nass dumps jonathan'ssupplementary budget

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61875

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

NASS dumps Jonathan'ssupplementary budget

LES LEBA

•P.34

DELESOBOWALE

•P.40

COLUMNISTS:

•P. 41

OCHEREOMENNANNA

Continues on page 5

•Reps warn FG against violation ofAppropriation Act ABUJA—THERE

were indications,yesterday, that the Na-tional Assembly (NASS)might have decided todistance itself from fur-ther deliberation and ap-proval of the supplemen-tary budget sent to thelawmakers by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan last

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,NORTH, OKEY NDIR-

IBE & EMMANOVUAKPORIE

OLU OF WARRI—His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri during his 26th Coronation Thanksgiving Service atthe Foursquare Gospel Church, Aghofen, Olu Palace, Warri yesterday. Top right: Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, CAN President, at theservice. Below right from left: HRM, Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe; HRM, Oharisi III, Ovie of Ughelli and other traditional rulers atthe event. PHOTOS: AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE.

World Bank, IFADpledge $1.9bn toboost agric in Nigeria

•Pgs

.50&51

DISCRIMINATORY AIRFARE:Nigerians groan as FG fails to react

•P.17

•Pg.8

Atiku,Oshiomhole,Uduaghan, othersmourn Pini Jason

CMYK

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013—3

CMYK

4— Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

CMYK

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE


LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

NASS dumps Jonathan'ssupplementary budget

WHEN your heart is filled with divine love.You have everything and that inner glow is

always with you. No one can take that away fromyou unless you allow it— Ella Randle

I looked at this beautiful picture and it feel like Ijust ate my favourite vanilla ice-cream. I seldomdo take ice cream for personal reasons but when-ever I do, it feels like being in heaven, I’m sureyou catch my drift.

My dear niece has a different take on this photo,she says it feels like love, it got me thinking reallyhow our perception is mostly mirrored by what wefeel inside. She is a beautiful Soul, always seeingthe good in everyone but in reality moments beforeI took this picture, I blatantly refused to be over-whelmed by stress and challenges springing fromevery turn. Admittedly, it is hard mastering eachprocess of learning but it can be done. I alwaysfind a quiet place to contemplate and get betterperspectives on life with divine intention I com-pletely surrender.

I recall, a long time ago, even though I knew bet-ter, I was wondering how long...dear God! Howlong? I was whining, crying and just so much un-necessary worries about things. A dear friend waswith me; he got up and brought me a mirror andbucket. Take a look at yourself; see through to youElla, the real you. He says, what do see? For I seea most amazingly beautiful Soul, a beautiful heart,and if you still feel like crying and whining for allthe ‘have not’ and so called ‘injustice’ in your life,here is a bucket, fill it with your tears, I’ ll just bringyou another. Surprisingly, I laughed and we bothlaughed beautifully, a fine way of reminding mehow blessed life is for all us. If we are gratefulenough to count our blessings.

Good leaders do not pretend to know it all, andthey do not try to do everything by themselves, lead-ership for them is a TEAM sport, they all know theyhave weaknesses; their teams balance their ownstrengths and weaknesses. A leader is always will-ing to lead and be led.

VISIT—Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State (3rdr); Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr.Olusegun Aganga (2ndl); Minister of Labour, Mr. Emeka Wogu (2ndr) and other Nigerian Delegateswatch while an official of Bombardier, a plane manufacturing company in Toronto, Canada, explainsto the delegation during a visit to Bombardier factory in Canada.

March.The reason for the re-

jection of the President's

request, according to in-formed sources, is thatlawmakers do not see

any new justification totamper with the budget,which they had passedinto law since Decemberlast year.

The NASS had on De-cember 20, 2012 okayeda budget of N4.987trn for2013, slightly jerkingthe figure by N63bn fromthe original N4.924 trn,which PresidentJonathan had sent tothem.

But before giving itsnod, the lawmakersslashed recurrent ex-penditure by overN100bn and moved theprovision over to thecapital vote, a develop-ment, which the Execu-tive kicked against.

In the original pro-posal, Jonathan had setaside N2.41trn for recur-rent expenditure, butthe lawmakers slashed itto N2.38trn.

Similarly, they in-creased capital vote toN1.62trn, up fromJonathan's N1.54trn.

The lawmakers setaside the sum ofN591.7bn for debt serv-icing, while N387.9bnwas allocated to statutorytransfers. They similarlypegged oil benchmark at$79 per barrel asagainst the govern-ment's request for $75.

The disagreement onboth sides forced thePresident to withholdhis assent to the budgetfor about two monthsraising concerns that the

implementation wouldsuffer usual hiccups no-ticeable in successiveyears.

But in a bid to dousetension in the land,President Jonathan onFebruary 26, 2013,signed the budget intolaw, with an under-standing with the lead-ership of the NASS thata supplementary budgetby him would be givenan accelerated passageby the legislature.

Pact betweenNASS andJonathan

Based on the under-standing between thePresident and the NASSleadership, Jonathan onMarch 20, 2013 for-warded a supplementarybudget of N273.5 bn toboth chambers of theNASS for approval.

However, Vanguardlearnt that nearly twomonths after the docu-ment from the Presidentwas received by the law-makers, no action hadbeen taken to approvethe requests made bythe Presidency.

A lawmaker confirmedto Vanguard last nightthat they were not inter-ested in tampering withwhat they had alreadypassed because theywere suspicious that theexecutive arm was notkeen on implementingthe budget as passed.

The lawmaker, who isalso a member of the rul-ing Peoples Democratic

Party, said that they haddiscovered that the re-quest for a variation inthe budget was merely tofind fault with what theypassed and not neces-sarily to enhance budgetimplementation.

The source said, "Weknow that the Executivearm does not want tofaithfully implement thebudget we passed sinceDecember last year andthey are merely lookingfor excuse to discreditour work, which we didwith the best intentionfor the progress of thisnation.

"For the first time in along while, we passedthe budget early enoughso as to enable them tostart early implementa-tion in January 2013 butyou can see that, as attoday, they are still look-ing for excuse to delaythe budget implementa-tion.

"We are not going tofall into their trap. I cantell you that we are notin the mood to revisitthat document. In fact, ifwe are to look at itagain, we would onlyrestore the N100 billionwe slashed from recur-rent expenditure. Thatis the only thing we canreconsider.

"As for the President'sdemand for us to ap-prove money for the Se-curity and ExchangeCommission, SEC, thatwill not happen until heremoves the DirectorGeneral, Orunma Oteh,based on our earlierresolution.

"Looking at the otherrequest, it became clearto us that the Presidentwants to strip us of ourstatutory rights of over-sight and we cannot al-low that to happen," thelawmaker explained.

Reps warn FGagainst violationof AppropriationAct

Meanwhile, the Houseof Representatives has

warned that anybodywho violates the 2013Appropriation Act with-out a review by the Na-tional Assembly wouldface the wrath of the lawat the appropriate time.

Deputy Chairman ofthe House Committee onMedia and Public Af-fairs, Hon. Victor AfamOgene (APGA,Anambra) gave thewarning while briefingjournalists about the ac-tivities of the GreenChamber weekend.

Commenting on thelawmakers’ efforts toamend the 1999 Consti-tution, he said the nextphase in the processwhich would involve theformulation of billswould still be handledby the House AdhocCommittee on Constitu-tion Review when theymeet the Senate’s Com-mittee on the exercisethis week.

He also said theHouse still stands by theclause in the 2013 Ap-propriation Act whichbars budgetary alloca-tion to the Securitiesand Exchange Commis-sion (SEC) until it is re-viewed by the House.

The House had passeda resolution last yearurging PresidentGoodluck Jonathan tosack the SEC DG for al-legedly lacking the req-uisite qualification tohold the position.

Commenting on theHouse’s efforts to amendthe 1999 Constitution,Hon. Ogene explainedthat the next phase inthe process would entailthe formulation of billsbased on the wishes ofNigerians during thePeoples Public Sessionsheld by the House lastNovember.

Said he: “After thisstage, the next stepwould be for the HouseCommittee on Constitu-tion Review to meet withthe Senate Committeefor the exercise in orderto harmonise the work ofboth arms of the Na-tional Assembly”.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

Protest as vigilante kills one, injures two in Delta

BY FESTUS AHON

Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba (2nd left), briefing newsmenon the command's achievement in the first quarter of the year, where he displayed arms,ammunition, cables and other materials recovered from suspects, in Asaba.

Two arrestedover siblings,pregnantwoman’sdeath

BY EVELYN USMAN

LAGOS — THE LagosState Police Command,

yesterday, said it arrested twopersons in connection withthe killing of two brothers anda pregnant woman by sus-pected cult members, lastThursday.

The two brothers, Malik andMufu Akewusola, were re-portedly hanging out withfriends on Shitta Street atabout 8p.m,when the uniden-tified gunmen struck.

A pregnant woman said tobe relaxing in front of her com-pound was also hit by thegunmen’s bullets. She wascertified dead at an undis-closed hospital where she wasrushed to.

Following the incident,plain-cloth policemen wereseen weekend, patrolling thearea.

Spokesman for the LagosState Police Command, NgoziBraide, confirmed the arrests,adding that investigation intothe killing was on.

Eight killed in fresh Bayelsa creek attackBY SAMUEL

OYADONGHA

YENAGOA — IT was another black weekend in the

creeks of Bayelsa State as eightpersons were killed in a deadlyattack launched by suspectedmilitants.

Though the circumstances sur-rounding the attack were hazy,among those killed were five ex-militant youths that embracedamnesty under the leadership ofPastor Reuben Wilson popularlyknown as General Wilson.

Also killed was Pastor Reuben’s37-year-old younger brother,identified as Judah BenaebiWilson and two others.

It was gathered that the armedattack occurred on Saturday nightat the Lobia waterside.

The slain youths, it was learnt,were tricked into the creek andshot dead.

Informed sources told our cor-respondent that due to the pre-vailing insecurity in the area thecommunities had formed a vigi-lance outfit to counter the ram-paging renegade militias who re-cently killed 12 policemen as wellas contain the upsurge in piracyin the area.

However, there were conflict-ing accounts of the incident.While a version of the reportclaimed that eight youths wereshot dead in a shoot out betweentwo armed gangs, the other ver-sion by the families of the deadyouths claimed that the victimswere tricked to the spot of thekilling by some hired hands tothe militia group.

According to them, “our broth-ers were set up by some persons

Maritime worker dies during fisticuff

in the Lobia community. The re-port we gathered showed thatafter they were killed, some com-munity people quickly buried two

among them. Others are stillmissing.”

It was learnt that the suspiciousmovement of the gunmen on the

waters attracted the attention offishermen who alerted the com-munity development committeeexecutives (CDC).

UGHELLI — PANDEMO-NIUM broke out, yesterday,

in Ughelli, headquarters ofUghelli North Local Government

Area, Delta State, following thealleged killing of a middle agedman by men of the Ughelli vigi-lante.

The killing of the young manidentified as Avwerosuo Idoro,

28, led to a protest by someyouths in the Ughelli metropoliswho carried the corpse of the vic-tim to the palace of the Ovie ofUghelli kingdom and the UghelliPolice ‘A’ division, seeking re-dress.

According to a reliable source,two of the protesters were alsoallegedly shot by the vigilante ina bid to disperse them, addingthat the two yet-to-be identifiedpersons have been taken to theUghelli Central Hospital fortreatment.

The source, who pleaded ano-nymity, said the corpse ofAvwerosuo Idoro had been de-posited in the Ughelli centralhospital morgue on the orders ofthe police. Efforts to reach theleadership of the Ughelli vigi-lante team for comment on thematter proved abortive at presstime.

Giving details of what led tothe killing of the young man, thesource said: “The compound ofAvwerosuo’s father atAkpomedaye Street was used fora marriage ceremony.

“After the marriage, Avwerosuowho took over the late father’sestate called the celebrants toclean up the compound. Thisresulted in serious argument,which led to a fight betweenAvwerosuo and a boy suspectedto be a relative of the celebrant.Members of the Ughelli vigi-lante team came into the matterand Avwerosuo was arrested andgranted bail by the police lastMonday.

Suspected 65-year-old fake ASP arrested

BY EVELYN USMAN

LAGOS — POLICEMEN attached to Ilemba Hausa di-

vision in Lagos State have ar-rested a 65-year-old man for al-legedly parading himself as anAssistant Superintendent of Po-lice to extort members of the pub-lic.

The suspect identified asOshigbemi Marshal, whoclaimed to be a dismissed police-man with two others at large, re-portedly invaded a brothel alongIlemba Hausa Road, weekend,arresting the hotel manager, somestaff, commercial sex workersand their male patrons for hu-man trafficking.

They were said to have identi-fied themselves as operativesfrom the State Criminal Investi-gations Department, Yaba.

Eye witnesses told Vanguardthat Oshigbemi, a father of 10,led the illegal raid. They weresaid to have demanded N4,500from the arrested persons, threat-ened to take them to the dreadedSCID if they refused.

Some of the frightened com-mercial sex workers and theirpatrons were said to have partedwith the requested sum after

which they were released, whileothers begged with N1,500 claim-ing that was all they had real-ised that night.

Vanguard gathered that thebubble burst after the bar manwho out of curiosity demandedfor their van with which to con-vey the suspects to SCID.

A staff of the brothel who spokeon condition of anonymity toldVanguard that Oshigbemi saiddriver of the patrol van had goneto fuel the car.

But after waiting without anysight of the patrol van, the curi-ous staff was said to have con-tacted policemen from IlembaHausa,who arrived the scene.

BY FESTUS AHON

UGHELLI — A MEMBER ofthe Maritime Union Work-

ers in Bomadi, headquarters ofBomadi Local Government Area,Delta State was, weekend, killedduring a physical combat with hiscolleague over whose turn it wasto load passengers.

The deceased who was identi-fied as Mr. Kuku Endurance, 31,

engaged in fierce fight with MrThankGod, now at large, afterthose who were around weretired of settling the serious argu-ment which lasted for over 10minutes.

According to a dependablesource, the deceased who washeld by the throat was allegedlystrangled to death by ThankGodin the fight which occurred atabout 2pm.

“Immediately they sighted thepolice patrol van from IlembaHausa division in front of thebrothel, the fake policemen whocame for the raid took to theirheels. But one of them was ar-rested and taken to the station”the brothel staff said.

Vanguard gathered that pre-liminary investigation at the sta-tion revealed that the men werenot policemen afterall. Oshigbemiduring interrogation, claimed hewas a dismissed policeman.

In his confessional statement tothe Police, Oshigbemi reportedlysaid he was dismissed from thePolice Force two years ago.

Benue Policegun downthree robberysuspects

BY PETER DIRU

MAKURDI — THREErobbery suspects were,

weekend, gunned down bymen of the Benue State po-lice in Gboko East, Gboko Lo-cal Government Area ofBenue State.

In a statement by the Com-mand’s Public Relations Of-ficer, PPRO, Deputy Superin-tendent of Police, DSP, DanielEzeala, the trio were amongthe gang of robbers who hadbeen tormenting the residentsof Gboko in recent time.

According to Ezeala, thePolice had last Friday receiveda distress call from residentsof Gboko East that a gang ofrobbers numbering about fivehad laid siege to the the com-munity.

The PPRO said the gangwas reported to have robbedfrom house-to-house at about2 a.m, dispossessing their vic-tims of cash, phones and othervaluables.

He said: “Our men acted onthe call and our patrol teamcovering the community im-mediately stormed the areaand a gun duel ensued.

“Three of the robbers whosustained serious injurieswere arrested while the oth-ers escaped into nearby bush."

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 —7

BY KENNETH EHIGIA-TOR & HENRY UMORU Discriminatory airfare: Nigerians

groan as FG fails to intervene

Senate condemns action; promises to look into the matter

ONE year after the Senateasked the Federal Govern-

ment to get foreign airlines oper-ating in the country to review theirdiscriminatory business and firstclass tickets to be in tandem withfares charged on the West Coast,especially Ghana, the matter hasremained unresolved as the car-riers are still having a field day,maintaining their old fare.

The senate, conscious of the factthat it had no enforcement pow-ers, had promised to prevail ongovernment to take action in linewith its recommendations to getthe airlines to shift ground.

In the heat of the campaign lastyear to get the airlines to reviewtheir fares downwards, AviationMinister, Princess Stella Oduah,had threatened to stop the air-lines’ operations in the country,if they failed to do the needfulbut the Senate Committee onAviation stepped in, asking herto allow it intervene.

The minister gave the airlinesa 30-day ultimatum to slash faresor have their services banned butthe senate committee’s interven-tion came as a saving grace forthe airlines.

However, 12 months after thepurported intervention, nothinghad been heard from the senate,allowing the airlines to continuewith the rip-off of travellers in thecountry.

