nigerian observer 21 11 2013

1 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013THE NIGERIAN

INSTALLATION CEREMONY: Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, (left) being welcomed by hisDeputy, Dr. Pius Egberanmwen Odubu during the installation ceremony of Pa Manson Umweni Odubu,father of the Deputy Governor, as the Okaevbo of Urhomehe Community. Middle is Hon. AbubakarMomoh of the House of Representatives. Photo: MOSES OBOH.

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 38 NO.359• THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 • N100.00

MOTORINGPage 20

TIT BIT “The most vital lesson frompeople’s criticisms is; how toavoid being a slave toeverybody’s perception.”

- Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama

Understandingthe dynamics

INTERNATIONALFEATURES

Page 25Abortion law

Supreme Courtsplits on

hearing case

Engine coolingsystem

The Nigerian

Continues on page 2 Continues on page 2

Funeral for late CGS, Akhigbebegins tomorrow

FEC approves $100m for power in 3 states

NSCDC arrests 47pipeline vandals

Edo APC gets interim exco

Continues on page 2

Continues on page 2

Edo set to battle erosionmenace

Continues on page 2

BENIN CITY - The A1lProgressives Congress(APC), Edo StateChapter, has elected afive-man interim workingcommittee to pilot itstake-off in the State.

The pioneer workingcommittee is headed bythe former StateSecretary of defunctAction Congress ofNigeria (ACN) andObazelu of Benin

Kingdom, Chief Osaroldah, from Oredo LocalGovernment Area, while aformer national officer ofdefunct All NigerianPeoples Party (ANPP)from Owan East, Alhaji

Saliu Momoh emergedas Secretary.

A former Edo StateChairman of the NigeriaUnion of Journalists(NUJ) and Chairman of

ABUJA - The FederalExecutive Councilyesterday approved aloan of 100 milliondollars (about N15.7billion) from IndianImport Export Bank toboost power supply in

three states.Dr Yerima Ngama, the

Minister of State forFinance, disclosed thisafter the council meetingpresided over by VicePresident Namadi

Sambo.Ngama said that the

loan, to be taken by theFederal Government,

would be lent to CrossRivers, Enugu andKaduna states.

Specifically, Ngamasaid that 30 milliondollars (about N465million) would be given toCross-Rivers for thedevelopment of theCalabar independentPower Project.

He said that EnuguState government wouldget 40 million dollars(about N620 million) forthe electrification of 96communities.

The minister said theloan would be used forthe installation of 33KVAand 15KVA lines as wellas the distribution oftransformers and otheraccessories to the 96communities in the three

BENIN - CITY - TheEdo Command of theNigeria Security and CivilDefence Corps (NSCDChas said it arrested 47 oilpipeline vandals betweenJanuary and November.

The StateCommandant, Mr. ChikeIkpeamonwu, toldnewsmen in Benin Citythat the vandals werearrested at differentlocations across the statethrough the command

intelligence network.“Within one year of our

operations in the state,we have been able toarrest more than 47vandals, and alsolocated and destroyedseven illegal refineries inthe state.

“The illegal refinerieswere located at Fiafia-Zion-Gbelebu, in OviaSouth West LocalGovernment Area Ulokeand Agbede in Etsako

West Local GovernmentAreas of the state.

“We have also raidedwarehouses whereillegal petroleumproducts are beingstored and destroyedthem across the State.

“Within the year in

By KEN ABU

BENIN CITY – There are indications that thethreats posed by gully erosion sites across theState will soon be tackled. The indicationsemerged as the State Government incollaboration with World Bank through theNigeria Erosion and Watershed ManagementProject (NEWMAP) has put in place machineriesto give adequate attention to the gully erosionsites. The StateCommissioner forEnvironment and PublicUtilities, Prince ClemAgba made thedisclosure during the on-going ministerial briefingby the StateCommissioner at theChambers of the EdoState House ofAssembly. Prince Clem Agbastated that the stategovernment hassubmitted five proposedgully erosion sites to theNEWMAP for approval,noting that the StateGovernment has met allconditions for theeffective execution of theproject.

He stated that thedesigns for Ekenhuangully site and West moathave been completedand approved whileadvertisement has beenplaced in various mediafor the bidding of thecontract in line with theWorld Bank criteria. The Commissionerfurther disclosed thatthe World Bank team iscurrently reviewing thedesigns of Queen Edegully while the designfor Ewu-Ibore- EmuGully is on-going. Prince Agba statedthat the state has 108active gully erosionsites, pointing out thatthe Auchi – Oshogboge

gully erosion site is themost complicated innature with eight fingers. He noted that the StateGovernment has put in

place intervention line inturning the King’sSquare to a culturalCentre, while the RamatPark would be

transformed to arecreational Park. According to him anelectronic Billboard isbeing created at theKing’s square by certainTe lecommun ica t i onCompany in its bid tolightening up the area. Speaking on the WasteManagement Scheme,the Commissioner stated

that his ministry has putin adequate machineriesto make the operations ofthe scheme effective butnoted, however thatthere are legal issuesthat needed to beresolves betweengovernment andindependent wastemanagers.

BENIN CITY – Thefuneral programme forthe Late Chief ofGeneral Staff, Vice

Admiral Michael OkhaiAkhigbe begins

tomorrow, Friday,


Edo APC gets interim exco Obsequies for late Prof OmoOmoruyi begins today

News

Edo set to battle erosion menace

Continued from page 1


Funeral for late CGS, Akhigbe beginstomorrow Continued from page 1

NSCDC arrests 47 pipeline vandals Continued from page 1


FEC approves $100m for power in 3 states Urhomehe installs Chief

Odubu as OkaevboBy CLIFFORD AGBAJOR

Prof. Omo Omoruyi.

Late Admiral Mike Akhigbe

Oshiomhole suspendsWaste Mgt boss

ORHONMWON – Thefather of Edo State DeputyGovernor, Chief MansonUmweni Odubu has beeninstalled as the Okaevbo ofUrhomehe Community inOrhionmwon LocalGovernment Area of theState.

The Installation riteswhich climaxed with agrand reception for guests,friends, relations andpolitical associates from farand near was graced by theState Governor, ComradeAdams Oshiomhole and theDeputy Governor, Dr. PiusEgbranmwen Odubu.

The governor whosearrival electrified theatmosphere noted that GodAlmighty remains the solegiver of longevity.

He rejoiced with ChiefManson Umweni Odubuand his eldest son, Dr. PiusOdubu as he, (Manson)becomes the eldestmember of UrhomeheCommunity.

The Ohonsa of HolyAruosa Cathedral, HarrisonOkao noted that the deputygovernor’s father has agood character andreputation, hence hiselevation and investiture asthe Okaevbo of Urhomehe.

He urged othermembers of the communityto emulate Chief MansonOdubu’s exemplary life inorder to enjoy God’s gracein all ramifications.

Other guests and

associates of the Odubuswho spoke on theinstallation ceremonydescribed the event assignificant and worthcelebrating in view of thelife expectancy in thecountry.

Until his installation asthe Okaevbo of Urhomehewhich is divided intoAdesogbe and Evbuebenquarters, Chief MansonOdubu was the Odionwereof Urhomehe Community.

In tandem with thetradition of Benin Kingdom,the installation followed therecent endorsement by theBenin Monarch, His RoyalMajesty, Oba Erediauwa.

It was gathered that therecipient of the title mustnot only be the eldest manin the community, but alsomust be freeborn of thecommunity.

The installationceremony was attended byformer External AffairsMinister, Chief Tom Ikimi,former Minister of Scienceand Technology, Prof.Emmanuel Emovon, theSpeaker, Edo State Houseof Assembly, Hon. Uyi Igbe,some members of theHouse of Representatives,APC woman leader, Mrs.Modino Emovon, CivilCommissioners, past andserving council chairmen,political big shots,traditional rulers, palacechiefs as well as otherpersonalities acrossvarious states of thecountry.

defunct Congress forProgressive Change (CPC),Comrade Godwin Erhahonwas elected as PublicitySecretary.

An internationalbusinessman, Mr.Theophilus Okoh, (formerly

of ACN from Esan central)was elected Treasurer whilethe immediate past chairmanof ACN who is also formerspeaker of Edo State Houseof Assembly, BarristerThomas Okosun from EsanWest was elected OrganisingSecretary.

The five-man workingcommittee will lead thirty-oneother members of the StateInterim Executive Committeeto mobilise for membershipregistration that will befollowed by congresseswhere officers will be electedat polling units, wards, local

governments and Statelevels.

At its inaugural meetingyesterday, the working committeeresolved to set up threecommittees to take inventory ofthe assets of the defunct ACN,ANPP and CPC that merged tobecome APC in the State forproper harmonization andutilization.

Senatorial Zones of thestate.

He said that 30 milliondollars will be given toKaduna State government toaugment the resourcesneeded for the construction ofthe 70 Km transmission linefrom the Gurara Dam toKaduna industrial area.

Ngama said the fund wouldalso be used for theconstruction of 132 KVA and33KVA sub-stations for powersupply to the Kadunaindustrial area.

He added that 50communities in the statewould also benefit from solarelectricity project.

The minister said that thefacility, which is coming at aconcessionary rate, wastaken at 2 per cent interestrate to be repaid over a 10-year period with three yearsmoratorium.

He added that there wouldbe a commitment charge of0.5 per cent of undrawnbalance and 0.5 per cent forservice charge.

Ngama said that the facilityhad been approved by boththe National Assembly in theMedium Term borrowing plan,and by the benefiting statehouses of assembly.

“We believe that this facilitywill go a long way towardstransforming our industrialareas and other communitiesas part of Mr. President’scommitment to economictransformation agenda,’’ hesaid.

Ngama gave assurancethat the country would not beplunged into the era of hugeforeign debt with highservicing rate.

He said that the ratio of debtto GDP was just slightly less

than 20 per cent and that theloans taken by governmentwere geared towards thedevelopment of infrastructuralfacilities.

The minister explained thatthe credit facilities being takenby the administration weredifferent from the previousloans that led to the pile-up ofhuge foreign debt.

“Preponderant ofcommercial credits led to highinterest rates, making Nigeriato pay over 40 billion dollarsfor debt servicing.

“Under the current regime,government is gettingdevelopment loans alsoknown as multilateral andbilateral assistance,’’ he said.

Ngama said that domesticdebts put at about N600trillion was of greater concernto government.

He said the reason for thehigh domestic debt wasbecause of high interest ratecharged by local banks, whichhe put at about 19 per cent.The minister said thatbecause of the high interestrate on domestic loan it waspreferable to go forconcessionary foreign loans.

review, the command hasorganised training for corpsmembers in weapon handling,counter force and intelligencegathering amongst others,” hesaid.

Ikpeamonwu said thecommand’s anti-vandalsoperations have yieldedpositive results, noting thatthere was a considerablereduction in the activities ofvandals and bunkers.

The commandant called formore collaboration from othersecurity agencies in the fightagainst vandalism and oil theft.

He said the suspects were

major challenge militatingagainst the effort on fighingagainst vandalism andbunkering.

He thanked Governor AdamsOshiomhole for his support,cooperation and assistance inensuring the command carriedout its activities in an enablingenvironment.

BENIN CITY - In hisavowed determination tosustain the beautificationagenda of the state,Governor AdamsOshiomhole yesterdayordered the suspension ofthe Head of Edo StateWaste ManagementBoard, Gilian Oshogbe, justas he directed thePermanent SecretaryMinistry of Environmentand Public Utilities, MajorOloye (rtd) to immediatelyevacuate the refuse at themedian along MissionRoad, Benin city.

Governor Oshiomholegave the order during aninspection visit to MissionRoad, New Lagos Roadand Forestry in Benin City.

Governor OshiomholeExpressed displeasure inthe median along missionroad and said Governmentwill deal with those whowant to sabotage hisefforts.

He frowned seriously atthe indiscriminate parkingof vehicles both at MissionRoad, and New Benin anddirected the Commissionerfor Transport, Mr. Omo –Ojo Orobosa to tow allvehicles to GovernmentHouse.

Governor Oshiomholestopped over at the Boardof Internal Revenue wherehe took a guided tour offacilities at the BoardSecretariat.

Some of the departmentsvisited were the ICTdepartment, Tax Auditdepartment, TaxIdentification Number (TIN)unit, Board of InternalRevenue Training Schoolotherwise referred to asSunny Okundia TrainingInstitute.

Addressing the mammothcrowed shortly after hisinspection of facilities at theBIRS, GovernorOshiomhole enjoined thepeople to partner with theState Government in itsbeautification efforts.

According to him “pleasetell your parents at homenot to dump refuse in thedrainage system, and not toshade on the walk-ways”,he warned.

He said, “We have to keepBenin City clean so that Edopeople will be proud to invitetheir friends to Benin City”he maintained.

On the performance of hisministry regarding theimplementation of the 2013appropriation law, PrinceAgba stated that the sumN12.9 billion was approvedfor capital expenditure for the

year under review from whichthe sum of N8.9 billion hasbeen expended while the sumof N243 million for recurrentexpenditure. He revealed that theministry for the year underreview, generated the sum of

N310.7 million as its…internally generatedrevenue against proposedtarget of N461.3m. In the same vein, thecommissioner for Transportrepresented by thePermanent Secretary of the

Ministry, Mallam AlhassanIkhelowa also delivered hisbrief to parliament where hedisclosed that the StateExecutive council has set-upa committee to look into theissue of Edo Line TransportCompany in a bid to resolvingthe underlying issues.

currently being prosecuted forthe crime.

“In line with our mandate, wehave organised a stakeholder’sforum with the theme: “Zerotolerance to vandalism and oiltheft in the state.”

“We have also organisedstakeholders’ forum for privateguards companies to refreshtheir minds on the issues ofsecurity.

“We did this because weconsider them as thegrassroots security operativesand there are lots to learn in thearea of security,’’ he added.

Ikpeamonwu said lack ofoperational vehicles was a

He also thanked thetraditional rulers across thestate for their support andcooperation to the command.

“We are particularly gratefulto the Oba of Benin forgraciously allocating a parcel ofland to the command to buildits own permanent officeaccommodation.

November 22, 2013. A statement yesterday signedby Prof. Julius Ihonvbere,Secretary to the Edo StateGovernment, said that thecorpse will arrive the BeninAirport between 10.00am and10.15am, and there will beAirport Ceremonies. However, the corpse moves toGovernment House, Benin Citybetween 10:15am and10:20am and lying in state atGovernment House, Benin City,between 10:20am and 11:00amwith the corpse departing forFugar at 11:10am. The corpse will lie in state atOkhai Akhigbe family residence

Fugar at 3:00pm with Christianand Social Wake Keeping atOkhai Aghigbe family residenceat 6:00pm. On Saturday, November 23,2013 there will be a funeralservice at Saint Theresa’sCatholic Church, Fugar and at1:00 pm interment takes placeat Okhai Akhigbe familyresidence. However, there will be outingservice at Saint Theresa’sCatholic Church, Fugar onSunday, November 24, 2013 at10:00 am, to round off thefuneral programme. The statement added thatbuses will be avaluable in

Government House to conveyFriends and well wishers toFugar on Friday, November 22,2013 at 11:00 am.

BENIN CITY – TheObsequies for lateStatesman and politicalscientist, Ovbieze,Nozuwa, Professor OmoOmoruyi begins todayThursday November 21,2013 with a service ofsongs at No. 1 OmomaStreet, Off Oko CentralRoad and GapionaRoad, Benin City. The programme ofactivities also indicatethat the Funeral Service,Commendation Serviceand Interment will holdtomorrow, Friday,November 22, 2013 withthe commendationservice to be held at theUniversity of Benin AkinDeko Main Auditorium,Ugbowo Campus, BeninCity at 10:00 am. The Funeral Servicewill hold at the CentreBaptist Church, King’sSquare, Benin City at1.00 pm and interment athis residence at No. 18Oza Street, OffSokponba Road,Ogboka Quarters, BeninCity.

Other scheduledactivities areentertainment of guestson Saturday, November23, 2013 at the GeorgeIdah Model PrimarySchool, Ihama Road,GRA, Benin City at 12noon while theThanksgiving Service willhold on Sunday,November 24, 2013 atthe Central BaptistChurch, King’s Square,Benin City. The obsequiesactivities rounds off withentertainment of guestsat No. 18 Oza Street, OffSokponba Road,Ogboka Quarters, BeninCity.


EguavoenCommunityGets New

Exco

Trial Of Oil Marketers StalledOver Pending Application

ADO-EKITI-An Ado-EkitiChief Magistrates’ Court hasordered the remand of a 45-year-old man, Lawrence Adedapo, inprison for alleged rape of a 75-year-old woman.

Chief Magistrate Simeon Ojo,who gave the order in his ruling,decried the alarming cases ofrape in the state.

“It is high time the court made

offenders to learn their lesson bykeeping them in custody,’’ hesaid.

Ojo adjourned the case toDecember 16, for furtherhearing.

The Police Prosecutor, MrDavid Erinma, told the court thatthe accused committed theoffence on November 7 at Oke

Erinmope Street, Ise-Ekiti inIse-Orun Local GovernmentArea.

Erinma told the court that theaccused unlawfully had carnalknowledge the septuagenarianwoman, which led to her severebleeding.

The prosecutor said theoffence contravened Section355 of the Criminal Code.

No plea was taken.

LAFIA- The Nasarawa StateGovernment has said it wouldrenovate and equip all the 18general hospitals in the state toimprove the general health of itscitizenry.

Hajia Meimuna Abdullahi, thePermanent Secretary in thestate’s Ministry of Health, saidthis while leading officials fromthe Ministry of Works andHousing in Lafia on a facilityassessment. The facilityassessment was at the Nasarawa

PORT HARCOURT- TheNiger Delta DevelopmentCommission (NDDC) said ithad inaugurated three projects inAbia as part of efforts toaccelerate development in theregion.

This was contained in astatement issued by thecommission in Port Harcourt andsigned by Mr Iditoye Abosede,its Head of Public Affairs.

The statement listed theprojects as two-kilometreUmuahala Road, one-kilometreUmuwaga internal road and one-kilometre reinforced concretedrain.

They include a solar-poweredwater project at Obuzor, Egbelu

Okimiri Ring Road and Obehieelectrification project atUmuahala, all in Ukwa Westlocal government area.

Others are solar-poweredstreet light projects at Azumiri,Ohambele, Obeaku and Akwetecommunities in Ukwa East localgovernment area.

The statement quoted DrChristy Atako, the acting NDDCManaging Director, whoinaugurated the projects, assaying that the projects wouldimprove the living standard ofthe people in the area.

She said the roads wouldreduce the suffering of motoristsand farmers transporting farmproduce to markets in the cities

as well as boost economicactivities and growth in thecommunities.

The NDDC boss said the solarpowered-water project with 20,000 gallons capacity tank and 2.5kilometre reticulation wouldenable the residents to haveaccess to clean portable water.

Atako advised contractorshandling NDDC projects to beweary of individuals and groupswho sought financial favour inthe pretence of facilitatingcontract payments.

The statement said that Atakogave the warning during ameeting with contractorshandling about 75 projectsapproved by the FederalExecutive Council in 2012.

“It has come to my notice thatsome individuals are bent todefraud our contractors byrequesting for percentages toenable them facilitate paymentsto contractors.

“Contractors should reportsuch individuals to thecommission because onlyprojects that meet our standardsand specifications will be paid forin line with the mandate given bygovernment for such payments.

“Contractors who execute their

projects in accordance with ourstandards will be promptly paidand this informs my frequentvisits to sites to determine theveracity of claims beforepayment,’’ it said.

It said that the commissionwould blacklist contractors who

lobbied for more jobs beforecompleting NDDC projects.

The statement said that thecontractors handling the 75projects approved by the FederalExecutive Council, in spite ofthe payment of mobilisation,were yet to be seen on site.

IKEJA- The trial of two oilmarketers, OluwaseunOgunbambo and Habila Theck,was on Monday stalled, due to apending application seeking itstransfer to another judge.

Reports say that the marketerswere charged alongside theirfirm, Fargo Energy Ltd. to courtfor an alleged N979.6 millionfuel subsidy fraud.

They are being prosecuted bythe Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission (EFCC)before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjoof an Ikeja High Court.

At the resumption ofproceedings, Onigbanjo said thatthe case file was still with theLagos State Chief Judge, JusticeAyotunde Philips.

Onigbanjo said the chief judgehad recalled the file, following apetition written against him byOgunbambo in June.

He, therefore, adjourned thematter to February 5, 2014, formention. Reports also say thatOgunbambo had alleged in hispetition that Onigbanjo was biasdagainst him and would, therefore,not likely get fair trial before thejudge.

Meanwhile an Ikeja HighCourt on Monday sentenced anestate agent, Michael Olabameji,to 15 years imprisonment fordefrauding 100 accommodationseekers of N29.8 million.

Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjoconvicted Olabameji, 42, of the99-count charge of obtainingmoney by false pretencepreferred against him by theEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC).

Onigbanjo sentenced theconvict to 15 years imprisonment

on each count, which is to runconcurrently beginning fromFeb.1, 2010, when he wasremanded in prison.

The judge said: “the convictinflicted untold hardships on thevictims and callously deprivedthem of their hard-earned moneywith a false promise ofaccommodation.

“It is immaterial that he hadthe mind to refund the money tothe victims as he had claimed inhis confessional statement to theEFCC.”

He said the property whichwas used by the convict toperpetuate the fraud was actuallyowned by another person whohad leased it to him from 2010till 2025.

Onigbanjo said the 16-apartment building, located atNo. 2, Amuda St., Kirikiri,Lagos, should therefore, bemanaged by the EFCC till theexpiration of the lease.

According to him, theproceeds recovered from the rentare to be paid to the victims asrestitution.

The EFCC Prosecutor, MrsBunmi Bosede, had told thecourt that Olabameji committedthe offences between Januaryand July 2008.

She said he had collectedvarious sums of money fromvictims as tenancy andagreement fees.

Mr Joseph Igwe, who spoke tonewsmen on behalf of thevictims, applauded thejudgment.

Igwe said that they hadsuffered both financial andpsychological hardship as aresult of Olabameji’s actions.

Eggon General Hospital.Abdullahi said the aim of the

facility assessment was toidentify the main challenges ofthe available health facilities forquick and necessary governmentintervention.

“The state government hasconcluded plans to providefences, build staff quarters,provide basic equipment andmanpower for all generalhospitals in the state.

“This will further boost healthcare services as well as guaranteethe success of the drug-revolvingscheme,’’ she said.

Reports say that members ofthe team include Dr GeorgeDangana, the Chief MedicalDirector, Hospitals ManagementBoard, health workers and staffof the Ministry of Works.

Man, 45, Rapes 75-Yr-Old Woman

BENIN CITY – A newexecutive has been constitutedfor Eguavoen community, OviaNorth East Local GovernmentArea of Edo State.

The executive which hasMr. Ogbewi Emumwen aschairman, Monday Obasogie,Secretary and CharlesIserhienrhien as pomter (BushInspector) was sworn-in by theOdionwere of the community,Pa David Iserhienrhien at abrief ceremony in thecommunity.

With this development, PaIserhienrhien and Mr. Obasogiesaid in a statement that thedispute between the Odionwereand the community Chairmanhas been resolved by theAssociation of CommunityChairmen of the localgovernment area.

The Statement indicated thatthe community chairman is toserve for one year.

Across The NationNasarawa To Renovate 18

General Hospitals

NDDC Inaugurates Projects In Abia,Threatens To Prosecute Contractors

Edo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Louis Odion (centre), Amb. Femi Okuo Acting Perma-nent Secretary, Ministry of Information (left) Mrs. Mabel Osarodion, Director of Finance, Ministry of Informationduring the commissioners ministerial briefing at the House Plenary on Tuesday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Edo State Commissioner forInformation and Orienta-tion, Hon. Louis Odion(right) presenting the briefof his Ministry to Mr. JamesOmoataman, Deputy ClerkLegislative Matters, EdoState House of Assembly,during the Commissioner’sappearance at the House ofAssembly on Tuesday.Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.


South -SouthEntrepreneurship: Delta

Trains 280 YouthsLawyer WantsBeneficiariesOf AmnestyProgramme

Engaged

Edo NUJ Visits Etsako East Council Boss

EDSG Committed To YouthEmpowerment - Elamah

ASABA - An Asaba-basedlegal practitioner, MrFranklin Oseye, has calledon the Federal Governmentto engage all the youthstrained under the amnestyprogramme in productiveventures.

Oseye, who spoke withnewsmen in Asaba, laudedthe Federal Government fortraining some youths fromthe region under the amnestyprogramme.

He advised the stategovernments in the NigerDelta to provideinfrastructure that wouldfacilitate qualitative primaryand secondary education inthe region.

The legal practitioner saidthat only qualitativeeducation could liberate theregion from widespreadpoverty among the people.

He said that if youngpeople had good educationalfoundation, they would notlikely be disposed towardsocial vices such as beggingor being used for violence.

“What I think will help usis good orientation andeducation; government mustbe ready to provide enablingenvironment that will helpthose who have talents toexpress themselves.

He criticised the amnestyprogramme, saying:“granting amnesty tomilitants is not the answer tothe challenges of the region,but good education,infrastructure and directempowerment of the youth.

According to him, todaycriminals who should bebehind bars have takenadvantage of the amnestyprogramme.

He also urged thepoliticians to desist fromusing youths for electionthuggery and malpractices.

“Our politicians shouldstop using our youths astools for election rigging andall sorts of malpractices,” hesaid.

ASABA- The DeltaGovernment says it istraining 280 youths invarious entrepreneurialprogrammes to enablethem to be self-employed.

The Commissioner incharge of the Directorate ofYouths, Mr Ebifa Ijomah,made the disclosure in aninterview with thenewsmen in Asaba, Deltastate.

Ijomah said the trainingwas also aimed at changingthe mindset of youths in thestate and actualizing “theDelta Beyond Oil”initiative of GovernorEmmanuel Uduaghan’sadministration.

He said the youth werecurrently being trained inpiggery, fish farming, beekeeping and other aspectsof farming at the SonghaiDelta farm, Amukpe.

The commissioner saidthe state government wastraining some of the youthin welding, auto repairs andother artisan skills.

He noted that suchtraining would also helpthe youth to build self-confidence apart frommaking them self-employed.

“When such confidenceis built among the youth, it

will provide a stableplatform for them toembrace self-reliance andlife skills that will makethem contribute to thenational economy,” hesaid.

Ijomah called on privateindividuals andorganisations in the stateto support the stategovernment in promotinge n t r e p r e n e u r i a lprogrammes for youths.

He noted that suchprogrammes would go along way in checkingyouths restiveness in thestate as well as the countryin general.

The commissionerappealed to youths in thestate to refrain from allforms of anti-socialbehaviours capable ofleading them to violenceand lawlessness.

