds of liveammunition in a greencoloured Toyota Camry withnumber plate MUS 963 DTalong Ngwa Road in Aba.

A police source said thefour male occupants of theToyota car abandoned itwhen they sighted thepatrol team. On searchingthe car, an AK 47 rifflemarked; RP 0279 with twomagazines containing 59rounds of live ammunitionwas recovered.

The recovered vehiclesinclude a Toyota Camry carwith registration number;EHM 742 AA, SuzukiGrand Vitara withregistration number, LSD723 DF and a Toyota Avaloncar with registrationnumber, KWL 400 BC,respectively.

Vanguard gathered thatpolicemen on patrol duty atPepple Street, Ogbor-Hills,Aba, suspected theoccupants of the ToyotaCamry car, but the latterabandoned the vehicle andescaped into the bush.When a search wasconducted on the car, aNokia phone, bunch ofkeys, a Bible, DiamondBank ATM card, ignitionkeys of the car and otherdocuments were found.

It was also gathered thata Suzuki Grand Vitarabelonging to C & I LeasingCompany and its driver,Augustine Nwanna werereported missing in RiversState, but the Police trackedthe car to a mechanic'sworkshop in Aba andarrested one IhechinNathaniel Wilson of No 4Agolawa street, off Ngwaroad, Aba and SamsonBaba, of Oloha in Dekinacouncil area of Kogi State.

The driver, it wasgathered , was sent onerrand with the vehicle byhis employers in Port-Harcourt on December 7,2015, but never returned.

The Prosecutor, ASP CharlesOdii, told the court that theduo committed the allegedoffences on November 22,2013, at the magistrate court 4Igbosere, Lagos, when theystood surety.He said that the defendantsentered into recognisance inthe sum of N2 million, in acase involving conspiracy andstealing. The prosecutor also claimedthat they were supposed toproduce one Ngozi Eric,whom they stood surety forwhenever needed by the court

but that they failed to do so.According to the prosecutor,Bamidele and Ajayi, neverproduced the said Eric whenshe was needed on December16, 2013 and other subsequentdates. Odii, however, said that thetwo elderly men should bemade to forfeit the two millionNaira bail bond or show causewhy they should not forfeit itto government.He said that the allegedoffence is punishable underSection 118 of theAdministration of Criminal

Justice Law of Lagos State,2011. The defendants pleadednot guilty to the chargeagainst them. The Magistrate, Mr B. A.Sonuga, however, admittedthem to bail on selfrecognisance. He cautioned them toensure that they produce thesaid Eric before the nextadjourned date, otherwiseface the law. He adjournedthe case till January. 26, 2016for mention.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 7

As CBN blames high rate on speculators

Panicky policy measures intensifyon foreign exchange market

By Emeka Anaeto,Economy Editor &

Babajide Komolafe

LAGOS — Thereappears to be

increasing tension andinstability in the Nigeria’sforeign exchange marketwith depreciation of Nairaaccelerating as the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, andthe banks push for morerestrictions on the market.

Yesterday, the localcurrency crashed further toN280/$1 at the parallelmarket, pushing the marketpremium to all time high ofover 41 per cent against theofficial exchange rate rangeof N196-N198/ $1.0.

The parallel market hasbeen on daily depreciationof the Naira in the past twoweeks worsening this weekwith market operatorsindicating the crash has notbottomed out.

At the backdrop of thedevelopment, commercialbanks sent out letters totheir customers informingthem that henceforthmaximum spending limiton offshore credit/debit cardspendings have beenfurther reduced to$12,000.00 per annum.

According to the banks,the letters were sequel to asimilar communicationfrom the apex bank directinga downward review ofdomiciliary accountspendings abroad.

The latest downwardadjustment will be thesecond this year, havingcrashed the limit to $50,000from $100,000 mid this year.

As the foreign exchangemarket tension persists,market operators said theapex bank will cancel theweekly sale of foreignexchange to Bureau deChange dealers anytimefrom now.

An official of the apexbank said the bank wouldformally give a “forwardguidance” on the newpolicy that is expected tofrustrate the booming blackmarket trading of foreigncurrencies nationwide.

CBN has been battlingunwholesome practicesand lack of rendition ofweekly reports by BDCs.

Vanguard learnt thatsome authorized BDCsusually buy foreignexchange from the CBN atthe official rate of aboutN197-$1 and resell at theparallel market (blackmarket) to end users at ratesranging far above thestipulated margins.

There are about 2578authorised BDCs thatparticipate at the CBN’sweekly sale auction but lessthan half have been regularat the CBN’s official foreignexchange window as theapex bank regularly banmost of them forinfringements on the rules.

CBN had in a circular thisweek outlawed thehawking of foreignexchange on the streets, amulti-decade practice inNigeria’s main cities. Thelaw is effective from January1, 2016.

The circular stated: “Itshall be a ground for therevocation of licencesshould any street trader inforeign currencies be foundto have any businessrelationship with a licencedBDC.”

CBN blames highrate on speculators

At the backdrop of theforeign exchange crisis,CBN’s Director, MonetaryPolicy Department of theCentral Bank of Nigeria,Mr. Moses Tule, said theNaira is under pressurebecause of the actions ofspeculators, who he faultedfor taking positions againstthe Naira, with a view tomaking excess gain fromcurrency trading.

Tule, who stated this in atelevision programmemonitored in Abujayesterday, said the currencyspeculators weredetermined to put severepressure on the monetaryauthorities expecting theapex bank to buckle andfurther devalue the naira.

According to him, theCBN had a responsibilityfor the economy and wouldnot fold its arms whileeconomic predators feast onthe nation’s commonwealththrough arbitrage.

While maintaining thatthe only rate in the currencymarket was N196.47/$1, hewondered why indigenousoperators in the Bureau deChange (BDC) segment ofthe market chose to makehuge profit at the expenseof customers in genuineneed of the currency.

He lamented that whileinternational operators suchas Travelex traded at notmore than N7 above therate, indigenous operatorspreferred to make profits ashigh as N50.

“We know what thefundamentals of this(Nigerian) economy are

and we (CBN) will continueto take the right economicdecisions on what to do andnot when people sitting outthere speculating on thecurrency think the nairashould be devalued, so thatthey could make profit outof it.

“No country quotes itsexchange rate with referenceto the BDCs rates. Thecurrency has a reference rateand that is the interbankexchange rate,” he declared.

Mr. Tule, therefore, urgedNigerians to be morepatriotic in their dealingsrather than engage inactivities capable ofundermining the integrityand value of the naira,adding that the media hada role to play in assisting theCBN to curb speculation onthe naira.

Also speaking on theprogramme, a formerDeputy Governor of theCBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo,urged Nigerians to changetheir lifestyles to support thedrive towards conserving thenation’s foreign reserve,stressing that no developingeconomy leaves theexchange rate determinationfree to market forces.

CBN should allowNaira devalue to truelevel—Sterling Bank CEO

Meanwhile, theManaging Director/ChiefExecutive Officer, SterlingBank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeolahas called on the CBN toallow the naira to devalueto its true level.

He made this call whileaddressing a pressconference on the 10thanniversary of the bank,saying that the capitalcontrols introduced by theCBN in recent times todefend the naira cannot besustained for too long.

Adeola noted that neitherthe official exchange rate ofN197 per dollar nor theparallel market exchangerate of N280 per dollarreflects the true value of thenation’s currency.

He said: “The true valueof the Naira is in betweenthe parallel market and CBNexchange rates, and weshould devalue the naira tothat true value.

“The issue of foreignexchange is a tough onebecause you can only spendwhat you have. If ourreserves are at $29.4 billionas at December 15, it wouldbarely fund four to fivemonths of import."

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

MEETING: From left, Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, and Zamfara StateGovernor, Alhaji Abdul-Aziz Yari; former British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair and GovernorAbdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State during the NGF meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,yesterday.

Nigeria no longer has resourcesto fund oil industry — FGTo unbundle NNPC into four companies

Plans disengaging 1,100 headquarters staff

Final decision on refineries to be made in January

To introduce ceiling for fuel price

NPDC to get marginal fields, targets 2.4mbpd in 2016

By Michael Eboh &Grace Udofia

ABUJA — THE FederalGovernment stated, yesterday,

that the country no longer has theresources to fund the oil and gasindustry, and is therefore,considering and developing newmodels of financing the industryin the days ahead.

Speaking at a town hall meetingin Abuja, Minister of State forPetroleum Resources, Dr. IbeKachikwu, said in January 2016,the final decision on the fate of thecountry’s refineries would likely bemade, while it had also concludedarrangement to adopt a pricemodulation mechanism that wouldsee it setting a price ceiling ofbetween N87 and N97 per litre forPremium Motor Spirit, PMS, alsoknown as petrol.

Kachikwu, who doubles as theGroup Managing Director of theNigerian National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC, also disclosedthat he had received thePresidency’s approval tocommence the final phase of therestructuring of the NNPC, whichwould see the corporationunbundled into four components,while about 1,100 of NNPCheadquarters’ staff would bedisengaged.

On the issue of paucity of funds,Kachikwu said: “Financing isgoing to be a key component ofour goal, because new models offinancing would have to emerge.The country does not have the sortof resources to continue to fundthe oil industry. As we goupstream, we are going to beginto see a lot of innovative financingmechanism to provide funding forthe oil industry.

“My dream, if I achieve it, isthat by the end of 2016, wewould completely exit cash callsand be able to find ways to helpsupport our business and get alot more autonomy in terms ofrunning the industry and report,basically, profit to the FederalGovernment.”

Unbundling of NNPCinto four companies

He added that the unbundlingprocess would see the NNPCbroken down into four keycomponents, namely: theupstream company, downstreamcompany, the midstreamcompany, which is gas andpower marketing, and the

refining group holdingcompany.

He further stated that one ofthe major restructuring effortswould be in making theheadquarters operations costeffective, hence, about more thanhalf of its 2,200 coreheadquarters staff would bewhittled down, with a lot of theaffected staff assigned to thesubsidiaries to help make theunits more efficient andprofitable.

“This is because we have verystrong subsidiaries; some ofthem have not even taken off.We want to put a lot of energyaround units that can generateprofit for us and hopefully,

collectively, we are going totake the entire industry alongthat line,” he said.

In addition, Kachikwu statedthat come January 2016,strategic decisions would bemade in terms of what areas ofthe country’s refineries wouldbe closed to allow for full re-kitting before reopening themfor operations, while it wouldalso be considering the bestoperating model for therefineries.

He said: “Ultimately,technical support, technicalservices, and technical jointventuring would also bemodels. We would be lookingat and reviewing in terms of therefineries. The whole idea isfind the funds, find the rightskills that you need, support theskills that you have and try togive out, real-time, above 90per cent consistent performancein refining.”

On fuel subsidyremoval

On the issue of fuel subsidyremoval and subsequent hikein the price of PMS, also calledpetrol, Kachikwu stressed thatat no point did he say subsidywould be removed, adding thatinstead, a flexible managementof the pricing system would beintroduced to ensure that weare as close to what the pricesof petrol are today, but also toensure they are reflective ofwhat the price of crude is.

“One thing we are verycommitted to next year, is toreduce the level of FederalGovernment subsidy, if any, tothe industry, so that the industrycan grow on its own strength.We can do that without themechanism of saying subsidyis being removed or whatever,but have a benchmark approachto setting prices. We are goingto see a lot more quarterly typeanalysis of what prices wouldgo for the downstreamindustry, relative to the price ofcrude oil.

“The report that fuel is goingto sell for N97 was not correct.I did not say refined productswill sell for N97. I said betweena band of N87 and N97 per

litre, we are going to be looking atprices. Today, the prices are largelyclose to N87, so there might be noneed to change prices.

“By January 23 it may go upslightly; March it may go upslightly too; by April it may comedown. It is all a dynamics of whatthe price of crude is. I have not putan exact figure. I and the PetroleumProducts Pricing RegulatoryAgency, PPPRA, will sit down anddo those calculations to be able toannounce what price PMS will sellfor in January. We do not anticipateany major shift because of the priceof crude today.”

NPDC to get marginalfields, targets 2.4mbpd in2016

The Minister of State forPetroleum Resources also disclosedthat the Federal Government wasconsidering allocating a number ofmarginal oil fields to the NigerianPetroleum Development Company,NPDC, if it performs creditably, soas to help it increase its crude oilreserves base.

He also disclosed that a muchmore focused audit would beconducted on the operations andactivities of the NPDC, to ascertainits asset base and also determinewhether it is increasing ordepleting its reserves.

On the part of the NNPCfinancials, he said, “Most of themanagement accounts up to 2014are fairly finished; we are nowlooking at external audits. Auditswere last done in 2010. We havebrought the management accountsup to current; the external auditsare ongoing; the 2012 to 2014audits we expect would be doneby March next year, which wouldbring us likely current.

“And, hopefully, next year, wewill also finish the 2015 audit whichwill bring us right where we shouldbe. So by June or July, we shouldhave, quite frankly, all the resultsthat NNPC needs.”

Kachikwu further maintainedthat the focus of the FederalGovernment was to get the NNPCback to profitability to ensure thesustenance of the company, whileit is also targeting an increase ofNigeria crude oil production to 2.4million per day in 2016.

NEITI backs FG on subsidy removalBy Michael Eboh

ABUJA — THE NigeriaExtractive Industries

Transparency Initiative, NEITI,has said the possible policy shiftby the Federal Governmenttowards removal of fuel subsidyis a welcome development anda step in the right direction.

Acting Executive Secretary ofNEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,said the proposal to remove fuelsubsidy was consistent with therecommendations contained inNEITI’s independent auditreports conducted in the last sixyears, adding that the policy hasserved as a tool by the rich toexploit the poor.

Addressing a PolicyRoundtable on Subsidy RemovalDebate organized by the Shehu

Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja,Orji said: “From NEITI’sindependent audit report, overN4 trillion has been paid assubsidy to marketers from 2006-2012. The breakdown of thesubsidy shows that N2.197billion was paid as subsidy in2006. This rose to N236.64 billionin 2007 and N360.1 billion in2008.

"In 2009, the country paidN198.1 billion as subsidy forpetroleum products and in 2010the subsidy payment rose toN416.45 billion. The paymentsskyrocketed to N1.9 trillion in2011. Payments of oil subsidydeclined to N690 billion in 2012following the subsidy protestsacross the country in January ofthat year.”

Orji argued that Nigeria’s

current challenges with thecrash in the global oil pricemake it more difficult to sustainthe subsidy arrangementswhich appear to fund thelifestyle of the rich, whilemajority of the citizens wallowin poverty.

Orji is of the view thatremoval of the subsidy will freeover N700 billion annuallywhich can be channelled toprovision of infrastructure likeroads, education, healthservice, power, security,creation of jobs and basicbenefits for the poor in thesociety.

The Acting ExecutiveSecretary of NEITI regrettedthat the management of the oilsubsidy over the years hasbeen trailed by allegations of

fraud, corruption and arm twisting. According to him, NEITI alignswith the move by the governmentto remove subsidy and freeNigerians from this bondage onceand for all, describing the decisionif allowed to stay as a courageousone. He expressed delight thatmany of the individuals andgroups that were opposed to thepolicy before now have changedtheir position.

In her welcome remarks, DirectorGeneral of the Shehu Musa YarAdua Centre, Jacqueline Farris,explained that the policy dialoguewas convened to seek the views ofindustry experts, developmentpartners, the media and the civilsociety as well as the academia onthe subsidy removal debates andthe way forward.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—9

Dwindling oil price: Explore alternativesources of revenue, FG tells statesSays Abacha loot in treasury stands at $26,389, 000

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA —AS the price of oil inthe international market

continues to dwindle, the FederalGovernment insisted that stategovernments must begin toexplore alternative sources ofgenerating revenues in theirrespective states to augment whatthey were getting from the centreas monthly allocations.

Addressing newsmen,yesterday, after the NationalEconomic Council, NEC, meetingin Abuja, where Vice PresidentYemi Osinbajo representedPresident Muhammadu Buhari;Minister of Budget and NationalPlanning, Udoma Udo Udoma,said the advice became imperativein the face of the country’s presentdaunting economic challenges.

Udoma said the government, atthe meeting, resolved that stategovernments should not onlybegin to do away with wastes butalso exhibit prudence in themanagement of their resources,

Udoma said: “At the council

today, the Ministry of Budgetand National Planning made apresentation on the MediumTerm Expenditure Framework,MTEF and the Fiscal StrategicPaper, FSP. The reportshighlighted the government’sfiscal policy strategy anddirection for the next three years.

“We also briefed council aboutgovernment revenue andexpenditure projections for thenext three years. We briefedcouncil about our view in termsof the global outlook and micro-economic frame work and thekey assumptions underliningour projections .

“The presentation urged thestates to adopt the MTEF andFSP which has now beenapproved by the NationalAssembly, which is the onlybody that can approve it.

“But we urged them to adoptit as a basis for the developingof their annual budgets. We alsoemphasised the need for statesto be guided by the assumptionsof the MTEF and also the need

for states to be conservative intheir expenditure and theirexpenditure projections for 2016-2018, in view of the decliningoil price.

“We also urged states to looktowards enhancing theirInternally Generated Revenues(IGR) and blocking financialleakages in the system andgenerally we emphasised theneed in planning for theeconomy for the federal and stategovernments to work veryclosely with governmentbecause we are dealing withone economy.”

ECA hits $2.257bnGovernor Darius Ishaku of

Taraba State said the council wasalso briefed by the AccountantGeneral of the Federation, MrAhmed Idris, on the reports ofthe Excess Crude Proceeds.

He said: “The AccountantGeneral of the Federationreported to council that theExcess Crude Account (ECA)stood at $2.257 billion as at the

end of November, 2015.“He also reported a slight

change against the previousbalance with an interest whichis due, of $599, 137, 467 intothe account as accrued interest.

“We were also briefed on thereport of the FederalGovernment agencies that arecollecting revenue in foreigncurrencies and were remittingthe monies in Naira equivalentinto the federation account ,which is not allowed.

“So the Ministry of Financeis working on the details to passit to the council with acomprehensive report on theagencies that are involved,which will be later be madeknown to the public.”

Abacha loot intreasury standsat $26,389, 000

Also speaking, GovernorSamuel Ortom of Benue State,said the council was givenupdates on recoveries frommonies stolen by late Head ofState, General Sani Abacha,popularly known as Abachaloots.

He said: “We were also briefedon updates on Abacha loots incouncil. The Accountant General ofthe Federation reported that thedollar account as at November 2015ending has a balance of$26,389,000 while the poundssterling has a balance of £19, 000,033. That is where we are today.”

Governor Aminu Tambuwal ofSokoto State said the Governor ofthe Central Bank of Nigeria, MrGodwin Emefiele, briefed thecouncil on monetary policy of theFederal Government.

He said: “The CBN governorgave an update on monetary policymeasures on foreign exchangestrategy and he told the council thechallenges being faced by manycountries as a result of the globaleconomy recession.

“He also reported that the dropin the oil prices has caused seriouspressure on Nigeria’s reservewhich currently stands at $29billion.

“He also briefed the council onmonetary policy among others asfollows:

“The deduction of cash reserveratio from 25 per cent to 20 per cent.The measure on forex market andBank Verification Number (BVN)considering the introduction ofdebit card for travellers instead ofcash exchange demands to reducecash for illicit businesses, and alsolooking at option to diversify theeconomy away from oil.”

CMYK

10 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 , 2015

Pulse AdyAdsendorsesEfritinfamily

Lagos budgets N665.588bn for 2016

AMBODE PRESENTS 2016 BUDGET: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode(right), delivering his speech at the Lagos State House of Assembly, during the presentationof 2016 Budget to the House, at the Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday. Withhim are the Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa (behind) andthe Clerk of the House, Mr. Ganiyu Abiru.

LAGOS—GOVERNORAkinwunmi Ambode of

Lagos State yesterdaypresented the state’s 2016budget proposal of N662.588billion to the House ofAssembly, with a pledge thathis administration will notonly implement the budgetfaithfully, but also ensurethat it works in the bestinterest of Lagosians.

‘The Peoples Budget'The governor, who

christened the 2016 budget“The Peoples Budget” said itis an improvement of 26percent over the budgets of2014 and 2015 respectivelywhich stood at N489.6 billionindividually.

“The increase will enableour government to focus onthe present challenges ofsecurity, traffic gridlockresolution including physicaland social infrastructuraldevelopment which hasthrown up new challengesquite different from what weused to experience and havealways known”, he said.

He said the 2016 budget',which is the first full budgetof the present administrationwill promote massiveinvestment in security,transport and trafficmanagement, physical andsocial infrastructuraldevelopment and enhancejob creation.

He said the intention of hisgovernment is to use the 2016budget to strategically buildnew infrastructure, as well asmaintain existing ones,adding that wealth andemployment creation willalso receive adequateattention in the course of theyear.

Sectoral allocationsGiving a breakdown of the

budget figures, GovernorAmbode put the RecurrentExpenditure at N278,909bnwhile Capital Expenditurestands at N383,678bn,explaining that the Capital toRecurrent ratio is 58:42 asagainst 51:49 in 2014 and2015.

The governor also put thetotal revenue estimate for2016 fiscal year at N542.873billion saying the balance ofN119.714 billion will befunded through deficitfinancing constituting 0.41percent of the state GDPbased on 2016 budget aloneand a cumulative debt to GDPratio of about 3 percent.

On the size of the budget,Ambode earmarkedN120,508,571,598 for

•Recurrent expenditure - 44%; Capital - 56%By Olasunkanmi Akoni,Ebun Sessou & Monsur

Olowoopejo

General Public Servicesrepresenting 18.19 percent,N28,559,021,841 to PublicOrder and Safety,representing 4.31 percentwhile Economic Affairsreceived a lion share ofN 2 1 1 , 0 4 3 , 4 0 8 , 1 8 3representing 31.85 percent.

In other sectors,Environment got 8.1 percentof the budget totallingN53,043,599,505, Housingand Community Amenities,got N62,713,091,867representing 9.46 percent,Health got N64,677,679,096representing 9.76 percentwhile Recreation, Culture andReligion has N4,636,917,054which is 0.70 percent of thebudget.

Education sector alsoreceived N113,379,337,664representing 17.11 percent ofthe budget while SocialProtection gotN4,025,980,116, which is 0.61of the budget.

Governor Ambode said thatdue to the falling oil prices,the budget is pegged on $38dollar per barrel saying it wasin line to maintain aconservative approach inestimating the Federalallocation for 2016.

Special status for Lagos“Fiscal Federalism and

according Lagos a SpecialStatus will benefit the State aswe implore the FederalGovernment to look into thisas soon as possible. As youare aware, the FederalGovernment still owes LagosState over N50billionexpended on federal roads in

Lagos state. We lookforward to an early refundto enable us utilize the fundon other infrastructure thatrequire attention”, theGovernor said.

Some highlightsExplaining some of the

highlights of the Budget,Governor Ambode said thestate government willcommence the A-Meal- a-Day Programme in the statePublic Primary Schoolsfrom next year, adding thatit will be done incollaboration with theFederal Government whowill provide 60 percent ofthe funding, while the StateGovernment will match itwith 40 percent.

A-meal-a day“This programme

promises not only toimprove the daily nutritionof our children, it will alsocreate an economy of itsown, with opportunities forjob creation, incomegeneration, povertyalleviation, and so on”.

“I am happy to inform youthat in 2016 we will developour e-Curriculum, leadingto the distribution of IbileTablets to students in ourpublic schools. Thisrevolution, at the SecondarySchool level, will set a newstandard in our educationalsystem, and furtherenhance the knowledge ofour children to enable themcompete effectively with theirpeers in developedcountries”, the governor said.

On security

On security, GovernorAmbode while acknowledgingthat it was a major challengethat confronted the state withinthe first few months of hisadministration said thegovernment adopted amultifaceted approach at tacklingthis challenge, just as he pledgedto continue to support the securityagencies in 2016.

On road infrastructureOn road infrastructure, the

Governor said one of theassignments that hisadministration had embarkedupon is to regularly inspect thestate of the roads to ascertaintheir conditions and ensurethat they are motorable,assuring that while ongoingprojects will be given priority inthe course of the year, new roadswill be constructed across thelength and breadth of the state.

Receiving the budget,Speaker of the House, Rt Hon.Mudashiru Obasa commendedthe governor for procuringsecurity equipment to combatinsecurity in the state, just ashe assured that the budgetproposal would be meticulouslylooked into by the House.

Roll callDignitaries present at the

event include former speakersof the House of Assemblyincluding Rt Hon. AdeyemiIkuforiji, Senator OlorunnimbeMamora, Jokotola Pelumi,National Assembly members,members of the State ExecutiveCouncil, traditional rulers,religious leaders, among others.

•Commences a-meal-a-day in public schools; seeks special status for state

NIGERIA’S leadingo n l i n e

m a r k e t p l a c e ,Efritin.com, yesterdaywelcomed existing Adyusers to the Efritin familyto continue to enjoy theirclassified experience.

This comes on the backof Pulse Ady Ads’partnership with andendorsement ofEfritin.com as the go-tomarket place for existingAdy users who wished tocontinue enjoying greatonline market placeexperience from TuesdayDecember 1st, 2015,following RingierNigeria’s announcementof its decision todiscontinue the servicesof its horizontalclassified platform, Adyand launch of its newoffering, Pulse Ady Ads.

With Efritin.com as itsexclusive launch partner,Pulse Ady Ads isexpected to provide a 360degree touch point forendorsed online businesspartners, as well as aneasy access point toonline services forPulse’s readers. This willbe done through thePulse Ady Ads categoryon Pulse, with variousonline services providedin this category, as wellas a close mediacoverage partnership.

Speaking about thepartnership, ChristopherBjergmose, Head ofAdy.ng and DigitialClassifieds at RingierNigeria stated that“partnering with Efritin isa great choice for PulseAdy Ads in providing ourreaders with a top-notchmarketplace where theywill be able to find greatdeals, job opportunitiesand much more. I also feelthat Efritin is the rightchoice for carrying on theAdy Classifieds legacyand the best place for ourloyal users to continuebuying and selling usedgood”.

On his part,ZakariaHersi, ManagingDirector, Efritin.com,said “we are excited topartner with Pulse andalso be the go-toclassifieds for Ady users.Our determination toprovide trust andconvenience in theNigerian online marketspace made it a naturalchoice to partner up.”

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 11

Appeal court affirms Ajimobi, Amosun’selections

No king on earth is above God — OONI

By Gbenga Olarinoye

BELL RINGING: From left; Chief Anthony Idegbe (SAN) Director, Royal ExchangePLC Nigeria; Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Chike Mokwunye.GMD , Royal Exchange Plc Nigeria; Miss Sheila Ezeuko, Group Company Secretaryand Alhaji Auwalu Mukhtari, Group Executive Director during the Royal ExchangeAssurance Bell Ringing at the floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange, Lagos.

NERC issues8 companieslicence togenerate1,648.25MW

By Chris OchayiIBADAN—THE Court ofAppeal in Ibadan has

dismissed the appeal filed byformer Governor of Oyo State,Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja against thevictory of the incumbent governor,Senator Abiola Ajimobi in the Aprilpoll and upheld a unanimousjudgment delivered by the three-man election petition tribunal,which had earlier confirmeddeclaration of the governor aswinner of the election.

The court also dismissed theappeal of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, in Ogun State againstthe election of the state governor,Mr. Ibikunle Amosun.

Ladoja, who contested on theplatform of Accord Party had allegedthat the election of GovernorAjimobi was in contravention of theElectoral Act 2010 as amendednoting that the candidate of the AllProgressives Congress was notvalidly elected by lawful votes castin the election.