For instance, British AirwaysFirst Class ticket on Abuja-Lon-don route remains as high as$9,548.25 for a flight of 5hrs 45minutes, whereas 6hrs 45 flighton Accra-London routes go for aslow as $4,970.55.

Similarly, the airline’s BusinessClass ticket on the Lagos-Londonroute is almost twice the fares onAccra-London. While Abuja-Lon-don is $4,708.80, that of Accra-London is $2,920.55. Lagos-Lon-don reflects same discriminatorytendencies.

For German carrier, LufthansaAirlines, Abuja-London is$4,244.31 for Business Class tick-et, as against Accra-London’s$3,492.24. First Class tickets forNigerian travellers on this routeis as high as $8,242.66, even astheir Ghanaian counterparts al-most half the fare for a similar des-tination.

For Emirates Airlines, the situ-ation is not different, as Nigeri-ans pay $8,492.90, while in Gha-na, same ticket goes for just$6.821.20.

British Airways had arguedpersistently that its Business andFirst Class tickets were high be-cause Nigerians were alwaysready to pay, saying that seats inthose classes of the cabin werealways over-booked.

However, some others likeLufthansa Airlines and Virgin At-lantic Airways had promised tocut down fares but their currentfare regime indicates otherwise,as they are still very high

Some stakeholders in the in-dustry contend that though farescharged by the foreign airlineswere discriminatory, the develop-

ment was accentuated by thepropensity of Nigerians to flyFirst and Business classes asstatus symbol.

Former Director of Operationsof defunct Nigeria Airways,Capt. Dele Ore, said the foreignairlines marked up their faresin the premium classes becauseof high demand than supply,arguing that the First and Busi-ness class of major carriers werealways fully booked.

According to Capt. Ore, pre-mium class tickets in Ghana arehigher because of the low de-mand for them.

Ore, who noted that Econo-my class tickets were evencheaper in Nigeria than Gha-na, said Nigerians who fly thepremium classes (First andBusiness Class) do so, in mostcases to show wealth and class,adding that the tickets were de-termined by market forces.

He said: “I thought we hadsettled this issue before. You see,my brother, what is happeningis a case of market forces. We,Nigerians made it possible forthe foreign airlines to chargehigh fares because we like toshow class. In Ghana, they darenot charge those kind of faresbecause nobody will fly the pre-mium class (First and BusinessClass)

“You can see that EconomyClass ticket is very low, evenlower than it is in Ghana. So themore the demand, the higherthe price. I don’t think it’s athing that can be legislatedupon. If government tries to stopNigerians from flying the pre-mium class, these same Nige-rians will say someone is vio-lating their fundamental humanrights”.

Establishment ofNational carrier

Also speaking on the issue,aviation expert, Mr. Chris Alig-be, said the fares were deter-mined by forces of demand andsupply, adding that the foreignairlines were adamant abouttheir position because theywere aware Nigeria had no na-tional carrier to compete withthem.

Aligbe, former spokesman ofNigeria Airways, said the onlysolution to the problem is theestablishment of a national car-rier to compete with the foreignairlines.

According to him, this is theonly thing that can force downhigh fares and not administra-tive fiat.

He said: “Fares are deter-

mined by forces of demand andsupply. The Minister of Avia-tion has tried her best. the for-eign airlines know we don’thave a national carrier, that’swhy they are adamant. The Na-tional Assembly should havecome up with a legislationagainst such issues.

“Besides, we cannot put aprice on what we don’t offer.That is why some of us areclamouring for a national carri-er. The only solution to thisproblem is for us to have ourown national carrier or carriersto compete with these airlines.That is what the Egyptians aredoing with Egypt Air, other-wise, there is nothing anybodycan do about this problem. Theminister has tried her best to,at least, prick the conscience ofeveryone.

Reacting, chairman, SenateCommittee on Aviation, Sena-tor Hope Uzodinma, PDP, ImoWest, told Vanguard that theSenate had earlier taken a po-sition on the matter, but notedthat as lawmakers, they werenot responsible for enforcement.

Senator Uzodinma, who not-ed that the sack of the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Avi-ation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Ha-rold Demuren caused the de-lay in the implementation of res-olutions of the Senate, said assoon as NCAA DG nominee,currently being screened by theSenate Committee on Aviation,was cleared, it would no long-er be business as usual for theforeign airlines.

He said: "The Senate Com-mittee on Aviation will look intothe matter. We condemn that actof discrimination in airfarecharges. We have already re-

solved as a Senate, you willagree with me that we can onlydo that resolution, the enforce-ment and implementation is notsuppose to be done by us.

"However, Nigerian Civil Avi-ation Authority, NCAA, also hasits challenges because the Di-rector-General, Dr. Harold De-muren, was removed and nowwe are trying to screen a newDirector-General as soon as thereorganisation is done and theeconomic regulation departmentis strengthened, they will be inthe position to enforce order.

"We are not going to sit here,fold our arms and watch our peo-ple pay through their noses be-fore they travel. Airfares must beat par with what is obtainable allover the world. We will contin-ue to support and protect Nige-rian people for our national in-terest too.”

It would be recalled that theSenate Committee on Aviationlast September in its report onthe violation of aviation laws andpractices by foreign airlines andlapses in the operations of theregulatory agency, urged Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan to sackthe Director of Air Transport Fed-eral, Ministry of Aviation, MrHassan Musa, over alleged $14million fraud in the industry.

NCAA indicted forcomplicity

The senate in the report alsoindicted the Nigeria Civil Avia-tion Authority, NCAA, on theground that the agency couldnot give a proper account of thebusiness activities of foreign air-lines operating in Nigeria, justas it stressed that foreign airlinesengaged in sharp practices

which had resulted in foreign ex-change fluctuations causingpressure. on the naira.

In the report, Senator HopeUzodinma-led committee alsoindicted the British Airways, BA,Virgin Atlantic Airways, VAA, inthe air fare hike scandal, just asit was directed that the Econom-ic and Financial Crimes Commis-sion, EFCC, should go after thetwo airlines to recover the excessfare charges on Nigerians.

The report of the panel whichindicted the BA, VAA and Direc-tor of Air Transport in the Feder-al Ministry of Aviation, explainedthat Mr Musa unilaterally grant-ed waiver to Lufthansa Airlinesto the tune of $14million withoutapproval from either the Presiden-cy or the Ministry of Aviation.

It would also be recalled thatthe Senate mandated the com-mittee to investigate the allegedviolation of aviation laws by someforeign airlines when SenatorUzodinma moved a motion on thefare disparity and drew the at-tention of his colleagues to thesaid violation and other relatedsharp practices in the industry bythe foreign airlines.

However, experts contend thatmuch should not be expectedfrom the Federal Government,especially as it was the Presiden-cy that allegedly directed the Avi-ation Minister, Princess StellaOduah, to ceasefire on the 30-day ultimatum she served the for-eign airlines to do the needful orbe banned in Nigeria, followingthe intervention of British PrimeMinister, David Cameron, whopersonally wrote President Good-luck Jonathan appealing to himnot to do anything that wouldrupture the warm relations be-tween Nigeria and Britain.

VISIT—From left: Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mrs. Sola David-Borha; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okon-jo-Iweala; Executive Director, First City Monument Bank, Mr. Peter Obaseki and GroupChief Executive Officer, First Bank Holdings Plc, Alhaji Bello Macchido, during a courtesyvisit to the Minister in Abuja.


Adeboyeadvisesstudents:Involve Godin all yourdealings

LAGOS—PASTOREnoch Adeboye, Gen-

eral Overseer, RedeemedChristian Church of God,RCCG, yesterday, urgedNigerian students and Na-tional Youths Service Corps,NYSC, members to involveGod in everything they doto ensure success.

He gave the advice at aspecial prayer session or-ganised for students andNYSC members at thechurch’s national head-quarters in Ebute-Metta,Lagos.

Adeboye urged them toalways put their trust inGod, assuring them that Hewould bless the work oftheir hands. He stressedthat unless God blessed aman, his efforts would re-main futile.

He said: “Unless Godblesses the work of a man’shand, he will be labouringin vain; if God is not in-volved in any activities youare doing, it will be futile.

“When God is behindyou, there is always a suc-cess story. Anything youtouch will become manna.”

Adeboye, however, urgedthe students and NYSCmembers to be hard-work-ing and to resist any formof slothfulness.

He appealed to them toobey God in totality, saying“obey all God’s command-ments, as the blessing ofGod upon man is irrevers-ible.”

Akure monarchs' supremacy war deepenswith dethronement, multiple appointments

AKURE—THE supremacytussle between Obas in

Akure, Ondo State capital,deepened as the paramounttraditional ruler, Deji ofAkureland, Oba AdebiyiAdesida, weekend, directedthe dethronement of all mon-archs appointed without theconsent of the Deji-in-Coun-cil.

Oba Adesida, in letter toAlayede Ogbese, ObaIseoluwa Oluyede, directedhim to limit his jurisdiction to

his community and not dab-ble into other territories un-der the purview of the Deji.

The Alayede Ogbese hadappointed some chiefs includ-ing Olu of Agunla, Prince Sun-day Salami and Olu of Alayere,Prince AdeniranAladetoyinbo, as villagesheads just as the Deji had alsoappointed another set of peo-ple for the same communities.

The Alayede-Ogbeseclaimed that since the Deji’sdomain does not extend be-yond Akure South, he had notraditional or legal right to ap-

point village heads beyond histerritory.

Ayede-Ogbese and commu-nities in dispute are in AkureNorth Local Council.

However, the Deji, in a let-ter to Oba Oluyede, said: “TheAgunla community in this in-stance is a community underthe historical and traditionalauthority of Deji. The bifurca-tion of Akure Local Govern-ment into two was aimed atadministrative convenience ofthe communities and not toinfringe on existing historicaland traditional authorities.

“Government steps at mak-ing life easy for the citizenryshould not be misconceived asaltering history and distortingfacts but to rather complementit.

"A good reference is the caseof Ondo East and West localgovernments, where theOsemawe exercises his au-thorities.”

The first monarch referred tothe government circular on theissue, which gave him theparamountcy over landswithin Akure kingdom.

Govt circularThe circular, directed to all the

chairmen of local governmentsand chieftaincy committees,said: “I wish to refer to our let-ter reference no CD/C.480/17of 19th August 1997 entitled Re:establishment of one tradi-tional council for local govern-ment created from Akureland,and to make necessary clarifi-cations as follows.

“That whereas the para-mountcy of any Kabiyesi doesnot extend beyond his localgovernment area, his consent-ing authority over the appoint-ment of Obas and Baales, es-pecially over the areas wherehe had traditional and histori-cal control is non-negotiable.

“More so, when governmenthas not appointed a recognisedOba over the area.

“For example, the fact thattwo local government councilshave been created out ofAkure Local Governmentdoes not infringe on the con-senting authority of the Dejiof Akure prior to the creationof Akure North Local Govern-ment.”

BY DAYO JOHNSON

MOTHER of RevdEbenezer Oyeyemi,

General Overseer of OasisChristian Centre, Egbeda,Prophetess Alice Oyeyemi(nee Babalola-Dada) isdead.

Oyeyemi died on March17 aged 107.

She is survived by manychildren, grandchildrenand great-grandchildren.

Interment will be on May11, after a funeral serviceat Oke-Odo Senior HighSchool, Ile-Epo, Lagos.

Transition

Prophetess Oyeyemi.

PDP to Amosun: We 'regetting stronger

ABEOKUTA—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, in OgunState has tackled Governor Ibikunle Amosun over his com-

ment on the state of the PDP, saying that contrary to the gover-nor's insinuation, the party was not dead but waxing stronger.

State Chairman of the party, Chief Dayo Bayo, stated this dur-ing a reception for the National Auditor of the party ChiefAdewole Adeyanju held, weekend, in Ilaro, Ogun State.

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

... as Ondo CNPPmembers sack Chairman

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE—SOME aggrieved members ofOndo State chapter of Conference of Ni-

gerian Political Parties, CNPP, weekend an-nounced the sack of the state Chairman, ChiefAyo Isijola.

The state CNPP has been witnessing inter-nal crisis which last week resulted in the lead-ership of the party sacking the state Secretary,Femi Ajibola and other leaders of the party over‘anti-party activities.’

Others suspended members include theTreasurer, Mr. Samuel Akinbobola and the Fi-nancial Secretary, Victor Ogunbodede.

In a statement by the embattled Ajibola and11 other members in Akure, they said it wasnecessary for CNPP to change its chairmanin the interest of the progress of the group.

Isijola was accused of ineptitude, plantingseeds of discord in CNPP, politics of acrimony,divide and rule, discrimination and financialimpropriety.

Ajibola said CNPP had inaugurated a five-member caretaker committee to take over itsaffairs for six months after which electionswould be held.

Dayo said Amosun and other members of theopposition party were jittery over the strengthof PDP in the state.

Amosun had described PDP in the state as adead party that posed no threat to his secondterm ambition.

However, Bayo said: “Despite the insinua-tion of the opposition that PDP is dead inOgun State, we are waxing stronger.

"I want to assure you all that with thepresent structure of PDP, it has come to stayin Ogun State.

“PDP is now one and the oppositions arenow jittery. With the ongoing reconciliationefforts by the party, we are sure of victory inthe 2015 elections.”


Probe Fashola'sgovt, PDP urges EFCC

Enterprise Bank getsultimatum over sack

Rice growers hail ban on importation

Aguiyi Ironsi Mkt re-opens

LAGOS State chapter ofPeoples Democratic

Party, PDP, has called onthe Economic and Finan-cial Crimes Commission,EFCC, to probe the Gov-ernor Babtunde Fashola-

led administration overalleged massive corrup-tion.

However, in a swift re-action, Lagos State chap-ter of Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, dismissedthe call by PDP, describ-ing it as all noise and nosubstance.

A statement by the statechairman of PDP, Mr. TunjiShelle, said: “Recently,the Speaker of the stateHouse of Assembly, Mr.Adeyemi Ikuforiji, haddisclosed plans by HouseCommittees to begin probeof ministries in the state.

“This move we learnthas been vehemently op-posed to by GovernorFashola and the leader-ship of the ACN.”

Shelle alleged that thestate was trying to hide thealleged massive misap-propriation of public fundsby gagging its officialsfrom speaking to the me-dia, saying “media per-sonnel covering the Gov-ernment House, includingthe Deputy Governor’s of-fice, are now forced toswear to an oath of si-lence.”

It's all noise— ACNHowever, Publicity Sec-

retary of ACN, Mr. JoeIgbokwe, told Vanguard:“If you take the words ofLagos PDP seriously, thennothing is safe.

“If you believe LagosPDP and their millions ofpathological lies, then youcan believe anything.

“Lagos PDP thinks thatGovernor Fashola’s ACNcan be compared to theirPDP that has frittered awaymillions of naira in the past14 years, leaving Nigeriaplundered, gang-rapedand stripped naked.”

BY DAPOAKINREFON

NATIONAL Union ofBanks, Insurance

and Financial InstitutionsEmployees, NUBIFIE,has issued a seven-dayultimatum to EnterpriseBank Plc to implement anagreement reached withorganised labour underthe auspices of the Min-istry of Labour and Pro-ductivity, on March 22, inAbuja, or face the wrathof labour.

The union is demandinga reversal of the termina-tion of 18 of members(sales associate) and up-holding the agreementsigned in Abuja, as it af-fects the 60 dispatch rid-ers, the exited and exist-ing workers of FSFS.

The three nationalisedbanks, Mainstreet(Afribank), Enterprise

(Spring Bank) and Key-stone (BankPHB) signedthe agreement and weregiven one month to imple-ment.

While Mainstreet Bankand Keystone Bank weresaid to have implementedthe agreement, EnterpriseBank was said to have not.

A letter to the Manag-ing Director of EnterpriseBank Plc, dated May 2, byPhilip Aboderin, SeniorAssistant General Secre-tary, NUBIFIE, said: “Infurtherance to the agree-ment signed in Abuja,which affected the threenationalised banks, weregret to inform you thatif your management fail toaddress the issues withthe in-house union withinseven days of this letter,the union should not beheld responsible for anyindustrial action againstyour organisation.”

BY VICTORAHIUMA-YOUNG

LOCAL rice growers,under the aegis of Pa-

triotic Rice Association,PRAN, have hailed thedecision of the FederalGovernment to ban theimportation of ricethrough land borders,saying it will curtaillosses to Customs esti-mated at more than N27billion.

In a statement by AlhajiHabibu Maishin-kafa and

Martins Okereke, PRANsaid that nothing short ofthe closure of the boardersagainst smugglers wouldsave the budding rice in-dustry in the country.