“My prayer is that theyouths will not in any wayas leaders of tomorrowcompromise the unity,peace and security of ourstate by allowingthemselves to be used asinstruments ofdestabilisation.”

“They should keep theireyes on positive thingsand make progress withhigh esteem and self-worth,” he said.

AGENEBODE (EDOSTATE) - The ChairmanEtsako East LocalGovernment Council of EdoState, Hon. AbdulmalikSuleiman Afegbua playedhost to the project inspectionteam of the Edo StateChapter of the NigerianUnion of Journalists (NUJ).

The inspection committeewas led by the state chairmanof NUJ, Mr. DesmondAgbama and the 2013 PressWeek local organizingcommittee chairman,comrade Joe Apini.

Mr. Agbama whocongratulated Hon. Afegbuaon his election victory, saidthey were in the area to seewhat the council boss hasdone in the past six months,to positively impact on thelives of the people.

He stated that they werethere to also seek the supportof the council chairmantowards the successfulhosting of the 2013 Pressweek. Listing part of theactivities to include lectureson topical issues, launch of

endowment fund forprojects execution,assistance for the lessprivileged and awardceremony.

As part of the fufilment ofthis noble objective, he saidthat the Union has proposedthe establishment of amodern library.

Responding Afegbua whothanked the NUJ officialsfor the visit and projectinspection, described themedia as undisputableVanguard of the society anda formidable bridgebetween the governed andgovernment.

The council chairmanwho expressed delight overthe teams visit said thatlots of projects have beenexecuted by hisadministration.

The team later inspectedsome projects across theEntire Local GovernmentArea.

The projects includedconstructed and renovatedschools, modern healthcentres, electricity

transformers, wires, andconcreted poles, industrialboreholes, skill acquisitioncentres.

Speaking with newsmen,Hon. Afegbua said thatthough funds from thefederation account areinadequate, he had to adoptthe principle of prudence inthe management ofavailable resources toexecute the projects.

He maintained that he hadsecured the cooperation ofhis executive, especially theVice Chairman stressingthey had to sacrifice theirpersonal liberty in order todeliver the dividends ofdemocracy to the people.

He disclosed that he hasset up an Economic team toboost the revenue base ofthe council.

While promising tomaintain the infrastructuresprovided by hisadministration, he said hehas consistently taken careof staff’s welfare though theprovisions of monthlyclaims and other incentives.

The chairman wasaccompanied by the vice

chairman, Hon. JohnAlimikhena, supervisor forworks, Hon. HijatAsunugie, Supervisor forHealth and Environment,Hon. Barnabas Oshiobor,Special Adviser, Hon.Rasheed Dirisu, Head ofDepartment of Works, Engr.Joseph Igbili, Chief PressSecretary, Mr. IsabemoehJames Roy and other topcouncil functionaries.

BENIN CITY- TheExecutive Chairman, EdoState Internal RevenueService, (EIRS), Chief (Sir)Oseni Elamah, said theGovernor AdamsOshiomhole ledadministration is makingstrenuous effort towardsensuring that the future of theyouths in the state is giventrue meaning.

Chief Elamah made thisknown when he played host

By VICTOR OMOALU to the Peace Corps of Nigeria,Edo State Command.

He pointed out that thepresent administration placeshigh premium on thedevelopment of the youth,adding that efforts have beenmade to take a number ofyouths out of theunemployment marketthrough the Edo YouthEmployment Scheme.

Chief Elamah who wasrepresented by the ExecutiveDirector (BM2) of theagency, Barr. John Obazee

applauded the organization’sobjectives aimed at ensuringsustainable Peace andSecurity in line with thepresent administration.

Chief Elamah said as partof efforts toward ridding thestate of criminalities, thepresent government has spenthuge resources on theprovision of logistics topolice and other securityagencies in the state with theaim of ensuring the safety oflives/properties.

While praising theorganization’s set goals,Chief Elamah assured thatthe EIRS would partner/collaborate with the corps inthe area of education andenlightenment of the peopleon the need to comply withrelevant tax obligations in thestate.

The Commandant of theCorps, Patriot Odion HabibMutairu, said the Corps iscommitted to nationalcreativity, peace and youthdevelopment with a view toeducating, training and re-orientating youths towardsnation building.

AWARD - Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uyi Igbe (right) receivingaward of honour from the President, National Union of Edo South Youths, OgieriakhiRaymond Amando as the best Speaker for the year 2012/2013 for effectively col-laborating with Executive arm of Government towards developing Edo State andensuring a non-violent parliament during a courtesy call on Mr. Speaker recently.Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.

Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uyi Igbe (right) presenting a letterfrom the State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to Mr. James Omoataman,Deputy Clerk Legislative Matters, for announcement to members for the suspensionof Orhionmwon LGA Executive and the Legislative arm during the House plenary ses-sion. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.


South West

CMD Wants NHIS Extended To States,LGs

Insurgency: Lawmakers Advise AgainstDependence On External Forces

Stable Power SupplyAssociation Tasks

Independent Power Producers

Nigeria May Record 5,000 American Tourists - Association

LAGOS - Somemembers of Lagos StateHouse of Assembly(LAHA) have advisedthe Federal Governmentnot to depend on externalforces in curbing securitychallenges in the country.

They gave the advice inseparate interviews withnewsmen in Lagos.

Mr. Segun Olulade, theChairman, HouseCommittee Publicity,Security and Strategyadvised that the FederalGovernment should take

proactive measures totackle the problem.

He said that rather thandepending on externalforces to fight the securitychallenges, the FederalGovernment should takethe challenge head-on.

“It does not speak wellfor us as a country; it isvery unfortunate thatBoko-Haram group isgiving the country a verybad name.

“The FederalGovernment should riseup to meet the security

challenges facing thecountry.

“Those who are behindthe insurgents shouldknow that they are doingmore harm than good tothe image of the country,”he said.

Mr. Muyiwa Jimoh,(APC-Apapa II), also toldnewsmen that theproblem of Boko-Haramwas beyond political andreligious issues, sayingthat the group was aterrorist group.

He said that hesupported the U.S. in theefforts to tackle theinsurgency.

Jimoh appealed to theFederal Government notto relent in its efforts tosuppress the insurgents.

The U.S. Department ofState recently designatedBoko Haram and itssplinter group, Ansaru, asForeign TerroristOrganisations (FTO).

LAGOS - Mr. Bode Oke,President, Association ofSystems ManagementConsultants, has urged thenew investors in the powersector to deliveruninterrupted power supplyto Nigerians.

Oke, who addressed apress conference in Lagos,said that efficient powersupply would help toimprove access to qualitygoods and services andboost employmentgeneration.

“We are hopeful that theinvestors will be able toprovide the citizenry withuninterrupted power supplyas this is the expectation ofevery Nigerian.

“We thank PresidentJonathan for the decision toprivatise the PHCN byhanding over of thecompany to 10 successorcompanies on FridayNovember 1, 2013,’’ hesaid.

He said SON hadperformed well in ensuringthat only quality productswere available in Nigerianmarkets.

Oke said that SON hadbeen doing a good job byensuring that qualityproducts of internationalstandard were

manufactured in Nigeria.The President said

introduction of theMandatory ConformityAssessment Programme(MANCAP) for localproducts by SON was agood step.

Oke said that SON’sConformity AssessmentProgramme which,regulated imported goodsinto the country had helpedin protecting the interest ofconsumers.

He implored allgovernment regulatoryagencies to collaborate withSON to flush out sub-standard products.

According the associationpresident, quality should notbe restricted to onlyproducts and tangibles.

Oke said there shouldequally be quality in suchareas as leadership, debate,discourse, security servicesin the public and privatesectors.

Oke said that ASMCcurrently collaborated withmany organisations ingovernment and the privatesector to achieve theirquality objectives.

The theme for this year’sWorld Quality Day is“Making CollaborationCount”.

LAGOS - Mrs MargaretFabiyi, a representative ofAfrican Travel Association(ATA) in Lagos, said thatNigeria could record influxof more than 5,000American tourists in 2014.

Fabiyi told newsmen inLagos that the associationwas looking up to hostingthe World Tourism Congress

in Nigeria in 2014.“The association, over the

time, has been thinking ofbringing the congress toNigeria, but all steps andplans proved abortivebecause the FederalGovernment is not buyinginto the idea,” she said.

Fabiyi advised the FederalGovernment to support theidea so that Nigeria couldexperience influx of over5,000 American tourists,world tourism professionalsand investors to explore thecountry’s tourism potential.

“The association is thelargest international tourismgroup in the world.

“The congress expects tobring together over athousand tourism leaders andprofessionals fromgovernment, business andnon-profit sectors to promotethe country’s tourismdevelopment and acrossAfrica,” she said.

Fabiyi said that ATA was aglobal trade associationpromoting travel and tourismin Africa and strengtheningintra-Africa partnerships.

“The association mission isto serve both the public andprivate sectors of theinternational travel andtourism industry.

“At 37th Congress held inZimbabwe in May, 2012, theassociation brought togethermore than 500 industry

professionals to explore itstourism potential to emergeone of the leading tourismdestinations in Africa today,”she said.

The Nigerian representativesaid that the associationwould be excited to hold theworld congress in Nigeria tobring tourism professionalsinterested in doing business

in Africa.“The congress will give the

tourists the opportunity tobuild new connections, learnabout the latest industrytrends, explore the country’snewest products and promotethe country attraction sitesglobally,” Fabiyi said.

Fabiyi also urged theFederal Government tosupport the growing trendand opportunity for tourismto thrive in the country.

OKITIPUPA (ONDOSTATE)-Dr RichardAdesoji of StateSpecialist Hospital,Okitipupa, Ondo State,has appealed to theFederal Government toincorporate the NationalHealth InsuranceScheme (NHIS) to thestates and localgovernment areas.

Adesoji, who is theChief Medical Director(CMD) of the hospital,told newsmen said in

Okitipupa, said that ifNHIS was introducedacross all levels ofgovernment, all publicworkers would benefitfrom it.

NHIS is a FederalGovernment healthcareservice wherecontributions paid byprincipal employeecovers the spouse andfour biological childrenless than 18 years of age.

Adesoji said that manypeople were not aware ofNHIS at the state and

local government levels.According to him, the

scheme is a goodinitiative, which shouldinvolve majority of thepopulation, especiallygovernment workers.

“As important as theNHIS is, it has notimparted on the lives ofso many people becauseit is only the FederalGovernment workerswho benefit from it.

“I appeal the Federal

Government to make theNHIS cut across allboards to improve thehealth of governmentworkers and reducehealth finances,’’ Adesojisaid.

The CMD said thatmore awarenessprogramme should becreated for more peopleto have the knowledgeand benefits of the NHIS.

The NHIS wasestablished under Decree35 of 1999 by the FederalGovernment.

L-R: Ag. General Manager, Edo Broadcasting Service, EBS, Pastor (Mrs) Sidi Lawal Igioh,Ag. General Manager, Bendel Newspapers Company Ltd (BNCL), Pastor Monday Aigbeand Director of Publication and Documentation, Ministry of Information and Orienta-tion, during Ministerial briefing of Information Commissioner at the Edo State House ofAssembly plenary on Tuesday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN

Edo State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. (Chief)Lucky James (right) presenting the brief of his Ministry to Mr. James Omoataman,Deputy Clerk, Legislative Matters, Edo State House of Assembly during the commis-sioner’s appearance at the House’s plenary session on Tuesday. Photo: GODWIN ISEGUAN.


News

2014 Budget: Lawmakers Optimistic

NASC Urges Farmers To Use HybridSeeds To Increase Production

Enugu Police Command PromisesEasier Communication With PublicENUGU- The Enugu State

Police Command has promisedto ease communicationbetween it and members of thepublic.

Its spokesman, Mr EbereAmaraizu, was said to havemade the promise following hisrecognition at the SandtonConvention Centre in

Johannesburg, South Africa, asthe best police spokesperson inWest Africa.

A statement from thecommand said in Enugu thatAmaraizu took the honour as achallenge, and had promised toput in his best.

The statement said thespokesman was also grateful to

ABUJA- Rev. AnthonyOlatokun, the Acting Director-General, National AgriculturalSeeds Council (NASC), hasstressed the need for farmers tocultivate hybrid seeds, toimprove agriculturalproductivity .

Olatokun made the call at the2013 National AgriculturalSeeds Farmers’ Field Day inAbuja.

He noted that good qualityseed was the most importantinput in crop production andcritical to raising the efficiencyof other inputs like fertiliser,agro-chemicals and irrigationamong others.

“ All effort must be made toensure that the high qualityimproved seeds must be usedby farmers; this will not onlymake farming profitable, butalso increase productivity forour farmers.”

Olatokun advised farmers totake advantage of the servicesof agricultural extensionofficers nearest to them, or goto any NASC office in theirlocation for professionalguidance.

He urged farmers to buyseeds from registered seedcompanies and report fake seeddealers to the council forprosecution.

latokun explained that theFarmers’ Field Day ceremonyhad its focus on increasingpublic awareness on the use ofimproved seed and todemonstrate the superiority

hybrid seed had over othertechnologies.

In his remark, Mr ThaddeusUmolu, the Director,Department of Seed IndustryDevelopment of the agency,said efforts made to makehybrid seeds available tofarmers had not reflected innational productivity.

Umolu blamed the situationon inadequate supply of theseeds and the low level ofawareness among farmers.

“Through research, manyvarieties have been developedand released for use byfarmers.

However, the nationalproductivity has not reflectedthe use of improved varietiesbecause some farmers are notaware of the improvedproduction method.

“And the economicadvantage derived from the useof the improved variety, hencethey adhere to the use of theirlocal easily available varieties.

“The resultant effect is lowyield and income, therebymaking farming unprofitableand non-competitive to thefarmer.

Umolu stressed the need tocreate more awareness on theuse of high quality seeds asagainst farmer’s own savedseeds across the country.

Some of the farmers at theevent, who spoke to newsmenappreciated the efforts ofNASC and promised to usehybrid seeds.

Mr Umar Usma, a farmer,said: “I feel so happy that thegovernment has made muchefforts to provide us with theimproved seeds; we shall stopusing the former ones becausewe have seen that this one isbetter.

“We shall plant this one tosatisfy not only the communitybut the nation,” he said.

Mr Yusuf Musa said: “Wethank God for the new seedsthe council has introduced tous; we have seen that the useof the hybrid is authentic andwe really appreciate that.

“ Our major problem now isthat most of us are financiallyhandicapped; we don’t haveequipment to practiseagriculture.

“Some of us do not receivefertilisers; we do not reallyunderstand how the peoplewho handle it work.

“Even our farmlands,sometimes, people just come tosay they have paid for ourfarmland and it has beenallocated to them by theFederal Capital TerritoryAuthority (FCTA); we don’tknow what to do.

“If we don’t have money andland, even if you give us thehybrid seeds, we cannot makeprogress,” he said.

Musa called on thegovernment to closely monitorland developers and fertiliserdistributors, so that farmerswould benefit more fromgovernment programmes.

ABUJA- Lawmakers haveexpressed optimism thatinspite of President GoodluckJonathan postponing thepresentation of the 2014Budget to the NationalAssembly for the secondtime, the budget would bepassed this year.

Newsmen recalls thatJonathan could not presentthe budget on Tuesdaybecause the Senate andHouse of Representatives didnot harmonise their positionson the oil benchmark.

While the Senate approvedthe oil benchmark at 76.5dollars per barrel, the Houseof Representatives peggedtheirs at 79 dollars per barrel.

In his reaction to thepostponement of thepresentation of the budget,Sen. Kabiru Marafa (APC-Zamfara) said that it was theresponsibility of the NationalAssembly to decide thebenchmark for the sale ofcrude oil.

He said that both theexecutive and legislaturemust reach an agreementbased on mutual respect toensure that the budget scalesthrough.

“We have to agree on thesame benchmark because thatis what the Constitution ofNigeria says by providing fora bicameral legislature.

“The issue of budget is thebusiness of the legislature.

“Furthermore, the issue ofpegging the benchmarkshould be the work of the

legislature.“We are all Nigerians; we

know what it is all about andwe came up with what isrealistic. It is not what theexecutive says that is realistic

“We will go into aconference where these issueswould be resolved,” he added.

The Chairman, SenateCommittee onAppropriations, Sen. AhmedMaccido (PDP-Sokoto)expressed confidence that thetwo chambers would reachagreement on how to resolvethe issue of oil benchmark.

“The two chambers have toagree on the same benchmarkbecause that is what theconstitution says. We have todeliberate on this issue and wehave not done that.

“Our leadership at bothchambers had sat down withthe Minister of Finance butwhen we get to our differentchambers, it’s a different ballgame,” he said.

Maccido, however, gave theassurance that the twochambers would set up an adhoc committee to resolve theissue within the shortestpossible time.

“We still have the rest of theyear to receive Mr Presidentand I believe that at themoment, the issue is gearedtowards an ad hoc committeethat will sit within the nextone week to iron this out.

“If we iron this out thisweek, Mr President would beable to present the budget bynext week.

“God willing, we will passthe budget this year,”Maccido assured.

In his reaction, Sen.Heinekan Lokpobiri (PDP-Bayelsa) described the 79dollars per barrel benchmarkset by the House as‘unrealistic.’

He said that both housesmust now set up a conferencecommittee to harmonise thefigure.

“Normally, I don’t thinkthat what is happening isstrange. If the House passesa different version from theSenate, there will be aconference committee toharmonise both positions.

“Once that is done, thepresident will now come andpresent the budget,’’ he said.

Lokpobiri urged Nigeriansto be patient with the twoarms of government since thelaw to approve the MediumTerm ExpenditureFramework (MTEF) beforethe budget could be passed,was relatively new.

“Nigerians need to knowthat the law mandating us toapprove the MTEF beforethe budget can be presentedis a new law. It was not therein 1999, it came intoexistence only a few yearsago.

“The law is a pre-conditionfor the presentation of thebudget and so Nigeriansshould bear with us and thepresident,” he said.

Lokpobiri gave theassurance that as soon as the

issue of the benchmark wassettled by both houses, thepresident would present thebudget.

Sen. Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe) was, however, of theopinion that the presidentonly used the inability of theNational Assembly to pass

the MTEF as an excuse notto present the budget.

He said that whether theMTEF was passed or notwas immaterial and that thepresident should havepresented the budget.

“It doesn’t matter whetherthe MTEF was passed or not.

The president ought to havedone his part by presentingthe budget because severaltimes in the past the budgethad been passed without theMTEF being passed.

The senator quoted Section18 of the FiscalResponsibility Act to buttresshis point.

the police force for the gestureand promised never to slack inhis duty.

The statement also saidAmaraizu praised hiscolleague in Ogun State, whowas voted best policespokesperson in Nigeria, forthe achievement and urged himto keep it up.

R-L: Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Permanent Secretary, Minis-try of Environment, Major Lawrence Loye (rtd) and the Commissioner for Transport,Hon. Orobosa Omo-Ojo during the governor’s inspection of Mission Road yesterday.Photo: CHARITY OZIGBO-ESERE.

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole addressing some pupils during his inspection visit to MissionRoad, in Benin City, yesterday. Photo: CHARITY OZIGBO-ESERE.


Across The Nation

Legislators Want PolicemenDeployed to Warring Communities

Cocaine Possession: Court RemandsBusinessman

Air Chief Gives Reasons For Emergency RuleExtension In 3 States

Police Arrest 13-Yr-OldBoy For Killing Friend

Reconstruction work in progress on Mission Road, Benin City. Photo: CHARITY OZIGBO-ESERE.

Edo State Ministry of Transport officials towing some of the vehicles parked indiscrimi-nately during the governor’s inspection of New Lagos Road, Benin City. Photo: CHARITYOZIGBO-ESERE.

LOKOJA - The police inKogi have arrested a 13-year-old boy, Yinusa Halilu, forallegedly killing his friend andclassmate, Mustapha Kazeem,12, over a damaged earpiece.

ACP Austin Evakhabokun,the Acting Commissioner ofPolice in Kogi, made thisknown to journalists in Lokoja.

Evakhabokun said that ascuffle ensued between thesuspect and the deceased, bothprimary school pupils, whenthe suspect demanded thereturn of the earpiece he lent tothe deceased.

He said that the late Kazeemsaid that the earpiece wasdamaged and Halilu demandedmonetary compensation for thedamaged earphone.

He said that the demandenraged the deceased whoreportedly called the suspect athief, adding that this resulted

ENUGU - The FederalHigh Court in Enugu hasordered a businessman,Sunday Nwobodo, to beremanded in prison custodypending hearing in a suit filedagainst him by the NDLEA.

Justice Dorathy Agishigave the order afterNwobodo was arraigned oncharges of possession of 7.5kilogrammes of cocaine.

Agishi adjourned the caseto December 12 for trial and

ILORIN- The Chief of AirStaff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh,said in Ilorin that the six monthsextension of the state ofemergency in Borno, Yobe andAdamawa states was to protectthe lives and property ofNigerians in the affected states.

Badeh said this when he spokewith newsmen shortly afterinspecting the Nigerian AirforceHanger at the IlorinInternational Airport.

It will be recalled that theFederal Government had onMay 12, 2013 declared a stateof emergency in the affectedstates due to the activities ofinsurgents in the areas.

After securing the approval ofthe Senate, President GoodluckJonathan had on November 2also extended the stateemergency period by six monthsin the affected states.

‘Due to the fact that the levelof security required in thoseareas is not yet satisfactory, it isthe sole responsibility of thegovernment through armedforces to continue to ensuremaximum wellbeing ofNigerians living there.

UYO - The Akwa IbomHouse of Assembly hascalled on the police to deploymen to Amazaba and IkotAkpan Udo warringcommunities in Ikot AbasiLocal Government Area ofthe State.

This followed adoption ofmotion on matter of urgentpublic importance broughtby Mr Aboh Uduyok, (PDP-Ikot Abasi/Eastern OboloConstituency) at plenary inUyo.

in an exchange of hot words, asHalilu insisted on collecting themoney by force.

Evakhabokun said thatKazeem became furious andrushed into the house, broughtout a sharp cutlass and inflictedcuts on the suspect’s head.

He said that the suspectreportedly rushed to a nearbyrestaurant with his machete cutsand picked a sharp knife, withwhich he stabbed the deceasedin the chest, leading to hisdeath.

In an interview withnewsmen, the suspect said thathe borrowed the telephoneearpiece from someone, sayingthat he insisted on replacing itsince he did not know what totell the owner.

He said that Kazeem was hisfriend and that they were bothin Primary Five.

Halilu said that the deceasedhit him on his head with amachete, adding that inretaliation, he stabbed him inthe chest, which led to hisdeath.

Reports say that the policealso paraded 14 armed robberysuspects, including an 85-year-old man, whose nephew wasinvolved in car robbery, and ahomicide suspect.

“They critics can only deceivethemselves but not Nigerians.

“Imposition and extension ofthe state of emergency becomesnecessary and must becommended,” Badeh said.

The Air Chief said he was inIlorin for two things; firstly, tosee the extent of work done atthe Airforce hanger and also getupdate on the training of officersat the International AviationCollege.

“I am satisfied with the levelof work done there and hope thatthey will expedite action to domore so as to finish up in goodtime.

“As we all know, the Air Forceis fully involved in securityoperations in all the states of thefederation.

“If you look back to the periodof Joint Task Force in the Niger-Delta, where we participatedactively, militancy was broughtto an end mainly because the Airforce responded with full force

“Before then, the people weredoing what pleased them in the

area. It was a situation of dowhat you want.

“The Air force stepped in andhalted the decay.”

Bade said that his men werealso fully involved in thesecurity operations in Jos,Damaturu, Maiduguri and otherareas in the north-east region.

He said that the armed forceswere created basically to secureNigeria and Nigerians.

“I don’t know why people arecomplaining about the extensionof the emergency period, andsaying that government hasimposed hardship on themwhen, in fact, government isproviding security for them togo about their normalactivities.”

On his visit to theInternational Aviation College,the NAF boss commended theauthorities of the college,saying: “Honestly, I am verymuch impressed with thestandard of facilities that I haveseen, the standard is comparableto the standard you findanywhere in the world.”

Bade said he was in the U.S.recently to see some Nigerianstudents who were undergoingtraining there, adding that whathe saw in Ilorin was comparableto what he saw in the U.S.

“Rather than go abroad, weshould come and do things so asto patronise the school becausethe Kwara government does nothave airline of its own.”

He said things could be donebetter if necessary facilitieswere put right in the country.

The House, afterdeliberating on the motion,also resolved that the StateEmergency ManagementAgency should send reliefmaterials to the affectedpeople.

The House further resolvedthat the State BoundaryCommittee should properlydemarcate the boundarybetween the twocommunities and that theHouse Committee onConflicts and BoundaryResolution should

investigate the matter andreport back for action.

The legislature imploredthe State Government torelease the white paper onreport of the commission ofenquiry set up to investigatethe communal crisis.

The Speaker, Mr SamuelIkon, directed the Clerk ofthe House, Mrs ManduUmoren, to communicate theresolution of the assembly torelevant authorities foraction.

ordered the prosecutor toproduce his witnesses on theadjourned date.

Earlier, the prosecutor, MrMoses Onyia, told the courtthat the accused was arrestedby NDLEA operatives in hisshop at the Ogbete MainMarket on March 15.

Onyia alleged that theoperatives recovered onewhite sack and a black bagand took the exhibits to their

office for investigation,adding that the exhibits weredetected to be cocaine.

The accused pleaded notguilty to the charge.

His counsel, Mr GodwinEdeh, prayed the court toadmit his client to bail onliberal terms.

He said that his client wasa well known distributor ofstationeries and that he wasset up by his competitorswho felt that he was doingbetter than them in thebusiness.


Across The Nation

Group Urges Police To Respect ConstitutionalRole

Be Grateful To God,Cleric Tells Christians

World Bank To Support Nigeria’s Data System

Former Daily Times Editor, Sam OgwaFor Burial

ABUJA - Say No Campaign(SNC), a civil societyorganisation, advised theNigerian Police Force torespect its constitutional role ofmaintaining law and order.

The organisation also urgedthe force to act within theambits of the law in securinglives and property as well ascrime detection and preventionin the country.

The National Convener ofthe campaign, Mr SamsonItodo, gave the advice in Abujaat a news conference on the

BENIN CITY - Times EditorOgwa for burial December 7,the body of the late editor of theLagos weekend and news editorof daily times Mr. SamEnaimoni Ogwa will be laid torest December 7, 2013 atOroguu in Ughelli localgovernment of Delta State.

Late Ogwa died on October24, 2013 aged 68.

A spokesman of the familyMr. Virgil Ogwa said in Beninyesterday that arrangementshave been concluded for theburial.