The tTribunal had on October 27confirmed Governor Ajimobi as thewinner of the election, but Ladojaand Accord were not pleased withthe decision and headed to theAppellate Court for redress.

At the sitting of the courtyesterday, the five-man panel wasunanimous in its decisionsconfirming the earlier decision ofthe Tribunal that the evidencegiven by the principal witness ofLadoja and his party was notadmissible in law.

On the election of GovernorAmosun, the panel led by JusticeH.M Ogunjimiju unanimouslyupheld the judgment of the lowertribunal which was delivered onOctober 23 and dismissed theappeal filed by Mr AdegboyegaIsiaka of the Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP in the April poll election.

The court held that the evidencegiven by one of the witnesses inthe petition, Benjamin Ibikunle,PW9 for the PDP candidate was notreliable.

The five-man panel also held thatthe appeal lacked merit and washereby dismissed.

The lower tribunal led by JusticeHenry Olusiyi, had said earlier thatthe petitioner Prince GboyegaIsiaka lacked evidence to provehis allegations of massive

rigging and non-compliancewith Electoral Act.

I am on my way to APC – ALAO-AKALAMeantime, there were

surprises at the residence ofGovernor Abiola Ajimobiyesterday as one of his archpolitical rivals at the April 11poll, Otunba Adebayo Alao-

Akala appeared andcongratulated him on his victoryat the Appeal Court.

Akala came third in the electionand has distanced himself fromany petition against the winner,Governor Ajimobi.

On his congratulatory visit toGovernor Ajimobi at hisresidence, Akala who wasbeaming an inviting smile said;

“I am here to rejoice with mybrother for the judgment oftoday. We already knew whatthe outcome would be; we hadexpected what we got today. Sowe are rejoicing.

On his possible defection toAPC, Alao-Akala said “It hasbeen on; we are still crossingthe t’s and dotting the i’s. I amon my way to APC.”

OSOGBO—THE Ooni ofIfe, Oba Adeyeye Enitan

Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, hasberated those criticising him forkneeling in church to worshipGod, saying that; “No King onearth is above God”

A picture showing themonarch kneeling downduring the installationthanksgiving held at St Paul’sAnglican Church, Ile Ife, onSunday, December 13th, hadgone viral on internet,attracting diverse comments.

While many that commentedon the picture saw no wrong inthe action of the newly installedmonarch, many were of the viewthat the act desecrated the

revered stool of Ooni.The week-long coronation

activities for the Ooni wasclimaxed by a thanksgivingservice on Sunday 13thDecember 2015, at St Paul’sAnglican Church, Ile-Ife.

But in a statement signed bythe Director of Communicationand Public Affairs, Ooni’s Palace,Ile-Ife, Moses Olafare, theOoni said it is anunacceptable sacrilege toequate Ooni’risa or any otherking to the almighty God.

His words: “God is the creatorof mankind and it is God thatmade it possible for theenthronement of any king.

“The Ile Oodua has beendrawn to a publication releasedWednesday 16th 2015 by an

online medium in which HisImperial Majesty, Ooni’risa &Arole Oodua Oba AdeyeyeEnitan Ogunwusi, OjajaII, wascriticised for bowing to God.

“God remains the highestKing of Kings who has kept allKings alive and had made itpossible for me to be crownedas the a King of the source ofYoruba civilisation.

“I have no regret whatsoeverfor kneeling down to exalt thealmighty God who did not onlycreate me, but also kept mealive, saw me through all thestorms in my. life-journey andeventually crowned me as thecustodian of Oodua race.''

By Ola Ajayi

Alao-Akala congratulates Ajimobi, says he's on the way to APC

A B U J A — T H EN i g e r i a n

Electricity RegulatoryCommission, NERC,yesterday, issued licenceto eight companies with acombined capacity togenerate 1,648.25megawatts of electricity.

The Commission alsolicenced a distributioncompany during theevent that took place at itsheadquarter in Abuja.

The licences according astatement issued by theCommission, were amixture of on-grid, off-grid,embedded generation anddistribution of electricity.

It explained further thatone of the licensees,Ossiomo Offistes andUtilities/ Ossiomo Power&Infrastructure, based inEdo state will engage inelectricity distribution andin embedded generationof 55 Megawatts gaspower electricity.

Meanwhile, Anambrastate Independent PowerGeneration CompanyLimited, located inOnitsha, an on-grid gas-fired plant has the capacityfor 528mw capacity. Thereis Cummins PowerGeneration, NigeriaLimited (NBC) Ikeja witha capacity for a 3.5mwcapacity, off- grid. Thecompany also has licencefor a 1.7mw to serve A&PFoods, in Agege, Lagos.

“NERC licence toSinosun InvestmentLimited, based in Jibiya,Kastina state is for an on-grid, solar powergeneration of 100mwcapacity. In the same vein,LR-Aaron Power Limited,located in Gwagalada haslicence for 100mw solarpowered electricitygeneration.

WAEC releases Nov/Dec results, withholds 28,768 overexam malpractice

THE West AfricanExaminations Council

(WAEC) says it has withheld28,768 results of candidates whosat for the 2015 November/December West African SeniorSchool Certificate Examination(WASSCE) over examinationmalpractice.

The Head of National Office ofWAEC, Mr Olutise Adenipekun,made the disclosure at a newsconference in Lagos on

Thursday where he announcedthe release of the results forprivate candidates. According tohim, the figure represents 12.13per cent of 237,154 candidatesthat sat for the examination.

Adenipekun said that theresults were being withheld forfurther investigations.

He said that reports of theinvestigations would bepresented to the NigeriaExaminations Committee (NEC)

of the council for consideration.Adenipekun, who recently assumed

office following the retirement of hispredecessor, said that the committee’sdecisions would be communicated tothe affected candidates in due course.

He said that 235,542 candidates,representing 99.23 per cent, had theirresults fully processed and released.

“However, 1,612 others, representing0.68 per cent, have few of their subjectsstill being processed due to some errorstraceable mainly to the candidates inthe course of registration or writing theexamination.

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Rivers: We'll resist military, police harassmentof voters in re-run poll —Wike

By Jimitota Onoyume

Bayelsa Poll: I've not withdrawn from race —Sylva

Edo workers to receive Dec salariesbefore Xmas, Oshiomhole assures

TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE: The couple, Mr & Mrs Ibrahim Clark; parents, Dr. (Mrs)Marinatu Clark, mother of the groom; Chief Edwin Clark, father of the groom, withfriends, during the traditional marriage ceremony of Nnei Evelyn Opia and Ibrahim Clark,in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe.

PORT HARCOURT—GOVERNOR Nyesom

Wike of Rivers State haswarned that the state wouldresist any move by the FederalGovernment to manipulate thecoming National Assembly re-run election in the state withsoldiers and policemen.

The governor gave thewarning, yesterday, when hissupporters received him at thePort Harcourt InternationalAirport.

The governor who said thathis prolonged silence shouldnot be mistaken for weakness,assured that all members ofthe party in the NationalAssembly whose elections werenullified would be returned inthe re-run election.

Describing the nullification ofhis election by the AppealCourt as a temporary set back,Wike enjoined his supportersto remain peaceful, directingthat campaigns shouldcommence at the various unitsand wards of the party.

He said that he wasconfident of emergingvictorious at the end of the day,adding that he had instructedhis lawyers to challenge theverdict of the Appeal Court atthe Supreme Court.

He also promised to abide bythe judgment that will comefrom the apex court.

“I want to warn, let nobodyattempt to do what happened

in Bayelsa State here. Sincethey said they have annulledthe election, let them comeand conduct fresh election.Let nobody think that theycan use soldiers and

policemen to intimidate us.We will resist any suchattempt. We have maintainedour cool for a long time. Ourcalmness should not bemistaken for weakness.

“We shall return all ourNational Assembly membersas a way of disgracing thosewho think they will snatch themandate of the people,” hesaid.

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y E N A G O A — T H Egovernorship candidate

of All Progressives Congress,APC, in Bayelsa State, ChiefTimipre Sylva, yesterday,dismissed as false, claims by somepoliticians in the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, thathe had withdrawn from thesuspended governorshipelection in the state.

He described the claimas an act of desperation bythe PDP in their fear ofimminent defeat.

According to him, thosemembers of the PDP whoare spreading fabricationsabout his withdrawal fromthe suspendedgovernorship contest wereengaging in a failed effortto save their principal, Mr.Seriake Dickson, from sureand imminent defeat.

Sylva, who spoke throughhis media adviser, Mr.Doifie Buokoribo,yesterday, advised Dicksonto stop dissipating energyon falsehood, hypocrisy,and deceit.

“Dickson should wait forthe outcome of the

governorship election and try tocontrol his outbursts of fear anddeceit, which cannot sway anyBayelsan, as the people alreadyknow better.

“The falsehood about Sylva’swithdrawal from thegovernorship race that Dicksonhad tried to mar with his

uncivilised vituperations andopen call for violence is part ofthe same strategy of deceit andviolence, which he and the PDPhad employed since thebeginning of the electionprocess.

“In lie after lie, which we haveroundly exposed, Dickson has

shown that he has nothing oth-er than deception to offer thepeople of Bayelsa State in theon-going election. This latestchicanery about Sylva’swithdrawal, like the othersbefore it, will not give Dicksonany reprieve from the sure andimminent defeat awaiting him."

Bayelsarescheduledpoll to holdJanuary 9

By Samuel Oyadongha

Y E N A G O A — T H Er e s c h e d u l e d

governorship election inSouthern Ijaw LocalGovernment Area ofBayelsa State and in someunits in the seven otherlocal government areas ofthe state will now hold onJanuary 9.

Vanguard gathered thatthe new date was agreedupon at a stakeholdersmeeting held in Abuja,yesterday.

The meeting, it waslearned, resolved thatpolice should play a leadingrole in the rescheduled pollas against the militarydominance during thebotched December 6election in the area.

Also, the distribution ofelectoral materials is to bedecentralized as against theprevious practice thatprovided windows forelectoral fraud andviolence, which resulted inthe alleged death of somepersons.

The meeting, which hadin attendance, theIndependent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, Chairman, ProfMahmood Yakubu, theNational Security Adviser,NSA, Major-GeneralBabagana Monguno (retd),the governorshipcandidates of all thecontending political partiesand other stakeholders,according to a source privyto it, deliberatedextensively on the incidentthat led to the cancellationof the election in theaffected areas and profferedsolutions.

By StephenMmadukwem

G O V E R N O RA d a m s

Oshiomhole of Edo Statehas assured the state’s civilservants and pensionersthat their salaries andpensions would be paidbefore December 25,notwithstanding theshortfall in monthly federalallocation and uncertaintiesin the global oil price thathave negatively affectedthe nation’s revenueprofile.

Senior Special Assistanton Media to GovernorOshiomhole, Mr. JohnMayaki, in a statement,explained that the

governor's assurance wasnot based on assumptionsor probability as ineconomic slogan of

Ijaws salute new Olu of Warri

“everything being equal,”because the governor wascertain that he will paysalaries as stipulated.

THE IjawMonitoring Group,

IMG, has described thecoronation of PrinceGodfrey Emiko, as the newOlu of Warri without crisisas a thing of joy to all NigerDeltans.

In a congratulatorymessage by Mr JosephEvah, IMG said, “TheItsekiri have made NigerDelta proud before the eyesof the entire world that allthe culture and customs that

By Tony Nwankwo bring dignity and honourto our people will neverdie.”

Vanguard,FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—13

Emerhor/Ogboruvs Okowa:Appeal Courtreserves judgment

Suspended lawmaker disowns suit against DTHA

Garden of Life holds song fiesta

THE Garden of Life Assembly, aka Garden ofno Lack, will tomorrow host other men of

God and musicians at the church auditorium, 7,All Saint Lane, off Ighofose Street, Ugborokoko,Effurun, Delta State. Chief host Bishop EdwardOrovwuje will also be ministering.

By Festus Ahon

A S A B A — T H Esuspended member

representing Isoko South IIconstituency in the DeltaState House of Assembly, MrJohnson Erijo, hasdissociated himself from thelitigation by a group ofpersons against the statelegislature over hissuspension from the House.

Erijo, in a statement, saidhe knew nothing about MrErnest Osima and threeothers who dragged theHouse and its leadership tocourt over his suspension,adding that as a law abidingcitizen of Nigeria and anexperienced legislator, healways abides by the rules,including rules andregulations guiding the state

House ofAssembly.

T h el a w m a ke r,

who was suspended fromsitting alongside the memberrepresenting Oshimili North,Mrs Pat Ajudua, for twomonths, said, “Despite thegroup’s notice ofdiscontinuation of thelitigation, I completelydissociate myself from thesaid litigation.”

Erijo assured that he willalways accord due respect tothe government of the day,led by Senator IfeanyiOkowa, and the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP.

INSPECTION: From left: Engr Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director, Federal Airports Au-thority of Nigeria; Sabiu Zakari, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transport; Sen.Hadi Sirika, Minister of State, Aviation, and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport,during the inspection tour of Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

N1.04 trn fine: MTN refuses to pay, threatens court actionBy Prince Osuagwu

MTN Nigeria has finallyconcluded it would not

pay the N1.04 trn fine, theNigerian CommunicationsCommission, NCC imposed on it,for its failure to disengage about5.1 million improperly registeredsubscribers on its network inAugust and September 2015 andhas decided to challenge the NCCin court. Not even the reductionof the fine to N780 billion lastweek by the commission, couldsway the telecommunicationscompany.

Addressing its shareholders,yesterday, MTN said that “allfactors having a bearing on thematter have been thoroughly andcarefully considered including areview of the circumstancesleading to the fine and thesubsequent letters received fromthe Nigerian CommunicationsCommission (NCC).

“MTN Nigeria acting on legaladvice has resolved that themanner of the imposition of thefine and the quantum thereof isnot in accordance with the NCC’spowers under the NigerianCommunications Act. AccordinglyMTN has followed due processand has instructed its lawyers toproceed with an action in theFederal High Court in Lagosseeking the appropriate reliefs.

Appropriatereliefs

MTN is advised that in thecurrent circumstances in line withthe lis pendens rule (pendinglegal action) the parties areenjoined to restrain from takingfurther action until the matter isfinally determined. This isconsistent with previous judicialdecisions in Nigeria”.

The telecommunicationscompany said thatnotwithstanding this action, thecompany will continue to engagewith the Nigerian authorities totry and ensure an amicableresolution in the best interests ofthe company, its stakeholders andthe Nigerian authorities. TheNigerian CommunicationsCommission, NCC, last weekreduced the N1.04 trillion fine itimposed on MTN Nigeria toN780 billion. However, thecommission also mandated thetelecom operator to pay the fineon or before December 31, 2015.

Meanwhile, the MTN’s latestdecision has attracted severalreactions from stakeholders in theindustry. While some agreed that

MTN reserved the right to seekcourt interpretation to the issue,others warned of theconsequences taking the matterto court might bring to both thecompany, the sector and thecountry at large particularly withthe level of impact the sector hason foreign direct investment andthe country’s GDP.

Chairman of the Association ofLicensed TelecommunicationsOperators in Nigeria, ALTON,Engr Gbenga Adebayo, said thatalthough MTN has the right toseek court action as a company,over matters that were not clearto it, the implication of takingthe matter to court is thatinvestors who would haveordinarily strolled into thecountry to do business wouldhave to wait to see the outcomeof the case before doing so. “Ihope this matter would beresolved amicably for the interestof all and the sector. No foreigninvestor would want to come tothe sector now if the matter is in

court until they see the directionof the resolution. That is animplication that may also tell onthe contribution of the sector tothe GDP” he added.

Also president of TeledomGroup, Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem,added that taking the matter tocourt may be a businessdecision following the nature ofNigeria’s judicial system.“Anything is possible. It may bea business decision,considering that before the casewould go through all the levelsto Supreme Court, it may havetaken five years, of which theymay have recouped a lot ofgains to pay the fine. But if thecourt finds out there was aninfraction and that the fine byNCC was in the right direction,MTN should know that it wouldnot only pay the fine but alsocompensations. All these wouldalso impact the sector in oneway or the other. So amicableresolution would have servedbetter option”.

In his reaction, President ofAssociation of TelecomCompanies of Nigeria, ATCON,Engr Lanre Ajayi, said thatgoing to court to seekclarification, was a right no oneshould fault MTN on, if all otheroptions have been exhausted.He, however, said that he didnot believe that it would impactthe sector negatively in any way.The Nigerian CommunicationsCommission, NCC, last weekreduced the N1.04 trillion fine itimposed on MTN Nigeria toN780 billion.

However, the commission alsomandated the telecom operatorto pay the fine on or beforeDecember 31, 2015. The fineimposed on the telecom operatorfollowed what NCC described asMTN’s inability to disconnectabout 5.1 million Nigeriansubscribers improperlyregistered on its network, afterseveral warnings in August andSeptember 2015.

By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—THE Court ofAppeal sitting in Benin,

Edo State, yesterday, reservedjudgment in the appeal by Olor-gun O’tega Emerhor and the AllProgressives Congress, APC,against the judgment of theDelta State Election Petition Tri-bunal which declared Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, as thewinner of the election.

Similarly, the appellate courtalso deferred judgment in theappeal by Chief Great Ogboruand the Labour Party against thedeclaration of Dr. Okowa asgovernor by the lower tribunalin Asaba.

It will be recalled that Emer-hor, dissatisfied with the judg-ment of the lower court, filed 11grounds of appeal through hiscounsel, Chief T. J. Okpoko,SAN, asking the appellate courtto upturn the judgment.

He is contending that “thejustices erred in law in resolv-ing against the appellants thatthe petition was incompetent onthe ground of non-compliancewith the procedural rule in par-agraph 4 (3) (b) of the 1st sched-ule to the Electoral Act 2010 (asamended).

By Emma Amaize,Regional Editor, South-

South

Call DSS bossto order, grouptells Buhari

WARRI—THE Delta IjawYouth Assembly,

DIYA, yesterday, urged Presi-dent Muhammdu Buhari tocall the Director General of De-partment of State Services,DSS, Musa Lawal Daura, toorder, saying that he has suc-ceeded in infusing a cultureof lawlessness on other lawenforcement agencies with hispurported impunity.

The group, which con-demned the recent allegedmanhandling and dehuman-ization of former Director Gen-eral of Nigeria Maritime Ad-ministration and Safety Agen-cy, NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Ak-pobolokemi, said, “Mr Presi-dent should know that thereis a zero survival chance foran elected government out-side the ambit of the rule oflaw. Rule of law and rule ofman are not interchangeable.

“For every act of maladmin-istration, it is President Bu-hari’s government that is dis-credited. Hard as he tries,Daura and his co-travelers arejust hirelings.

“I implore President Buharito run the affairs of this coun-try with the fear of God. Thefinal vote tally was hardly inwhen then President Good-luck Jonathan made the his-toric concessional phone call.

14 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Book presentation in honour of Sam Amuka at NIIA, Kofo Abayomi Street, VictoriaIsland, Lagos, yesterday. Photos by Joe Akintola, Kehinde Gbadamosi & Bunmi Azeez.

From left; Mr Fola Adeola, Chairman of the occasion; Pastor Kunle Hamilton, book reviewer (behind0; MrSam Amuka, Publisher of Vanguard Newspaper; Mr Muyiwa Majekodunmi (behind); Mr Jimi Disu, author ofthe book and Angela Ajetunmobi during the presentation of the book title: ''For Sam, A collection of Contempo-rary Thoughts.''

BELOW: From left; Mrs Janet Disu, wife of authorof the book, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, Mr GbengaAdefaye, General Manager/Editor-in-Chief,Vanguard newspaper, and popular artiste, Lagbaja.

From left; Mr Fola Adeola, Senator Bode Olajumoke, Mr Sam Amuka, Prof J.P Clarkand Prof Pat Utomi.

From left; Chief Bengy 'Apollo' Oseragbaje, Mr Peter Arigbe,and Mr Ken Oboh.

LAGOS—IT was indeed another intellectual gathering and honour well deserved as notable

Nigerians, captains of industry, scholars, writers andfriends converged on the Nigeria Institute ofInternational Affairs, Victoria Island, to celebrate theVanguard Publisher, Mr Sam Amuka, fondly knownas Uncle Sam in the media industry.

Regarded as the oldest practising mediapractitioner in Nigeria, Mr Amuka has beendescribed as a hardworking and perfect gentleman,who will always stand by you at any time, whethergood or bad. This was the submission of Mr KunleHamilton and a host of others at the presentation ofa book written by Jimi Disu and dedicated to UncleSam.

Held at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs,Lagos, the well attended event was graced by Prof.Pat Utomi, Prof. J.P Clark, Senator Bode Olajumoke,Prof. John Amuda, Prof. Egerton Uvieghara, SupoShasore, Amb. Marcus Bello, Dr Olumide Adedeji,Mr Gbenga Adefaye, GM/Editor in Chief, VanguardMedia Ltd, Mideno Bayagbon, Editor Vanguard,Abdul Imoyo, Mask master, Lagbaja, Bunmi Sofola,Remi Desalu, Biodun Disu, Yomi Onashile, TaiwoObe, John Onobote and a host of others.

Hamilton described Uncle Sam as one of thosewho believe in doing things the right way and askedNigerians to emulate his style.

The event, which was chaired by Mr Fola Adeola,

former Managing Director of GTBank andfounder of Hope Foundation, was the publicpresentation of a book, For Sam: A Collectionof Contemporary Thoughts written by JimiDisu, a former staff of Mr Sam Amuka. Thebook published by Quramo Publishing Limitedis a cumulation of all the works the author haddone.

In his opening remarks, Fola Adeola describedthe author as good narrator in every respect.“He is ever smiling and releases his thoughtsslowly; his laughter is infectious and makespeople happy at all times. He should be a rolemodel for others.”

In his remarks, an elated Uncle Sam, whothanked all for honouring the invitation,described the title of the book as one of the manybattles he had lost. “I was quite amused thefirst time he showed me the title. I said, ‘if youpublish a book for Uncle Sam with this title howwould it sell?’ But he was adamant. I am a verylucky person to have people who expressedinterest and followed me to write a book sorefreshing and dedicated it to Sam. For me thisis something that money cannot buy. Jimi, Iappreciate you.”

The book reviewers, Angela Ajetunmobi,Kunle Hamilton and Muyiwa Majekodunmi,who also served as the panellists, describedthe book as a brilliant and educative work thatcovers many areas of life.

Eminent Nigerians honour Sam AmukaBy Japhet Alakam

Mr Remi Desalu (left) and Mr Biodun Disu, Ex-ecutive Chairman, Philips.

From left; Muyiwa Adetiba, former Editor of Vanguardnewspaper, Mr. Fola Ajidagba and Prince Jide Adeniyi.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—15

Gov Okowa's daughter, Marilynweds in Agbor, Delta State

CMYK

Mr. Gbolahan Daramola, groom, and his bride, former Miss Marilyn Okowa,daughter of Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, during their traditionalmarriage cerenony, in Owa-Oyibo, Agbor, Delta State, yesterday. Photos: NathOnojake

GovernorIfeanyiOkowa,

and wife,Edith,bride's

parents.

Thegroom'sparents,

Engr.David

Daramola,and wife,Titilola.

From left, Mr. Festus Ovie-Agas, Secretary to the State Government, SSG, DeltaState; Mr. Tam Brisibe, Chief of Staff, and Hon. Chris Oghenechowe.

From right, Brigadier-General Dominic Oneya (ret'd), Governor Ifeanyi Okowa,and Dr. Steve Oru, former Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs.

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 , 2015

IPOB, MASSOB clash with JTF in Onitsha, 5 killed, 7injured•Court orders Kanu’s release from detention •Jubilation as Nnamdi Kanu regains freedom

•Kanu’s release, a triumph over injustice —MASSOB •Implement Confab report now—OhanaezeBy Chidi Nkwopara,

Ikechukwu Nnochiri,Chimaobi Nwaiwu,

Francis Igata &Ugochukwu Alaribe

FIVE PERSONS were,yesterday, shot dead at the

Niger Bridge Head, while sevenothers sustained varying degreesof injuries when members of theIndigenous people of Biafra,IPOB, and Movement for theActualization of Sovereign Stateof Biafra, MASSOB, clashed withJoint Task Force, JTF, comprisingthe Army and the Police, whichmounted road block at the NigerHead Bridge.

Four of the victims shot deadwere members of both IPOB andMASSOB, while one person issaid to be a soldier, who wasgrabbed by the mob, angry withthe way soldiers opened fire onthe jubilating crowd that includednon pro-Biafra agitators, and fellfour of them before they ran fortheir lives, leaving the victimsbehind.

All the markets around theNiger Bridge Head, includingthe Bridge Head Market, OnitshaPatent and Propitiatory MedicineDealers Market (Ogbo OgwuMarket) and other marketslocated around the bridge,including Abada Market werequickly shut down, followingsporadic shooting by the militaryto scare the jubilant crowd away.

Meanwhile, a Federal HighCourt sitting in Abuja, yesterday,ordered the Department of StateService, DSS, to immediatelyrelease the detained leader ofIPOB, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.

The court directed that Kanu,who had been in detention sinceOctober 17, should be released“unconditionally.”

Ruling on the fundamentalrights suit by Kanu, the trialjudge, Justice Ademola Adeniyi,said there was no basis for theapplicant to remain in custodysince there was currently nocharge pending against him.

The court order came barely 24hours after an Abuja ChiefMagistrate's Court sitting at WuseZone 2, struck out a one-countcharge the Federal Governmentpreferred against the IPOBleader.

Meanwhile, according to aneye-witness at the Onitsha HeadBridge, who was coming fromAsaba end of the bridge, theBiafra agitators were said to bemarching on the road near theRiver Niger Bridge, chantingsolidarity songs in jubilation forthe release of Nnamdi Kanu, andwere accosted by the soldiers,who ordered them to go back, anddisagreements ensued before thesoldiers allegedly opened fire onthem.

Another version of the story hadit that, the pro-Biafra agitators andthose sympathetic to their cause,were jubilating, singing anddancing near the bridge and inannoyance, the soldiers, who hadbeen guiding the bridge since thelast shooting, during which

unarmed nine protesters werekilled and 18 others injured,opened fire on them, gunningdown four.

Contacted, the Police PublicRelations Officer, PPRO, Mr. AliOkechukwu confirmed the clashand accused the pro-Biafraagitators of mobilizing over I00of their members to launch attackon the soldiers at the NigerBridge Head and even tried todispossess them of their guns.

The PPRO, who was silent onthe number of people killed, said:“I learnt that there was adisagreement between the Army,IPOB and MASSOB members,who mobilized over I00 of theirmembers to attack soldiers at theNiger Bridge Head.”

He said that he was trying toget the Army authorities toascertain the true position of theincident, but unfortunately theywere not picking their calls. Hewas also not forth-coming on thenumber of casualties at press time,and requested that he be givenenough time to make calls toascertain the true position ofthings.

Speaking on the incident,leader of MASSOB, Mr.Uchenna Madu said the news ofthe release of Mr. Kanu elicitedsinging, dancing and jubilationin Onitsha and other 'Biafran'lands and those in Onitsha tooktheir dance to ChukwemekaOdumegwu Ojukwu plaque atthe Niger Bridge Head and outof envy, and because of thesinging and dancing, andbanters they were throwing withone another, the soldiers, whomounted a road-block there,opened fire on the dancingprotesters and killed four.

He said that no amount ofintimidation, harassment andkilling of their members will makethem resort to violence, addingthat “the military is doing all sortsof things to push us into violence,but we will never do that becausethat is what has been setting usfree in all the harassment andintimidation we have been goingthrough.”