The group affirmed thatthe latest move by the Fed-eral Government wouldstop the activities ofsmugglers who pushlarge volumes of rice intoNigeria with zero duty,thereby unsettling gov-ernment’s efforts at mak-ing Nigeria self-sufficient

in rice production by 2015.They maintained that

large-scale investmentsmade in the farming andmilling industries by pri-vate businesses were alsoin jeopardy, followingCustoms’ inability to pro-tect the industry from thevagaries of smugglers.

PRAN said the banningshould be supported byall Customs officials andby all Nigerians, notingthat it was a patrioticmeasure.

BY MICHAEL EBOH

BUSINESS activitieswill resume today at

the Aguiyi Ironsi Inter-national Market, Ladipo,Mushin Local Govern-ment Area, Lagos State,after it was opened,weekend, by authoritiesof the local government,which closed it on Feb-ruary 25.

The market was shutdown over alleged lead-ership tussle in the trad-ers’ union and threat tolives of traders and resi-dents in the area and theenvirons.

Chairman of the LocalGovernment, Mr.Olatunde Adepitan, whomade the announce-

ment, said allstakeholders’ caretakercommittee would be putin place to run the affairsof the union and conductelection within threemonths.

He said: “The securityarrangement hitherto putin place was not workingfor the entire traders."


Why I deposed some chiefs, banished otherpersons —Olu of Warri

Tension as Rivers LG halts swearing-in of APGAcouncillor-elect

BY EGUFEYAFUGBIRHI

Oyerinde: Rights groups decryfailure to uncover killers one year after

BY EMMA ARUBI

WARRI—THE Olu ofWarri, His Majesty

Ogiame Atuwatse II, has ex-plained to the Itsekiri peo-ple, why he banished somepersons from some commu-nities and deposed some ofhis chiefs.

He said that the affectedpersons were banished be-cause they had become in-corrigible trouble makerswhile the deposed chiefshad become agents of desta-bilisation and no longer fitto remain his chiefs. Hecharged the Itsekiri peopleto embrace the virtues ofgodliness, hard work andhonesty at all times.

The royal father, weekend,at Ode-Itsekiri (Big –Warri),the ancestral home of the It-sekiri people, during hisstate of the kingdom addressto mark his 26th coronationanniversary, warned that no-body should resort to crimesbut instead, they should fol-low what was right, properand just.

He said: “Do not be in ahurry to get wealth and Godwill not allow your good for-tune to pass you by. I havedeposed some chiefs be-

cause they had made them-selves no longer able to contrib-ute to the unity and progress oftheir communities. Our peopleshould learn to promote peace-ful co-existence in all our com-munities and deviants should bediscouraged and helped to be-come promoters of peace andgoodwill.”

He said because of the hard

global economic situation,he had set in motion a com-munity care initiative thathad commenced the trainingof Itsekiri people in five dif-ferent communities on self-help programmes that willspread to other communitiessoon, adding that at thecompletion of the pro-grammes, they will become

self-sufficient and train oth-ers on similar skills.

He told the people that inthe difficult times of today,education was very pivotaland reminded them that theItsekiri Education Trust, in-augurated last year, was pre-pared to take indigent andwilling Itsekiri students toany level of education theircapacity can take them.

PORT HARCOURT—THERE is palpable ten-

sion in Oyigbo Local Govern-ment Area of Rivers State, fol-lowing the refusal to swear inMr. Sunny Williams, councillor-elect for Ward 8 in the council.

Williams, of All ProgressivesGrand Alliance, APGA, wasbilled to be sworn in last Fridayat Oyigbo council secretariatafter winning the third succes-

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

BENIN—A COALI-TION of civil society

organisations in Edo State,weekend, held a candle lightprocession round King-square Road in Benin Cityand Nigeria Union of Jour-nalists, NUJ, secretariat, inhonour of the late PrincipalPrivate Secretary to Edo

State Governor, Mr OlaitanOyerinde.

Oyerinde, who was Gover-nor Adams Oshiomhole’s Pri-vate Secretary was murderedby suspected assassins onMay 4, 2012. His friend,Rev.David Ugolor, regrettedthat the Nigeria Police hadfailed to fish out the true kill-ers of the deceased, one yearafter the sad incident.

Delta 2015:Mejire urgessupport forOchei

U G H E L L I — N A -TIONAL Chairman

of Delta Central PoliticalForum, DCPF, Chief Ochu-ko Mejire, has urged peo-ple of the state to supportthe Speaker of Delta StateHouse of Assembly, Mr.Victor Ochei, to emerge asthe governor of the statecome 2015.

Mejire, during the inau-guration of a 20-man exec-utive to pilot the affairs ofthe body, at Mosogar, inEthiope West Local Gov-ernment Area of the state,said the council was thepolitical hub of Delta Statepolitics.

He enjoined people of thearea to be committed to thegroup “since Urhobo can-not play politics of opposi-tion that will not take thepeople anywhere.”

Also speaking, state Co-ordinator of the group, Mr.Vincent Egajivwie, saidOchei will serve better ifgiven the opportunity togovern the state in 2015.

He said: “The vision ofthe forum is to give politi-cal support to any gover-norship candidate that thegroup is convinced willdeliver the dividends of de-mocracy to Deltans."

BY FESTUS AHON

Police bar Rivers Chief of Staff, others from enteringLG council

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT—CHIEF of Staff, Govern-

ment House, Port Harcourt,Mr. Tony Okocha and theCaretaker Commitee Chair-man, Obio/Akpor Local Gov-ernment Area, Mr. DikeChikodi, were among thosebarred by policemen, week-end, from entering Obio/Ak-por council.

Mr. Okocha, who made thisknown to newsmen, said theywere in the council in thespirit of the environmental

sive election and still being deniedoccupation of the councillorshipseat since 2011.

The anticipated swearing-in wentawry for the councillor-elect and histeeming supporters, who had ac-companied him on the occasion,when the Oyigbo council chairman,Felix Nwaeke, suddenly cancelledthe event.

Speaking on behalf of his boss,who refused media explanation forhis action, Press Secretary to theChairman, Bobby Oforji, saidNwaeke acted in response to a sud-

den court injunction restrain-ing the swearing-in of thecouncillor-elect.

He alleged that “Stakehold-ers of Peoples Democratic Par-ty, PDP, in Oyigbo got a courtorder stopping the swearing-in" and that his boss had no op-tion but to respect the order untilthe issues in dispute were de-termined by the court.

Neither Nwaeke nor his presssecretary could, however, ten-der a copy of the purported in-junction or indicate the courtwhich issued same.

Reacting to the development,the affected councillor- elect

said: “This denial has obvious-ly got out of hand. I won an elec-tion in 2011. They stopped myswearing-in over some indefen-sible litigation. In February thisyear, a rerun was held, I won.They alleged irregularities.Match 16, there was anotherrerun, which I won convincing-ly again.

“This time, Rivers State Inde-pendent Electoral Commission,RSIEC, rightfully issued a re-turn certificate. What injunctioncan then stop my swearing-in ifI had been issued a return cer-tificate? This is obviously hap-pening to me because I am notPDP,” he added.

sanitation exercise in the state onSaturday, but were stopped fromentering the council by securityoperatives.

The state Commissioner for Ag-riculture, Mr. Emma Chinda, wasamong those stopped from enter-ing the council.

Okocha said: “You can see thatthe whole place is blocked by po-lice vehicles. The policemenwould not let anybody in and no-body should go out. I know thatthe Police Public Relations Offic-er had said to us that no suchthing existed. That is why I cameto see things for myself.

“I was trying to find out the man

who gave the instruction stop-ping us from entering. Thepoliceman I saw said it was

the Divisional Police Office,DPO, who gave the instruc-tion."

RiversAssemblyreconvenestoday

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

PORT HAR-COURT—THE Riv-

ers State House of Assem-bly, will reconvene todaywith the 32 members inattendance, after theHouse adjourned sine diesome days ago.

Leader of the House,Mr. Chidi Lloyd, con-firmed this to Vanguardin Port Harcourt, yester-day.

He said: “This is not thefirst time we are adjourn-ing sine die. We had metour constitutional 186days of sitting. We wouldhave proceeded on vaca-tion but because of the lovewe have for the state, itwill not allow us proceedbecause their might bestate functions, our atten-sion may be called uponanytime to reconvene.”

VISIT: The Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa (middle), welcoming the Island Club, led by theChairman, Prince Demola Dada, during a courtesy visit to the monarch in his palace.


Achebe: Nigerians to hold memorial

service in London, May 18BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

LAGOS — NIGERIANS inthe United Kingdom, will

hold a memorial service andcultural reception for lateliterary icon, Professor ChinuaAchebe on May 18 in Londonas part of global farewellactivities for the literarylegend.

Professor Achebe’s body willarrive Abuja May 12, sparkingoff a series of festivities thatwill continue until his finalinterment in Ogidi, AnambraState on May 23.

The programme is beingorganised by the UnitedKingdom chapter of Nigeriansin the Diaspora in conjunctionwith his family, the HighCommission and the widerliterary world. The activitieswill kick off with a memorialservice at All SaintsCathedral, New Cross,London, which will bepresided over by the Bishopof Southwark.

Ubaka Alex Achebe, a familyspokesman, said: “Apart fromthe Bishop of Southwark, theBishops of Woolwich andLondon will also be there.There will be several cannons

Gunmen kill 10 inNigerian attacks — Police

KANO — A group ofgunmen, Sunday,

stormed a village in northeastNigeria on the border withCameroon, killing 10 residentsin attacks on a church and amarket, police said.

The gunmen opened fire ona market square in Njilangvillage in Adamawa State,killing six people beforestorming a local church in thesame village where they killedfour worshippers, MohammedIbrahim, the state policespokesman, told AFP.

“Unknown gunmen went intothe village this morning andattacked a market squarewhere they killed six peopleand then proceeded to a churchwhere they shot dead fourothers,” Ibrahim said.

Nine people were woundedin the attacks in the smallfarming village, 230 kilometres(145 miles) from the statecapital, Yola, Ibrahim said.

He said the gunmen crossedthe border into Cameroon afterthe attacks before the arrival ofpolicemen from the nearestpolice post 30 kilometres (20miles) away.

He did not say if the gunmenwere resident in Cameroon.

and vicars coming too, so weare expecting about a dozenclergymen.

“After the service, guestswill be treated to an eveningof African culture, literature atthe nearby Millwall FootballClub’s reception hall. Therewill be cultural troupes fromall over Nigeria performing aswell as those from Ghana,Kenya, the Caribbean andCongo, and a re-enactment ofThings Fall Apart.”

Dignitaries expectedinclude formerCommonwealth SecretaryGeneral, Emeka Anyaoku;Nigerian High Commissionerto the UK, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida,Chi Onwurah, MP; Chuka

Umunna, MP, and the Mayorof Enfield, Kate Anolue.

Also expected are theembassies representatives ofGhana, Kenya, Zimbabwe,Bangladesh and Côted’Ivoire. The Anambra WomenGroup has offered to take careof catering for the day andtreat guests to the best ofNigerian cuisine.

Dan Otuonye, the chairmanof the Organising Committeesaid: “We will print T-shirts,women’s head ties and men’scaps, which will be madeavailable on the day. IgboYouth Organisation will alsoentertain guests to the best ofour culture.”

NIMASA lifts blockade on NLNG shippingactivities

BY BARTHOLOMEWMADUKWE

.Petroleum, Transport Ministers, NSA intervene

Patani PDPcrisisdeepens

PATANI—THE crisisrocking Peoples Dem-

ocratic Party, PDP, in PataniLocal Government Area ofDelta State, was exacerbat-ed, weekend, with a fac-tion, purportedly expellingthe party’s chairman, Mr.Godbless Omoniye, overalleged misconduct andmishandling of office.

Chief Ebi Oki, Discipli-nary Committee Chairman,Patani PDP, briefing news-men in Patani, weekend,asked Omoniye to handover all party documentsand property to his deputy.

BY EMMA AMAIZE

LAGOS — THEunprecedented

blockade on NigerianLiquefied Natural GasLimited, NLNG’sshipping activities bythe Nigerian MaritimeAdministration andSafety Agency,NIMASA, was lifted,yesterday.

The blockade whichlasted 48 hours betweenmidday Friday andyesterday morning, waslifted following theintervention of theministers of Petroleum

BY HENRY UMORU

2015: Rise up against political impunity,Mark tells Nigerian youths

ABUJA — SENATE President, DavidMark, has urged Nigerian youths

to rise up against electoral or politicalimpunity that undermines Nigeria’sprogress as a nation ahead of 2015elections.

Speaking at the maiden edition of theInitiative of integrity icons international

in honour of thepublisher of LeadershipNewspapers Sam NDA-Isaiah in Minna, NigerState, weekend, senatorMark argued that thecall became imperativeagainst the backdrop ofrecent politicaldevelopments in thecountry.

The Senate President,who noted though thenation’s elections were

not yet a template forperfection, contendedthat impunity was nolonger the order of theday and urged theyouths to insist on theirrights and be vigilant aswell as activelyparticipate in theelectoral system.

According to him, “itwill help safe guarddemocracy adjudged asundoubtedly thesuperior and the bestform of governmentbecause it is premisedon the respect for man asa reasonable being.”

Represented by hisChief of Staff, SenatorAnthony Manzo, Markexplained thatdemocracy with its ballot

box was the only politicaltool that offers Nigeriansa fighting chance,because it affords them aviable mechanism tohold those in poweraccountable.

He said:”Be ite x a m i n a t i o nmalpractices, thuggery,rigging, electionviolence, ballot boxsnatching, substanceabuse, drug trafficking,cultism, kidnapping,armed robbery orbanditry, religiousextremism and armedinsurgency or officialcorruption- almost all ofthese deleteriousvocations are dominatedby youths.

and Transport, Mrs.Diezani Allison-Madueke and SenatorIdris Umar respectivelyand the NationalSecurity Adviser, Col.Sambo Dasuki (rtd)

NIMASA’s decision tolift the blockade, it waslearnt, keyed intoFederal Government’sdetermination not tofurther encumber one ofthe sterling examples ofgovernment’s success inpublic privatepartnership.

NIMASA had lastFriday announced itsdecision to completelyblockade shippingactivities to and from theBonny berths of theNLNG on account ofwhat it claimed to be thecontinued refusal of thecompany to payoutstanding levies, taxes

and fines over the years.Sources told Vanguard

last night that seniorofficials of NIMASA,NLNG and the FederalInland Revenue Service,FIRS were locked in ameeting in Ikoyi, Lagos,last night towardsfinding a resolution tothe problem.

As at press time it waslearnt that thoughdiscussions hadcommenced, thegovernment agenciesand the NLNG were stillfar from reaching anagreement.

NLNG, it was learnt,was, however, underserious pressure fromthe authorities to sitdown with thegovernment agencies tofind a lasting solution tothe outstanding issues.


ABUJA — AHEAD of 2015general elections,

Northern youths engagedformer President of Ijaw YouthCongress (IYC) and Leader ofthe Niger Delta People’sVolunteer Force (NDPVF),Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari,in a war of words over the re-election bid of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in 2015.

Dokubo had fired the firstsalvo while addressing a pressconference in Abuja as hedeclared that the Niger Deltaregion cannot guarantee peacein Nigeria if President Jonath-an is not returned in 2015.

He also stated that afterJonathan’s presidency, theregion will resume claim to theresources in the oil-rich Niger-Delta, saying that they arecurrently on sabbatical leave.

The Arewa youths, however,responded immediatelywarning Asari Dokubo to desistfrom beating the drums of warover the re-election ofPresident Jonathan in 2015.

They said that the choice of

Nigeria’s next presidentwould be determined byNigerians and not Ijawmilitants or pipelinecontractors.

Asari Dokubo in theinterview pointed out that thereason there is relative peacein the country, especially inSouth-South geo-politicalzone currently is not becauseof the amnesty granted toNiger Delta ex-militants bylate President Umaru MusaYar ’Adua’s regime in 2010,but Jonathan’s presidency.

Asari who spoke on a widerange of national issues alsosaid that contrary to the claimsof Jonathan’s critics that hisadministration is visionless,the administration hassurpassed the previous onesin terms of provision of socialinfrastructure.

He said: “I called thisbriefing because of events thatare unfolding in the polity.Recently, the Special Adviserto the President on NigerDelta, Mr. Kingsely Kuku,made a statement in theUnited States of America, thatthe peace being enjoyed in the

Niger Delta will not beguaranteed if PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is notreturned as President ofNigeria in 2015.

“This statement has beensupported by several groupsfrom the region. Also, thestatement has been attractingreactions from severalquarters, expectedly from theAction Congress of Nigeria(ACN) and others.