Samuel Enaimoni Ogwa wasborn in Orogun February 5,1945. He had his primaryeducation at Benin DivisionalCouncil (BDC) Ebue, some 3miles from Iguiye Villagefounded by his father Latefather Ogwa Joseph Ogwa,After his primary education, hehad secondary education atAiyede Grammar School, Ekiti,in Today’s Ekiti State west ofNigeria. He read his A-Levelswhile teaching at EdokpoloGrammar school, Benin Cityand later Joined the DailyTimes of Nigeria in 1979 as areporter. He attended thePrestigious Time School ofJournalism for a diploma in theNetherlands in 1980. He rosethrough the ranks after histraining to top Editorialpositions in the Daily Times.He was News Editor, Daily

ABUJA - The World Bank iscommitted to supporting andpositioning Nigerian StatisticalSystem (NSS) to enable it tocontribute meaningfully to thenational TransformationAgenda, an official has said.

Mr Alain Gaugris, a SeniorStatistician at the Bank, said thisin Abuja at the 2013 AfricanStatistics Day celebration,which had as its theme “QualityData to Support AfricanProgress’’.

He said the Bank waspartnering the National Bureauof Statistics (NBS) because ofthe importance of statistics todevelopment and povertyreduction.

“The World Bank is activelyinvolved in statisticaldevelopment in Nigeria, mainlythrough the 10 million dollarsgrant for Statistics for ResultsFacility (SRF) project.

According to Gaugris, theproject, which spans 2011-2014,is focused on capacity buildingat the federal level for NBS andNational PopulationCommission (NPC) staff, aswell as members of staff of sixpilot states.

The states are Anambra,Bauchi, Edo, Kaduna, Niger andOndo.

“The objective of the three-year project is to initiate theimplementation of the NationalStrategy for the Development ofStatistics (NSDS) by producingreliable statistics in participatingstates,’’ he said.

Gaugris said the project wasmeant to improve the legal andinstitutional framework in NSSto improve vertical andhorizontal coordination.

‘‘It is also meant to developthe human resources, statistical

framework and the InformationTechnology infrastructure in theNSS to professionalisestatistical production inNigeria,’’ he added.

Dr Muhammad Tumala, thePresident, Nigerian StatisticalAssociation, stressed the needfor collaboration betweenproducers of statistics atnational and sub-national levelsto avoid conflict in nationaldata.

Tumala called for sustainedcooperation and collaboration ofall data-gathering agencies toimprove production of qualitystatistics in the country.

The Statistician-General ofthe Federation, Dr Yemi Kale,said the 2013 African StatisticsDay was held to promote the

importance of statistics innational planning, policyformulation, monitoring andevaluation of governmentprojects.

He said the theme wasselected to draw attention to theimportance of quality statisticsfor evidence-based decision-making in economicmanagement, poverty reductionand all aspects of socio-economic developmentprocesses.

Kale was represented by Mr.George Oparaku, the Director,Real Sector and HouseholdSurveys Department in NBS.

The celebration was initiatedin 1990 by the Joint AfricanConference of Planners,Statisticians, andDemographers, a subsidiary ofthe UN Economic Commissionfor Africa.

ABUJA - THE AuxiliaryBishop of Catholic Archdioceseof Abuja, Rt. Rev. AnselmUmoren, has called onChristians to be grateful to Godin spite of the challenges aroundthem.

Umoren gave the exhortationin his homily at the HarvestThanksgiving and Bazaar ofOur Lady of Perpetual HelpParish, Gwarinpa, Abuja.

He said the fact that they werealive was worthy of celebration,adding: “you may have food butnot alive to eat.

“Let everything be anexpression of all that God hasgiven to you. If you are grateful,God will bless you forappreciating His blessings inyour lives,’’ he said.

According to him, the essenceof life is to seek the kingdom ofGod first and all other thingswill be added on to it.

In his message, the Parish

Priest, Rev. Fr. Jude Nwigwe,reminded parishioners that thosewho sow sparingly would reapsparingly and those who sowgenerously would reapgenerously.

Nwigwe encouragedparishioners to operate on thelaw of divine favour to reapGod’s generosity.

He said the parish adopted thetheme “harvest of generosity’’because “God has beengenerous to us in many ways, sonumerous to count’’.

Also, the Chairman of the2013 Harvest PlanningCommittee, Mr Anthony Okure,said the occasion was anotheropportunity for the parishionersto express their appreciation toGod for His blessings.

Okure recalled that themembers had embarked on thesymbolic “sowing of seed” withtheir various intentions,petitions and prayer requests afew Sundays ago.

state of corruption andimpunity in the country.

Itodo expressed concern overthe constant use of the policeby some public office holdersand politicians to satisfy“political hunger for power andoppression’’.

He stressed the need forpolice to take pride in itsconstitutional functions toavoid being used by any vestedgroups.

He reminded the force thatthe Police Act provided thepolice with the power to

prevent and detect crime,apprehend and preserve lawand order.

Itodo said “Nigeriansobserved the ugly role playedby the police in the Rivers StateHouse of Assembly saga andthe unlawful restraints on agroup of civil societyactivists.’’

The activist appealed topublic officers to abide by thewords of their oath of officewhen they pledged to bear trueallegiance to the Federal

Times. Editor, Lagos Weekendand later Bureau Chief, WestAfrica founded in 1917. He hadthe greatest challenges duringthese periods, he Edited WestAfrica Magazine as it coveredthe whole world with base inLondon.

Although he wanted to readClassics, the hand of fatedirected him towardsJournalism where he had afulfilled career spanning 28years. He retired in 1999 as oneof the senior Editors of theDaily Times Group, butcontinued in writing. He diedafter a prolonged illness on the24th of October, 2013. Until hisdeath, he was Proprietor PeaceShalom Nursery and PrimarySchool, Lagos. He is survived

by Wife (Deaconess EstherOgwa) Nee Umukoro, Mrs.Bernice Uwouriya (daughter),Mr. Virgil Ogwa, Mr. fedelixOgwa (Business man) Or.Omonigho Ogwa, BarristerLander Ogwa and eight grandchildren. He is due to be buriedon the 7th of December 2013at his family compound inEmonu, Orogun in UghelliNorth Local Government Areaof Delta State. -

In a tribute in Benin lastnight, Sir Odafe Othihiwa,described the late Mr. Ogwa asa committed journalist herecalled that he and Mr. Ogwaworked with the defunct dailyexpress before we joined thedaily times. Sam Ogwa will beburied on December 7, atOrogun in delta state.

Republic of Nigeria.The Chairman, Partners for

Electoral Reforms (PER), anNGO, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu,also urged President GoodluckJonathan to promote respect forrule of law to enhancetransparency and goodgovernance in the country.

Nwagwu said that lack ofcompliance by somegovernment agencies to theFreedom of Information Act(FOI) had continued to denyNigerians of their rights toobtain public records.

The celebrant (middle) in group photograph with some of the traditional title holders ofthe Ndigbo community in Ibie, Etsako West.

Edo North Igbo leader, Chief Igwe Okeke JC Izigbo of Edo North (2nd left), leads Hon.Austin Braimoh (right), in a traditional parade shortly after being installed as Akwamiri(Bridge) of the Igbos in Edo.

Mr. Sam Enaimoni Ogwa

1 0 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013THE NIGERIAN

Business + EconomyImoke Plans Big For 2013 Calabar Carnival

Dairy Coy: SokotoPays N1.6bnCounterpartContribution

SURE-P Implementation Zamfara Youths Demand

Explanation

Register WithDrivers Institute ,

RTEAN UrgeMembers

ASUU Strike: Residents,Traders Count Losses

SOKOTO- The Sokoto StateGovernment has said it had paidN1.6 billion as its counterpartcontribution for theestablishment of a modernlivestock farm and dairycompany in the state.

A statement by Malam SaniUmar, Senior Special Assistanton Media to Gov. AliyuWamakko, made available tonewsmen in Sokoto, said thecompany would be located inTabani village, Rabah LocalGovernment Area.

It stated that the governordisclosed this when he inspectedthe site acquired by the stategovernment for the project.

The statement explained thatthe technical partner, anArgentine firm, South AmericanBreeding Technology, wouldinvest N1 billion required tocomplete the project.

It stated that land clearance forthe actual work to commence onthe project would soon start,adding: “Part of the equipmenthad since arrived Sokoto andtheir installation would alsostart.”

The statement said that thegovernor had directed officials ofthe Ministry for Animal Healthto ensure effective supervision ofthe project.

It advised those “sceptical”about government projectsacross the state to verify thestatus of such projects with therelevant Ministries, Departmentsand Agencies.

“This project is therefore real,just like all our numerouscompleted and ongoing projectsacross the state,” it stressed.

GUSAU- The ZamfaraNational Youth Assembly, anNGO, has asked the state SURE-P office to explain itsemployment policy.

The group accused the stateoffice of the SURE-P of laggingbehind in meeting theemployment target set for states.

The Chairman of the assembly,Malam Munnir Haidara, toldnewsmen in Gusau that only2,000 people had been engagedunder the programme since itscommencement in the state.

According to him, 3,000youths are supposed to be

engaged under the programme.Haidara called on the office to

quickly recruit the remaining1,000 youths to meet the SURE-P target of 3, 000 per state.

He noted that the SURE-Pprogramme was initiated toempower unemployed youthsnationwide, advising the stateofficers not to sabotage theeffort.

Reacting to the development,the SURE-P State Coordinator,Alhaji Lawal Zurmi, dismissedthe allegation as “untrue”.

Zurmi explained that hisoffice, in collaboration with theNational Directorate ofEmployment (NDE) hadengaged and trained 20 youthsfrom each of the 147 wardsacross the state.

OGBOMOSO (OYOSTATE) - Residents andtraders in Ogbomoso havecontinued to count theirlosses from the prolongedASUU strike.

Some residents inOgbomoso town whereLadoke Akintola Universityof Technology, Ogbomoso(LAUTECH|) is situated,complained to newsmenabout the adverse effects ofthe prolonged strike on theirbusinesses.

They said that the strike,apart from affecting thestudents nationwide, had also

badly affected theirbusinesses.

Mrs Yinka Ajewole, atrader told newsmen that herbusiness was badly affectedby the strike action, addingthat her customers weredrawn from the students’populace.

“My market is not movingat all. The goods are just therewithout buyers and this isbecause the students are notaround.

“I hardly make a quarter ofwhat I make when the schoolwas on,” she said.

Mr Saheed Hassan, a

motorcycle (Okada) ridersaid that everything had beendifficult since the strikestarted.

“This Okada business wasbetter when students werearound. Now it is very hardand the income is very low,”he said.

However, some of theresidents, who have theirchildren in the university,urged government to resolvethe issue with ASUU for theirchildren to return to school.

They urged government tosee the students as the futureleaders who needed to be well

groomed for futurechallenges.

Mr Ridwan Adeyemi, oneof the residents and a parentdescribed the ongoing strikeas ‘insensitivity’ ofgovernment and the lecturersto the future of the students.

Adeyemi urgedgovernment to always makeagreements that could befulfilled.

The residents further calledon the government and thestriking lecturers to come toa compromise in the interestof the students and the nationat large

LAGOS- Governor LiyelImoke of Cross River haspromised to make this year’sCalabar Carnival bigger andbetter than the previous events.

Imoke disclosed that sevencountries would be participating

in the carnival.This is contained in a

statement made available tonewsmen in Lagos.

He said that Calabar Carnivalwas of tremendous value to thestate and Nigerians.

“The truth about Nigeria isexpressed in Calabar Carnivalbecause it does not discriminate.

“The 2013 edition will take ona more international flavor withmore countries to participate,’’

the governor said.He said that Brazil, France,

Ghana, Rwanda, Cameroon,Egypt, and Trinidad and Tobagohad expressed interest that theywould be sending their bands to

the carnival.Imoke said: “This (Carnival

Calabar) is a reflection ofNigeria, the beauty of Nigeria,its uniqueness in design andpresentation and likeNollywood, it can change theimage of Nigeria.

“There is opportunity for apartnership to grow in thecarnival and the private sector,especially in terms of financehousing, need to understand andinvest in the creative industry

because of its potential.’’According to him, “the

partnership can boost the localeconomy and promote the CrossRiver brand.’’

He said that the activitiesincluded charity shows, sports,culture, dance, singing and acarnival which is reported to be“the Biggest Street Party inAfrica“, which is the icing on thecake.

‘‘ Calabar Carnival has overthe years become an iconic

LAGOS -The Road TransportEmployers’ Association ofNigeria (RTEAN) has appealedto its members to register theirvehicles with the Lagos State’sDrivers’ Institute in compliancewith a government directive.

The Lagos State Chairman ofRTEAN, Alhaji AdefowopeOlorode, made the appeal in aninterview with newsmen inLagos.

Olorode told newsmen that theregistration would sanitise thetransport sector, and called forcooperation of all stakeholders. Reports say that Lagos StateCommissioner forTransportation, Mr KayodeOpeifa, had on November 1directed that all commercialvehicles, their owners,conductors and drivers should beregistered with the institute.

Opeifa said that theregistration was in compliancewith the Lagos State Traffic Lawof August 2, 2012.

The commissioner said that theregistration should be donewithin 60 days from November1, warning that erringcommercial vehicle operatorswould be arrested by January 1,2014.

“The registration will help tosanitise the transport sectorwhich has been an all-comers’affair.

“We support the idea; weembrace it, but we plead that theregistration should notnegatively affect the progress ofour members by frustrating theirefforts to get it done fast, “Olorode said.

Member, representingAkoko-Edo I Constitu-ency in Edo State Houseof Assembly, Hon.Kabiru Adjoto moving amotion of urgent publicimportance on the sus-pension of the Chairmanof Uhunmwode LocalGovernment Area, Hon.Roland Mari during ple-nary at the House re-cently. Photo: GODWINISEGUAN.

Executive Chairman, SUBEB, Edo State, Prince Stephen Alao (centre) speaking during the inauguration of a fact-finding committee on suspension of teaching and non-teaching staff in Ovia North East at the Board’s Headquarters inBenin City recently.


THE violation of women’s rights both at thenational and domestic strata have becomeburning and vexatious issues. What we findhappening in this country as regards the denialto women of certain privileges and rights, muchmore pervades other nations of the world tosome varying degree and extent. In somecountries women are never heard but they areonly seen and are not offered opportunities tomake their contributions to national growth anddevelopment.

THE refrain has always been that we are in amale dominated society and as such thedominance is carried over to other sectors oflife, where it becomes very obvious that themale-folks are always in the position to wieldpower and control. However, the tendency tokeep women at the background in mostsocieties is derived from the tradition andcustom of old in predominantly medievalcommunities where women are consigned tobasic task of up-keeping of the home and therearing and bearing of children.

AGAIN, there is the perceived social andenvironmental factors that women are notendowed with equal natural abilities seenagainst the superiority and innate physicalattributes of man, which makes him thestronger sex while the women are regarded asthe weaker sex.

WHILE it is still in contention that women arespiritually more gifted than the men, there arehowever, certain, religious practices intraditional religion, Christianity and Islam andmany other faith-exercising beliefs wherewomen are barred from priestly role for reasonspeculiar to those faith.

OVER the years however, women have risento these challenges to combat and eliminatethese practices and to elevate womanhood tothe pedestal of dignity and to take their prideof place in society.

THESE situations have also given rise to suchconcepts as women liberation and womenempowerment to such extent it appears thatthere has been an attempt to rewrite the Englishlanguage to make it reflect the sense ofwomanhood were such words as “Chairman”

PromotingPolitical Rights

Of Womenand “mankind” are facing the challenges of someetymologists and lexical experts to make themlose their male connotations.

WHILE the war to institute the female privilegeand the sense of womanhood in the languagesector is a continuing one, there are still otherareas of human endeavour where our womenfolkare carrying on the battle. It is a matter of fact,that women more often than not now concernthemselves with issues such as the problem ofdevelopment, female health reproductive issues,prostitution, trafficking in women, wife-batteringand the political participation of women in theaffairs of state.

FOR instance, a study by the populationreference bureau, “conveying concerns: womenwrite on Reproductive Health,” indicate that theglobal community is beginning to recognize acrucial, yet long overlooked piece ofdevelopment puzzle. The study states that theideas and participation of women are essentialfor planning appropriate, comprehensive andeffective development programs.

A DEVELOPMENT effort of particularsignificance to women, it says is the design ofreproductive health policies and programmes tomeet the needs of all women, at different stagesin their reproductive lives, from different socioeconomic setting, of different religious andcultural backgrounds.

IT also noted that efforts in the past to providewomen. reproductive health services seemed tohave been implanted without fully understandingthe needs and sensitivities of the women theywere to serve, following ‘which many women andwomen’s group became disillusioned with the

development process.HOWEVER, “the increasing problem that

women face in our world is that ofdiscrimination which is occasioned bytraditional practices in all ramifications, evendiscrimination in office places and inappointments. In effect, no matter how highlyplaced a woman might be in respect ofachievements and in office; her status is stilllow because of male chauvinism and itsdominating characteristics not to regard awoman’s profile as worth anything not even bymen who may have achieved less.

WOMEN’s standing has risen dramatically inrecent times due mainly to their efforts and thatof the international community and many non-governmental organizations who insist on therights and privileges which not only they shouldtake from society but what the constitutions andcodes of human freedom had also conferredon them.

IN this regard a number of internationaldecisions which have helped to legitimize therights and privileges of women include the 1952convention on the political rights of women, the1979 convention on the political rights ofwomen, the 1979 convention on the eliminationof Discrimination ‘Against Women and the 1995Beijing Conference, China, sponsored by theUntied Nations. It was the fourth worldconference on women with 189 governmentsand 2,600 non-governmental groups inattendance.

RESOLUTIONS at the conference agreed to aset of strategic objectives and action includingefforts to advance the role of women in politicsand environment stewardship.

BESIDES, the Commonwealth has also beencommitted to the problem of gender inequalityand presented plan of action at the BeijingConference as well as an update to it in 1997.

AT this point, we the women groups yearningfor improvements in women conditionsnationally and globally to pursue the courserelentlessly and not give up. Further, we implorethe Nigerian government and other nationsglobally to address the socio-cultural factorsthat hinder women from the realization of theirfull potentials.

THE NIGERIAN


Vision 20:20: Application Of KeyTechnologies

By GIFT ONAGHAMA

Issues

Omobola Johnson, Minister of Information Technology.

THE FederalMinister of scienceand Technology, Prof.Ita Okon Bassey Ewasays that the federalgovernment has beenchallenged to embraceand to adopt a newtechnology approach,if Nigeria must attainvision 2020, whichseeks to position thecountry to be amongthe top 20 Economicsof the world by theyear 2020. Chief ExecutiveOfficer ofd e v e l o p m e n tInformation Network(DIN), Mr. BankoleOlubamise, who gavethe advice at therecently concluded11th InternationalConference of the

Nigeria ComputerAssociation in IlokoIjesha, Osun State, Hesaid that Nigeriangovernment in the 21st

century must embracekey technology andoptimize its servicedelivery process,through shared vision,be fore thinking ofattaining vision 2020. For Nigeria toachieve vision 2020,Nigeria must be able todisplace one of the top20 developed use andimplementation ofposition, through thetechnologies in all thegovernment activities. Nigeria, is not in thetop ten list of Africancountries in terms of

t e c h n o l o g ydevelopment andtherefore has a lot tocontend with to makethe top ten list inAfrica countries, before they can bethinking of a positionwithin the top 20countries in the World. Nigeria could attainits vision if the righttechnologies are put inplace, Nigeria has thebest E-govt strategy inthe world but Nigerialacks properi m p l e m e n t a t i o nprocess to achieve itsset objective.Therefore thegovernment shouldenforce fullimplementation of itsE - g o v e r n m e n tstrategy and ensure

that every nook andcranny is completelywired to enhanceonline activities in thecountry. The digital dividewhich Nigeria andmost African countriesare currently facing, isrooted in the lack ofinfrastructure, whichhas hinderedinformation use andknowledge creation“the huge difference inbrand band, bandwidth and theirsubscriptions betweenthe developing and thedeveloped Worldproves that there areyet many mile stonesto be reached in order

to close the gap of thedigital divide. If Nigeria mustattain vision 2020. E-government solutionsare prominently

represented in effortsto improve themanagement andefficiency ofg o v e r n m e n ti n f o r m a t i o ntechnology resourcesmaking reference tothe 2012 UnitedNations E-governmentsurvey rankings a clearrepresentation ofcountries that haveembraced technologyand have equallyimplemented itsstrategies. According to therankings, the republic

of Korea is the worldleader in technologyadoption and usage,following byNetherlands, theUnited Kingdom (UK)

and Denmark, with theUnited states, Canada,France, Norway, andSweden followingthem closely, the top20 Economics are wellrepresented in the topranked E-governmentcountries. Estonia isparticularly interestingbecause it is one of theleast populousmembers of theEuropean union, yet itis ranked the 20th mostdeveloped countrywith an advanced highincome economic,economic freedom, a

civil libertieseducation andprobably one of themost wined countriesin Europe. Among countrieswith the highestpopulation where

Nigeria features, itsranking is not tooencouraging with theranking of 7 out of the10 high populatedcountries the mostsurprising is theAfrican ranking,

where Nigeria doesnot even feature. In thetop 10 and this is achallenge for Nigeria,because its entireindustry, as well as forthe governmentespecially theministry, whereleadership is expected

to fast track theadoption of E-government frameworks and solutions atthe ministriesDepartments andAgencies (MOAN) ofthe federal state, localgovernment.

“Nigeria could attain its visionif the right technologies are putin place, Nigeria has the best E-govt strategy in the world butNigeria lacks properimplementation process toachieve its set objective.”

“The digital divide which Nigeria andmost African countries are currentlyfacing, is rooted in the lack ofinfrastructure, which has hinderedinformation use and knowledgecreation...”


NYSC Animation: GrillingThe IndexBy MBA PRISCILLIA NGOZI

AJUWAYATODAY

IF abolishing the NYSC scheme would swell thelabour market, then the government should reformthe schemes and make it more valuable andattractive to prospective corps members. It isironical for corps members to be subjected tounpleasant situations simply because they have toserve their father land. Notwithstanding, the NYSC has become a year-long summer camp of sort, loitering entry into theserious world of competition and unemployment.Thus, I would postulate that unless the corpsmembers actually take it upon themselves toperfect and develop whatever skills they haveacquired and to preserve a certain height of mentalfitness by endeavouring to read, study, and educatethemselves with respect to their core disciplines,the present state of NYSC actually does its best tomake them increasingly unemployable after thecompetition of the service year. Some persons will blithely argued that sincemembership NYSC lasts for only period of oneyear, corps members ought to persevere andstomach the pains connected with disillusionmentand incapable to pursue their cherished dreams andaspirations vis-à-vis their chose disciplines;“beside, it will only last for one year”, such peoplemay say. I am completely flumoxed by the notionthat a nation in such obvious need would even fora single second, be willing to give up the hope andenthusiasm of its brightest young minds on the altarof the continued animation of its redundant system. Given the already precarious and flounderingeducational sector and the necessity of thefunctionality of the said sector to our national andeconomic growth and development, one wouldthink that we should not only be obstinatelyaddressing the numerous problems within thesystem, but we should also be assertively nurturingand protecting whatever progress we are able toachieve in the sector. Dwelling on the posting ofcorps members, it should be more ameliorate ifcorps members are posted to the areas of theirvarious disciplines where they will actualize theirdreams. It will be precarious to the educationalsystem if ones dream slips away from him, andalso injurious to any corps member who actuallyread a particular course like engineering in schoolto be teaching while serving, such corps should betaken to his area of discipline. There is an adagethat says ‘whats worth doing, is worth doing well’. Moreso, the teachers in our classrooms andLecturers in tertiary institutions must haveundergone intensive training and must also beinvolved in constant development before they cangive precise lectures to students. Am not disputingthe fact that practice makes perfect but for the sake

of serving and also to help our dreams, corpsmembers should focus on their disciplines becausethere must be zero – tolerance for errors wherethe education of our children is concerned; wesimply cannot afford to let just any one become ateacher in schools, given the colossal responsibilitythat they must successfully abide. Unfortunately the current state of the NYSCdictates that many graduates without anyspecialised training in teaching practice

whatsoever magically transformed into ace teachersovernight. This can be likened to shooting oneself in the footbecause many of these graduates are themselves sadvictims of a failing educational system due to theperilous situation caused by ASSU for many yearsnow. The scheme is directing corps members to teachwhat they are not specialised on. I would further argue that because the scheme’spresent state supports gross mismatches betweencorps member’s core discipline, the places ofprimary assignment they are posted to and directedto serve, at the end of the services year, they exhibita marked and unmistakable decline in mental acuityand general skill level with respect to their chosendisciplines. This cannot be so hard to imagine, given that foran entire year, the corps members have not had theopportunity to actively and effectively develop and

hone whatever skills they garnered as a result oftheir tertiary education. According to Leonardo da Vinci, “Iron rusts fromdisuse, water loses its purity from stagnation evenso does inaction sap the vigour of the mind”, nowonder many employers today has generallydisregard the service year on a fresh graduate’scurriculum vitae, with the only significance of theperiod to them being that the applicant hascompleted the service year as mandated by the lawof the land and has been awarded a certificate by

the appropriate authorities as proof. This state of affairs is clearly detrimental to theplight of corps members and it is certainly injuriousto an economy that is already beleaguered by thecrisis wrought staggering rates of unemploymentacross the entire federation. If the economy crumbles, we the citizens willsuffer the debilitating consequences. Why then havewe allowed such a crucial matter as the urgent needto restructure the NYSC to fade away from ourcollective consciousness? We should be boldlyagitating for change much in the same way wecollectively accomplished the removal of fuelsubsidy. Conclusively, it should be completely reasonablefor us to insist that posting be made on thejuxtaposition of proper need assessment to becarried out in the communities corps members areposted to, the respective disciplines and areas ofspecialization. Let those corps members trained to and deemedcapable of teaching effectively do so. Let corpsmembers be afforded the opportunity to serve inarea of endeavours where their knowledge andskills vis-à-vis their respective discipline will becreatively applied and positively exploited to theadvantage of the various communities in which theyserve and ultimately to the national economy.

“If the economy crumbles, we the citizens will suffer the debilitating consequences.Why then have we allowed such a crucial matter as the urgent need to restructure theNYSC to fade away from our collective consciousness? We should be boldly agitatingfor change much in the same way we collectively accomplished the removal of fuelsubsidy.”