Vanguard gathered thatimmediately the four people werekilled, the Police, Army, Navy andCivil Defencee, that had beenharassing and intimidating the

residents and subjecting them toall sorts of dehumanizingtreatment at their check-points,including raising up their handsbefore crossing their check-points,abandoned the roads.

The busy Onitsha Owerri Road,Asaba Onitsha Enuguexpressway, were a shadow ofthemselves as people desertedthe roads for fear of being shot bythe military and the Police, whowere said to be regrouping toconfront the IPOB and MASSOBmembers.

Seven people, who sustainedbullet wounds, were transferredto Multi Care Hospital, Onitshaand the bodies of the dead weresaid to have been taken to a yetto be identified hospital inOnitsha.

Kanu entitled to right to libertyMeanwhile, the Federal High

Court ruling by Justice Adeniyi,came barely 24 hours after anAbuja Chief Magistrate Courtsitting at Wuse Zone 2, struck outa one-count charge the FederalGovernment preferred against theIPOB leader.

Justice Adeniyi, yesterday, heldthat Kanu was entitled to his rightto liberty as enshrined in section35(1) (4) and (5) of the 1999Constitution, as amended.

He maintained that thecontinued detention of Kanu aftertwo months without trial, was inviolation of section 158 of theAdministration of CriminalJustice Act 2015 and Section 35of the 1999 Constitution.

Justice Ademola said there wasno law permitting the DSS or anyother security agency to detainany Nigerian beyond two monthswithout any concrete move to trysuch person before a competentcourt.

The judge said available factsbefore him showed that the DSSwas not ready to release Kanu onbail.

He, therefore, ordered the DSSto immediately grantunconditional bail to theapplicant.

Okorocha commends soldiersfor handling IPOB, MASSOBprotests

Meanwhile, Governor RochasOkorocha of Imo State, has

commended the Nigerian Armyfor peacefully and tacticallyhandling the recent proteststaged in Owerri by thousands ofloyalists of IPOB, and MASSOB.

The governor, who spoke whileon a visit to the 34 Field ArtilleryBrigade, Obinze, yesterday, alsoexpressed happiness that no lifewas lost during the protest inOwerri.

“This administration is verypleased with the way the officersand men of the Nigerian Armyhandled thousands of MASSOBmembers, who staged a protestin Owerri recently, as well asensured that there was nobloodshed,” Okorocha said.

He regretted the poor state offacilities at the Obinze barrackand assured that he was going todraw the attention of the FederalGovernment to the situation in thebarrack.

In Enugu, wild jubilationerupted in major streets of Enugumetropolis, yesterday, as thenews of the release of detainedDirector, Radio Biafra, NnamdiKanu filtered in.

When Vanguard moved roundOgui Road, New Haven streetsin Enugu, people especiallyyouths, were in a frenzy mood,just as most relaxation spots werefilled to the brim occasioned byhis release.

Triumph over forces of injusticeLeader of MASSOB, Uchenna

Madu, who had been the arrow-head of the struggle for Kanu’srelease said: “The discharge,dropping of the charge againstKanu by the Nigeriangovernment is a triumph overforces of injustice, suppression,oppression and subugationagainst the oppressed IPOB.

“MASSOB’s consistency anduncompromised spirit under mehas been vindicated. MASSOBshall continue with IPOB forgenuine, committed Biafran non-

violent struggle. We salute ourcomrades in IPOB both at homeand in the Diaspora for theirunrelenting, courageous efforts,spirit of oneness in pursuing thevision and mission of IPOB.

“Nnamdi Kanu has become thehero of genuine Biafra agitation.Those, who earlier opposed Kanuwill cover their faces in shame.MASSOB hails the committed,eloquent, dedicated Igbo leaders,who fearlessly assisted in therelease of our brother, Kanu.MASSOB knows them, becausewe met and appealed to them andthey responded. Kanu shall bereceived in Biafraland as thegreatest hero.”

Ohanaeze Ndigbo tasks FG on2014 confab resolutions

Also, drawng from NnamdiKanu’s release, the apex Igbosocio-cultural group, OhanaezeNdigbo, yesterday, urged theFederal Government to quicklyimplement the resolutions of 2014National conference report as acredible panacea that will addressthe grave injustices, neglect,marginalization meted to thepeople of South-East zone.

General Secretary, OhanaezeNdigbo, Joe Nworgu toldVanguard on phone that, the"Federal Government took theright action by releasing NnamdiKanu. His arrest heightenedtension. Now that he had beenfreed, tension will reduce.Looking out of my office, in OguiRoad, Enugu, thousands ofpeople are jubilating."

Jubilation in AbaMembers of IPOB, in Aba, Abia

State went into wild celebrationsover the release of their detainedleader, Nnnamdi Kanu.

The IPOB members, who hadgone round the city, Wednesday,over the judgment of AbujaMagistrate's Court to thatacquitted Kanu as early as 7a.m.,converged at National HighSchool, on Port Harcourt Raod,from where they took off toCemetery Market, Faulks Roadand ended their march at OsusuPrimary School.

Vanguard gathered that thegroup had, yesterday, warned thatmarkets and business centres inthe city would be shut in supportfor their detained leader, but thenews of Kanu’s release, changedthe situation as traders lateropened for business.

Some of the IPOB members,who spoke to Vanguard, said thatthe release of Kanu has been longawaited, adding that the agitationfor a sovereign state of Biafrawould never die.

PROGRAMME: From left, Regional Director, Greater Ikeja Region, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. NdubuisiOsakwe; Head, Small Business Group, Skye Bank Plc, Mrs. Ayodele Olojede; Miss OluwafunkeYerokun of Pasture Travels and Tours Limited, and Managing Director/CEO Karen-Happucle NigeriaLtd, Mrs. Chioma Ejikeme, at the Skye Pearl capacity building programme for female entrepreneurs,organised by Skye Bank, Tuesday.

Book presentation

A TWIN book,entitled, LOOMING

DANGER – STOP ANIMPENDING WAR & AT THEDROP OF A HAT,’ by OgeNwabueze, will be publiclypresented tomorrow, at SNUG,

30, Commercial Area, beside FirstBank Plc, Sabo Bus-Stop, Yaba,Lagos.

The occasion will be chaired byMrs. Shirley Onyeoguzoro,Director, Rex Roberts Consult Ltd.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 —17

Responses to:donzol2002@yahoo.co.ukor to 0802 747 6458 OR0811 675 9752 (texts only).PLEASE KINDLY NOTETHAT UNLESS YOU RE-QUEST ANONYMITY,YOUR COMMENTS MAYBE PUBLISHED, WITHYOUR NAMES AND CON-TACT DETAILS AT-TACHED.

Our local govt problem: Responses

TWO weeks ago, I a)praised the accessible,

conscientious elected council-lors and civil servants who runthe well-organised and en-lightened British local govern-ment area I stay in when I’min London…and b) com-plained about the many short-comings of their Nigeriancounterparts. I received a num-ber of lengthy and interestingresponses from Vanguardreaders and have summarisedtwo of the best below:-

From Ajoke Aarinola

A f o l a b i(ritalorijoke@yahoo.com)

Dear Donu, I was in the Lo-

cal Government (LG) Servicefor 22 years. I joined the Ser-vice as a junior accountant andretired as a Director on GradeLevel 16.

I have often opined that theLG is an orpha n. Unlike theFederal and States Servicesthat have a Head of Servicewho acts as a rallying point,LGs only have Directors orHeads of Personnel Manage-ment and Heads of LocalGovernment Affairs. And moreoften than not these peoplework at cross purposes….andare not effectively coordi-nated, either administrativelyor politically.

The Chairman and council-

lors are hand-picked by theGovernor as compensationfor being good boys or girls; alot of the time, they are barelyliterate and almost all of themare more interested in liningtheir pockets than in offeringa good service. Sometimes,they even openly ask how theycan “chop”.

The hammer that nails the

coffin of the LG are the Gov-ernors, most of whom regardthe LG as a means of takingtheir own pound of flesh. MostGovernors see the LG as anextension of or department inthe Ministry of Local Govern-ment. And most of the fewcontracts that are done by theLG are awarded via the Min-istry.

Most Chairmen don’t havea say. They will approve sub-standard and ill-conceivedprojects that are not in conso-nance with the needs of theircommunities for as long asthey will gain some personalreturns at the end of the day.

The last but not the least

conspiracy against effectiveservice delivery by the LGcomes from the communitiesthemselves; they accept any-thing as long as a few com-munity leaders receive smallfavours. No one really caresabout the LG.

So how can we make LGsmore functional?

1) Communities should beless passive and should notallow LGs to be hijacked by afew individuals. Communitiesmust take an active interestin securing quality represen-tation . Tested individualswho have done very well intheir careers must be encour-aged to serve and the Coun-cil should be accountable tothe Community.

2) Governors must handsoff and allow communities tochoose their local represen-tatives. The Ministry of LocalGovernment - or whicheverarm of the State Governmentis supervising the LG – shouldonly be involved in policy for-mulation and should stopmeddling in LGs’ finances. In

other words, the Local Gov-ernment must be allowed tooperate autonomously.

3) State House of Assem-bly members who are respon-sible for legislating and over-seeing the activities of theCouncils should wake up totheir duties and serve thecommunities they represent,not Governors.

4) Governors should notuse LGs as dumping groundsfor political thugs. Some ofthese miscreants, who havenothing to offer, find their wayinto top administrative posi-tions and compound leader-ship problems by distortingpolicy vision/direction.

Meanwhile, many so-called “ghost workers” arereal people who hold downother jobs while collectingsalaries from the LG, for whichthey do absolutely nothing. Ihave heard of a worker whotravelled abroad, stayed therefor many years and continuedto be on the Council’s payrollthroughout this long absence.

LG recruitment should bebased on well-defined man-power needs and on vacan-cies arising from retirements,etc, as is the case in other tiersof Government.

From: A Reader whodid not want to beidentified

I read your column titled“Lousy Naija LGAs” with

much sadness and disbeliefbecause you have so little understanding of the realproblems LGAs face.

I must point out that thepremise of your argument isworrisome and wrong andthat your conclusions are nar-rowed by your prejudiced be-lief that the LGAS are over-seen by “idiotic and corruptcronies” of Governors.

This belief prevented youfrom taking a holistic view ofLGA administration in Nige-ria. If you had done so, youwould have seen that it is theSystem and the States thatstifle LGAs and make theirofficials look inept and impo-tent.

LGAs are the most abusedand misunderstood tier ofgovernment because the pub-lic has been fed half-truthsand deceived. Let me high-light three factors which, ham-per the relevance of the LGAsand prevent (as you put it)“the average Nigerian LGA official” from being “able tolook his or her constituents inthe eye to confidently justifythe funds that have been col-lected in their name”.

The Joint Account System- whereby the monthly allo-cations of all the LGAs in aState from the Federation Account are first pooled intoa single account managed bythe State Government. A verysmall percentage of thesesums are then disbursed to

LGAs according to the whimsof the Governor.

The Unified Local Govern-ment System whereby theLGAs in a State are, for ad-ministrative convenience, re-garded as a single unit andworkers are often transferredto LGAs they don’t come from.This erodes their sense of be-longing and commitment.Most non-indigenous work-ers see themselves as hiredhands and adopt a mercenaryattitude.

Ministries for Local Gov-ernment Matters are unnec-essary and have no real func-tions and exist only to con-fuse and overload the LG sys-tem.

But the greatest impedi-ment to the running of effi-cient and people-orientedLGAs are Governors. The re-lationship between mostGovernors and LG officials isthat of vassalage and politi-cal servitude. In the South-East, for example, Governorsare like lords of the manor,subjugate the LGAs to thepoint of incapacitation andonly give them enough moneyto cover overheads.

Yes, there are bad LGA offi-cials, but a blanket condem-nation is not fair. People whoaccuse LG officials of corrup-tion and incompetence don’trealise that they are some-times laying the blame at thewrong door steps.

A strong LG system is theideal foundation for the typeof society we all yearn for. Andwe all share in the blame forthe rot. Our collective silence,ignorance and nonchalanceover the years hasemboldened the main culprits(Governors) to continue toexploit LGAs, knowing that hardly anyone will querythem.

The media, as the fourth es-tate of the realm and a sup-posed watch-dog, is perhapslargely to blame for the impu-nity that Governors enjoy. Theday journalists wake up anddecide to do an expose on the management of LGAs inNigeria, I suggest that theystart with Anambra. The rev-elations will knock us overbut reawaken us.

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

OPINIONFate of Housing under Fashola

By Paul Ojenagbon

IF many people were surprised at themerger of Power, Works and Housing into

a consolidated super ministry, very few if atall would dispute the choice of BabatundeRaji Fashola as the right man to head thenew ministry. Fashola has a high pedigreeand his legacy of excellent performance asgovernor of the ‘‘State of excellence’’ for goodeight years stands him tall among his peerswhile the good works are there for all to see.For example, my visit to Ikorodu recentlywas revealing in terms of infrastructuraltransformation .

However, my fears are thatFashola wouldnot be able to give housing the requiredattention it deserves in order to solve themyriad of issues that hinder the nation’shousing delivery. There is probably no otherministry that has more ex and currentsectoral siblings as Housing. At varioustimes; housing has been hooked with variousother sectors. At a time, it was withEnvironment to have a ministry of Housing& Environment. Some other time, it wasHousing, Urban Development &Environment. For long, Housing wasfamously merged with Works & UrbanDevelopment in various dispensations. Atsome other time it was Land &Housing. Onecan go on and on. Now, it appears Housing’ssiblings are Power and Works. The strangeone in the new equation is probably Power

because it would be the first time Housingwould be hooked up with Power in the sameministry. The writer stands to be corrected.

Fundamentally, all the sectors in the newsuper ministry are the critical sectors theperformance of which would determine howfar the country would go in its developmentalstrides and what progress it can make in thecomity of developing nations. The sectors areall so important that they require equalattention and commitments if the nationmust move forward in these areas. In fact,many would adduce the country’s generalfailure in the development index to thedismal failure in these sectors.

Every ministry is important but evenGeorge Orwell would let you know that allanimals are equal but some are more equalthan others. In this context, the emergentministry of Power, Works and Housing canbe likened to the elixir needed to grease thenation’s wheels to move forward. Take aquick look: a nation with a failed power sectoris a nation gropping in darkness wheredreams are cut short; can anyone imagine acountry without good roads andinfrastructure for the movement of goodsand persons and to stimulate economicactivities in all frontiers? It is to imagine theworst of a truly failed country with failedeconomy, failed everything cast in the mouldof a banana republic. And a failed housingsector is to imagine a modern mandrawnback to the early era where man lived

on the tree top. Thus, the new ministry holdsthe key to Nigeria’s future.

Fashola has credible credentials to assumethe headship of these key sectors as PresidentMuhammadu Buhari had found itexpedient to merge them into one ministry.As a young man, he has great drive,dynamism, rare Intellects, energy andeverything it takes to record immensesuccess in the newministry. It is a measureof the trust and confidence the president hasin him to appoint him minister over all thesekey, troublesome sectors. The issues andchallenges injust one of the sectors isintimidating enough to make a ministergrow grey hairs overnight talkless of three!Fashola is in for a very tough time but he isequal to the task and certainly needs no pity.

But I have this fear for housing that just won’tgo away. My fears are that he would be sodissipated deploying his time, energies andresources to Power and Works that little wouldbe left for Housing. This is also founded onFashola’s record of not too impressiveperformance in housing as governor of Lagos.Whilst he recorded spectacular performancein several other sectors of Lagos especially ininfrastructural development, the same couldnot be said of housing in the nation’s state ofexcellence. His housing efforts were few andall of them were built and tailored to meetelitist demand and not for the ‘‘commonman’’ that ace Television star, Frank Olizewent searching for some years back. Perhaps,one would not blame the ex-governor nowminister because he was acting th etypicalsscript of his own dispensation and times.Infact, not since the 80s has the country

witnessed the conscious and deliberatedevelopment of mass housing for the poor.Even though widely criticised, ex-presidentShehu Shagari and former Lagosgovernor,Lateef Jakande did very well in thisregard.

Other governments’ efforts at state andfederal levels channeled in this direction arejust as profit driven as the private operatorand have not benefited the mass majority.With national housing deficit estimated at17 million units by the World Bank and theBureau of Statistics and increasing on dailybasis, many would wish for the declarationof a state emergency in the housing sector.This is not likely to happen because Fasholadoes not have the same passion for housingas he does for infrastructure. One would givein to the other. Unfortunately, housing islikely to get the short end of the stick. Noteven the recent pronouncement of theminister that thousands of flats would bebuilt all over the country would douse mypessimism on housing expectations in theFashola era.

It would make sense to tell Fashola not tobuild any houses at all because even if hedoes, they will be hijacked by politicians as ithappened severally before, the poor wouldnever benefit. Ironically, this is adispensation when we need mass housingprogrammers at both federal and statelevelstosettle millions ofpeople who havebeen displacedby crises and naturaldisasters.

Mr. Ojenagbon, an estate surveyor &Valuer, wrote from Lagos.

Framework for the care of IDP’s

The recent call by HonourableSanni Zorro, the member of theHouse of Representatives for theGumel/Maigatari, Sule Tankar/Gagarawa Federal Constituencyof Jigawa State for the domesti-cation of the Kampala Conventionon Internally Displaced Persons(IDP’s) is a worthy idea.

Zorro, who chairs the HouseCommittee on Internally Dis-placed Persons, Refugees and In-itiatives on the North East, be-lieves this will lead to a perma-nent, holistic approach to the careof citizens displaced from theirhomes and communities as a re-sult of wars, insurgencies, vio-lence, natural disasters and otherfactors.

The Kampala Convention onIDP’s was established in 2012 bythe African Union with 40 out of54 countries (including Nigeria)as signatories, taking into ac-count the large number of dis-placed persons all over Africa andthe need to evolve a framework for

their welfare and rehabilitation.Africa has the largest number ofdisplaced persons in the worldnumbering more than 12 millionpeople. Nigeria alone, in the pastthree years, contributed three mil-lion people to this number, main-ly as a result of the Boko Haraminsurgency and the rage of armedhoodlums referred to as “Fulaniherdsmen”.

The Convention emphasises theneed for governments to see them-selves as primarily responsiblefor the care, protection and well-being of their countries’ IDP’s andcommit to responding adequate-

ly to their needs.Apart from man-made factors of

armed violence, many Nigeriansare routinely displaced from theirroots as a result of natural disas-ters linked to climate change,such as flooding, desertification,dwindling natural water resourc-es (such as the case with the LakeChad region), coastal and gullyerosion.

For now, there is no standardframework for tackling the needsof IDPs. Federal, state and localgovernments as well as publicspirited individuals and groupsrespond haphazardly to emergen-

cy situations. This will no longerdo, as the incidence of IDPs is like-ly to remain high due to the factthat Nigeria is a hotbed of disen-chantment. Yet the country is notready to sit down and realistical-ly address the root causes of dis-cord. Rather, it responds to thesechallenges with force, which is amere fire brigade approach.

The framework we expectshould, as Honourable Zorrorightly put it, come in the form ofa legal instrument to domesticatethe Kampala Convention and pro-vide the roadmap to guide thenation in responding the needs ofIDPs in all parts of the country. Itwill provide the institutional sup-port required to cope with theneeds of refugees and also pavethe way for their rehabilitationand resettlement.

The care of the IDP’s must betaken with all seriousness be-cause these are the most vulnera-ble of citizens, and their right tobe catered for is inalienable.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—————1919191919

CMYK

Send Opinions & Letters to:opinions1234@yahoo.com

Lizard brain, fish brain

*Mr Udegbe, a lawyer, wrote fromLagos.

The real change Ndigbo and Biafraneed (3)

IN my crawls at the back ofBritish taxis in London a

fortnight ago, the radiostations never seemed tiredwailing about United States(US) Republican presidentialfront runner, Donald Trump.In his latest verbal diarrhea,he had advocated a temporaryban on Muslims entering theUS. This was his reaction to acouple in California, TashfeenMalik and Syed Rizwan Farookkilling 14 persons and injuring21 at a holiday party.

For his thoughtlessness, theBritish were livid. Theystripped Trump of his robe asbusiness ambassador andcollated over 450,000signatures to bar him fromentering Britain. One hundredthousand signatories is theminimum required to force adebate on the issue in theBritish Parliament. It alsoraised the possibility of electingan American president who isa persona non grata in Britain.Also, the Robert GordonUniversity (RGU) Scotlandrevoked a honorary doctorateit had bestowed on Trump in2010.

A mouthy Trump respondedby chiding the British for

allegedly masking a Muslimproblem and being ungratefulfor his investments in thatcountry especially in Scotlandwhere his mother came from.Trump did not seem to botherthat his suggested ban willapply to some 1.6 billionMuslims worldwide nor did hesay what should be done to theover 5million Muslims in theUS; ask them to wear leg brace?It does not appear that Trumpcan be more comical.

But Dr. Ben Carson, thefamous neurosurgeon andfellow Republican presidentialaspirant, in an article on Page26 of the December 11, 2015edition of THE DAILYTELEGRAPH diagnosed Trumpas having a lizard brain. Hewrote that the Limbic cortex,or lizard brain “controls theinstinct to fight or flee in theface of threats” and that sucha brain “tends to make snapjudgments that produceautonomic responses toenvironmental threats”Carson argued that sincehuman beings are not beasts,“we have to sit back with ourdeliberative brains and sortout the real risk andopportunities before us”

I respectfully disagree with Dr.Carson; what Trump has is notlizard, but fish brain, the manwith the lizard brain is actuallyCarson himself. A fish brain issomebody who is really smartbut lacks wisdom; a fish thatthinks it knows it all. Trump withhis harebrained ideas isobviously a smart but unwiseman, which puts him squarelyamongst fish brains. Being a fishbrain, how do we characteriseTrump’s followers in the US?

Carson, author of GIFTEDHANDS, is famous forsuccessfully carrying outdifficult surgeries such as theseparation of Siamese twins. Healso impacts on communitieswith his Carson Scholarsscheme. But his foray intopolitics has exposed a differentside of him. A scientist who doesnot think much of climatechange and a man who sitspretty well in the midst ofracial injustice and pretends itdoes not exist.

A supposed non-violent man,who for political correctness, isagainst gun control. He

argues: "I think the likelihood ofHitler being able to accomplishhis goals would have beengreatly diminished if the peoplehad been armed. There's areason these dictatorial peopletake the guns first." This isillogical, who told BrotherCarson, that an armed Germanpopulace would have stoppedHitler when in fact theymassively voted and supportedhim.

Slavery is one or the worsethings that can happen to ahuman being; to be owned likea cow by another humanbeing. It is one of the greatestcrimes ever perpetuated inhuman history. But for him tobe accepted by theconservative Americansociety, Carson is willing tomake ridiculous allusions tothis human tragedy. In hisattempts to denigratePresident Barack Obama,especially on the PatientProtection and Affordable CareAct, otherwise calledObamacare, Carson said: "Youknow Obamacare is really Ithink the worst thing that hashappened in this nation sinceslavery. And it is in a way, it isslavery in a way, because it ismaking all of us subservient tothe government, and it wasnever about health care. It wasabout control." Apart from theillogicality of comparingObamacare with the 400years enslavement of the Blackpeople, it is known thatObamacare enhances andexpands access to care in theUnited States. It is thereforebaffling for a medical doctor toclaim that slavery andObamacare are one and thesame.

In his article, Carson wrote

further on lizard brain as beinga state “in which the fear of lossoverwhelms any rational analysisof the potential for gain. Over-fearing cuts us off fromopportunities which may lead toimmense personal and societalbenefits”. Yet, he exhibits all thesymptoms of a lizard brain. Forexample in September, 2015 whenhe appeared on NBC’s Meet thePress, on the possibility of aMuslim running for the WhiteHouse, Carson saidcategorically “I would notadvocate that we put a Muslimin charge of this nation. Iabsolutely would not agreewith that” Yet, some of thegreatest and most famousAmericans like Malcolm X andMohammed Ali were or areMuslims. Rejecting theconstitutional right of anAmerican to be voted for justbecause he is a Muslim, wouldbe typical of a lizard brain snapreaction. A reaction thatmasks the morbid fear that aperson from a different religionwould call the shots in theWhite House. A person likeCarson who claims that his“Judeo-Christian values” is thebest culture on earth and givesthe impression that hisreligion is superior to all otherreligions, cannot but be a lizardbrain who is prone to making“snap judgments”.

Using the analytical tools ofMalcolm X, Brother Carson hasall the characteristics of aHouse Negro; a black man whothinks, sees, speaks, dresses,eats and worships exactly likethe conservative Americanestablishment would want himto. Neither the fish brain, northe lizard brain is good forAmerica or the world.

IF the continued fall in global crudeoil prices means that governments will

depend more on IGR to meet some of theirobligations, and Igbos are the onestrading all over the states of Nigeria,making relatively more contributionsthan others in States’ income in Nigeria,why should the Igbo man be deniedthings he deserves in Nigeria ?

If giving Igbo people a common seaportwill enhance their empowerment, andtherefore drive their desire to secede, asmany in the north reason, why shouldbillions of the common wealth of Nigeriamostly from oil from the south east andsouth south be budgeted and spent toexplore for oil in the Chad Basin area?Will that not empower the north to desireto go from Nigeria ?

If since after the civil war over 40years ago, Igbos keep running home nowand then from the north, whenever theyfind reasons to kill and destroy Igboproperty over there, and governmentdoes nothing, why should Igbo people notalso plan to find reasons to chase themfrom Igbo land from henceforthwhenever the reasons arise as a response?

But Igbos will not fight back and killothers like they do in the north quiteoften since 1966, till date, because Igbosare essentially a peace loving tribe inNigeria, and being mostly Christians,their religion is of peace and love. Thecentral theme of Christianity is the loveof God the father and creator, JesusChrist His only begotten son, and thelove of the Holy Spirit, the executivearm of God's government on this earth,

and every preacher drives that messagehome in Igbo land. Shall the Igbo manthen abandon the good messages of thegospel, and descend to pay back an eyefor an eye, spilling blood like they do andbe like them seeking their ownvengeance? God Forbid! Vengeancebelongs to God, so Ndigbo would ratherwalk away peacefully from them, andthat is why the peaceful agitations forBiafra is germane! Those who really loveNigeria should add their support to thispeaceful move by Igbo Youths. Ndigboshould fear not and stop the run for theirlives, but instead settle where ever theyfind themselves in Nigeria, plan andfight for the One Nigeria while it lasts.

Many Igbos and Nigerians exhibitgenuine fears over the demand forBiafra, asking what will happen to Igboinvestments in other parts of Nigeriashould Igbos go into a separate nation ?Businesses will continue as usual, justlike Igbos and other nationalities dobusinesses in other nations of the world,provided the agitations and demands arepeaceful, and lawful. This is why the

agitations must not be allowed to turnviolent whatsoever, and all Igbo loversmust bend over backwards to resist anyattempts by their detractors to dragthem into violence, or spit violence intotheir struggle. Non-violence will protectand keep Igbo investments in otherstates of Nigeria, and within Igbo land.

A man who is rejected by others, willnot reject himself, more so if God hasnot rejected him. I think God is with theIgbo man, and the signs of His merciesand favours upon them abound. Theirsuccesses in Nigeria in spite of all theprovocations, oppressions, blockages,terrible government policies, speak astheir testimonies. These agitations bytheir youth is being used by the Godthey love, to cause them to do a deep re-think and reflection, about their waysin this Nigeria. They must begin to undoall that various Nigerian FederalGovernments have done to keep themas backward second class citizens,bearing in mind, the likely distractionsthat will come from their erstwhilecompromised selfish and greedy leaders,who profit from Igbo oppression. Suchpersons in and out of government,including incumbent Governors shouldbe understood, set apart, and dealt withas saboteurs.