"I want to go on to say that,there will be no peace, notonly in the Niger Delta, buteverywhere if GoodluckJonathan is not president by2015, except God takes hislife, which we don’t pray for.

"Jonathan has uninterruptedeight years of two terms to bepresident, according to theNigeria constitution. We musthave our uninterrupted eightyears of two tenure, I am notin support of any amendmentof the constitution that willreduce the eight years of twotenure that GoodluckJonathan is expected to bepresident of Nigeria.”

“For very long time, ourresources from the Niger

President didnot buy planefor me, saysOritsejafor

BY SAM EYOBOKA

ABUJA —N A T I O N A L

President of theChristian Association ofNigeria, CAN, Pastor AyoOritsejafor, for the firsttime, publicly dismissedcriticisms that continuedto trail his acquisition ofa private jet with somecritics claiming that thegift may have come fromthe Presidency.

The founder/seniorpastor of Word of LifeBible Church, Warriemphatically declaredthat President GoodluckJonathan did not contrib-ute a dime for the jet.

Receiving a delegationof Nigeria LabourCongress, NLC, DeltaState chapter in his Wordof Life Bible Church,Warri, last Sunday,Pastor Oritsejafor saidthe private jet waspresented to him onNovember 10, 2012, bychurch members withinand outside the countryin commemoration of his40th year on the pulpit.

There will be no peace if Jonathan is notreturned in 2015 — Dokubo Asari

BY SONI DANIEL, RegionalEditor, North & LEVINUS

NWABUGHIOGU

.Says Jonathan’s presidency, not amnesty has guaranteed peace in Niger Delta

.Stop beating war drums—Northern youthsDelta has been used to feedand fund Nigeria, and somepeople are still feeling thatNigeria is their personalproperty, and they can manageit the way they like, but thosedays are gone forever, it cannever come back again.

Reacting to Dokubo’s threat,the President of ArewaConsultative Forum, AlhajiYerima Shettima, described itas an unfortunate outburstborne out of ignorance andmischief ostensibly to elicitcheap patronage from ThePresidency.

Shettima regretted thestatement credited to Dokubo,saying that it was wrong forthe President to allow theformer warlord to be speakingfor him, thereby givinghimself out as an ethnic Ijawleader and not the Presidentof the Federal Republic ofNigeria, who was popularlyelected based on the goodwilland support of the generalityof Nigerians.

He said, “PresidentJonathan should stop theseelements from talking as ifthey alone elected him intooffice in 2011."

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 —13

Jonathan: Presidency, ACN in 'warof words'

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, POLITICAL

EDITOR & DAPOAKINREFON

Jonathan's govt despotic—ACN, Balarabe Musa

ACN should remove the log in its eyes — Presidency

Afenifere flays ACN over tenure elongation bill in Lagos Councils

THE Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, and the

presidency were yesterdayengaged in war of wordsover allegations that the es-sence of President GoodluckJonathan’s transformationagenda was to turn himfrom a democrat into anemperor.

The accusation from thecountry’s leading opposi-tion political party was,however, amplified by Af-enifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation,which also accused theACN of democratic impu-nity through the controver-sial tenure extension bill forLagos local governmentcouncils.

While second republicgovernor of old KadunaState, Alhaji BalarabeMusa, however, sided withthe ACN on its claim, theMass Mobilisation forTransformation, MMT, a

body working for Jonath-an’s 2015 election praisedthe incumbent as the bestpresident since the adventof the Fourth Republic.

The ACN alleged that theJonathan's administrationwas steadily descendinginto despotism, allegingbrazen assaults on person-al freedom and manipula-tion of national institutionsfor the purpose of denigrat-ing perceived political op-

ponents.The accusation by the par-

ty was immediately re-sponded to by Dr. RuebenAbati, who accused theACN of standing truth in itshead. Abati rebuffed insin-uations by the ACN of aface-off between PresidentJonathan and GovernorChibuke Amaechi even ashe insisted that the regula-tory institutions were rightin their actions against whathe described as an unli-censed aircraft.

In a statement issued byits National Publicity Sec-retary, Alhaji Lai Moham-med, the ACN had said:“The Jonathan's adminis-tration is anchored on atransformation agenda. Butthe only transformation thatwe can see is the one froma democratically-electedPresident to an emperor, adespot.”

The statement said: "If thePresident is not prevailedupon to change course, Ni-geria may be in for anotherseason of anomie, reminis-cent of the days of the max-imum ruler who took thecountry to the brink beforehis sudden demise".

Citing the ongoing face-off between Governor Roti-mi Amaechi and the Min-istry of Aviation, the partyalleged that PresidentJonathan has shown him-self as a leader willing tojettison democratic idealsfor personal ambition.

It said: "Like we said be-fore, we are not perturbedby what is happening inthe PDP. Our main concernis that the party’s internalcrisis is overheating thepolity and threatening thecountry’s hard-won democ-racy. After the theatrics ofthe aviation agencies andtheir parent ministry, theEFCC has suddenly real-ized that the cost of the Riv-ers State’s plane was inflat-ed by US$10 million whilethe police have sacked theSecretariat of Obio-Akprolocal government in RiversState.

"The question is: Whogave the orders for the po-lice to sack the Secretariat,and in the process take sideswith the President in thepolitical disagreement withthe Governor?

"If the President can go tothis length against his own

party man, what will he doagainst the opposition?Why is it that a democrati-cally-elected President can-not be challenged by any-one, whether or not he is amember of his party?’’ itqueried.

The ACN’s assertionswere, however, opposed byAfenifere which claimedthat all political parties, in-cluding the ACN wereguilty of desecrating dem-ocratic institutions for per-sonal ambitions.

Responding through itsNational Publicity Secretary,Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Af-enifere said: “It is the prac-tice of democracy in Niger-ia generally and the Nige-rian political class is becom-ing an embarrassment todemocratic tenets and it isnot just the Jonathan's gov-ernment. What you find inAbuja, you see in otherstates at every level.”

Speaking further, he said“I think we should be wor-ried about the practice ofdemocracy in Nigeria andthe conduct of political ac-tors at all levels, both fed-eral and state; and not justthe Jonathan's presidency.

"All political actors shouldbe held responsible forwhat is going on. Look atwhat is going on, they aretalking about tenure elon-gation in Lagos State. Wehave a democracy withoutdemocrats.”

Dr. Abati in his reactionsaid “Does Lai Mohammedknow the meaning of theword, despotism, or is hejust throwing the wordaround for onomatopoeticeffect? He and his sponsorsare in fact beneficiaries ofthe openness and freedomthat this administration pro-motes. The paradox is thatthose who do not allowfreedom and equality intheir own party or backyard.

"Those who are wellknown as self-proclaimedGodfathers and closet des-pots, are the same ones whoare now quick to accuse oth-ers of despotism. The ACNshould start by removingthe log in its eyes. PresidentJonathan is not a despot.ACN is the real abode ofbudding despots in Niger-ia.

“The transformationagenda which Lai Moham-med tries to pooh-pooh is awell thought-out blueprinton the basis of which thisadministration continues toserve the interests of thepeople and move the coun-try forward.

"The evidence of theJonathan administration’sachievements is visible inmany aspects of Nigerianlife and society: from agri-culture, to aviation, theeconomy, job creation, pow-er, industry, trade and in-vestment, transportationand others.

"No amount of name-call-ing or partisan criticism willdistract the government’sattention, just in case theACN assumes that its per-sistent distortion of the factswill achieve that objective.”

“The ACN’s allegationthat there is a disagreementbetween the Rivers StateGovernor, Rotimi Amaechiis also wrong-headed andmischievous. GovernorAmaechi has publicly stat-ed that this particular alle-gation is a piece of fictioncreated by certain personsand the media.

"We insist that PresidentJonathan is not engaged inany quarrel or dispute withGovernor Amaechi. And itis wrong to use the matterof the aircraft that wasgrounded by the aviationauthorities to concoct sto-ries of persecution".

CMYK


CMYK

Nigeria hosts parley on proposedAbidjan - Lagos highway•Arc Onolememen charts way forward•Says ECOWAS to start action plans soon

NIGERIA’s Minister of Works, ArcMike Onolememen, recently in

Abuja, provoked the thoughts of his col-leagues from Benin Republic, Togo,Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire on the pro-posed Abidjan - Lagos Highway. Thiswas as he hosted the inter-ministerialcommittee meeting of Ministers ofRoad Infrastructure, Transport, Financeand Justice from those countries andNigeria.

The inaugural meeting sought to pre-pare the blueprint for the realizationof the dreams of the Presidents of theaffected countries to improve the Abid-jan-Lagos corridor that stands out asthe most significant segments of theTrans-West African Highway Network.

Among the posers from the host min-ister were:

•How the ministers could bring intoreality, the dreams of their heads ofgovernment to see the improvement ofthe corridor in order to facilitate tradeand promote regional integration;

•What arrangement could be put inplace to fund the construction of thishighway - Should the funding be byPublic Private Partnership, PPP,

tation at the UN meeting in AddisAbaba in May that will lead to theactualization of the dream of the re-gional leaders which will usher in anew era in trade and commerce inthe region.

The Minister further revealed thatthe Abidjan – Lagos Corridor coversa total distance of 1,028km and con-nects some of the largest and eco-nomically most dynamic cities in Af-rica namely, Lagos, Accra, Cotonou,Lome and Abidjan and covers a largeproportion of the West African popu-

agreed to work together and constructthe homogenous corridor that standsout as the most significant segmentsof the Trans – West African HighwaysNetwork.

Besides, he added that the partici-pation of the Ministers of Transport,Finance, Justice and Foreign Affairsfor Nigeria and other participatingcountries gives credence to the broadcoverage of regional road transporta-tion, financing and legal procedureexpected at this meeting.

He stressed that the corridor hashigh level problems and obstacles thathas over the years hindered thesmooth flow of goods, trade and per-sons and as such continues to fall be-low international acceptable standardsfor a regional corridor in issues likemultiple check points, long and cost-ly custom procedures, various degreeof harassment and extortion and lackof adequate equipment in borderposts contrary to ECOWAS Texts onFree Movement and Inter -State RoadTransport Facilitation

He recalled that ECOWAS in 2006commissioned a study on the RegionalRoad Transport and Transit Facilita-tion Programme in West Africa, andin their final report, the consultantidentified the Abijan – Lagos corridoras one of the highest corridors requir-ing improvement.

In his earlier speech, the Ministerof State for Foreign Affairs, Nigeria,Dr. Nurudden Muhammad, statedthat Nigeria is committed to its full im-

ters Lagos-Abidjan road af-ter presenting its report at theAfrican Union summit thismonth.

Arc Mike Onolememen atthe Meeting also disclosedthat the action plan for theconstruction of the Lagos en-route Benin, Togo, Ghana toCote D’Ivoire will be com-pleted within two years of itscommencement.

He encouraged his col-leagues to adopt a good, im-plementable action plan anda concrete report for presen-

By LEKE ADESERI

through combined contributions ofMember States involved, or throughdonor funding or loans from Multilat-eral and Development Partners’ Agen-cies and;

•What procedure should we put inplace to ensure effective operation ofthe corridor?

According to Arc Onolememen, “theparticipation of the Minsters of Trans-port, Finance, Justice and Foreign Af-fairs for Nigeria and other participat-ing countries gives credence to the broadcoverage of regional road transporta-tion, financing and legal procedureexpected at the meeting and on the all-important regional project.”

Action plan on 1,028km Lagos- Abid-jan road begins soon

According to the minister, the Eco-nomic Community of West AfricanStates, ECOWAS, is to begin action planon the construction of the 1,028kilome-

lation. “To improve this corridor is theessence of this meeting as directedby the Presidents of the five con-cerned member states and the reportof the meeting would be presentedto the African Union Summit com-ing up in Addis Ababa in May, 2013,”he said.

The construction of the proposedAbidjan – Lagos super highway willcommence sometime next year andwill be completed within 24 months.Onolememen said that the meetingseeks to prepare, deliberate, andagree on an implementation planwith a clear indication of responsi-bility for the realization of thedreams and directive of the Presi-dents and Heads of States of Nige-ria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Coted’Ivoire.

The countries, Onolememen af-firmed cut across the highway,

plementation and the realiza-tion of the objectives in thehighway project in the inter-est of the progress, peace andsecurity of the peoples of theregion, and urged the othermember states to follow suit.

The construction of the proposed Abidjan –Lagos super highway will commence some-time next year and will be completed within24 months

•Works minister, Arc Onolememen

,

,

Police declare24 hour curfewin Wukari

A 24 HOUR curfew has been placedon Wukari town town in Taraba State

after a communal clash left 39 peopledead, 30 injured and about 30 housesburnt.

The Taraba State police public relationsofficer, Mr Joseph Kwaji, who disclosedthis, stated that the injured persons arenow receiving treatment in varioushospitals in the town, while 30 personshad been arrested in connection with thecrisis.

Kwaji explained that the situation hasbeen brought under control and the townis now relatively calm as more securityofficers have been deployed in the area.

Crisis broke out in Wukari on Fridayduring a funeral procession for a third classchief of the Jukun Traditional Council. Theviolence reportedly started when themourners passed through a section of thetown, chanting slogans which allegedlyangered the residents of the area.

The incident comes after a panel was setup to investigate clashes which occurredin the same town in February owing to afootball dispute which claimed severallives.

“We have so far compiled a death toll of39 people while 30 others were seriouslyinjured,” Joseph Kwaji told AFP onSaturday. Local residents told AFP that thedeath toll could rise. Kwaji who noted that32 houses have also been destroyed in theviolence added that 40 suspects werearrested in the aftermath of the violence.

State information commissioner,Emmanuel Bello, said that extra troopswere deployed to the city on Saturday tobolster security. “We have deployed moretroops today to Wukari to ensure that thesituation, which has been brought undercontrol, is strengthened,” he told AFP.

The police spokesman Kwaji saidFriday’s violence erupted when thefuneral procession of a traditional chieffrom the predominantly Christian Jukunethnic group marched through a Muslimneighbourhood chanting slogans, whichMuslims viewed as an act of provocation.

“The state governor has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Wukari which is aimed atrestoring normalcy in the town” after thefighting, said Kefas Sule, spokesman forthe state governor.

Tensions have been on the rise in Wukarisince February, when a dispute over theuse of a football pitch between Muslim andChristian soccer teams set off sectarianriots that claimed several lives. Friday’sviolence came a day after the stategovernment inaugurated a committee toinvestigate the February violence.


His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Olu of Warri (2nd right), flanked by ChiefRita Lori-Ogbebor (right) and others, during an anniversary thanksgivingservice held for His Majesty at Foursquare Gospel Church, Warri, incelebration of his 26th coronation anniversary. PHOTOS: Akpokona Omafuaire.

HRM, Ovie R. L. Ogbon, Ogoni-Oghoro I, Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom, theoldest monarch in Delta State (standing), and other traditional rulers.

Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly (left), andChief Ighoyota Amori.

From left— HRM, Orhue I, Orodje of Okpe; HRM, Oharisi III, Ovie ofUghelli and other monarchs

OLU OF WARRI'S THANKSGIVING

Okpe chiefs.

US outlines N/Korean’s threats

IF North Korea continueswith its controversial

missile and nuclear tests,it “will move closer” to itsobjective of reaching theUnited States with nuclearweapons, according to aPentagon report.

During recentheightened tensions onthe Korean Peninsula,Pyongyang repeatedlythreatened the possibilityof nuclear attacks againstthe United States andSouth Korea, promptingquestions on the progressof its weapons program.

North Korea’ssecretiveness has made ithard for Westernintelligence agencies togauge exactly what isgoing on inside itsresearch facilities.

Many clues have comefrom the regime’s large-scale tests such as thelong-range rocket launchin December and theunderground nucleardetonation in February.

The Pentagon’s annualreport to Congress onThursday provided anoverview of the military

threat posed by NorthKorea, but it didn’t sayhow long it believed itwould take the isolated,Stalinist state to developa fully operationalnuclear missile capable ofreaching the U.S.mainland.

It described NorthKorea’s ballistic missileprogram as “ambitious”and said that “the pace ofits progress will depend,in part, on how manyresources it can dedicateto these efforts and howoften it conducts tests.”

Israel targets Hezbollah, strikes Syria

ISRAELI jets bombedSyria yesterday ,

rocking Damascus forhours and sending pillarsof flame into the night skyin what a Western sourcecalled a new strike onIranian missiles boundfor Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Local people reportedmassive explosions andinternet video showed thecapital’s skyline lit byflashes; Syrian opponentsof President Bashar al-Assad rejoiced at Israel’sthird raid this year, andsecond in 48 hours, whileanger in Tehranhighlighted how Syria’scivil war risks spinningfurther beyond itsborders.