HealthWorld Prematurity Day: Ensuring Their

SurvivalBy PROF. C.O. EREGIE

THEY are born too soon!They are born with a plethoraof difficulties and challenges!!They are born with acompromised chance ofsurvival!!! They too, as anyother creatures made in theimage and likeness of God (Gen1:26 and 27}, also have a rightto survive and a right to live!!!!These are the products ofconception that are deliveredmuch earlier than their ExpectedDay of Delivery (EDD) orExpected Day of Confinement(EDC). In medical terms, theyare referred to as PrematureBabies. They are born before 37completed weeks of gestation orpregnancy. The normal durationof pregnancy is computed froma formula that assumes a 40-week period of gestation withthe expectation that the productsof such normal duration arealready well-formed andequipped with the relevantstructural and functional‘readiness’ to survive outsidethe womb. Therefore, those bornas premature babies aredelivered without the adequate‘preparedness’ or ‘readiness’ tocope with the stresses andchallenges of life outside thewomb; indeed survival outsidethe womb. Over the years, andwith extensive research andscientific inquiry, cutting-edgetechnologies have been evolvedand developed to recognize suchpremature babies together withtheir various and varieddifficulties and challenges and,indeed, interventions tofacilitate their survival, growthand development.

In order to insure the survival,growth and development ofpremature babies, the world hasset aside a day to be celebratedas the World Prematurity Day(WPD) desirably for a myriadof justifiable reasons withsalutary objectives. Every year,17th of November is set asideand now designated the WPD todraw attention deservedly,locally, nationally andinternationally, to the plethoraof challenging issuesconcerning the peculiar mattersrelating to the prevention,recognition, difficulties, needs,interventions, future outcomesand abilities/ disabilities ofpremature babies. The effectivecelebration of the WPD is thePremium for this Insurance.

The story of WPD and 17th ofNovember is instructive andremarkable. Globally, thereexists the World PrematurityNetwork (WPN) which is aconglomeration of variousinternational groups and bodiesinterested in, and connectedwith, the matters relating to theprevention, recognition,difficulties, needs,interventions, future outcomesand abilities/ disabilities ofpremature babies together with

support for the research andfuture scientific inquiry into thecomposite and holistic survival,growth and development ofpremature babies. The WPNincludes several Companiesconcerned with various aspectsof prematurity. These include,among several others, criticalcare equipment for prematurebabies, intervention drugs fortheir critical care, facilities asadjuvant to critical care of thesebabies and state-of-the-artrehabilitative care devices.Among WPN are alsoConsumer Groups that ensureequity and quality, and bestpractices and also GoodManufacturing Practices(GMP), in the production,marketing sale, purchase anduse of the critical care productsgeared towards the survival,growth and development ofpremature babies. Also includedin the WPN are severalinternational Parent Groups thathave also become formidable indrawing global awareness andattention to the bothersomeproblems confronting theworld’s enlarging population ofpremature babies. Through thejoint and collaborative efforts ofthe global members of the WPN,the world is mobilized toparticipate in actions/ activitiesthat are geared towards theprevention of prematurity,critical care of these babies,rehabilitation of the survivors ofpremature births and, indeed,the comprehensive attention tothe plethora of issues related tothe emerging difficulties andchallenges confronting theseunique population of humanbeings who deserve no lessentitlement to survival anddecent productive life.

Several media moieties alsocollaborate under the biggercanopy of Global Social MediaOutreach that help in effectiveinformation communication ofthe matters relating to theprevention, recognition,difficulties, needs,interventions, future outcomesand abilities/ disabilities ofpremature babies. The powerfulinfluence and impact of themedia, particularly the growingsphere of social interactive andnetwork media, cannot be over-emphasized. The mediarepresents the force and voice ofthe voiceless but remarkablyvulnerable population ofpremature babies deserving ofworld attention and awarenessdrawn to their plight to excitethe desired empathy and supportfor their total and holistic well-being. Remembering thatinformation is power and thatinformation is strength, themedia have an enormous globalresponsibility to communicatethe appropriate health messagesto garner a global critical mass

force to confront and hopefullysurmount the challenges anddifficulties of premature babiesin the world.

A very important and uniquemember of the WPN is theEuropean Foundation for theCare of Newborn Infants(EFCNI). In 2008, the EFCNIconvoked the first Meeting ofParents’ Organizations inEurope, specifically in Rome,Italy, to sensitize and drawattention to the peculiarcircumstances of prematurebabies. The Meeting decided toadopt an ‘Awareness Day’ tohighlight the peculiar problemsof premature babies and theunique difficulties of thefamilies of such infants. The 17th

of November was remarkablychosen as the day has anemotional significance for averitable founding member ofthe EFCNI who, after the deathof his preterm triplets inDecember 2006, successfullybecame the father of a healthyfemale newborn infant deliveredon the 17th November 2008.Thus, the 17th November 2008appears to be the date of theinitial original birth of the needto have a date set aside for theinstitutionalization of awarenessto the plight and peculiar needsof the population of prematurebabies and their burdenedfamilies.

As the EFCNI wascrystallizing the Initiative forawareness to the peculiar needsand circumstances of prematurebabies, another body in the

the same Initiative andcircumstantially also chose the17th November 2008 for itsinitial intervention with the ideaof a day for the celebration.Indeed, in the USA, theMARCH OF Dimes celebratesNovember as PrematurityAwareness Month.

The Initiative to celebrate theawareness drawn to the peculiardifficulties and challenges ofpremature babies and theirfamilies heightened andculminated in the celebration ofthe first InternationalPrematurity Awareness Day bythe EFCNI on the 17th

November 2009. Thiscelebration involved severalactivities and events thatuniquely and innovatively drewattention to the peculiarcircumstances of prematurebabies and their families relatingto prevention, care,rehabilitation and attention tosurvivors with their uniqueburden on society and thechallenge to address theseinfants and their peculiardifficulties.

By the 17th November 2010,the momentum of thecelebration of the InternationalPrematurity Awareness Day hadbecome phenomenalculminating in the secondInternational celebration on thatday. Instructively and of notewas the nominalinternationalization of the 2010celebration with theparticipation of other relevantinterest groups committed to the

international collaborationnominally andprogrammatically. TheAustralian and AfricanOrganizations were bothmembers of the ‘GlobalAlliance’ for the commitment toprematurity and its myriad ofdifficulties and challenges.

The World Prematurity Daywas first jointly founded in May2010 in New York by EFCNI ofEurope, March of Dimes ofUSA and the Little Big SoulsInternational CharitableFoundation for Africa. Furtherprogress on the celebrationInitiative culminated in anomenclatural metamorphosiswith the birth and formallaunching, together with theAustralian National PremmieFoundation, of the first WorldPrematurity Day (WPD) on the17th November 2011. TheGlobal Alliance also galvanizedthe world impact of thecelebration through the socialinteractive and networkingmedia using the ‘Facebook’.Effective InformationCommunication on the mattersrelated to the prevention, criticalcare, peculiar difficulties, theunique challenges of survivorsof premature births and theunenviable burden of thefamilies of these infants wasfacilitated through the Facebookand such other celebrationactivities and innovative events.

The second WPD wascelebrated on the 17th November2012 with more globalparticipation and the desired

impact. More countries activelygot on the campaign to celebratethe heightening of theawareness to the peculiarcircumstances and the uniqueneeds and demands ofpremature babies. The criticalsituation of the families of thesepremature infants occasioned bythe birth of such babies was alsohighlighted. Also brought to thefore is the comprehensivesupport needed by thesefamilies, and their prematurebabies, to achieve the desiredquality of life denominated inuseful and productive life. Indifferent countries, the WPD iscelebrated with imaginativelyinnovative activities, actionsand events that are capable ofdrawing public attention to thepeculiar problems of prematurebabies. These include publicsensitization lectures/ seminars,video shows, road walks, visitsto Intensive Care Units forPremature Babies, PrematurityAwareness Campaigns andShows by Performing Artistesand Celebrities, Media Showsand Poster Displays. Also, theuse of various Social NetworkMedia, Facebook, Twitter, Blog,among several others, hasincreased the thrust and impetusof the celebration of the WPD.These interactive media add aninternational dimension to thecelebration with an effortlessease and with a seamlessoverlay.

The Institute of Child Health,University of Benin, Benin Cityparticipated in the celebration ofthe World Prematurity Day forthe first time in 2012. Incollaboration with the NigeriaTelevision Authority (NTA), theInstitute was featured on the 17th

November 2012 on a NationalNetwork Programme: ‘AMExpress’. During theProgramme, the discourse onPrematurity wascomprehensively addressed andeffectively communicated bythe author of this presentation,a Professor of Child Health andNeonatology in the Universityof Benin and a ConsultantPaediatrician and Neonatologistin the University of BeninTeaching Hospital, for thedesired effect on the public; therekindling of the awarenessregarding the peculiar issues ofpremature babies. The NTA, incollaboration with the Institute,featured other similarpresentations of the author onPrematurity for continued andenhanced impact to address theproblems of premature babiesand their families. The Institutedischarged this celebration ofthe 2012 WPD under itsinnovative Intervention: thePublic Enlightenment andMobilization Programme(PEMP) through its ActionNetwork, the Perinatal ActionNetwork for the Newborn(PANN).

for the benefit of prematurebabies. EffectiveCommunication of the peculiarcircumstances of the prematurebabies should deservedly musterthe desired global action and

United States of America (USA)committed to the pervadingmatters of newborn infantsparticularly premature newborninfants, the March of Dimes,was also strategising towards

unique difficulties of prematurebabies and their encumberedfamilies. These InternationalGroups included, among others,March of

Dimes in the USA, theNational Premmie Foundationin Australia and the Little BigSouls in Africa. Thus, thesecond InternationalPrematurity Awareness Daycelebration was, indeed, an


Spotlight

In Memoriam: Festus On Electoral Practi

Introduction“THOSE who make peaceful

change impossible, makeviolent change inevitable.”

To a very large extent,elections and electoral practicesshape the fate of the modernnation state. The reason for thisis not difficult to establish.Elections provide the medium,by which the different interestgroups within the modern nationstate can stake and resolve theirclaims to power throughpeaceful means. Electionstherefore determine the mannerand methods by which changesin the social order may bebrought about. Where thismethod fails, individuals andgroups may be left to their ownmeans — includingassassinations, coup detats,revolutions, insurgency andbush wars — to press their claimto power. It is this fact more thanany thing else that makes thesubject of elections and electoralpractices in Nigeria so crucialtoday. As we are aware, thecontroversial elections of 1965produced the coup detat ofJanuary 1966. Again the flawedelections of 1983 produced themilitary coup of December 31,1983. Finally, Babangida’sflawed elections of 1993produced the Abacha palacecoup of that year and paved theway to his memorabledictatorship. As we look nowtowards 2007 against thebackground of the failedelections of 2003 and 2004, thequestion naturally arises as towhether our country can arrivethere in one piece or survive itin whatever form thereafter. Inorder to answer this question orsuggest ways in which it can beanswered so that we can arrivethere, as one country with arenewed faith in the democraticprocess, there is a need toexamine the nature of electionsand its place in furtheringdemocracy and development ina bourgeois social order such asours.

2. E L E C T I O N S ,B O U R G E O I SDEMOCRACY ANDDEVELOPMENT

Almost everywhere, theenlightened self-interest of theruling class dictated thatautocracy be replaced first bythe classical form of democracyand that next, the classical formitself be replaced by its liberalform within the context ofrepresentative democracy. Thisis not to say that members of theruling class voluntarily,willingly and at their owninitiative conceded the right ofelections. Even in the Greek citystate with which the classicalidea of democracy is mostclosely associated, only freemen could participate in thedebates and therefore influencethe mode of governance of thecity. Thus slaves were notallowed to participate in thedebates — as the Greek city wasdivided between the nobility andsubjects and freemen and slaves.The emergence of bourgeoissociety, not only producedstruggles to redefine themeaning but also the practice ofdemocracy. From the bourgeoispoint of view, democracybecomes:

…a political method, that is tosay, a certain type ofinstitutional arrangement forarriving at political, legislativeand administrative decisions. Itis a method by which theindividual acquires the power toparticipate in decisions bymeans of a competitive strugglefor the people’s vote., it is thecompetition for votes that is thedistinguishing character of thedemocratic method..”

Further, democracy ensures:…meaningful and extensive

competition among individualsand organised groups(especially political parties,either directly or indirectly, forthe major positions ofgovernmental power, a “highlyinclusive” level of politicalparticipation in the selection ofleaders and policies, leastthrough regular and fairelections, such that no major(adult) social group is excluded,and a level of civil and politicalliberties- freedom of expression,freedom of the press, freedomto form and join organisations -

sufficient to ensure the integrityof political competition andparticipation.. (Diamond,1988:4)

It can be seen that the conceptof elections or the vote and theprocesses associated with it areseen to lie at the heart of asystem of representativedemocracy. The other elementsare the guarantee of civil andpolitical liberties and theexistence of an institutionalarrangement or governmentwhose function it is to maintainthe aforementioned elementsthrough] among other things,the rule of law. This is not theplace to undertake a critique ofthe theoretical postulations andhence practical implications andapplications of the bourgeoisconcept of democracy (we haveundertaken such a critiqueelsewhere - lyayi, 1995). Whatis important is that electionsplay a crucial role in thebourgeois understanding ofdemocracy and that the stabilityof the bourgeois order ispremised upon the credibility ofits elections. Further, thisunderstanding has provided thebenchmarks against whichdemocratic and hence electoralpractices have been measured inall bourgeois contexts in theworld (Dye and Zeigler, 1971).

As an index of the culture ofpolitics in a context, thesebenchmarks also indicate thatthe integrity of the electoralprocess has major implicationsfor the level of economic andsocial development that arepossible or attainable in thatcontext (Fayemi, Jaye andYeebo, 2003). As Ake (2001: 1-6) has pointed out, that both thefailure of development and thefailure to put development onthe agenda in Africa are largelyattributable to politicalconditions. One of these moresalient conditions is theconception of politics as warfareby the politically active segmentof the ruling class. Theimplication of this however isthat there is a recursiverelationship between politicalpractices as engendered by thepolitical system and

development. A political culturethat is defined by violencemakes development impossiblebecause by its very nature, sucha political culture is destructiveof the need and motivation forachievement. A culture ofelections a is marked byviolence and warfare is thustotally anathema to thepossibilities of development.

In speaking of elections, it isimportant that we do not reducethe process to the vote. AsOkoye (2OO3: vii) has pointed‘Do the Votes Count? FinalReport of the 2003 GeneralElection in Nigeria

…elections are a complex setof activities with differentvariables that act and feed onone another. It can be defined asan act of collective decision thatoccurs in a stream of connectedantecedent and subsequentbehaviour. It involves theparticipation of the people intheir act of electing their leadersand their own participation ingovernance.

Elections are not necessarilyabout Election Day activities,although it forms an importantcomponent. It includes the legaland constitutional framework ofelections, the registration ofpolitical parties, partycampaigns, the activities of theelectronic and print media interms of access; it includescampaign financing, theactivities of the securityagencies and the government inpower. It includes theauthenticity and genuineness ofthe voters register; it includesthe independence or lack of itof electoral agencies and organs.It includes process in thecountry and the independence ofadjudicating bodies of election.

An examination of thecharacter of elections in Nigeriamust thus deal with these issues,not simply in a theoretical sensebut more in terms of the way inwhich they have functionedover the period. It is particularlyimportant in this regard thatsuch an examination deals withnot one but all elections thathave occurred in the context inorder to discover underlyingdynamics and thus to be surethat suggesting the way forward,it deals, not with symptoms butwith causes. For this reason weshall examine elections andelectoral practices in Nigeria infour phases. These will be:

v Elections in the colonialperiod 1922-1959

v Elections in the first years

of independence (1960-1965)v Elections during the years of

military rule and autocracyv Elections under civilian

regimes in between the years ofmilitary rule and autocracy

3. Elections in the Period ofcolonial rule

A number of elections wereheld in Nigeria in the colonialperiod. These elections beganwith the legislative councils inLagos and Calabar from 1922(Akerele, 2003). The growth ofthe labour movement and thedevelopment of towns led toconcessions by colonialauthorities that culminated inthese cities and legislativecouncil elections. By 1938, forexample, the Nigerian YouthMovement, an organisation thatwas hostile to British colonialinterests in Lagos in particularand Nigeria in general was ableto win three out of the fouravailable seats in the citycouncil elections. In the sameyear, it also won all threelegislative seats in thelegislative council elections.Several other elections tookplace between 1951 and 1959.

While the 1951 RegionalLegislative elections took placeunder the McPhersonconstitution of the same year,the 1954 elections took placeunder the new FederalConstitution. Whereas allconstitutions up to 1954 limitedthe right of elections to certainmembers of the population, theFederal Constitution granteduniversal adult suffrage.

According to another accountgiven by or. Iyayi in a paper hepresented at the NBAconference in Abuja on 24th

August 2004 stated thatIn the book, ‘British

Administration in Nigeria:1900-1950 -A Nigerian View’,Okonjo has provided a graphicaccount of the motives for andelectoral practices of the period.In the 1951 and subsequentelections for example, theBritish colonialists workedassiduously to tilt the politicalscale in favour of theCoordinated by Sir Bryar whowas to become the LieutenantGovernor and Governor ofnorthern Nigeria during thecrucial run off period to flag

Being a paper delivered at the NBA Conference inAbuja on 24th August, 2004 by late Dr. Festus Iyayi,Department of Business Administration, Faculty ofSocial Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City,Edo State, NIGERIA.

• Late Prof. Festus Iyayi

“The other elements are the gliberties and the existence of agovernment whose function it iselements through] among othe


Iyayi’s Viewpointce In Nigeria (1)

Spotlight

independence, these effortsensured that the genuine pro-democracy forces in the countrydid not acquire political power.For example, Sir Bryanconfessed that in the electionsof 1951, he not only helped toprepare NPC’s manifesto,slogans and strategies but that“in the case of more than adozen, I had to hold and guidethe pen hand, after cajoling fromthem the names of those forwhom they wished to vote”. Healso confessed to electionmanipulations “even in areaswhere Muslims were in aminority” so that the NorthernPeoples’ Congress could win90% of the votes. Commentingon the 1951 elections and SirBryan’s role in it, Okonjo(1974:331) has observed that:‘An American scholar hasdescribed Sir Bryan’s account ofthe 1951 elections in Kano overwhich the latter presided, asrevealing as it is obtuse.’ SirBryan became, in the last tenyears of his Northern Nigeriaservice ‘the chief pillar of theadministrative establishment’ inthat part of the country. Under

him and his other Britishassociates in power, the defenseof the status quo became muchmore than an officialpreoccupation. In the face of thethreats from within the Northrepresented by such “lunaticfringe” anti-British parties as theNorthern Elements ProgressiveUnion and the Middle ZoneLeague, and represented fromwithout by such parties as theAction Group or the NationalCouncil of Nigeria andCameroon, the British residentsdecided to throw their weight insupport of the fledging NorthernPeoples Congress, the onlyparty in Northern Nigeriadedicated to the preservation ofthe status quo. The 1951elections to the regionallegislature, conducted’ under theMcPherson constitution, wereconducted with the resident ofeach province as the chiefelectoral officer. Sir Bryan wasthe Resident of Kano provinceat this time, a province whichhad to select twenty of theninety seats of the new NorthernHouse of Assembly”.

This pattern of electoralpractices was repeated in thesubsequent post 1951 elections.Against the background of theRichards and McPhersonconstitutional provisions whichstipulated that 50% of the seatsin Parliament be reserved for theNorthern part of the country, itis not surprising that theNorthern People’s Congressassumed control of politicalpower at flag independence inprocess by the British ensuredas Chief Anthony Enahoro(1985:21,22) has succinctlyobserved that Nigeria becamethe only country that those whofought for independence werenot those who had the privilegedand the historic duty of meetingthe challenges of independence.The truth of the matter, whichdetermined efforts to falsifyhistory cannot forever conceal,is that the nationalists who wereprepared to work, to fight, torisk, to dare — to die if need

nomination papers. Hence,before the elections, sixty-sevenNPC candidates had beendeclared elected unopposed.That did not go down well withthe UPGA leadership whocalled for an immediatepostponement of the elections.But the Balewa Governmentrejected the idea ofpostponement. Thereupon, theUPGA led by Dr. Okpara, thePremier of the Eastern Region,called for a mass boycott of theelection by its supporters.Again, the Balewa governmentordered the election to go aheadin spite of the boycott. Thus, theelections of December 1964turned out to be a farce. It wascompletely boycotted in theEastern Region, where theNCNC Government used itspowers to ensure that noelection was held. It was also

impasse at the centre, theresulting mass revolt in theWestern Region by the peoplewho felt rightly that they hadbeen cheated at the polls set thestage for the first military coupof January 15, 1966.

5. Elections during the yearsof military rule and autocracy1979-1999

The military rulers conductedthree elections during theirperiod of misrule. These were (i)the elections of 1979, under thefirst coming of Obasanjo, the1992-1993 elections underGeneral Babangida and the1999 elections under GeneralAbdusalami Abubakar.Commenting on these elections,especially on the first and thelast, the EU Election Group,which monitored the 2003elections has suggested that, the

civilian government wasresponsible for organisingelections to hand over power toa successor regime. The failureof these elections to consolidatedemocracy (each led in fact todisruption and eventually areturn to military rule) was dueto the reluctance of theincumbent regime to allow alevel playing field, in case theylost their grip on power.”

Both the assessment of theseelections and the reasonsadvanced for the judgement aregreatly at variance with thehistorical facts, some of whichwe have already provided. Theassessment is also greatlyflawed by the assumption thatvoter behaviour dn voting dayis indicative of the fairness andpeacefulness of elections. Thecolonial and military regimeswere rooted in force andrepression. Thus arrangementsfor voting were also highlymilitarised. The 1993 elections,for example, produced the 12 2/3 controversy, which theObasanjo military regimeresolved in favour of itsinterests. The elections of 1992-1993 were frequently delayed,cancelled, postponed andadjusted to produce a resultpredetermined by the military.In the event that this did nothappen, the results of the June

be—so that a new anddemocratic nation might beborn, these people lost controlof the situation and weredisplaced or succeeded by thosewho had remained untouched bythe unifying and modernisingflames of the new nationalism...When independence came in thefullness of time, neither thegoodwill of progressive forces...nor our trade unions, nor ouryouth could prevent theinevitable course of eventswhen those who were leastdisposed towards democracybecame the official guardians ofour fledging democracy”.

4 Elections in the first yearsof independence: 1960 — 1965

Three sets of elections wereheld in the period from 1960 —1965. These were the electionsin the newly created MidwestRegion in February 1964, theFederal elections of December1964 and the Regional electionsof 1965, The prelude to theDecember 1964 Federalelections was provided by thecensus exercise and the creepingcrisis in the Western Regionfrom 1962 onwards. The censusresults released in March 1961had shown that the South had ahigher population than theNorth. As the time of the Federalelections approached, theBalewa NPC government notonly cancelled the 1961 censusresults but also stated a recountfor 1963. Then just before theelections in

1964, the new census resultswere released. The resultsdeclared that the North had 55%of the population of the country.For the NCNC which had goneinto alliance with UMBC,NEPU and its old adversary, theAG to form the UnitedProgressive Alliance andtherefore hoped to win theFederal elections because itanticipated the census results torevalidate the 1961 results, andbecause it was already in controlof virtually three out of the fourRegions in the federation, thecensus figures provided the laststraw in a litany of pre-electionmeasures by the NPCgovernment that were aimed atfrustrating the opposition.Ademoyega (1981:19) recountsthat:

As the elections approached,the NPC government of theNorth did not hesitate tofrustrate the UPGA candidatesin the North, so that many ofthem could not file in their

partly boycotted in the West,North, Mid-West and Lagos,with the effect that the electionresults lacked credit and werenationally unacceptable.However, while the UPGArejected them, the NPC and itsallies of the NNA, which single-handedly carried out theelections, accepted them. Therefollowed a national stalemate.

The October 1965 electionsinto the Regional Governmentof the West were no less farcical.Although the people clearlyrejected the Akintolagovernment at the polls andvoted massively for the AGopposition party, the Akintolagovernment publicly(interfered) with the results ofthe elections. In very manycases, AG candidates who heldcertificates that they were dulyelected in their constituencieslater heard their namesmentioned as defeatedcandidates throughgovernmental news media”(Ademoyega, 1981 :21-22).These developments, includingthe simmering TIV revolt in theMiddle Belt, the political

most free, fair and peacefulconducted elections in Nigeriawere those in 1959,1979, 1993and 1999, and the most chaotic,violent and disputed were thosein 1964 and 1983. The reasonfor this is that the first three were‘transition’ elections in whichthe regimes in power andresponsible for organising theelections had to hand overpower to a democratic civilianregime. So, in 1959 the Britishcolonial regime wanted asmooth transfer of power toNigerian self-government, in1979 the military government ofGeneral Obasanjo viewed itselfas an interim fixture to ensurestability and then hand over toelected officials, in 1993 acombination of internal andexternal pressure forced GeneralBabangida to organise theelections and in 1999, after thedisastrous rule of GeneralAbacha the military had nopolitical credibility and wantedonly to disengage as quickly aspossible. In contrast, the otherelections can be viewed aspotential ‘consolidation’elections, in which an elected

12, 1993 were brazenly annulledby General Babangida on theexcuse that the military wasuncomfortable with them. The1999 election results were alsopredetermined. Acting inconcert with neo-colonial andimperialist interests, thedominant coalition within thelocal ruling class draftedGeneral Obasanjo into apolitical process that ended withhim being declared the winnerof the process. All theseprocesses occurred with flawedelectoral rules, withoutlegitimate and validconstitutions, with electoralagencies under the firm jackboats of military rulers, Thus itwas public knowledge thatProfessor Henry Nwosu whoreplaced Prof. Awa as head ofBabangida’s electoral agencywas brutalized by securityagents on account of the fact thathe dared in 1993 to announcesome of the authentic results, In1993 as in 1999] the politicalparties were the creatures of themilitary despots. They were, asthe late Ige characterized them,all leprous fingers on the sameleprous hand.

guarantee of civil and politicalan institutional arrangement ors to maintain the aforementioneder things, the rule of law.”

“All these processes occurred with flawed electoral rules, withoutlegitimate and valid constitutions, with electoral agencies under thefirm jack boats of military rulers, Thus it was public knowledge thatProfessor Henry Nwosu who replaced Prof. Awa as head ofBabangida’s electoral agency was brutalized by security agents onaccount of the fact that he dared in 1993 to announce some of theauthentic results, In 1993 as in 1999] the political parties were thecreatures of the military despots.”


With

JUDE OBUSEH

Security IssuesOf Primordialism AndNationalism Security

WHEN Adolf Hitler, thepotentate of the Third Reich, inthe heat of the Xenophobiaagainst the Jews and othercoloured peoples of Europe,launched a massive pogromagainst these so-called “weakerspecies”, it was justified on thegrounds of Aryan supremacy.When Rwandan Hutuslaunched a genocidal war ofattrition against their Tutsibrothers’, there was a reasonfor it. When the four wars ofYugoslav secession broke out,it was based on long-held,deep-seated animosities amongthe groups constituting thecountry. When the NigerianCivil War broke out in 1967,something triggered it off.

