PDP CRISIS: Tukur fights back

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61795

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

•To announce Onwe Ag Sec today•Why PDP govs are annoyed with Tukur•Party appeals Oyinlola’s sack

Tukur fights back

Continues on page 5

....Police won't victimiseanybody — IG

LES LEBA

•P.36

DELE SOBOWALE

•P.40

•P. 17

Nigeria risksdecline inforeign aid in2013—Experts

Scene of the pipeline explosion at Arepo, Ogun State, weekend. (INSET BOTTOM): Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun Stateand other officials during the inspection of the site of the explosion, yesterday. Photo: Wunmi Akinola.

PDP CRISIS:

AREPO... YESTERDAY

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — THEembattled Chairman

of the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, whowas boxed into a corner lastweek by the governors onthe party’s platform, hasdecided to flex his muscleswith the elevation of theparty’s Deputy NationalSecretary, Solomon Onwe,to the office of NationalSecretary.

Besides, the warringsides in the leadership crisisrocking the party will thismorning try to seizeopportunities created byPresident GoodluckJonathan’s intervention lastweek.

Tukur, who was last weeksaved from the fury of the

Suspected mastermind ofThisday, Sun bombing arrested

—P.10

—P.7Arepo fire: Amosun blames NNPC officials

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013— 3

CMYK


CMYK

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

LET go of your need to win: Ego loves to divideus up into winners and losers. The pursuit of

winning is a sure-fire means to avoid consciouscontact with intention. Why? Because ultimately,winning is impossible all of the time. Someone outthere will be faster, luckier, younger, stronger, andsmarter— and back you’ll go to feeling insignificant.— Wayne Dyer

You’re not your winnings or your victories. Youmay enjoy competing, and have fun in a world wherewinning is everything, but you don’t have to bethere in your thoughts.

There are no losers in a world where we all sharethe same energy source. All you can say on a givenday is that you performed at a certain level incomparison to the levels of others on that day. Letgo of needing to win by not agreeing that theopposite of winning is losing.That’s ego’s fear.

If your body isn’t performing in a winning fashionon this day, it simply doesn’t matter when youaren’t identifying exclusively with your ego. Be theobserver, noticing and enjoying it all withoutneeding to win a trophy. Be at peace, and match upwith the energy of intention. And ironically, althoughyou’ll hardly notice it, more of those victories willshow up in your life as you pursue them less.

LIFE shrinks or expands in proportion to one’scourage —Anais Nin.

Take courage and expand your life.

ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE: From left: President Goodluck Jonathan; Secretary tothe Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. AzubuikeIhejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AlexBadeh at the inter-denominational church service to mark the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day,in Abuja, yesterday.

party’s governors byPresident Jonathan, itwas learnt last night, istoday set to maximizehis gain from the courtjudgment that ousted theNational Secretary, Col.Olagunsoye Oyinlola(rtd.) by installing anational secretary.

Supporters of Tukur,including some partyelders, were yesterday,also whipping upsentiments, claimingthat the push againstTukur by the governorswas an attempt by themto cage PresidentJonathan ahead of the2015 presidentialelection.

Tukur fights backThe governors, mean-

while, were, weekend,perfecting their re-sponse to the legal prob-lems generated by thecourt judgment againstOyinlola, who is per-ceived to be a supporterof the governors.

One of the strategies ofthe governors, it waslearnt, is to press homewhat they claim asTukur ’s uncaringattitude towards manystate chapters of theparty. The governors, itwas also learnt, wouldshow that the nationalchairman did not sym-pathise with many state

chapters of the party af-fected by the flood dis-aster that recently af-fected many states in thecountry.

The crisis in the PDPbroke out last Octoberafter the NationalWorking Committee,NWC, dissolved theexecutive committee ofthe Adamawa Statechapter of the party ledby Alhaji UmaruKugama. Thedissolution of theKugama executivebacked by GovernorMurtala Nyako wasseen as a deliberate actby Tukur to weaken thegovernor, an actionother PDP governorssaw as an affront whichcould also be usedagainst them in future.

Despite the insistenceof the NWC that it wouldnot rescind the decision,the same body, lastweek, disowned thedissolution after thegovernors assembled inAbuja with a threat todissolve the NWC.

Tukur had describedthe reversal by the NWCmembers who did notconsult him prior to thereversal by the 10 NWCmembers as treachery.

The crisis in the party,however, took a newdimension last Fridayafter a court in Abujasacked Oyinlola as thenational secretary of thebody on the ground thathe was not validlynominated by the South-West zone of the party.

Apparently aiming tocash in on themisfortune that befellOyinlola, Vanguardlearnt yesterday that

Tukur was now set toname Oyinlola’s deputy,Onwe, as the nationalsecretary of the partytoday.

Party appealsOyinlola’s sacktoday

The party’s NationalLegal Adviser, VictorKwon, meantime, saidlast night that the partywould be appealing thejudgment of JusticeAbdul Kafarati thatvoided Oyinlola’selection at the March 24,2012 nationalconvention.

Kwon, who describedKafarati’s judgment as asurprise to the party,said the party wouldlodge the appeal todayand also file for a stay ofexecution today.

Kwon in a statementhad said “the appeal willbe filed Monday. We willalso file an applicationfor stay of executionsame Monday.

”We are surprised atthe decision in the lightof the evidencepresented to the courtthat the nationalsecretary position waszoned to members of theparty from the South-West geopolitical zoneof the country and not tothe South-West zonalchapter/congress andthat the March 21, 2012South-West zonalcongress did notnominate Oyinlola forthe position, and alsothat he stood theelection at the nationalconvention alongsideother members of theparty from the zonewithout any mention ofthe South-West zonalcongress in issue.”

Why PDP govs areannoyed withTukur

The PDP governorswho had last weekreached accommodationwith Tukur following theintervention of thepresident, it was learnt,said their reaction to thenational chairman’saction in Adamawashould serve as a finalwarning. They wereunderstood to havethreatened to moveagainst the nationalchairman should heagain stir instability inaffairs of the statechapters that arenormally at the beck andcall of PDP governors.

Tukur’s failure tovisit flood-ravagedstates

It was also learnt thatthe governorscomplained to PresidentJonathan that they werenot happy with Tukurfollowing his failure tovisit their states aschairman of the PDP, oreven to sympathise withthose whose states weredevastated by flood latelast year.

According to thesource, the governorsparticularly demandedthat Tukur must showhigh level oftransparency bycarrying along othercritical stakeholders inthe party includinggovernors, members ofthe NWC and otherelders of the party.

PDP elders rejectreinstatement ofKugama-ledexecutive

However, PDP eldersand stakeholders at apress conference inAbuja, yesterday, underthe aegis of theAdamawa PDP Eldersalso rejected thereinstatement of theKugama-led executive

by the PDP leadershipthrough the DeputyNational Chairman, Dr.Sam Sam Jaja, lastTuesday.

Speaking through aformer gubernatorialaspirant in the state, Dr.Umar Ardo, the eldersdescribed the action ofthe 10 PDP NWCmembers who restoredthe Kugama executiveas undemocratic,unacceptable, andrubbish. They stressedthat the leadership ofthe PDP had lowered thestandards ofadministration with theaction of the 10 officialswho they dubbed the“gang of 10.”

The elders who urgedthe president to standfirm in his decision torestore sanity to theparty, stressed that theywould defy thecommittee and continuetheir work of buildingthe party in Adamawasince Gov. Nyako alsodefied the NWC of theparty after it set up theAmb. Umar Damagun-led caretaker committee.

The elders regrettedthat Jonathan has failedto realise the move bythe governors, just asthey urged him to actquickly and save theparty from what theytermed the tyranny ofgovernors before thesituation becomes toolate.

It is all about 2015— Ardo

Ardo said thegovernors were usingthe Adamawa crisis totest their might as wellas see how far theycould go in the plot todestabilize the partyahead of their ownselfish agenda for the2015 general elections.

He said: "It is all about2015. Anybody that tellsyou anything to thecontrary is not sincere.

Continues on page 14


Insecurity, corruption bane of Africa'sunderdevelopment — Obasanjo

BY DAPO AKINREFON,WITH AGENCY REPORT

Toxic ship:FG finesowners$1mBY GODFREY BIVBERE

ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE DAY—From left: President Goodluck Jonathan; Catho-lic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and Primate of Nigeria, (Anglican Com-munion), Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh at the inter-denominational church service for the 2013Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Abuja, yesterday.

No, you 're the cause of corruption in Nigeria— Bakare

FORMER President OlusegunObasanjo has identified cor-

ruption, insecurity and infrastruc-ture decay as major problems con-fronting the African continent.

Obasanjo said this at the inau-guration of newly-established Af-rica Institute, Valparaiso Univer-sity, Indiana, USA.

The former president spoke asthe convener of the Save Nigeriagroup, even as SNG, PastorTunde Bakare, yesterday accusedhim of allegedly returning thecountry to the path of corruption.

Pastor Bakare spoke at the firstanniversary of the Occupy Niger-ia protest in a message entitled:“Corruption and the soul of Ni-geria”, at the Latter Rain Assem-bly, in Lagos.

According to the News Agen-cy of Nigeria, NAN, the institutewould serve as a cultural ex-change between it and Nigeriain particular and Africa at large.

Obasanjo expressed worry thatalmost every country in Africa hadone form of security problem orthe other, pointing out that inse-curity would not allow develop-ment to thrive.

On the security challenges fac-ing Nigeria, the former presidentsaid government must properlyidentify remote causes of activi-ties of the Boko Haram sect.

He stressed the need for moreattention to be placed on im-provement of infrastructure with-in the continent. He said humandevelopment should not be suchthat individuals were allowed toleave the continent and be serv-icing other lands.

The former president, howev-er, called on Nigerians livingabroad to return home where theirknowledge would be utilised.

Obasanjo said: “We must de-velop people and retain them. Wemust encourage most of them thatare in Diaspora, to move backhome".

On corruption, the former Ni-gerian leader said corruption wasvery serious and should not beundermined, adding that it wasvirtually in every aspect of life.

He siad: “If you pretend thatthere is no corruption, the worldalready knows there is corrup-tion.”

Commending efforts of someAfrican leaders in carrying out re-forms that had made the conti-nent an emerging economy in the21st century, Obasanjo said West-ern economists earlier ruled outAfrica as a living continent about10 years ago.

He explained that some of theeconomists had even described

the 21st century as the best forAfrica.

Economic reforms

As part of his reforms while inoffice, Obasanjo disclosed thatwhen he took over in 1999, thecountry owed close to $35 billion.

He also said the country wasspending about $3 billion annu-ally to service debts, noting that“I decided that we should seekdebts relief.”

He added that “I also decidedthat we would go for deep re-forms. Our creditors took us veryserious and granted us debts re-lief. The reserve of $3.7 billion thatI met in 1999 grew to well over$45 billion by the time I left of-fice. After we paid over $12 bil-lion, we cleared the debts. Nigeriawas not the only country movingin that direction.”

Obasanjo commended the uni-versity for honouring him, sayingthat the establishment of the in-stitute was quite timely in view ofglobal development.

Earlier, President of the univer-sity, Dr. Mark Heckler, said theexemplary leadership of Obasan-jo in Africa and Nigeria was adriving force for the choice of hon-ouring him.

Heckler said the university wasestablished in 1859, stressing thatthe establishment of the AfricaInstitute was a dream fulfilled.

Similarly, the Nigeria’s Ambas-sador to the USA, Prof. Ade Ade-fuye, also commended the Uni-versity “for giving honour towhom honour is due”.

Obasanjo, responsible forcorruption in Nigeria—Bakare

Meanwhile, Bakare has saidthat Obasanjo should be blamedfor the corruption status of Nigeria.

While criticising Obasanjo forallegedly derailing Nigeria at thecritical juncture of the nation’s life,Bakare said the former presidentshould be held responsible for thealarming level corruption hasattained in the country.

He said: “Nigerians wanted abetter Nigeria. We wanted achance to start all over again. Welost that chance when former pres-ident Olusegun Obasanjo as-sumed office. Today, the old manconveniently assumes the stanceof a statesman. He goes up anddown telling everybody Nigeriawill go up in flames. That the manhe planted in power has allowedcorruption to go unchecked un-der his clueless watch. What heexpediently forgets is his role infacilitating our arrival at the stickyjunction we presently find our-selves.”

“Obasanjo”, he noted “was oneperson who derailed Nigeria at acritical juncture in her life.

In 1999, Nigerians were full ofenthusiasm as they watched themilitary return to the barracks. Wewere excited because it was thedawn of a new beginning.”

Speaking further, the clergy-man said “we wanted a differentand better country, one with adefined national character andthe possibility of creating a senseof self-pride, we so badly needed

after so many traumatizing yearsunder the military. It never hap-pened.

Obasanjo squandered that en-thusiasm and returned the coun-try to a path of corruption, preb-endalism, primordial sentimentsand even administrative bully-ing”.

The fiery televangelist, who saidthat corruption has been institu-tionalized in the country said “Ido not find it necessary to high-light in numerical details thecountless corrupt practices thathave found home in Nigeria, nordo I even want to attempt to cap-ture their effects. They are allaround us, clear as a sun-filledsky.”

He said “from infrastructuraldeficits to a social collapse, froma lack of ambition to a collectivesense of despondency, to a lackof adaisical attitude and a gener-al inuredness that makes us alllook away from even the most out-rageously corrupt acts, we are nolonger strangers to the results ofcorruption even though it isdoubtful that we will fully com-prehend its entire effect on ourcountry for a long time to come.”

Speaking on the first anniver-sary of the Occupy Nigeria Pro-test, he stated the need for Nige-rians not to be taken for grantedby leaders in positions of author-ity.

His words: “The Occupy Niger-ia protests revived the enthusi-asm in Nigerians and showed usthat when we are ready, we canalways have our country back. Fornow, we appear to be more of amakeshift country simply existingwithout ideas, vision and goals.”

THE Federal Governmenthas slammed a fine of $1

million on owners of theship, M.V Marevia, thatbrought in two containers oftoxic materials.

Meanwhile, the Environ-mental Standards and Reg-ulations Enforcement Agen-cy, has written to the StateSecurity Service, SSS, in-forming the Service of theneed to take action againstimporters of the offensive car-go, (names with held).

Disclosing this to Van-guard, Director General ofNESREA, Dr. NgeriBenebo, said the Ministerhas directed that the ownersof the vessel pay a fine of $1million to serve as a deter-rent to others.

Benebo said her agencyhad written to SSS to takeaction when it got intelli-gence report that some sus-pected deadly consignmentswere on their way to thecountry.

She informed that NES-REA wrote again to the se-curity outfit last Friday whenit was confirmed that the car-go actually contained toxicwaste.

She explained that theagency got the informationthrough its international net-work before the vessel left itsport of origin on December21, 2012, adding that theymonitored the ship's move-ment until it got to Nigeriaon the 5th of this month.

Benebo pointed out that af-ter the examination, it wasconfirmed that the consign-ments were all used itemsand, adding that the itemsdid not meet the internation-al procedure for the exporta-tion of used electronic itemsfrom one country to another.

According to her,, for anyused item to be exported,there must be a certificate toshow that the items were stilluseful.

It must be in line with theinternationally acceptedmode of packaging for ex-port which states that suchitems must be well packagedwith all the accessories inplace, she said.

She said that the cards ofsuch items must be in place.This is not the case with theconsignments that werebrought into the country, sheadded.

She said that the problemof e-waste was of great con-cern globally, noting that itwas the reason why NES-REA was fighting such inci-dence.


Group callsfordisbandmentof Governors'forum

WEDDING—From right: Speaker House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; formerMinister of Works, Senator Sanusi Daggash and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekew-eremadu at wedding of daughter of former Minister of State for Defence, Mrs. Fidelia Njezeat Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Maitama, Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

NNPC officials aiding, abettingvandals at Arepo — Amosun

BY CLARA NWACHUK-WU, GODWIN ORITSE,DAUD OLATUNJI, EVE-

LYN USMAN, KUNLEKALEJAYE, MONSOOR

OLOWOOPEJO

3 more bodies recovered; pipeline vandalisation, a big business—DPR

OGUN State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, yes-

terday, accused officials of Na-tional Petroleum Corporation,NNPC, of conniving with van-dals to wreak havoc on the coun-try’s economy through pipelinevandalism. He said this follow-ing the fire at the corporation’spipeline at Arepo village inObafemi-Owode Local Govern-ment Area of the state, whichclaimed unsuspecting numberof lives.