Israel, while decliningto confirm the strike,stressed its focus was todeny its Lebanese foesnew Iranian firepowerand not take sidesbetween Assad, longseen as a toothlessadversary, and rebelswho have won sympathy

from Israel’s Westernallies but who alsoinclude al QaedaIslamists hostile to theJewish state.

It appears to calculatethat Assad will not riskforces he needs to fightthe rebels by attacking amuch stronger Israel.

Venezuela rebuffs Obama on‘spy’ charges

V E N E Z U E L Ayesterday brushed

off criticism from U.S.President Barack Obamaand maintained itsaccusation that anAmerican detainee inCaracas is a spypretending to be afilmmaker.

During his visit toLatin America, Obamasaid on Saturday thatthe allegations againstTim Tracy, 35, were“ridiculous.”

But Interior MinisterMiguel RodriguezTorres insisted thatintelligence agentstracking Tracy since late2012 had uncovered

ample evidence he wasplotting with militanta n t i - g o v e r n m e n tfactions to destabilizeVenezuela withviolence.

“When you want to dointelligence work inanother country, allthose big powers who dothis type of spying, theyoften use the facade ofa filmmaker,documentary-maker,photographer orjournalist,” he told stateTV.

“Because with thatfacade, they can goanywhere, penetrateany place.”

Libyan parliament bans ex-Gaddafi officialsfrom office

LIBYA’s parliamentpassed a law

yesterday banninganyone who held a

senior position duringMuammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule from workingfor the new

administration, a movethat could force theprime minister to stepdown. Prime minister AliZeidan was a diplomatbefore defecting andjoining the opposition in1980, but the wording ofthe new law has notmade it clear whether ornot he was senior enoughto be barred from the newgovernment.

“I don’t know, thewording is quiteunclear,” said a sourcewithin the primeminister ’s office whenasked whether Zeidanwould have to step down.It would depend on howthe law wasimplemented, he said.

Catholic church in Tanzaniabombed

TANZANIA womandied even as 44

people were seriouslywounded when a bombexploded in a RomanCatholic church innorthern Tanzania, aTanzanian police officialsaid yesterday

The woman died inhospital as a result of thebombing in the Arushachurch just before Mass,which was attended by

the papal envoy toTanzania, said MagesaMulogo, the regionalpolice commissioner ofArusha.

Mulogo saideyewitnesses report thatthe bomb was thrownfrom a motorcycle intothe church. Mulogo saidthe driver of themotorcycle has beenarrested.

CMYK

OPINION


*Dr. Omeneogor, a social critic,fromToronto, Canada.

BY CLEMENT OMENEOGOR Questionable sermon on the plight ofIgbosMOST times, it baffles me why Igbo

leaders who had every opportunityto better the lots of their people, but failedto do so will have the audacity to professthemselves true Igbo leaders. This is whilethose who had done pretty well as leadersto uplift the Igbos remain in thebackground, working assiduously to domore. Since he left office after eight yearsas governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kaluhas been in desperate search for relevanceand recognition ahead the 2015 generalelections. For this purpose, he is desperatelydeploying all strategies, including mediahype, rumour mongering and peddling oflies with the name of Presidency, to drawattention to himself. Latest of such desperation was the recentarrangement by some of his allies inLondon for him to speak on the plight ofIgbos at the British House of Commons.Kalu’s speech at the event was not onlylacking in superior argument, it was allabout grandstanding. The idea being to sellhimself as the true champion of the Igbocause. Yet he did not proffer solutions towhat he claimed to be the marginalisationof the Igbos in Nigeria. Kalu said: “Theimplications of this calculated fraud againstmy people are so massive and go entirelyuntold. They include unequal allocation ofresources, unequal voice at the FederalExecutive Council, unequal representationat the National Assembly, unequalparticipation in the administration of

justice in the federation, unequalparticipation in the Federal Civil Serviceand adjunct bodies, and unequalrepresentation in the armed forces and para-military organisations. “It also means unequal representation inthe diplomatic corps, ensuring incapacityin showcasing the Igbo culture as part of apan-Nigerian culture in our foreignmissions and embassies; fewer primary,secondary and higher educationopportunities for our children. Thesestructural disparities are constitutionallyentrenched, thus their grave implicationsfor Ndigbo are beyond the primaryquestions of inequity and marginalisation.” But one question the hired audience andjournalists at the events failed to ask himwas his contributions towards addressingthe plight of Igbos while in office asexecutive governor of Abia State for eightyears, and what he is doing now to tacklethe problem? So, after throwing his jibes,the audience, which appeared rathergullible, swallowed his speech hook, lineand sinker. They did not ask Kalu in whatcapacity he had come to speak on the plightof Igbos in Nigeria, bearing in mind thatsince he left office as governor, he has notattended any meeting convened by the Igbosocio-cultural organisation, the OhanaezeNdigbo or Igbo stakeholders where issues

affecting Igbo interests are being discussed. So how can he be on the fringe andpontificate on the plights of Igbos insteadof presenting such to the National Assemblymembers as they are in process of amendingthe Constitution? Igbos have not forgottenin a hurry his role in the scuttling of ChiefAlex Ekwueme’s presidential ambition in1999 and 2003 in collaboration with hisex-military godfathers from the North.People of Abia will also not forget how heleft the state indebted, destabilized andunderdeveloped.

Why didn’t the audience at the event askKalu why has he not challenged the

withdrawal of his certificate in court,instead of resorting to media war? Theywould have also asked him who wrote thespeech he delivered and who has beenwriting the articles in his leadership seriespage in his newspaper? It is obvious thatKalu’s greatest problem is that he talks toomuch and often contradicts himself. Hebelieves he knows everything, more thanany other person. That is the reason he isalways on the defensive most times becausehis several outbursts contradict a lot. Whenhe accused security agents of beingresponsible for a bombing incident and wastaken on by the Minister of Information,Mr Labaran Maku, Kalu went labouring

for defence without facts and figures andevidence.His position and action certainly cannothelp the Igbo cause, rather it will diminishit. The Njiko Igbo platform which he nowuses and claimed to have formed to advanceIgbo interest in Nigeria was originallyformed by Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, the youngerof brother of Senator Ben Collins Ndu in1983 at Enugu and was formallyinaugurated at the Prince Palace Hotel,Enugu on Thursday April 20, 1989 at apublic event witnessed by many prominentand regular Igbos from all walks of life. Kalu was never a member of the group,even when he became governor of AbiaState in 1999; he never identified orsupported the group at any point in timebut was smart to register the organisationrecently by proxy because Ndu failed to doso from inception. Prominent Igbos who know about thegroup, including Yahaya Ndu, are alivetoday and are quietly watching, aware thatKalu's antics will take him nowhere. If Kalu is a good student of history ashe would want people to believe, he shouldknow that the Igbos have been thebeneficiary of not less than 35% of federalappointments made by the PresidentJonathan administration and his state Abiahas also benefitted a lot, courtesy of thecordial relationship between the stategovernment and Federal Government. Thiswas not the case during Kalu’s eight yearsof governance.

NIGERIA is reputed to have the secondhighest rate of road accidents among 193countries and deaths from reckless drivingare the third leading cause of death inNigeria. In 2012, at least 473 persons diedfrom a total of 1,115 vehicular accidentsnationwide.April may go down as the worst month in

terms of road accidents in 2013.·April 3: A luxury bus and a smaller bus

crashed on the Abuja-Lokoja Road, 18 died.·April 5: A petrol tanker set luxury bus and

articulated vehicle ablaze at Ugbogui villageon Ore-Benin Expressway, 80 people wereburnt beyond recognition.· April 6: At Dazigan, 11 kilometres from

Potiskum, Yobe State, 20 died in an accident.· April 11: 10 died on the Damaturu-Gashua

Road also in Yobe State.· April 14: Seven died on the Abuja-Lokoja

Road, a car ran into an articulated vehicle.· April 15: Five died on the Asaba-Onitsha

Expressway.By the middle of April, 142 people had died

from reported motor accidents, 30 per centof the 473 deaths recorded in 2012 had beencovered in only 15 days! Are we the only ones

RRRRRoad Aoad Aoad Aoad Aoad Accidents -ccidents -ccidents -ccidents -ccidents -More Causes FMore Causes FMore Causes FMore Causes FMore Causes Fororororor

AlarmAlarmAlarmAlarmAlarmpanicking? There could be more unreportedcases, and as often happens, some of theinjured die without making the statistics.What inform compilation of travellers’

manifests and payment of insurancepremiums? Who collects the money? Why areinsurance companies not paying families ofaccident victims claims? There is no recordof any payment for loss of lives anddisabilities from road accidents though it isstated that fares include insurance covers.Put differently, Nigerian roads have become

killing fields without protection for their

users. Travellers heave a sigh of relief if theymake their destinations. The worrisometrend has tremendous negative impact on thenation’s health system as well as its socialand economic aspirations. Who takesresponsibility for these?Are the campaigns of the Federal Road

Safety Corps, FRSC, effective, going by therecurring carnage on our roads? Are thesecampaigns substitutes for proper roadconstruction and maintenance culture,maintenance of vehicles, regulation ofarticulated trucks and petrol tankers,sanctions on owners of vehicles that causemass deaths on our roads? When bad roadscause accidents, governments that failed tomaintain the roads should share in theliability.Efforts must be made to curb the menace of

the tankers and articulated vehicles on ourroads. The carnage has to be stopped. Allthe various agencies that should ensure saferroads should work together to save lives.Public enlightenment should be intensified.Our roads would be safer if they are wellbuilt, well maintained and a culture ofobeying traffic regulations is enforced.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 41

OPINIONBY ADEWALE KUPOLUYI

*Mr. Kupoluyi wrote from Federal University ofAgriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The problem with our opposition partiesA RECENT statement that the All Progressives

Congress will probe how the variousadministrations from 2000 to 2013 managed the nation’soil revenue appears to be a costly talk for the newlymerged party.

APC, a formation of the merger between three mainopposition parties - the Action Congress of Nigeria,the Congress for Progressive Change, the All NigeriaPeoples Party, and a faction of the All ProgressivesGrand Alliance - is battling for registration with theIndependent National Electoral Commission.

APC had stated in its manifesto that it would pursuean eight-cardinal programme which includes the waragainst corruption, food security, accelerated powersupply, integrated transport network, devolution ofpower, accelerated economic growth, free educationand affordable health care.

It said: “We shall negotiate oil deals, unveil thesecrecy surrounding the ownership of 49 per cent ofthe Nigeria Liquefied Gas, query the over N50tn oilrevenue which accrued to the Federation Accountbetween 2000 and 2013 and recover billions of USdollars which ministries, departments and agenciesfailed to remit to the Federation Account”.

Additionally, the opposition party also said it wouldreview public service rules and financial regulations,which encourage impropriety in public finances andmove for the removal of the immunity clause in the

Constitution, which protects the President, Vice-President, governors and deputy governors fromprosecution while in office, among others.

The Peoples Democratic Party administrations ofOlusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and GoodluckJonathan, have been ruling the country from the periodunder contention.

The APC also promised to strengthen the Economicand Financial Crimes Commission, the IndependentCorrupt Practices and Other Related OffencesCommission and make them independent.

Inasmuch as the people may be desirous of change,leaders of the new party should have realised thathuman beings are averse to change, especially thosethat bordered on probity and involving digging intopast financial dealings. Even if the proposal isdesirable, more restraint should have been exerciseddue to the sensitive nature of the issue undercontention.

From the foregoing, it appears the new party – thatis yet to be fully registered - is too early in divulgingits strategic plan to the public. At best, APC shouldhave strictly limited its pronouncements to generalprogrammes that will better the lot of the people.

If care is not taken, the careless utterances by theleaders of the APC could lead to the failure of the

opposition to take-over power from the ruling party.Past efforts at instituting opposition in government

failed as a result of a number of factors, chiefly becauseof the ideological differences between the parties aswell as the narrow and selfish agenda of oppositionleaders to dominate.

Opposition parties in African democracies are highlyfragmented as there are many countries that have manysmall and weak political parties. This fragmented partysystem has instead reinforced the power of theincumbents.

According to the International Journal of Human andSocial Sciences, in 2001, Botswana had 12 politicalparties, and the dominant party was the BotswanaDemocratic Party, BDP, which ruled the country since1966.

By 2006, Ivory Coast had 130 parties, Senegal 77,and Liberia 200 political parties; Mali had more than159 parties and in Angola, there were more than 138political parties in 2008.

Ethiopia had 64 parties in the 1995 election, and inthe May 2000 election, there were 65 political partiesin the country.

Continues on the Viewpoints pg

,

,

THE moment the Sultan called foramnesty for Boko Haram, I knew

Nigeria was headed for bigger trouble.It was a major shifting of grounds byHis Eminence, Mohammed AbubakarSa’ad III, the Sultan of Sokoto and thehead of the Nigerian Muslimcommunity. His earlier stance in publicforums both in Nigeria and abroad wasthat the sect was evil, and their missionun-Islamic, with strong support for thesecurity forces to decision themaccordingly.

With this change of tone, I knew moreand more Muslim and northern leaderswould join the chorus. It was not longin coming, and it did not come only fromMuslim quarters. The CatholicArchbishop of Abuja, John CardinalOnaiyekan, threw his weight behind thecall. The Northern States Governors’Forum (NSGF) followed suit. To cap itall, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF)with the respected Alhaji Maitama Sulein their company, visited PresidentGoodluck Jonathan at the PresidentialVilla and tabled their call for amnestyfor these terrorists.

Professor Ango Abdullahi, who spoketo the media after the event, went as faras making the usual parasitic call for an“Amnesty Commission” backed by law.The implication of this is obvious. EveryNigerian amnesty comes with “post-amnesty” bonanza, which will beadministered by Abdullahi’sCommission.

It was also a matter of time before the

FG’s ‘suicide mission'

opponents of this idea would make theirvoices known. The President of theChristian Association of Nigeria (CAN)Bishop Ayo Oritsejafor, called amnestyfor unrepentant terrorists an act of“ wickedness”, while the NorthernChristian Elders Forum (NORCEF)described it as a “suicide mission”. As ifto justify the fears of amnesty ’sopponents, Mallam Abubakar Shekau,the alleged leader of Boko Haram, wasquoted as dismissing the amnesty offer,saying it is the federal government thatshould seek forgiveness from them, aplea which will not be granted untilAllah permits them to do so.

For me, that settles it all. That is theend of discussion. You cannot say youare granting mercy to someone who hasnot asked you for it. How can you offerforgiveness to somebody who has not

repented of his sins? Somebody who seesYOU, rather than himself, as theoffender? An enemy who believes he haspinned your back to the wall and hasyou begging for mercy? An enemy whohas thrown fear into the northerntraditional and political establishments,forcing them to their knees saying“politically correct” things to save theirhides? An enemy who believes he is onthe path towards victory? Put yourselfin his shoes. Would you do what youare asking of him if the situation wasturned the other way round?

There is no logic or even commonsensein the whole thing. What we see is thatas 2015 rapidly draws closer, politicalexpediency is beginning to dominate thethoughts of politicians and those whowork with and for them. PresidentGoodluck Jonathan is in a tight corner.On the one hand,if he continues tomaintain the hard line stance which heexhibited when he visited Maidugurirecently, he might lose the support ofthe traditional and politicalestablishment of the North, especially ifby this time next year the securitysituation in the region has not changed.

On the other, if he grants amnesty toBoko Haram to please the North, hewill be doing a grave injustice to thethousands of Christian families anddenominations, as well as theirperceived moderate Muslimcounterparts who have lost dear ones,suffered grave injuries and beendeprived of their hard earned property.What conscience would guide thePresident in setting up and funding anamnesty commission when the victimsof Boko Haram terror are yet to beconsoled or compensated in any way?Christians, moderate and patrioticMuslims and the people of SouthernNigeria will feel betrayed and

diminished over filthy politics andJonathan may begin to lose the supportof his home base.

Let us make no mistakes about it:amnesty for Boko Haram, indeed, is asuicide mission. A man like ProfessorAngo Abdullahi, a baleful politicalenemy of President Jonathan, will relishgiving perfidious advice that will sinkhim politically. Imagine setting up anAmnesty Commission. What ishappening in the Niger Delta shouldwarn us of the danger in it.

Millions of ragged, plates-clutching almajiris from all over the North andsurrounding countries will line up tobenefit from post-amnesty rehab forBoko Haram. Politicians, mallams,criminals and hustlers will mobilisethem and through them smile all the wayto the bank, just as the ex-“generals”and ex-“commanders” of the ex-militantsof the Niger Delta are doing. After all,the call for amnesty is a cheapcopycatting of the amnesty granted tothe Niger Delta ex-militants.