It is against the backdrop ofthe aforementioned cases thatI interrogate the hate-filledexpletives hurled at Indigbo byMr. Femi Fani-Kayode, aprominent Nigerian of Yorubaextraction, some months ago,and their implications for thecountry’s security. In threehighly abusive, derisive, andderogatory articles (“LAGOS,THE IGBO AND THESERVANTS OF TRUTH”,“THE BITTER TRUTHABOUT THE IGBO”, and “AWORD FOR THOSE WHOCALL ME A TRIBALIST”)circulated in both social andregular media – national andinternational - FFKdeliberately stoked the fire ofviolent conflict by exhuminglong-buried divisive issuesbothering on why Nigeriansshould be wary of Igbodomination; the same fears thatactivated the Volcano thatalmost pulverized the entirecountry between 1967-1970.His, is the latest in a longtradition among prominentNigerians that stretches back tothe onset of the much-vauntedNigerian project (?).

The implications of FFK’shighly prejudicial statementsfor national security are legion– thorny issues that are capableof blowing the country intosmithereens several times overif not properly handled. Atdelicate times like these, whenthe country is already battlingwith other centrifugal forcesthreatening its continued

existence on several fronts, itcan ill-afford the divisiveissues raised by FFK in hishighly controversial andreproachful write-ups. For acountry with a woeful historyof very internecine andintractable conflicts: one majorCivil War (1967-1970) and(approximately 38) sundryother low intensityinsurgencies (CRESNET,2001:1) – political, ethnic,religious et al – and whereconditions on ground arevolatile, Nigeria can ill-affordanother major national crisis.

FFK’s vituperationsconstitutes criminalincitement; unguardedstatements that are capable ofheating up the polity severaltimes over and furtherendangering the already fragileunity among the heterogeneousgroups domiciled within thecountry’s borders, if notsummarily and properlyaddressed. It is only Nigeriathat people make uncensoredstatements that threaten publicpeace without concernedauthorities takingcommensurate steps to checkthe likely deleterious effects ofsuch careless pronouncementson the larger body politic. Insaner climes, a trouble shooterlike FFK would have beenarrested and prosecuted forinciting the public againstanother indigent group. Hiswords are not only criminal,but pose a major security threatto the continued existence ofNigeria as a united sovereignstate.

The World War II Holocaustwas preceded by massivepropaganda against the Jewsand other coloured people onthe grounds of racialsuperiority. But under thecaveat of racial superiority laythe real reason for this massmurder – the fear of increasingJewish domination of all facetsof German national life –industry, arts, academia et al.Thus, before thecommencement of the warproper, there was already deep-seated, widespread xenophobiaagainst the Jews living inEurope. It took the breaking outof hostilities for Hitler and his

bloodthirsty goons tocommence the practicalexpression of their long-heldanimosities towards the Jewsand other coloured groups inEurope. The events in Rwandaand Yugoslavia are twocontemporary cases of howmassive propaganda precededgenocidal attacks by one groupagainst other indigent groups.FFk’s threat that “history willrepeat itself in this country”, ifthe Igbos living and makingtheir living in Lagos “continueto denigrate and belittle theYorubas” is as careless as it is

provocative, and should bespeedily addressed by theauthorities to avoid uglyscenarios of any kind. Suchcareless pronouncements arecapable of triggering offviolent confrontations ofmassive proportions betweenIgbos living in Lagos and itsenvirons, and their Yorubahosts.

I have always argued for theadoption of a more proactiveresponse mechanism to act as

bulwark against the outbreak ofviolent conflicts in Nigeria.Unlike the usual practice wherethe authorities wait until aconflict escalates beforereacting to stem it, I am callingon concerned authorities – atnational and state levels - toimmediately step into thisbrewing crisis between Igbosand Yorubas living in andaround Lagos. The BokoHaram insurgency in theNorthern part of the countryhas already exerted a massivetoll on the country’s resources

and security capabilities tobreaking point. The likelyconsequences of another majorcrisis on the South-Westernfront must be averted. Toforestall this likely scenario, itis advised that Mr. FFK beimmediately called to order bythe authorities, and warned todesist forthwith from firingfurther disparaging salvos atIgbos, before he leads thiscountry into an avoidablecatastrophe. Such a move will

help in building confidenceamong the Igbo populationresiding in Lagos, and assureother groups in the country thatthey can reside and subsist inany part of the country. It willalso go a long way indiscouraging other chauvinistslike him from acting in likemanner in the foreseeablefuture. This will, in no smallway, ensure that the nation-building process continues

unfettered.However, a more

comprehensive step towardschecking the general pandemicof ethnic bigotry and all otherforms of prejudice posingsecurity challenges to thecountry’s continued existencewould be for the NigerianGovernment to do a thoroughreview of the country’smoribund constitution,especially as it concerns thedefinition of who is a Nigerian.All the incongruities in theexplanation of who qualifies tohold Nigerian citizenship inthis parent law must becorrected. The ambiguousdefinition of who is a Nigerianas captured in the severalconstitutions the country hashad since 1960 is largelyresponsible for the animositiesthat have defined relationsamong the several groupsconstituting Nigeria – adevelopment that has acted as

the major stumbling block tothe nation-building process,and one of the greatest threatsto national security. This issuehas been consistently pointedout by both experts and casualobservers of politicaldevelopments in Nigeria in thepast without concrete effortsmade to address it. All the pastattempts at constitutionalreview have tended to relegatethis primary issue to thebackground in preference forsecondary issues.

Again, Nigerian leaders mustwake up to the realities of thetimes and commence theprocesses that will ensure thatevery Nigerian, regardless ofprimordial considerations, isproperly catered for. Allinjustices of the past that haveseen the citizens of one of thepotentially richest country onthe African continent livinglike Serfs in the land of theirancestors must be corrected.Nigerians are naturally amongthe most peace-loving andproductive people in the world.All they need to bring out theirbest is encouragement fromthose at the helm of affairs.Most people resort to whippingup ethnic or other kinds ofsentiments when they feel thecollective interests of their sub-national groups are not beingproperly addressed by thelarger body politic.Responsible, accountable,transparent, and people-centered leadership will go along way in inculcating truenationalism and patriotism intothe citizenry. The truth is thatgood governance can becomea major resource for peace, ifwell utilized.

In conclusion, the phantomof violent conflicts willcontinue to loom large overthis country until thoseoperating the system are ableto guarantee Nigerians that,regardless of their ethnic,religious, social, and economicbackgrounds, they can resideand subsist in any part of thecountry without fear. Acollective securityarrangement that takescognizance of the peculiaritiesof the different groupsconstituting the contemporaryNigerian State is the only iron-cast solution to the cancer ofinsecurity in the country. Allsquare pegs must be put insquare holes for peace to reignunfettered in this country.Failure by all concerned tomake hay while the sun stillshines is a careless and openinvitation to chaos. There is noshort cut to positive peace. Godsave Nigeria!

“The World War II Holocaust was preceded by massivepropaganda against the Jews and other coloured peopleon the grounds of racial superiority. But under the caveatof racial superiority lay the real reason for this mass murder– the fear of increasing Jewish domination of all facets ofGerman national life – industry, arts, academia et al.”

• Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, IG-P


Development

Revenue Allocation Formula: Why StatesShould Be Favoured (2)

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister for Finance

ANY plan to give stateautonomy to control theirresources in their domainmust also bear in mind thatsome states were created invacuum with noconsideration for economicviability. In spite of the factthat the military knew someof these states would notsurvive without them being aburden on other states in thecountry they daftly wentahead to create them, theresult is what we areexperiencing now. We cannotavidly follow a seeminglybest path of action which isstate’s autonomy and controlof own resources for theinterest of the whole countrysimply for the reason thatsome state cannot stand ontheir own feet and thereforewould not survive the test ofthe day. The consequence ofstate’s autonomy for thecountry would be dire anddevastating both in humanterms and statehood survival.Derivation, whatever, isrecommended for sure, mustnot be lower than the current13% and must favour allnatural resources producingstates provided it constitutesforeign earnings account. Thestate should be straightenough to stand to be countedupon. They tend to baffleeveryone that cares about theeconomy of the state and thatof the country as a whole, butthe local governments are ina league of their own, whenit comes to mystery moneyand performance to their localpeople.

Perhaps there is a need togive them a chance becausenot only that they are dwarfedin many areas of capitaldevelopment and humandevelopment, they areequally not given the chanceto actually flaunt themselves,they are therefore on alearning curve path. As far asfiscal federalism survives inNigeria, states are bound tolook forward to receivingtheir handouts as some statelife depends on the hand-outs.

But realistically theexcessive dependency onmonthly handouts by thestates from the Federation

Account, is lamentably andmust be discouraged as stateshould do all in their powersto look inwards to theirdomain to source for moreresources because before oilcame to the fore in 1958 andinto dominance in 1970 tillthe present time there wereother resource commoditiesin agricultural products suchas: cocoa, rubber, peanuts,palm oil, maize, sorghum,millet, cassava, yam, sheep,goat, foul, cow, pig, timber,wood, fish. Today instead ofagricultural products, oil isnow the main stay of thecountry and a monolithicproduct that constitutes over85% of the country’s 95%foreign earnings. If we couldsurvive and be so proud whenagricultural products were theeconomic mainstay, imaginehow it could be like with theinclusion of oil, but thegovernment’s foolishness tostrategically concentrate onoil production alone has putthe country on a high alert forabject poverty. For sure, it isdefinitely a shame to advisea state, to wear a new garb:because oil is just one ofseveral resources in thecountry. There are a lot ofuntapped resources whichstates could be encouraged tolook inwards. Theseuntapped resources could betapped and put into properuse to boost the state’s totalrevenue derivation.

As for the population in theformula, population shouldbe discarded and removedfrom any new formula.Population is based on censusof population, and we allknow the pains and havocsthat result from census ofpopulation. Everyone wouldalso agree that census ofpopulation is not an accuratemeasure of the country’spopulation, yet thegovernment pegs annualaverage population growth at2.75% throughout thecountry. We all know that thisis not reflected in all the statesas some states have moretendencies to grow inpopulation faster than others.Again see a quotation byNorthern Member ofParliament during my recent

interview stunt with them onthis matter:

“In the North we arepredominantly Muslims andwe are allowed to marry upto five wives but in the Souththat are predominantlyChristians, they can onlymarry one as their religionpermits, therefore logic tellsus that the northern Muslims’

states are likely to produce orhave more children per fivewives as compared to onewife allowed by the religionin the South. Therefore thegrowth rate sets by the federalgovernment is myopic andblur.” (Northern NigerianMP 10.4.2013)

Where the federalgovernment is fraught withsuspicion of cynicism is notthe 52.68% which theyreceive from the FederationAccount, but from what theywithdraw to settle debts. Thefederal government aftersettling her debt in what iscalled “Specific First

Charge” in national priorityproject funds: ExternalAffairs, Education Tax funds,WNDC Joint VenturesAccount, Petroleum TrustFunds. These funds andAccounts breed their ownproblem. In year 2000, thetotal money raised to theFederation Account stood atN1,906,159,000,000 and

after the federal governmenthad dipped hand in theFederation Account, to settletheir so called First ChargeAccount, the Account stoodatN1,262,468,000,000representing66% and in 2005 fromN 5 , 5 9 7 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0(N3,203,300,000,000)whichrepresents 57% that was leftfor sharing, 2006, out of thesum total ofN6,061,000,000,000(N3,315,100,000,000) representing 55% was leftfor sharing, 2007, out ofN5,715,600,000,000(N3,878,500,000,000)representing 68% was left forsharing, and in 2008, out ofN7,866,600,000,000(N4,552,800,000,000billion) representing 58%was left for sharing (CBN:Statistical Bulletin andAnnual Report and Statementof Account (Various Issues).Evidence also shows that fivestates out of the thirty sixstates in the federationincluding the Federal CapitalTerritory Abuja have sincethe year 2007 receive more

than 37% percent of the totalnationally derived revenue inthe Federation Account.

This is not healthy fordemocracy and for the spiritof federalism. Please let thereview take notice of theseanomalies when coming outwith their recommendation.The federal government haslost all claims to the largest

share in the formula,considering that they havefailed to deliver on all frontsof asking, the last straw thatbroke the camel’s back is thefact that they swindled anddepleted the FederationAccount by almost 50% of itsreal worth before leaving itfor sharing. It does not take ablind person to visualize whystates and local governmentsare suffering; they will dounder this nail bitingcircumstances which thefederal government placedthem.

The states and localgovernments as the mirrors ofthe people should please bewell favoured. Themathematics of the allocationwould be easier if theallocation percentages arereversed in this order; for thestate, 52.68%, Localgovernment 26.72% andfederal 20.6%. The federalgovernment should be left todischarge their First Charge

Account duties, which iswhere most of the dirty rumpscome from. In 1994 VAT wasintroduced to replace theSales Tax which also has afirst charge to federallycollected revenues and arepaid into Special Funds calledthe VAT Pool Account andsubsequently shared amongthe three levels ofgovernment.

Currently the federalgovernment is allocated(40%), states (35%) and localgovernment (25%).But hangon, why should the presentformula endure for twentyyears despite the fact thatmost part of the twenty yearshas been a democratic rule?Like the anti-graft law thathas been in place since 1928,the unscrupulous law makersonly think of themselves anddon’t bother about the societyor who they represent. Was itnot the ex-President,Olusegun Obasanjo thatfrustrated the RMAFC, thatwas chaired by HammanTukur in 2003? The PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo claimedhe withdrew therecommended formula after itwas sent to the Parliamentclaiming there were two incirculation. Rakadede, Mr.Ex-President. The withdrawnformula awards 33% to thestates, localgovernment20.7% andminimized the federalgovernment purse to43.63%.

The RMAFC should pleaseavoid undermining thewishes of the people andallow the voices of the peopleto rein supreme in any ensuedformula recommendation toavoid the Justice Tobi’s ofAbdusalami Abubakar andthat of the ConstitutionalDrafting Committee underthe late General MurtalaMohamed. Whatever comesout from the debate andsubsequent recommendationwill not be a panacea tosolving Nigeria’s problememanating from revenuesharing, many states will stillcry hallow, cheating andunfair but it will show thecourage of Nigeria’s attemptto put a crisis right in adifficult situation of asking.Hopefully more heads arebetter than one especiallywhen the heads are drawnfrom different parts and thefinal outcome in the name of-God Almighty will be betterthan subsequence ones.

“Currently the federal government is allocated(40%), states (35%) and local government (25%).Buthang on, why should the present formula endurefor twenty years despite the fact that most part ofthe twenty years has been a democratic rule?”


With

OSAGIE AIFUWA08023412452

Engine Cooling System Understanding The Dynamics

Motoring

Auto Tips

1. P and R must never be selected when the caris moving forward

2. DL and ‘R’ must not be selected when theengine is running at high speed.

3. Except in an emergency ‘L’ must not beselected at speed above 85 km/h.

4. At above 4800km intervals check the level ofoil in the unit

NOTE: The need for frequent topping up indicatesleakages which must be rectified immediately.

CAR COOLING SYSTEM — CAUSES OFENGINE OVERHEATING

On most cars, although daily topping up of theradiator is unnecessary, it is good practice to checkthe level, in the same way that the engine oil shouldbe verified each day. The reason for this check isthat a shortage of water is not immediatelynoticeable, until some symptom such as loss ofpower is apparent. By then distortion of the cylinderhead may have occured, bringing in its train badlyheating values. Cold water should not be added insuch circumstance until the engine has cooled down.

Topping up also checks if the overflow pipe isclear, as by overfilling the radiator, water should flowfrom the overflow outlet. A choked over flow maycause a burst hose owing to there being no escapefor the steam. Soft or rain water should be used, ashard water contains calcium and magnesium salts,which form a scale in the water jackets and radiator.

If you notice that your car engine runs at highertemperature than normal, points to be checked are:

(1). Water level (2). Water pump, check if in order(3). Correct tension of fan belt (4). Radiator block,clean externally (5). Hoses free from licks whichmay cause restricted circulation (6). Flush outsystem.

Flushing the radiator, this should be done aboutevery six months, and in any case if over heatingoccurs, it is desirable to flush out the radiator. Thedrain cock should be opened and the water allowedto run out whilst warm, which ensures that most ofthe foreign matter will be in suspension. If the waterrefuses to flow, the drain cock can be cleared bymeans of a piece of wire. A hose pipe should thenbe inserted in the filter orifice and water allowed tonow until the water emerges clean from the draintap. A more thorough flush can be obtained by meansof the reverse method. To carry out this process thebottom radiator hose should be disconnected andthe pipe inserted. The pressures of the water will beforced in upwards and through the filter, thusdislodging particles deposited by the normaldownward circulation of the water.

Over heating is detrimental to the performance ofan engine, running it too cool will also have seriousconsequences.

Cooling system is a means of controlling the enginetemperature between certain limits, rather thanmerely preventing the engines running too hot.

WITH this system, it is not necessary to check the waterlevel in the cooling system from the radiator pressure capend provided water is not allowed to dry up in the overflowtank and the level of water is maintained at the maximumlevel inside the overflow tank and there is no leakage inthe rubber hose connecting the radiator with the overflowtank, because the level of coolant will always bemaintained at the brim of the radiator neck. But it is knownthat this system is open to some abuses due to ignorance.The motorist may not know which to open either overflowtank or radiator cap, to fill the system daily. Secondly,

there is need for a positive sealing facility to stamp outleakages which allows oxygen into the system viaatmosphere air inlet to promote corrosion andsedimentation and thirdly, though the leakage, active anticorrosion elements for preventing corrosion are out, hencethe need to seal the system and open up the system throughan expansion tank. This is the system now employed inmost high performance engines, whether fitted withcarburetor or fuel injection system. With the sealed system,the radiator does not have pressure filler cap, it only has ascrew plug which should only be opened up when refillingthe cooling system with a mixture of water and anticorrosion solution after the radiator must have beenremoved for a major engine repair work or radiator repairor replacement work in the service workshop. The pressurecap is fitted to the expansion tank without coolant andthis should be at the designed level marked maximum.The tank should not be filled to the brim as this actionwill eventually allow active anticorrosion element to flowout of the overflow hose.

The procedure for filling this sealed unit cooling systemis slightly different from the others. It should be done asfollows:-

(a) Mix the coolant in the ratio of one litre of Anticorrosion solution to four litres of pure clean water.

(b) Open up the interior heater flaps to allow completefilling of the system cooling and interior heating systemto prevent corrosion and sedimentation and to ensure freeflow of coolant in the engine cooling system.

(c) Unscrew the bleed screw to allow air escape as thesystem is filled with coolant.

(d) Lock all drain tops on the engine and radiator(e) Unscrew and remove the filler plug on the radiator

and remove the expansion tank cover.(f) If the expansion tank is positioned below the

radiator filler plug level, unstrap it and pull it upto a level fairly higher than the plug level. If it ispermanently fixed, it will surely be at a higherlevel to the radiator filler plug level and in thiscase, you need not remove it from this position.

(g) fill the system with coolant already mixedthrough the opened radiator operators untilcoolant is filled to the brim.

(h) Screw back the radiator filler plug and tightenit as adequate.

(i) With the expansion bottle or tank positionedat a higher level, fill it with coolant up to theminimum level noting continuous free flow ofwater out to the bleed screw aperture.

Automatic Transmission

“This is the system now employed in most highperformance engines, whether fitted with carburetor or fuelinjection system. With the sealed system, the radiator doesnot have pressure filler cap, it only has a screw plug whichshould only be opened up when refilling the cooling system”


Understanding The Role Of The FinancialSector: A Critical Analysis

By IGHARO ROSELYN

Perspective

THE financial sector of anyeconomy can be seen asmarket for exchangingmoney. Paul Frampton offers adefinition: the financialsector refers to the market,the creation and exchange offinancial asset such as money,stocks and bond. It is veryinteresting to note that, it isthe financial sector whichstimulates and facilitatestransactions in the real world.The real sector is referred toas the creation and exchangeof goods and services. Thefinancial sector thereforeplays a central role in almostall aspects of macroeconomicactivities. It is so important inour every day economictransaction such that it cannotbe ignored. As properly framed byeconomists, that “for everyreal transaction, there is afinancial transaction thatmirrors it”. Most often, whenpeople think of the economy,they tend to focus on the realsector not appreciating therole and the influence of thefinancial sector. That is anincomplete view of theeconomy. The financialsector plays a central role inorganizing and coordinatingour economy; it makeseconomic transactionspossible. A human cannot livewithout life, an economycannot operate without afinancial sector. It ispractically impossible unlessmay be we want to go backto the era of burter tradingsystem. This shows howimportant the financial sectoris to the operation of theeconomy. The financial sector servesas the lubricant that facilitatesthe operation of trade thatexists in our markets. Let’sconsider an example of howthe financial sector facilitatestrade. Say you walk to a shopand buy a television. Youshell out GH100.00 and thesales person hands you the

TV. Easy right? Right, butwhy did the salesperson giveyou the TV for the little pieceof pagers? The answer to that questionis because the economy has afinancial sector that hasconvinced him/her that, thatpiece of papers have value.To convince him (and you) ofthat requires an enormousstructural system calledfinancial sector underlyingthe TV transaction and allother such transactions. Thatfinancial system makes thetransaction possible, withoutit the economy as we knowit, would not exist. The intriguing aspect is thatbecause the financial sector,underlying the TVtransaction possible, withoutit the economy as we know itwould not exist. Theintriguing aspect is that,because the financial sector isrunning smoothly, you hardlyknow it’s there, but should thefinancial system break down,the entire economy would bedisrupted, and would eitherstagnate or go into recession.This is the more reason whyit is very important to underline the impact of thefinancial sector in our modernday economic transactions. For every real transactionthere is a financial transactionthat mirrors it. For example,when you buy a CD, the salesperson is buying GH$1.00and the real transaction is thetransfer of the CD. Becausethere is a financialtransaction, the financialsector is then considered veryimportant for the properfunctioning of the real sector. Every time there is a flowof both goods services orfactors of production from orsector to another, there isfinancial flow in the oppositedirection. If the financialsector doesn’t work, the realsector doesn’t work. Allmarket transaction requiresboth the real and the financialsector to be able to functioneffectively.

The financial sector is againimportant because of its rolein channeling flow of thecircular flow chart such assaving back into the circularflow in the form of loans. Thefinancial sector whichcomprises of financialmarkets and institutions

channels savings back intospending. This is extraordinarily complicated andrequires years of study tounderstand fully. However it can beunderstood in the simplestform. If the financial sectorexpands the flow too much,you get inflationary pressure.If it contracts the flow toomuch, you get a recession,and if it transfer just the rightamount, you get a smoothlyrunning economy. Whileunderstanding theunderpinnings of thefinancial sector, the role ofinterest rate cannot beignored. Interest rate is themechanism that equilibrates

supply and demand in the realsector. The willingness ofindividuals and firms to incurfinancial liabilities is greatlyinfluenced by the interest rateon those financial assists andliabilities. Interest rate insimple terms is the price paid

for the use of a financial asset.For instance, you depositcash into an account, the bankpays you interest for the useof your financial asset. In thesame vein, when you borrowcash from the bank, you payinterest plus the amountborrowed. When the rate ofinterest rises, people are lesslikely to borrow (sell afinancial asset) and morelikely to save (buy a financialasset). Thus when interestrates falls, there is moreborrowing and the opposite isthe case. In order to appreciate thefinancial sector and the recentin global financial flows,perhaps it would be

appropriate to have a look atsome of the major incidencein history - the bretton woodssystem in July 1994, theprecedure for fixingexchange rate and managinginternational financial systemwas worked out at aconference held in Brettonwoods, a town in NewHumpshire in the US.

The Bretton wood systemwas designed to ensure thatdomestic economicobjectives were notsubordinated to globalfinancial pressures under thebretton woods system, allcountries were required to fixexchange rate to the USdollar, and the dollar wasfixed in terms of gold at $35an ounce. Since the Usemerged as the leading powerafter world war II, the dollarreplaced the sterling as thedominant currency forexchange under this system,private financial flows wereregulated by capital controlsand an internationalinstitution, IMF, was set up tomonitor the internationalfinancial system that was notuniversal in its outreach as thecommunist bloc was not partof it. However the rise ofEurocurrency market in the1960s put strains on theBretton woods system. Thesystem suffered a majorbreakdown on August 15,

1971 when the US, whichwas unable to deal with amassive speculative attack onthe dollar in the wake ofgrowing balance of paymentsdeflicts largely caused by theprotracted Vietnam warunilaterally declared that itwould no longer honor itscommitment to exchangedollars for gold. For some

time, a few countriesattempted to createalternatives (eg the smithsonian agreement) to thedefunct brettons woodssystems. But on Februaryagainst the dollar, and onMarch 16, 1973, theEuropean communityfollowed suit. There after, theremaining countries tookrecourse to either floating orflexible exchange ratesystem. Undoubtedly, this systemwas based on the hegemonyof the US as it served thecountry’s foreign policy andeconomic interest. Surely, themotive was not altruism onthe part of US but was basedon expectation that thecountry had much more togain from managinginternational financialsystem. Despite its severalshort comings, this systemprovided adequate financialstability and economicgrowth for a considerableperiod.

“The Bretton wood system was designed to ensure that domesticeconomic objectives were not subordinated to global financialpressures under the bretton woods system, all countries wererequired to fix exchange rate to the US dollar, and the dollar wasfixed in terms of gold at $35 an ounce.”


IssuesEducation

Education: Hope OfTomorrow’s Leaders

By AKAR MOVAN MARVELLOUS

• President Goodluck Jonathan

EDUCATION has played asignificant role in thedevelopment of humancivilization, it is the process ofacquiring knowledge be it in aformal or in an informalsetting. Education isuniversally referral to as thelight of the earth while a manliving in ignorance is termedas one living in darkness.Education is a serious affairwhich highly sorts after ourbest focus, and it needs to beguided by a deep sense ofobligation and a great sense ofresponsibility.

Education is an investmentthat really pays off anytime,anywhere. And in a world ofeconomic recession where theeconomies of nations arecrumbling, where investorsspend sleepless nights intrying to figure out how theirsocks are doing, all thesetherefore pulls the drive thatinvesting in education is nowvery paramount, this is why itis best said that education isthe best legacy a parent cangive to his child, apart from aparent it also implies to thegovernment.

In Nigeria today, investingin education, government,corporations, communities,

action taken by ASUU that isAcademic Staff Union ofUniversity.