Meanwhile, the Arepo explo-sion has disrupted fuel supplyto South-Western states, an offi-cial of Pipelines and ProductMarketing Company, PPMC,has said. The pipeline suppliesfuel from Atlas Cove jetty in La-gos to other South-Westernstates.

Department of Petroleum Re-sources, DPR, has, meantime,described the Arepo pipelinevandalism as big business foryouths in communities close tothe pipelines, because vandali-sation had gone unchecked forover a decade, adding that ex-plosions would occur as long asthe security operatives and man-agements of NNPC/PPMCrefuse to tackle the issue head-long.

Meanwhile, National Emer-gency Management Agency,NEMA, yesterday, said it hadbegun evacuation of dead bod-ies from Arepo village, scene ofthe pipeline explosion, addingthat three additional bodied hadbeen recovered.

It would be recalled that thedeath of over 50 suspected van-dals occurred following a firewhich was sparked off by somevandals, who stormed thecreeks by boat to siphon fuelfrom NNPCpipeline.

Speaking when he visitedscene of the explosion, Amosuntold newsmen that, he was dis-appointed with the attitude ofNNPC officials, who he said de-liberately abandoned the multi-billion naira project for it to bedamaged by hoodlums.“It shows that we are our ownproblem in this nation. We areour own enemies, because, thisis clearly a failure of govern-ance. We have NNPC there, Ihave to say it and I am saying itw i t hevery sense of responsibilitythat, NNPC by their inaction isaiding and abetting the vandals.

“I want to believe that they arepart of this pipeline vandalismwith their inaction. Because, youcan’t have somebody there asGroup Managing Director andthey allow this to happen.“Even the security people here arerisking their lives. Look at the ca-noe NNPC is using at this age andtime. Even when they say theplace is combustible, they can usesolar power canoe. If they agree, Iwill get all these place clearedbefore the end of March. “Look at where they said the se-curity watchtower is. Who will staythere to watch anything? This isnot good for us as a nation, we areour own enemies. Public propertyare not looked after. We shoulddo the right thing. This is a multibillion naira investment. “How can we not spend a smallamount to maintain it? That is whyI said NNPC with their inactionare part of this problem. I want tobelieve that they are the peopleaiding and abetting these vandals.How can some vandals put eve-rybody in this nation into problem?Just look at dead bodies litteringthe place?

"There is no access to go thereand these are the people with so-phisticated weapons. I even un-derstand that it was the same spotwhere NNPC engineers werekilled, so which officer will wantt orisk his life? If, we have this typeof investment, of course it will dous good. We have started erect-ing the platform. They will putCCTV there and there will be con-trol room. “ If they want to stop vandalismin Ogun State, I don’t know of anyother state, they should come andwe will discuss because I don’t

want Ogun State to be on the frontpages of newspapers for wrongreasons. I will write again to theappropriate authorities and I havebeen doing that."This is not good for us as a na-tion. Every time, they will say thatvandals have done this and that,what have they (NNPC) done.Some people will be in Abujablowing big grammars, very in-effective” Amosunsaid.

A top management staff of DPRwho spoke to Vanguard on tele-phone, yesterday, said, “Arepopipelines is a big business be-cause, some village live off thepipelines and have no other job,so vandalism will continue.

“Arepo has been happening foryears, not one, not two, even over10 years and since then, the se-curity agencies are not helpingneither is PPMC the owners ofthe pipelines in checkmating thehavoc.”

Members of NNPC Group Pub-lic Affairs Department contactedby Vanguard said they were in ameeting.

“We were lucky this time aroundbecause a lot of people could havedied in the explosions. This isbecause when the first explosionhappened, people in the area ranaway, and the nearest depot alsoshut down, so that by the time thesecond explosion happened,which was more deadly, there washardly anybody around.”

NEMA’s Public Relations Of-ficer, South West, Mr IbrahimFarinoye, told Vanguard onphone that, so far, three addition-al bodies have been evacuatedfrom the area, adding that searchfor bodies would continue today. He said the agency will employ

the service of the people in thearea that know the terrain in thesearch effort."So far, three additional bodieshave been evacuated. We aregoing there tomorrow (today) tocontinue the search and removeanything we found there.” Asked to comment on the fig-ure published by national dailies,Farinoye said it could not be es-tablished until the exercise wasc o n c l u d e d .

Residents flay securityagencies

Meanwhile, Chairman of theJournalist Estate Residents Asso-ciation in Arepo village, MrGbayode Somuyiwa, has saidthat he suspected unholy alli-ance between some security op-eratives and vandals, who siphonpetroleum products from NNPCp i p e l i n e s .Somuyiwa alleged that securitypersonnel attached to the placehad failed to safeguard the placeagainst activities of the hoodlums. He described the situation as amajor concern to the residents ofthe area, who are mostly journal-ists and urged the Federal Gov-ernment to intervene, adding thatthe government needed to gobeyond talks to employing moretechnology in monitoring the ar-eas.

Spokesman for PPMC, MrNasir Imodagbe, when contact-ed by Vanguard, said the van-dalisation of Arepo pipeline haddisrupted operations of the com-pany, adding that officials of thefirm were already on ground toarrest the situation. He addedthat the effects of the vandals'activities were minimal as PPMCplans to resume operation soon.

BY SONI DANIEL

Jonathanreassures onNigeria'sunity

ABUJA—APPARENTLY angered by the

overbearing influence ofthe Governors’ Forum, theNigerian Renewal Group,consisting of professionalmen and women of the Peo-ples Democratic Party, yes-terday called for the dis-bandment of the forum.

The group noted withconcern that the actions ofthe governors elected onthe platform of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, had be-come a source of troubleand embarrassment to then a t i o n . In a statement jointlysigned by the President andSecretary of the the group,Alhaji Mansur Usman andMs Adejoke Olagoke,pointed out that the gover-nors had abandoned theprimary purpose for whichthey were elected to pur-sue ulterior motives, whichare not in the interest of theparty and the nation.

BY KINGSLEYOMONOBI

ABUJA—PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan

yesterday declared that Ni-geria will remain a unitedcountry contrary to the wishof some that the countrydisintegrates.

Speaking at the Interde-nominational Service tomark this years’ ArmedForces Remembrance Day,Jonathan said, “In 2014, weare going to celebrate ournation’s centenary. It willonly take two mad peopleto stay together for 100years and say they want toseparate. How is it feasibleat that age?’’ According to him, “thebest gift Nigerians can giveto the Armed Forces andthe sister organizations isfor us in our daily utteranc-es and activities emphasisethe need for us to live inpeace, love ourselves andu n i t e . "My conviction, I believethat that of everybody hereis that Nigeria will contin-ue to remain a united na-tion".


2015: No zoning, we shall selectbest guber candidate —ACN

BY DAPO AKINREFON

LAGOS—LAGOSState chairman of

the Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN, Mr.Henry Ajomale, has saidthe party has no inten-tion of zoning the gov-ernorship seat in 2015,but it would select thebest candidate to be theparty’s flagbearer.

In an interview withVanguard, Mr. Ajomalesaid the party did notbelieve in zoning politi-cal offices, saying, “Forus, it is not a question ofzoning; it is a questionof getting the best mate-rial anywhere we can getit, not minding the zone.We want the best andonly the best is good forLagos.

"We want someone whowill improve on theachieve-ments so far. Idon’t believe in zoning,I believe we must get thebest material that cancarry on with the legaciesthat has been establishedby the two giants (Tinu-bu and Fashola).

"The legacies they areleaving behind must beimproved upon and notgetting someone whowill spoil it by zoning.We must get the besthand from anywhere inLagos State.”

While refuting claimsthat the party does notpractise internal democ-racy, he said, “in ourcase, two systems are al-lowed. You can conductyour primaries by con-sensus and you can doopen primaries. In some

*Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (Middle), Mr. Mark Heckler, Pres-ident of Valparaiso University, Indiana, USA, (left), and Prof. Ade Adefuye,Nigeria Ambassador to the U.S., during the inauguration of newly estab-lished Africa Institute, at Valparaiso University.

LAGOS — LAGOSState Emergency

management Agency,LASEMA, has opened arelief camp for victims ofthe recent fire incident inEbute Meta area ofLagos, an official said.The General Manager ofLASEMA, Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, told theNews Agency of Nigeria,NAN, that 1,005 personshad entered the campopened in compliancewith the directive ofGovernor BabatundeFashola. Fashola had onThursday given thedirective after visitingOko Oba in Ebute Meta,where fire gutted somesawmills and residentialbuildings.

BY JIMOH BABA-TUNDE

Relief campopened forfire victims

CovenantUniversityreconsidersexpelledstudents

LAGOS — Theauthorities of the

Covenant University,Ota, Ogun State, mighthave commuted theexpulsion of its 200students. The universityauthorities were lastweek asked by theNational Human RightsCommission of Nigeria tocome forward with allrecords of the processesthat led to the expulsion. But Vanguard learntyesterday from a reliablesource in NationalHuman RightsCommission that theuniversity authorities,which will be meetingwith the Commission onFriday in Abuja, hasdenied expelling thestudents, but said theywere suspended. The lawyer to theUniversity, Dele Adesina(SAN) when contactedby Vanguard last nighton phone denied anyknowledge of thecommuttal of expulsionto suspension. It will be recalled thatVanguard had earlierreported the expulsionof 126 students of theuniversity for notattending the ‘departureservice’, meant to sign offfrom the school at theend or the semester onNovember 30.

No great changes in Judiciary in 2013 — SANs

ACN demands electronicvoting in Nigeria

cases, when you do openprimaries, you still havemaiming and death trail-ing the way because ofour people who want towin at all cost.

"Can we afford to losethe lives of our membersbecause we want to con-duct elections?

“It also has a culturalinnovation that you allowthe people in each com-munity to decide whowill be their representa-tive. It is allowed by law.So, that is the most in-ternal democracy that Ithink we are practising,allowing the people tochoose who they want.

"They know themselvesin that area. Which oneis the best form of de-mocracy, the one you al-

low the people to choosetheir representatives orthe one hijacked by themoney-bags? Which oneis most important? Thesystem will use the twomethods but many peo-ple will not know.”

He noted that in choos-ing its candidate, theparty intended to adoptcertain methods thatwould help leaders select

BY BARTHOLOMEWMADUKWE

the best.According to him, “to

us, that is the best formof internal democracythat I understand whereyou allow the people inthe community to decidewho represents them andnot money-bags thatthrow their weightaround, who will not beanswerable to the com-munity.

LAGOS —The Action Congress of Niger-

ia, ACN, has said it istime for the Intdepend-ent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, tointroduce electronic vot-ing in the country to en-sure the integrity of itselections.

ACN said that the in-troduction of electronicvoting would enable Ni-gerians take over theelections instead of thejudiciary which now de-termins winners of elec-tions. National Publici-ty Secretary of the ACN,Alhaji Lai Mohammedmade this known in astatement in Lagos yes-terday.

According to Moham-

med, ‘’with electronicvoting, the overall cost ofelections will be far less;there will be stability inthe polity, the atmos-phere of war usually as-sociated with electionswill disappear and theinvolvement of the secu-rity agencies will be de-emphasised.’’

The statement read,‘’Though Section 52 (2)of the Electoral Act bansthe use of electronic vot-ing for the time being,the National Assemblyshould move quickly toamend that part of thelaw, while the FederalGovernment should pro-vide INEC with all theresources needed tomake electronic voting areality.

‘’We assure INEC ofour full support towardsusing electronic votingin 2015. We also appealto all other political par-ties, Civil Society Organ-isations and indeed allNigerians to join us inpushing for a system thatwill eliminate the role ofthugs and sideline votethieves during our elec-tions, in addition to mak-ing our elections free,fair and credible.

The party added thateven Ghana, did notwait for troubles associ-ated with electoral mal-feasance to break outbefore embracing elec-tronic voting during itslast general elections inDecember.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

TWO Senior Advocates of Nigeria,

SANs, including consti-tutional lawyer, Professor

Itse Sagay, SAN, havesaid nothing extra-ordi-nary has taken place inthe nation’s judiciarythat will bring about pos-itive changes in 2013.

Prof. Sagay argued:“We will just continue theway it has been, I do notsee any major differencesimply because we are in2013. The New Year is ofno significance. Theremay be a new Chief Jus-

tice of Nigeria, CJN, butI am yet to see that shehas any revolutionaryprogramme.

Another Senior Advo-cate, Mr. Abiodun Ow-onikoko, SAN, however,lamented the delay indelivery of justice, stress-ing that this New Year,lawyers expected to seea judiciary that wouldrestore the people’s con-fidence.


From left: MadamMichelle Bachelet, Under Secretary General and Executive Director, UNWomen; Dr. Grace Ongile, UN Women country representative; Ms. Evelyn Oputu, ManagingDirector of Bank of Industry; Ms Aruma Oteh, Director General, Securities and ExchangeCommission, SEC, and Toga Mcintosh, Deputy President, ECOWAS Commission, at aninteractive session with private sector organisations, in Abuja, weekend. Photo: GbemigaOlamikan.

Owners of'arrested'goats finedN10, 000

PDP accuses ACN of destroyingSouth-West public service

IBADAN — THE PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in

the South-West, has accusedthe Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, of destroyingthe public service in the regionby allegedly using politicalbitterness to sack workersemployed by PDPgovernment.

The party, through itsspokesperson, Mr. KayodeBabade said, “they aresacking public servantsbecause they were appointedor promoted by pastgovernments, pretending notto know that government is acontinuum.”

But responding, the ACNthrough its Zonal Director ofPublicity, Mr. Ayo Afolabi,said the PDP was only cryingwolves where none existed.

Contrary to the claims of thePDP, ACN said, it was theparty that actually destroyedthe legacy left by SimeonAdebo and the rest.

”The ACN is trying to clearthe rot left by the PDP. Beforewe came on board, civilservice had become a rubberstamp of their bosses, notbeing able to give professionaladvice as required of them.

You can see the moralebrought in by the ACN. Eightyears of PDP in the South Westwas a waste. We have beentraining and retraining thecivil service with a view toreturning it to the era of sanitythat the likes of Simeon Adebo

BY OLA AJAYI introduced into the civilservice”.

However, PDP argued thatthe way and mannerappointments were allegedlybeing made into the service,“is dangerous for themaintenance of the culture ofseniority and professionalismin the service.”

PDP claimed laid downpublic service rules werebeing jettisoned with juniorofficers being promoted abovetheir seniors, non-career civilservants being appointedPermanent Secretaries andDirectors General andattempts being made to

appoint a serving judge inLagos State as Chief Judgeof another state.

According to a statement byparty, it faulted GovernorKayode Fayemi of Ekiti Statefor appointing a civil servantwho has 38 doctors as seniorsand had only spent 16 yearsas Permanent Secretary,saying; “If these governorsare not cautioned, we willsoon get to a level where aclerical officer will beappointed PermanentSecretary and someone justappointed as judgeappointed as Chief Judge.”

No, we're trying to clear the rot —ACN

Why I can'trejoin PDP— Ladoja

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN — THE hope ofthe Peoples Democratic

Party, PDP, to lure formerGovernor of Oyo State andNational leader of the AccordParty, AP, Senator RashidiLadoja, back into its foldappeared bleak as Ladoja hasdescribed PDP as a party ofdeceit.

Ladoja spoke at Ajaawa,Ogo-Oluwa Local Govern-ment Area of Oyo state wherehe received hundreds ofdefectors to AP, said with thehappenings in the local andnational leadership of theparty, said it would be unwiseto pitch tent with a deceitfulparty.

Ladoja said: “I have notseen a party that prides inbribery like the PDP. That iswhy most internal wranglingwithin the party is far frombeing resolved”

Ladoja who has intensifiedcampaign to widen theacceptability of his party, said:“We must provide the betteralternative to our peoplethrough the Accord Party.They thought we wereplaying when we started butnow they are even celebratingus.

"They said we were onlyinterested in sending Akalaaway from office but we are afocused party.”

Ladoja claimed PDP hadbeen changed to ‘PeopleDeceiving People, 'PDP’ andboasted that his party wouldrecord victory in future pollsin the state.

He added that the politicalrealignment was a pointerthat his party Accord is certainof victory.

Alaafin extends olive branch toYoruba monarchs

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN — ALAAFIN ofOyo, Oba Lamidi

Adeyemi, weekend, extendedan olive branch to otherYoruba monarchs, saying, hewas ready to attend anymeeting with prominent royalfathers that would lead toenthronement of peaceamong them.