To move forward, Ndigbo should beginto take a few serious steps to look inwardsand re-start the Igbo thinking beyondsurvival. Nothing stops them from re-establishing a complete and functionaldata base , to cover every section of theireconomies, from security, skillsacquisition and development,agriculture , to industrial development,replicated in all South East states.

Ndigbo needs every tract of land inIgbo land, thus, any Governor or leaderthat toys with erosion control should berebuked, reprimanded and rejectedoutright.

People reason and argue that Ndigbo

can only trade and do nothing else, fine,Ndigbo should take the challenge andplan to diversify and industrialise, whilethe oil money lasts.

As business people, they need a deepseaport, and that is why they mustdeploy all they can muster to workout alasting relationship with the SouthSouth who also are regarded as Ndigboby their masters, to have more deep seaports.

The result of the 2015 elections is ablessing in disguise to Ndigbo, as itopened up the agitation for Biafra, andthe eyes of the South Southerners whowant to see. While we remain gratefulto Buhari for making the known obviouswith the choice of his kitchen cabinetwithout Ndigbo , it is time for Ndigbo tosieze the opportunity and form a bondwith their neighbours in the SouthSouth, working to galvanize the elevenstates of the two regions.

If the north says that the NationalConfab Reports will not see the light ofday, let the report remain with them,but let Ndigbo begin to plan their livesalong the relevant portions of thatreport, including as it affects StatesPolice. The South Eastern States shouldintegrate their local security networksto kill the twin evils of kidnapping, andthe Fulani Herds men.

Ndigbo should work to restore the agelong political mandate they shared withthe South West of Nigeria, before the1966 coup that changed the equationsagainst them in favour of the north.

Awo and Zik have played their goodroles, this generation should take thelead and repair the damages done by theprevalent politics of divide and rule.

By Clement Udegbe

Concluded

I respectfullydisagree with Dr.Carson; whatTrump has is notlizard, but fishbrain, the man withthe lizard brain isactually Carsonhimself

To move forward,Ndigbo should begin totake a few serious steps tolook inwards and re-startthe Igbo thinking beyondsurvival

By Femi Falana

20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, 20—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Using human rights topromote corruption andimpunity (2)

SPEECH of His Excellency,the President of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria,Muhammadu Buhari, SpecialGuest of Honour at the openingceremony of the 55th AnnualGeneral Conference of theNigerian Bar Associationholding at the InternationalConference Centre, Abuja onSunday, August 23, 2015.

The twin problems of corruptionand money laundering, and their‘offspring’ - poverty - have morein common than one mightexpect at the outset. This link isbest captured by the second andthird preambular paragraphs ofthe United Nations Conventionagainst Corruption: Concernedalso about the links betweencorruption and other forms ofcrime, in particular organizedcrime and economic crime,including money laundering . . .Concerned further about cases ofcorruption that involve vastquantities of assets, which mayconstitute a substantialproportion of the resources ofStates, and that threaten thepolitical stability and sustainabledevelopment of those States. (SeeCorruption and Human RightsLaw in Africa, Oxford: Hart,2014, p 92)

Thus, ‘corruption is a crimewhich relies significantly on thelaundering process, which isessential for the corrupt to be ableto enjoy the proceeds of crime’.

developed countries’ industriesand social services [through the]exodus of human capital [and]the illicit export of financialcapital from African countries –or capital flight. This is not a newphenomenon, and it shows nosigns of abating. Over the pastfour decades, sub-SaharanAfrica has lost a staggering $700billion due to capital flight. Inaddition to trade mis-invoicing,smuggling, and embezzlementof revenues from naturalresource exports, a substantialpart of the capital flight wasfinanced by external borrowing.

Externalborrowing

We estimate that every year40 to 60 cents of each borroweddollar spins out of the revolvingdoor as capital flight, oftenreturning to the same banks thatissued the loans. On net basis,Africa is transferring moremoney to the rest of the worldthan it is receiving in terms ofborrowing and aid . . . Capitalflight, and the burden ofservicing the debts that financedit, are partly to blame for theconditions that create the othereconomic problems faced by thecontinent ... Illicit financial flowsdrain scarce public resourcesthat could have been used tofinance public services includingeducation and health.

It partly explains why there arenot enough schools, clinics, andmedical equipment; it alsoexplains the poor workingconditions for doctors, teachers,and other professionals that forcethem to seek greener pasturesabroad . . . Obviously Africancountries have the primaryresponsibility to devise andimplement strategies to keepcapital onshore. But theinternational community also has

an equally importantresponsibility to root out theperverse incentives and opacityin the financial system thatenable and perpetuate thefinancial haemorrhage faced bythe continent. (LéonceNdikumana and James K Boyce,Africa’s Odious Debts: HowForeign Loans and CapitalFlight Bled a Continent (London:Zed Books, 2011).

A particularly useful ‘multi-dimensional meaning of poverty’has been suggested by the UNCommittee on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights. Accordingto the Committee, poverty is ‘ahuman condition characterisedby sustained or chronicdeprivation of the resources,capabilities, choices, security andpower necessary for theenjoyment of an adequatestandard of living, and we canadd, indispensable to achieving

this proposition may not be toofar-fetched. On the one hand,corruption enriches a select few,while invariably subjecting manyto poverty, especially theeconomically and sociallyvulnerable groups of society.

Clearly, the enrichment of thefew at the expense of the many,especially in a continent of limitedresources, can hardly help thecause of those who live in poverty.And, as noted, the theft andstashing abroad of public funds,where such funds are theninvested to improve theeconomies of developedcountries, is unfair as itundermines developingcountries’ foreign investment,long-term growth, developmentand prosperity.

Thus, from a societalstandpoint, corruption ultimatelybreeds poverty, weakens or

standpoint, it promotes impunityand arbitrariness, andencourages both moneylaundering and illicit moneytransfers (‘dirty money’). On thisaccount, corruption violateshuman and people’s rights – civil,political, economic, social, andcultural – disproportionatelyaffecting the economically andsocially vulnerable.

Accordingly, the idea ofcorruption as a human right issueis intrinsically linked with therelationship between poverty,under-development and lack ofrespect for human rights. (SeeCorruption and Human RightsLaw in Africa, Oxford: Hart,2014, p 122-124).

Human rights as ‘trumpcards’: Section 35 of theConstitution of Nigeria 1999 andarticle 6 of the African Charteron Human and Peoples’ Rightsguarantee the right to personalliberty of every person living inNigeria.

It is estimated that Nigeria haslost over $400bn to large-scalecorruption since independencein 1960. According to Ndikumanaand Boyce, more than half of themoney borrowed by Africanstates, including Nigeria, inrecent decades was misdirectedwithin a year, transferred in manycases to private accounts inoffshore tax secrecy jurisdictions.Given the important issues thatthey raise and their sensible andimportant recommendations, thefollowing passage deserves to bequoted in extenso:

Resource-starved Africannations are subsidizing

FEMI FALANA, SAN

To be continued

This is the second part of the paper presented by Femi Falana,SAN, to mark the official opening ceremony of the AmnestyInternational office in Nigeria at Abuja. In the first part whichwas published yesterday, Falana argued that human rights arenot and should not be the preserve of the rich and wealthy

both a causea n dconsequenceof poverty.The basis for

destroys criticalinstitutions ofgovernance ,erodes theoperation ofdemocracy, therule of law andmoral fabric ofsociety, obstructsjustice, andretards socialand economicdevelopment.

From ag o v e r n m e n t

President Buhari

the dignityand well-being of thehuman persona n denjoyment ofall humanrights, insofaras humanrights areu n i v e r s a l ,indivisiblea n dinterrelated.

( S e eG e n e r a lComment No8 ‘SubstantiveIssues Arisingin theImplementationof theInternationalCovenant onEconomic ,Social andC u l t u r a lR i g h t s :Poverty andt h eInternationalCovenant onEconomic ,Social andC u l t u r a lR i g h t s ’ ,s t a t e m e n tadopted bythe Committeeon Economic,Social andC u l t u r a lRights on 4May 2001, UNDoc E/C 12/2001/10, para12)Corruption,e spec ia l l ylarge-scale, is

The twin problemsof corruption andmoney laundering,and their ‘offspring’ -poverty - have morein common than onemight expect at theoutset

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 21

CMYK

R-L: Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, former GMD/CEO, Skye Bank Plc; Marie-Therese Phido,clients & industries leader, Deloitte West Africa; Ibukun Awosika, chairman designate,First Bank; Emmanuel Ikazoboh, chairman, EcoBank, and Fatai Folarin, deputyCEO, Deloitte Nigeria, at the Deloitte distinguished alumni cocktail & awards inLagos.

Viability, Value-for-money nowdrive PPPs—Diko

By Emma Ujah,Abuja Bureau Chief

THE Public Private Partnership, PPP, projects of the fed-

eral government are now beingdriven by viability and value-for-money, the Director-General, D-G, of the Infrastructure Conces-sion Regulatory Commission,ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, has said.

Speaking at a breakfast sessionwith journalists, in Abuja, yester-day, he explained that in the newera, all transactions must be un-dertaken transparently and thatonly investors with the highestvalue addition offers would beconsidered for PPP projects.

Several PPP projects such asthe Tafawa Balewa Square Com-plex, Lagos; Domestic Terminalat the Murtala Mohammed In-ternational Airport, Lagos; theLagos-Ibadan Expressway, andseveral sea ports ran into prob-lems, with some leading to lawsuits.

However, Mr. Diko said thoseconcession transactions were con-cluded before the current dispen-sation and that his team was be-ing very meticulous in its respon-sibility by making sure that PPPsno longer run into similar prob-lems in the future.

“These concerns that you haveexpressed are now ably capturedin our operations. Apart fromdetermining the viability of theproject, we also ensure value formoney for the country in everyPPP transaction”, he said whileresponding to a journalists ques-tion about the integrity of pastconcessions that had to be termi-nated.

Mr. Diko explained further,“Before any project is given outto anyone on concession, youmust advertise it . What does ad-vertisement do? It allows any-

body from any part of the worldto come to Nigeria and seek theprospect of being considered forthe project. The advert will havethe details of the analysis of theproject so that all interestedwould-be investors would see andgo and quote, as appropriate.

“Besides, we have a Transac-tion Adviser who will be main-tained by the MDAs and consistof a group of experts , accoun-

tants, lawyers, engineers and oth-ers that will x-ray the BusinessCase right from the conceptionof the project.

“They will also help the MDAsand the commission in negotiat-ing the transactions. Addition-ally , the federal government hasestablished the PPP Unit in theFederal Ministry of Finance toassist the MDAs in negotiatingthese concessions.

“We discovered that in the pastMDAs went to concession nego-tiating table without the requi-site capacity. The private sec-tor investors would come with 10Senior Advocates and five engi-neers, while the public sectorteam will come with two or threepeople some who don’t evenhave adequate knowledge of thesubject matter and that is how theagreement would be skewed un-

duly in favour of the private sec-tor partner.

“That is why we have decidedto place a lot of emphasis on ca-pacity building. You can’t blamea ministry staff who has neverseen a PPP transaction if he failsto negotiate properly while deal-ing with a private sector opera-tors who has been doing thesame thing in the last 20 years,and expect to get results.”

The D-G also revealed that thefederal government was explor-ing the possibility of buildingnew, modern prisons throughPPPs to make life more meaning-ful to inmates while in prison andto enable them re-integrate intothe society upon serving out theirterms.

According to him, rather thanmaintaining prisons in themiddle of cities, as currently wit-nessed in across the nation, newones could be built in places far-removed from the cities wherethere would be enough land forinmates to engage agriculturaland other activities that could beuseful for them later in life.

The current spaces being occu-pied by such prisons could beconverted to other uses that couldserve better public interests, theD-G said.

He also disclosed that the newconcession process of the Na-tional Arts Theatre Complex,Lagos, has reached advancedstage.

The project, he said, would in-volve, “A multi-story car park, afive-star hotel and a total renova-tion of the National Arts Theatre. The National Theatre will berenovated and returned to itsformer state”.

CURRENCY BUYING SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 17/12/2015

$37.45 0.06

$35.30 -0.22

$119.20 3.55

$3,270.00 -21.00

$14.68 0.09

US DOLLAR POUNDS EUROFRANCYENCFAWAUARENMINBIRIYALKRONASDR

195.97 196.47 197.97 294.5233 295.2748 296.0262 214.058 214.6042 215.1503 197.8296 198.3343 198.8391 1.6074 1.6115 1.6156 0.3092 0.3192 0.3292 272.4555 273.1507 273.8458 30.268 30.3457 30.4234 52.2252 52.3585 52.4917 28.6841 28.7573 28.8305 272.0456 272.7397 273.4338

THE Institute ofEmpowerment andStrategy (IES), has

commenced the disbursement ofthe $6.5 billion, about N1.3 trillion,empowerment funds for Micro

IES commences disbursement of $6.5bn to MSMEsBy Grace Udofia

Small and MediumScale Enterprises,MSMEs, in Nigeriawith the initial payout ofN100 million to 685beneficiaries drawn from33 states of the countryincluding the FederalCapital Territory in thefirst phase.

To this end, Secretaryto the Government ofthe Federation, Mr.Babachir Lawal,commended IES and itspartners, for theircontribution towardsassisting the FederalGovernment in tacklingunemployment throughempowerment.

Lawal, who wasrepresented by Mr.Williams Alo, PermanentSecretary, EconomicAffairs, in the Office ofthe SGF, at the NationalEmpowerment Summit

2015 in Abuja, organized by IES,added that empowerment andentrepreneurial training is one ofthe strategies which can help tobring about sustainabledevelopment among the youth,positioning them to fix themselvesup in the society.

Lawal said, “This will help theyouths to be able to explore theworld and manipulate theenvironment for survival.”

He expressed determination,willingness and readiness of theFederal Government to continue tosupport the Institute towardsachieving its empowermentprogramme.

Also speaking, Mr. HusainiMoriki, Chairman, House ofRepresentatives Committee onIndustry, noted that there is need topursue a logical approach toempowerment planning,development and its entrenchmentinto our developmental agendawhich becomes more imperativenow more than ever before.

‘’It is obvious that IES is wellfortified to take the bull by the hornto provide the necessaryempowerment needs to jump startand activate our non-performingnon-oil revenue sector and ourmoribund manufacturing industry”he said.

Speaking further, he said that awell coordinated empowermentstrategy is what is required to movethis nation forward in itsdevelopmental drive and creatingwealth through effective income re-distribution strategy, noting that hehas seen possibilities of effective andsustainable collaboration betweenthe institute and some MDAs inNigeria.

Speaking in the same vein,

Director General of IES, Mr.Boniface Afifia-Oru, stated that thefull implementation of theprogramme in collaboration with theFederal and State Governmentswould help create over two milliondirect jobs and empower threemillion Nigerians in their variouseconomic activities.

This, according to him, wouldhave significant impact on thegrowth of the Nigerian economy,adding that the NationalEmpowerment launching would bepreceded by State-to-StateEmpowerment to be carried out in2016.

He further stated that therepayment method is attached inthe offer letter, while it is differentfrom one another, adding that thepayment plan for agriculture isdifferent from that of small business,retail business and others.

He said, “Some of the funds areinterest-free while some are not, butin all, no interest is above five percent. We started without the supportof the government, what we neededwas the government’s political willto get investors so we would notsuffer setback and deceptions fromthe public. We have a structure onground to sustain this for about adecade because we have oursponsors in New York.

This will helpthe youths to beable to explorethe world andmanipulate theenvironment forsurvival

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

CMYK

Stanbic IBTC boosts capital marketwith security lending product

*From left: General Manager, Lucky Fibres, Mr. Jitesh Pamnani; 2nd place winner, Miss HannaDennis; 1st place winner, Miss Ayobami Odekunle and Assistant Sales Manager, Lucky Fibres, Mrs.Bunmi Odunoye at the award and prize presentation to winners of creativity contest organized byLucky Fibres in Lagos.

Stories by Nkiruka Nnorom

THE drive to deepen theNigerian capital market

through introduction of more assetclasses has received a boost withthe launch of Securities Lendingproduct by Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc.

Securities lending involves tem-porary transfer of securities from oneparty (the lender) to another (theborrower) for a fee. These transac-tions are facilitated through an in-termediary acting as an agent orprincipal intermediary between the

lender and borrower. The borrow-er is obliged to return the securi-ties, either on demand or at theend of a term.

The launch, according to thebank, is in line with its tradition of

highlighting opportunities thatwould help investors derive opti-mal value from their investment.

In his opening remarks at thelaunch in Lagos, Chief Executive,Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Yinka San-ni, said as a member of a globalbanking group, Stanbic IBTC hasa responsibility to help grow thecapital market through productsand initiatives that could help in-vestors harness investment oppor-tunities that exist in Nigeria.

Investmentopportunities

Sanni stated that investors needto spread their investment optionsinto different financial derivatives,and in doing this, minimize risksassociated with tying investmentsin particular stocks and securities.Diversification into different assetclasses, he added, reduces risk lev-els, while offering higher returns.

In driving success for the prod-uct, Stanbic IBTC will be relyingon its extensive product knowledgeand expertise, rich technology ca-pability, access to lenders and bor-rowers to drive utilisation, soundrisk management fundamentalsand extensive reporting capability,Sanni added.

“We are delighted to be introduc-ing the Stanbic IBTC SecuritiesLending product into the Nigeri-an market. The product launch is a

further demonstration of our com-mitment to facilitating stability andgrowth of the Nigerian capitalmarket, via confidence-buildinginitiatives and leveraging invest-ment opportunities in the market.Other derivatives will be intro-duced in the future,” Sanni stat-ed.

Also speaking, Mr. Oscar Onye-ma, CEO, Nigerian Stock Ex-change (NSE), noted that variousinitiatives have been introduced tostrengthen the capital market, in-cluding the derivatives market. Hedescribed the investment opportu-nities in the capital market andNigeria’s economy as huge.

Despite the prevailing challeng-ing operating environment and theattendant apathetic performance ofthe capital market, characterized bylow level investor confidence, therestill exists enormous investmentopportunities for Nigerians to lev-erage, Onyema stated, while reit-erating the Exchange’s goal of be-coming the leading bourse andgateway to Africa when it comes tocapital formation and investment.

Stan Chart highlights importance of renminbi inclusion in IMF’s SDR

THE official recognition of therenminbi as a global reserve

currency is more than just animportant milestone for the Chinesecurrency; it has significant, game-changing effects on the rest of theworld’s markets, StandardChartered Bank has said.

Within slightly over a decade,China’s extensive reforms havepropelled the renminbi from beingnon-existent on the world stage tobecoming a currency in theInternational Monetary Fund’s(IMF) Special Drawing Rights(SDR) basket.

According to Bill Winters, GroupChief Executive, StandardChartered, “The inclusion ofrenminbi into the SDR speaksvolumes about how much Chinahas accomplished since it embarkedon its reforms in 2004. The speed ofdevelopment has been striking andtoday marks the beginning ofanother new chapter.”

Cross borderinvestments

Benjamin Hung, Standard Char-tered’s Greater China and NorthAsia Chief Executive Officer, alsonoted: “We are expecting furthersteps to include flexible cross-bor-der investments and remittance,expansion of free trade zones andgreater opening up of capitalaccount. We are confident that Chinawill remain committed in promotingits currency in a steadfast and well-paced manner, on track to meet ourforecast of becoming a G3 currencyby 2020.”

Benjamin Hung added: “In the

Guinnessacquires DiageoBrands assets,competes acrosstotal alcoholsegment

By Nkiruka Nnorom &Princewill Ekwujuruinterim, there will inevitably be un-

certainties and volatilities across fi-nancial markets, be it greater two-way USD-CNY variability or finan-cial flows as international investorsand reserve managers adjust theirportfolio over time. It is important tobrace ourselves for these develop-ments as it takes time for marketparticipants to rebalance against anew reserve currency, which willeventually bring positive changesto global financial markets acrossforeign exchange (FX), rates, fixed-income and other asset classes.”

After the SDR review, StandardChartered expects a gradual pick-

GUINNESS Nigeria hasconcluded the transaction

of approximately N2.35 billion foracquisitions of the distributionrights of Diageo Plc’s internation-al Premium spirit, IPS, brands inNigeria.

As part of the transaction, Guin-ness Nigeria will also take overvarious assets including the cur-rent inventory of Diageo BrandsNigeria Limited, the wholly-owned Diageo business whichcurrently distributes and marketsthe IPS brands in Nigeria. Thetransaction is expected to be con-cluded by 31 December 2015 andthe new distribution agreement forthe IPS brands will become effec-tive on 1 January 2016 subject toreceiving all regulatory approv-als.

Peter Ndegwa, Managing Di-rector/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc,said: “The transaction we are an-nouncing today will facilitate theachievement of our ambition tocreate the best performing, mosttrusted and respected consumerproducts company in Nigeria byleveraging the strength of ourunparalleled portfolio of beer,adult premium non-alcoholicdrinks (APNADs), ready to drink(RTDs) as well as spirits. Con-tinuing, he said: “The integrationof the Diageo IPS brands with theGuinness Nigeria brand portfoliobest fits our strategy of filling thegap in our total beverage alcoholportfolio, and allows us to competeacross segments within the mar-ket.”

up of diversification inflows intorenminbi assets from internationalinvestors and reserves managers,of which the latter would be a criticalunderlying support for the CNY inthe coming years.

Global central banks mayreallocate one per cent of theirreserve investments into renminbiassets annually. Standard Charteredexpects inflows of US$85 billion-US$125 billion from global centralbanks in 2016, with at least five percent of global reserves beingdenominated in renminbi in 2020.

Continental Re bolsters pan-African expansion insouthern Africa

C O N T I N E N T A LREINSURANCE Plc, a

pan-African reinsurance companywith a listing on the Nigerian StockExchange (NSE), has strengthenedits footprint across the Africancontinent with the establishment ofits subsidiary in Gaborone,Botswana as part of its growth plan.

According to Mr. LawrenceNazare, executive director,Continental Reinsurance, in astatement to Vanguard, theestablishment of the subsidiary inGaborone, Botswana is part of thecompany’s strategy to have aphysical presence in all key regionson the African continent.

“Gaborone is our springboard intothe SADC (Southern African Devel-opment Community) region,” hesaid. “It is the platform from whichwe will enhance service delivery toour existing customers and growrevenues through better access to a

regional insurance market withhuge potential.

“We are excited about Gaboronebecause it is the last milestone inthe execution of the strategic goalwe set for ourselves four years ago,to have a geographic presence inall key geo-political and economicregions on the African continent.

“Botswana is a fast-growingeconomy, boasting a GDP per capitaof $18,825 per year as of 2015, oneof the highest in Africa. It is alsothe highest international ratedcountry in Africa at A- by A.M.Best.”

Political stabilityMr. Samuel Rimai, General Man-

ager, Continental Reinsurance’ssubsidiary in Botswana, affirmed theimportance of having an on-the-ground presence.

“Botswana’s political stability, ro-bust economic and corporate gov-

ernance culture, favourable macro-economic environment and auspi-cious relations with neighbouringcountries make it a choice locationfor our southern African regionaloffice.

“Proximity to our clients allows usto improve our insight into localmarkets, better understand theirneeds and local risk requirementsand deliver locally relevant offerings.

“A key component of ContinentalReinsurance’s strategy is to buildcore competences that are gearedto providing relevant solutions toAfrica’s insurance and reinsuranceneeds.

In April 2015, ContinentalReinsurance established a specialistsubsidiary CPERS (ContinentalProperty Engineering Risk Services)to target opportunities inconstruction and engineeringinsurance.

The inclusion ofrenminbi into the

SDR speaks volumesabout how muchChina has accom-

plished since itembarked on itsreforms in 2004

The issues,personalities (1)

SOUTH WEST IN 2015

VOL. 1: NO. 17VOL. 1: NO. 17VOL. 1: NO. 17VOL. 1: NO. 17VOL. 1: NO. 17 FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18DECEMBER 18DECEMBER 18DECEMBER 18DECEMBER 18, 2015, 2015, 2015, 2015, 2015

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IN THIS EDITIONIN THIS EDITIONIN THIS EDITIONIN THIS EDITIONIN THIS EDITION

Continues next week

2015:Major eventsin Ondo

Osun in2015

YORUBA leaders dividedover Jonathan

In March, 2015, the re-election bid of former PresidentGoodluck Jonathan welcomedthe year in the South West asleaders and elders from theregion were pitted against eachother over Jonathan’s re-election.

Separate meetings were heldin Lagos and Ibadan in March2015 where both campsexpressed different opinions onthe topic and the agelongemotive issue of nationalconference for the ethnicnationality.

Those who gathered inIbadan, Oyo State, under theauspices of the YorubaAssembly, accused PresidentJonathan of marginalising theregion and argued that the2014 National Conference failedto address issues germane tothe establishment of truefederalism.

Their counterparts in Lagoslauded the President for theconference and its resolutionsjust as they expressed supportfor Jonathan’s re-election.

Instructively, the formerPresident was defeated by thecandidate of the AllProgressives Congress, APC,and now president,Muhammadu Buhari.

By Dapo Akinrefon The South West geo-political zone was notably in thenews for so many notworthy reasons this year.The zone had its high and low moments.

Osun wage crisisIn July, 2015, civil servants in

Osun State were engaged in aface-off with the Osun Stategovernor, Ogbeni RaufAregbesola, who was unable topay workers’ salary for sevenmonths.

The crisis degenerated to theextent that a High Court judgein Osun State Justice OloyedeFolahanmi, called on the stateHouse of Assembly toinvestigate the allegedmismanagement of theeconomy by the governor andhis deputy in accordance withSections 128 and 129 of the 1999constitution.

While Justice Folahanmimaintained that there was nomoral justification for theircontinued stay in office, sheaccused Aregbesola of acting indefiance of some sections of theconstitution which border onthe welfare of Osun people.

In a 30-page petition, JudgeFolahanmi said it wasimperative for the Economicand Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, AmnestyInternational, the UnitedNations Office of Drugs andCrime and Transparency

International to investigateany other person or persons found to be responsible for the mismanagement of theeconomy of Osun State.

In his defense, GovernorAregbesola, blamed thefinancial challenges facing hisgovernment on the huge wage

bill occasioned by theimplementation of theminimum wage for all juniorworkers since 2012.

Ooni Okunade Sijuwade,Olubuse II dies in London

Also in July, 2015, a foremosttraditional ruler in Yorubalandand 50th Ooni of Ife, ObaOkunade Sijuwade died inLondon, United Kingdom at theage of 85. The late monarch wasborn on January 1, 1930.

He reportedly fell criticallysick before he was flown toLondon. Oba Sijuwade, whoascended the Ooni stool in1980, was regarded as asuccessful and wealthybusinessman before hemounted the throne in 1980.

Ekiti Airport: Land owners/Fayose face-off

Similarly in December,controversy surrounded theproposed airport by the EkitiState governor, Mr AyodeleFayose. The face-off led ownersof the land acquired by the EkitiState Government to sue thestate demanding N650 millionas damages.

The plantation farmersdragged the state governmentand Governor Fayose to courtfor what they described as“unlawful and forcibleacquisition” of their land.

Farmers andland owners

In a suit number HAD/71/2015filed before an Ado Ekiti HighCourt , the claimants – FaluyiAyeni, Tunde Ademiluyi,Faturoti Simeon, Awe Ojo,Oladimeji Ojo, OloniyiAgbadaola, Moses Ojo, FabiyiOso, and Julius Oso, – sued forthemselves and on behalf offarmers and land owners of fourcommunities affected by theproposed airport project.