The question is stillfloating; Is strike the only wayout? Strutinizing back to thepast, it has been visible notedthat the union, ASUU, hasundertaken a whole lot ofstrike actions, but usually thestrike leads to another strike infuture. It is no longer news tosay students who would on anormal circumstance enjoy theenvironment outsideclassroom are always fed upand they become eager to wantto go back to school. Studentsare lacking greatly in theiracademics, their sense ofhardwork is always cut shortat the peak, a very goodillustration is the on-goingstrike which institution ingeneral is on a geometricprogression. Basicallyresearch has been gathered thatstudents spend more than oneyear at home taking UniversityMatriculating Examination(UME) year after yeardiligently seeking foradmission. In generaloverview gaining access toNigeria universities(especially the publicuniversities) is very tedious

educational system, both staffand students of our schools areaffected from the least level ofeducational system or schoolsto the highest level. All rubbedof the same problem and thishas left a lot for a nation toworry about.

Not to talk on the problemof underfunding of educationalsector, this problem has left alot to be desired it thereforecannot be underestimated.This problem exist not only inpublic sector but also in theprivate sector of education.The managers of primary,

secondary and tertiaryinstitutions in Nigeria are inthe consensus that theseinstitution are grossly. Gangback to ASUU, the reasons ofmost of the strikes theyundertake is wrapped basicallyon the issue of underfunding,this problem cause poorremuneration of workers, poorinfrastructural development,inadequate teaching aid, thelevel of dilapidated buildingsin schools: primary, secondary,tertiary schools especiallypublic schools.

Considering the enormous

N o n - G o v e r n m e n tOrganisation and individualscan help prepare the youths forthe challenges ahead, if theyoung generations that ischildren and youths are theleaders of the future then it istime we start investingpositively in them.

It is quite imperative toknow that the Nigeria societyof large is still contradictingthe earlier noted importance ofeducation. Nigeria publicuniversities have been onstand still in the academicactivities due to the strike

and complex not withstandingthe other bulk of difficultiesthey have to face when theyhave finally gained theadmission or access into thetertiary education system.

Another problem is that ofindiscipline, this problem issimply an intractable one inthe educational system,indiscipline comes in diverseforms, it could be in form ofsecret cults, examinationmalpractice, bribery andcorruption. The problem ofindiscipline has eaten deepinto the fabrics of our

challenges facing theeducational sector is a clearprediction that the future of thenation, Nigeria is in jeopardyif this challenges are notimmediately dealt with.

Let us consider theproliferation of education inNigeria. The UniversalPrimary Education (UPE)which was given legal musclein 1976, embarked on byNigerians, this programmeengaged on a free primaryeducation programme, it wasproposed in the days of the oilboom but before long the

programme collapsed onaccount of poor planningfaulty statistics, inadequatefunding. We will find out thatall these problems arerepeating themselves, and itwas during this period that theformal standard of educationalsystem was changed to the 6-3-3-4 system of education thatis the 6-3-3-4 involves threelevels of institutional learningprocess has lasted for over five(5) months, the strike tookeffect when students wherevery close to taking thesemester examination.

“It is quite imperative to know that the Nigeria societyof large is still contradicting the earlier notedimportance of education. Nigeria public universitieshave been on stand still in the academic activities dueto the strike action taken by ASUU that is AcademicStaff Union of University.”

“Let us consider the proliferation of education in Nigeria.The Universal Primary Education (UPE) which was givenlegal muscle in 1976, embarked on by Nigerians, thisprogramme engaged on a free primary educationprogramme, it was proposed in the days of the oil boom butbefore long the programme collapsed on account of poorplanning faulty statistics, inadequate funding.”


IssuesPolitical Platform

PDP Crisis: PoliticsOf Persecution

SENATOR Aisha Jummai Alhassan who is representingTaraba North in the upper legislative chamber is one of theaggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)that openly aligned with the Abubakar Baraje faction sincethe split in the ruling party on Augustt 31, 2013. senatorAlhassan had every reason to be aggrieved with the nationalleadership of the ruling party. She was one of the members ofthe Taraba state chapter of PDP that were sidelined during theflawed congresses in Taraba State and has explored everythingavenue within the provisions of the constitution of the partyto seek redress.

Senator Alhassan was one of the members of the party thatsent petitions to the leadership of the party to revisit the Tarabacongresses which even the Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) in a letter to the PDP national chairmandated March 5, 2012 acknowledged congresses took place.The other affected states with flawed congresses are Sokoto,Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Lagos, Yobe, Anambra,Yobe aid Katina States.

PDP national secretariat tactfully ignored the INEC letterand the electoral umpire had to write several reminders to PDP.The commission insisted that for the state congresses to beconstitutionally recognized, the wards, local government andstates congresses in the affected states must be conductedafresh. The commission, in a letter dated April 2, 2012 signedby its Secretary, Abduallhi Kaugama, reminded PDP of theneed to conduct fresh congresses in the affected states.

The third letter from INEC on the flawed congresses read:“you may recall in the course of recently conducted wards,local government, states and zonal congresses of your party,the commission wrote to advice on the non-compliance withrelevant provisions of the PDP constitution and guidelines insome states.

“I am to further remind you that your party is yet toreschedule the congresses in the affected states except Lagosand Nasarawa. You are accordingly advised to reschedule theward, local government and state congresses in Sokoto,Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau, Jigawa, Anambra, Katsina andYobe States including part of Cross River State for theemergence of a constitutionally recognized party executive atal1 levels.”

Unfortunately and coincidentally, the leader of the “NewPDP”, Alhaji Ahubakar Ikawu Baraje, on whose watch a thePDP Acting National chairman the flawed congresses wereconducted never attended to INEC letter and complaints arisingfrom the kangaroo congresses.

When Bamanga Tukur took over from Baraje he onlyconducted fresh congresses in a few states. including his ownAdamawa, and like his predecessor, ignored all entreaties bysenator Alhassan and other aggrieved members of the partyto revisit the Taraba congress. Early this year when membersof the Taraba PDP led by the former state chairman, AlhajiAbdulmumini Vaki stormed the national secretariat of PDP toagain lay their complaints Tukur promised to attend to theircomplaints but ten months down the 1ine he never did anythingabout it -

By MUSA AGYO

In the meantime PDPillegal executive committeein Taraba state led by VictorBala Kona (who was amember of ANPP until 2007)at every turn have beenattacking Senators AishaAlhassan and AbubakarTutare (Taraba central) andtheir supporters. They arecompletely alienated by theparty leaders in the state andare neither invited to PDPmeetings or functions. Anymember of the party whoassociates with these twoincumbent senators arepromptly sanctioned byTaraba state chapter of theparty and lose any positionthey hold either within theparty or the state government.Not even their ward chairmenare allowed to associate withthese people they gavemandate to represent them inthe national assembly.

When Abubakar Atiku, G7Governors and otheraggrieved members of theparty rebel led about theinjustice they have beensuffering within the PDP

Senator Alhassan, naturallyjoined the 21 other senators inthe New PDP since theycannot get justice in themainstream PDP.

The decision to demolishA-Class Park, located in ahitherto black spot used bycriminals to terrorize residentsof the nation’s capital beforethe site was given to SenatorAlhassan jar a garden/park inMarch 2010, was taken 24hours after Baraje andmembers of the New PDPstormed the nationalassembly. The following daya demolition notice wasserved on her to quit the sitedespite the fact that the letterof approval for her to developand manage the site gave herminimum of “five years in thefirst instance, renewable aftersatisfactory performance”.

Senator Alhassan wasoriginally allocated parknumber 102 A00 locatedopposite command GuestHouse, a predominantlymilitary environment, onFebruary 8, 2010 by the parksand Recreation Department of

the Abuja MetropolitanManagement Council videletter reference numberA M M C / P & R / S . 5 0 0 .Unfortunately, when shestarted developing the plot theNigerian Army stopped workat the site on the ground thatthe land belongs to them.When she went back to theFCDA authorities to reportthey gave her another site onMarch 17, 2010.

The approval with thecaption ‘Letter of Intent todevelop and Manage a Parksite in the FCC’, which wassigned by the Director, Parksand Recreation, Isa M.Shuaibu for the HonourableMinister FCT, read in part: “Iam directed to convey to youapproval to develop andmanage the park on a sitemeasuring approximately 3.0Hectares on the transit waycorridor in Maitama A06District.

“The new site -is areplacement for Park number102, ADO District earlierallocated to you but found tobe encumbered.

“Please note that this is atemporary allocation pendingidentification of an alternativesite.

“All conditions containedin the earlier letter apply inthis case!

When Senator Alhassaneventually commenceddevelopment of the A- ClassPark the FCTA TransportSecretariat made anobservation that some

permanent buildings liketoilets are being constructedon the site. In the letter to theDirector, Park and Recreationdated April 29, 2010 withreference number FCT/TS/DOT/709/37 signed by Engr.K.N. Okafor, the transportsecretariat wrote: “Our recentvisit to the site revealed thatthe allottee is constructingpermanent buildings on thesite which may be difficult to

remove in the nearest future.“In order to confirm the

temporary nature of theallocation there is urgent needto secure a letter ofundertaking from thedeveloper M/S A-Class EventManagement Services Ltd thatthey will remove all buildingsconstructed on the sitewhenever the authority deemsit fit to develop the Transit wayat no cost to it.”

Based on this letter, theFCTA Development Controldepartment sent a letter to theManager of A-class on May19, 2010 with referencenumber AMMC/DC/54244requesting for undertaking that

they will “remove allbuilding at the site wheneverthe Authority deems it fit atyour own cost without anyform of compensation”

The following day, May20, 2010, Senator Alhassansent the letter of undertakingto remove all structures asrequested to theDevelopment ControlDepartment and continuedwith the development of thepark. Along the line -thematter and all contentious

issues were amicablyresolved and the Parkcommenced business andengaged almost 200unemployed Nigerian youthsin the past three years.

The sudden decision of theFCT Authorities to demolishthe park on the excuse thatthey want to start theMaitama light rail from thespot A-Park is located smacksof political persecution foraligning with the Barajefaction of PDP. The FCTAclaimed that they want tocommence work for themaitama light rail when theyhave not even done 50

percent of the Outer rail thatwill connect all the AreaCouncils in Abuja. TheMaitama rail site job will onlycommence after the Outer railhas been completed. Inaddition to that no money wasappropriated for the Maitamatransit line in the 2013 budgetthat may warrant issuing sucha quick demolition order evenwhen the allocation isexpiring in two years time.

Assuming the FCTAactually wants to commencework on the Maitama rail-line, Nigerians expect theFCTA to fulfill their own sideof the agreement by giving heran alternatives site ascontained in the letter ofallocation dated March 17,2010 earlier quoted above,since the allocation is for fiveyears initial period. The moveto demolish SenatorAlhassan’s Park also runscounter to the position of the- National chairman of thePDP that nothing should bedone by members of the partyto jeopardize the on-goingpeace talks in the party. Tukureven emphasized when heinaugurated the PDP NationalDisciplinary committeeheaded by Umaru Dikko thatmembers of the Baraje factionwill not be dragged before thepanel since this will adverselyaffect the reconciliationefforts of President GoodluckJonathan and the chairman ofthe PDP Board of Trustees,Chief Tony Anenih.

No matter the excusesgiven by the authorities of theFCTA to demolish A-Park; itwill be almost impossible toconvince Nigerians that thislady is not being persecutedfor belonging to the Barajefaction of PDP. It is not byhappenstance that the quitnotice came 24 hours after sheand the other- 21 New PDPSenators received Baraje inthe national assembly. FCTAauthorities will also succeedin panting President Jonathanas an undemocratic vindictiveleader if they go ahead on thepernicious mission, moreso,since the President isconstitutionally the governorof the Federal CapitalTerritory on whose behalf theFCT Minister acts ondelegated powers.

“The decision to demolish A-Class Park, located ina hitherto black spot used by criminals to terrorizeresidents of the nation’s capital before the site wasgiven to Senator Alhassan jar a garden/park inMarch 2010, was taken 24 hours after Baraje andmembers of the New PDP stormed the nationalassembly.”

Bamanga Tukur, PDP National Chairman


InternationalBombs Kill 23 In Baghdad

Taliban KillAfghanDistrict

Police Chief

Sudan Rebels Fired At Sputh Kordofan Capital

A Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA-N) rebel soldier looks out toward Talodi,in South Kordofan, a region of Sudan.

Wave Of Attacks In IraqiCapital Kills At Least 24

Italy’sGovernment,Citizens WereNot Spied On

- PM Letta

Sinai Car Bomb Kills At Least 10 Egypt SoldiersCairo - At least 10 soldiers

were killed and 35 wounded asa car bomb targeted an Egyptianarmy convoy yesterday in theSinai where security forces arebattling Islamists, a securityofficial said.

The bombing took place nearEl-Arish, regional capital ofNorth Sinai where attacks onsecurity forces have mountedsince the army’s ouster in Julyof Islamist president MohamedMorsi.

A parked car blew up as themilitary convoy passed, thesecurity official said.

Yesterday’s bombing was thedeadliest since an August 19ambush by gunmen on a convoyof security forces that killed 25policemen in the town of Rafahin North Sinai.

That attack was the bloodiestin the Sinai Peninsula in severalyears.

Dozens of soldiers andpolicemen have been killed innear daily attacks in Sinai,especially since Morsi’s July 3ouster by the army.

Egypt’s army has pouredtroops and armour into therestive peninsula to crushmilitant activity.

ROME - Internationalintelligence agencies have notspied on Italy’s governmentand embassies and there is noevidence of mass surveillanceof citizens, Prime MinisterEnrico Letta said yesterday.

Press reports had accusedBritish and U.S. intelligenceagencies of monitoring Italy’stelecoms network, targeting thegovernment and companies.

Similar allegations regardingFrance and Germany, in thewake of leaks by former U.S.security contractor EdwardSnowden, raised diplomatictensions between Washingtonand its European allies lastmonth.

“We found no breaches of thecommunications security of thegovernment or of ourembassies,” Letta said duringa parliamentary sessiondedicated to the allegations.

Egypt’s security forces arealso engaged in a sweepingcrackdown on Islamistsupporters of Morsi in otherparts of the country.

BAGHDAD - Sevenbombs exploded acrossBaghdad yesterday, killing23 people and woundingscores, police and medicalsources said, part of theworst wave of violence tohit Iraq in at least five years.

The Shi’ite-ledgovernment has blamedSunni Muslim insurgentslinked to al-Qaeda for theincreased bomb attacks,which have mainly targetedShi’ite civilians.

The explosions earlyyesterday took place aspeople shopped in crowdedmarkets.

Among the most deadly,a roadside bomb near amarket in the mainly Shi’iteneighborhood of Sadriyakilled four and wounded14, while a bomb in aminibus in the centralcommercial district ofKarrada, killed 3 andwounded 12.

Black smoke billowedfrom the scene of the

BAGHDAD - A wave ofattacks, mostly by car bombs,hit mainly Shiite andcommercial areas of Baghdadyesterday morning, killing atleast 24 people and wounding

KHARTOUM - Sudaneserebels have fired mortar bombsinto the capital of SouthKordofan state where they roseup against the government twoyears ago, the insurgents saidyesterday.

K A N D A H A R ,Afghanistan — An Afghanpolice official says theTaliban have ambushed apolice convoy in the south,killing a district police chief.

The police official says theambush took place inHelmand province earlyyesterday morning and thatthe Marjah police chief, HajjiTooryalai Jan, died instantlyin the attack. The policechief ’s bodyguard waswounded.

The police official givingthe details of the attack spokeon condition of anonymitybecause he was notauthorized to speak to themedia.

In recent years, Marjahdistrict has been the scene ofsome of the largest jointassaults on Talibanstrongholds by U.S. andAfghan troops.

But the insurgents still havea strong presence in much ofsouthern Afghanistan, thebirthplace of the Taliban,despite heavy deploymentsof international troops.

explosion on a main road inKarrada where ambulancesweaved through the trafficto reach the wounded,video footage showed. Theminibus was shown with itsmain door blown off andshattered windows.

Hundreds of Iraqis havebeen killed each month insimilar attacks since thestart of the year. Thegrowing violence has raisedfears of a return to theheights of bloodshed seenin 2006-2007, when tens ofthousands died.

Nearly 1,000 Iraqis werekilled in October, accordingto figures from the UnitedNations, which has calledon political leaders tocooperate to end theviolence that has escalatedsince U.S. troops withdrewin December 2011.

Elsewhere in Iraq onWednesday, gunmen killed

an off-duty bodyguard ofPresident Jalal Talabani.The gunmen broke into thebodyguard’s house inSulaimaniya, 260 km (160miles) northeast of

Baghdad. Talabani has beenin Germany for medicaltreatment for severalmonths.

The shelling of Kadugli onTuesday was in retaliation foran air raid two days earlier thatkilled two children, said ArnuNgutulu Lodi, spokesman forthe Sudan People’s LiberationArmy-North (SPLA-N).

“We targeted militarypositions” with five mortarrounds, he told AFP.

It was not immediately clearwhether there were anycasualties in the town, where alocal resident confirmed the

shelling but had no details.Government troops were

responding yesterday withoutbound fire against rebelpositions, Lodi said.

Two children, aged 10 andseven, were killed on Sundaywhen a government Sukhoi jetbombed Tanasa village, nearBuram town southeast ofKadugli, according to therebels.

A “citizen reporter” for NubaReports website based in SouthKordofan witnessed the aerialbombing, the website’sfounder, Ryan Boyette, toldAFP.

87, Iraqi officials said.The bombings were part of a

surge in violence that has rockedIraq over the past months asinsurgents seek to thwart theShiite-led government’s effortsto stabilize the country.

Five of Wednesday’s attackswere carried out by parked carbombs while at least one wascarried out by a remotelydetonated bomb, police officialssaid. The deadliest attack was inthe central Sadrianeighborhood, where a parkedcar bomb went off at an outdoormarket, killing five shoppersand wounding 15, they said.

Other attacks took place inHurriyah, Shaab, Tobchi,Karrada, Azamiyah and Amilneighborhoods.

Medical officials confirmedthe causality figures. Allofficials spoke on condition ofanonymity as they were notauthorized to talk to media.

There was no immediateclaim of responsibility for theattacks, but suicide and large-scale bombings — especiallyagainst security forces orcrowded markets — are afavorite tactic of al-Qaida’slocal branch and Sunniinsurgents.

The surge of attacks followeda deadly security raid on a Sunniprotest camp in the country’snorth in April. Since then, morethan 5,500 people have beenkilled in attacks by insurgents inIraq, according to the UnitedNations.

Wednesday’s attacks bring thedeath toll across the country thismonth to 233, according to anAssociated Press count.The crackdown has resulted

in more than 1,000 people beingkilled and more than 2,000arrested nationwide since mid-August.

The traditional marriage ceremony between former Miss Winifred Ehizefua Ukeke andMr. Arnold Obadiaru took place on June 21, 2013 at the Bride’s family, Prince JohnUkeke’s compound, in Benin City. Photo shows Mr. & Mrs. Obadiaru shortly after thetraditional marriage ceremony. Courtesy: TUNDE EIGBIREMOLEN.


Does Iran Have A ‘Right’ To Enrich Uranium?

International FeaturesYemen Fighting Risks Deepening Sectarian

Divisions A deadly assault byShi’ite Houthi rebels on aSalafi Islamic schoolplanted in their mountainheartland could ignitewider sectarian conflict inYemen, where instabilityhas already helped alQaeda militants to takeroot.

The Houthis, who belongto the Zaydi branch ofShi’ite Islam, havebombarded the sprawlingDar al-Hadith seminary inDammaj village for twoweeks, killing at least 100people.

Late on Tuesday, AlQaeda in the ArabianPeninsular (AQAP)pledged revenge for theassault.

Political rivalries mayhave helped to start theviolence, but the struggleover a Salafi outpost deepin Houthi territory is alsopart of a regional contestbetween Shi’ite Iran andSunni Saudi Arabia that hasbeen sharpened by the warin Syria.

Zaydis have for yearsbeen alarmed by youngSunnis flocking to Dar al-Hadith, in the northernprovince of Saada, to studyultra-orthodox Salafidoctrines that cast Shi’itesas heretics.

Houthi militants, whoserebellion is fuelled by the

accumulated grievances ofmany Zaydis, dominateSaada after fightinggovernment forces on andoff for nearly a decade.

They detest Dar al-Hadith, proclaiming onOctober 30 that the Salafishad “turned Dammaj into alaunch-pad for theircriminal actions and atraining center (for)thousands of armed foreignelements from more than120 countries”.

Dar al-Hadith’s leaders,who deny any suchactivities, have condemnedal Qaeda, but somemilitants, including the“American Taliban”, JohnWalker Lindh, have beenthrough the school, and itsfounder was linked to a1979 Islamist uprising inMecca.

The Dammaj fighting isone of many crises besettingYemen, where state failurecould further empower an alQaeda wing that hastargeted Western ships andairliners in the past.

JOCKEYING FORPOSITION

Yemen’s best hope maylie in national reconciliationtalks begun in March todraft a new constitution anddefuse threats fromHouthis, southernsecessionists and Islamist

insurgents.That effort followed the

negotiated removal ofveteran President AliAbdullah Saleh after massprotests against his rule thatbegan even before a waveof Arab revolts in 2011.

Under the deal, interimPresident Abd-RabbuMansour Hadi must holdelections next year and tryto reach a workablecompromise amongYemen’s myriad tribal andpolitical factions.

The Houthis’ onslaughton Dammaj may be agambit to strengthen theirbargaining power beforeany such deal.

“We are coming to theconclusion of the dialogueand each party is trying toconsolidate its presence onthe ground,” said Yemenianalyst Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani. “Dammaj is deep inZaydi territory. The Houthisare trying to capture itmilitarily.”

Houthi-Salafi strife couldfurther poison the once-relaxed relations betweenShi’ites and Sunnis inYemen, already strained byIranian-Saudi rivalry andfeelings heated by thesectarian hatred that nowimbues Syria’s struggle

between Sunni Islamistrebels and a presidentwhose Alawite sect derivesfrom Shi’ism.

“Yemenis don’t hate eachother for sectarian reasons,”Iryani said. “But that doesnot preclude this outcome,down the line, if this crisisis not fixed quickly.”

Saleh, the formerpresident, exploitedsectarian sentiments duringhis successive wars with theHouthis, according toIbrahim Sharqieh, a Yemenexpert at Doha Brookingsthink-tank. “This conflictdid not start last week,” hesaid.

Zaydis dominate therugged highlands of Yemen,which their Imams ruled for1,000 years until a 1962military coup.

They are well-representedin Yemen’s political,military and tribal elites, buthave generally kept theirfaith out of national politics- even as Salafi influencebegan to rise in mosquesfunded by Saudi Arabia andother Gulf neighbors.

SAUDI ROLEThe Houthis emerged in

the north in the 1990s inresponse to economicdeprivation and waningZaydi political influence, as

well as Salafi inroads in thearea, symbolized by Dar al-Hadith.

Saleh’s military attemptsto crush the Houthis from2004 to 2010 prompted Iranto adopt their cause asfellow-Shi’ites, albeit fromtwo very different branchesof the sect, although Tehrandenies Saudi accusationsthat it armed them.

In 2009 Saudi Arabia evenfought a brief war with theHouthis, who controlterritory just over itssouthern border.

Riyadh’s links to Yemengo deep. It has longsubsidized the government,as well as funding unrulytribes in a complex quest forinfluence in itsimpoverished and morepopulous neighbor.

Wealthy and often well-connected donors fromSaudi Arabia and other Gulfnations have bankrolledSunni religious centers inYemen, including Salafiones such as Dar al-Hadith.

The seminary’s founder,Sheikh Muqbil al-Wadi’i,studied in Saudi Arabia inthe 1970s after convertingfrom Shi’ism.

He fell in with radicalpreacher Juhayman al-Otaybi, who led the two-week seizure of Mecca’sGrand Mosque in 1979 bymilitants seeking an

Islamist revolution. Otaybiand dozens of his followerswere beheaded after therevolt was crushed.

Sheikh Muqbil, who didnot take part in the attackbut was accused of writinga statement for Otaybi, wasdeported to Yemen, wherehe set up Dar al-Hadith.Within a few years it begandrawing thousands ofYemeni and foreignstudents.

According to Mohammed al-Ahmadi, a Yemeni expert onSalafis, up to 7,000, includinghundreds from the United States,Canada, Europe and southeastAsia study there, some livingwith their families on thecompound in Dammaj, acomplex of white-washedconcrete buildings in a lushvalley surrounded by mudhouses.

Former students describe amonkish lifestyle of memorizingthe Koran and studying thesayings of the ProphetMohammad.

The books of medievaltheologian Ibn Taymiya, those ofthe founder of Wahhabism,Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and of Sheikh Muqbilhimself, fill the seminary’slibrary.

While many students pay fortheir education, donations byGulf businessmen helped fundDar al-Hadith, although thesewere curbed after

Courtesy: REUTERS

THE NuclearNonproliferation Treaty doesnot explicitly cite a ‘right’ toenrich uranium, and how the USand other powers resolve thisdispute has implications beyondIran.

Iran’s assertion that it has aguaranteed international “right”to uranium enrichment – and itsdemand that this right beformally recognized in writing– have emerged as key factorsin the failure of negotiators toreach a deal to curb Iran’snuclear activities.

Yet what sounds like an easilyanswered question – Does Iranor any other country have sucha right or not? – turns out to befar from clear, with ferventbelievers on both sides and somein between.

The US now says Iran has nosuch right – but that was notalways the case. Less than adecade ago, during the Bushadministration, some officialsheld that it did.

The source of the confusion isthe Nuclear NonproliferationTreaty, or NPT, which says thatits 190 signatories (of whichIran is one) have an “inalienableright … to develop, research,production and use of nuclearenergy for peaceful purposes.”

No mention is made ofuranium enrichment, an activitythat can serve as a crucial partof peaceful nuclear energyproduction – or lead toproduction of fuel for a nuclear

By HOWARD LAFRANCHI

weapon. Yet supporters of Iran’sposition say a right to enrichmentis implicit in the treaty’s statedright to production of nuclearenergy.

How this question is resolvedmay well determine whether ornot a deal on Iran’s advancingnuclear program can be reachedwhen negotiators from six worldpowers meet with Iran again nextweek in Geneva.

And as important as thequestion of a “right” toenrichment has become to theIran talks, how it is resolved willalso have far-reachingrepercussions around the globe,some nuclear experts say,because of its potential forsetting off a chain reaction ofdestabilizing enrichmentactivity. Countries from SaudiArabia to Vietnam and SouthKorea, either contemplating or invarying stages of nucleardevelopment, could seize on any“right to enrichment” that wasset in stone.