The Alaafin, who spokeduring the visit of Olugbo ofUgbo Kingdom in Ilaje LocalGovernment area of OndoState, Oba Fredrick ObateruAkinruntan, Okoro Ajiga 1 tocommiserate with him overthe fire that gutted his palace,equally explained why hehad appeared so controversial

to some people.According to him: “It is only

a person that is having some-thing to hide that will notwant to hold meetings. I’mready, for the sake of our peo-ple, because where two ele-phants fight, it is the grassthat suffers.”

The monarch and Ooni ofIfe, Oba Okunade Sijuadehave been at daggers’ drawnfor ages over the control ofYorubaland and this hasresulted in verbal outburstsand heated arguments on theorigin of Oyo and Ife.

Oba Adeyemi gave kudos toOlugbo for his mediatory roleand his resolve to ensure thatYoruba Obas live in unity andoneness.

'2015 polls tobe freer,fairer'

OSOGBO — OsunState Waste

Management Agency,OWMA, has ordered theowners of the five goatsarrested by the agencyin Dele-Yesa area ofOsogbo, last Tuesday, topay a sum of N10,000each for fine to the coffersof the state government.

Director of Environ-mental Managementand Sanitation in theagency, Mr. HenryOgunbanwo, said anyof the owners of thegoats, who failed to paythe fine within sevendays would lose theiranimals.

Ogunbanwo noted thatthe agency was acting inaccordance with theprovisions ofthe article 101 of the2002 laws of Osun Statewhich prohibits rearingof animals in residentialareas, stressing that theagency had the backingof the court.

The director explainedthat a court of competentjurisdiction had empow-ered the agency to arrestany animal roamingaround residential areaswithin the state.

BY GNENGA OLARI-NOYE

BY GBENGA OLARI-NOYE

OSOGBO —INDEP- indent

National ElectoralCommission, INEC,Commissioner in chargeof Ekiti State, AlhajiHalilu Pai, has said 2015general elections will befreer, fairer and moretransparent thanprevious electionsconducted by thecommission.

Alhaji Pai, spokeweekend, whiledelivering a lectureentitled: “Catch ThemYoung For DemocraticGovernance,” at areception organised bythe management, pupilsand students of TheWings School, Iwo OsunState, for him.

He insisted that thecommission wouldensure that therepresentative leadersemerged in 2015through transparencyelectoral process.

Uduaghan'saide losesmum

Oshiomhole’s S-Court victory confirmspeople's support—Edo govt

BY SIMONEBEGBULEM

Okogiecautions FGoverdeplorablestate of affairs


BY FESTUS AHON

Delta DPP members lambast chieftain over comments

MRS. Esther Oborevwori, mother of

Chief Sheriff Oborevwori,Senior Special Assistanton Security Matters toGovernor Emmanuel Ud-uaghan of Delta State,has passed on, aged 79.

A devout Christian, lateMrs. Oborevwori is sur-vived by many childrenand other relations.

A statement by the fam-ily said burial arrange-ments will be announcedlater.

Late Mrs. Oborevwori

BENIN—EDO StateGovernment, week-

end, said Governor AdamsOshiomhole's SupremeCourt victory, Friday, hadfurther re-confirmed theoverwhelming support he re-ceived from the people of thestate during the July 14,2012 governorship election.

Chief of Staff to the Gover-

nor, Mr. Patrick Obahiagbon,who spoke to Vanguard, saidthe declaration by the Su-preme Court that the educa-tional qualification of the gov-ernor was a pre-election mat-ter, was an indication that thegovernorship candidate ofPeoples Democratic Party,PDP, Gen. Charles Airhia-vbere, engaged in a “legalmacabre dance” when he de-cided to contest the result ofthe election in court.

Obahiagbon said: “It didnot take much even for a cas-ual legal observer to come tothe irrefutable conclusion thatthe said case instituted by Air-hiavbere had no merit andthat was why, in the first in-stance, the Edo State PDPdistanced itself from suchvacuous exercise that had allthe trappings of a distractivelegal matter.

“It is audible to the deaf andvisible to the blind that with

the Supreme Court victory of thegovernor, the so called case be-fore the Edo State election tribu-nal is already technically deadand now only waiting for a befit-ting burial ceremony and as soonas it is finally buried, when theelection tribunal delivers judg-ment, the people of Edo State areon stand by to herald our gover-nor into Government House withanother triumphal entry redolentof the people’s governor and ademocratic mahatma.”

U G H E L L I — M E MBERS of Democratic

People’s Party, DPP, in Ughel-li North Local GovernmentArea, Delta State, yesterday,expressed dismay over re-ports credited to a chieftainof the party in the state,Chief Henry Olori, that theywere not competent to speakfor the party.

The party members underthe aegis of DPP Ward 2/6Akpodiete unit, said theyhad never at anytime spokenfor the party but for membersof the unit, who were alleg-edly being neglected by Sen-ator Pius Ewherido; the mem-ber representing UghelliNorth/Ughelli South/Uduconstituency at the House ofRepresentatives, Chief Aus-tin Ogbaburhon and themember representing Ughel-li North constituency II inDelta State House of Assem-bly, Mr. Edoja Akpodiete.

Chairman of the unit, Mr.Robinson Agofure; ViceChairman, Mr. E. Ochuko

and Elder A. Okenah, in a state-ment, noted that as a respectedleader in the party, theyexpected Olori to act as a peace-maker instead of speaking in thatmanner.

They said: “If he feels thatsome persons have been em-powered by the Senator, suchempowerment did not get to us.”

Noting that the area comprisedAkpodiete, Edoge and Eraye units,they said: “Before the 2011 generalelections, they came to solicit oursupport and promised that afterone year in office, they wouldempower us. After winning theelection, we have not been seeingthem, so we decided to visit thesenator on the issue.”

VISIT: President Jacob Zuma of South Africa flanked by former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu(left) and Chief Sam Nkire, National Chairman of Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, during a recent visit toSouth Africa to congratulate Zuma on the occasion of the 101th anniversary of his party, African NationalCongress, ANC.

JTF arrests suspected mastermind ofThisday, Sun bombing

By NDAHI MARAMA

A FIGHT broke out in aLondon bus when a whitefemale passenger called ablack male teenager‘smelly Nigerian'.

The nameless boy is alsosaid to be a mixed race.The woman allegedlycalled the boy ‘smellyNigerian’ after heaccidentally stepped onher toe. The footage of thefight which has gone viralon the web has dominatedthe internet since last week.It shows the boy trying tohit the woman on the Tubeafter her racist remark.

The mobile phone footageposted on YouTube isentitled ‘Racist Woman OnLondon Train Gets WhatShe Deserves!’ It begins ashort way into theirargument - after the 19-year-old aspiringrecording artist hadapparently stepped on thewoman’s shoe.

Their expletive-litteredargument then descendedinto violence, with theteenager lunging at thewoman after accusing herof having hit him with abottle.

Fight breaksout in Londontrain over‘SmellyNigerian’ abuse

MAIDUGURI—BARELY 24hours after a top suspected

Boko Haram terrorist was arrestedin the house of a former NationalAssembly Lawmaker, in Abuja, theJoint Task Force, JTF, "OperationRestore Order," said, yesterday, ithas also arrested one MohammedZangina, a high profile Boko HaramCommander and Shura Committeemember who reportedly co-ordinat-ed the bombings of Thisday andThe Sun newspapers last year atthe Government ReservedArea,GRA, Maiduguri.

In a statement in Maiduguri by

the JTF spokesman, Lt Col. SagirMusa the JTF said, the suspectwas in Maiduguri to plan sev-eral deadly attacks against civil-ians and security personnel anymoment from yesterday.

Meanwhile, all major roadsleading to churches and otherstrategic locations were cordonedoff for several hours by JTF op-eratives, yesterday, resulting intraffic gridlocks for hours duringand after Sunday services.

The JTF, however, said Mo-hammed Zangina a.k.a MallamAbdullahi or Alhaji Musa, wasthe leader of North Central and

Coordinator of most of the suicideattacks and bombings in Abuja, Kadu-na, Kano, Jos and Potiskum.

Sagir further insisted that Zanginawas a key member of the ShuraCommittee of the Boko Haram whowas among those declared wantedwith a bounty of N25 million placed onhim by the JTF on November 23, 2012.

Sagir added that he survived severalsecurity manhunts on his hideouts inAbuja, Kaduna, Kano, Jos and Potis-kum town of Damaturu, the Yobe Statecapital which has remained centre ofattacks and killings. The spokesmansaid Zangina's arrest was effected byJTF troops following a special opera-tion conducted in GRA, Maiduguri.

By SAM EYOBOKA

WORRIED that thecurrent deplorable

state of affairs in the coun-try could lead to an avoid-able catastrophe, Arch-bishop Emeritus of theCatholic Archdiocese ofLagos, Anthony CardinalOkogie, yesterday,sounded a note of warn-ing to the country’s lead-ers to urgently rise to thechallenge of addressingthe situation and save thenation from imminent col-lapse.

The cleric who gavethumbs down for the po-litical class in the imme-diate past year, said thenation’s leaders havefailed to provide themasses with the basicneeds of life. The trend,he said, was responsiblefor the alarming rate ofkidnapping, high level ofcorruption and unparal-leled state of insecurity inevery part of the countryfor the better past of lastyear.

Okogie frowned at whathe called dearth of pur-poseful leadership both atthe federal and state lev-els of government andcarpeted the nation’s pol-iticians for allowing them-selves to be enmeshed inthe intrigues and jostle forpower over the 2015 elec-tion instead of devotingtime to provide qualityleadership for which theywere elected.

Vanguard, MONDAYVanguard, MONDAYVanguard, MONDAYVanguard, MONDAYVanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, , JANUARY 14, , JANUARY 14, , JANUARY 14, , JANUARY 14, 2013—112013—112013—112013—112013—11

BY DANIEL GUMM

Why Reyenieju should run again in 2015—Coalition

Mega party to provide alternative platform— Oyegun

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

Organised labour, key to Oshiomhole’ssuccess —Imuekhemhe

Learn toacceptdefeat,politiciansurged

Delta Houseflays allegedpoorperformanceofcontractors

BY VICTORAHIUMA-YOUNG

BY FESTUS AHON

Ekiyor, PataniLG chairburies dad

WARRI—THE remains of Dr.

Thompson Ekiyor, fatherof the Transition Com-mittee chairman of Pata-ni Local GovernmentArea, Delta State andformer National Presi-dent of Ijaw Youth Coun-cil, IYC, Dr. Chris Ekiy-or, were laid to rest, week-end, in Patani.

Until his death, the de-ceased was the pioneerchairman of Peoples Dem-ocratic Party, PDP, in Pa-tani council; chairman ofNational Union of RoadTransport Workers; chair-man, Traditional Medi-cine Council of Nigeria,Patani branch and Assist-ant Secretary, KaboweiTraditional Council.

He was buried at thefamily residence on 3,Kandudu Avenue, EkiseQuarters, Patani town.

B E N I N — F O R M E Rgovernor of Edo State

and chieftain of Action Con-gress of Nigeria, ACN, ChiefJohn Odigie-Oyegun, yes-terday, said that the purposeof opposition political partiescoming together to form amega party was not solely toremove the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, from officebut to create a credible alter-native platform for Nigerianelectorate.

Oyegun, who spoke withVanguard in an interview inBenin, also denied the as-sertion by a former LagosState Police Commissioner,Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, thatSouthern leaders were beat-ing the drum of the dismem-bering of the country and ad-vised the North to look in-ward in finding a solution tothe problem of Boko Haram.

He said: “The formation ofa mega party is not for thesole aim of contesting the2015 presidential electionbecause that would be inter-preted to mean that our solepurpose is to remove PDP.We pray that happens, butthe core of our coming to-gether is to present to theNigerian electorate an alter-

native; an alternative with acredible message; an alter-native that identifies withtheir pains and aspirations.

“As at today, no matter howwe abuse PDP, or how awarewe are of the mis-govern-ance of the country, Nigeri-ans have no credible alter-native to PDP. They are theonly ones that seem to havegiven themselves a seeming-ly image of a national party

with a national spread.“We are trying to construct

for the benefit of the Nigerianpeople, an alternative that willalso have a national image anda national spread. To re-em-phasise what I said earlier, wewant a party that identifieswith the people, with the hopeand aspirations of the Nigeri-an people. We will make thatvery clear in the message wehave when the right time

comes.”We are making reasonable

progress, treading very cau-tiously and slowly. We are notunaware that there are prob-lems, interests and intrigueswithin each group, but the mes-sage we have for everybodyand for ourselves is that what-ever interest we have within theparty, the interest of the peo-ple and the Nigerian nation isclearly more important. That isthe premise from which we areapproaching it.”

DONATION: Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State (middle); Mr. Bisi Onasanya, GMD,First Bank of Nigeria Plc (right) and Mr. U.K. Eke, Executive Director, Public Sector, duringthe donation of five operational vehicles by First Bank to the state government at the Govern-ment House, Umuahia.

BENIN—IMMEDIATEpast Secretary to Edo

State Government, SSG, Dr.Simon Imuekhemhe, week-end, said that one of the se-crets behind the success ofthe administration of Gover-nor Adams Oshiomhole in thestate was the cordial relation-ship that exists between or-ganised labour in the stateand the government.

Imuekhemhe, also formerHead of Service, HOS, said

from his years of experience inthe civil service, it will be diffi-cult for any government to worksuccessfully without the corpo-ration of labour.

He spoke when he was hon-oured by the state chapters ofNigeria Labour Congress, NLCand Trade Union Congress,TUC. Appreciating the honourbestowed on him by the unionsdespite the several disagree-ments he had with them whenhe was SSG, Imuekhemhe said:“Those disagreements helpedus bring out the best in all of usand shaped governance in the

state.“Labour is really a critical as-

pect of governance because theysee everybody in government astheir enemy or their oppressor.So, for the TUC, the central or-ganised labour in Edo State, tosingle me out for the award, isan experience I will cherish forlife because they represent theviews of the workers and to alarge extent, the views of thegeneral public and it gives me asense of satisfaction that duringmy service year, I served the peo-ple of the state and the princi-pals who gave me the opportu-nity to serve creditably.”

WARRI—A COALITIONof political stakehold-

ers, comprising of all ethnicnationalities in Warri FederalConstituency, has called onMr. Daniel Reyenieju to re-contest the constituency seatin the 2015 general elections.

Reyenieju represents thethree Warri local governmentareas at the National Assem-bly.

The coalition, under the ae-gis of Eager Network for De-

velopment of Warri, ENDOW,made up of groups in Warri Fed-eral Constituency, in a statement,noted that Reyenieju’s contin-uous networking with servingfederal lawmakers from othergeo-political zones in the coun-try towards ensuring that the Pe-troleum Industry Bill, PIB waspassed into law, “is one of sev-eral efforts he is making towardsproviding a better deal for oilproducing communities,” as wellas ensuring equity in the petro-leum sector.

The statement by Mr. Ernest

Ebisanine and others, noted thatReyenieju’s easy accessibility bypeople of his constituency, ex-perience as a lawmaker, as wellas his views on burning nation-al issues, were further testamentof his “impeccable qualities”needed for representation at thenational level, “especiallyagainst the backdrop of the highstake politicking expected to in-tensify in 2015.”

They vowed to mobilise sup-port for Reyenieju should heheed their call to re-contest theWarri Federal Constituency seatin 2015.

UGHELLI—DELTAState House of As-

sembly Committee on Fi-nance and Appropria-tions has expressed wor-ry over what it called thenear zero performancesof the three contractorshandling the Effurun-Eku Road dualizationproject.

The House Committee,led by its chairman, Mr.Daniel Mayuku, was atthe project site as part ofits investigation tour ofselected projects em-barked upon by the stategovernment, weekend.

Mayuku said the Effu-run-Eku Road dualiza-tion project was awardedto the three contractorssince 2010 with adequatemobilization, adding thatsector ‘A’ of the projectwas awarded toGOMENE ConstructionCompany for N3.6 billionwith N1 billion paid asmobilisation to the con-tractor by the state gov-ernment.

He said, sector ‘B’ wasawarded to DEUX Con-struction company andmobilised also with aboutN1 billion, while the sec-tor C was awarded toPALMYRA Constructioncompany and N530 mil-lion paid out of the totalcost of N2.4 billion con-tract sum.

BENIN—VANGUARDfor a Better Edo, VFBE,

has advised the nation’s pol-iticians to learn to acceptdefeat in a free and fair elec-tion and stop looking for fri-volities to subvert the will ofthe people.