Any attempt to stop the programme willhave the sponsors of the “repentant” ex-Boko Haram causing a couple of bombexplosions and gun attacks and thegovernment will once again panic toresume funding of this insane parasiticproposition.

An Amnesty Commission pumpingmoney to “ repentant” Boko Harammembers will only end up giving federalgovernment grants to terrorists toprocure more arms and bomb makingmaterials to intensify their campaign toIslamise the North. Boko Haram’sstances are clear and unambiguous. Itis the northern elite that are attemptingto corrupt their mission withmisrepresentation of their intentions todeceive and blackmail the federalgovernment.

Shekau’s Boko Haram is simply notinterested in the hustling that northernpoliticians are turning their mission into.When former President OlusegunObasanjo turned himself into anemissary of the federal government toappease the family of the slain BokoHaram leader, assassins came thefollowing day and killed the man whospoke on their behalf, Alhaji BabakuraFugu. These chaps have operated withan admirable level of honesty asopposed to the deceitful antics of thepoliticians who, for their own safety,pretend to be their advocates before thefederal government.

Now that Shekau has rejected amnesty,perhaps the politicians will now realisethat the game is up and it is time to facethe enemy squarely.

You cannot say you aregranting mercy tosomeone who has notasked you for it. Howcan you offerforgiveness tosomebody who has notrepented of his sins?Somebody who seesYOU, rather thanhimself, as theoffender? An enemywho believes he haspinned your back tothe wall and has youbegging for mercy?

President Jonathan: Amnesty for BokoHaram, a shot on the foot.

CMYK


,

,

,BY ADEWALE KUPOLUYI

,*Mr. Ezukanma,a commentatoron national issues, wrote fromLagos.

*Mr. Kupoluyi wrote from the FederalUniversity of Agriculture, Abeokuta,Ogun State.

Terrorism and elusive justicein Nigeria

“

BY TOCHUKWUEZUKANMA

MEMBERS of a terroristgang that has targeted and

bombed civilian centers;murdering and maiming theinnocent in droves deserve severepunishment. Therefore, theprospect of an amnesty for BokoHaram rankles and boggles themind. In its gross unfairness, itdisregards the comeuppance ofBoko Haram and ignores thepains, sorrow and tears of itsvictims and their families. Onlya spineless and cravengovernment can countenanceamnesty for Boko Haram. Butthe Goodluck Jonathanadministration, wobbly on itsown weight of ineptitude...cannot defeat a terroristinsurgency. Therefore, it has nochoice but to placate terrorism.

In a passionate andunassailable newspaper articleagainst amnesty for BokoHaram, Femi Fani-Koyodewrote: “No one should ever singthe amnesty song again...Whatdo …we tell the families of thoseslaughtered by Boko Haram?How do we wipe away their tearsand ensure that they are given thejustice that they desperatelyseek”.

I am in total agreement withhis submission that justice must

be done and the tears of thebereaved wiped away (at least, asis humanly possible). An amnestyprogramme for Boko Haram willneither provide justice nor wipeaway tears. Actually, it willreward terrorism. Essentially, itwill be tantamount to a triumphof terrorism. If the earlieramnesty for Niger Deltamilitants provides an instructiveprecedence, amnesty for BokoHaram will entail buying offterrorists at a colossal cost,millions, and possibly, billions ofnaira.

So, instead of being consignedto jail serving life sentences orawaiting execution, terrorists willbe luxuriating on salaries andsplurging on differentgovernment grants and attendingschools and vocational centers atgovernment expense. Tocoordinate the distribution ofthese billions of naira, a newministry will be established. Whoknows what the new ministry willbe called – Ministry of BokoHaram?

The Nigerian governmentcannot effectively fight BokoHaram. It should be recognisedthat a terrorist is not only a gunslinging, bomb strappingmurderous rebel on a stealthmission to bomb, kill and maimbut anyone or group of people

who by their actions cause terror:death, bereavement, intensefright, dread, emotional tumultand social unsettlement.

Apart from the terrorist acts(brutality, murder of the innocentand extra-judicial killings) of theNigeria police and othergovernment agents, theembezzlement of a significantportion of the national wealth bythe ruling elite feeds on the terror(avoidable death, injury, grief andthe distraught) of so manyNigerians. So, the Nigeriangovernment, like the BokoHaram, relegate many familiesto sorrow, grief and hopelessness.

The channeling of publicfunds into personal

accounts by the power elitedepletes the resources that would

have been used to enhance thequality of life for the people. Notsurprisingly, Nigeria is the onlyoil rich country that ranks withthe poorest and war-ravagedcountries of the world in terms oflife expectancy, child mortality,pregnancy-related deaths andincidence of poverty. A recentstudy by the EconomistIntelligence Unit that usedprobable welfare of children andthe chance for a safe,comfortable, prosperous life ascriteria, ranked Nigeria theworst place in the world for ababy to be born in 2013.

The national health system isin a dreadful state. As such,pregnant women and infants diein droves in Nigerian hospitals.Nigeria has one of the highestpregnancy-related deaths andinfant mortality in the world.With two percent of the world’spopulation, it accounts for 11percent of the world’s maternalmortality and 12 percent of theworld’s under-five mortality. Theenvironment is squalid andfestering, housing is shoddy andovercrowded and neighborhoodslack clean, drinkable water (justabout half the population hasaccess to clean drinking water).Therefore, many suffer and diefrom variegated preventable andtreatable overcrowding-inducedand dirt and water-bornediseases.

Annually, tens of thousands ofpeople are killed and maimed inroad accidents. Many of theseaccidents are attributable todecrepit and dangerous roadsand public infrastructure. Theroads remain dangerous mostly

because the funds budgeted fortheir repairs and upgrade werestolen by the elected andappointed government officials.

An exhaustive enumeration ofthe deadly consequences of thelooting of the treasury by theNigerian ruling elite is beyondthe scope of this article.

Where is justice for the familiesof those killed by of lawless andtrigger-happy security agentsand the government’s indirectterrorist acts? Who is wipingaway their tears? Justice is mostelusive in Nigeria. Irrespective ofthe perpetrator of acts ofterrorism, the Boko Haram or thegovernment, justice continues toelude the victims and theirfamilies.

The dilemma of the Jonathangovernment is how can thegovernment, a purveyor of terrorand social injustice, extractjustice from the Boko Haram,another purveyor of terror andinjustice. It cannot. So, it willinescapably pacify Boko Haramwith amnesty. Yet, thepacification of Boko Haram willnot ensure peace in the countryfor long because the impatienceof Nigerians with the status quowill breed new militant/terroristgroups. The antidote to militancyand terrorism is in a principledand more equitable distributionof the national wealth. There canbe no social peace withouteconomic justice.

INTRA-PARTY friction also led tofurther fragmentation as the cases of

the FORD-Kenya, and the Coalition forUnity and Democracy, CUD, in Ethiopiaclearly showed.

These conflicts not only furtherfragmented opposition parties, but alsogreatly damaged their image andfrustrated the hopes of millions of peoplewho overwhelmingly voted for the CUDin 2005.

Hence, the major opposition partiessuch as the Oromo National Congress, theAll Ethiopia Unity Party, the EthiopianDemocratic Union, and the majoropposition coalitions - the CUD and theUnited Ethiopian Democratic Frontengaged themselves in very destructiveintra-party conflicts that even threatenedtheir own survival.

Many of the opposition parties in Africaare established around individualpersonalities. These kinds of parties facesplit whenever another rising starchallenges the founder or the leader ofthe party. This is one of the reasons for thepresence of many fragmented politicalparties in Africa.

Over the years, it is unfortunate thatmost political parties have no clearlyidentifiable progressive principles orideologies to address the needs ofNigerians.

That is where the All ProgressivesCongress is expected to make a bigdifference by filling in the vacuum bybeing ideologically driven and focused inthe quest to have stable democracy in thenation.

From the look of things, the APC willhave to do extra work in upholding theprinciple of internal democracy and fair

The problem with our oppositionparties(2)

play.A similar fate befell the nation in the

First Republic when there was theNigerian National Alliance, NNA, whichstood for the conservatives, while UnitedProgressive Grand Alliance, UPGA,hoisted for the progressive but sheer partypolitics at that time killed the mergerinitiative.

In the First Republic too, the NationalCouncil of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC,together with the Northern People’sCongress, NPC, initially formed thegovernment but towards the end of 1962there was a serious tension between bothparties to the extent that some ministersfrom the NCNC wanted to leave.

Again, during the Second Republic, theparty dominated by the Ndigbo raceeventually was in alliance with theNational Party of Nigeria and both formedthe government. And before the end of thefirst term, there were crises between thetwo parties, leading to the eventualwithdrawal of some ministers.

Governors from the Unity Party ofNigeria, UPN, Peoples Redemption Party,PRP, and the Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP,met and attempted to form a forumexpected to lead to a new political party.

These efforts, however, failed over thechoice of its presidential candidatebetween Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe.

This crack had a further debilitatingeffect on the parties, especially the PRPand NPP, as the PRP eventually lostimportant states.

There are many cases in Africa wherepolitical parties were formed asopposition, but the leaders of such partiesagreed to serve in the cabinet of theincumbent party whenever they areopportuned.

The consequence of the personalisticnature of parties is that they are not likelyto become institutionalised as

organisations. Instead, the party leadersuse the party to mobilize sufficientgoodwill from the electorates in order tobargain with other party-leaders for thesharing of public goods.

Another chronic problem of theopposition parties in many Africantransitional democracies is their failureto forward distinct policy alternatives tothe voters.

Political parties which are led by singleindividual leaders usually do not offeralternative policies to the voters, butemphasize the ability of the oppositionparty leaders to run the government“better” than the incumbent party and thegovernment leaders.

These types of political parties do notoffer policy alternatives that will bringabout enduring stability. Most of thepolitical parties are short-lived, bereft oflong history and experience. Therefore, thevoters do not have any chance to evaluateopposition parties’ achievements overtime.

Women and youth are widelyunderrepresented in many African

opposition political parties. This is truenot only to the opposition partiesthemselves, but also to the incumbentparties. Just a few women have beenidentified with the Nigeria’s mergingparties.

In Mozambique, opposition parties

fielded only few women candidates in the1994 election compared to the rulingparty, FRELIMO, which fielded 130candidates and by mid 1999, only 11 percent of the cabinet ministers in Africa werewomen.

Financing political parties is usuallyproblematic and controversial everywherein the world. In emerging democracies,foreign funding is sometimes viewed asan attempt to influence the outcome ofnational elections and the directions ofpolitical parties.

In this case, foreign funding is regardedas something that violates the basicprinciple of democracy. Many ambitiousindividuals would explore such lapses toestablish political parties as a short cut torapid personal wealth. Foreign fundingmight be necessary, but it should not betainted and tied to models from outside.

There are many instances where theopposition parties boycott elections evenif the elections are declared “free and fair”just to discredit the incumbents, mostimportantly when they realise that theirchance of winning is very low.

Between 1990 and 2001, almost 30 percent of all elections in Sub-Saharan Africawere boycotted by at least one oppositionparty. However, in those elections, whichwere declared “free and fair”, the losersoften accepted only 40 per cent of theoutcome.

Despite the unpleasant Africanexperience, the relevance of oppositionsin the entrenchment of a virile democracycannot be over-emphasized. They remainthe veritable yardstick to gauge theperformance of governments for betterservice delivery. They should be vanguardsfor the establishment of purposefulgovernance.

Any serious nation that is poised fordevelopment must be ready to learn fromits past mistakes with a view to forgingahead. Hence, if there is any genuine effortat looking back and correcting what wentwrong, such efforts should be appreciatedand embraced.

Continued from pg.17

Concluded

The antidoteto militancyand terrorismis in aprincipled andmore equitabledistribution ofthe nationalwealth; therecan be no socialpeace withouteconomicjustice

Many of theopposition parties inAfrica are establishedaround individualpersonalities; thesekinds of parties facesplit wheneveranother rising starchallenges thefounder or the leaderof the party

CMYK


CMYK

44 —44 —44 —44 —44 — Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6 MONDAY, MAY 6 MONDAY, MAY 6 MONDAY, MAY 6 MONDAY, MAY 6,,,,, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

CURRENTLY, according tothe World Health

Organisation, WHO, Nigeriahas the highest burden ofinfant and child deaths frompneumonia and otherpneumococcal disorders inAfrica and is second only toIndia in the world.

Pneumonia is still the world’sbiggest killer of children underthe age of five and researchshows that most cases ofpneumococcal diseases arequite preventable and treatablewith existing tools, such asvaccines.

When asked to mention thegreatest challenge topneumococcal vaccination inNigeria, Dr. Taiwo Ladapo, aconsultant paediatrician at theLagos University TeachingHospital, LUTH, Idi Araba,Lagos, did not hesitatementioning funding.

“Right now, the greatestchallenge to pneumococcalvaccination in Nigeria isfunding,” she told VanguardHealth Features. in aninterview.

“Although there are generalfactors that limit vaccination allover the world, such as problemof accessibility, electricity,adequate storage, etc., apartfrom these, the greatestchallenge has been making thefunds available. When the rightpolitical will is generated, andfunds are available, thevaccines will also be available,”she asserted.

Ladapo, a specialist innephrology (kidney defects), isone of those keenly pushing foradoption the pneumococcalvaccine into Nigeria’s routineimmunisation schedule.

An experienced frontlinescientist who has doneextensive work onimmunisation in Nigeria,including effects of the

Funding is greatest challenge topneumococcal vaccination — LADAPO

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

A COMPREHENSIVEsix-year plan to end

polio through strengtheningimmunisation systems andvaccinating one billionchildren has been presentedby the Global PolioEradication Initiative, GPEI.

Nigeria’s Minister of Statefor Health, Dr. MuhammadAliyu Pate, and other globalleaders who gathered at theGlobal Vaccine Summit, heldin Abu Dhabi, the UnitedArab Emirates, expressedconfidence about the plan toachieve a lasting polio-freeworld by 2018.

At the event, close to three-quarters of the plan’sprojected US$5.5 billion costover six years was pledgedto support efforts towardseradicating all types of poliostrains from the surface overthe nest three years.

The budget requiressustaining current yearlyspending to eradicate polio. Itincludes the costs of reachingand vaccinating more than 250million children multiple timesevery year, monitoring andsurveillance in Nigeria andmore than 70 other countries,and securing the infrastructurethat can benefit other healthand developmentprogrammes.

Main objectives of the planinclude: poliovirus detection/interruption; immunisationsystems strengthening andOPV withdrawal; containmentand certification; and legacyplanning.

Worldleaderspledge toend polioby 2018

standardised measures are inplace to guarantee that everychild is immunised. Thereshould be a body in place tomonitor all these. For instance,if a child has not beenvaccinated at the age of five,there should be repercussions.It may take a while, but we willget there,

Although Ladapo is worriedabout Nigeria’s unpredictablepolitical climate, she isoptimistic, however, that if thecurrent political momentum issustained, there will be greatadvances in Nigeria.

“Evidence has shown thereis massive reduction in burdenof pneumococcal disorderswherever the pneumococcalvaccine has been introducedand coverage is adequate. Forinstance, in 1998 when the USintroduced pneumococcalvaccine, they were recording 90deaths per 100,000.

“By 2009, the burden hadbeen cut to 30 deaths per100,000. If we look at this trendwe can be rest assured thatwhere coverage is adequateand vaccines are available,certainly there will be reductionin under-five deaths and thiswill contribute to attainment ofMDG 4.

pneumococcal and measlesvaccines, Ladapo has strongconviction that every childdeserves to be given thepneumococcal vaccine,irrespective of cost.

“Pneumococcal immunisationnot yet in our routine

education campaigns.thatwould address cultural andtraditional beliefs,, as well asdangers and effects of vaccinesand their acceptability.

She also talked about Nigeriadeveloping a decisive policy on

immunisation schedulealthough there are plans tobegin that this year (August)

“The pneumococcal vaccineis available, but it is not free.Those who want it now mustbuy it, and this leaves a windowopen for continued infection ofchildren whose parents cannotafford it.”

Further, Ladapo harped onthe essence of political will,private sector partnership,support from stakeholders,and awareness.

“As much as more awarenessis being generated now thanbefore, still, more needs to bedone to raise awareness andadvocacy. A commendablemilestone was the NationalVaccine Summit in Abujawhich had all the stakeholdersin attendance. But we need todo more.

She tasked the media to comeup with strong, creative health

immunisation. “Governmentshould come up with a decisiveimmunistaion policy. Thediversity of Nigerianotwithstanding, all thechildren must be immunised.