“The problem is that the USand others want this [Iranaccord] to be a one-off, and thetruth is it won’t be,” says HenrySokolski, executive director ofthe Nonproliferation PolicyEducation Center (NPEC) inWashington. “They know verywell that whatever they agree toin the Iran case is going to havecollateral impact well beyond theIranian issue.”

One solution in Iran’s case

would be to simply leave out ofany accord any reference to a“right to enrichment,” but thisoption reportedly does not suitthe Iranians, who want to see theright enshrined in any agreement.

Iranian President HassanRouhani, who has spoken formonths of Iran’s right toenrichment, vowed again Sundaythat Iran will never give up its“nuclear rights,” includingenrichment. “The rights of theIranian nation and our nationalinterests are a red line,” Mr.Rouhani said. “So are nuclearrights and the framework ofinternational regulations, whichinclude enrichment on Iraniansoil.”

Obama administration officialsfrom the president on down havespoken of Iran’s right to peacefulnuclear energy, but they almostalways twin that “right” with anobligation to offer verifiableguarantees that any nuclearactivities are not being divertedto military purposes.

“There is no right that isspecific within the NPT aboutenrichment,” Secretary of StateJohn Kerry said flatly in aninterview Monday with the BBC.Repeating later that “right” is the“wrong word,” Mr. Kerry wenton to speak of “standards” that,if met, could allow the Iranianssome level of nuclear activity.

“What they have to see is that… there is a standard by whichthey might be able to dosomething, provided they meetcertain standards in order to doit,” Kerry said.

Testifying before the SenateForeign Relations Committeelast month, Wendy Sherman, theadministration’s chief negotiatorwith the Iranians, was even moreadamant, saying “it has alwaysbeen the US position that [theNPT] does not speak about theright of enrichment at all,doesn’t speak to enrichment,period.” The US position, sheadded, is to look at each countryindividually and on its merits.

President Obama offered afurther nuanced interpretation ofIran’s rights when he said inSeptember that the US respects“the right of the Iranian people

to access peaceful nuclear energyin the context of Iran meeting itsobligations.”

By “obligations,” Mr. Obamawas no doubt referring to thesafeguards that the NPT alsocalls on countries to accept toensure that nuclear fuels are notbeing diverted to non-peacefulpurposes.

Beyond the Iran nuclearstalemate, how the “right toenrichment” question is resolvedwill influence global perceptionsof the big powers and theirhandling of other issues.

NPEC’s Mr. Sokolski says herealized this several years ago

when a high-ranking Iranianofficial told him that establishingthe “right to enrichment” wasimportant to Iran for more thanjust the nuclear issue.

“What he told me was, ‘If weare doing what it is our right todo, then you look like you arebeating up on us and being thebully,’ ” Sokolski recalls.

For senior officials like Kerryto be pointing out that a right toenrichment “is not in the NPT isa good start,” Sokolski says, asit suggests the US may not beafraid of looking a bit like thebully if it means getting thelooming program of nuclearfuels proliferation right.

Hassan Rouhani, Iran President


Hope For Syria Peace ConferenceFades

International FeaturesPROSPECTS of a Syria

Peace Conference inGeneva next month lookeddim yesterday after keyopposition leaders spurnedefforts by Western andArab powers to persuadethem to attend.

A meeting in Londonbetween the oppositionleaders and 11 keycountries of the so-calledFriends of Syria onTuesday produced littlemore than an accord thatSyrian President Bashar al-Assad should play nofuture role in government.

But leaders of theNational Coalition — themain opposition umbrellagroup — insisted theywould not take part in a

Syrian Minorities Keep Low ProfileIn Exile

conference in lateNovember if any regimemembers were there,sticking to their demandthat Assad’s departure wasessential.

But a defiant Assad hasshown no sign of backingdown after a two-and-a-half-year civil war that hasleft more than 115,000people dead, saying he wasready to run for re-electionin 2014.

Assad has systematicallyrefused to recognise theCoalition as a legitimatednegotiating partner and hasrejected its demand that hestep down.

British Foreign SecretaryWilliam Hague said theLondon meeting had urgedthe Coalition to “commititself fully” to the so-calledGeneva 2 talks.

He said the Friends ofSyria agreed that theywould put their “unitedand collective weight”behind efforts to form atransitional governmentand that “Assad wouldplay no role in that futuregovernment of Syria.”

US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry took a similarposition, saying Assad had“lost all legitimacy.”

But he too urged theopposition to go toGeneva, saying Syria wasat risk of “implosion” if thecivil war continued andsaid the only alternative toa negotiated settlementwas “continued if notincreased killing.”

The opposition is due tomeet at the start ofNovember to finalise itsposition on the Genevatalks, which would be afollow-up to a peaceconference held in theSwiss city in June 2012.

Coalition head AhmadJarba appeared to be in nomood to compromise onhis demands.

“There will not benegotiations at all withoutmaking sure that thismeeting, Geneva 2, isbasically to make surethere’s a transitional periodand for Assad to go,” saidJarba.

‘I don’t see why Ishouldn’t run in the nextelection’

The London talksgrouped Britain, Egypt,France, Germany, Italy,Jordan, Qatar, Saudi

Arabia, Turkey and theUnited Arab Emirates andthe United States, togetherwith Syrian oppositionleaders.

Notably absent from themeeting was key Syria allyRussia, which hasdismissed such gatheringsin the past, saying they donot represent all Syrianpeople.

Washington andMoscow have been tryingto organise the Genevaconference on the heels ofthe deal they reached forthe destruction of Syria’schemical weapons in thewake of a deadly poisongas attack in Augustwidely blamed onDamascus.

But Assad dealt an earlyblow to peace hopes,saying in an interviewMonday that the factorsare not in place for theconference to succeed.

“No time has been set,and the factors are not yetin place if we want(Geneva 2) to succeed,”Assad told Lebanon-basedsatellite channel Al-Mayadeen, adding thatthere was no guaranteeabout “which forces aretaking part.”

UN-Arab Leaguemediator Lakhdar Brahimiwill meet again onNovember 5 with US andRussian officials toprepare for the Genevatalks, the UN announcedTuesday.

That meeting will befollowed by one with theother three permanentmembers of the UNSecurity Council —Britain, China and France,according to UNspokesman MartinNesirky.

In other developments,prominent human rightsactivist Sema Nassar toldAFP Wednesday thatSyrian authorities havereleased 14 womendetainees as part of aweekend hostageexchange but that dozensof others are still beingheld.

Nine Lebanese Shiitehostages held for 17months by a rebel group innorthern Syria wereexchanged on Saturday fortwo Turkish pilots held inLebanon since August.

“Fourteen of the womenwhose names were on thelist” were freed lateTuesday, Nassar said.

IN a small park on the edgeof old Istanbul’s Eminonusquare, women sit begging,Syrian passports in theiroutstretched hands, “Please helpin the name of God” on sheetsof paper at their feet.

In this bustling city, wherefisherman line the shore of theGolden Horn and touristsmingle with traders in thealleyways of the spice bazaar,the war raging just overTurkey’s southern border feelsvery distant.

But as Syria’s conflict takeson an increasingly sectariandimension, a growing number ofthose fleeing to Turkey areshunning the refugee camps onits southern border andventuring instead to its majorcities, as far from the war aspossible.

“We can’t be comfortable atthe camps. Yes, they give themfood regularly, and conditionsare maybe better, but we hearthat they send all the men tofight at night,” said Tariq, 27,cradling his young son in hisarms, his wife at their side.

“We don’t want to fight. Iescaped the fighting, why wouldI go back again?” he asked,sitting in a cemevi - an assemblyhouse used by Alevis, Turkey’sbiggest religious minority - inIstanbul’s working-class Gazineighborhood.

Tariq and the roughly 40Syrian refugees he is shelteringwith are mostly Alawites, anoffshoot of Shi’ite Islam and thesame minority sect as SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad.

It is not an identity theyreadily reveal.

Perceived, often wrongly, asdie-hard Assad supporters, theysay they fear retribution inTurkey’s refugee camps, whichare thronged by Sunni Muslimopposition supporters, includingrebel fighters and their families.

“I’d rather go and die in thewar in Syria than stay in a

camp,” said Miran, 29, smokinga cigarette on a shreddedmattress in a tent in thecourtyard of the cemevi.

“They don’t like Alawites inthe camps and they know we’reAlawites. We are neitheropposition members nor Assadsupporters. We are just citizens,”he said.

Syria’s civil war has killedmore than 100,000 people, sentmillions fleeing from theirhomes and divided the MiddleEast between Sunni Gulf statesand Turkey, which mostlysupport the rebels, and Shi’iteIran and Hezbollah, which backAssad.

Turkey has kept its bordersopen to refugees throughout the31-month-old conflict anddenies any sectarian agenda,insisting its camps are open toall. But its staunch support forthe opposition puts somerefugees in a difficult position.

“Turkey says it doesn’t makea distinction between Alawitesand Sunnis, but people do, andwe can feel it even here,” said aSyrian refugee in Eminonu,declining to give his name.

“We just want to work, makea living, but they don’t give us ajob,” he said, emphasizing thathe always told prospectiveemployers he was Sunni whenlooking for work.

SECTARIAN TENSIONSTurkey shelters more than a

quarter of the 2 million peoplewho have fled Syria’s war,200,000 of them in the officialcamps dotted along its 900 km(560 mile) border.

But twice that number liveoutside the camps, includingalmost all the refugees who havearrived over the past fewmonths. While many have themeans or family ties to findlodging, the numbers of thoseforced to sleep rough appear to

be growing in cities, includingIstanbul and Ankara.

Zeynal Odabas, head of thePirsultan Abdal Cemevi hostingthe refugees, said Turkey shouldconsider the diversity of Syria’spopulation and set up separatecamps for different groups.

He criticized the governmentfor allowing fighters from therebel Free Syrian Army andfactions such as the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra toshelter in the camps.

“While people from Nusra andthe Free Syrian Army are beinghosted in the camps, these poorpeople have been living on thestreet,” Odabas said, citing thefighters’ presence in the campsas a reason many refugeespreferred to go it alone.

Turkey has long championedmore robust backing for Syria’sfractious armed opposition,arguing it would bring a quickerend to Assad’s rule and givemoderate forces the authoritythey needed to keep more radicalIslamist elements in check.

But Ankara’s critics say thatits policy has in fact allowedIslamist militants, some of themaccused of committing atrocitiesagainst Alawite communities, togain ground in Syria.

Turkey denies arming therebels or facilitating the passageof foreign fighters who haveswollen the ranks of al Qaeda-linked factions, but the border isdifficult to police. Rebels,refugees and smugglers havebeen able to cross illegally.

BRACING FOR WINTERTurkey’s Disaster and

Emergency ManagementDirectorate (AFAD) says it isaware of the influx of Syrianswho bypass the camps, but thatit can do little for those whodecline its help.

“We do the best we can withinthe rules of a state of law, but

we can’t simply force people,”said spokesman MustafaAydogdu, adding that there wereAlawites living in the camps andthat there had been no reports ofdisputes.

“We haven’t received aspecific demand from Syrianscoming to Turkey to set up aseparate camp for any particulargroup. If there is such a demand,it may be considered,” he said.

The agency does not registerrefugees by their religiousaffiliation in the camps, he said.

With the United Nationsexpecting another 2 millionSyrians to become refugees in2014 and 2.25 million more tobe displaced inside Syria,Turkey’s open-door policymeans the numbers of destituteSyrians on its streets is onlylikely to rise.

“We can’t go back until thewar is over,” said Ahmed, 15,who has lived in a makeshift tentnear an Ankara shantytown withno access to water, electricityand heating for four months.

“We are more comfortablehere, we hear there are a lot ofdisputes, disagreements at thecamps. People complain, so wedon’t want to go,” he said.

He is among around 150largely Syrian Kurdish refugees,many of them barefoot children,living in tents on a muddyhillside, near where propertydevelopers are building high-rise blocks.

Temperatures are alreadydropping and will soon fall wellbelow freezing. When a caroccasionally drives by, thechildren run behind it, cheeringand hoping it is one of the localTurks who regularly bring foodand clothing.

“We are just holding up now,”said Samer, 31, who had workedas a keyboard player in Aleppobefore fleeing. “They say thefirst snow will fall in a coupleof months. God help us then.”

Arab and Western Foreign Ministers in London meeting of the friendsof Syria Core Group at Lancester House in London recently.


WithO.C. MADU

08056379608

Man AndNature

Between Divine AndHuman Miracles

THE miracles of Jesuscame about neither throughinterventions in the order ofnature nor throughannulment of the laws ofnature. In His miracles, Jesushad to keep strictly to thelaws of creation or the lawsof nature, which in theirimmutability allow ofneither exceptions norarbitrary acts. Thereby, hefulfilled the law of his father.

When Jesus raised thedead. He could do so only aslong as the connection theso-called “silver cord,”between the physical bodyand the soul still existed.This was the case with theraising of the daughter ofJairus. Hence, the words ofJesus. “Weep not, she is notdead, but sleepeth” and laterthe statement “and her spiritcame again”.

At the same time werecognise that body andspirit are of two differentspecies. The spirit, theeternal with its fine cloakscalled soul, which lives onafter death and the earthlybody, the transient, whichdisintegrates when the spiritleaves it.

Only Jesus in His Divinepower could recall the soulinto its earthly body and as ahuman spirit, it had to obeythe Divine will. The processwas exactly the same withthe raising from the dead ofLazarus and the young manof Nain.

In the case of possession,the alien spirit also, had toobey the Divine will andleave its victim. When thespirit of earthman is indolentor weak, it is for a spirit inthe beyond to takepossession of his physicalbody in order to work onearth through his brain.

The “casting out” of suchan “unclean” spirit isdescribed in the Bible, Mark1, 23-26. The miraculoushealings of Jesus took placein accordance with the sameLaws of Nature. Therefore,in each case, the physical

organs to be healed had to bestill functioning to such adegree that through theincreased pressure of thehealing power, the fine callsof the body – parts affectedcould be stimulated intohealthy activity again,enabling the body to regainits full health. In addition, thesupplicant had to be filledwith trusting faith and openhimself humbly to healingpower.

The words of Jesus.“According to your faith beit unto you,” point to the lawof Balance between givingand taking. Giving oneself inall humility and simplicity,prepares the way for thetaking, the receiving ofgracious help. Where thiscondition was lacking thehealing power could not beabsorbed. Even at the presenttime miraculous healings arepossible. It happens that hereand there a human spiritendowed with grace is givenspecial power with which heaccomplishes miraculoushealings, thus the healing ofdiseases hitherto regarded asincurable.

But this power bestowed isnot divine. It cannot bemeasure or compared withthe Divine Power in itsoriginal state in which Jesusworked and which farexceeded what is humblypossible. The human spirit,which has within it nothingof the Divine but only of thespirit, has as at its disposalonly the powers in creation,thus, out with the Divine,which in comparison withthe Divine power have agreatly reduced workingpotential.

One of these creationpowers is magnetism, ananimistic force of naturewhich called ones have beenusing for a long time now, forthe blessing of mankind. Allthese genuine healingpowers however, are givenonly to those who, beingcalled for the purpose,receive and pass them on in

purity and humility.But there are also, other

ways that lead to wonderfulrecoveries of diseasedbodies.

Let us mention thosemiracles that take place atsprings or other places theyare connected with genuine“heavenly vision”, relatingnot to Mary of Nazareth, butto the spiritual radiation –picture of the Queen ofHeaven Vollmann said whohas her origin in the Divine

Realm.With trusting faith and

prayers intuitively perceivedin purity, Vollmann said theway to this spiritual radiationsometimes opens forsupplicants, making themreceptive to wondroushealings and dispensations.This explanation leads to therecognition that all healingand strengthening powersalways come from without,thus, they are not within usand can only be received.

There is much talk ofmiraculous healings throughhypnosis. Yet the process is

anything but a miracle.Vollmann said, it has to dowith the invasion of thepersonal sphere, whichbrings about a binding of thespirit and there with aforcible elimination of thefree will. Its place is takenby the alien will of thehypnotist, who imposes hiswill upon the onehypnotised, thereby, makinghim dependent on himself.

Hence, through this alien

intervention only atemporary artificial healingis brought about, which incertain cases has to bemaintained through repeatedhypnosis, until one day thetreated illness or addictionappears again, as itself or insome other form. In anycase, the will of the onehypnotised is therebyweakened and valuable timelost for him in which,through the veryexperiencing of his illness,he would have been in theposition to nature spirituallyby it.

Moreover, it is possible

that during the time inquestion he has missedvaluable opportunities ofgenuine healing which hehimself could have broughtabout voluntarily throughpersonal effort of will.

Therefore, it is not easy forman to face himself from thishypnotic binding because todo so, he must set to workwith all the strength of his

spirit. Most people have hardly

any idea of how dangerousthe application of hypnosis isbecause, they do not know itsfinal effect in the beyond.For as stated, it binds thespirit and the free will isthereby, suppressed,regardless of whether the onetreated has consented or not.Even with consent he isunable to eliminate theworking of the laws ofcreation, because, hypnosisis opposed to these laws andthus, is a sin against thespirit, which has graveconsequences for all whopractise it.

Jesus other “miracles”while out on lakegennesenat, Jesus calmed theturbulent waters. “And hearose and rebuked the windand said unto the sea, peace,be still. And the wind ceasedand there was a great calm”(Mark 4, 39) Actually, Jesuswas speaking to those nature

beings, the servants of God,who are active in theelements of air and water,thus, a quite naturalhappening. They belong tothe same nature beings as arementioned in Psalm 104…“who walketh upon thewings of the wind whomaketh his angels spirits, hisministers a flaming fire”.

The so-called miracle of

the feeding was no mistake,but a parable. Throughmen’s imagination, itbecame a rumour, which likemany another wrong waslater recorded in the Biblicaltraditions. Jesus meant notearthly but spiritual food, theWord of God. He said ofhimself: “I am the bread oflife” (John 6, 35).

Men absorb but little breadof life, the spiritual power,most of it they allow to passby heedlessly scattering itlike crumbs, which alonewould suffice to givespiritual food to thousands ofhuman beings indeed tomany more still.

Jesus was not in a positionto create suddenly from afew loaves and fishers aquantity of food forthousands of people.According to the laws ofcreation, that wasimpossible,

To be rounded up nextweek.

“. . . this power bestowed is not divine. It cannot be measure or comparedwith the Divine Power in its original state in which Jesus worked and whichfar exceeded what is humbly possible. The human spirit, which has withinit nothing of the Divine but only of the spirit, has as at its disposal only thepowers in creation, thus, out with the Divine, which in comparison with theDivine power have a greatly reduced working potential.”


Wilshere Set For WorldCup Squad Battle

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Barca, SpainFace WaitOn Valdes

• Mats Hummels• Graham Wallace

Just 12 months ago,Wilshere was regarded as thehottest young talent inEngland and a key memberof the national team for yearsto come.

But the 21-year-old hasendured a difficult period oflate marred by injuryproblems and a loss of form.

He has been in and out ofthe Arsenal team and startedon the bench for England’s 1-0 friendly defeat againstGermany at Wembley onTuesday.

Manchester United’s TomCleverley was selected aheadof Wilshere, who made littleimpact when he eventuallycame on as a second halfsubstitute.

With England having just ahandful of friendlies leftbefore boss Roy Hodgsonnames his final squad for theWorld Cup, Wilshereacknowledges he still has toprove he is worth a seat onthe plane to Brazil next year.

“I’m definitely not nailedon for the squad,” Wilsheresaid. You have seen over thelast couple of months thetalent coming through, withthe likes of Ravel Morrisonand several others in theEngland Under-21s.

RANGERS have announcedthe appointment of GrahamWallace as their new chiefexecutive.

Wallace, 52, has previouslyspent four years at ManchesterCity, most recently as chiefoperating officer, followingeight years as chief financialofficer in media organisations.

The Dumfries-bornbusinessman will also join theRangers International FootballClub Plc board of directors aswell as the club’s board withimmediate effect.

CARDIFF City strikerFraizer Campbell says he has noregrets about leavingManchester United earlier in hiscareer.

Campbell will come upagainst his former club onSunday when the PremierLeague champions make the tripto Wales.

Having spent 12 years withthe Red Devils as a youngster,Campbell admits it was hard tomove on - but he decided in2009 that he needed regularfootball and made the switch toSunderland.

Campbell joined Cardiff inJanuary and, reflecting on histime at United, he is certain thatit would not have benefited hiscareer to stay at Old Trafford.

“It was difficult to leaveUnited. I’d been there since Iwas 10,” Campbell said in theDaily Star Sunday.

“But I wanted to be playing. Ihave no regrets, though, becauseyou have to be realistic.

“Ruud van Nistelrooy,Cristiano Ronaldo and WayneRooney were in front of me.

“Then they brought in CarlosTevez. I had to be worth£25million to be playing in that

SPAIN and Barcelona face anervous wait over the fitness ofVictor Valdes after he sustaineda calf injury during La Roja’sshock 1-0 friendly defeat toSouth Africa on Tuesday.

Valdes replaced Iker Casillasat half-time but was then forcedoff with 13 minutes remainingafter complaining of a strain inhis right calf.

The Barca goalkeeper willundergo tests when he returns tohis club on Wednesday,although the early diagnosissuggests he suffered a tear.

A medical statement on theSpanish football federation’swebsite read: “Victor Valdes,possible calf tear of the right leg.This Wednesday he will havenew tests at his club todetermine the exact extent of theinjury. The national teamdoctors treated the goalkeeperimmediately after he retiredfrom the game in the 77thminute.

MANCHESTER Unitedtarget Cesc Fabregas hasrevealed that he wants to staywith Barcelona for the rest ofhis career.

In recent weeks reports hadsurfaced that the 26-year-oldcould one day play again forArsenal as he is not a regularin the Blaugrana starting line-

BORUSSIA Dortmund haveconcerns ahead of their gameagainst Bayern Munichfollowing injuries to defendersMats Hummels and MarcelSchmelzer in Germany’s 1-0victory at Wembley.

Hummels limped off the pitchjust 20 minutes after coming onfor Bayern’s Jerome Boateng,and after the game Germanycoach Joachim Loew told ZDFTV: “Mats twisted his foot.”

Schmelzer was replaced byMarcell Jansen at half-time witha suspected calf injury, meaningDortmund boss Juergen Klopppotentially faces a selectionheadache, with the coachalready without Neven Subotic.

“That didn’t really go well,”Dortmund goalkeeper RomanWeidenfeller said of the injuries

up.However, Fabregas has now

declared that he has no interestin going back and is aiming tostay at Camp Nou until hehangs up his boots.

Fabregas was also stronglylinked with a switch toManchester United in thesummer, but the playerremained at Barcelona and hewould be happy to hang up hisboots at the Spanish giants.

“It would be a dream cometrue to retire with Barca,” hetold fans on Facebook.

“I will continue to work veryhard to make that happen.

“Playing here is a dream andmeans everything to mebecause I have always been ahuge fan.”

Fabregas still remembers histime at Arsenal fondly andanswered one Facebook fanwho asked him for hisfavourite football moment witha response to make allGunners’ fans smile.

“Scoring against Spurs,” hereplied.

after his Germany debut.With Subotic ruled out for the

remainder of the season with aknee injury, former Leverkusendefender Manuel Friedrich, 34,could return to Bundesligaaction on Saturday — althoughBild reports he is strugglingwith knee problems.

Ahead of the game againstBayern, who lead the league bya four-point margin,Dortmund’s sporting directorMichael Zorc wants “proof thattheir development is asustainable one.”

“Everyone knows that oureconomical preconditions arenot the same as Bayern’s. Wehave now lost two gamesagainst Arsenal and Wolfsburg,

despite of that our aspiration hasto be that we want to win everyhome game — also againstBayern. Of course, we want tokeep the league interesting.”

Rangers chairman DavidSomers told the club’s officialwebsite: “I am absolutelydelighted to welcome Grahamto the role of chief executive ofRangers Football Club.

“Following an extensiverecruitment process the Boardinterviewed several high calibreindividuals and determined thatGraham was by far theoutstanding candidate for theposition.

“His first class business andfinancial experience combinedwith his extensive knowledge offootball operations at the highestlevels of the game, will be ofhuge benefit to Rangers as westrive to take the club forwardin preparation for our return tothe top of the Scottish game.

“Graham’s appointment willalso help provide the club withfurther stability and leadershipand we are certain that everyoneconnected with the Club willwish him every success as heembarks on the job ahead.”

Wallace believes Rangers cancome become stronger than everbefore following their recentturmoil.

He said: “I am delighted tojoin Rangers Football Club aschief executive as the clubcontinues its journey back to thepinnacle of the game in Scotlandand beyond.

“For more than 140 years, thisclub has been recognisedthroughout world football andwhilst the last few years havebeen distressing, there is noreason why Rangers cannot beeven stronger than we once werebefore these challengespresented themselves.

“That strength will be builtupon strong leadership of theclub and the continuing supportof the fans.

“I watched from afar as theRangers support came to theclub’s aid during the times ofturmoil and now it is the turn ofthe board and management toprovide the stability andgovernance to drive Rangers’recovery forward and ensurefurther football success.

“You are never guaranteedanything and can’t rest onyour laurels.

“You are only as good asyour last games. When thetime comes I have to be ontop form.

“I’ve got big games comingup for my club and you haveto play well to get in thesquad.”

A wave of optimismsurrounded England aftertheir bid to qualify for thefinals came to a successfulconclusion with victoriesover Montenegro and Polandlast month.

Wilshere admitted back toback defeats against Chileand Germany — the firsttime in 36 years that Englandhave lost successive games atWembley — had shatteredthe feelgood factor.

But he remains confidentEngland are capable ofmaking an impact in Brazil.

“I think they have loweredexpectations. When you losegames that is what happens,”he said.

“They were two toughgames. We had chances toscore against Germany butcouldn’t take them.

“But we had two goodresults last month so we can’t

be too hard on ourselves.“We will go over it again

when we meet up for theDenmark game in March andlook at the positives. Wewon’t want to lose again at

team!“I had a great time there. I

didn’t play many games but itwas nice to be part of the club.”Wembley that’s for sure.

“These games will beforgotten about when theWorld Cup comes around.

“And if you want to win theWorld Cup you have to playthe best teams.”

ARSENAL midfielder Jack Wilshere admits he faces afight to secure a place in England’s squad for the WorldCup.


Africa’s World Cup Quintet Emerges

Stakeholders Hail Eagles 2-2 DrawWith Italy

• Stephen Keshi

‘Super Eagles Defence Suspect’

• Mike Umeh

• Algeria • Ghana, • Cameroon • IvoryCoast • Nigeria To Hoist Continental Flag

Onazi Fancies LiverpoolNIGERIA international

Ogenyi Onazi has revealed hewould love to make a switchfrom Lazio to Liverpool if theopportunity arises.