Commending the SupremeCourt, which on Friday setaside the ruling of the Ap-peal Court, which orderedEdo State Election PetitionsTribunal to hear afresh thecase of non-qualification ofGovernor Adams Oshiom-hole for the July 14, 2012Edo State gubernatorial elec-tion, VFBE, called on the ju-diciary to dispense with theelection petition as soon aspossible in the interest ofEdo people.

VFBE, in a statement by itsNational Coordinator andDirector of Grassroots Mobi-lisation, Mr. Donatus Ossaiand Bernard Efosa, respec-tively, advised politicians tolearn to accept defeat in afree and fair election.


Parents lament high fees in Abiaprivate schools

Imo inaugurates 3 panels to probeOhakim

BY CHIDI NKWOPA

Thugs destroyed my shops, not communitymarket —Community leader

CD laudsS-East Govs,others onsecurity

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Ex-Rep backscalls for newconstitutionChime in London

hospital for hearttreatment

OWERRI—IMO State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha,

has inaugurated three judicialpanels of inquiry to look into allcontracts awarded by the IkediOhakim administration, the localgovernment system, as well as au-tonomous communities and tradi-tional rulers.

While the retired Chief Judge ofImo State, Justice Paul Onumajulu,was asked to probe the local gov-ernment system, Justices GoddyAnunihu and T. E. C. Chikekawere charged with the responsi-bility of probing the autonomouscommunities and traditional rul-ers.

Although Okorocha explainedthat the essence of inauguratingthe commissions was not to witch-hunt anybody in the state but toestablish and bring back the lostglories of the state and traditionalinstitution, observers, however, in-sisted that the current develop-ment might be connected with thegrowing altercation between thegovernor and loyalists of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP, in the state.

Justice Anunihu was asked toidentify all contracts awarded byor on behalf of Imo State govern-ment or its parastatals and agen-cies between May 30, 2007, andMay 29, 2011, and ascertain theextent of work done.

The panel is also to ascertain the

UMUAHIA—PARENTSand guardians in Abia

State are currently bemoaningthe high rate of fees in privateschools in the state, and calledon the government to place aceiling on how much the insti-tutions could charge.

They also lamented that de-spite the regular, indiscriminateupward review of fees, privateschools had no correspondingfacilities to show for the high fees.

The parents and guardiansalso accused proprietors of theschools of effecting increase infees without recourse to the Par-

LAGOS—AS the National Assembly

plans to amend the 1999constitution, a former mem-ber of the House of Repre-sentatives, Dino Melaye,has thrown his weight be-hind a brand new consti-tution that will meet theyearnings and aspirationsof Nigerians.

Melaye, who is the Ex-ecutive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network, in aninterview over the week-end, said a brand new con-stitution subjected to a ref-erendum was the best con-stitution the people of Ni-geria needed.

To achieve this, Melayesaid the constitution mustbe preceded by a nationaldiscourse.

He said there was needfor a national discourse,stressing that a constitutioncould not become legiti-mate until it was open to areferendum.

According to him, with-out a referendum, there isno constitution.

Melaye described the1999 constitution as a prod-uct of lies, arguing that theconstitution could not besaid to reflect the wishes ofNigerians.

UMUAHIA—CAMPAIGN for Democ-

racy, CD, has commendedSouth East governors andsecurity agencies in thezone for maintaining acrime free Christian andNew Year celebrations.

CD, in a statement signedby the zonal chairman andsecretary, Mr. Uzor A. Uzorand Dr. JerryChukwuokolo, said thegovernors in the zone didtheir best to maintain se-curity during the period.

“CD would want to ap-preciate in particular theNigerian Army, State Se-curity Services, SSS, Po-lice, Special Anti-RobberySquad, SARS, and NigeriaSecurity and Civil DefenceCorps, NSCDC, as well asFRSC,” the statement said.

The group said the stategovernors needed to beappreciated for their rolesin motivating and provid-ing logistics for securitypersonnel, which enabledthem to work effectively infighting criminals.

level of jobs done, detect any pay-ments in excess of work done,including kick backs in cash orkind given to or received by in-dividuals or organisations.

Onumajulu’s panel was askedto identify all types of employ-ees in the local government sys-tem, including temporary,casual, permanent staff, themethod of recruitment of staff,staff structure, and staff strengthof each local government in thestate.

They are also charged to in-vestigate salary padding, pay-

ment of ghost workers, illegalemployment of temporary,casual and permanent staff oremployees, as well as identifypersons involved in illegal re-cruitment, salary padding, pay-ment made to ghost workers andprescribe appropriate sanctions.

The Justice Chikeka panel wasasked to ascertain whether allthe autonomous communities in Imo State were originallyqualified to be given autono-mous status, in accordance withthe law that was in force wheneach autonomous communities

was created.They were also charged to as-

certain the level of involvementsof the traditional rulers in acts/misconducts and make recom-mendations to the governmentbased on their findings.

Responding on behalf of thechairmen and members of thecommissions, JusticeOnumajulu, thanked the gover-nor for finding them worthy toserve in the commissions andassured that they would do theirbest to carry out the assignment.

ents/Teachers Associations.Beside the high fees, the par-

ents noted that most of theprojects in the schools were ex-ecuted by PTAs, wondering whatthe high fees were meant.

Parents, who spoke to Van-guard in Aba and Umuahia,were unanimous in condemningthe indiscriminate increase infees and called on the govern-ment to properly monitor privateschools in the state.

“We are fed up with the prac-tice in these private schools overthe way they increase fees in theschools. They now do it at will,at times every term, some times

two or three times a term.“They now make sure that they

effect an increase every term. Thisis in addition to other sundry feesthey charge. It is too much.

“I blame the government thatallowed the public schools todegenerate to what they are to-day. Thank God that GovernorOrji has handed over someschools to the original mission-ary owners.

“We just hope that thechurches would revive themand not also place emphasison monetary gains like theprivate operators.”

WARRI—A PROMINENTcommunity leader in Warri

South Local Government, PrinceAgindotan Yonwuren, has re-futed media report whichclaimed he sold part ofUgbuwangue community mar-ket to an unnamed politician,stressing that the shops de-stroyed by hired thugs were hispersonal property which he wasrenovating after it was gutted byfire in 2007.

Prince Yonwuren, who wasangry by the report he described

as contrived, explained that heonly sublet part of his land alreadyhaving shops to Delta State OilProducing Areas DevelopmentCommission, DESOPADEC,when he was approached by thecommission that they wanted tobuild a shopping complex.

Describing the actions of the“weapon carrying thugs andtheir internal sponsors as moti-vated by envy,” Prince Yonwurensaid members of his family werestill being threatened by the in-vaders.

The PDP chieftain noted thatthere was nothing like commu-nity land in Ugbuwangue, de-claring that all lands were familyowned.

He averred that it was in a bidnot to frustrate the state govern-ment’s peace and securityagenda that he reported the de-struction of his shops to the po-lice, just as he said some of theproperties stolen by the invadershad been recovered by the po-lice who made some arrest.

BY ANAYO OKOLI

BY ONOZURE DANIA

Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi (left) and Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, during the recep-tion organized by Ndigbo Lagos for Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Lagos.

GOVERNOR SullivanChime of Enugu State is cur-

rently undergoing treatment for aheart disease in a London hospi-tal.

The governor, who had beenmissing from the state since Sep-tember 2012, applied for accumu-lated leave that ought to havelasted only one and a half months.

Agency reports said the condi-tion of the governor, whose medi-cal sojourn started in India, hadremained dire.

The prolonged absence of theGovernor has left the state underthe complete control of his Chiefof Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo.

Before becoming governor, Mr.Chime was Enugu State’s Attor-ney-General in the government ofnow-indicted former GovernorChimaroke Nnamani.

Enugu indigenes are fearfulabout what laid ahead for the state,and many prominent church lead-ers who hail from the same areaas the governor have gone silent.

A few days ago, a pro-democ-racy association of Enugu Statecitizens which calls itself the SaveEnugu Group, called on ActingGovernor Onyebuchi to make a“categorical explanation” on thecondition and whereabouts of Gover-nor Chime.

The Acting governor has yet to respond.


CMYK


From left: Former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); GovernorRotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), duringthe first graduation ceremony of the Abdulsalami Abubakar Institute ForPeace and Sustainable Development Studies in Minna.

Jonathan not committed toanti-graft war —APGA, PPA

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA—THE AllProgressives Grand

Alliance, APGA, and Pro-gressive Peoples Alliance,PPA, have re-affirmed theposition of The Patriots thatthe Federal Governmentwas not committed to thewar against corruption. While APGA’s NationalDirector of Publicity, Mr.Ifeanacho Oguejiofor, saidthe government was in alull over corruption and

that it needed to take ur-gent steps against graft inthe country, PPA’s NationalSecretary, Peter Ameh, la-mented that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s fail-ure to fight corruption hadproven to Nigerians thathe lacked the political willto fight graft. Oguejiofor warned thatcorruption would sink thecountry, if adequate meas-ures were not put in placeto fight it. He said: ”The party con-siders corruption as thegreatest obstacle to the de-velopment and transfor-mation of Nigeria gener-ally. ”APGA sees corruptionas not only in the misap-propriation and embezzle-ment of public funds bygovernment officials and

their cohorts, but in themanner and the general at-titude to life of an averageNigerian, whereindiscipline is a way of lifeand the order of the day andbeing encouraged by thosein and outside the govern-ment. ”Therefore, for Nigeria toreally develop, this govern-ment of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan shoulddevelop the strong musclesand sharp teeth to fight cor-ruption in every facet of ourlife.

Speaking further, Na-tional Secretary of PPA, Mr.Peter Ameh, said: “Wehave had to bear as a na-tion of people; and had ar-gued that this governmenthas not shown the will tofight corruption.”

Tukur fights back, to announce Onwe acting sec

Late Gov Yakowa’s brother dies at 51BY LUKA BINNIYAT


They want to imposeone of them as thepresidential candidateof the party in 2015 andthat is why they aredefying what the peopleand the presidentwant.”

They have alsothreatened not torecognize the Gov. SuleLamido-led committeeon “Adamawa Crisis andResolution,” even asthey described the

committee as“mysterious.” They saidthey did not know whoestablished it, the termsof reference as well asthe composition of theCommittee.

Ardo who explainedthat they only saw anadvert on the pages ofnewspapers askingmembers to submitmemoranda to thecommittee, stressed thatthey did not know whoset up the committee andwhat it was supposed to

do.According to them, if

the committee remainsmysterious, they, as elders,will not recognize it andwill work only with thenewly elected executivecommittee of the party ledby Joel Madaki.

He noted: “If it is thepresident, let us see astatement from thepresidency. If it is from theNational WorkingCommittee of the partylet’s see a statement fromthe national chairman of

the party saying so. But ifit is from the Oyinlola gangof 10, then there’s no waywe can recognize it and asfar as we are concerned, itis dead on arrival.

“There ought to be a letterfrom the presidency sayingso if it is actually from thepresident and if it is fromthe party then there shouldbe a statement from thenational workingcommittee but we cannotjust wake up and see acommittee from the bluesasking us to submitmemoranda.

KADUNA—TRAG-EDY has again

struck at the family ofthe former Governor ofKaduna State, latePatrick Ibrahim Yakowa,as his only survingbrother, Adamu Yakowa,51, died at about 8.30pmon Saturday.

Family sources toldVanguard, that Adamudied at the KafanchanGeneral Hospital onSaturday. He reportedlytook ill shortly after thedemise of his brother,Patrick, in a helicoptercrash last December atBayelsa State.

A member of the fam-ily, Mr. Shagari Borgowho confirmed the deathsaid late Adamu retiredfrom the Kaduna Vehi-cle Inspection Office asa senior staff.

Late Adamu wasdecribed as a gentle andpeace loving. Left tomourn him are hiswidow and fivechildren.

Meanwhile, the 30-day prayer for late Gov-ernor Yakowa would beheld at St. John’sCatholic Church,Unguwan Rimi GRA, inKaduna metroplois, ac-cording to the Parish

Priest of the Church, Rev,Father Celestine Katung.

“We will be marking the

30-day memorialprayers of our dear latebrother and Governor.

Next Sunday will markthe 30 days of his pass-ing away,” the priestsaid.

CMYK


CMYK

OPINION

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

*Dr. Oshimiri, a political analyst,wrote from Boston, USA.

Igbo VP 2015: The pathway toIgbo presidency

Continues tomorrow on the Viewpointpg

BY JOHN OSHIMIRI

I HOLD an alternative view to SenatorEmmanuel Onwe’s elegant piece entitled:

“Igbos Cannot Produce a President with FiveStates published on January 8, 2013. It ismy considered verdict, not opinion that apresident of Igbo extraction cannot emergein 2015. It’s glaringly obvious that thepolitical conditions necessary for such agrand achievement are absent at themoment. The vice presidency is the onlyfeasible route through which an Igbo personcould ascend the presidency by or before2023. And that is my contention in this essay.

Stereotypes and MythsTake a quick quiz: If the sum of N5,000 wereto be offered to each of its natives inexchange for one of its own holding the officeof the president of Nigeria for four years ormore, which of the following ethnic groupswould be the most likely to accept the cash:

(A)The Yoruba (B) The Hausa (C) TheKanuri (D) The Ijaw (E) The Igbo?

Your choice is exactly in accord with thatmade by hundreds of random people acrossNigeria. This predictability illustrates thenature of stereotype - the bedrock uponwhich the deep-seated anti-Igbo prejudicein Nigeria rests. What’s more, the lie has beenpeddled sufficiently as to become anacknowledged “truth”. As an Igbo man, Iresent this malicious defamation to anunmitigated degree.

The myth of self-centredness and moneyaddiction among the Igbos in their politicaltransactions has become deeply etched inthe consciousness of Nigerians. This fallacy

does not rest on any tangible evidence for itssustenance. It’s an ugly generalisation thatdoes not apply to the vast majority of upright,proud and patriotic Igbos. This is not to denythe odious roles played by a few Igbopolitical pimps, anchored on personal greedand self-centredness, in sabotaging thecollective interest – but such is hardly apeculiarity of Ndigbo.

Stereotypes, like taboos, are meant tobe broken and reversed.The Igbo moment to demonstrate truecharacter and to showcase the battle spiritof solidarity and self-sacrifice which saw usthrough a turbulent history is once againupon us. There cannot be any logical reasonwhy the Igbos would hesitate to push till thelast drop of their political sweat for the vicepresidency (the only realistic and winnablebattle to wage in the 2015 electoral cycle),which will potentially lead to the presidencyin 2023, unless we have already been soldout by the greedy few who have persistentlybesmirched the Igbo reputation. And if thisis the case, are the Igbos prepared to put upwith such a state of affairs?

No one should be in any doubt that thepolitical battles raging in the country rightnow, and which will rage for at least anothergeneration, represent the struggles to assertgroup identity and legitimacy, expressedthrough the mechanics of politics.

To Those Who Have

The North has held central power for38 years. Yet, its leadership is furiously

agitating and planning and forgingformidable alliances across the country in apush for power shift in 2015. The West hasheld central power for 12 years. Yet, itsleadership is everywhere articulating,advocating and laying the foundations forstrategic alliances to secure power shift in2015. The South-South has held centralpower for two years (five years by 2015). Yet,its leadership has been the most strident andenergised in its push for the retention ofcentral power in 2015. The East held centralpower for six months some 46 years ago. Itsambition for prime power will best be servedby power shift in 2015 and crippled by theretention of the status quo. Yet, the Igbosappear to be bereft of ideas, save for thebelated efforts of groups such as Njiko Igboand C21. And even those efforts are headedin the wrong direction, with all due respectto the cerebral Dr Onwe.

The Igbos played second fiddle to primepower in this nation just nine years after theCivil War, occupying the Vice Presidencyfrom 1979 - 1983. It took 29 years after thewar for the Igbos to play third fiddle,occupying the post of Senate President from1999 – 2007. Over 40 years after the war, wehave hurried ourselves to the fifth fiddle andhastening down to complete irrelevance. We

fought a gallant war of live ammunition andmortar, spilled blood and treasure butultimately surrendered with our heads heldhigh. Now, in peace time, we are surrenderingthe war of strategic ideas, argument andpersuasion and human mobilisation withoutas much as a whimper. Haba!

Edmund Burke it was who said that “Ourpatience will achieve more than our force.”Well, we have tried both: War for three yearsand patience for 43 years. Head or tail, we’velost. The Igbos are constructing their ownpolitical wheelchair, as they set aboutcrippling themselves. We cannot reach ourdestiny by remaining quadriplegichouseboys.