“We should tow the line ofdeveloped countries where

•Dr. Taiwo Ladapo

THE survival of the female set of triplets (above) is currently hanging in

the balance because their parents are con-fronted by abject poverty.So desperate is the situation that theirfather, Aroh John, an unemployed youngman is crying out to Nigerians and theworld at large for help. Hear his plea: “I cannot cater for thisprecious gift of children that God has be-stowed upon us. Even before their birthon September 12, 2012, we hardly hadenough to eat. Life has been terribly dif-ficult since their birth,” lamented John,who said he caters for his family with thestipends he makes from being an

Alabaru (load carrier) in the market.But for benevolence of those around whodonated gifts such as money, pampers andbaby milk,he said the triplets would havelong starved to death.“I really need help. I am calling on govern-ment and all those with a good heart to cometo my aid. I will be grateful for any helprendered no matter how little. I want to takecare of my children and I don’t want to be anuisance. I don’t want to throw my childrenaway due to frustration. Please hear my cryand come to my aid.”If you wish to assist the triplets, contact08098457148 or 07035206298 or send yourdonations to Emmanuel Aroh, FidelityBank 6040355804.

Help save these triplet!

•The triplets

BY CHARLYN IKPE

CMYK


CMYK


CMYK

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard CLASSIFIED

ENEM—I, formerlyknown andaddressed as MissChiamaka MaryannEnem, now wish to beknown andaddressed as Mrs.Chiamaka MaryannChukwuka. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

EGWUE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas JosephPeremobowei Egwue,now wish to be knownand addressed asJoseph PeremoboweiFarquah. All formerdocuments remainvalid. US Embassy,Nigeria and generalpublic please take note.

AFUN—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OluwasayoOlayemi Afun, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Oluwasayo OlayemiOlusegun. All formerdocuments remainvalid. University ofPort Harcourt andgeneral public pleasetake note.

Confirmation of NameThis is to confirm thatthe name, OrikaAdiela Sonny, refers toone and the sameperson as OrikeAdiela, now wish tobe known andaddressed as OrikeAdiela Sonny. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

M U O N A N U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissNjideka MaryMuonanu, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.Agbo Mary Njideka.All former documentsremain valid. MNGlobal Ventures Ltdand general publicplease take note.

C H I B I K O — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissChibiko NgoziBlessing, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Orji Ngozi Blessing.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

NWOKE-DIKE—I,formerly known andaddressed as MissBlessing Chinonye Nwoke-Dike, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Blessing ChinonyeOhiaeri. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

UGOJI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Ugoji ReginaNgozi, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Regina UgojiOlarewaju. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

AGU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Agu VivianNkechinyere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Vivian NkechinyereEric Chuks Erue. Allformer documentsremain valid. ZenithBank Plc and generalpublic please takenote.

OGUDO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss OgudoKimberly Nwakaego,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Ayodele-JosephKimberly Nwakaego.All former documentsremain valid. PostPrimary EducationBoard, Asaba, UNNand general publicplease take note.

SINI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Sini E. Ladi,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Ahamefule Esther L.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

AKATU—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Cynthia EneAkatu, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. Cynthia EneDeji Nwokoro. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

OFO—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss FeliciaEmonena Ofo, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Felicia EmonenaUtiome. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

A K U B U E N Y I — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissAkubuenyi Comfort,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Anochie ComfortMesariba. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

EMUOPHEDARO —I,formerly known andaddressed as MissEmuophedaro EnduranceAkpevwe, now wish to beknown and addressed asMrs. OnwuegbuzieEndurance Akpevwe. Allformer documents remainvalid. Delta StateUniversity TeachingHospital, Oghara;National Association ofNurses and Mid-wives(NANNM) and generalpublic please take note.

S O W O R E — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissSowore OlusolaElizabeth, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Okafor OlusolaElizabeth. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU RL A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D

M E D I A L I M I T E D ( L A G O S O F F I C E ) K I O S K4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

01- 8737025

ADVERTHOTLINE

KASALI—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss RashidatLadunni Kasali , nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Rashidat AlbertEsoghene Ekedayen.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.


CMYK

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

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

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

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard,,,,, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MAY 6,MAY 6,MAY 6,MAY 6,MAY 6, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 — 49 — 49 — 49 — 49 — 49

By Richard EromoselePISCES; Provided you don’t allow mid-morning bluesto get better off you will eventually live up to expectationat work. Take good care of your health, please.

ARIES; Many of you may be tempted and give in tothe urge to gamble either with love or other importantissue to the detriment of your cause. Be practical.

TAURUS; This is not the right time to take happeningsalong your career line for granted. Prepare for importantdomestic challenge. Keep your family secrets.

GEMINI; You may over inflate your ego to theresentment of people that matter. Watch what you dowith money before 12.31pm. Try to be more diplomatic.

CANCER; If care is not taken you would misleadothers before 12.31pm while you are close to minor butcostly mistakes from 12.31pm. Be wise with money.

LEO; After initial confusion before 1pm you find yourbearing and assert yourself but you will need to prepareto take care of oppositions that may come up suddenly.

VIRGO; It is important you don’t allow friends misleadyou before 12.31pm no matter how genuine theirintention. Watch what you do with your health.

LIBRA; Take it easy along your career/business lineduring the morning period so that costly mistakes willnot make things difficult for. Take your social lifeseriously.

SCORPIO; What may look like a very good advicefrom younger members within your base of operationmay eventually lead to avoidable trouble.

SAGITTARIUS; Miscalculation is possible before12.31pm that is why you will need to be as practical aspossible and refuse to take people for grantedthroughout.

CAPRICORN; Yes it is good to take partnership relatedissue seriously but priority attention must be given tomoney. Watch what you tell others before 12.31pm.

AQUAIUS; If you take your new ideas too seriouslythey would mislead you. But taken good advice fromyour influential friends can prove helpful. As the Moonfluctuates during AM period it is important you practicaltill after 12.31pm.

Analyse my healthplease!!!

Dear Joshua,I ma interested in your daily analysis in Vanguard

Newspapers. The truth is your daily horoscopecolumn always work for me and now I just cant dowithout reading my Star in your papers.

My believe is since you can be as accurate aspossible writing daily horoscope you are in a betterposition to analyse my health which is veryimportant to me. I want to know which area(s) ofmy body should be taken more seriously.

Bolaji, Benin.

Dear Bolaji.According to your natal horoscope you have gone

above danger zones of your life health-wise. Butthen what you will find here-under will be ofbenefit. Thanks for your commendation

Opposition between the Sun (an indicator of basicself-hood) and difficult Saturn during your birthhour pointed to a very tough beginning in life butluckily for you both Spiritual Neptune in powerfulScorpio and steady Pluto in healthy Virgo wereat positive angles to your natal Sun thus, yourchances of surviving are more than the delicateones. More so as your natal Sun and Moon aremembers of strongest Star signs-health wise.

Certainly Saturn must have brought you a fewnumber of health related challenges raging fromskin, bone, sometimes the stomach and importantlyheadache . Since you were able to survive infancyand middle age you have very good chances ofliving to a very old age. While the ailments statedhere can easily be managed by yourself oneimportant organ of your body that must be managedby medical expert is your HEART because of manyplacement in heart related Star sign. This is not tosay you must have heart problem but here is anorgan you in particular must take very seriously.Yes fever is common in Africa and today fear ofSTDs is the beginning of good health. STDs arementioned here because of your natal planets issexual Scorpio. Mind you nothing fatalistic here,but mere warnings.

Who do you magnify?THERE is this songI love to sing even

when my voice is notfriendly, it goes thus“magnify the Lord,oh’ magnify the Lord,the Lord is able”. Myfriend let me ask youa question: who doyou magnify in your

life, your problem,your challenges oryour God?

The truth is thatmany of usu n k n o w i n g l ymagnify ourproblem. Yet, we

profess to be childrenof God. If we trulybelieve in our God,we will magnify Himabove every otherthing in our life,including ourproblem. Or don’t

you know that eachtime you place yourproblem above God,you are belittlingHim?

Magnify the Lord.Play down yourproblem. The Lord isabove.

Think about it!


NIGERIANS from allwalks of life have

continued to express shock atthe sudden death of acecolumnist, Chief Pini JasonOnyegbaduo, Saturdaymorning, with former VicePresident, Alhaji AtikuAbubakar, describing it as“another haemorrhage ofdistinguished professionalsthat has befallen the country atlarge and journalism inparticular.”

Similarly, Edo State Governor,Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,described the sudden passageof the celebrated writer as a sadloss, while his Delta Statecounterpart, EmmanuelUduaghan lamented that hedied at a time when his wisecounsel and respectedforesight on national issueswere most needed. In astatement issued on his behalfby his media office in Abuja onSunday, the former vice presi-dent said the late veteran col-umnist had distinguished him-self as a fearless writer that nev-er hesitated to be on the sideof what was right, regardlessof whether it was pleasing tothe ears of the powers that beor not.

According to Atiku, whetheryou agreed with the late Jasonor not, you must not fail to re-spect his courage of convictionand the bluntness with whichhe expressed those convictionsin his servings in his Vanguardcolumn. The former vice pres-ident also commended the ex-traordinary humility of the lateMr. Jason and the passion with

Atiku, Oshiomhole, Uduaghan,others mourn Pini JasonBY MIKE EBONUGWO, JUDENJOKU, CHIDI NKWOPARA,AUSTIN OGWUDA, GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE & SIMONEBEGBULEM

Vanguard newspapers.

Pini Jason aquintessential writer —Oshiomhole

In a condolence messagesigned by his Chief PressSecretary, Mr Peter Okhiria,C o m r a d e O s h i o m h o l e

journalism profession but to allof us, his admirers. Icommiserate with Uncle SamAmuka, the Publisher ofVanguard Newspapers who,undoubtedly, has lost a goodfriend; the entire Vanguardfamily and indeed everymember of the Journalismprofession on this sudden loss.I pray God to grant hisimmediate family the fortitudeto bear the loss and for thedeceased to find rest in theLord’s bosom,” the Governorsaid..

He was a consummatewriter —Uduaghan

His Delta State counterpart,Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghandescribed the late Pini Jason asa consummate writer whosepassion for the journalismprofession was unmistakableand a source of pride to thosewho read every week. Instatement signed by his PressSecretary, Mr. Felix Ofou,Governor Uduaghan lamented that the celebratedcolumnist died when his wise

counsel and respectedforesight on national issueswere most needed. He notedthat it will be difficult to fill thevoid left behind by the ImoState-born journalist.

Celebratedcolumnist ”You did not have to agree

with everything he wrote. Youmay even think he was biasedsometimes about what he wrote.But you could never miss thefact that he was very passionateabout his passion. His sense ofhistory also made him acompelling read. And I daresay he has left a void verydifficult to fill,” he stated.Governor Uduaghanexpressed his heartfeltcondolences to the Publisher ofVanguard, Mr Sam Amuka, themanagement and staff of thenewspaper as well as thefamily of the deceased on theirreplaceable loss.

Ohakim mourns himImmediate past Governor of

Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim,

whom the late Pini Jason servedas a Special Adviser, describedhis death as “a rude shock,especially as we were nevertold that he was sick.” Ohakim,who made his feelings knownin a telephone interview, alsolamented that he has lost a verydear friend and brother in PiniJason.

“I am as shocked as I amtotally confused over thereported death of my very goodfriend and brother, Pini Jason.He worked closely with meand religiously for the state. Hissudden death isindescribable.” While callinghim “a rare gem, who dideverything to print his name onthe sands of time,” ChiefOhakim, however, lamentedthat Jason died barely three orfour days after Dr. AloysiusAguwa, former Commissionerfor Petroleum andEnvironment, died in a ghastlyroad traffic crash.

“I recall that I went out of myway to invite quality human

which he was committed to histrade. He recalled that the de-ceased returned to his columnwriting after serving in the ad-ministration of former Gover-nor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State,saying that few Nigerianswould have demonstrated suchhumility once they had inhaledthe aroma of power.

He extended his condolenc-es to the family of the late dis-tinguished columnist and the

described Pini Jason as aquintessential writer in a classof his own. “He was awordsmith who used the rightcoinages to convey his messagewhich the high and low foundendearing. I always lookedforward to reading his robustand incisive columns in theVanguard every week, as healways had something new andrefreshing to offer. His death isa big blow not only to the

You did not have to agree witheverything he wrote. You may even thinkhe was biased sometimes about what hewrote. But you could never miss the factthat he was very passionate about hispassion

,

,

Pini Jason...a rare gem

Continues on page 51

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013 — 51

he have died? We spoke four days ago, I was tocall him. I just didn’t call. Well, let’s be sure ofthis news.” Much later, Tony Nnachetta, TNT, aswe call him, asked if it was true Pini was gone. Iconfirmed that. “Why did he die?” I held the phonepondering an answer only to realise he had cutoff the line. His fears confirmed, he had no fur-ther words. When I thought the day was over, Igot a final call from Onuma Kalu, AdministrativeSecretary of Ndigbo Lagos. I was waiting for hiscondolences, he gave none. “Please confirm tome tomorrow if it is true,’ he said. “It is true,” Ireplied. “No, let us wait till tomorrow. You cannottell me it is true.”

The pains cut deep as the nation mourns one ofits foremost columnists. People have been callingto share their times with the man many mainlycalled Pini J. They are unanimous in their ap-praisal of his craftsmanship. “I cannot forget hisanger that seeped through every line in his re-

that permitted his gusty appetite for debates.He was passionate about resolving issues whichhe would intellectualise to uncover deeper per-spectives. If you read him often, you wouldknow the ideas he sold were from solid back-grounds on his subjects. However, if you raisedan issue, he would dissect it on the spot. I oftenwondered where he got his ideas.

A voracious reader, Pini cited authorities withan ease that ensured his discourses were notpedantic. There was often something to learnfrom him, whether ancient or modern. “I got toknow Pini J in The Guardian. When he even-tually moved to Vanguard, I kept pace withhim and his engaging column. He was a con-summate writer and commentator of profounddepth and wisdom. Witty, bold and unsparing,Pini J was a versatile commentator with nation-alistic fervour. Pini J’s death is a painful loss tojournalism and Nigeria. May his good soul rest

Pini Jason: The Mourning After

By IKEDDY ISIGUZO,Chairman Editorial Board

beings to serve in my cabinet.That was how I brought Dr.Aguwa from the United Statesof America and Pini Jason fromLagos,” Ohakim said.Continuing, the formerGovernor said: “It is true I amtoday, grieving over their deathbut I have no reason to regretever bringing them to serve thestate. They were verydependable”.

Pini was a man ofintegrity —Orji UzorKalu

Former Abia State Governorand Publisher of SunNewspapers, Dr. Orji UzorKalu, also expressed deepsorrow over the death ofprominent columnist. In astatement by his SpecialAdviser, Oyekunle Oyewumi,Dr. Uzor Kalu stated that evenin the season when a lot of menof integrity were losing theirheads, the late Pini Jason kepthis integrity intact and thisreflected in his writings.

He described the prominentcolumnist who died on Satur-day, as one of the few con-sciences of the nation, adding

Senator Ayogu who is theChairman of the SenateCommittee on Works said.

Journalism impresariois no more —DeltaInformationCommissioner

Also reacting to Pini’s death,the Delta State Commissionerfor Information, Chike Ogeah,described him as a journalismimpresario who exhibited ahigh sense of duty andcommitment to his country. Ina statement yesterday, Ogeahdescribed the death of theVanguard columnist as a lossto the journalism profession.

His words: “Every democraticculture is nurtured by the deepinsights and analyses of newsand political developments bycommentators. Pini Jason wasone such writer for Nigeria.

His death is a sad loss not onlyto journalism and the NigeriaUnion of Journalists, NUJ, butthe entire country. At this timeof Nigeria’s search for a perfectunion and enduring democraticculture, Pini Jason’sprofessionalism, candour anddeep thoughts will be sorelymissed. I had the privilege of

THE phones have not ceasedringing with an annoying

ferocity since the news that PiniJason passed on Saturday. Thesad thing about it all is recount-ing the fact all over - some wouldjust believe it - Pini is gone. OnSaturday there were momentswhen I checked who I shared thenews with; in case it was a falsealarm. How I wish it was!

There were dramatic momentslike when Chuks Iloegbunam, aformer Vanguard columnist bad-gered me with questions as if theanswers could change things. “Ihave just parked,” he was driv-ing. “Who told you? How could

sponse to the attacks on Chinua Achebe’s ThereWas A Country,” Paul Bassey, Vanguard sportscolumnist said. “I text him after reading the pieceand he called; I can still remember his laughteras we discussed the piece.” Hours after I intimat-ed my class mate Iheanyi Agada, through whomI met Pini, of his passage, he bravely penned thistribute from Texas, where he currently lives.