The communities affected areIgbogun farm settlement,Igbemo farm settlement, Iwajofarm settlement and AsoAyegunle spanning three localgovernment areas of the state.

The aggrieved farmersclaimed that the agents of the1st defendant, Mr. Fayose,forcibly entered their land onOctober 2 without any priornotice and on subsequentoccasions to clear and removeeconomic trees, crops andbuildings.

They said the action wasillegal and was a violation oftheir fundamental human rightsand provisions of the Land UseAct 1978.

In July, 2015, civilservants in OsunState were engagedin a face-off withthe Osun Stategovernor, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola,who was unable topay workers’ salaryfor seven months

Also in July, 2015,the foremosttraditional ruler inYorubaland and50th Ooni of Ife,Oba OkunadeSijuwade died inLondon, UnitedKingdom at theage 85

24 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

OYO STATE

MAJOR events in Ondostate in 2015 include

kidnapping of high profileindigenes, workers locking hornswith government over salaryarrears, defection of prominentparty leaders, impeachment of thestate Deputy governor andappointment of a new one,resignation of the leader of thePan Yoruba Socio- Political group,Afenifere and installation of a newDeji of Akureland amongst otherhappenings.

The most celebrated kidnap in2015 was that of the formerFinance Minister and Secretaryto the Government of theFederation Chief Olu Falae whowas abducted by Fulaniherdsmen who invaded his farmlocated at Ilado, Akure North areaof the state.

He later regained freedom afterspending four days in thekidnappers den.

Public outcry led to his rescueby the Police after his family paidN5m ransom to the kidnappersof which seven apprehendedand have been charged to Court.

Notable Yoruba leaders andleaders from other ethnic groupsrose in unison to criticize thekidnap of the elder-statesman.

What many people see as anabomination also took placeduring the year when the regentof Akungba Akoko, PrincessOluwatoyin Omosowon waskidnapped by unknowngunmen.

Ransom to securerelease

Barely 48 hours after herabduction the kidnappersdemanded for the sum of N20mas ransom to secure her release.

Princes Omosowon waskidnapped with three others byunknown gunmen along Akure/Akungba-Akoko road whiletraveling to Akure to honour aninvitation from the authorities ofAdekunle Ajasin University,Akungba Akoko.(AAUA).

Interdenominational prayersession were held in churchesand mosques within thecommunity.

The combined team of securityoperatives later rescued theregent but not after she wastortured and wounded on thehead by her abductors. She saidshe refused to eat for the one weekshe was kept in captivity.

Many other personalities fellinto the trap of the kidnappers andwere let off the hook after theirfamilies paid through their nosesalthough security operativesclaimed ignorance of thepayment of ransom by victims'families.

Also, during the year, the statedeputy governor Alhaji Olanusiwho defected to the oppositionAPC in the state barely 48hoursto the last general election wasimpeached by the House ofAssembly.

Alhaji Olanusi's case was like

•Mimiko: Ondo State governor

By Dayo Johnson

that of the hunter which endedup being hunted.

The political calculation wasthat the opposition APC wouldwin the majority of seats in thelast House of Assembly electionwhich will pave the way for theimpeachment of the governor, DrOlusegun Mimiko, and he wouldautomatically become thegovernor.

But, the plan was scuttled whenthe party failed woefully to securethe majority of the seats in theHouse of Assembly.

The table was turned againsthim as he was sent packing bymembers of the Assembly.

The impeached Octogenariandeputy governor is still battlingto take back his seat in court.

However, a new deputygovernor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo,has been appointed and hassince been sworn in by thegovernor.

Still on politics, some prominent

politicians led by the former PDPgovernorship candidate, ChiefOlusola Oke and the brother of

the late former governor DrOlusegun Agagu, Femi alsodefected to the APC few days tothe National Assembly election.

They jumped ship after theopposition APC had won thePresidential election, a situationwhich put them at adisadvantage.

Oke, Femi Agagu and VictorOlabimtan who was a formerSpeaker of the State House ofAssembly and former member ofthe Civil Service Commissionwere part of the coup against theimpeachment of Mimiko hencetheir defection to the APC fewdays to the National Assemblyelection.

The APC also won thepresidential election in OndoState contrary to the governorsassurance to the former PresidentGoodluck Jonathan that hewould deliver one million votesto him from the state.

Another event in the year was

the sudden resignation of theleader of the Yoruba Sociopolitical group, chief ReubenFasoranti.

His decision jolted the Yorubanation but to avoid further crackin the wall, prominent leadersincluding Chief Ayo Adebanjo,Chief Olu Falae, Ajayi Olanihunand others waded in and were ableto persuade the octogenarianpolitician to withdraw hisresignation letter.

An emergency meeting wascalled and the leaders pointedlysaid that they rejected theresignation or better still thedecision of their leader to stepaside.

Pa Fasoranti decision to resignwas as a result of findings thatshowed that some members of theAfenifere group emerging havestarted hobnobbing with someleaders of the ruling APC whodo not subscribe to his leadershipof the Yoruba nation.

To avoid a parallel groupemerging, Pa Fasoranti was saidto have opted for the resignationbut he was later convinced byother leaders including thegovernor, Dr Mimiko, who saidthat the people of the state rejectedhis resignation letter.

Traditionalruler

Of interest in the year was theinstallation of a new traditionalruler for Akure, the state capital.

Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi wasinstalled as the new Deji ofAkureland following his selectionby the Akure kingmakers.

The same year, a deposed andbanished Oba of the town, PrinceAdesina Adepoju @"resurrected” and made a surprisestreet walk along the state capital.

His sudden appearanceheightened tension in the statecapital as his supporters sold adummy to the public that the courthad ordered his return to thethrone.

To show that the action of thedeposed Deji jolted the entireCommunity, notable sons anddaughters of the town and theCouncil of Chiefs rose tocondemn it describing it as “ ashow of shame."

However, an appeal court sittingin Ondo state had last weekstruck out a suit filed by thedeposed Deji challenging hisdethronement by the stategovernment.

Workers in the state also lockedhorns with the state governmentover non-payment of theiroutstanding salary arrears . Theylater relaxed after governmentsettled the arrears. But as at todaytwo months salaries are stilloutstanding.

The international event centrenamed the “Dome” and Shopriteshopping mall werecommissioned in the state duringthe year.

This year’s best of Nollywoodaward was hosted by the stategovernment at the Dome.

2015:Majorevents inOndo

•Olanusi: Fell out withMimiko

•Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi:Deji of Akure

•Olusola Oke: Defected toAPC

Many otherpersonalities fellinto the trap of thekidnappers andwere let off thehook after theirfamilies paidthrough theirnoses

CMYK

OGUN STATE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 —25

By Daud Olatunji

BANKS shut for fear ofrobbery

Between, commercial banksin Ijebu Ode and Ago-Iwoye,were shut for several days forfear of robbery attacks. Thebanks refused to open whenthe armoured personnel carrierused by the Police to give themprotection from bandits was notdeployed shutting downcommercial activities in thearea.

Before the advent of thepresent administration in theState in May 2011, all bankswithin the Ijebu axis were notoperating due to securityconcerns. Findings ,however,revealed that the APC donatedby Governor Ibikunle Amosunto the Nigerian police was notfunctional.

Obasanjo snubs Jonathan inAbeokuta

Another event that shookOgun State was when formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjoallegedly dodged theimmediate past president,Goodluck Jonathan during thelatter ’s visit on January 2Obasanjo was reportedlydriven out in his black SUV andone security Hilux van. Heshunned his main entranceand made use of his privategate of the palatial Hilltop

Major events inOgun in 2015

building immediately Jonathanarrived the state capital.

It was observed that somesecurity personnel detailed atthe former President’s housesuddenly disappeared but asource close to Obasanjo’sHilltop mansion in Abeokutahad earlier disclosed toVanguard that PresidentJonathan was not in Obasanjo’sitinerary for the day.

Ijebu monarchs snubJonathan in Ijebu-Ode

Facts have emerged onFebruary 21 that Awujale ofIjebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetonaand other Ijebu monarchs failedto take group photograph withPresident Goodluck EbeleJonathan when he paid acourtesy visit prior to the 2015presidential election. One ofthe highly respected monarchsin Ijebuland, who was part ofthe meeting, confided inanguard that they are nothungry monarchs who couldeasily be bought over with thePresident’s dollar.

The Ijebu monarchs were saidto have been angered byformer PDP Nationalchairman’s commentsdescribing the Ijebu people asstingy people. He was angrilycorrected by Awujale, whosaid’”We are not stingy, butprudent in our spending.”Jonathan was also said to have

tactically ignored the requestsof the Ijebu people at themeeting. 11 students killed inroad accident

Students die in road crashEleven students of the Olabisi

Onabanjo University (OOU),Ago Iwoye, were crushed todeath along Sagamu/Beninexpressway in Ilishan RemoNorth Local Government areaof the state on Friday, June 26when a Lagos-bound ToyotaHaiace passenger bus withregistration number XV 311MUS (LAGOS) collided with atruck marked BDG 779 XE(LAGOS), resulting in thedeath of all the occupantsexcept Ibukun Akinbo whosurvived with degrees ofinjuries.

Few days later, students of theschool stormed the premises ofthe company which theybelieved owned the truck thatkilled their colleagues,pouncing on the workers anddestroying property when theyobserved that the company’sworkers were still working andloading products even when

some dead bodies were stilllying in the morgue's of varioushospitals.

Akarigbo celebrates 25thcoronation anniversary

Week-long activities werelined up to commemorate the25th coronation anniversary ofthe Akarigbo and ParamountRuler of Remoland, ObaMichael Adeniyi Sonariwotook the state to a standstill. Theceremony with aninterdenominational Christianthanksgiving service onSunday, July 19 and ended onJuly 26 with performances fromace musicians, King Sunny Adeand Dapo Oyebanjo.

Dignitaries that grace thegrand finale of the anniversaryinclude Vice-President YemiOsinbajo, former President,Olusegun Obasanjo, GovernorIbikunle Amosun, formergovernor Gbenga Daniel, ObaSikiru Adetona among others.

Robbers rape patients,nurses in Ogun hospital

Patients and nurses in aprivate hospital, in Ijebu-OdeLocal Government Area, OgunState, had a taste of horrorwhen a deadly gang of armedrobbers numbering more than10, stormed the health facilityin the night of Saturday,September 5, robbing them oftheir property before goingahead to rape the femalesamong them.

But luck however ran out oneight of the suspected robbersas they were later arrested bypolicemen attached to theIgbeba Division of the statePolice Command after theyallegedly robbed and shot deada man identified as AlayandeOladipo at Olisa Street, in thetown.

Ijebuland agog for 2015Ojude Oba Festival

The town of Ijebu Ode wasagog on September 26, 2015 asdignitaries from all walks of lifetrooped into the town in theirnumbers to celebrate theannual Ojude Oba Festivalwhich is fast becoming

Nigeria’s most attendedfestival, and annually hostedby the paramount ruler of Ijebuland, His Royal Majesty, theAwujale of the Ijebu Kingdom,Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.

The event which took placeat the Dipo Dina InternationalStadium opposite the Oba’spalace, was filled withtraditional dance, culturaldisplays and colourful attires ofthe participants and as usual,all the groups and families goround the venueacknowledging cheers from thepeople before mounting thepodium to pay homage to ObaAdetona.

The event was graced byprominent Nigerians whichincluded the Ogun stategovernor, Ibikunle Amosu,Bayelsa state governor, SeriakeDickson, former Defenseminister, Gen. TheophilusDanjuma (rtd), Ogun Statedeputy governor, Mrs.Yetunde Abosede Onanuga,former Ogun State governor,Gbenga Daniel, former BayelsaState governor, DiepreyeAlamieyeseigha, elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo,former senators, Gbenga Kaka,Olurunimbe Mamora, OlabyiDurojaiye (Ijebu indigene) andDaisy Danjuma, Musician,Queen Slawa Abeni,billionaires Oskar Ibru andOlorogun Dr. Sunny Kuku, whois an indigene of Ijebu landand Otunba Subomi Balogun.

Cop, pregnant woman killedas robbers raid six banks inAgbara

A policeman and a pregnantwoman were confirmed deadwhen armed robbersnumbering about 20 visitedabout six banks at the AgbaraIndustrial Estate area of OgunState, on Thursday, November19, 2015. At each bank, thegang, despite not meeting anyresistance, they blew open thedoors and the vaults withdynamite and packed the lootin their millions, after holdingthe staff of the bank hostage.

Operatives of the InspectorGeneral of Police, SpecialIntelligence Response Team(SIRT) has arrested one of thesuspected leaders of the gangidentified as Kelly Rotor at awedding ceremony after aheavy shootout betweendetectives and members of hisgang at Sapele, Delta State.

Death and burial of HIDAwolowo

Matriarch of the Awolowoclan, Hannah Idowu DideoluAwolowo, died on Saturday,September 19, two monthsshort of her 100th birthday. Shewas buried in a gold casket onNovember 25.

The remains of the latematriarch were laid to restbeside her late husband insidethe Awolowo Mausoleum. Thefuneral service was wellattended by men from all walksof life.

•Obasanjo •Adetona

•Amosun: Ogun State governor

Another event thatshook Ogun Statewas when formerPresident OlusegunObasanjo allegedlydodged theimmediate pastpresident, GoodluckJonathan during thelatter’s visit onJanuary 12

NUMEROUS events occurred in the year that shookOgun State. A few of them are:

CMYK

26— Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

T H E T E A MEDITOR:Adeleke Adeseri 08054682557 (sms only)

CORRESPONDENTS:Ola Ajayi IbadanGbenga Olarinoye OsogboDayo Johnson AkureDapo Akinrefon LagosDaud Olatunji AbeokutaOlasunkanmi Akoni LagosRotimi Ojomoyela EkitiMonsuru Olowoepejo

OSUN STATE

AREGBESOLA’s Victory atElection Petition Tribunal

The Osun State GovernorshipElection Tribunal headed byJustice Elizabeth Ipejime on 6thof February, 2015 declared,Osun State Governor, OgbeniRauf Aregbesola of the AllProgressives Congress, APC,as the winner of the August2014 governorship election inthe state.

Aregbesola defeated PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, SenatorIyiola Omisore in a keenlycontested election.

Aregbesola defeated Omisorewith a margin of about 100,000votes. Aregbesola scored 392,284 votes to the 292, 742 ballotsthat Omisore got.

Omisore however decided tocontest the results at thetribunal.

When Justice ElizabethIpejime read out her verdictboth candidates were absent incourt. The matter went throughAppeal Court and SupremeCourt where Aregbesola’selection was upheld.

Judge petition againstAregbesola

The Osun State House ofAssembly on 5th August, 2015dismissed the petition by JusticeFolahanmi Oloyede seeking forthe impeachment of the StateGovernor, Rauf Aregbesola,following the recommendationof the 7-man ad-hoc committeeset up to investigate the petition.

The lawmakers said that thepetition should be dismissedbecause the petitionerabandoned her claims byrefusing to appear before the ad-hoc committee to substantiatethe various allegations levelledagainst the Governor and theDeputy Governor of Osun Statein her petition.

On June 23, 2015, the OsunState House of Assemblyreceived a petition from JusticeFolahanmi Oloyede, urging theHouse to investigate GovernorRauf Aregbesola and hisdeputy, Titi Laoye Tomori formisappropriation of state funds.

Thereafter, the Houseconstituted a 7-man ad-hoccommittee with a mandate oftwo weeks to investigate theallegations levelled against theGovernor.

Death of 50th Ooni OkunadeSijuwade

The Ooni of Ife, Oba OkunadeSijuade Olubose II, is dead. Hewas 85 years old.

The foremost Oba died inLondon at about 7:30pm onSunday July 28th.

The Ooni was rushed toLondon on Friday July 24, andwas taken from HeathrowAirport in an Ambulance to theclinic where he passed on fourdays later.

New Ooni of IfeDuring the year, the Osun

State Government unveiled a

By Gbenga Olarinoye

new Ooni of Ife. He is AdeyeyeEnitan Ogunwusi, a 41-year oldreal estate magnate and princefrom the Giesi Ruling House inthe town. He became the 51stOoni of Ife.

The Secretary to the OsunState Government said theselection of the new Oonifollowed the completion of allprocesses for the filling of theexalted stool.

Then Prince Ogunwusi wasselected from 21 candidatespresented by the Giesi rulinghouse for the exalted stool.

The statement, made availableto newsmen on October 26, 2015said, “The Governor of the Stateof Osun, Ogbeni Rauf AdesojiAregbesola has approved theappointment of a new Ooni of

Ife.“He is Prince Adeyeye Enitan

Ogunwusi of Giesi RulingHouse of Ile-Ife, State of Osun.This choice follows thecompletion of the due processby the kingmakers and thecommunication of their decisionto Government.”

The announcement of a newtraditional ruler for the ancienttown came 89 days after thedeath of Oba OkunadeSijuwade at a London clinic.

Ogunwusi receives crownOba Adeyeye Enitan

Ogunwusi, Ojaja II onNovember, 24, 2015 wascrowned with the traditionalAde-Are as the 51st Ooni topreside over the affairs of IfeKingdom.

The crowning confirmed himas substantive Ooni as againstan Ooni-elect which he hadbeen until his seclusion in Ilofi.

Oba Ogunwusi was presentedwith the crown by thecustodians at a place calledOke-Ora located between Ile-Ife and Osu on Ilesa Road,Osun State.

The monarch, who appearedin public for the first time afterspending about 21 days inseclusion, was accompanied byindigenes of the town andmembers of Isoro cult.

New Oluwo appointedThe joy of indigenes and

residents of Iwo land knew nobounds on Monday, 9th ofNovember following theapproval of the appointment ofPrince Abdul-Rasheed AdewaleAkanbi of the Gbaase rulinghouse of Iwo as the new Oluwoof Iwoland by Governor RaufAregbesola.

The letter of appointment ofthe new monarch for Iwolanddated 9th of November, 2015was signed by the Secretary tothe state government, AlhajiMoshood Olalekan Adeoti.

Osun Names School AfterSoyinka

Osun State governor, Mr.Rauf Aregbesola on 23rdNovember, 2015 inauguratedthe N750 million Wole SoyinkaGovernment High School inEjigbo, Osun State.

The school is a 3,000-capacitycomplex with 72 classrooms of49 square-metres, each capableof sitting 49 pupils. It has sixoffices for study groups.

It is equipped with sixlaboratories, 18 toilets for girlsand 18 for boys, one sciencelibrary, one arts library, facilitymanager’s office, a bookshopand a sick bay.

Soyinka praised Aregbesola,saying he was elated that suchhonour was bestowed on him.He pledged to visit the schooloften to see how it was faring.

•Soyinka

•Aregbesola: Osun state governor

The Osun StateHouse of Assemblyon 5th August,2015 dismissed thepetition by JusticeFolahanmi Oloyedeseeking for theimpeachment of theState Governor,Rauf Aregbesola,following therecommendation ofthe 7-man ad-hoccommittee set up toinvestigate thepetition

Osun Stategovernor, Mr.Rauf Aregbesolaon 23rdNovember, 2015inaugurated theN750 million WoleSoyinkaGovernment HighSchool in Ejigbo,Osun State

Osun in2015

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 27

CMYK

28— Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—29

CMYK

MAVINS Records big boss, Don Jazzy, born Michael Collins Ajereh is an enigma, whom very little isknown about. He once boasted that he hates talking onstage and rarely ever grants pressinterviews. Apart from his activities on social media very little is known about the multi-award

winning music maker. But recently Don Jazzy let down his guard and granted some interviews, from whichwe were able to unmask the real man behind the Dorobucci brand. Here are some facts you probably don’tknow about the Nigeria’s foremost music maker.

1. He prefers bringing up new artistes than hooking up thethe big boys

2. He hasn’t slept in his house in over one year. He lives in the studio at Lekki3. He smokes cigarettes, not marijuana or any other drugs4. He likes only slim girls, he calls them ‘Lepa toh bad’5. He believes there are four major artistes in Nigeria, 2Face,

D’Banj, Psquare and the rest6. He likes to think Italian and it is where he got Dorobucci,

at Tiwa Savage’s wedding in Dubai7. He thinks he is an ugly man8. He has investment in oil, owning a large number of fuel

tankers9. He got the name ‘MAVIN’ from Google10. His father is his number one fan

SULTRY actress, Princess Nkechi Blessing is arising screen diva who isn’t just all about her

acting talent, but also combines a sex appeal that makesothers go green with envy. The actress of Igbo originhas featured in movies like Okunkun, Eja nla, andAruga. She recently told Potpourri why she flauntsher sex appeal and if it has gotten her more roles.

“It’s interesting, I like to show off what I have got.It’s not always intentional though. Whenever I flauntmy sex appeal it is my way of appreciating the work ofGod, the way he created me. My being able to act hasgotten me more roles than my sex appeal. Though I wasfeatured in Ikatobase because of my sex appeal. In themovie, I had to seduce a lecturer because of my sex appeal.”

ASK lovers of Nigerian music today tomention the top five female singers ruling the

music scene right now and see if Seyi Shay’s namedoesn’t pop up. At least, this must be one of thereasons Pepsi thought it befitting to make her theirnewest ambassador alongside Tiwa Savage andWizkid

Born Deborah Oluwaseyi Joshua in London toNigerian parents, Seyi started her professional careerin 2005 by producing three songs for the soundtrack

to the Konami’s video game Crime Life: GangWars and recently took the Nigerian musicscene by storm with her smash hits “Irawo”,“Ragga Ragga”, and “Chairman”.

Concerning her pet names, Seyi toldPotpourri she has several names she goes byfor different reasons. “The first one isSunshine. The person that calls me that saysit’s because I’m always happy and I am warmto others. There is ‘Irawo’ after my hit single‘Irawo’ but my very first pet name is Sey-Seyi.My sister still calls my name twice like that tilltoday” she says.

BUZZ Media would be6gchanging the Christmas

experience we are used to in a five-day fun filled, Lagos-themedChristmas festival from Wednesday

23rd to Sunday 27th ofDecember, 2015, at MuriOkunola Park ,VictoriaIsland as Christmas inLagos debuts withnight and day series.According to AkinEso, the organiser ofWed Expo, who is alsothe brain behind thisinnovative idea, theprimary aim is toaccommodate youngand old alike and thatis why there will be twosessions daily-daytime

21 things you don’t knowabout Don Jazzy

Why they call me SunshineWhy they call me SunshineWhy they call me SunshineWhy they call me SunshineWhy they call me Sunshine – Seyi Shay

Buzz Media unveils‘night and day’ series

for ‘Christmas in Lagos’

•Akin Eso ofChristmas inLago

•Don Jazzy

•Seyi Shay

•NkechiBlessing

By Kehinde Ajose

and night time.According to Eso, “Our

target market is pretty broad;we had to break it intosessions. So the daytimeseries is called the ChristmasFamily Fun Fair featuring aSanta Village; this is for thegeneral family with morefocus on the kids. The nighttime series is called TheLagos NightLife Series andits 18+ so expect realentertainment.”

“During the day we willhave an adult section foradults to relax eat and havedrinks but at night, the LagosNightlife series starts and thisis going to be a lot of fun fromthe best DJs, live band, specialentertainers, artistperformances etc. Trust meit’s not a regular show it isdifferent. For the daytimeseries its target is the family,which is why we called it theChristmas Family FunFair.

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIE AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THEENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP!

Why I like to show off what I have got—Princess Nkechi Blessing—Princess Nkechi Blessing—Princess Nkechi Blessing—Princess Nkechi Blessing—Princess Nkechi BlessingWhy I like to show off what I have got

11. He is a very shy person and that’s why he wearssunglasses

12. He cannot rap13. 2Face is his favourite artiste14. He is not inspired by anyone15. He only respects Timbaland and Jay Z16. No one has ever written a line of song for him

in his life; he writes all his songs by himself17. His beats are inspired by highlife18. His music comes first, his family second19. He is not a fashion label freak20. Once he releases a song he doesn’t listen to it

again.21. He has never charged for a collabo

30—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

GENDER inequality hasbeen identified as a

major problem confrontingNigeria, despite its abundanthuman capital and economicpotential as the largesteconomy in Africa.

Women and girls are stillvulnerable and do not haveequal opportunities as theirmale counterparts in manysegments of the society whichrequires better policies andstronger institutions forwomen.

Stakeholders in the societymade this assertion at aseminar on inequality inNigeria for journalistsorganised by Oxfam in Abuja,noting that contrary to theprovision of 1999 Constitution(Section 16), thecommonwealth of the countryis concentrated in the handsof few thereby leaving poormajority, especially women,in abject poverty.

Women and girls frequentlydo not have control overresources and the norms.

Restricting the kind of jobs considered appropriate forwomen restricts their earningpotential in the labour marketand business enterprise.

In several rural areas inNigeria women go to farmsbut do not have a control overtheir products and the profitof the proceeds after sales.

Also, the lack of properpolicies promoting theparticipation of womenemerged as a keyimpediment to women’seffective participation in theNigerian labour market.

Inequitableregion

According to a 2012publication of the AfricanDevelopment Bank, Africa isthe second-most inequitableregion in the world, after LatinAmerica. “inequalities havenot diminished over time.

Women’s voices remainlimited, with rates of gender-based violence reachingalarming levels. Poor accessto legal rights, sexual and

and participation in Nigerianlabour market is explained byan anthropologist, Dr. RebecaUzezi who expressed greatconcern about the issue thathas now been on the increase.

“Before we examine theextent of inequality withwomen it is important that weneed to ask ourselves how toimprove women’semployment and economicopportunities? What is thepolicy infrastructure like, andwhat policy reforms areneeded to support andencourage more women tocompete in the labourmarket?” she said

“In several parts of thiscountry women’s movementis really restricted and thisaffects them negatively. Apartfrom the religious beliefswhich is an area where we donot question, other culturalaspects does not give womenthe room to move freely andthe men will always have anedge. These same women arethe ones that train the childrenwhen the father is no longerthere.

“By educating, building

capacity and skills, especiallyfor adult women, there will beincrease in women’snegotiating skills and thiswill help them to build theirsavings and improve theirlives.

According to sociologist,Jaye Gaskia, the sociocultural inequality in Nigeriadetermines a lot of factors thataffect everyone including thewomen.

He noted that there is a totalviolation of Section 16.2 ofthe 1999 Nigerian constitutionby several factors includingthe state which is meant topromote a planned andbalanced economicdevelopment for everyoneand remove concentration ofwealth or the means ofproduction and exchange inthe hands of few individualsor of a group.

Gaskia noted that everygovernment in the countryhave seriously breached theconstitution because wheneconomic power is removed,other factors of livelihood islimited and the women will begreatly affected.

Materialresources

“Inequality is a major issueaffecting this country. Thereis a violation of all theprinciples of Section 16.2 ofthe 1999 Constitution. Thepart that states ‘that thematerial resources of thenation are harnessed anddistributed as best as possibleto serve the common good’,has never been applied. Whywill inequality not continue inan alarming scale? He said

“Wealth is not sustainable inNigeria because of the link to the state and link tocorruption. When all these aresummed together, women willbe at the receiving end.

Oxfam’s Celestine OkwudliOdo noted that the paramountthing about the advocacy oninequality is giving the voiceand speaking against it.

“Different policies we arehaving on gender, taxation,and livelihood; all these wehave policy interventionsdriven by our local partnersbut the most important thingis giving the voice-supporting the voice to speak,to talk about issues that affectus. He said

“For us to be able to identify,to know what inequality isand how it could be tackled. For us before engaginggovernment, we should beable to proffer alternatives tothem. What the governmentshould do to reduceinequality that is exactly whatOxfam is doing”.