Here, again, we are faced with a historicalopportunity to mark our place in this land,and rid our psyche of the debilitating traumaof being cast as outsiders in a nation-familyin which we played an outsize role to bringinto being.

Fantasy and RealpolitikThe colourful fantasy of an Igbo presidencyin 2015 or even before 2023 is resistant tohard evidence. It ignores the peculiaritiesof Nigerian realpolitik. It feeds on thepropaganda of the few who feed fat on thestatus quo to the detriment of Ndigbo. Atthe head of this jaundiced politics areelements equivalent to the saboteurs of theCivil War era.

INMATES having babies in prison is aglobal phenomenon defying solutions. Authorities of Port Harcourt Prisons aredenying warders were responsible for thepregnancies. In the United States, wheresome prison officials have been convicted fortheir roles in sexual abuse of prisoners, morethan 25 per cent of inmates get pregnantwhile serving their term.Arguments of an official of Port Harcourt

Prisons, that in all cases the women arrivedpregnant, are unattainable. They are toodumbfounding that they leave no room forimportant prison reforms. What can be doneabout pregnant prisoners? How can generalprison conditions be improved? Do we everworry that children born in prison withoutadequate care could become criminals?More concern in other places centre on

better treatment for children born in prison.There are no easy solutions. Even in USAwhere six States - California, Connecticut,Mississippi, New Mexico, New York andWashington – permit “conjugal visits” to aidfamily bonding, the visits have partly beenblamed for the pregnancies, there are no firm

FFFFFatatatatate Of Pregnante Of Pregnante Of Pregnante Of Pregnante Of PregnantPrisonersPrisonersPrisonersPrisonersPrisoners

plans for the children. Do we punishchildren too for their mothers’ offences?Current conditions in Nigerian prisons are

deplorable. The food is poor; the quantityis not enough for healthy living, worse forpregnant inmates. The hygiene levels areabysmally low. It is almost unthinkable thatchildren are born in these settings.Prisoners, most of them poor, cater for thechildren until relations take them, or theyare put up for adoption. What is their future?With the generally unacceptable conditions

in which Nigerians live, it is easier to ignoreprisoners and their plight. They are part of

society. If the laws were a little morestringent, more Nigerians, the mightymoreso, could be in jail.The point is validly made that prisoners –

some of who are awaiting trial for years, andwho may eventually be released for lack ofevidence to prosecute them – have rights.The fact that nobody cares about their rightsdo not mean they do not exist.The USA for years lived in denial of the

abuses in its prisons. Women were shackledwhile giving birth, more than 1.5 millionchildren were born in jail over 25 years,sexual abuses were nobody’s concern untilsome years back when the reforms began.Prison officers are being jailed for abuses;some prisons are building nurseries for thechildren.We cannot address abuses in prisons

without admitting them. There would be noseriousness without punishing offendingofficials and setting new standards forconduct. Fears of the truth would delay thereforms that fate of pregnant prisonersdeserves. We have a major prison challengein our hands, we cannot pretend otherwise.

CMYK


,,

OPINIONBY MICHAEL OBERABOR

*Dr. Oberabor, a medical officer, wrote from Warri,Delta State.

“

HE played a controversial role in the overthrow ofMilton Obote in 1971 whom he served as chief of

intelligence. But when the blood thirsty renegade, IdiAmin seized power, Museveni together with Obote fledinto exile. He was to appropriate power to himself in 1986after a long bush war which once again exposed hiscunning. He conducted the first elections in 1996 and istoday serving his fourth term in office. His main opponentin the 2011 election, Besigye lives in exile..

But the biggest clown is the nonagenarian, RobertMugabe, a former rebel leader who alongside hiscomrades fought against white minority rule andachieved the independence of the former Rhodesia buthas remained at the helm of affairs since 1980. He hassupervised the political and economic collapse ofZimbabwe and blames successive Western governmentsfor the country’s misfortune. This is the most illegitimateruler the world over. He had broken every political andeconomic rule before being forced into a power sharingdeal with arch rival and foe Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008.His story will continue to be told for generations after heis gone. While the citizens live in penury, he lives in royalsplendour and opulence.

We still have 80-year old Teodoro Obiang NguemaMbasogo in Equatorial Guinea. This is Africa’s longest

serving ruler. For the past 33 years, he has ruled the countrylike his personal estate after overthrowing his uncle, themaximum ruler Macias Nguema. A country with some ofthe largest reserves of oil and gas has its citizens livinglike paupers with no functional institutions and very littleinfrastructure. In 2003, he took possession of the statetreasury in order to “prevent corrupt civil servants frombeing tempted into looting state funds”. By the followingyear, he declared himself the “country’s god” and hadpower over “all men and things” and was in “permanentcontact with the Almighty and can decide to kill withoutanyone calling him to account and without going to hell”.He has lined up his first son, Teodorin, wanted in Francefor money laundering, to succeed him. Then there arethose two jesters who inherited states from their fathers:Faure Gnasingbe-Eyadema’s son- in Togo and Ali Bongoin Gabon. They follow the footsteps of their fathers,absolute and maximum rulers accountable to no one.There is the monarch Mswati in Swaziland who cannotdifferentiate state from his estate 25 years after inheritinghis father’s throne. His grandiose and opulent lifestyle is

unmatched. And the list goes on and on.Lest he falls asleep in the presidential palace, rebels

have vowed to chase out Central Africa’s Francoise Bozize,another despot surrounded by goons. He is presently onhis knees begging to be allowed to complete his term inoffice: A ploy to consolidate him in power and ruleendlessly.

The masquerade occupies a conspicuous position inAfrican culture and tradition. It is at the departure gatethat its violent and destructive streak is unleashed on thepeople. There is a pervasive gene of impunity and lack ofaccountability that runs through African leaders. This hasresulted in sub-Saharan Africa remaining plagued withdisease, illiteracy, poverty, wars and famine. Nigeria isnot left out. African leaders admire Obama. They want tobe seen and photographed with him. Obama is 51 andhas been handed another term in an election devoid ofrigging and not marred by irregularities. African leadershave a lot to learn from this man of uncommon courage.His inspirational speech on acceptance is a beacon ofhope to all men of good will. Nothing lasts forever andthe wanton pilfering and looting of resources in thecontinent by its leaders forebodes an uncertain future.

Africa’s departingmasquerades (2)

Continues from Fridayviewpoints

Concluded

I AM back after a hectic vacation.Officially, I am still on leave but the

conversation on this forum must restart.So, welcome to 2013, the year that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan promised us heavenon earth. May we live to see his promisescome true.

Let us start the new year by examiningan issue that is at the root of our democraticgovernance. It is a serial abuse of ourconstitutional order. It is spreading andbeing taken to ridiculous ends at the statelevel.

More and more state governors are fallingsick and disappearing from public viewfor prolonged periods without the peoplebeing told their whereabouts and exactlywhat is happening to them. Today, threegovernors – Danbaba Suntai of TarabaState, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State andSullivan Chime of Enugu State – are outof circulation due to health challenges.

The Chime case stands out. His frailhealth profile has been a matter of publicconcern since his earliest days in power.He has not been seen or heard from forfour long, unbroken months. When he wasleaving in September 2012 he told theHouse of Assembly that he was proceedingon “accumulated annual leave”. But whenPresident Jonathan, as the leader ofChime’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP)addressed the Board of Trustees (BOT) inNovember and summed the state of thenation, he had informed them that Chimewas “very sick” and might not be back tooffice before February 2013. If Chime tarriestill then, he would have left his state withouteffective governance for six long months!And that would be a great disservice tothe people of Enugu State and a graveviolation of the Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria 1999. Now, what if byearly February the governor is still not yet

Enugu State without ahelmsmanback? Let’s address that later.

The framers of the constitution made itclear in Section 189 that a governor ordeputy who has suffered permanentphysical or mental incapacitation is nolonger eligible to hold onto the office. Theyintended that the health status of agovernor and deputy governor be madetransparently public. This is logical, sincethese executive officers are occupying theiroffices through the people’s mandate andhold their offices in trust for the people.

This principle informs the constant publicdissemination of information concerningany ailing elected or ranking appointedpublic official in advanced democracies,such as we recently saw in the case of Mrs.Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary ofState.

Public disclosure

In fact, our constitution is so obviousabout public disclosure of the health issuesof the aforementioned elected executiveofficers that in Section 189 the ExecutiveCouncil appointed by a Governor has the

“the Governor or Deputy shall cease to holdoffice from the date of publication of themedical report…”

Where these steps are not taken theconstitution is violated. Unfortunately, thatwas what happened during the case of thelate President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua andnow those of Chime, Suntai and Imoke.

In Enugu, the Governor and his kitchen

cabinet have mounted a convolutedmanipulation of the law and processes toshield the ailing governor’s real healthsituation from the public. The Governorappeared to obey the law by transmitting

to the Speaker of the House of Assembly,Hon. Eugene Odoh, that he was goingaway on accumulated leave without tellingthe truth that he was going on medicalvacation. He duly appointed his Deputy,Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, as ActingGovernor but limited his approval of fundsto N500,000. Commissioners and otherofficials brazenly ignore him. They opt,instead, to run to the beck and call of thereal acting “governor”, Mrs. IfeomaNwobodo, Chime’s Chief of Staff.

The Enugu 'cabal'

Mrs. Nwobodo and Speaker Odohare working hand-in-gloves to keep theroost exactly as Chime ordered it to be keptfor him. Odoh, being from Nsukka Zone(where the governorship is headed come2015) hopes to benefit from Chime’sgenerosity ahead of other contestants. Healso knows that allowing Deputy GovernorOnyebuchi assume full powers asGovernor might knock him out ofcontention.

And so, for Chime and his “cabal”, thesmooth running and continued goodgovernance of the state must wait until (andif) he returns to office.

I wish Chime does recover quickly andreturn to his duty post because most peopleagree that he has upgraded the capital cityto modern standards. But if he is no longerable to carry on, the constitution must beimplemented to ensure smoothcontinuation of good governance.

My recommendations are as follows.Since most people now think GovernorChime has become incapacitated, he mustpresent himself here in Nigeria for amedical panel examination to determinehis physical and mental capacity tocontinue. If he fails to do so by earlyFebruary, the House of Assembly mustimpeach him for gross misconduct. If theSpeaker tries to block it, the Speaker mustbe removed.

The Deputy Governor, SundayOnyebuchi, must be sworn-in to concludethe remaining term of the Chime/Onyebuchi tenure. Thereafter, he muststep down and allow power to shift toNsukka Zone, in line with the Enugucharter of equity. He must not contemplaterunning, since Dr. Chimaroke Nnamanihas taken his zone’s turn. After Nsukka,the race should be free for all.

Enugu State is bigger than anyindividual.

My recommendationsare as follows. Sincemost people now thinkGovernor Chime hasbecome incapacitated,he must presenthimself here inNigeria for a medicalpanel examination todetermine his physicaland mental capacity tocontinue. If he fails todo so by earlyFebruary the House ofAssembly mustimpeach him for grossmisconduct

power to determine, through two-thirdsof the votes of all members, that theGovernor or Deputy Governor “isincapable of discharging the functionsof his office”.

Once they so determine, a medicalpanel appointed by the Speaker of theState House of Assembly will verify thisclaim. Once the panel is convinced thatthe Governor or Deputy “suffers fromsuch infirmity of body or mind asrenders him permanently incapable ofdischarging the functions of his office,a notice thereof signed by the Speakerof the House of Assembly shall bepublished in the official Gazette of theGovernment of the State”. Thereafter,Gov.Sullivan Chime of Enugu State:

Out of circulation.

CMYK


Continued on page 43

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

SENATOR Jibril Aminu’sfrustrations after failing to

bring Governor Murtala Nyakounder control could not be hiddenat the press conferencepenultimate Sunday in Yola, theAdamawa State capital. Blurtingout his anger over how governorshad ganged up to bolster Nyako,a man who only few years agowas his political disciple, ProfAminu said: “We are talking ofterrorists in Nigeria; the mainterrorists are members of theGovernors’ Forum. They areterrorizing ministers, senatorsand state assembly members. Infact, everybody in the country isunder the threat of the Governors’Forum.It is not good fordemocracy and must be removedfor the system to grow,” he said.His denunciation of the

Now who can stop the PDPgovernors?

The macabre dance in the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party,PDP arising from thedissolution of the Adamawa Stateexecutive of the party confirms thestranglehold of the governors on thepolity. The question now is can they bestopped?

Governors’ Forum whicharguably, has taken over from theSenate to become the country’smost exclusive club resonates inmany quarters. And largelyamong many who may havefallen victim to the increasinglyassertive powers of Nigeria’s 36governors.

While Senator Aminu couldopenly protest what manyconsider as the overbearinginfluence of the governors, manyothers with similar observations,however, are not so bold. Notablyamong those still cowed aremembers of the NationalAssembly, senior officials of thePDP, state legislators, and manypresidential aides who are oftenon the wrong side of some of theactions and aspirations of thegovernors.

Just before he became thePDP’s gubernatorial candidate in2007, Nyako was at Senator

Aminu’s beck and call. He wasone of the regular politicaldisciples of Aminu that flockedaround the former senator aheadof Aminu’s pronouncement onwho would fly the PDPgubernatorial ticket. But onceNyako emerged governor inMay 2007, such subservience toAminu disappeared as thegovernor bared his fangs.

All over the country the‘overbearing’ influence of thegovernors is clearly evident. Butonly few would dare go the extentof Senator Aminu in describinggovernors as power terrorists. Butin reality, they bear terror to manyaround them. And no otherpolitical party in the countrybears the scars of the governors’influence like the PDP.

The latest proof of that sway wasseen in last week’s macabredance by the PDP's NationalWorking Committee when the

party unashamedly disowned itsrecent actions in Adamawa State.The most intriguing display of thepower-show of the governors

from the party leadership. Last October, the NWC

through its spokesman, ChiefOlisa Metuh had justified thedissolution of the Adamawa Stateexecutive thus: “Elders, leadersand stakeholders of the partyhave been petitioning on issues,bordering on zoning,lopsidedness, irregularities thathas to do with the composition ofthe state executive committee; itisn’t the national chairman thathas been doing that.

“What is the issue is the serialbreaches of the constitution of theparty and that’s what the NWCis addressing. The AdamawaState executive disregarded,disobeyed an order of the NWC,not an order of the nationalchairman.”

One of the breaches andirregularities was the notable factthat the state party chairman,Alhaji Mijinyawa Kugama comesfrom the same local governmentand ward with Governor Nyako.

Another reason given byMetuh was what was claimed tobe the insubordination of thestate executive to the decisionsof the NWC on the submissionof names of candidates for thelocal government election.

In both cases, the nationalchairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukurwas believed to be on thedisadvantage in the local politicsof Adamawa. The dissolutionwas obviously to correct thedisadvantages and put thenational chairman at anadvantage over and against thegovernor ahead of the 2015gubernatorial election whereTukur’s son, Awal is largelyspeculated to be interested incontesting.

The Adamawa chairman,Kugama is known to be anunflinching loyalist of Nyako.Both men are from the same localgovernment area in the state. So,what he lost in Adamawa, Tukurwas believed to be using hisreaches in the NWC to win back,a development that stirred thegovernors.

•Tukur: PDP National Chairman •Amaechi: Chairman Governors' Forum

was displayed in the way andmanner the governors compelledthe national leadership of theparty to reverse the suspensionof the state executive committeeof the Adamawa State chapter ofthe party. It was a decision firmedin power survival as the NWCmembers panicked as thegovernors moved withvengeance to get a pound of flesh

Particularly instructive was thedetermination of the governorsto resolve the dispute in thefavour of their colleague. As onegovernor in the front of the battlefor Nyako said: “Today it isNyako, tomorrow it could be me,”and hence the governors’decision to mobilise themselves

,

,

CMYK



Sokoto not the poorest state

OUR attention has been drawnto the recent NBS reportpostulating that Sokoto State isthe poorest state in Nigeria. Thisis even further ridiculed with theassertion that it ‘retained’ itsposition.

With all due respect to Dr Kaleand the survey researchersemployed to do this project, I amvery confident that noresearchers were seen in the statedoing the very elementaryfunction of scientific sampling orapplication of questionnaire as isfundamental in surveys of thisnature.

Or maybe they employed otherforms of research like Quessworkor Extrapolation.

BY NASIR DANLADIBAKO

residents in Sokoto in the 80s,Sokoto town is home to more thantwo million people. Do peoplerush or migrate to a poor city?