The Lazio midfielder hasbecome an important andregular figure in the Serie A sidesince 2012 and has been linkedwith a move to Everton.

FOOTBALL stakeholdersin Enugu have hailed the SuperEagles for Monday’s 2-2 drawwith the Italian national teamin a friendly match in London.

They told newsmen that thegame showed that the Eagleswere gradually blending andmaturing into a strong side.

A Director in the Enugu StateSports Council, Edwin Eze,said the match wasencouraging, considering thetime limit available to preparefor it.

“The Eagles played twomatches within three days;besides Italy has always beena world class football nation.

“The Azzurris tookadvantage of our teams’ fatiguefrom the Ethiopian match in thefirst 20 minutes before theEagles showed determinationto prove their mettle.

“The draw was not a badresult considering the level ofour backline exposure,” Ezesaid.

This quintet is identical toAfrica’s ambassadors at the2010 World Cup in SouthAfrica.

Algeria did just enough tobook their ticket to theirfourth World Cup by beatingBurkina Faso 1-0 to gothrough on the away goals’rule after the first gameended 3-2 in favour of thewest Africans.

It needed a scrambledeffort in the 49th minute byskipper Madjid Bougherrafor Algeria to book theirflight to Brazil next year.

Burkina Faso, beatenfinalists at this year’s AfricaCup of Nations, were

MIKE Umeh, the First Vice-Chairman of the NigeriaFootball Association (NFA), onTuesday said the Super Eagles’defenceline needed to befortified ahead of the 2014 FIFAWorld Cup.

Umeh’s call followedNigeria’s 2-2 draw with Italy inan international friendly playedat the Craven Cottage stadiumin Fulham, London on Mondaynight.

He said the Super Eagles’defenceline must be worked onif Nigeria must do well at theFIFA World Cup scheduled forBrazil between June 12 and July13, 2014.

Nigeria had on Saturdayqualified for Brazil 2014 after a4-1 aggregate defeat of Ethiopiain the African final roundplayoffs.

“We still need to inject moreplayers into the team, becauseour defence is not too good. Itneeds to be worked on,’’ theformer Eagles’ Team Managersaid.

resolute in defence, butoffered very little goingforward.

Despite losing 2-1 inCairo, the Black Stars ofGhana qualified for a thirdsuccessive World Cup, 7-3on aggregate.

Egypt could not overcomethe 6-1 humiliation theysuffered at the Baba YaraStadium in Kumasi lastmonth.

The Pharaohs, who lastappeared at the World Cup in1990, scored through AmrZaki and Mohamed Gedo ineither half, before substituteKevin-Prince Boatengpulled a goal back for Ghana

late on.It was a huge

disappointment for theseven-time Africanchampions, whose American

coach Bob Bradley is nowexpected to quit his post.

Ghana became only thethird African team to reachthe last eight of a World Cup

four years ago,And they will again be

fancied to do well in Brazilwith the return of several oftheir top stars like MichaelEssien, Kevin-PrinceBoateng and the Ayewbrothers, Andre and Jordan.

Nigeria became the firstAfrican team to qualify forBrazil on Saturday whenthey beat Ethiopia 2-0 in thesouthern coastal town ofCalabar to go through 4-1 onaggregate.

Nigeria coach StephenKeshi admitted nervesaffected his team’s below-par showing in front of thehome fans.

But Chelsea midfielderMikel Obi has promised theAfrican champions willcause surprises in Brazilafter they were held to athrilling 2-2 draw by Italy ina friendly in London twodays later.

“The potentials areobvious, but we must avoidarrogance and complacency.With that, this team will goplaces,” he said.

Cameroon put aside theirinternal squabbles to qualifyfor an African record seventhWorld Cup in style whenthey trounced Tunisia 4-1 inYaounde after the first leg

finished in a goalless draw inTunis.

The Indomitable Lionsbecame the first Africanteam to reach thequarterfinals of the WorldCup in 1990 and would nowhope to improve on their firstround exit at the lasttournament in South Africa.

“Cameroon are back afterwe were written off,”declared Roger Milla, whofeatured at three World Cups.

“We need to work now, setup friendlies not againstsmall teams, we must not bescared to play against topteams like England, Portugaland Germany. It will be goodfor the players.”

The Ivory Coast will alsohope to go beyond the firstround of the competition inBrazil after they out scoredfellow west Africans Senegal4-2 on aggregate.

The Elephants led byinspirational skipper DidierDrogba were eliminated inthe first round in 2006 and2010 and in both cases theywere drawn in very toughfirst round groups.

The draw for the 2014World Cup will be conductedin Bahia, Brazil, onDecember 6.

ALGERIA and Ghana on Tuesday completed the fiveAfrican qualifiers for next year’s World Cup, joiningNigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, who all qualified atthe weekend.

The NFA first vice-chairman,however, commended the teamfor its brilliant performanceagainst the Italians, and said theteam’s preparation for the 2014World Cup was on course.

“The team played toexpectations against Italy, in

spite of the logistic problemsthey had before the match.

“I can’t remember the SuperEagles losing any match inrecent times, except at the 2013FIFA Confederations Cup inBrazil. The worst we have gotis a draw. So, we are working

on the boys.“We have started in the right

direction. We were able to playthe Italians less than two daysafter our match against Ethiopia.

“The more the team playsfriendly matches, the more itwill discover which departmentneeds to be worked on.

“If we don’t get friendlies likethis, we will not pinpoint theareas we need to work on.

Also reacting, formerRangers FC of Enugu player,Earnest Ufele, said the matchwas a good one for the Eagles.

“The Eagles were determinedto carry the day but met adetermined and skilful side inItaly and that was why we drewthe match.

“As the African champions,the Eagles were determined toshow it to the world as they got2-2 in such a high profile matchafter 48 hours of the Ethiopianmatch

“It is the Eaglesdetermination that saw themthrough in the match,” he said.

Ufele said that Eagles madeAfricans proud and urged thetechnical team led by StephenKeshi to strengthen the SuperEagles defence before theWorld Cup.

On his part, Charles Otunwa,a football fan, expressedsatisfaction with the draw in

spite of the Azzuris’ earlyscare.

“Nigeria is growing inmaturity everyday; I could notbelieve the result if I did notwatch it myself.

“The Eagles playing twohigh profile matches in threedays without being shattered isunbelievable; come Brazil2014 World Cup, the wholeworld will know that Nigeriais back,” Otunwa said.

Also reacting, the Secretaryof the Enugu State FootballAssociation, Sunday Ugwu,said the Eagles surprised himwith their game.

He also said the friendlywould help the technical crewto correct the lapses in theteam.

On his part, Foster Chime, anofficial of the Rangers ofEnugu FC, said he was happywith the draw.

“Without doubt, the Eagleswill be a team to reckon withat the Brazil 2014 World Cup,’’Chime said.

Brendan Rodgers is reportedto be one of the managersinterested in the 20-year-old,and the Jos-born star has nowopened the door for Liverpoolfollowing his declaration.

“I would jump at the chanceto play in the Premier League,”said Onazi, according to Metro.

“Liverpool? They are a hugeteam and are attractive to anyfootballer. I could see myselfplaying for them.”

The Metro further report thatLiverpool scouts watched himin international action onMonday night, when the SuperEagles drew 2-2 with Italy atCraven Cottage in London.


Liberia Replace GabonFor WAFU Cup

FIFA Extend ‘Ballon d’OrDeadline’

Finals Without Me Not Worth Watching

... Magical France Secure Historic Win

2014 World Cup

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

SWEDEN striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimedthe World Cup will not be worth watching withouthim after his side lost to Portugal in Tuesday’squalifying play-off.

- IbraIbrahimovic scored twice

but his performance wastopped by a hat-trick fromCristiano Ronaldo in themuch-anticipated battlebetween the star forwards,sending Portugal throughwith a 3-2 win on the nightand 4-2 on aggregate.

At 32, it seemsIbrahimovic’s last chanceto play on the world stagehas now passed.

“It was probably the lastattempt to reach the WorldCup with the national teamfor me,” he said on his app,Zlatan Unplugged. “Onething is for sure, a WorldCup without me is nothingto watch so it is notworthwhile to wait for theWorld Cup.

“Congratulations toPortugal but both teamsdeserved to get to theWorld Cup.

“The disappointment ofcourse is great now that theWorld Cup in Brazil willremain a dream for theSwedish national team.”

Ronaldo, who had givenPortugal a 1-0 lead in thefirst leg, scored first inStockholm to increasePortugal’s advantagebefore two quickfireIbrahimovic goals brieflylevelled the tie.

It was then the RealMadrid star again with twofurther strikes to sendPortugal through.

After the match, Ronaldoinsisted he had not taken

any motivation from themuch-hyped clash withIbrahimovic, focusingonly on his own desire toreach the World Cup finalsin Brazil.

“I do not compete againstZlatan, he is a fantasticplayer and biggest star inSweden, but I do notcompete against him,”

Ronaldo said.“I play for my team. Now

the team is to becongratulated.

“What we wanted was toqualify. Now (we) have to sitback and enjoy it. We can goback to our clubs with a clearconscience, make a greatseason and then look forwardto the World Cup.”

SAFA Urged To Protect YoungstersFrom Agents

FRANCE overcome theirdeficit and advance to Brazilnext summer.

France boss DidierDeschamps believes LesBleus has enjoyed the

“magic of football” as theycreated history by securing theirplace at next year’s World Cup.

France became the firstEuropean nation to overcome atwo-goal first-leg deficit when

they rallied to beat 10-manUkraine 3-0 in the conclusionof their World Cup play-off inParis.

And Deschamps hailed hisplayers performance as theyshowed “heart andenthusiasm” to book their spotin Brazil.

“It’s the magic of football,”Deschamps told TF1. “Fourdays ago we were bad, verybad, but the players respondedwell. Tonight we played verywell.

“It was very important forFrench football that we are inBrazil next summer. We willbe there, that is very good.

“We were up against a goodteam and we showed a lot ofheart and enthusiasm. Whenyou have these basicingredients, you can achievegood things.”

France attacker FranckRibery echoed his manager’ssentiments, believing Francehad “realised somethingextraordinary” againstUkraine.

“It’s beautiful, amazing, werealised somethingextraordinary,” the 30-year-old

told TF1. “The fans havebeen with us. We sufferedso much sorrow, and thisis great, beautiful.

“It’s been a long timesince I have seen thiskind of support at Stadede France. We had a goodslap in Ukraine andtonight it was tense to theend.

“We are very happy,very happy to go to ourclubs like this. Thiswould have been difficultnot to go to Brazil. Weplayed with our guts andeveryone had fun.”

Meanwhile, goal scorerMamadou Sakho said thespirit of the team helpedthem fight back from thefirst-leg loss.

“I am happy. The teamspirit was there,” Sakhosaid. “My first (sic) goalgave us hope and wewere all together in thedressing room, you needthat collective spirit.

“We also have toacknowledge the fanswho cheered us on. Allthe French public werebehind the team.”

voting from Nov. 15 toNov. 29 due to a lack ofinvolvement fromcoaches, captains andmedia voters.

All eligible voters haveuntil next Friday to submittheir top three for theplayer of the year prize,while those who havealready submitted theirsnow have the power tochange their preferences.

Cristiano Ronaldo hasemerged as a clearfavourite for the Ballond’Or after his hat-trickagainst Sweden onTuesday bookedPortugal’s place in the2014 World Cup.

LIBERIA will taketheir place in Group B ofthe GOtv Wafu Cupwhich starts today asGabon withdraws fromthe competition.

Gabon were initiallyentered into the draw forthe eight-teamcompetition which startsfrom 21-28 November,2013 in Ghana but havehad to pull-out due tosome problems backhome.

In their place, Liberiacome in and will compete

in the group whichincludes defendingchampions Togo, Nigerand Senegal.

Hosts, Ghana, who playSierra Leone in theopening fixture are pairedin Group A with Benin andBurkina Faso.

The competition isreserved for only home-based players of membernations.

Winners of the twogroups will progress to thefinal while the secondplaced team in each groupwill vie for third position.

AJAX head coach, MuhsinErtugral, has publically preachedto SAFA to protect youngemerging families from fallingvictim to agents’ businessdealings.

The Turkish tactician feels thatplayers are being takenadvantage of by the promise ofmoney and status at a biggerteam and, as a result, are beingswept away to bigger clubsbefore they have finisheddeveloping.

“We are in a situation wheregenerally talented and youngplayers are speaking withmanagers at the age of 14 or 15-years-old,” he tellsMTNFootball in an exclusiveinterview.

Ertugral has been a pioneer

amongst PSL coaches when itcomes to giving young players achance and this season he has oncemore brought through severaltalented young diamonds.

“These managers go into themarket and take advantage of theplayers and the parents or thepoorness of the children. This is mypreach to Safa, the PSL or ourorganizing bodies to look into itdeeper.

“We need to protect the youngSouth African players and theirfamilies from the people who aretaking advantage of them.”

Ertugral expressed that theproblem not only lies in SouthAfrica and admits he is concernedin seeing his youngsters being taken

away before they are finisheddeveloping.

“For instance, I have a friend inEurope, who is also a manager,and he has one of the greatesttalents in Belgian football. He is14-years-old and he has alreadybeen approached by Barcelona,Manchester United and BayernMunich,” continued Ertugral.

“The top teams are behind himand, what is happening in Europe,is that the families are alreadygetting so much money to buy therights of this player for the nextten years.

“We are speaking about nearly+5m for the family. He gets histeaching, his academic and

transport to school andtraining.

“Unfortunately, in SouthAfrica, we need to findmeasures how to protectthese players.

“It worries me a bit as aperson who wants to growhis players, but who can seethat the families don’t havea financial background andpeople are coming withthese figures that aren’thealthy.

“The PSL and Safa needsto instil a certain code ofconduct where managers arecontrolled in theirmovements.”

What are your views onthis hot topic? Join thedebate on our Facebookpage: MTNFootball

Didier Deschamps

Sepp Blatter, FIFAPresident

FIFA have extended thevoting deadline for theBallon d’Or untilNovember 29 to increaseparticipation in the award,according to a report in theDaily Mirror.

The British newspapersays FIFA decided tochange the final day of


Sports Development: NSC Appoints Two Foreign Technical Directors

19 Weightlifers For CommonwealthChampionship In Malaysia

• Bolaji Abdullahi, Sports Minister

Don WantsConsistency

In SportsDevelopmentProgrammes

Coach Advises Boxers ToIncorporate Jogging, Healthy

Dieting Into Daily Routine

Traditional Sports Need AdequateSupport To Grow In Nigeria - Official

Reports say that the experts,Angie Taylor and EricCampbell, are to develop highperformance programmes inathletics, weightlifting,wrestling, boxing andtaekwondo.

Reports say that the NSCfailed to announce the

The Head Coach of theNational Weightlifting Team,Emmanuel Oshomah, inAbuja selected 19weightlifters from the 32invited to camp for theC o m m o n w e a l t hWeightlifting Championship

Abiola Lawal, the Vice-Chairman, Lagos StateTraditional Sports Council, hassolicited the support ofgovernment and corporateorganisations in their effortsaimed at reviving traditionalsports.

Lawal told newsmen in Lagos

A N T H O N YKonyegwachie, the NationalCoach of the Nigeria BoxingFederation (NBF), hasadvised boxers to incorporatejogging and healthy dietinginto their daily routine forstrong bones and stamina.

Konyegwachie told thenewsmen in Lagos that thetwo habits would help indeveloping strong bodies andminds to deliver results in thering.

“If you train consistentlyon a regular basis and eatright, you will indefinitelydevelop the physical andmental capabilities of aprofessional fighter.

“It is not only enough tospar in the ring from time to

A DON and member of theNigeria Tennis Federation(NTF), Prof. PhilomenaIkulayo, has called forconsistency in developmentprogrammes to consolidate onthe growth in the country’ssports.

Ikulayo, who is of theDepartment of Human Kineticsand Health Education,University of Lagos, made thecall while evaluating the just-ended NNPC/Shell Junior OpenTennis Championships inLagos.

She told newsmen in Lagosthat inconsistency had been thebane of sports development inNigeria.

The professor said youngplayers’ developmentprogrammes needed to beconstant for them to beinternalised.

“Competitions like theNNPC/Shell Junior OpenTennis Championships aresupposed to be quarterly toenable the kids get acquaintedwith the skills being imparted tothem.

NATIONAL Sports Commission (NSC) in Abujaannounced the appointment of two Americans as NationalPerformance Director and Athletics Performance Directorfor five sports federations in the country.

financial implication of thecontract or how long theappointments would last.

Taylor, a former coach ofthe University of Minnesota,had also worked with theUnited States track and field,while Campbell was theAthletics Head Coach ofGeorgia State University.

The Minister of Sports,Malam Bolaji Abdullahi,while presenting the expertsto the media in his office, saidthe recruitment was gearedtoward enhancing the growthof Nigerian sports.

“The role of Angie Tayloris that of a nationalperformance director to puttogether and run a highperformance programme thatcan deliver podium successfor Nigeria at globalcompetition.

“This will be carried out inathletics, weightlifting,wrestling, boxing andtaekwondo.

“The job of Eric Campbellas the performance director ofathletics is to work withTaylor to design and run aprogramme for athletics,specifically that will deliverpodium success in that sport.

“What we are doing todayis revolutionary and we areconfident that this will godown as a turning point in thehistory of sports in Nigeria,’’Abdullahi said.

According to him, the NSC

has also put in place technicalfacilities that will be requiredto drive the process of highperformance system.

The minister said that themove was expected to startyielding positive results fromthe Commonwealth Gamesscheduled to take place inGlasgow, Scotland, next year.

“We believe that startingwith the 2014Commonwealth Games inGlasgow, Scotland, we willbegin to see a manifestationof this process.

“It is not going to be a bulleteffect but we are going to startgradually to build from thegrassroots level, a consistentand sustainable system thatwill turn talents intochampions.

“With the roadmap we arelaying out, we are going toturn things around.’’

He said “we will deliver onthe mandate PresidentJonathan has set for us to bethe best in Africa and amongthe best in the world.’’

Gbenga Elegbeleye, theDirector-General of the NSC,said the development was anew beginning for thecountry’s sports after itsdisgraceful outing at theLondon 2012 Olympics.

Elegbeleye said the processwould enable Nigeria tomidwife, harness and nurtureits abundant talents.

“We thank God that Nigeriais doing very well in footballand this is an attempt to faceother areas we know we havepotential of becoming worldchampions,’’ he said.

Responding, Taylor assuredthat Nigeria could be apowerhouse going by thenumerous talents at itsdisposal.

“We want to show the restof the world that Nigeria hasthe talent to rule the world,’’she said.

Campbell on his part saidNigeria had the best potentialin athletics going by thecountries he had worked with.

He gave assured that theglory days of athletics inNigeria would be restored ashe hope to replicate thesuccess of athletics in theU.S., in Nigeria.

in Malaysia.He told newsmen that the

weightlifters in camp inAbuja had worked tirelesslyand were ready to makeNigeria proud by winningmedals at the competition.

It would be recalled that thecamp had opened on October20 at the Abuja NationalStadium with 32weightlifters to prepareahead of the championshipbilled for November 24 inMalaysia.

Oshomah however saidsome of the weightliftersdropped were invited assecond option and did notimprove during the trainingsessions while somesustained injuries whichneeded thorough medicalattention.

“Right now, we are fullyprepared for the competitionand I believe that we aregoing to bring home medalsfor the country.

“But some of those whowere decamped suffered thatfate on the basis of the factthat they were the secondoption in the category theywanted to compete in, whilesome had injuries,’’ he said.

The coach howeverdisclosed that the NigeriaWeightlifting Federation(NWF) would soon beholding trials.

“This is to enable us see ifsome of those dropped canretain their positions ahead ofthe African championshipnext year,’’ he said.

On those selected for thetrip to Malaysia, Oshomahsaid 11 were selected for thefemale categories while eightwere to represent Nigeria inthe male categories.

He said the final squadwould depart Abuja onThursday, November 21 forMalaysia.

time. You need to jog in orderto burn off excess caloriesand build strong cardio-vascular muscles.

“Strong cardio-vascularmuscles will keep youfighting for a long time in thering and eating right will giveyour body the necessaryposture you need as a boxer,”the coach said.

He said Nigerians werenaturally strong and onlyneeded little training andmotivation to get the requiredresults of a professionalboxer.

Konyegwachie said thishad helped the country toproduce indomitable fightersin the past.

that the revival of traditionalsports would make it attractive.

“It will also challenge idle andrestive youths to seek careerpaths in the sports,’’ she said.

Reports say that traditionalsports have sports such asKokowa (wrestling), Dambe(kick-boxing), Abula (tennis)and Ayo.

“Traditional sports are one ofthe best games in the world, asit involves our African culture.

“It’s time our governmentsand corporate bodies give moreconsideration to traditionalsports, in order to improve thelives of our teeming youths bycatching them young,” Lawalsaid.

She said traditional sportsshould be adequately andprogressively managed toensure meaningful goals.

Lawal said traditional sportswere being introduced tovarious secondary schoolsacross the state, whilecompetitions would beorganised to catch talents whenthey are young.

“We just introducedtraditional sports to manysecondary schools and we areplanning to host competitionsthat will be targeted towardsbuilding young talents,” shesaid.Traditional wrestling in action. Photo: LUCKY AGIE.


CMYK

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As Casualisation Kills NigeriaSOME organizations,

public and private, arehanging perilously onthe balance, waiting todrop dead, and diethey will, except urgentsteps are taken. Theidea we have here willbenefit from predic-tions:

There are some me-dia outfits in Nigeria.Some day, soon, theirGeneral Manager willbe picked from amongthe casual workers.The Editor-in chief willbe a Youth Corper, anddown the line, everyworker in the establish-ment will be a contractstaff or temporary em-ployee, by whatevername called.

This much we owe togovernment policy ofattrition — workers areleaving, dying and re-tiring but they are notbeing replaced.Rather, establishmentshave conveniently cho-sen the path ofcasualisation, which ischeaper in the shortrun but hopelesslymore expensive anddestructive in the longrun.

We are now busymortgaging the futureof our labour force tocasualisation. Thepractice ofcasualisation is perva-sive. At the Local Gov-ernment level, there iswhat they call ìHire andfireî. Under thisscheme, some highlyunskilled staff are em-ployed on a paltrywage of some N3000 amonth. They are to befound as auxiliaryworkers at the healthcenters. They do all thedirty jobs and get pea-nuts.

Incidentally, too, theYouth EmploymentSchemes (YES) thatthey parade at theState and Federal lev-els are all euphemismsfor casualisation.There is really no alter-native to a regular em-ployment where theemployee can takepart in union activities

and fully express his con-stitutional rights of freemovement and associa-tion with all the privilegesapartaining.

The major industrieshave since arrived here.The practice at that levelis to firm out the major op-erations — production,bottling, security, catering,

employees as contractstaff right from the verybeginning. These contractstaff are expendable atwill. They are also paidslave wages while theemployments last and it isonly the lucky onesamong them that ever getelevated to the permanent

status.We cannot continue to

take everything out on la-bour. Over the years, tar-iffs have risen astronomi-cally and the general costof production has alsoskyrocketed. The easiestway out for most organi-zations has been to cutdown on employment byresorting to casualisation.This is unacceptable.

Under the employmentstatistics, a casual workeris an unemployed person.He is supposed to takethe temporary job whilelooking for a permanentone. But what do we findin Nigeria? Some casualworkers have remainedso for upwards of 20years. After some time,they get used to their mis-fortune and they live anddie as casual workers,under the illusion that they

are real workers.For them, it is work,

work and work. They endup dying in penury — nohealth facilities, no retire-ment and its benefits, nohousing, no houses, nohomes. Their journeythrough life has been oneof suffering and smiling.

From time, organized la-bour in the Constructionsector has been cryingout that the abuse of ex-patriate quota andcasualisation are killingthe industry and denyingNigerians of jobs. There isa complete disregard ofthe Nigeria Content De-velopment Act and a re-fusal by most employersfrom China, Korea and

other Asian countries torespect our labour laws. Inthe educational sector,many Institutions — pub-lic and private — are nowresorting to the use ofauxiliary teachers. Whatwe are now faced with ismodern day slavery andexploitation.

The saddest aspect of itall is that we are not evendeveloping for the future,the type of vibrant labourforce, which we inheritedfrom our founding fathers.In the past, a man was ei-ther employed or unem-ployed — no hangers-onand no midway . Withoutthe necessary trainingand development, whowould blame this casualemployee if one day hesends out a circular,signed on behalf of theChief Executive that ìtwoCommunities is fightingî?A nation gets the type ofpublic service it deservesand it is easy to foreseethe type of public servicewe are bequeathing to thefuture.

If we must survive theapocalypse ahead, thebuck must stop with thelabour unions. The prob-lem is real and urgent. Itis no longer enough forthe labour unions to watchon and only call out theirmembers on strike if thesalary arrives late. Theymust be interested in thefull structure and welfare

of the hangers-on. Theproblem at hand is press-ing and should not be leftfor when you pulpChampaign at annualgeneral meetings.

The Unions must con-stantly be on the neck ofthe legislators to put inplace definite regulatoryframework to revive thisdying labour force. Wecannot continue like this.Contract and casualemployments must beviewed as crimes againsthumanity. Those jobs areexploitative and dehu-manizing. Our laws mustensure fair and sufficientcompensation as well asgood welfare packagesfor all categories of work-ers through unrestrictedlegitimate rights to unionactivities, collectives bar-gaining and other statu-tory engagements. Thesecannot be achieved bycheap shots but by con-sistent engagements withthe lawmakers.

It is relatively easy toenact laws but implemen-tation is where the majorproblem lies. The labourunions must also be con-stantly on the throats ofthe various organizationsto ensure full compliance.Until every situation sta-bilizes, the courts cannotalso be at rest.Casualisation should notbe allowed to kill thiscountry!

We are now busy mortgaging the future of our la-bour force to casualisation. The practice ofcasualisation is pervasive. At the Local Governmentlevel, there is what they call ìHire and fireî. Underthis scheme, some highly unskilled staff are em-ployed on a paltry wage of some N3000 a month.They are to be found as auxiliary workers at the healthcenters. They do all the dirty jobs and get peanuts.

etc — to the Shylocksaround who in turn, takeadvantage of the heavyunemployment in the sys-tem to engage theseyouths and pay themslave wages while theywork under conditionsthat are sometimes notgood enough even forlower animals.

The Banks are the worstculprits. The young girlsare employed under whatpasses for corporateprostitution scheme.Whereas in government,contract staff are olderpeople who have workedand retired from the sys-tem but either because oftheir competence and theessential nature of theirassignments, they cannotbe easily dispensed with,they are therefore re-tained on a small stipend;the banks engage their

• President Goodluck Jonathan

nigerian observer 21 11 2013

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