Inequality against women:

By educating,building capacityand skills,especially for adultwomen, there willbe increase inwomen’snegotiating skillsand this will helpthem to build theirsavings andimprove their lives

reproductive health services,freedom of movement, andpolitical voice pose additionalconstraints for women.

The freedom of movement

Oxfam, stakeholdersclamour a change

By Dotun Ibiwoye

Vegetable farmers at work

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—31

ONE of thebiggest myths

about rape andsexual violence isthat it happens as aresult ofu n c o n t r o l l a b l esexual desire. B e i n guncontrollable, theperpetrator cannot be heldresponsible for hisactions. Therefore thesurvivor must have donesomething to be raped.Responsibility and blameare then shifted from theperpetrator to the survivor.

Rape is not aboutsexual desire as allhumans have suchdesires but not all commitrape or sexual assault. Itis not a crime of passion,where the perpetratorloses control.

Many rapists are in arelationship where theirsexual urges are satisfied.Sexual assault or rape isa choice that they make.

Sexualassault

Rapists often plan theircrimes, and in the case ofchildren, groom them togain their confidence andtrust while waiting for an opportunity to strike. It is premeditated andover 70% cases of rape areplanned in advance. When this happens, therapist takes away anycontrol the survivor has inthat situation.

Rape happens in everysociety but it flourishesin an environment wherethere is violence, wherewomen’s voices are notheard and whereperpetrators walk awayfree because the law isnot effective and lawenforcement officers areunable to differentiatebetween theirprofessional obligationsand their personal biases.

This is even more difficultin a country like Nigeriawhere police officers arenot equipped to tackle themenace of rape and sexualassault. Many policestations do not bother todocument incidents of rape.Some policemen even takethe bizarre route ofmediating between thealleged perpetrator and thesurvivor.

Rape flourishes in manyso called traditional societies where womenare considered less thanmen. In these societiesconscious efforts are madeto control women’s bodiesand men are raised with afeeling of entitlement that women are there to dotheir bidding.

That explains why weexcuse and condone rapesaying the rapist wasdesiring sex and just “tookit too far”. In this way, wemake the crime moreacceptable and lesssevere.

Rape is also abetted bymisogyny, whichmanifests in laws thatdiscriminate againstwomen, support culturalbelieves that women temptmen with their bodies, andbelieve that women do nothave equal rights withmen.

Rape is about power andcontrol. It is about violence.And rapists use their sexorgans as weapons ofviolence. Rape is aboutmaking someone submit toyour will. It is aboutpower, anger and control. Sex is the weapon not theobjective.

Rape isaboutpower

THERE is an enormousdisequilibrium between

graduates churned out by mostNigerian tertiary institutionsand skills required byemployers, and this marginaccounts for why half of thenation’s graduates cannot beemployed.

This was the assertion of theCEO of Poise GraduateFinishing Academy, PGFA, MrsUkinebo Dare, who furtherargued that the currentcurriculum used in Nigerianhigher institutions of learningdoes not reflect the realities oftime.

This gap is ever widening,according to Ukinebo, who hasjust clinched the Future Awardsand the Ford Foundation prizefor ‘Youth Employment’. “Whilethe curriculum has remainedstatic, the needs oforganisations remain ever-changing”.

Ukinebo who spoke atconference organised by Poisein Lagos to solicit private/publicsector partnership towards re-engineering the nation’sworkforce and reducingunemployment, said the questto shrink this widening gapgave birth in 2012 to thePSENSE Employability SkillsCertification by PGFA designedwith the input of Nigeria-based

corporate firms and US-basedBriddle Consulting firm.

The certification which wasendorsed by the NigerianUniversity Commission in 2013is already being entrenched inthe curriculum of some higherinstitutions of learning in thecountry.

“Soft skills such as creativethinking, emotionalintelligence, problem solving,business writing,communication, how to sellthemselves as well as promotetheir organisation, writingbusiness plans and much more,are lacking in most graduates.These are, therefore, what weteach at our graduate academy

to shrink the ever-wideninggap, because we believe thatfor Nigeria to be truly great, thegap should not be this wide.We’ve since 2012 impacted thelives of over 10,000 graduatesand attained an employmentrate of over 87%,” Ukinebosaid.

Imploring stakeholders aswell as governing councils oftertiary institutions to take adecisive stand againstgraduate unemployability, MrsMavi Isibor, Group ChiefExecutive Office, PoiseNigeria, said: “The NigerianBureau of Statistics putsNigeria’s unemployment rateat an alarming increase of 7.5%in the first quarter of the year.

Graduateunemployability

In addition to this, ourcountry is riddled witheconomic shortfalls and youthrestiveness.

“This menace could bebrought to the barest minimumif young people are thoroughlytrained to take ownership ofthemselves to be gainfullyengaged in one venture or theother.

“Our Ukinebo is a role modelof the ownership initiative. Shetook PGFA from concept papersfive years ago, to the pedestalof winning the prestigiousaward for youth employment,not just in Nigeria but the wholeof Africa.”

Poise Nigeria tackles youthunemployment…as CEO PGFA bags Future Awards, Ford Foundation prize forYouth Employment

This menacecould be broughtto the barestminimum ifyoung people arethoroughlytrained to takeownership ofthemselves

By Josephine Agbonkhese

Mrs Mavi Isibor(2nd left), Group Chief Executive Office, Poise Nigeria; Mrs UkineboDare(2nd right), CEO, Poise Graduate Finishing Academy, PGFA; Nonye Cally-Bechi(1stright), Head of Programmes, Poise Nigeria, at the conference in Lagos.

CMYK

32— Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—33

By Festus Ahon

Youths protest oil firms' operations, barricadeDelta Assembly

Ijaw groups condemn alleged manhandling ofex-NIMASA boss

Edo 2016:Group calls fordebatesamongaspirants

ASTAP confersaward onpatrons

Alleged embezzlement: I was cleared by EdoAssembly —Akoko Edo Council boss

Leadership crisis brews in Delta NURTW

ASABA—INDIGENESof Ika and Aniocha

nations numbering over 500,barricaded the entrance to theDelta State House of Assemblycomplex in protest against thealleged oil exploration in theirarea by Pan Ocean OilCorporation and Chorus/SwiftEnergy Limited without signinga Memorandum ofUnderstanding, MoU, with thecommunities.

The placard-carryingprotesters who stormed theAssembly complex at 11a.m., areseeking among others, theintervention of the state andFederal Governments inensuring that the companies dothe needful or have their licencesrevoked.

Speaking on behalf of theprotesters, Mr. Julius Aziken,alleged that the companies hadbeen operating in the areaswithout signing an MoU withthe host communities and anEnvironmental ImpactAssessment, EIA, of the affectedcommunities.

He said, “On January 4, 2014,we caught Pan Ocean OilCompany trucking our crude oilin two tankers and the case wasincidented at the police stationthe next day. They said that it

was a sample they wanted to usefor analysis. The question I putbefore them then was that, if oneis sick, does he need a litre ofblood to run a test? Why wouldyou take 33,000 litres of crude oil?They could not answer us.

“Last time, we were here to

register our grievances that Ikaand Aniocha should be integratedinto the national grid, they saidwe didn’t have oil, that there wasno quantum of oil in our place. Ifthere is no quantum of oil in ourplace, where did Pan Ocean getthe over 120 tankers they took from

Ika and Aniocha?“In the past nine months, they

abandoned the project sayingthey didn’t have money. If theydon’t have money then theFederal Government shouldrevoke their licences andanother company should begiven license to come there.”

By Perez Brisibe & TareYoudeowei

PATANI—THE IjawWomen Connect, IWC,

worldwide, yesterday, added itsvoice to those of other Nigeriansin condemning themanhandling of the formerDirector-General of NigerianMaritime Administration andSafety Agency, NIMASA, Dr.Patrick Akpobolokemi, byoperatives of the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission,EFCC, at the premises of theFederal High Court, Ikoyi,Lagos.

Similarly, Otunba PatrickKeku, United Nations, UN,Peace Advocate and Chairman,Ijaw National Congress, INC,has condemned the uncivil waythe Police manhandledAkpobolokemi.

Also, Ijaw Youth Council,Lagos Chapter, has warned theEFCC, over what he termed themaltreatment of Akpobolokemi.

The women, in a statement bytheir spokesman, Rosie Aweke-Ere, accused the PresidentMuhammadu Buhari-ledadministration of plotting todestabilize and crumble theeconomic strength of the Ijawpeople.

Promising to hold the EFCCand the Nigeria Police

responsible for their alleged actsof lawlessness, abuse of citizens'rights and outright victimizationof one of their own, the womensaid that the conduct of thesecurity operatives wasreminiscent of the military era andwas the height of impunity.

Meanwhile, Otunba Kekuspeaking with Vanguard, said:“Security agents should not beoverzealous. I am not againstinvestigation but against theuncivil manner Akpobolokemiwas handled. It is barbaric. ThePolice should be more civil.”

On its part, Lagos IYC, in astatement by its Chairman, MrBoma Johnbull, said: “We arekeenly following the trial ofAkpobolokemi and any actionthat negates due process andthe principle of fair andtransparent trial, harassmentand intimidation, against himwill be resisted.”

THE Chairman of Akoko-Edo Local Government

Area of Edo State, Mr FolorunshoAkerejola, yesterday debunkedinsinuations in some quarters thatthe lifting of the suspensionslammed on him by the stateHouse of Assembly was trailedwith controversy.

The council boss who describedas mischievous the allegedinclusion of his name as one ofthe chairmen that will be probedfor alleged embezzlement ofcouncil funds, said that after hissuspension by the state House ofAssembly and the subsequentinvestigation into the accounts ofthe council by the lawmakers, hewas found not guilty of anyembezzlement of funds.

According to a statement by hisChief Press Secretary, OriladeOvbalie, the inclusion ofAkerejola's name in a published

list of suspended chairmen "mayhave been erroneously ormischievously included.

“The committee whichsubmitted its report on December2, 2015 on the floor of the Houseexculpated the Chairman from allthe allegations leveled against

him by the petitioner. As put,the allegations wereunfounded, frivolous andpolitically motivated. Thechamber of Edo State House ofAssembly asked Akerejola to goback to his office. Whatcontroversy is here?"

ASABA—CRISIS isbrewing in the National

Union of Road Transport Workers,NURTW, branch C, Agbarho,Ughelli North Local GovernmentArea, Delta State, over allegedintroduction of non-members ofthe union as executives of thebranch by the leadership of theunion in the state.

The branch, in a statement byits Chairman, Chief K. Edoja,described the action of theleadership of the state council asa calculated attempt to bring

disunity among members.The statement said: “As a trade

union, there is a constitutionthat regulates the activities ofthe body,” adding the letter ofintroduction of the saidexecutives was in completedisregard to the union’sconstitution.

Saying that Article 5 of theConstitution of the unionprovides for the procedures forbranch elections, the statementsaid that the action exhibited inthe letter was a clear departurefrom the tenets of the union.

By Gabriel Enogholase

BENIN—AHEAD ofthe 2016 governorship

election in Edo State, a group,Peter Esele SolidarityCommittee, PESOC 2016, hascalled for issue-based debatesamong all those aspiring tosucceed Mr AdamsOshiomhole to enable thepeople elect the best candidatethat will fly the flag of the AllProgressives Congress, APC.

A statement in Benin,yesterday, by Mr. EfosaNehikhare, acting DirectorGeneral, PESOC, said, “As therace to find Oshiomhole’ssuccessor begins in 2016, wewant to appeal to our APCcompatriots to stimulate issue-based debates.

“Yes, our party has done wellin all fronts, but Edo peoplewill agree or disagree on thedegree of wellness in thevarious departments andagencies, within the context ofour campaign mantra in 2007and 2012 respectively. For us,our vision bearer, Peter Esele,is equipped with the germaneresponses to these tasks."

ASSOCIATION of TyreDealers and Allied

Products, ASTAP, hasconferred awards ofexcellence on its patrons.

One of the recipients, Mr.Augustine Oghor, was thechairman of Tyre DealersAssociation, Benin City,before the merger of theunions.

President of ASTAP, ChiefEmma Nnaji, thanked thepatrons for their fatherlyrole in bringing theAssociation to its presentheight.

He said that the office ofpatron was a dignified onethat commands respect,adding that the office of thepresident can be changedbut that of the patronremains unchanged.

He implored the patronsto maintain their usualmoral and financial supportto move the union higher.

Mr. Augustine Oghor(left) receiving his award.

PROMO: L-R: Divisional Head, Retail Bank, Fidelity Bank Plc., Richard Madiebo; ExecutiveDirector, Shared Services, Fidelity Bank Plc, Chijioke Ugochukwu; 1st Grand Prize Winnerof four Bedroom Duplex in the Fidelity Save4 Shelter Savings promo, Mrs. Hadiza Suleimanand Regional Bank Head, Abuja 1, Hassan Imam, at the handover ceremony, in Abuja,Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015— 34

PEOPLE SPEAK

On arms deal money laundering trialWell done Buhari, my

vote to you has notbeen in vain and I amabsolutely getting value forit. Let Dasuki and othersdefend themselves andprove their innocence. Theprosecution should as wellprove its case beyondreasonable doubt. -MissAnasithesia Ezeka, Worker

What I knew for certainis that with this trial

and very many others tocome, a new page has beenopened in Nigeria. Neveragain would thoseentrusted with leadershippositions divert our moneyto their private accounts. -Miss Juliet Nkiruka Ek-wunife, Student

Which prosecutionwill present this

kind of evidence to court,that money was divertedto someone’s account andthe same money wasshared to PDP delegates?APC administrationshould be smarter thanthis. -Mr. Emmanuel Iy-oke, Worker

They do not careabout the suffering

of the masses. Thesebig men that receivebig salaries monthly,still do not get satis-fied, and they now taketo stealing public mon-ey too . -Mrs.Aghahowa Mabel ,Businesswoman

Some people areextremely wicked in

the society. They do nothelp even though they seetheir fellow citizens in apoor and dying state. Doyou know how manysoldiers died due to no am-munition to tackle BokoHaram? -Miss ConstanceAnwulika, Model

Nigeria needs a drasticlaw to punish looters.

This is a monumentalshame. The option of bailshould be discarded. Thisis an act of treason,allowing terrorists take overterritories while some menwere looting the treasury.-Miss Anne Kelechi, Fash-ion Designer

Dictatorship fast creeping back in Nigeria'spolitics — ex-OMATA boss

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu

NNEWI —FORMERPresident General,

Onitsha Markets AmalgamatedTraders Association, OMATA,Chief Pius Anaekwe hasaccused the All ProgressivesCongress, APC, government inthe country of bringing backdictatorship to Nigeria's politics,urging Nigerians to be at alert.

Addressing newsmen inOnitsha, Anambra State,yesterday, Chief Anaekweaccused the APC government ofthriving on controversy andcrisis and doing everythingpossible to perpetuatecontroversy and crisis situationsin the country.

“The APC government lovescontroversy and crisis, and theythrive on it. Since the swearing-in of the present government,Nigerians have never rested orknown peace.

"It is one crisis or the other andthey are enjoying it, they cannot

allow people granted bail to gohome or allow people to air theirgrievances through peacefulprotest and demonstration.

“Why must somebody begranted bail by the court andyou want him to go to jail evenwhen he has not beenconvicted. Nnamdi Kanu of

Indigenous Peoples of Biafra,IPOB, is already serving inprison sentence in the handsand cell of the Department ofState Services, DSS.

“Is APC trying to confirmwhat the Bible said, that whenbad people are in leadership,the country and people will

never know peace. If youpromise to rule through the ruleof law, you should allowsomebody who has been grantedbail by a competent court to gohome and be attending to courtfrom his house, it's only the courtthat can sentence somebody notthe Police, or DSS."

Aba residents task govt over deplorableroads

By Eric Ugbor

ABA —RESIDENTS of Aba,the commercial nerve

centre of Abia State, haveappealed to the state governor,Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to utilize thecurrent dry season to rehabilitatethe major dilapidated roads in thecity, which have continued tocause untold hardship on thepeople.

While the state government iscurrently addressing some minor

roads in the city, most of theresidents have challenged thestate government to make moreefforts in tackling theinfrastructure decay in thecommercial hub of the state.

The people of the city were ofthe opinion that if the presentadministration was able to repairmany of the roads and otherinfrastructure defects, that thetown was capable of providingsufficient internal revenue toaugment the dwindlingallocation from the Federal

Government.One of the residents, said:

“Until major roads like PortHarcourt, Obohia, Ohanku,Ngwa and many others aretackled, the current efforts of thegovernment will continue tomake marginal and negligibleimpact in the economy of the city.”

Vanguard investigations showthat in the past 16 years of thepresent democratic process, thatthe aforementioned roads whichare densely populated haveremained deplorable.

These roads are always floodedwith unimaginable potholes andstagnant water have remained apermanent sight to visitors to thecity.

For Mrs. OnyedinmaNwangwa, a resident on PortHarcourt Road of Aba: “We havesaid that this is a continuation ofthe past governments, but we arestill watching them, theirpromises and propagandabecause what they have done sofar is just a scratch, which has noeffect."

Naval engineering college graduates 2015 set

AT A military ceremonychaired by the Flag

Officer Commanding NigeriaNaval Logistics Command,Oghara, Delta State, RearAdmiral Emmanuel Ofik, theNigeria Naval EngineeringCollege, Ogorode-Sapele hasgraduated its 2015 set of 166students.

According to the

Commandant of the College,Rear Admiral D. Ajatoye,those, who graduatedcomprised of 27 MarineEngineering Artificers, 31Weapon EngineeringArtificers, 20 Basic Mechanics,20 Automobile Mechanics, 23Pioneer second rate Firemenand 22 third rate Firemen.

Presenting certificates to the

graduands, Admiral Ofikcharged them not to take theirallegiance to the country forgranted, even in the face ofsocio-economic challenges,adding that they mustremember that the commandspent enormous resources andtime to train them to becomeexperts so that they cansustain naval platforms at sea.

Access Bank empowers widows of slain policemen, children, others

WIDOWS AND childrenof policemen, who

were gunned down by armedmen while on guard atbranches of Access Bank inLagos State, were, yesterday,given monetary grants by thebank with a view toempowering them.

The gesture was also

extended to somepolicewomen, attached to BarBeach division.

Speaking at the bank’s 2015Corporate SocialResponsibility activitiesorganised by the bank’sConduct and ComplianceGroup, the group’s head, Mr.Pattison Boleigha, explained

that the gesture was inconformity with the bank’sEmployee VolunteeringScheme .

He explained that thetheme of the event was borneout of the bank’s commitmentto deepen its relationship withlaw enforcement agencies andregulators through social

initiatives that would supporttheir services at workplaces,families and the society atlarge.

The widows numberingseven, were handed a chequeof N50,000 each while thechildren, four in number werealso given cheques ofN50,000 each.

Abia politicalstakeholdersurge Buhari toreappointAdighije atRMFAC

By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIA—MAJORpolitical stakeholders

from the three senatorialzones of Abia State, havecalled on PresidentMuhammadu Buhari toapprove the reappointmentof Senator Chris Adighijeas the state’s representativeat the RevenueMobilization and FiscalAllocation Committee,RMFAC, noting that hebrought positive changes tothe state in his first tenure.

According to them,“Senator Adighije reallyworked hard for the interestof Abia State and deservesto continue for the greatergood of the state.”

Rising from anemergency meeting inUmuahia, the stakeholderswhich cut across politicaldivides, urged PresidentBuhari to “hearken to thevoice of Abia people andreappoint SenatorAdighije,” who they saidwas a good ambassador ofthe state at RMFAC.

Among Adighije’sachievements, according tothem, were refund of N12.7billion said to have accruedto the state from the 22 oilwells formerly ceded toRivers State, as well as arecovery of N266 millionwrongly debited to Abia.

They also said thatAdighije “started andcompleted the process thatled the FederalGovernment to refundanother N7.6 billion fromIsimiri Oil Field fromRivers State, andupgrading Abia State in thenational revenue chart fromthird position to 26thposition.”

By Bartholomew Madukwe(08102479985)

nwamad@yahoo.com

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 35

Thugs attack Kogi factional speaker,majority leaders, others

Benue trains 1,000 unemployed graduates in ICT

Multichoice brings Nigerian Festivals to DStv, GOtv

DESOPADEC boss offers Delta community youths 5 job slots

Bauchi 1st Ladydonates N8mgifts to Christianwomen, widows

Bauchi,UNICEF train1,847 femaleteachers

CSR: Fromleft; Wife ofBauchi StateDep gov, HajiaFatima Gidado;wife of BauchiState Gov, HajiaH a d i z aA b u b a k a r ;Bauchi StateDep Gov, EngrNuhu Gidado;Head ofService, Bauchi,Mr. Abdon Ginand Perm Sec,Min of SocialWelfare, AlhajiB a s h i rMashema withbeneficiaries ofthe MTNF o u n d a t i o nD i s a b i l i t yS u p p o r tProgramme inBauchi.

By Boluwaji Obahopo

LOKOJA—THE FactionalSpeaker of the Kogi State

House of Assembly, Godwin Osiyiwas yesterday attacked bysuspected thugs who smashed hisofficial vehicle and vehiclesbelonging to three other membersin his group.

Vanguard gathered that thethugs armed with machetes andother weapons invaded RevertonHotels, Lokoja, where the factionalSpeaker and some members of hisgroup were having a meeting.

The vehicles belonging to the

Majority Leader, PrinceMatthew Kolawole; the factionalDeputy Speaker, John Abah andthe member representing Ofuwere badly damaged by thethugs.

Addressing journalists afterthe incident, Osiyi, alleged thatloyalists of the allegedlyimpeached Speaker, MomohJimoh Lawal, orchestrated theattack on him and his members.

But, the embattled Speaker,Momoh Jimoh Lawal deniedhaving any hand in the said

attacks, saying he is a peacefuland humble person who does notbelieve in violence.

Osiyi disclosed that the thugscame into the hotels in an officialhilux van belonging to the‘impeached’ Speaker, MomohJimoh, adding that the thugs wereled by a younger brother of theembattled speaker.

“There have been series ofthreats of attack us after theimpeachment saga at theassembly last Thursday, asituation that made me write a

petition to the Police andDepartment of State Services(DSS) in the state.

Osiyi said they have beensleeping in different hotels toavoid the attacks, “We were inthe hotel when we startedhearing gunshots and when wecame out, we saw our vehiclesvandalized.”

But in a swift reaction, theembattled Speaker, MomohLawal denied having any handin the said attacks, saying he isa peaceful and humble personwho does not believe in violence.

BAUCHI—THE BauchiState government in

collaboration with UNICEF istraining 1,847 female teachersunder a project known asFemale Teachers TraineeScholarship Scheme (FTTSS)as part of efforts at boosting girlchild education.

The UNICEF D FieldOffice Education Specialist,Mariam Dikwa, disclosed thisyesterday during a one daymeeting on the disseminationof FTTSS guidelines forimproving value for moneyorganized by the College ofEducation Azare incollaboration with UNICEF inBauchi.

The aim of the meeting wasto educate stakeholders tounderstand their roles in theactivities of FTTSS in order toensure effectiveness of theprogramme.

Mariam noted that theproject was necessary becauseof dearth of qualified teachersin rural schools whichcontributed to low enrolmentof girls in schools and genderimbalance in the currentteacher work force.

THE First Lady of BauchiState, Hajia Hadiza

Abubakar has donated food itemsand textile material worth N8million to Christian women andWidows in the state.

Flagging off the distribution ofthe items at ECWA Church SabonKaura in Bauchi yesterday, HajiaAbubakar said the gesture was partof the present administrationefforts at showing love to womenand to enable them enjoy theChristmas celebration.

Items distributed include 200bags of race, 120bags of Sugar, 160bags of Maize, 1,100 wrappers/textile materials, 150 vegetable oilamong others.

The First Lady said Sabon Kaurawas selected for the flag off of thedistribution because of the largepopulation of Internally DisplacedPersons that settled in the area.

MAKURDI—BENUEState government in

conjunction with the FederalMinistry of CommunicationTechnology and RockefellerFoundatiion, yesterday engaged1,000 unemployed graduates inthe state in a two-day Information

and Communication Technology,ICT training.

Addressing participants inMakurdi, representative of theDirector of e-government at theministry, Mr. Macdonald Ekworosaid the initiative was to deploythe ICT platform to provide jobsto the unemployed graduateswith ICT skills.

He said the workshop wasmeant to expose the graduatesto on-line job opportunitieswhich they could exploit tobecome gainfully employed.

According to him, thepartnership between the stateand the Federal Governmentwith the Rockefeller Foundationunderscored the need for publicprivate partnership which hadbecome an imperative bestinternational standard practice.

Also speaking, representativeof the Rockefeller Foundation,Mr. Femi Kayode inspiredparticipants with a motivationaladdress and encouraged themto explore online opportunitiesin advertising, marketing,administrative support, webdesigning and programming aswell as writing in various fields.

By Suzan Edeh

By Peter Duru

CHAIRMAN of the DeltaState Oil Producing Areas

Development Commission,DESOPADEC, has offered togive five permanent job slots toany Obitugbo community youththat is prepared to reside in thedesolate and long abandonedItsekiri ancient town followingthe seven years Ijaw/Itsekirisanguinary war.

Ebosa, who is also the Chief

Executive Officer of Awaritse Nig.Ltd, made gave the pledge atObitugbo community in WarriNorth Government Area of DeltaState, at the grand receptionorganized by the leadership ofthe community to honour andadopt him as an indigene ofObitugbo in recognition of hisimmense contribution to theinfrastructural development ofthe community.

Chairman of the community,Mr. Lawrence Ukubeyinje, inhis welcome address said Hon.Godwin Ebosa has made themproud and happy, saying thathe is somebody with a capacityfor venturing into areas whereeven the devil dread to treadwhich has helped in exposingthe long dormant potentials ofObitugbo as an internationalinvestment destination.

THE Akwa Ibom ChristmasConcert and the Calabar

Grand Carnival which takes placeon the streets of the Cross RiverState will be part of the Nigeriafestivals pop-up channel on DStvand GOtv platforms that will belaunched by Multichoice Nigeria.

From December 4 to January 2,2016, all DStv and GOtvsubscribers will be treated to the Nigerian Festivals pop-upchannel, a channel dedicated toshowcasing four Nigerian musicfestivals this season.

This will be the second holidaypop-up channel coming on theheels of, Hoolee, a fun children’sholiday channel that went live on01 December on DStv Premium,Compact Plus and Compactpackages.

The festival extravaganza willkick off with an exciting coverageof The Experience Music and

Worship gospel concert from 04- 05 December. Billed as ‘themost awaited gospel musicconcert in the whole of Africa’,The tenth edition of TheExperience is anticipated to bea grand one with some big nameministers like Sonnie Badu,Don Moen, Sammie Okposo,

Micah Stampley, Chioma Jesus,Midnight Crew and LMGCdue to bring their ministries tothe crowd.

DStv and GOtv subscribers willget an opportunity to enjoy thegospel music concert alongsidethe 600 000 worshippers expectedto attend the concert in Lagos.

By Suzan Edeh

THE Chairman ofChristian Association of

Nigeria (CAN), LagosChapter, Apostle AlexanderBamgbola has urged leadersin the country to carry out theirresponsibilities with the fear ofGod, bearing in mind thatservice to humanity is serviceto God.

Bamgbola gave the adviceduring a Leadership Summittagged; “Top LeadersSummit” organised by TheChristian Association ofNigeria (CAN), incollaboration with theUniversity of Leadership andSound Doctrine (ULS) inSheraton Hotel Lagos.