Education has always takenmore than 30 per cent of the StateBudget since 2007, enrolment hasgone up by more than 30 per centand more than N2bn is spent onbooks and teaching aids annually.Health facilities in all the Localgovernment areas have upgradedhealth facilities.

To buttress our affirmation ofGov Wamakko’s ruraldevelopment successes, theSokoto State NUJ awarded himtheir highest honour for RuralDevelopment. This is becauseGov Wamakko has provided morethan 25 motorized and solarboreholes in each of the 23 localgovernments.

Electricity has reached morethan 500 villages since 2007,while more than 800 kilometresof rural roads have brought

As Information Commissioner,it is extremely difficult or virtuallyimpossible for researchers onsensitive issues like poverty towork in 23 Local governments,233 wards in Sokoto without meor someone close to me comingacross them. Who were therespondents?

I conducted researches myselfto earn my Masters Degrees atthe prestigious University ofLagos in 1981 so I know a thingor two about surveys.

For the record, Sokoto StateGovernment under Gov AliyuWamakko pumped N2billion intothe State economy by way ofgrant to the State Chamber ofCommerce.

Today, from one car dealer in1990, there are more than 30 cardealers. From about 200,000

government closer to the people.Farm produce now gets to

bigger markets more easily.16 out of Sokoto’s 23 LGs are

in the FADAMA, so agricultureis a major occupation and so allyear round Sokoto people bothin rural and urban areas haveabundant food to eat.What more is evidence of goodliving? I use this medium toadvice NBS to jettison their WallStreet /IMF parameters andindices and develop a morerealistic, pragmatic and homegrown index and yardstick forAfrican societies.

Dr Kale should also assist bymaking his researchers go to thefield and not sit in the office orhotel rooms and allocate figuresbased on guesswork and NEPA- style estimates.

*Mr Bako, is Sokoto StateCommissioner forInformation

*Wamakko

to confront the nationalleadership. Their threat was touse their influence upon othermembers of the NationalExecutive Committee, NEC ofthe party to instigate thedissolution of the NWC eitherdirectly or through forcing anational convention.

Remarkably, the governors hadfollowing mediations byPresident Goodluck Jonathanlast December offered Tukur a softlanding. That was through theestablishment of the GovernorSule Lamido intra-party panel onthe Adamawa crisis. TheGovernor Sule panel it waslearnt, was to prescribe thereversal of the dissolutionfollowing which the NWC woulduse the panel’s recommendationas a yardstick so that Tukurwould not be seen to have beenhumiliated.

However, contrary toexpectations the nationalsecretariat continued to push fora new executive in Adamawaduring the Christmas and NewYear holidays with the release ofschedules for congresses in thestate.

It was an action that stirred thegovernors to roar. And whenthey roared last week with awarning to the NWC it was nosurprise that majority of the NWCmembers who had earlier fullybacked Tukur turned against himby reversing the dissolution.

Now after retrieving theAdamawa executive for theircolleague, the governors areexpected to go for issues thatdirectly concern all of them. Theirfirst target would be the renewedattempt by the nationalleadership of the party toreintroduce the campaign for e-

Now who can stop the PDP governors?

registration. The e-registration ofparty members and its automatedbase is one which governors hadin the past shot down. Their fearit is claimed, is that such ascheme would remove the partyfrom their hands as it wouldtransmit power directly to thepeople.

The same scheme was shotdown during the regime of Dr.Okwesileze Nwodo when thegovernors even compelled thepresident to abort the project afterthe president had personallyflagged off the scheme.

The governors are alsoexpected to now start preparingthemselves for the 2015 projectafter their first thirst of blood.

That the governors allowedPresident Jonathan to have hisway in foisting Tukur as the

national chairman was accordingto one party insider a tacticalmove by the governors.

“When they (governors) wereputting him there they knew thatit could only be for some timeknowing that it would only be amatter of time before Bamangawould bungle and now he hasbungled seriously.”

The party source added:“Many were expecting thatBamanga would help thepresident to actualise his

candidacy in 2015 and in returnthe president would help him puthis son as governor of Adamawa,but now both ambitions areturning into far dreams.”

Remarkably, the governorsseem to be getting an unsolicitedhand of fellowship ahead of 2015from an unexpected quarter.Former President OlusegunObasanjo has lately been criss-crossing the country reaching outto many governors. Obasanjoaccording to sources has

confided that he knows where thepower of the party is and that itrests with the governors. So givenhis own personal agenda ofreverting power to the north it isnot surprising that he ispositioning himself for a possiblealliance that would be to therealisation of a common goal withmost of the second termgovernors, many of whom do notwant to leave President Jonathanbehind in office as president in2015.

Having effortlessly shakenTukur and asserted theirdominance over the polity, thereis no doubt that the governorshave drawn a battle line withTukur ’s sponsors in thepresidential villa. The questionnow is ‘who or what can stop thegovernors’?

• President Jonathan: Pressured to fix the umbrella•Nyako: Under the protection of his col-leagues

,,The same scheme was shot down during the

regime of Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo when thegovernors even compelled the president toabort the project after the president hadpersonally flagged off the scheme

CMYK


CMYK


,

,

BY DONALD NWANDU

*Mr. Kupoluyi wrote from Federal Var-sity of Agric., Abeokuta, Ogun State.

,

,

Mr. Nwandu, an architect,wrote from Abuja.

BY ADEWALE KUPOLUYI

Concluded

The Indian gang rape (2)Continues from Fridayviewpoints

MOST rape research and reporting to datehave been limited to male-female forms

of rape. In Nigeria, cases of rape have gone upfrom 12.5 to 84 per cent, as incidents of female-male rape are beginning to unfold.

Recently, three women were arraignedbefore a Higher Shari’a Court in Gusau forallegedly raping a 20-year-old man,Abdulrahman Sulaiman and in OgbadiboLocal Government area of Benue State, and aman; Uroko Onoja was allegedly raped todeath by his six jealous wives.

However, almost no research has been doneon female - female, though women can becharged with rape.

But why do women often get raped? Variousreasons have been given, which ranged fromthe behaviour of women in terms of theindecent ways they dress, low self-esteem inmen, drugs and alcohol, hatred of women, andthe imagination of men’s hearts.

Another reason could be because mostNigerian states have no specific lawsaddressing rape, even though the nation hasratified the Declaration on the Elimination ofViolence Against Women (CEDAW), meant toput an end to all types of violence againstwomen.

The Nigerian Constitution, however, does notspecifically prohibit rape. In addition, the lawsthat exist, such as the ones mentioned above,are oftentimes outdated, and not enforced.

However, the definition of rape does notfollow the principles underlined by thecountry’s criminal laws, and does not providesufficient protection or redress for women andgirls who have been raped.

The issue of having to prove that theintercourse was not consensual furthercontributes to the culture of silence

surrounding rape.A woman who has been raped is also

compelled to deal with humiliation by thepolice, as well as the “embarrassment”resulting from public acknowledgementbecause when a woman is raped, she and herfamily are automatically ostracised.

For instance in 2001, Bariya IbrahimMagazu, a Nigerian teenage single motherwas given 100 lashes for adultery. Bariyaclaimed she had been raped by three men but,in accordance with Sharia law, she wasrequired to show proof that the men who rapedher had indeed forced into sex.

Under Sharia law, Bariya’s rape wasinterpreted as fornication because she wasunable to present witnesses who would confirmthe veracity of her rape accusations, asfornication, a Hudud offence under Sharialaw, can result into punishments as severe asdeath by stoning.

Sharia law, which applies mainly in theNigerian northern states, is one example ofsuch customary laws. Under Sharia penal laws,rape is criminalised.

In some instances, a woman’s failure toconsent is not considered in criminalproceedings under the Sharia law. Victimsare still burdened with proving the issue ofconsent. Moreover, a woman’s rapeaccusation can only be backed by eyewitnessesand no circumstantial evidence is accepted.

In fact, the way Sharia law works makes itvery challenging to prosecute rape, once again,leaving the perpetrator unpunished andexposing the victim to yet another traumaticexperience.

In some cases, Sharia law only levies amonetary punishment against a convictedrapist. For example, a rapist might be obligedto pay the victim the amount she wouldnormally received as marriage payment, or ifthe rapist cannot be punished, he must pay thevictim the amount equal to bride-money.

Under both legal systems, prosecuting rapistsrepresents an extremely challenging task,spurring the suggestion that rapists should beincarcerated for extended periods of timewhile some people have even advocated forcastration of perpetrators.

However, despite the demand forpunishment, laws continue to turn a

blind eye to rape but the reality is that rapeterribly hurts women.

In order to eliminate rape, we must firstunderstand it better. We must realise that it isnot only caused by women’s behaviour.

In reality, rape is a weapon used to oppresswomen, especially in societies where they areless valued - when women’s value is framed interms of their sexual purity - their status easilybecomes more vulnerable.

In many African cultures, where virginity iswhat makes women honourable, rape is aneasy tool to permanently demean them.Therefore, societies and cultures that viewwomen and men as equally valuable are lesslikely to have rampant incidences of rape.Thebitter truth is that rape is used to oppress anddehumanise women. Regardless of thegoverning laws, women in Nigeria—and

around the world—need to be protected fromsuch a terrible crime. Sadly, the laws in Nigeriaappear to further victimise and humiliatewomen as they fail to bring any justice to them.

In the Indian case, the Congress has alreadyput forward plans for chemical castration and30-year jail terms for all rapists, as a draft Billhas been put together and will soon be handedto India's chief justice.

All legitimate efforts should be deployed thatthe five men apprehended and charged formurder were given the deserved punishment,to serve as deterrents to others.

On a final note, girls and women should bewary of the cars and buses they board – toensure that they did not enter into the trap ofmiscreants just like the Indian example – whocould rape, harm and molest them.

Law enforcement agents should be aboveboard and be up and doing to apprehendcriminals whenever they infringe upon therights of law-abiding citizens by embarkingon regular patrols and intelligent gathering –to fish-out perpetrators of rape. The Indianpolice were blamed for not doing enough toapprehend the culprits.

Unholy practices such as honour-killing anddomestic crime against women such asbattering and widowhood practices, amongothers should be put to an end.

The assault has already forced the country’shigher education regulatory body, the IndianUniversity Grants Commission, to review thesafety of women in higher educationinstitutions.

In a letter to 568 university vice-chancellorsand directors of higher learning institutions,the UGC said institutions should ensurewomen’s security on campus andrecommended that all universities andinstitutions set up a task force to ensurewomen’s security and keep it informed ofactions taken.

This is a welcome development. Our girlsand women must always be cherished andprotected!

In reality, rape is aweapon used tooppress women,especially in societieswhere they are lessvalued - whenwomen’s value isframed in terms oftheir sexual purity -their status easilybecomes morevulnerable

IN a country where thecontributions of distinguished

people are appreciated thecurrent “struggle” for theChairmanship of the Board ofTrustees of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP), thelargest political party in Africawould be unnecessary. HisExcellency, Dr. AlexIfeanyichukwu Ekwueme, formerVice President of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, thefounding Chairman of the PDP,first Chairman of the Board ofTrustee of the party would berequested, appealed to and evenbegged to return to the positionhe towers above every othercontender. Alex Ekwueme hasmany firsts in Nigerian politicalhistory and has the distinguishedrecord of making his intellectualendowment available to Nigeriaby his proposition of the sixpolitical zonal structure in thecountry which has ensured thepolitical stability of the countrytill date.

He mobilised the group of 34eminent Nigerians who riskedtheir lives to stand up against thedictatorship of General SaniAbacha during the era of militaryrule. He co-led the 28 memberNDI/Carter Centre-sponsoredobserver team to the LiberianPresidential run-off election in

PDP BoT Chair: Return it toAlex Ekwueme

2005.Most recently he was invited by

the ruling party in Nigeria, thePDP to head the ReconciliationCommittee in the wake of intra-party discord following the lasttwo presidential elections. Therecommendations of theEkwueme Committee have beenused as yardstick forreconciliation in the party and re-admitting aggrieved/expelledmembers of the party.

His unceremonial removal andreplacement with Chief TonyAnenih was one of the arbitraryactions of former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo. However,even the then scheming Presidenthas discovered that what goesaround comes around as he hadsince been betrayed andhumiliated by the monster hecreated. Vaulting ambition whichoverleaps itself and falls on theother. Apologies to WilliamShakespeare.

Having schemed himself intothe position through amendmentof the party's constitution, formerPresident Obasanjo found theseat too hot for him and had tothrow in the towel.

This is the time for the party toreturn to sanity and itsdemocratic credentials and handover the chairmanship of its BOTto a man with the disposition andintellect of Dr. Alex Ekwuemewho commands deep respect and

following in all parts of thecountry. It was the late sage ChiefObafemi Awolowo who wroteboldly in his sitting room that“only the deep can call to thedeep”. Dr. Alex Ekwueme is deepand as he has already done,prescribed solutions to some ofNigeria’s seemingly

insurmountable problems. Hewill do more if given thechallenge.

The Board of Trustees is theconscience of any

organisation. As the foundingChairman of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, Dr. Ekwuemeregards the PDP as his baby andhas been nurturing it toadulthood. It will be a personaltragedy for him to see the partydisintegrate and pulled down byanti-democratic elements thatlater infiltrated the party, seizedits highest echelons and usedthem for personal vendetta. Nowthat history has vindicated thejust, the founding father of theparty should be humblyrequested to return to his seat onthe party’s Board of Trustee togive the party its respectfuldirection and befitting image itlost in the past 10 years.

It has been argued that at 80years of age, the elder statesmanis too old to play party politics.Agreed. But this is a major reasonan eminent position as the Chairof the Board of Trustees of theparty suits him. Dr. Ekwueme stillhas the mental alertness, strengthof character and courage toattend the meetings of the BOTand direct them appropriately.Afterall even at party meetingsand conventions, Dr. Ekwuemestays throughout the proceedingslasting more than those half hisage. It is something of pride to usthat we have a man of his agewith all his faculties intact, ableand willing to continue tocontribute the wealth of hisknowledge and experience to theprogress and development of ourgreat country.

Let all the contenders to the

position of chair of PDP BOTincluding Mr. Fix it rise inunison and concede the positionof the conscience of the party toHis Excellency Dr. AlexIfeanyichukwu Ekwueme. Noneof the present contenders to theposition can hold a candle tohim. Is it in terms of contributionto the party, principle,commitment, steadfastness andstaying put in the party despiteall odds?

Mr. Fix it should concentratehis energy to making theNigerian Ports Authority ’s towhich he has returned asChairman more efficient andorganising Ways and Means ofreturning Edo State which wehave lost to Governor AdamsOshiomole’s ACN in the past fiveyears to the PDP, afterOshiomole’s tenure.

A piece of advice to PresidentJonathan. Your chances of re-election in 2015 hinge on twomajor factors. One is the powersituation in country and the otheris reducing endemic corruptionin the polity. The power situationis being very effectively handledas the situation has improveddrastically. Unless a seriousattention is given to tacklingcorruption, I am afraid thecountry is lost. This is where Dr.Alex Ekwueme comes in. Sinceunfortunately Dr. Alex Ekwuemecannot be President of thecountry again, he will certainlyas BOT Chairman of the rulingparty give it an honourableimage and assist to transformthe party and polity towards ananti-corruption environment.

Unless a seriousattention isgiven to tacklingcorruption, I amafraid thecountry is lost;this is where Dr.Alex Ekwuemecomes in. SinceunfortunatelyDr. AlexEkwuemecannot bePresident of thecountry again,he will certainlyas BOTChairman of theruling party giveit an honourableimage


CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013 — 47

Top Venezuelan leaders in Cuba to support Chavez

VENEZUELA’s threemost powerful

government figures afterPresident Hugo Chavezwere again gathered inHavana yesterday tocheck on their ailingleader’s condition andmeet with Cuban allies.

Vice-President Nicolas

Maduro, Congress headDiosdado Cabello, andOil Minister RafaelRamirez have beenshuttling to and fromCuba since the 58-year-old socialist president’sfourth and most seriouscancer surgery a monthago.

Chavez, who missedhis own inauguration fora new, six-year term lastweek, has not been seenor heard from in publicsince the surgery. ManyVenezuelans areassuming his momentous14-year rule of the SouthAmerican OPEC nation

could be nearing an end.Though acknowledging

the gravity of thesituation, officials aretrying to stay upbeat onsocialist president’sprospects for recovery,and Chavez’s brother onSaturday denied thatChavez was in a coma.

*French military prepares a Mirage 2000D fighterplane in N’Djamena, Chad.