“I am heart broken! Jason Onyegbaduo wasmy mentor and friend. I knew him all my life. Hewas in the same class as my elder brother at StAndrew’s CMS School, Obizi. He was alwaysnoticeable; his school uniform looked cleaner,better ironed, crispy. He had a peculiar hair styleand the brightest teeth when he laughed. Andboy, he was very smart. And then, he disappeared.We later heard his elder brother who was in theNigerian Navy had taken him to Lagos where heenrolled in the elite CMS Grammar School, Bar-iga. He graduated with Grade One. Pini later in-vited me to stay with him in Lagos and look for ajob after my graduation from high school. He alsoextended similar gestures to me during the civilwar.

“I still remember the joy he showed when I toldhim of my admission to study Journalism at theInstitute of Management & Technology, Enugu.He threw one fantastic send-off party for me. Hewas always ready to help people; family andfriends alike. He will be terribly missed. Myprayers go to his wife, Oby, his son and daugh-ters. May God rest his soul.” Pini touched livesthrough relationships he built in the media. Hewas widely published. He worked for platforms

very sharp mind, one who did not know how tobend the truth or hide his feelings. His death isanother sharp blow on the column of coura-geous, honest newspaper writers. May his soulrest in peace,” Andy Ezeani of the Indepen-dent National Electoral Commission, INEC,said.

Pini belonged to all. Everyone who readhim shared that intimacy that is unique

between the engaging writer and his audienc-es. “This is very sad news. He was a stout de-fender of peoples’ causes. I never met him inperson but through his writings I feel I knowhim. May his soul rest in peace,” said Com-modore O. C. Medani of the NigerianNavy.

Oyatomi Kunle: Editor, it is sad, so sad tohear of the death of a consummate journalistand prolific columnist, Pini Jason. Death, whereis thy sting? May the Lord give his family thefortitude to bear the great loss and grant himeternal rest.

Ladipo Adamolekun: Please accept myheartfelt condolences on Pini Jason’s passing.He was a most valued member of Vanguardfamily and will be sorely missed. May his soulrest in peace. Amen.

Obong Victor Attah:Mideno, it’s such apity about Pini Jason. He was one journalistwhose logic was always so persuasive andwhose opinion was not influenced with money.May God rest his soul in peace and bless thiscountry with others like him.

in perfect peace with theLord and may God consolehis family,” Afolabi Adesan-ya, Director General, Nige-rian Film Corporation, said.

More tributes: “What aloss! Pini was a

meeting him in 1986 during histime at This Week Magazinethrough my friend, NdukaObaigbena and my impressionsof him as a writer that valiantlysought a country where justiceand equity reign have beenreinforced over the years.

I pray for eternal rest for hissoul and may the ideals heespoused through his weeklycolumn find a new set ofdisciples within Nigeria’smedia community.”

Mr. Yushau Shuaib, the manwhom the late Pini Jason wrotea letter to in his last columnpublished on Tuesday, April 30,also joined to pay tribute to thelate columnist. “Pini Jason wasnot only a detribalisedpersonality, he stronglybelieved in our Nigerianess andoneness of our great nation. Hishumility and courage wereclearly reflective on the titlesand contents of his topics.

I regret my inability to see himin life or speak to him on phoneafter his literary intervention onthe place of activism in civilservice, on the one side andwhether one could take intowriting as a hobby. He was oneof those great columnists someof us read and study while wewere still in school We couldn’tjudge him by the sound of hisname because he was truly anationalist, peace lover, humbleand veteran columnist,” hewrote.

that he excelled in his chosenprofession. Kalu said: “Pini Ja-son’s death is quite lamentable,especially at this time when suchintervention as he makes withhis column is quite needed. In-asmuch as we cannot decide forGod when any man should die,his death at this point in time isquite painful.” Kalu commiser-ated with the family of Onyeg-baduo and wished him eternalrest.

He was one ofjournalism’s finest —Ayogu Eze

Senator Ayogu Eze, who onceedited the defunct PlatformMagazine with Pini as a regularcolumnist, said he wasshattered by the news of PiniJason’s death. “It is reallyshocking and very sad. “NdaPini” as we used to call him, wasone of journalism’s finest.Above all, he had above averagegrasp of the issues of the day.

In the field of politics,economics as well as sociology,Pini had the intellectual clarityto comprehend and break verycomplex issues down, He wasalways one of the first to writeon issues that touch directly onthe people; he was a trueNigerian, a true Igboman anda first class professional. Weshall miss him very sorely andwe pray God Almighty to granthis soul eternal rest and grantthe family he left behind thefortitude to bear the loss,”

Atiku, Oshiomhole, Uduaghan,others mourn Pini Jason

Pini touched lives through relationshipshe built in the media. He was widelypublished. He worked for platforms thatpermitted his gusty appetite for debates ,

Pini Jason was not only adetribalised personality, he stronglybelieved in our Nigerianess andoneness of our great nation ,

,

,

Pini Jason...a true Nigerian

Continues from page 50


,

,

Youth as a foundationfor development

Yes, sports is notabout winning

always. You alsolose some

PERMIT me to go back to Marakech, Morocco,venue of the just ended 10th Africa Under 17

Championship.There is no gainsaying the fact that leaving

Morocco without the cup was painful, very painful.For those of us who believed that all the Eagletsneeded to win the cup was to appear in Morocco,the loss was painful. It could have been devastatingbut for the group defeat handed to the team by CoteDivoire, a defeat that helped to bring the team downto earth and prove that they were humans after all,despite a string of twenty eight matches withoutdefeat.

In an earlier interaction with the coaches I likenedthem to the Barcelona of world football and thatnevertheless, Barcelona does get beaten!

In mourning the loss of the Eaglets we fail to givecredit to the Elephanteaux ( Baby Elephants ) whocame to Morocco with three players based abroadwhile our team was hundred per cent domestic,including five that are still in secondary school. CoteD’Ivoire have under their belt, four Under 17 WorldCup qualifications, including the last one in Mexicoin 2011 which Nigeria did not qualify. (The MaigariNFF gets credit for qualifying us for this competitionfor the first time in four years)

In Mexico 2011, playing in Group F, Cote Divoirewere runners up behind Brazil and in SouleymaneCoulibaly produced the competition’s highest goalscorer ( Golden Boot ) with 9 goals in just 4 matches.This also means that Cote D’ Ivoire also played upto semi final level in the African qualifiers in 2011!That is the Cote Divoire that we took for granted, ateam that emerged from a country where youthfootball development has become legendary in Africa.

In Cote Divoire, football academies are what theyare, regulated, controlled and licensed to operate withspecific curricula that has produced stars over time,stars that have gone ahead to mature into prolificworld recognized players for the national team, thedreaded Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire.

You cannot say the same for Nigeria where the NFFis yet to clamp down on the indiscriminate

establishment of mushroom and pathetic contraptionscalled academies, where unsuspecting children arelured into slavery under the guise of lucrative footballcareer overseas.

I digressIt is true that we have won the FIFA U-17 trophy

three times, yet I ask, of what benefit to this country?Let us take the 2009 competition as a case study.After we were beaten in the final by Switzerland, itwas only proper to upgrade such a successful teamto the U-20. But FIFA records have it that less thanthirty percent of the Silver winning 2009 squad wereable to make it to the U-20.

Without dwelling further on this classic case of ourephemeral age successes, I take a lot of positives

from Marrakech, including the fact that we have inour hands and for the first time too, a group ofplayers who have more than eight years of footballin them, eight years that have to be managed andstructured to the advantage of our country’s football.

In taking this position, let me address the issue ofthe failed test that saw the disqualification of threeEaglets. The MRI Test is a funny development, onethat passes you today and fails you tomorrow. TheMRI test does tell you how long it will take you tobe U-17.( Don’t laugh)

Even before the African qualifiers the NFFsubjected all the players in camp to the test and itis no more a secret that over 80 percent of theplayers then put together by Manu and hiscolleagues failed the test. This led to this new cropof players who no one can fault as far as “young” isthe word in contest.

But the Morocco experience also means that beforethe World Cup in in United Arab Emirates in Octoberwe must subject our boys to a fresh test of MRI scansbecause I am convinced some of those playerscleared in April in Morocco may just fall overboardin October.

I have also read about the coaches talking aboutworking on the team. They have no choice. Apartfrom the depleted bench, the innocent butdevastating inhouse battle for highest goals scorerdiadem, the Eaglets need a defender with imposingpresence, an attacker who can let fly from both legsoutside the eighteen, a midfielder with free kickexpertise and a goalkeeper who can manage hisdefenders and organize his defense line.……..

The Eaglets must learn to continue to listen to theircoaches and be reminded again and again aboutthe Cote D’ Ivoire lessons.

Yes, sports is not about winning always. You alsolose some. The Eaglets story excites me, it is a cleardeparture from the past, one in which I will not mindlosing a cup as long as I will be guaranteed a futurefor the sport.

See you next week.

Siasia

he should be given thebenefit of the doubt bygiving him a secondchance. From then on, itbecame a matter ofBaribote must go.

“Besides, I was thesecond vice president ofthe Nigeria FootballFederation by virtue of mybeing the chairman ofNPL and as such Ideserved to know how theincome and expenditureof the Federation werecarried out. I went to theaccount to demand for thestatement of account of thefootball house and this didnot go down well with

Continues from BP NFF and the board andthe next thing was to gangup against me with anallegation that I haveembezzled fundbelonging to the NigeriaPremier League.

That is my sin. I havetold them that I am readyfor probe. I stand to faceEFCC because onecannot embezzle moneywhere there is no money.”

The chairman of NembeCity FC said he is notafraid of probe, noting thatas stakeholder inNigerian football, hecannot run away from anyaction that bothers on hisoffice."

Mayweather Jnr cameout of prison to elevateboxing to an art.

To describe thismaestro simply as thewelterweight championof the world is to do himan enormous disserviceof understatement.

To call him the bestboxer on the planet iscloser to reality butMayweather transcendsthat comparison, also.

KlitschkoContinues from BP He made a rough,

tough challenger withsix world titles of his ownat four weight levels tohis credit look like alumbering ox.

Robert Guerrero wasso massively outclassedthat the 117-111 scoringby the three judges alsosold Mayweather short.

On my cardMayweather droppedonly the second round ina 119-109 masterclass.

THE President ofthe Nigeria Olympic

Committee, NOC, Engr.Sani M. Ndanusa hascongratulated MrMitchell Obi on hiselection as President ofAIPS Africa and VicePresident of the worldbody of sports journalists

NOC congratulates Mitchell Obiin far away Sochi, Russia.

Obi, a veteran andversatile Journalist withenvious credentials ofcovering seven WorldCup finals, six OlympicGames, two Wimbledonchampionships and nofewer than 14 African Cupof Nations finals, World

Athletics and Swimmingchampionships amongmany others has thusbecome the first Nigerianto get to the height ofInternational Sports PressAssociation, AIPS.

“Certainly, your victoryin Russia is a testimony tothe confidence reposed inyou by Journalists all overthe world and it confirmsyour outstandingleadership qualities andcompetence, fearlessness,intelligence, diligence

and your mastery of manylanguages”, Ndanusawrote in hiscongratulatory message.

•Obi

WARRI Wolvesyesterday de-

feated Atete FC througha controversial penaltyconverted by Gift At-ulewa five minutes fromtime.The match which

Warri Wolves win DeltaFederation Cup

was played at the WarriCity Stadium was full ofexciting moments untilthe controversial penal-ty which saw to the de-feat of the enterprisingAtete FC.

Milo Basketball: Benue, Kadunateams reach semi/final

PLAYERS of BenueState and Kaduna

proved their dominanceby qualifying for thesemi-final of theongoing Nestle MiloSecondary SchoolB a s k e t b a l lChampionship at theAkure TownshipStadium, Ondo State onSunday.

In the girls’ category,Government SecondarySchool, Gboko, Benueoutclassed GovernmentModel College, Bida 23-14 to set a date with hoststate, Ondo whose girlsfrom CAC Grammer

School Akure qualifiedas runner up in GroupA despite losing theirlast game 17-19 to Kebbigirls.

Also, Benue boys fromSt Joseph Secondary,School, Myimanoutshined Army DaySecondary School, BiriniKebbi 22-15 to set a clashwith GovernmentSecondary School,Maina, Nasarawa Statewho compounded thewoes of the weepingteam of the tournament,TCNN Staff SecondarySchool, Bukuru, Plateaustate 32-15.


CMYK

54— Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

CMYK


CMYK

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470;Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

e-mail: [email protected] to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

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

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

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

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

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

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

Siasia’s sack costme my job — Baribote

Klitschko, Mayweather win

Today’s Fixtures

EPL Sunderland v Stoke 8pmLA LIGA Getafe v Real Sociedad 9pm

EPLMan Utd 0 Chelsea 1Liverpool 0 Everton 0SERIE AUdinese 3 Sampdoria 1AC Milan 1 Torino 0Catania 3 Siena 0

Results

FORMER Chairmanof the Nigeria

Premier League, VictorRumson Baribote hasdisclosed that he wasremoved from officebecause he refused toendorse the sack ofCoach Samson Siasia ashandler of the nationalteam.

Baribote said followingSiasia’s inability toqualify Nigeria for the2012 Africa Cup ofNations held inEquatorial Guinea andGabon, he(Baribote) wasasked to endorse theNFF’s decision to sackthe Bayelsa-born sweatmerchant which herefused, “that was thegenesis of my sins”which culminating in hisremoval from office.

“This sin which theNigeria FootballFederation (NFF), isholding against me ledto my removal as theNPL chairman,” he said.

Baribote who is the

proprietor of Nembe CityFC, a Premier Leagueclubside, said becauseof his insistence on thetruth and being anapostle of doing thingsright, NFF felt if he wasallowed to continue asNPL chairman and asthe second vicepresident of the NFF, hewould rock the boat and

cause disharmonywithin the NFFleadership.

“When theyapproached me toendorse the sacking ofSiasia, I told them no.Although, the SuperEagles coach could notfulfill part of the contracthe signed. I told them

The representative of Governor Uduaghan of Delta State, Rt. Hon VictorOchie, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly (middle) Austin Jay-JayOkocha match coordinator (right) and Victor Ikpeba (left) at the DeltaState FA CUP finals between Warri Wolves FC and J-Atete FC at theWarri City Stadium, Warri Wolves won 1-0 . Photo; Henry Unini

W L A D I M I RKlitschko put

on a show for thewatching David Haye ashe stopped the unbeatenFrancesco Pianeta in sixrounds in theirheavyweight title fightin Mannheim.

The Ukrainian put hisplucky yet out of hisdepth challenger on thecanvas three times intotal, finishing the jobwith a punishing right

hand as he won for an18th successive time.

He knew Haye - backin pursuit of his andbrother Vitali’s beltsafter firming up his boutwith Manuel Charr -was commentating atringside, and showedthe British hopeful ofwhat is standing in hisway if he wants to get aworld title back.

Meanwhile, FloydContinues on Page 52

On target: Klitschko's right handdid the damage as he outclassedPianeta

Continues on Page 52

ACROSS3 Enquired (5)9 Recluse (6)10 Passionate (6)11 Flower (5)12 Genuine (4)15 Ripped (4)17 Stood (7)20 Colour (3)21 Outcoming (5)23 Way out (4)25 Record (4)26 Postpone (5)28 Fixed (3)30 Discounted (7)33 Paradise (4)35 Naked (4)36 Fiend (5)38 Ordain (6)39 Reiterate (6)40 String (5)

DOWN1 Beach (5)2 Trample (5)3 Help (3)4 Said (6)5 Simple (4)6 Parched (3)7 Singer (5)8 Endure (5)13 Penetrated (7)14 Clear (5)16 Responded (7)18 Dissuade (5)19 Shoot (3)22 Giant (5)24 Beverage (3)27 Revert (6)28 Shabby (5)29 Instruct (5)31 Adjusted (5)32 Demise (5)34 Masticate (4)36 Obtain (3)37 Shelter (3)

ACROSS: 1, Recess 5, Leaped 9, Opium10, Mangle 11, Ripped 12, Debit 14, Sore17, Dud 18, Here 20, Spear 22, Rated 23,Singlet 24, Piled 26, Peril 29, Acid 30, Leg32, Date 33, Pedal 35, Twined 36, Palate37, Egret 38, Regale 39, Defend.

DOWN: 1, Remiss 2, Centre 3, Sold 4, Speed5, Lurid 6, Emit 7, Puppet 8, Dodged 13,Bungled 15, Optic 16 Eased 18, Hated 19,Remit 21, Rid 22, Rep 24, Pastor 25, Living 27,Ravage 28, Legend 30, Ledge 31, Gaped 33,Peel 34, Late.

CMYK

nass dumps jonathan'ssupplementary budget

Documents

beautiful heart

beautiful picture

beautiful soul

better life

divine love

dear niece

dear god

dear friend waswith