He however expressedoptimism that leadership inNigeria is evolving and thatby God’s help the nation isgetting there in terms of goodleadership.

In his words: “We havebeing crying unto God foryears since we hadindependence, God hearsprayers so things arechanging. One day with Godis like a thousand years and athousand years is like a day.''

Cleric tasksNigerian leaderson godlyleadership

CMYK

36—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

DONATION: From left: Divisional Police Officer in charge of Bar Beach,Mr Olusegun Ajamolaya, Head, Conduct and Compliance Group, Access BankPlc, Mr Pattison Boleigha, widow of slain policeman, Mrs Rose Amuze andson, receiving cheques of N50,000 each, to mark the bank's 2015 CorporateSocial Responsibility activities in Lagos. Photo: Evelyn Usman.

DONATION: From left: Ubong Nseobot, Sales/PR Manager, Southern Sun,Ikoyi, Cornelius Onwah, Human Resource Manager, and other staff ofSouthern Sun with some children and caregivers, at the Arrows of GodOrphanage in Ajah, Lagos.

REBRANDING: From left: John Jenkins, MD, Ports and Cargo HandlingServices Limited; Markus Brinkmann, MD, Sifax Shipping; AfolashadeAfolabi, Chairman, Sifax Offdock, and Rizwan Kadri, Chief Operating Officer,SAHCOL, at the Sifax Group rebranding media launch in Lagos.

FACILITY TOUR: From left: Chief Operating Officer, GE Nigeria, MrAhmad Zakari, President and CEO, GE Nigeria, Dr Lazarus Angbazo,USAmbassador to Nigeria, Ambassador James Entwistle and General Manager,Supply Chain, GE Africa, Mr Jeffery Sommer, during a tour of the GEManufacturing and Assembly facility in Calabar.

ANNIVERSARY: From left: Shaf Syed, Managing Director, Atlantic Aviation;Chris Amenechi, Vice President, Revenue Management, Porter Airlines,Canada; Captain Dapo Olumide, CEO, Ropeways Transport Ltd; Simon Tumba,Publisher/CEO, Nigeriatravelsmart.com and Christophe Penninck, MD,MMA2, at the NigeriaTravelsMart.com, NTM, first anniversary colloquiumin Lagos.

PROMO: Second winner in the ongoing Mamador Cook and Cruise promo,Martha Agboniro (middle), Mamador Brand Manager, Mrs. Popoola-DanialTonyi (3rd right)with Mamador key distributor Manager, Benin and others,during the presentation of N1 million cash prize to the winner in Benin City,yesterday.

GRADUATION: FOC, Naval Logistics Command, Oghara, Delta State, Rear Admiral EmmanuelOfik (5th right), his wife and state Director of Naval Officers Wives Association, Mrs Pat Ofik(5th left), Commandant of the College, Rear Admiral D.O. Ajatoye (4th right), and other officersand graduands, at the 2015 graduation ceremony of the Nigeria Naval Engineering College,Ogorode-Sapele, Delta State.

THANKSGIVING: President, Wesley Cathedral,Olowogbowo, Lagos Choir, Sir Fola AwoboPearce(right), Rev. Tunde Oniyide (left) and Rev.dBola Oyeledun at the thanksgiving service of the2015 annual choir festival of the church in Lagos.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—37

CMYK

38—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

AFTER a very long wait, we nowhave a new Federal Executive

Council, FEC in place. What are yourexpectations?

We are waiting for when they will takeoff and start to actually deliver to Nigeriansthe promises made because a lot ofpromises were made from N5,000 monthlyallowance. A lot of unnecessary promisesthat are not attainable with the currenteconomic challenges facing the worldglobally and most especially our systemof operations. So these are the facts. Evennot being in government as a political party,I know this.

So that is why we want to advicepoliticians when you make promises whenyou want to get to power, do it at themoderate level , so that the expectationson you will not be too high when you getinto power. So that is the current crisis thatAPC is facing. There is serious pressureon them to deliver on the promises made.But how did they go about it being thatthere was no blue print to deliver thesethings that have been issued. So we willwait and see. But for us for now, nothingis happening.

You mean they made bogus promises? Very bogus! Nigerians were too hungry

for so many things, so they felt with the WHAT is your assessment of thePresident Buhari’s led

administration? Even though, it may be too early for a

holistic appraisal, nevertheless it pointstowards a government that would beresponsible to the people’s yearnings andaspirations.

Indeed, we are passing through verydifficult times in terms of insecurity,economic challenges, including scarcityof petroleum products. It will surely taketime to heal these wounds inflicted on ourdear nation by previous administrations.

What is your take on Buhari’sappointment of himself as petroleumminister?

In retrospect, we challenged theerstwhile President, Chief OlusegunObasanjo GCFR when he appointedhimself as the Minister of Petroleum. Wechallenged it up to the Court of Appeal inAbuja.

Interestingly, whilst we were at the Courtof Appeal, and due to the pressure broughtupon him by the case and the people,Chief Obasanjo promptly appointed Prof.Edmund Daukoru now a Royal Majestyin Bayelsa State, as a Minister of State forPetroleum. That case has now beenreported as Austin Ayowe & Ors. Vs. ThePresident & Ors. (2006) All FWLR (PT.334) 1967

Though we lost on grounds of locusstandi, the pressure arising from the legal

Those who chanted change'recomplaining — Ameh, PPA chair

By Chris Ochayi

THE National Chairman ofProgressive Peoples Alliance, PPA,Chief Peter Ojonugwa Ameh in thisinterview with Vanguard, bared hismind on burning national issues,especially as they affect the presentadministration. Ameh, who is alsothe Chairman of Inter Party AdvisoryCouncil, IPAC, in this interview callson President Buhari to turn Nigeriainto a huge construction site sayingthat in putting people to work thegovernment would in part be solvingthe economic problems of all.Excerpts:

don’t think Nigerians bargained for it.Nigerians didn’t bargain to stay for sixmonths without ministers, Nigeriansdidn’t bargain by now there won’t be aneconomic blueprint and policy directionfor the government, Nigerians didn’tbargain for all these.

There are agitations, they have startedagitations. Even those who voted for APC,they are already agitated, sincerely. It isjust that because we always havegovernment that doesn’t do surveys.

But those of us not in power, we are moreobjective, we can see, we are moreobjective to see that government has nottaken off. So we will say it without fear orfavour. If the APC can make Nigeria goodtoday, my generation and the one unbornwill benefit.

ProjectNigeria

But if they make it bad it will also affectus, so we must speak. So whichever wayit goes, we are in-between the line so thereis no way we can just shut up and say, nowe are not going to talk because we wantto be in good books. It is not about beingin good books, it is about this country,project Nigeria, how does it affect me, howdoes it affect Nigeria, how does it affectmy family, how does it affect my friend,how does it affect my relatives and evenmy party members most especially.

So we must continue to speak thatPresident Buhari must put things together,gather resources and turn Nigeria into ahuge construction site so that the artisansand the people on the street can havework and be gainfully employed becauseall these agitations you are seeing is as aresult of no jobs, nothing to do.

What is your assessment of theadministration’s twin battle againstinsecurity and corruption?

Corruption is one of the major problemsin our country. It is one of the major thingsthat are keeping us behind. So everybodywants corruption to be tackled. But in thecase of insecurity the matter is high. If yougo to the south-east, they have their

If the APCcan makeNigeriagood today,mygenerationand the oneunborn willbenefit. Butif they makeit bad it willalso affectus, so wemust speak

•Ameh: Nigerians were deceived by thepromises of change

It's too early tojudge Buhari— Mudiaga-Odje

By Festus Ahon

action prevailed on OBJ to do the needful.On the President Buhari scenario, he

has appointed a Minister for Petroleum,be it a Minister of State or not, because heis recognised under the Petroleum Act andSection 147 of the 1999 Constitution of theFRN (as amended).

Under Section 5 of the Constitution,General Buhari has a right and duty tosupervise his Ministries and by extensioncontrol and manage the Ministry,provided however, that he has a Ministerduly appointed at all material timesrelating thereto.

Looking at the crop of Ministers he hasappointed, do you see any good prospectfor Nigeria under Buhari’sgovernment?

Relatively speaking, I do believe thatfrom the background of some of theministers, its very apparent and real thatthey will impact positively in theadministration of the Nation. It has a blendof old hands and new technocrats whichis good for us. However, it may be too earlyto give an informed assessment of themsince, they just started work.

Again, the Urhobos have no ministerin the Federal Government?

It’s very sad if not frightening that theUrhobo Nation which produces economic

wealth no matter how small tothe Federation Account, cannothave a Minister to partake inthe Federal Executive Councilas to how the commonwealthof the Nation is shared.

In terms of population, weare the fifth largest in Nigeria,we host oil and gas flowstations including theOtorogun Gas Plant.

We have a reservoir ofeminent, cerebral and

proficient professionals, politiciansand scholars per excellence both hereand in the Diaspora. Accordingly, I urgeMr. President to do the needful timeouslyby appointing a Minister from any of oureminent sons and daugthers of UrhoboNation.

It is in the light of the above, that Icommend the Governor of Delta State, Dr.Ifeanyi Okowa, for his wisdom andmagnanimity in appointing manyqualified persons of Urhobo extraction intohis Administration. It is very commendable

WARRI based constitutional lawyer,Dr Akpo Mudiaga-Odje in thisinterview bares his mind on theAPC led government insisting thatit may be too early to assess theBuhari administration. Excerpts:

Even though,it may be tooearly for aholisticappraisal,neverthelessit pointstowards agovernmentthat would beresponsibleto thepeople’syearningsandaspirations Continues on

page 39

kind of bogusnature of thepromises that thisis achievablewithin the tenureof four years.These are nota c h i e v a b l ethings withinfour years.

So, the APCd e c e i v e dNigerians?

N i g e r i a n swere deceived bythe promises ofchange, it is nota lie. Yes youcould havecharacter, a goodcharacter, youcould bepurposeful, youcould be ready tohelp Nigeriansbut when deceitcomes into playyou would losesome level ofc r e d i b i l i t y,because the kindof things onground now, I Continues on page 39

and encouraging.Don’t you see it

as a ploy toundermine theUrhobo Nationwhich is the 6th ifnot 5th largestethnic group inthe country?

Yes indeed if anethnic Nationalitythat is qualified tohave a slot as aMinister inNigeria and its notgiven that slot,surely it willundermine thatethnic group. Apoint of referenceis Section 55 of the1999 Constitution(as amended)which providesthat:

“The business ofthe NationalAssembly shall beconducted in

•Mudiaga-Odje: Sad Urhobo can'thave a minister

CMYK

IT began with the electionproper, then the election

tribunal and last Friday, it wasthe Court of Appeal.

The Appeal Court sitting inEnugu State had on Friday,reaffirmed the electoral victory ofGovernor Umahi as the winnerof the election in the state.

Earlier, the Ebonyi ElectionPetition tribunal sitting inAbakaliki, had in a judgment thatlasted for eight hours and 10minutes ruled that Umahi wonthe last governorship election.

By Peter Okutu This is the second time Umahi’svictory is being affirmed after theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC declared himwinner of the polls.

The petitioner andgovernorship candidate of theLabour Party, Sir EdwardNkwegu had asked the court tocancel the governorship election,so that a fresh one could beconducted. But despite thearguments of his counsels, noneof his pleas or submissionscaught the sympathy of thejudges.

At the tribunal, the petition ofNkwegu was thrown away forlacking in merit while at theAppeal Court, it was dismissedfor being functionally useless.

Delivering the judgment at theAppeal Court on behalf of fourother Judges, Justice JOKOyewole explained that the fivereliefs sought by the applicantlacked merit.

The governorship ElectionPetition Tribunal in Abakalikihad in October this yeardismissed Nkwegu's petitionchallenging the declaration of

•Umahi: Smilling

How Umahiknocked outEdon

EBONYI GOV:

FOR Governor David Umahiit has been three contestsand three victories againsthis opponents in the battlefor the Ebonyi StateGovernment House.

Engr. Umahi by INEC as thewinner of the election for lackingin merit. It also noted theinability of the petitioner to proveallegations of corrupt practicesand criminalities as contained inhis petition.

In the appeal filed by hiscounsel, Chief U.N Udechukwu(SAN), Nkwegu prayed theAppeal Court to set aside thejudgment of the tribunal, whichhe described as a grave error oflaw.

He urged the court to annul theelection of Umahi and order afresh poll since, according to him,the governorship election wasmarred by widespreadirregularities.

But counsel to Engr. Umahi,Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN), urgedthe court to dismiss the appealfor lacking in merit. He said that

Governor Umahi was validlyelected in the election conductedin substantial compliance withthe Electoral Act.

Addressing newsmen at theAppeal Court premises after thejudgment, Umahi stated that“Our learned judges said theappeal was functionally useless.We should continue thankingGod as the Bible tells us thatwhatever is born of Godovercomes the world.

“This victory is of God and noman can set it aside. Ourdetractors have been going aboutlooking for who to bribe. We haveconfidence in God and thejudiciary.

Widespreadirregularities

“Anywhere they take us to,victory will still be ours. They areso ashamed of what we are doingin Ebonyi State and they will continue to live in shame. I amimpressed by the judges; theywere wonderful. I thank all ourlawyers who defended us.”

Reacting to the victory, theCaretaker Committee Chairmanof Afikpo South local governmentarea, Barr Eni Uduma Chimadescribed the Appeal Courtruling as victory for democracy.

According to him, nowGovernor Umahi would fullyfocus on his mandate and ensurethat democracy dividends get tothe people without beingdistracted. We are happy with thisvictory. He is the people'sgovernor and we thank God forthe verdict of the court”.

With the victory of GovernorUmahi, he is now expected tomeet the expectations of Ebonyipeople on account of hiscampaign promises during thelast election.

This victory isof God and noman can set itaside. Ourdetractors havebeen goingabout lookingfor who tobribe. We haveconfidence inGod and thejudiciary

Those who chanted change'recomplaining — Ameh PPA chair

Continues from page 38agitation there; if you to thesouth-south they arekidnapping people there, thekidnapping is going oneverywhere.

So these things we shouldn’tsay because we want to scorepolitical points; let’s have a newarchitectural design for oursecurity operations, let’s havea new architectural design forhow we manage layout of oursecurity procedures so that atevery point in time people canbe intercepted for committingone crime or the other.

What advice do you offerthis government in handlingtreasurer looters, given thattaking them to court wouldrequire spending moremoney?

Let’s do something that wouldbe beneficial to the future of ourgeneration, let’s encouragepeople to come back with the

It's too early to judge Buhari — Mudiaga-Odje

money that they have stolenand then stop the process ofpeople stealing money.

So if you lay thisfoundation we would go far,Nigeria will be out of thecorruption index at no time.

Do you see thatDecember deadline toeradicate Boko Haram asfeasible?

In any part of the world,no deadline has worked, ittakes time because thispeople can want to disgraceyou, they will go and hideand maybe by January theywill throw one bomb and saythe deadline has not beenmet. Let’s not give ourselvesstress by giving ourselvesartificial deadlines, let uswork towards eradicatingthem no matter how long ittakes because I know thisdeadline is almostimpossible.

English, Hausa, Ibo andYoruba…” This section does notrecongise my Urhobo language,yet my village, Evwrein inUghelli North hosts a flow Stationwhich produces over eleventhousand barrels of crude oil tothe Nigeria State.

My oil and gas resources are ablessing to Nigeria, whilst mylanguage is an abomination inthe National Assembly.

The National Assembly wasbuilt from our resources. TheConstitution was also printedwith our resources. Yet mylanguage cannot be spoken in theNational Assembly.

Be that as it may, we the Urhobopeople must now come togetherin our collective history to uniteand speak with one voice! Ahouse divided against itselfcannot stand!

As long as we remaindisunited, our fighting andstaying power becomes weakerand weaker by the day.

So in as much as we are

Continues from page 38

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—39

justifiably agitating forrepresentation at the federallevel, we must close ranksbecause when Mr. Presidentdecides to give us a ministerialslot, we must be prepared tospeak and choose one personwith one voice!

Agitating forrepresentation

It is on this note, that I advisethe Urhobo Nation to start toreach out to our brothers fromother minority ethnic groups,such as the Itsekiris, Ijaws,Ibibios, Aniomas, Isokos, andothers, to forge a common frontwith us as we agitate for bothpolitical and economic relevance.

What is your reaction to theemergence of a new Olu ofWarri?

Firstly, we share in themourning with the Itsekiri nationof the departed OgiameAtuwatse II; whilst at the sametime we congratulate them on thenomination through

overwhelming proclamation andacclamation of the entire Itsekirination of the new Olu of Warri.

The unity, swiftness andreverence with which the Itsekiripeople selected their new kingis worthy of commendation andit is shining example to all othertribes, especially the ethnicminorities, that once a tribespeaks with one voice, nothing,I say nothing can ever stop theirprogress and development.

Do you have faith in Buhari’scorruption crusade?

Faith in Mr. President’scorruption crusade? I think faithis too strong for me at this pointin time, I think whether I haveconfidence in President Buhari’scorruption crusade? Yes!

For now, his body language isencouraging towards the fightagainst corruption, however letit not be selective.

We must commend him for hispatriotic stand before and now onthe fight against corruption andurge all Nigerians to support thisfight for a better Nigeria.

CMYK

40 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

CMYK

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NJOKU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss NjokuChinasa Amaka, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ifeanacho ChinasaPhilomena. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

EZEH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss EzehNkechinyere Theresa,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Muoneke NkechinyereTheresa. All documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please note.

O F O D I L E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOfodile JudithNkiruka, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Eze Judith Nkiruka.All documents remainvalid. General publicplease note.

B A J U L A I Y E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asBajulaiye AbosedeAduke, now wish to beknown and addressedas Imam TayibatAduke. All documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please note.

N W A N Z E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNwanze HenriettaKaha, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OgundipeHenrietta Kaha. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

F R A N C I S — I ,formerly known andaddressed as EllaFrancis Inalegwu,now wish to be knownand addressed as EllaAdakole Oche IbrahimInalegwu. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

O G U N D A N A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOgundana ComfortOlusola, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Boyejo ComfortOlusola. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

N D U B U I S I — I ,

formerly known and

addressed as Ndubuisi

Alozie, now wish to be

known and addressed

as Alozie Nwabuisi. All

documents remain

valid. General public

please note.

ABDULLAHI—I,formerly known andaddressed asFredrick SalehAndoya, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAbdullahi SalehFredrick Andoya. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to inform thegeneral public that thenames Gbenga OladimejiPeters, OlugbengaOlufioye Koyejo andOlugbenga Julius Koyejois one and the sameperson, now wish to beknown and addressed asGbenga Oladimeji Peters.All documents remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Correction of nameMy name was wronglywritten asEzenwachukwu OkorieKenneth, instead ofEzenwajiaku KennethFriday. I now wish to beknown and addressed asEzenwajiaku KennethFriday. All documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please note.

ONWUCHURUBA—I,formerly known andaddressed as EmmanuelOnwuchuruba, now wishto be known andaddressed as EmmanuelChukwunoyerem Nwahiri.All documents remainvalid. Nigerian RailwayCorporation and generalpublic please note.

OKOYE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Okoye EmmanuelChinonso, now wish tobe known andaddressed asEnweluzo EmmanuelChinonso. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

T O H A B R U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as TohabruEsiri, now wish to beknown and addressedas Tohabru DennisEsiri. All documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please note.

SALIU—I, formerlyknown andaddressed as SaliuKafayat Olaide, nowwish to be known andaddressed as AmoduKafayat Olaide. Alldocuments remainvalid. FCMB, UBAand general publicplease note.

A I W E D E F E — I ,formerly known andaddressed asObamogie JonathanAiwedefe, now wish tobe known andaddressed asO b a m o g i eE r h u n m w o n s eJonathan. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

BIVBERE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss RitaOkeoghene Bivbere,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Rita Okeoghene LiloSiakper. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

O L U S O L A — I ,formerly known andaddressed asAdefowora MargaretOlusola, now wish tobe known andaddressed asAdefowora MargaretOludare. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

IMOKO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ImokoYetunde Comfort, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Omobhude YetundeComfort. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Reconciliation of NameThese names, OkonjiNonso Kenneth andUzor Kennedy belongto the same person butnow wish to be knownand addressed asOkonji NonsoKenneth. All formerdocuments remainvalid, First Bank, anyauthority it mayconcern and thegeneral public to takenote.

Confirmation of NamesThe names, TochukwuBlessing,Miss AghameluBlessing NgoziFrancisca, and MrsSoronnadi BlessingNgozi belong to thesame person but nowwish to be know andaddressed as Mrs.Soronnadi Blessing .N. Aghamelu. All formerdocuments remainvalid, NYSC,Zenith bank, anyauthority and thegeneral public to takenote.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—41

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

ERUEGBUKPE—I,formerly known andaddressed asEruegbukpe Margaret,now wish to be knownand addressed asMargaret Thomas. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Correction of NameI, Godwin Sagbenewish to inform thegeneral public that inUBA Amnesty Accountmy name was wronglywritten as GideonSagbene, instead ofGodwin Sagbene. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Confirmation of NamesThis is to inform the

general public that I,

Mr. Ojo Orighomisan

Ayo is the same person

as Mr. Ojo Lucky. All

documents remain

valid. General public

please note.

C H A M P I O N — I ,formerly known andaddressed asChampion OrodjeKelly, now wish to beknown and addressedas Idegbe Kelly. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

NNADOZIE—I, formerlyknown and addressed asMiss Ngana MargrateOrefi, now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. Nnadozie MargrateOrefi. All documentsbearing my former namesstill remain valid. PostPrimary SchoolManagement Board,WAEC, NECO, DiamondBank plc, Fidelity BankPlc and the generalpublic please take note.

O M E R E Y E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as TuoreOmereye Sandra,now wish to be knownand addressed asAjofotan Sandra. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

O B I A N W U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissS e r a hE q w u t o s i c h u k w uObianwu, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.S e r a hE q w u t o s i c h u k w uChiedu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OKI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Oki Enajite,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Enajite OdafeOfuoma. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of nameI, Tiemo Evans Oweihereby confirm that thename Kilete Evans asit appears on some ofmy documents refer toone and same me. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

DADA—I, formerly

known and addressed

as Olateru Joseph

Dada, now wish to be

known and addressed

as Akinseye Joseph

Dare. All documents

remain valid. General

public please note.

IDOWU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Idowu Omowunmi, now wish to beknown and addressedas Akintoye MaryOmowunmi. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

UMOH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss SenoOtobong Umoh, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Seno Camille ObinnaAgwunobi. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

B A L O G U N — I ,formerly known andaddressed asAderonke AdukeBalogun, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Aderonke AdukeShittu. All documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please note.

ADISON—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Adison PrinceChidi, now wish to beknown and addressedas Adikaibe PrinceChidiebere. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

AJUONU—I, EkongEkaete Juliana,formerly called andaddressed as AjuonuEkong Ekaete Juliana,now wish to be knowncalled and addressedas Ekong EkaeteJuliana. All documentsbearing my formername remain valid.UBA, Ojodu, IsheriOgba Road, andgeneral public pleasetake note.

CHIKAODINAKA—I, formerly known andaddressed asC h i k a o d i n a k aVeronica Okafor, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.C h i k a o d i n a k aVeronica Okorigwe. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

OSA'S—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Osagay AnthonyOsa's, now wish to beknown and addressedas Anthony Sagay. Alldocuments remainvalid. First Bank andgeneral public pleasenote.

O D I V W R I — I ,formerly known andaddressed asMaureen Odivwri, now wish to be knownand addressed asUhohi EruvwuMaureen. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OCHUKO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Ochuko EseGift, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Ese WhiteOkemu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Correction of nameMy full and correctname is ImhanfiaborDouglas Aghadolekoyibut was wronglywritten as ImhanfiaeorDouglas on my IBTCaccount and alsowritten as ImhanfiaborDouglas A. on some ofmy documents. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

Confirmation of nameI, Balogun KingsleyPrince hereby confirmthat the nameWatugbaghi Balogunas it appears on someof my documentsrefers to one and sameme. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

EKUYATSEMI—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissAjuebitsi S.Ekuyatsemi, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Ajuebitsi S. Emiko. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ANYASI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Ifeanyi SoniaAnyasi, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Ifeanyi SoniaOkonkwo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

I D A H O S A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissIdahosa Grace, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Emamomo Grace. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

I D E H E N — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAbiemwense Idehen,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. AbiemwenseChika Oshilim. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OGBODOGBO—I,formerly known andaddressed as Dr.(Mrs.) OgbodogboOghenetega Lilian,now wish to be knownand addressed as Dr.(Miss) Ambrose-IghoOghenetega Lilian.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

ONWEMENEM—I,formerly known andaddressed asO n w e m e n e mBlessing, now wish tobe known andaddressed as UmehBlessing Eweneiwe.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Reconciliation of NamesThe names MissOkafor MaureenIrozorochi, Mrs.Samson MaureenNnenna and Mrs.Samson MaureenIrozorochi refer to oneand the same person.I now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. SamsonMaureen Irozorochi.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Reconciliation of NamesThe names OkochaSylvester IjebunemOkei, SylvesterIjegbunem Okei andOkocha SylvesterOkei Ijegbunem referto one and the sameperson. I now wish tobe known andaddressed as OkochaSylvester OkeiIjegbunem. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

BASSEY—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss FeliciaNyong Bassey, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Felicia EyoanwanSolomon. All formerdocuments remainvalid. First Bank andgeneral public pleasetake note.

M B A D I K E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissKate Iheoma Mbadike,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Kate Akanimo Ita. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

CHIJIOKE—I, formerlyknown and addressed asMr. Nwokolo ChijiokeChris, now wish to beknown and addressed asMr. Godwin ChijiokeChris. All formerdocuments remain valid.Abia State University,University of Benin,Center for Autism andD e v e l o p m e n t a lDisabilities, Lagos, andgeneral public, pleasetake note.

SHEME—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ShemeOmokiniovo Praise,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Jeje OmokiniovoPraise. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicand to whom it mayconcern should pleasetake note.

IGBOABUMMUO—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissI g b o a b u m m u oMartina Ifeoma, nowwish to be known andaddressed as OnefeliMatina Ifeoma. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic and to whom itmay concern shouldplease take note.

SAI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Reuben Sai, nowwish to be known andaddressed asAkpoyibo ReubenEsaibakumo. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic and to whom itmay concern shouldplease take note.

OKOJIE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Okojie Ebalu,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Oziegbe EbaluPatience. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicand to whom it mayconcern should pleasetake note.

Confirmation Of Name—That some of mydocuments carried MikeGovernor others carriedOgbaburu Bowei Mike,while others carried MikeBowei Ogbaburu. Bothnames as they appearedabove belongs to one andthe same person . Allformer documents remainvalid. First Bank Plc,Diamond Bank Plc,General public and towhom it may concernshould please take note.

Correction/Change OfNames: That my nameAkren was wrongly spelthas Akpen while Ziakedewas also wrongly spelt asZik. I now wish to beknown as addressed asAkren Ziakede. All formerdocument remains valid.General public and towhom it may concernshould please take note.

OYAKEMEAGBEGHA—I, formerly known andaddressed as AkeOyakemeagbegha,now wish to be knownand addressed as AkeEsther. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicand to whom it mayconcern should pleasetake note.

N WA K A L O R — I ,formerly known andaddressed asNwakalor InnocentChibuzor, now wish tobe known andaddresses as AnidebeChibuzor Innocent.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic take note.