Russia rejects Assad exit as precondition for Syria deal

•Syria President,Bashar al-Assad

RUSSIA voicedsupport at the

weekend forinternational peaceenvoy Lakhdar Brahimibut insisted SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad’s exit cannot be aprecondition for a deal toend the country ’sconflict.

Before now, about60,000 Syrians havebeen killed during the21-month-old revolt andworld powers aredivided over how to stopthe escalating bloodshed.Government aircraftbombed outer districts ofDamascus on Saturdayafter being grounded fora week by stormy

weather, oppositionactivists in the capitalsaid.

A Russian ForeignMinistry statementfollowing talks on Fridayin Geneva with theUnited States andBrahimi reiterated callsfor an end to violence inSyria, but there was nosign of a breakthrough.

Brahimi said the issueof Assad, who the UnitedStates, European powersand Gulf-led Arab statesinsist must step down toend the civil war,appeared to be a stickingpoint.

Russia’s ForeignMinistry said: “As before,we firmly uphold the

thesis that questionsabout Syria’s future mustbe decided by the Syriansthemselves, withoutinterference from outsideor the imposition ofprepared recipes fordevelopment.”

Russia has beenAssad’s most powerfulinternational backer,joining with China toblock three Western- andArab-backed U.N.Security Councilresolutions aimed topressure him or push himfrom power. Assad canalso rely on regionalpowerhouse Iran.

French hostage killed in failed rescuemission

A French hostageand two French sol-

diers have been killedduring a failed secretservice rescue mission inSomalia.

The failure of the over-night helicopter raid inthe southern town of BuloMarer, about 70 milessouth of Mogadishu,came as the French mili-tary continued a separate

African operation inMali.

The French defenceministry said the hostagewas a member of thesecret service, theGeneral Directorate forExternal Security(DGSE), which directedthe operation.

The ministry said theagent, known by hispseudonym Denis Allex,was killed by his captors,members of the Islamistgroup al-Shabaab, whomounted stiff resistanceto the French forces’operation. Seventeenfighters from the group,which had held Allexhostage for three years,were also killed.

In a bloody day forFrench forces, theministry also announcedthat a combat pilot hadbeen killed after hishelicopter was shot down

in the rapidly escalatingmilitary intervention inMali, where France issupporting thegovernment effort toseize back the north of thecountry from Islamistrebels.

French military officialssaid on Saturday that airstrikes overnight in Malidrove back Islamist rebelsfrom the city of Konna anddestroyed a militantcommand centre.

Despite theannouncement of Allex’sdeath in Paris, aspokesman for al-Shabaab claimed heremained alive and intheir custody and wouldface trial in two days. Thegroup said it had alsocaptured a woundedFrench commando.Neither claim could beindependently verified.

Court orders retrial of Mubarak

Mubarak is seen herein court in June

A court in Egypt hasordered a retrial for

ex-President HosniMubarak after acceptingan appeal against his lifesentence over the deathsof protesters.

Mubarak, who remainsin custody, will also beretried on corruptioncharges for which hewas acquitted in June.

He led Egypt foralmost 30 years,surviving sixassassination attempts,before the revolt againsthis rule.

Mohammed Morsi ofthe Muslim Brotherhoodwas elected president inJune. Judge Ahmed AliAbdel Rahmanannounced: “The courthas ruled to accept theappeal filed by thedefendants... and ordersa retrial.”

Mubarak, 84, wasoverthrown in 2011 aftermass street protests inthe capital Cairo andother cities, and jailed inJune.

Ex-Interior MinisterHabib al-Adly will also beretried on the samecharge.

Former President Bush leaves hospital soon

FORMER PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush,

who has beenhospitalized in Houstonsince November, may bereleased from the facilityin the coming days, afamily spokesman said onSunday.

“We are hopeful that thepresident can bedischarged this comingweek, but we’re stilltaking everything oneday at a time,” spokesmanJim McGrath said in anemail.

Bush’s son, formerFlorida Governor JebBush, said on Saturdaythat his father wasexpected to be releasedfrom the hospital onMonday, according to

TCPalm.com.The former president,

88, who led a coalitionthat pushed Iraqi forcesout of Kuwait in 1991,was admitted toMethodist Hospital onNovember 23 forbronchitis and thentransferred to intensivecare in December aftercoming down with apersistent fever andother complications. Hewas moved to a regular

patient room after hiscondition improved lastmonth.

Bush has lower-bodyparkinsonism, whichcauses a loss of balance,and he has used awheelchair for more thana year.

The 41st president, who

is also the father of formerPresident George W.Bush, served as ac o n g r e s s m a n ,ambassador to the UnitedNations, envoy to China,CIA director and as vicepresident for two termsunder President RonaldReagan.

President George Snr

THE prime ministersof Libya, Algeria

and Tunisia agreed onSaturday to enhance se-curity along their commonborders in an attempt tofight the flow of arms anddrugs and organizedcrime in the politically tur-bulent region.

Meeting in the westernLibyan border town ofGhadames, Libyan PrimeMinister Ali Zeidan andhis Algerian and Tunisiancounterparts said meas-ures would include settingup joint checkpoints andpatrols along the frontiers,which stretch for thou-sands of kilometers(miles) through mostly

Mali: Libya, Algeria, Tunisia tighten border security*French troops storm rebels

sparsely-populateddesert. They also ex-pressed concern over thecrisis in Mali, where aninternational campaign tocrush rebels who seized

the north of the countrywas gathering pace.

Mali does not share aborder with Libya but ithas been affected by thespillover of weapons and

fighters from the war.Security on Libya’s bor-

ders has deterioratedsince the 2011 war thatousted MuammarGaddafi, with its southern

regions struggling withsmuggling, lingering un-rest and insecurity.

“We would like to senda message that we will notallow anyone to use our

countries for terrorism oruse our borders for weap-ons trade, drugs smug-gling or illegal immigra-tion,” Zeidan told report-ers.


Chime: Merchants of lies andtheir sundry campaigns

By ADOL OMEJE

SILENCE, they say, issometimes golden. Over

the past few months, both theregular and social media havebeen inundated with stories,rumours, conjectures,speculations and outright liesconcerning the absence of

Governor Sullivan Chime ofEnugu State.

In all of this, one fact hasremained glaring: Theresponse from the Enugu StateGovernment, particularlyGovernor Chime’s media team,has been mostly subdued.Initially, I was inclined to thinkthat either the team was out of

its depths in handling thematter or that it was hidingsomething. But today, it is clearto me and amillions of otherNigerians that the governmentwas adopting the far moresuperior strategy of restraint inits approach to the matter thanmost people are willing toacknowledge. To a discerning mind, the fact

that the pattern of mediarepresentation ofthe matter has beenso lopsided andoften timesspeculative andincoherent, readilysuggests thepresence of asmudge campaign,a death wish orsomething of thatnature against theGovernor and hisgovernment fromhostile quarters.

The first time thestory broke aboutthe Governor ’salleged ill health,he was barely oneweek out of thecountry aftertransmitting a letter

respected one unfortunately -even venturing to declare thatthe Governor was undergoingtreatment for a yet to bedisclosed ailment in India.From that point, it seemed thatall hell had broken loose. As ifpreviously primed, the fullforce of the Nigerian mediawas unleashed against theGovernor with all manner ofwriters and columnists gettinginvolved, on few occasionsinvolving newspapereditorials. Some curiouslycalled for outright declarationof incapacitation orimpeachment by the StateHouse of Assembly.

Then came the death rumour.A simple, anonymous,uncredited, unconfirmedposting on the social mediawas taken up by the Nigerianpress and trumpeted across the

world with such panache aswould have shamed evenCount Dracula, the famed kingof vampires. At the end of theday, it turned out to be anembarrassing hoax. But thisdid not stop the campaign.Attacks were directed at theEnugu House of Assembly andEnugu people for not takingsteps to remove Chime andstories which turned out to bebogus were told in the pressabout how a cabal had takenover the leadership of the stateand restricting the ActingGovernor to a figurehead to theextent that his approval limithas been restricted to a mereN500,000. Yet, the writers couldnot, however, explain how ifthis was true, it came to be thatcontractors handling thevarious projects in the statewere receiving their duepayments running intohundreds of millions of nairaand that civil servants havecontinued to receive their

Continues on page 49

to the State Houseof Assembly inwhich he told thelawmakers that hewas proceeding onvacation and wasthus handing overthe reins of power tohis Deputy, MrSunday Onyebuchito act on his behalfuntil he returned.A story had thenappeared on thefront page of anational dailystating that theGovernor had takenthe trip out of healthconcerns. Anattempt by theEnugu StateCommissioner ofInformation, MrChuks Ugwoke, toclarify the issuewas greeted with abarrage of similarstories from otherdailies with one ofthem - a highly

,

,

It is now obvious thatChime is neither dead nordying and we should haveour peace and await hisreturn

Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime


s a l a r i e s .Many writers with real orpen names, operating onthe same suspectthoroughfare, tried albeitin vain to whip up anti-Chime sentiments amongEnugu citizenry, urgingthem to take up armsagainst the governmentuntil they were intimatedof his whereabouts.Others went to theextreme length ofpainting a false picture oftension and disquiet inEnugu over Chime’scondition. One of thepapers falsely but boldlyreported that Chime’swife and children hadflown abroad to be withhim on his sickbed.

Consistencyand spread

The consistency andspread of these storiesand articles across theNigerian media certainlylent much credence to theconspiracy theory andsmacked somewhat ofdesperation among in therank of their sponsors.Some writers could barelyhide their prejudice andall but gave away the factof having been subornedto do a job.

Indeed, it was when thepress lavishly publisheda letter purportedlywritten by a groupclaiming to go by thename “Save EnuguGroup” to the ActingGovernor, giving him twoweeks to address it on thewhereabouts of GovernorChime or faceconsequences, that a lotof people came to knowthe identities of themerchants of falsehood.It has turned out that thepromoters of such lies aresimply aides andassociates of Chime’s oldand well known politicalenemy with huge accessto ill-acquired funds. Theidentities of Chime’s

death wishers andi m p e a c h m e n tcampaigners wererevealed by their ownvery hand. What a warthere was!

On seeing thosenames, I couldn’t agreemore with Chime’s mediaaides who had promptlydubbed them“attentionseekers” because if theyare not, what possiblycould they be savingEnugu from? Could it befrom the remarkable andwidely acclaimedtransformation thatChime brought to bear onEnugu State? Or perhapsthey wish to save Enugufrom themselves ( i.e theso called savers)?

In launching thiscampaign, these peopleactually acted like theman who uponconsulting a native doctorto kill someone, went totown with the news thatthe man was alreadydead or dying even beforeany such thinghappened, consequentlyand unwittingly alertingthat person that someoneis after him.

Whatever the case maybe, one should ask thesecharacters to drop theircampaign of hate. It isnow obvious that Chimeis neither dead nor dyingand we should have ourpeace and await hisreturn. The adviceproffered by Enugutraditional rulers thatpeace should be allowedto reign should begermane here. As theypointed out, GovernorChime has done so wellthat any genuine Enuguman should support himand that it “will be bad togive any impression thatthere is trouble in ourstate because there isnone, moreso as we knowthat the governor willsoon return to his desk.”

•Adol Omeje, anEnugu citizen and apublic affairs analyst,wrote from Abuja.

Chime: Merchants of liesand their sundry campaigns


•Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (right); withelder statesman and president, Yoruba Council of Elders,Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, (rtd), during a courtesy callon the foremost leader by the Governor, in Lagos... onSaturday.


CMYK

L E I S U R ETHOUGHT FOR TODAY

52 — Vanguard52 — Vanguard52 — Vanguard52 — Vanguard52 — Vanguard,,,,, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY, JANUARY 14,JANUARY 14,JANUARY 14,JANUARY 14,JANUARY 14, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

VIRGINIA [email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Richard Eromosele

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

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

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

Give complimentCompliment simply

means to praisesomebody. It is appre-ciating someone for thelittle he has done. It isacknowledging ones ex-ploit. And this could befrom the simple to thechallenging, from theordinary to the not so or-

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

CANCER: Whatever anybody says or does, you will haveboth your say and way. Venus and Jupiter may tempt someof you to embrace illicit (or secret) romance within yourbase of operation.

LEO: Venus and Jupiter at positive angles may temptyou to join some of your friends who are already onboardof merry making train. Watch your health.

VIRGO: Good luck will smile at many and induce loveof luxury merry making and romantic association.Genuine lovers will need to be on guard against deceitfrom new admirers.

LIBRA: Both financial success and emotionalsatisfaction are closed to you than before. Those of youtravelling because of maters-of-the-heart are in for anexciting romantic day Those ambitious career-wise willsucceed after few struggles.

SCORPIO: Many members of your opposite sex willgo out of their ways to attract your romantic interest. Thisis the wrong time to engage on unnecessary argument.

SAGITTARIUS: If you priority is love, much of it wouldcome your way as desired. But here is a better day formore ambitious in the business world. Don’t allow anybodyto deceive you over money.

CAPRICORN: Those of you with secret admirers withinyour working area will have the needed opportunities tomake the needed moves. Resist the temptation to deceiveothers.

AQUARIUS: Although matters-of-the-heart may giveyou cause to smile broadly, if care is not taken, you wouldcause friction that can’t help you r case at work. This isthe wrong time for unnecessary scheming within yourworking arena.

PISCES: Those of your who are red-blooded forromance may have an exciting and satisfying day.Happenings within your social circles must be taken moreseriously.

ARIES: Confrontation may come your way in the circlebut the heavens are working favourably for you. Somedoses of romance is not too much for you on a day likethis.

TAURUS: Provided you don’t allow your innate abilityto be as diplomatic as necessary desert you, things workfavourably for you to the betterment of your finances.

GEMINI: Many of you will be in sentimental moodand exhibit strong romantic desire openly. But then, ifcare is not taken, you may be carried away to the detrimentof your finances. Serious minded lovers are in for happyday.

What’s my Horoscope?Dear Joshua,I was born on September 13, 1962. I want you to give

me my comprehensive horoscope, especially what myspecial gift is.

Which day of the week was I born? Where were my natalplanets and their meanings? Who am I?

Damilola, Mushin.

Dear Damilola,There is no space for comprehensive horoscope but what

you’ll have here -under is answer to your questions/ Youwere born on a Thursday and your special gift isLEADERSHIP quality.

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATADate of Birth: Thursday, September 13, 1962Sun Sign: Virgo: Sun in 20th Degree of VirgoMoon Sign: PISCES: Moon on 10th Degree of PiscesMercury in 16th Degree of LibraVenues in 5th Degree of ScorpioMars in 13th Degree of CancerJupiter in 6th Degree of PiscesSaturn in 5th Degree of AquariusUranus in 2nd Degree of VirgoNeptune in 11th Degree of ScorpioPluto in 10th Degree of VirgoNorth Node in 6th Degree of LeoSouth Node in 6th Degree of Aquarius

Quality and ElementCardinal and air star signs hosted two planets each

fixed and earth three each, no planet in fire while mutableand water star signs hosted five planets each.

Push-full influence = 20%Non- push-full element = 80%Final dispositor = Lucky Jupiter

dinary. For example,someone can becomplimented for hisdressing.Compliments go a longway to encourage an in-dividual. And everybodyneeds it. Unfortunately,some of us find it too

hard a thing to do.Recenly, a housewifewho is a nurse by profes-sion got the dressingdown of her life when shejoyfully went to informher husband about heremployment. To whichthe husband responded“the salary is not even

enough to pay thechildren’s school fees.”What a husband...?Give compliment. Tocompliment does nottake away anything fromyou, rather it makes youbigger, larger and bet-ter. Compliments giveencouragement, so givecompliment to others.

CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013 — 53

Burying the ghost ofCape Verde

JUST as the clock is ticking down to D day soare the butterflies in Nigerians stomachs flapping

uncontrollably(?). The last thing I would havewanted to do is to go back to that match that loweredthe expectations of Nigerians as regards our chancesat the Nations Cup 2013. The English prefer to allowsleeping dogs lie. Not us. This dog, top dog cannotbe allowed to lie. He must be on his feet, bitingaway!

While that match was on, my phone went wild.From Uyo to Kano, Maiduguri, anxious Nigerianswanted to find out what was going on.

Within the space of five minutes two televisionstations (LTV and MITV) invited me for a livediscussion on our chances in South Africa.

I did say before the match that during thequalifiers, CAF had appointed me as SecurityOfficer for the decisive second leg encounterbetween Cameroun and Cape Verde and the formerPortuguese colony triumphed not because they hadthe best players on the day, but because they paradeda very tactical and intelligent team that neutralizedall the moves of the anxious Camerounians.

I concluded by saying that Cape Verde was goingto give us a good test and that is exactly whathappened.

The Cape Verde friendly brought with it a lot ofother interesting deductions. Whether the 23 chosenby Keshi were the best we had, should Osaze notbe forgiven, what about Obafemi Martins? What wasObiora and Uzoenyi doing in that team, why didwe have to go to cold Faro to train for a competitionthat was to hold in a hotter climate, how come theteam was subjected to a “comprehensive medicaltreatment” only after the 23 had been chosen andtheir names forwarded to CAF...lots and lots ofquestions and as Christian Chukwu said in a radiointerview after the match, some of those questionshad no answers. He said there was no team list anywhere in the world that was not likely to generatecontroversy. He said the players he would havechosen are quite different from the ones Keshi haschosen because coaches differ when it comes to

,

,

orientation, tactics and expectations.I added that the 23 Eagles so selected were some

of the best we had presently plus or minus two andthat all we needed now was a team and that thatteam still had two weeks to blend.

I did also say that the Eagles were a tournamentteam. That I can hardly remember that Nations cupwe had not come back with at least a bronze andthat I believed this nations cup was not going to bean exception!

Before I start sounding like a Ben Alaiya who whileon commentary that day kept on telling us to lookout for “the real Eagles whose experience…” willoverwhelm Cape Verde, I did agree, and totally toowith the fact that the Eagles were quite ordinarythat day. And I added that I was pleased it has takenCape Verde to draw our attention to the deficienciesthat were so glaring.

I repeat and for the umpteenth time that the Eagles

have been handed a group that will allow themmature as the competition progresses. Eagles firstmatch is against Burkina Faso. Before that match,Keshi and his colleagues will have the opportunityof watching Zambia face Ethiopia.

After disposing of Burkina Faso, the Eagles willnow know how best to play Zambia leading to thefinal group match against Ethiopia which on papershould guarantee us a quarter final spot.

Yes it may not be that simple, but it can be thatsimple, and by the time you allow the Eagles to getnear the semi final...

In summary, I have set out today to say that despitethe poor show against Cape Verde, it is too early,damn too early to write off the Super Eagles ofNigeria.

South Africa is pregnantAs a General Coordinator, I am one of the early

arrivals in Jo’Burg and the whole country is expectant.The Nations Cup excitement is in the air and unlikethe World Cup, the general belief here is that theBafana Bafana can repeat the 1996 feat when theyhosted and won.

Nigerians here are not that optimistic and the blamegoes to the inability to qualify last time around andthat Keshi should not be expected to perform miraclesin less than twelve months…

Bolarinwa Ajala met me at the airport in Jo’Burg.He had come to pick his wife who was coming infrom Lagos and suddenly ran after me, wanting toknow why Taye Taiwo and Osaze were not invited. (We were so engrossed in discussion that he nearlymissed his wife who had cleared Customs and waslooking for him frantically )

How best to sign off than to say there is hope yet.A lot of hope. And in the words of Barrister ChrisGreen, the ball has left the half of Stephen Keshi.Yobo and his colleagues must collect the pass and inthe process justify the confidence reposed on them.God help us.

Afcon 2013 Countdown••• Afcon 2013 Countdown •••

Emenike promises more goals DYNAMO Kievstriker Brown Id-

eye has said that he hopesto replicate his club formfor Eagles at the AFCONto justify his selection.Ideye, 24, has scored 13goals for Dynamo Kievthis season, but has strug-gled to be as prolific withNigeria since he made hisfull international debutthree years ago.He has represented Ni-geria at U20 level and wasa late replacement for in-jured Mikel Obi on the fi-nal squad to the 2010World Cup in South Afri-ca. However, he did notget any minute of gametime during the tourna-ment.

The former Sochauxstriker said he will raisehis game with the Eaglesto justify his inclusion onthe final AFCON squad.”I’m happy to be namedin Eagles final team,” Id-eye said.”It’s great to be in South

Ideye vows to justify AFCONplace

CONTEST•••Super Eagles’ forward Brown Ideye(R) vies with Cape Verde’s defender Nando (L)during their friendly match at Algarve Stadium inFaro. Photo: AFP

Africa with Nigeria. Thatwas my target at the earlystage of the qualifiers, andall I have to do now is todo well in South Africa tojustify my inclusion in the

team. “I will have to work

harder to be in the start-ing line-up and prove myworth. I want to get goalsfor Nigeria as I have beendoing at my club.

THEy may be smaller than the Nigeri-

ans, slower than theZambians and have few-er professional playersthan most rivals, butEthiopia are committedto excelling at the 2013Africa Cup of Nations.

It is the first time theHorn of Africa squad hasqualified for the pan-Af-rican tournament in 31years, and though theodds might be stackedagainst them, the WaliasAntelopes – named after

Ethiopia confident despitechallenges

an endangered antelopeendemic to Ethiopia’snorthern mountains – areconfident they will defyexpectations and pro-ceed to the knock-outstage of the tournament.

“We are going to face alot of challenges and wehave been away from thecompetition for a longtime,” striker Adane Gir-ma told AFP.

“But we have goodmorale, a good mentali-ty and we are verystrong, so we can faceany kind of challenge.”

I can hardly rememberthat Nations cup we

had not come back withat least a bronze ...

NIGERIA strikerE m m a n u e l

Emenike has promisedgoals at the AFCON afterhe grabbed the matchwinner against SpartaRotterdam on Saturday.Emenike’s second-halfstrike against Sparta gavethe Eagles their first winin their build-up for theA F C O N .His other Eagles goal inover a dozen games wasagainst Argentina lastyear June.The powerfully-builtstriker is the arrow headof top Russian clubSpartak Moscow after hisheroics in Turkey withKarabukspor and hedeclared he is confident ofbeing among the goals atthe AFCON in SouthA f r i c a .”It is a dream come truefor me to make theAFCON final squad. It is

an honour me torepresent Nigeria at sucha big tournament. This is

my first tournament and Ihope to make a big impactby scoring goals.”

CMYK

54 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

pray they can carry on tothe Nations Cup.”

Asked about hisexpectations from CoachStephen Keshi and hiswards, Umeh who spokewith our correspondentSunday said that thetechnical crew have beengiven all the support toachieve success.“Preparations have beenexcellent, they have beengiven a free hand andthere has been nointerference from anyquarters; we expecthe(Keshi) delivers,”

TrophyContinues from B/P Umeh said.

Continuing, the NFFchieftain added, “There isa common parlance thatsays, ‘to whom much isgiven much is expected.’My dream, and surely,I’m speaking the mindsof my colleagues on theboard, is to see Keshi andthe Eagles bring homethe trophy. It would notbe enough to say I wantto see them in the semifinal or final. There is noother way of measuringhad work than success.That means it’s the trophyor nothing.”

Keshi's EaglesContinues from B/P

“I think you sawNigeria the other dayagainst Cape Verde. Doyou think it was the bestthis time?” Renard said.

“I don’t think so.”The two sides are set

for an early Africa Cupof Nations showdown intheir penultimate GroupC match on January 25at the MbombelaStadium in Nelspruit.

And Renard reiteratedthat he was also itchingfor payback time againstthe Eagles after thelatter ejected them inthe 2010 quarterfinals.

“So on January 25

against Nigeria, it willbe a different game, itwill be a tough game,”the Frenchman said.

“But I can assure youwe want to finish top ofour group like in 2010and 2012. It’s not easy,but we want to go asfar as possible becausethis team has fantasticteam spirit.”

Meanwhile, Zambiaare due to arrive inNelspruit late onSunday after theyplayed their finalwarm-up game againstNorway at theweekend.

Chipolopolo drew 0-0with Norway.

field in the 65thminute, scored the firstgoal in the 70th minute,while substitute EmekaOgbuh put the tie be-yond Lobi Stars as hescored in the 90thminute. Speaking afterthe game, Heartlandhandler, Ndubuisi Ndu-ka, expressed happinessover the victory and com-mended his players fora brilliant performance.“I am pleased with theperformance of the boysin general and I alsocommend Lobi playersfor a job well done,” hesaid. Meanwhile, Lobi

Heartland

Continues from B/P

Stars coach, Ernest Ju-piter, has expressed sat-isfaction with the per-formance of his playersin spite of losing thematch. “We missed somany chances, but I amhappy with the perform-ance of the boys,” Jupi-ter said. In another en-counter, Kano Pillarsbeat Enugu Rangers 2-0 to claim the N750,000price money for the thirdplace. The pre-seasontournament was organ-ised for the four clubsthat will represent Ni-geria in African clubscompetitions during theyear.

Osaze

a player I was interestedin.”

Redknapp added:“There is every chance wehave made an offer [forOdemwingie] but Ihaven’t spoken to him[Beard] today but there isevery chance an offercould have gone in.”

Odemwingie, 31, did notplay in West Brom’s 3-2defeat by QPR’s relegationrivals Reading onSaturday.

The results still leaveQPR bottom of the PremierLeague, five points shy ofsafety.

Continues from B/P

Livermore, 23, hasstruggled for first-teamaction at Spurs, andRedknapp indicated hewas going to take him onloan.

He said: “I’m a big fan ofJake’s. He is a good youngplayer and it will be a goodexperience for him.”

Tottenham boss AndreVillas-Boas was morehesitant about any deal forLivermore being done.

“There is nothingconfirmed yet,” said Villas-Boas. “I think when weannounce it, it will have tobe official from all threeparties.”

Results

Udinese 3 Fiorentina 1Cagliari 2 Genoa 1Parma 1 Juventus 1Napoli 3 Palerno 0Catania 1 Roma 0

Continues from B/P

PEP GUARDIOLAwill decide to be-

come Manchester Citymanager in the summer.

Guardiola has optedfor City as he is con-vinced they can becomea force to rival his formerclub Barcelona.

The hottest property inworld football will snubinterest from Manches-ter United, Chelsea,Bayern Munich and ACMilan to replace Rober-to Mancini at Eastlandsat the end of the season.

Only last week Guar-diola confirmed he isready to return to coach-ing this summer after ayear-long sabbatical, al-though he was coy aboutwhere.

He said: “I will returnnext season but it wouldshow a lack of respect totalk about any team thathas a coach.”

However, last night atop source in Spanishfootball revealed: “It is100 per cent certain thatGuardiola is going toCity this summer.

Guardiola snubs Man U, Chelsea,AC, Bayern for City

COMPREHENSIVErehabilitation of the

main pitch of the NationalStadium Abuja has begun.Work on the stadium be-gan last week, with the con-tractors who built the sta-dium Julius Berger PLCbeing in charge of the re-

Rehabilitation work begins atthe National Stadium Abuja

habilitation effort. It will be recalled that

the Honourable Minister ofSports and Chairman ofthe National Sports Com-mission, Mallam BolajiAbdullahi had assured Ni-gerians In December 2012of total rehabilitation of thestadium starting this Jan-uary. The Minister hadsaid then that, “we haveconcluded arrangementswith Julius Berger to bringalive the pitch of the mainbowl and training groundsin January, after the holi-days.”

As promised, work onthe stadium has begun inearnest. The scope of workincludes: removal and re-placement of the topsoil,planting the approvedspecie of grass, well wa-tered and nourished untilroots are established.

Aregbesola toUnveill Osun

Governor’s Cup

THE face of football in OsunState is set to witness a trans-formation as the state gover-nor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbeso-la will Tuesday, January 15,unveil the programme for theOsun Governor’s Cupcompetition.The eventscheduled to hold at the Lo-cal Government ServiceCommission Hall. Abere,Oshogbo, is one in the seriesof programmes designed forthe development of youth andgrassroots sports in the state.

Abia rewards paralympiansTHREE members ofthe victorious Team

Nigeria to the London2012 Paralympic Gamesand their officials of Abiastate origin have beenrewarded by the stategovernment with a cashsum of N1 million each forwinning 3 silver medalsduring the competition.

Ifeanyi Nnajiofor,Sampson Ulonna andIkechukwu Obichukwuwere among the silvermedalists at the LondonGames in weight lifting.

Presenting the chequesto them at the GovernmentHouse, Umuahia,Governor Theodore Orjicommended them fordoing the country andAbia state proud duringthe games.

According to the Orji, itwas gratifying that theparalympians from whomless was expected wonlaurels when the ablebodied athletics could notget anything in the mainOlympics.

He praised them forexcelling in variouscompetitions they entered

BY ANAYO OKOLI.

into for the state anddescribed them as realassets to the state.

Responding, arepresentative of theParalympics Board ofNigeria, Mr. Ojo Emmathanked the governor forproducing athletes thathave done the countryproud despite the leanresources of the state.

He used the forum toconfer on the governor theaward of sports imagemaker 2012 for hiscontributions to sportsdevelopment in Nigeria.

Earlier, the permanentsecretary, Ministry ofsports, Mr. Ogbonnaya

•Governor Orji

Ekwenye said theperformance of the Abiaparalympians in thegames was an indicationthat the state government’shuge investments in sportswas yielding fruits andthanked the governor forhis support to the sportsministry.

•Guardiola

NEW-LOOK MUSA: Eagles'forward, Ahmed Musawith his orange-colourd hair pose with coachStephen Keshi in Faro camp.


CMYK

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

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

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

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

FRIFRIFRIFRIFRIDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERS

Vanguard, MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2013

TODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

FRIDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS2 Advantage (5)7 Frigid (4)8 Charm (6)9 Corpulent (5)11 Fish (3)13 Donkey (3)15 Fat (4)16 Cur (3)18 Soon (4)19 Swerving (7)20 Unfortunately (4)22 Tunny (4)23 Meekness (7)25 Level (4)27 Regret (3)28 Island (4)30 Free (3)31 Concealed (3)33 Concur (5)36 Accident (6)37 Resound (4)38 Eject (5)

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DOWN: 2, Par 3, Archer 4, Lee 5, Club 6,Paired 7, Dogged 9, Prepare 12, Now 13, Tide16, Tire 17, Trend 20, Cadaver 22, Able 24,Dawdle 25, Aver 26, Favour 28, Cattle 30, Tit33, Lame 36, Nab 37, Rot.

Afcon 2013

It’s trophy or nothing•NFF gives Keshi condition

THE Super Eaglescontinued their

build up for the 2013Africa Cup of Nationswith a well-deserved 1-0 win over DutchEredisive club, FcRotterdam on Saturday.Coming a few days afteran unconvincing 0-0draw against NationsCup debutantes, CapeVerde, the victory hasalready raised hope insome quarters.

First Vice President ofthe Nigeria FootballFederation, Chief MikeUmeh said, “the victoryis a morale booster forthe team. It shows thatthe Eagles areconsistent. Unlike theirZambian counterparts,the Eagles are yet to losea match in theirfriendlies, so far. I just

Continues on Page 54

BY JACOB AJOM

Keshi’s Eagles don’t impress me•Zambian coach slams Eagles

•KeshiROBIN RELIANT — RVP

— Page 54

ResultsEngland

Man United2 Liverpool 1Arsenal 0 Man City 2

SpainReal Betis 2 Levante 0Sociedad 1 Deportivo 1

ItalyTorino 3 Siena 2Lazio 2 Atalanta 0


ZAMBIA coach HerveRenard has slammed

AFCON group rivalsNigeria, saying thecurrent Super Eagles donot impress him.

Defending championsZambia take on Nigeriaon January 25 in

Nelspruit and Renardhas been quick to say hehas not been impressedwith the Eagles underStephen Keshi after hewatched them labour toa 0-0 draw with CapeVerde on Wednesday.Continues on Page 54

Heartland winSuper Four

FEDERATION CupChampions, Heart-

land FC of Owerri, onSaturday defeated Lobistars of Makurdi, 2-0 towin the Super Four tour-nament in Kano. Thefirst half of the entertain-ing encounter endedgoalless with both sideswasting scoring chanc-es.

Heartland showedstrength till the finalwhistle and it paid off.Heartland striker, JohnOwerri, who entered theContinues on Page 54

QPR targetOsaze

QUEENS ParkRangers boss

Harry Redknapp wantsto sign West Bromforward PeterOdemwingie and securea loan deal forTottenham midfielderJake Livermore.

Redknapp is alsobelieved to be afterRennes midfielder YannM’Vila, 22.

“We made an enquiryfor Odemwingie,” theR’s boss said after abattling 0-0 drawagainst his former clubTottenham.

“I don’t know whether[chief executive] PhillipBeard has put an offer inbut he was a player wespoke about and he was


CMYK

PDP CRISIS: Tukur fights back

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