Reconciliation of NameThis is to certify that thenames NwachukwuDonatus Chijindu,N w a c h u k w uOnyedikachukwu andNwachukwu ChijinduJunior refers to one and thesame person my son, thatI now wish him to be knownand addressed asNwachukwu DonatusChijindu as all formerdocuments remain valid.First Bank of Nigeria Plc,all other Banks, Registrarsand companies where Iinvested and generalpublic take note.

ABACHA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Abacha Ogbudu,now wish to be knownand addressed asBafegha Ogbudu. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

42—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

O D U B E N U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissFlorence Odubenu,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Florence BriggorIghedo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OJOMA—I, formerly

known and addressed

as Miss Hope Ojoma,

now wish to be known

and addressed as Mrs.

Hope Felix Iken. All

former documents

remain valid. General

public please take note.

PAMOR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Pamor Grace, nowwish to be known andaddressed as EsinotuGrace Kanyariye. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

UGBEH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss UgbehIfeoma, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Elike Ifeoma.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

EROVWO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss ErovwoAghogho, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Ekakiti Aghogho. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

N N A M D I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as NnamdiStanley Iyasere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as IyasereJustice Stanley. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Confirmation of name

This is to confirm thatthe name AkpanPrecious Bassey andAkpan Patience Basseyrefer to one and thesame person, due tomarriage, now wish tobe known andaddressed as BenardPrecious Peter. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

OKPE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss CelestinaNonye Okpe, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Celestina Nonye Ike-Agbo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. First Bank,Zenith Bank andgeneral public pleasetake note.

B A L O G U N — I ,formerly known andaddressed as GodwinIghedose Balogun,now wish to be knownand addressed as JeffIghedose. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

UMARU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Umaru DanielAkuh, now wish to beknown and addressedas Umoru DanielAkuh. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O K A F O R — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAmarachi ClementinaP. Okafor, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Amarachi ClementinaP. Ndife. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O K O N K W O R — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissOkonkwor NnekaJacinta, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Ibegbu NnekaJacinta. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

AGWEDU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss AgweduAnthonia Ugochukwu,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Kalu AnthoniaUgochukwu. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

O K W U M M U O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as OkwummuoAngela Chioma, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Agwuncha AngelaChioma. All formerdocuments remain valid.Teachers Establishmentand Pensions Office(TEPO) and EducationDistrict (1V) and generalpublic please take note.

IKERI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Ikeri IfeomaCynthia, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Anakor IfeomaCynthia. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to inform thegeneral public that thenames ChukwumaraChigbo Kelvin andOkeke Chigbo Kelvinis one and the sameme. I now wish to beknown and addressedas ChukwumaraChigbo Kelvin. Alldocuments remainvalid. General publicplease note.

Confirmation of nameThis is to inform thegeneral public that myname was wronglywritten as FasasiFatimoh Ibukun,instead of FasasiFatimoh Omolara. Mycorrect name is FasasiFatimoh Omolara. Allformer documentsremain valid. Ecobankand general publicplease note.

SKATTAY-JINGY—I,formerly known andaddressed asIkechukwu NdukaSkattay-Jingy, nowwish to be known andaddressed asIkechukwu NdukaJingy. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

OGUMA —I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Oguma RoseTare, now wishes to beknown called andaddressed as Mrs TuluRose Tare. Alldocument bearing myformer name remainvalid. The generalpublic should pleasetake note.

E T S E M O G B O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissEtsemogbo Beauty,now wishes to beknown called andaddressed as MrsAmarhavwie Beauty.All document bearingmy former nameremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

EDE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss EdeOmasanjuwa Tokunbo,now wishes to beknown called andaddressed as Mrs.Eruwayo OmasanjuwaTokunbo. All documentbearing my formername remain valid.General public pleasetake note.

IGBINIGIE—I, formerlyknown, called andaddressed as MissOsasere Sonia Igbinigie,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Osasere Sonia Aghama.All my documentsbearing Miss OsasereSonia Igbinigie remainvalid. Nursing AndMidwifery Council OfNigeria, other authoritiesconcerned and generalpublic should please takenote henceforth forrecord and officialpurposes.

OGUNSHAKIN—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissOlawumi Yomi CeciliaOgunshakin, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Olawumi Yomi CeciliaBadejo. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of NameI, Iwusun Kuro Mykel

do hereby confirm

that the name Iwusun

Kuro refers to one and

same me. All former

documents remain

valid. General public

please take note.

Confirmation of NameI, Akuna BoukemeTarebide do herebyconfirm that the nameAkuna Tare andBoukeme Tarebiderefers to one and sameme. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

A G O R O D I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as Mr.Emmanuel Agorodi,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mr.Agorom Emmanuel.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

E Y E B O K E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as PoliceEyeboke, now wish tobe known andaddressed as PoliceDouyefa. All formerdocuments remainvalid. UBA PLC andgeneral public pleasetake note.

DAWA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Evelyn Dawa,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Evelyn Andrew. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

EBIZOR—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Ebolo EbizorTrustgod now wish tobe known andaddressed as IboloLazarus Trustgod. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

SEA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss DoutimiareyeSea, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. DoutimiareyeOyarede. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

Confirmation of NameThis is to confirm that thename EmmanuelI h e a n y i c h u k w uO k e c h u k w u ,Ifeanyichukwu EmmanBishop Iheanyichukwu,Emma- BishopIheanyichukwu, refer toone and the same person.I now wish to be knownand addressed as MrEmma- BishopIheanyichukwu. Allformer documents remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

JOSHUA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OyeyemiElizabeth Oyetunde,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsOyeyemi ElizabethJoshua. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

IJERE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss GraceUchechi Ijere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as MrsGrace UchechiBenyeogor Omezi. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

J A S M I N E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as ObioraJasmine Emmanuella,now wish to be knownand addressed asObiora ChinemeremEmmanuella. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

N W A N K P A — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNwankpa NkechiAyoola, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Nkechi Ayoola Adaa.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

EZELIBE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss EzelibeBlessing Okwukweka,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. AnyaehieBlessing Okwukweka.All former documentsremain valid. NYSCand general publicplease take note.

EKEZIE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss JudithChinyere NneomaEkezie, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Judith ChinyereNneoma Chikwendu.All former documentsremain valid. NYSCand general publicplease take note.

ENEH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Eneh Tina Elohor,now wish to be knownand addressed as ItimiTina Elohor. All formerdocuments remainvalid. NYSC andgeneral public pleasetake note.

ONUGHA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OnughaChristina A, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Christina VitalisEzenwa Njoku. Allformer documentsremain valid. NYSCand general publicplease take note.

Correction of NameMy name wasmistakenly written onmy BVN as NwankwoDamian Deribeinstead of NwankwoDamian Daniel. Mycorrect name isNwankwo DamianDaniel. All formerdocuments remainvalid. Union Bank,Diamond Bank andgeneral public pleasetake note.

OJIH—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Amina Ojih, nowwish to be known andaddressed as MrsAmina Okewu. Allformer documentsremain valid. FirstBank Plc and generalpublic please takenote.

GEBRIEL—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Mrs Amina Gebriel,now wish to be knownand addressed as MrsAmina Daniel. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—43

44—44—44—44—44—VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Rabiul-Awaal 7, 1437 A.H.

Chairman of Murhi International Television, MITV, AlhajiMurithada Gbadeyankan, Abdul Majid T. and Dr AbdulGaniyEnahoro, Naibul-Amir Eastern Zone, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat,Nigeria at the UK Jalsa Salana

A H M A D I Y Y AMuslim Jamaat,

Nigeria, will today begin athree-day Jalsa Tarbiyya/Islamic education andmoral training conferencein Warri, Delta State.

The programme,organised by the EasternRegion of the organisationis themed: “ReligiousTolerance andCooperation: a Catalyst forPeace, Unity andS u s t a i n a b l eDevelopment.”

According to a statementby the Naib Amir, DeputyPresident, AhmadiyyaMuslim Jamaat, EasternRegion, Dr Abdul GaniyEnahoro, the event willhold at at FederalGovernment College,Warri, Delta State just asdifferent lectures and goodwill messages from leadersof various faiths have beenlined up for the three dayevent

Dr Enahoro noted thatthe conference was animportant opportunity todecontaminate the realessence of religion, whichis to worship the AlmightyCreator, who abhorsdisorderliness. QuranChapter 5 Vs 65 Statesclearly that: “Allah loves not

Ahmadiyya holds Educ confab in Warri

Sadr Majlis Khudam-ul-Ahmadiyya Nigeria (MKAN), YouthWing, Bro.Abdul Qudri Abdur Rafiu; Principal, JamiaAhmadiyya, Maulvi Nadeem - Ahmad Wasim; Sadr MajlisAnsarullah Nigeria, Alhaji Mikail Odukoya and Coordinator,Hafiz Class, Hafiz Musliudeen Opayemi, during the Hafizgraduation at Ilaro Ogun State.

Ambode tasks religious organisations on CSR

those who create disorder”.“So long as

misinformation exist in thepublic arena that terroristsand insurgents arepropelled in their evil waysby the teachings of theirreligion, then as Muslims,we owe it as a sacred

extremists. They are ourenemies and we mustunite all the times toweaken their resolve. If wedo anything otherwise,then they would haveachieved their objectives”.

The Amir (NationalHead) of AhmadiyyaMuslim Jamaat Nigeria,Dr Mash’hud AdenreleFashola would lead ahigh-powered delegationof leaders, elders, Head ofauxiliary bodies andNational Jalsa PlanningCommittee members to theevent. The delegationwould also pay a courtesycall on the newly installedOlu Of Warri, HRMIkenwodi Godfrey AbiloyeEmiko.

responsibility to debunksuch fallacies and conveythe true peaceful messageof Islam to the world.”

“I firmly believe thatthose who fan the embersof destruction exist allaround in all the religionsas fake adherents or

By OlasunkanmiAkoni

LAGOS StateGovernor, Mr.

Akinwunmi Ambode hascharged religiousorganizations to encouragexcellence by awardingexcellence in schoolsaround their locality as away of rendering corporatesocial responsibility, CSR.

Ambode made theremarks recently, at theyearly Award of Excellenceceremony for publicsecondary schools, KosofeZone, Education District 1,headquarters, Lagos,being sponsored by theUpper Room BaptistChurch Kosofe.

The governor,represented by the TutorGeneral/ PermanentSecretary Lagos StateEducation District 11, Mrs.

Solarin Margaret Titilayo,commended the pastor andthe entire congregation ofthe church for theirforesight, even with themeagre resources of thechurch to lend a helpinghand to schools in thelocality.

Ambode therefore,appealed to the generalpublic to ensure they pay

Re-CIO seeks participation ingovernance

their taxes to easeexecution of variousamenities in the societyeven as he advised otherreligious organizations toemulate the gesture of theUpper Room BaptistChurch in reaching out totheir immediateenvironment as a way ofmaking their host feel theirpresence.

As salam alaikumw a r a h m a t l a h iwabarakuhu

ALL Praise andadoration are for

Allaah (SAW) and I invokeHis benediction upon theProphet (SAW), hishousehold, companionsand all Muslims. Amin.

I kindly refer you to yourpublication of11th December,2015 titled ‘CIOs e e k sparticipation inL a g o sgovernance’, inspecific, thestatement ofCoordination,CIO, LagosState (11th lineof the 2ndcolumn).

“..The groupalso appealed togovernment topay Imamshonorarium sothat they will feelthat they are partand parcel ofgovernment....”

As I commendyour presence inthe media spaceand pray Allaah(SAW) tostrengthen you,I also want to doa brotherly dutyof criticizing theidea, of ‘payingImams’ asespoused by theCIO group andpublished inyour column.

This is notonly antithetical

to the sensibility of theMuslim clergy but a lazyway of addressingsocieties’ problem. I couldbe wrong but it is notunlikely that the Imamswould want the HonorableCommissioner to addressother issues.

I am surprised that thefaces attributed to thecaption are brothers whoare supposed to be‘knowledgeable’ in bothIslamic and secularsciences. More so, the ideaof ‘getting hand outs’, isfast becoming alien goingby current awakening theworld over (in Muslim andnon-Muslim circles).Sadly, CIO would expressan out-dated idea ofgovernment payingImams.

For too many reasonswhich this space would notafford me, I will mention afew points that counter thisidea.

1. Apart from the fact thatpatronage of governmenthas never ended well forthe Muslim clergyaccording to history, and asrevealed during the lastregime of government inNigerian, the creation of avirtuous space of earninga meaningful living ismore important at thispoint of our live as aNation.

2. In a state where theMuslims are in millions,with Masaajid probablynumbering tens ofthousands, what wouldother groups (Christians,Pagans) come to if thisprecedence is set?

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 — 45

JOSE Mourinho hasbeen sacked as

Chelsea manager - andwill be replaced by GuusHiddink.

The Special One wasaxed by RomanAbramovich with theclub slumped one pointout of the relegationzone — just sevenmonths after beingcrowned PremierLeague champions.

Mourinho lost thesupport of the dressingroom after accusingthem of betraying himfollowing the 2-1 defeatat Leicester, Chelsea’sNINTH loss in theleague this season.

And he finally lost thesupport of Abramovich,who has watched hisclub fall apart in front ofhis eyes this season.

Chelsea will nowbring in a short-termappointment until theend of the season, withformer boss managerGuus Hiddink returningon a short term deal.

He was hauled in tosee club officials thisafternoon, and afterlengthy talks both heand the club agreed thetime was right to partcompany.

Mourinho had onlysigned a new four-yeardeal during the summerworth £36m, but underthe terms of that contracthe is only due to be paidup for two years —around £18m.

A Chelsea clubstatement said: “ChelseaFootball Club and JoseMourinho have todayparted company bymutual consent.

“All at Chelsea thankJose for his immensecontribution since hereturned as manager inthe summer of 2013.

“His three leaguetitles, FA Cup,Community Shield andthree League Cup winsover two spells make himthe most successfulmanager in our 110-yearhistory. But both Joseand the board agreedresults have not beengood enough this seasonand believe it is in thebest interests of bothparties to go ourseparate ways.

“The club wishes tomake clear Jose leavesus on good terms andwill always remain amuch-loved, respectedand significant figure atChelsea. His legacy atStamford Bridge and inEngland has long been

Mourinho sacked!guaranteed and he willalways be warmlywelcomed back toStamford Bridge.

“The club’s focus isnow on ensuring ourtalented squad reachesits potential.

“There will be nofurther comment until anew appointment ismade.”

His dismissal came onthe day former Spursboss Harry Redknappclaimed Mourinho had

proved he was not theSpecial One after all.

The former RealMadrid boss won thePremier League andCapital One Cup lastseason.

But after giving hisplayers an extendedbreak over the summerand failing to makewaves in the transfermarket, this campaignsaw an alarming slumpin form for the Blues.

Mourinho’s departure

is the second time he hasdeparted the clubseemingly at odds withthe players. He suffereda similar fate back in2007.

This season has beenblighted by one problemafter another –beginning on the veryopening day with a 2-2draw at home toSwansea.

The manner of theperformance wasworrying enough, butMourinho lit the bluetouchpaper with hispost-match criticism ofEva Carneiro.

PEP Guardiola hasconfirmed he will

make a decision over hisfuture at Bayern Munichin the next weekalthough it appears tohave already beendecided, with theGerman magazineKicker saying he isdefinitely on his wayamid increasingspeculation that he maybe set to replace ManuelPellegrini at ManchesterCity.

The Catalan, who is inthe final year of hiscontract with Germany’schampions, has beenrepeatedly linked with amove to the EtihadStadium next season,though his availabilitynext season would alsoappeal to ManchesterUnited and possiblyChelsea.

After Bayern’s 1-0 winover Darmstadt onTuesday, Guardiolarefused to comment onquestions about hisfuture. “Tonight I have noanswer,” he said. “Nextweek there will beclarity.” However, reportsin Germany have statedthat Guardiola hasalready informed Bayernthat he will not sign anew contract, with Bildalso claiming theBundesliga championsare now braced for hisdeparture.

Last month the Bayernchairman, Karl-HeinzRummenigge, revealedthat they had yet to beginnegotiations overextending Guardiola’sstay but admitted talkswere scheduled to takeplace after Bayern’smatch against Hannoveron Saturday.

“It is not planned topush back that date,” saidRummenigge. “We havealways said there will bea decision in 2015. I knowthat it’s late, just daysbefore Christmas.

Guardiola, Bayern to part ways

R O M A NAbramovich

could be forced to payMourinho up to£10million after thePortuguese managersigned a four-year dealthis summer.

With that deal only afew months old, and noclause in Mourinho’scontract, Sportsmailunderstands that thesacked manager will bepaid by Chelsea until he

Mourinho to receive£10m in compensation

lands another job.As part of the

settlement to leave by‘mutual consent’, he isbeing paid £250,000 aweek up to a maximumof £10m.

If he were to take a jobnext week they wouldonly pay him nominalcompensation, but anextended break fromfootball would see himearn the full £10m.

D I E G OS I M E O N E

Diego Simeone tookAtletico Madrid to theLa Liga title in 2013-14ahead of Barcelona andReal Madrid, butperhaps could betempted by a newchallenge in Englandafter four years at theVicente Calderon.

Simeone is alreadyfamiliar withgoalkeeper ThibautCourtois and strikerDiego Costa, havingmanaged the pair atAtletico.

It is understood a£15m release clausewould have to be met byChelsea for the 45-year-old Argentinian.

PEP GUARDIOLAPep Guardiola is

heading for the PremierLeague after decidingto reject a new£ 2 8 0 , 0 0 0 - a - w e e kcontract and leaveBayern Munich nextsummer.

The 44-year-oldSpaniard is expected totake over atManchester City, butChelsea could nowwell make their move.

However, City ’sdealmakers are aheadof the game andGuardiola would earnaround £15m a year,which is around £2mmore than whatMourinho was makingat Chelsea.

JUANDE RAMOSGerman and

Ukrainian sources havelinked Juande Ramoswith the job at Chelseawith the Spaniard out ofwork since leavingUkrainian club DniproDnipropetrovsk at theend of the 2013-14season.

The 61-year-oldSpaniard has alreadyhad one spell in theEnglish Premier

5 contenders forMourinho’s job

League, spending 12months at TottenhamHotspur from 2007 to2008. He left the club atthe bottom of thePremier League.

Ramos took up theReal Madrid job inDecember 2008 butlasted barely sixmonths as the La Ligaclub ended the seasonnine points behindrivals Barcelona.

B R E N D A NRODGERS

Brendan Rodgers hasalready spent time atChelsea as a coachfrom 2004 to 2008before leaving tobecome the manager ofChampionship clubWatford.

Rogers almost tookLiverpool to their firstever Premier Leaguetitle in the 2013-14season, falling justshort to ManchesterCity.

The 42-year-old wassacked by Liverpool inOctober this year and,despite links with aclub job in Qatar, is stilllooking for work.

FABIO CAPELLOFabio Capello threw

his hat into the ring asa potential replacementfor Mourinho lastmonth. He said: ‘I amnow in Russia, inMoscow. I do not missthe bench. For now Ihave not receivedanything but ifsomething interestingcomes up, why not?’

The 69-year-oldItalian is out of workafter being sacked byRussia in July. If he wasto take up the role atChelsea, it would be hisfirst job at club-levelsince leaving RealMadrid in 2007.

Capello is familiarwith all in England asthe boss of the ThreeLions from 2008 to 2012.

Mourinho's management careerBenfica (2000)Uniao de Leiria (2001-02)Porto (2002-04) 2 League titles, 1 Cup, 1Champions LeagueChelsea (2004-07) 2 Premier League titles, 1 FACup, 2 League CupsInter (2008-10) 2 Serie A titles, 1 Coppa Italia, 1Champions LeagueReal Madrid (2010-13) 1 La Liga title, 1 Copa delReyChelsea (2013-15) 1 Premier League title, 1 LeagueCup

GOODBYE••• Bayern Munichs coach, PepGuardiola waves bye as he part ways with the club

CMYK

46 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

Siasia hints on Ighalo, Musa for Rio OlympicsCOACH Samson Sia

sia has hinted he islooking at the possibili-ty of getting Eagles skip-per Ahmed Musa andstriker Odion Ighalo to fea-ture at next year’s RioOlympics as overage play-ers.

The Olympics allow forthree players outside theeligible age of 23 years tostar at the tournamentproper.

Chelsea star Mikel Obihas already declared hisinterest to play in Rio.

Siasia said he hopes todraft players who are play-ing regularly for their Eu-ropean clubs for the Olym-pics.

“I’m still undecided onthe areas that the overageplayers would be needed,but I’m happy that the likesof Ighalo (Odion),(Ahmed) Musa, are in topform now and I hope theywill sustain it until theOlympics,” the NigeriaU23 coach said on a tele-vision programme.

The Olympics will bestaged in August 2016.

Enyimba fortify team ahead of Champions LeagueBy Jude Opara, Abuja

APPARENTLY, in thequest to excel in the

2015/16 CAF ChampionsLeague, former championsEnyimba Internationalhave started the fortifica-tion of the team with therecruitment of experiencedplayers both from withinand outside the country.

Chairman of the club,Chief Felix Ayansi-Agwutold Sports Vanguard thatthe signing of some play-ers which he said is inevi-table has already startedadding that the team ispoised once again to givethe country a quality rep-resentation like it did in the2003 and 2004 when it wonthe coveted CAF Champi-ons League.

According to him, theengagement of some freshlegs is important especial-ly with the involvement ofsome other strong teams in

the continent including de-fending champions, TPMazembe in the tourna-ment.

He also called on theLeague ManagementCompany (LMC) to find away of harmonizing theNigerian league so as to be

in harmony with otherleagues around the world,adding that such will al-ways make players of con-tinental bound teams to bein shape for the competi-tion.

“We already have a teamon ground, but what we

are trying to do is how tofortify the team to make itmore result oriented thanwhat we have already, sowe are on the process andwe are working hard to-wards it because there isnothing anybody can dobecause the league justended and so the playersmust have some rest alsobecause they are not ma-chine.

“How we wish thingswere different because aswe speak the team we aregoing to play this weekend

they will be going into thesecond stanza of theirleague but our own leaguehas just ended, there is agreat difference but it is notthe fault of anybody, it isthe structure of what we aredoing here, so if it is possi-ble for us to restructure ourleague to catch up with oth-er leagues, then we shoulddo it.”

Enyimba Internationalwill take on Vipers ofUganda in the preliminaryround of the champion-ship.

Osimhen heads toWolfsburg

GOLDEN Eaglets star,Victor Osimhen may

have settled for Wolfsburgof Germany in his pursuitfor professional football inEurope.

Osimhen, won the gold-en boot award with hisrecord nine goals at the2015 FIFA Under-17 WorldCup held in Chile. He be-came the subject of trans-fer speculation with variousEuropean clubs said to beinterested. They includeSporting Lisbon, Ander-lecht and Inter Milan, Bay-ern Munich and Wolfs-burg.

But allnigeriasoccer.comreported that Osimhen wasGermany bound onWednesday night in com-pany of his of coach at Ul-timate Strikers,ChineduOgbenna, Shira Yussuf andhis partner, Ariyo Igbayilo-la, his eldest brother An-drew Osimhen and 36Lion CEO Liameed Ola-wale Gafar.

Wolfsburg invited Osim-hen and his representa-tives to Lower Saxony to beshown around the club’sfacilities before penning apreliminary contract thatwill be activated when heclocks 18 in a year’s time.

Osimhen is blessed withpace and technique with alittle brush up and hardwork, he has potential tosucceed in Europe.

NFF to spend N5b in 2016

NIGERIA FootballFederation (NFF)

has revealed plans tospend over N5 billion(about $25 million) for thecountry’s participation inseven major champion-ships in the new year.

This expenditure wascontained in a budgetsummary of the NFF attheir Annual General As-sembly.

A further breakdownshowed that Nigeria willfeature at the 2016CHAN in Rwanda, theU20 Women’s WorldCup, the Rio Olympics,2016 beach soccer com-petitions, U20 AFCON,U17 Women’s World Cupand the African Women’s

Championship in Came-roon.

Next month’s CHANwill gulp the most mon-ey, which is put at about1.5 billion Naira, whileabout 920 million Nairawill be spent at the AWC.

Over 672 million will bespent on the femaleU20s,651 million on thefemale U17s,369 millionon the Olympic team, 621million on the U20 men’steam and 471 million onbeach soccer team/

These expenditures willinclude overseas trainingtours, internationalfriendly matches as wellas the qualifiers and thechampionships proper.

Kid boxers show promise

KID boxers took centrestage in sports this

week as trainees of theJerry Okorodudu BoxingAcademy displayedpromising performancesin the 3rd edition of thechildren boxingcompetition sponsored by

the Child DignityF o u n d a t i o n , Wednesday, at the BraiAyonote Boxing Gym.

The 20 participantsaged between 9 and 18years competed in 10weight categories ofthree rounds bouts.

FIFA CWC: Suarez fires Barcato final

LUIS Suarez fired ahat-trick as Barcelona

overcame the loss of Li-onel Messi to kidneyproblems by beating Chi-na’s Guangzhou Ever-grande 3-0 to reach theClub World Cup final onThursday.

The Spanish giants will

face Argentine side Riv-er Plate in Yokohama onSunday as they look tobecome the first team towin the tournament threetimes.

“Luis Suarez is deadlyinside the box, he willalways score for you,”Barca coach Luis En-rique told reporters.

Felix Anyansi Enyimba boss

KILLER MOOD ... Ahmed Musa on duty

Siasia’s happy moments

Osimhen

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015—47

CMYK

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How to Play Sudoku

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

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through9. This means that no number can appear twice in anyblock, column or row.

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

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDDDDDAAAAAY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSY'S ANSWERSWERSWERSWERSWERSTTTTTODODODODODAAAAAY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLEY'S PUZZLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015

CMYK

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CRQUICK CRQUICK CRQUICK CRQUICK CROSSOSSOSSOSSOSSWORDWORDWORDWORDWORDACROSS1 Choose (6)5 Empty (4)8 Harmonium (5)9 Steal (3)10 Naked (4)11 Family (4)12 Composition (5)13 Overseas (6)16 Symbol (4)18 Stuff (4)20 Consumed (3)22 Fate (3)23 Longing (3)24 Jetty (4)25 Detail (4)28 Deflect (6)30 Twist (5)32 Foundation (4)33 Close (4)34 Vehicle (3)35 Barrier (5)36 Burden (4)37 Card-game (6)

DOWN1 Scatter (6)2 Free (8)3 Sailcloth (6)4 Offered (9)6 Sole (4)7 Sand-hill (4)8 Poem (3)14 Industry (9)15 Male (3)17 Obtained (3)19 Reticent (8)20 Objective (3)21 Built (7)26 Reflect (6)27 Posture (6)29 Spoken (4)30 Settee (4)31 Tiny (3)

ACROSS: 1, Keep 4, Cup 6, Late 9, Air 10,Children 11, Glee 14, Rub 16, Gross 19,Espoused 21, Merit 23, Demanded 24, Wrath27, Tin 31, Edit 33, Initiate 34, Ill 35, Poke 36,Ash 37, Dupe.

DOWN: 2, Echo 3, Pull 4, Caroused 5, Pant6, Larger 7, Ail 8, Tress 12, Renew 13, Opera14, Rum 15, Beret 17, Outdo 18, Shade 20,Diminish 22, Tan 25, Radio 26, Title 28, Diva29, Mind 30, Stop 32, Ilk.

Mourinho sacked!

Mourinho to receive£10m in compensation

5 contenders for Mourinho’s job

•Guadiola •Simeone •Capello •Rodgers •Ramos

Siasia hints on Ighalo, Ahmed Musa for Rio

Guardiola, Bayernto part ways

NFF to spendN5b in 2016

Osimhenheads toWolfsburg

Detailsinside