Issuu

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 61890

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

Emergency rule may not last six ....Says Boko Haram's months — Jonathan excesses must stop

42 & 8 gs. P •

NGF CHAIRMANSHIP ELECTION:

How plot to stop Amaechi backfired •I'm Nigeria Governors' Forum Chairman — Amaechi •Fayemi hails election; Ahmed calls for reconciliation

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH; JIMITOTA ONOYUME, DEMOLA AKINYEMI & GBENGA ARIYIBI

BUJA—DETAILS of how security agencies unconsciously aided Governor Chubuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State to defeat his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang, in the just concluded Nigeria Governors’ Forum election, emerged yesterday. Vanguard learnt that some heads may roll as a result of the blunder. It was also gathered

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COLUMNISTS:

DELE SOBOWALE

•P.34

LES LEBA •P.40

OCHEREOME NNANNA •P. 48

PAUL BASSEY •P.54

Mr & Mrs

EDWIN CLARK @ 86

— From Left: Chief of Staff to the President, Mike Ogihadome; PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Celebrant, Chief Edwin Clark; Mrs. Edwin Clark, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduhaga; wife of Bauchi State Governor, Mrs. Isa Yuguda and Chief Edwin Clark's children cutting the cake during the 86th birthday of Chief Clark, held, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan. More pix on Page 14.

Declare State of Emergency on Corruption— Clark•P.14

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POCKET CARTOON

CHILDREN'S DAY—Parish priest of Saint Luke Chaplaincy, Gwagwalada, Rev.Fr. Justine Nnaji (R) blessing the children during the Thanksgiving Service to mark the 2013 Children's Day celebration, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN.

NGF ELECTION: How plot to stop Amaechi backfired Continues from page 1 from a reliable source that security agents were under instruction to jam the venue of the NGF meeting, apparently to prevent the Amaechi camp from using their telephone to woo the anti-Amaechi camp for support. The decision to block all telephone conversation or text messaging before and during the NGF meeting was reportedly reached by top political players in the

Presidency, following assurance that the antiAmaechi camp had got enough governors on its side to defeat Amaechi. As part of strategies to prevent any member of the anti-Amaechi camp from being lured by the ‘opposition’, the security agents were instructed to block all communications in and around the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, where the election was held. It was gathered that without any link with

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

The truth is, we can do great things after we pray, but we cannot do great things until we pray. So the word for you today is, keep on praying.

TAKE HEART BY ELLA RANDLE

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference — Reinhold Niebuhr

ERE are some thought-provoking quotes from Mack and Angel Hack about life lessons that may help you adjust your way of thinking. The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends and more important to have real ones. Making a hundred friends is not a miracle. The miracle is to make a single friend who will stand by your side even when hundreds are against you. Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and smart enough to let go and move on. If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse. Don’t choose the one who is beautiful to the world; choose the one who makes your world beautiful. While you’re busy looking for the perfect person, you’ll probably miss the imperfect person who could make you perfectly happy. Never do something permanently foolish just because you are temporarily upset. You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.

the 19 governors in the Amaechi camp, it would be possible to secure victory for the anti-Amaechi camp. Meanwhile, a governor from the South South, who participated in the voting process, told Vanguard that communication at the venue was never breached. Vanguard learnt, however, that acting under instructions, the security agents, who had swooped on the venue as early as 2pm, successfully mobilised high calibre equipment to jam the handsets of all the 35 governors, who had converged there for the NGF election, thereby making it impossible for them to communicate with one another either by voice call or by short messaging service, otherwise known as text message. How the anti-Amaechi plot backfired However, while the communication blackout effectively stopped governors from discussing with one another, it also made it impossible for the anti-Amaechi camp, led by Governor Godswill Akpabio to discuss with one another on what was going on at the venue of the election, as agreed before they went for the ballot. But when it dawned on the anti-Amaechi camp that Amaechi’s group

was set to return him as the NGF chairman, the blackout already placed on the communication channel by the security agents made it difficult for Akpabio's supporters to brief relevant persons on the situation at the Rivers Governor ’s Lodge. “At first, those who did not know what had been done by the security operatives thought that it was a network failure by their GSM providers but the reality soon dawned on them that the security agents had stalled all calls. They, therefore, gave up further attempts to make calls or send text messages. It was also gathered that even loyalists of the anti-Amaechi camp were confused when they could not make calls after Amaechi was declared the winner of the contest. “It was so bad that though a South-South governor in the antiAmaechi camp wanted to call an influential politician at the Presidency and report what was happening at the election venue to him, it was not possible to get the call through,” a governor, who was at the venue of the poll, told Vanguard. “I am very sure that if the protagonists of the blackout had known that the security move would not also allow them to communicate the progress of the election to their principal, they would not have laid siege to the venue. “If they had been able

to communicate with their sponsors, at least they would have been given orders to stop the vote when it became apparent that Amaechi was coasting home to victory. But that was not to be because even the antiAmaechi camp could not reach out to anyone. “But you see in every situation, God has a way of proving some people wrong. Those who thought they could devour the Rivers State Governor were put to shame right at the venue of the election and nothing happened,” another governor sympathetic to Amaechi, said. A security source said that it was as a result of the jamming of the Rivers Governor ’s Lodge making it impossible for Amaechi or any member of his team to communicate with anyone that forced the governor to immediately relocate from Abuja to Port Harcourt on Saturday morning. “Amaechi had to quickly move away from the lodge to Port Harcourt because he was no longer sure of what was going on,” an aide told Vanguard. Effort to speak with Amaechi on Sunday on why he fled Abuja shortly after the election, failed and none of his aides was willing to speak on the matter. But a visit to the lodge located off Jose Marti Crescent in Asokoro District, yesterday revealed no activity was going on there. Only a handful of workers were seen at the premises of the massive building. Efforts to get the reaction of the Department of State Service, DSS, failed as Deputy Director, Public Relations of the service, Mrs Marylin Ogar neither picked her calls nor replied the text message sent to her phone.

I am NGF chairman —Amaechi Meanwhile, Amaechi declared, yesterday, that he remained the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum as he won the Forum’s election which was held last Friday. Amaechi who spoke at an Interdenominational Church Service at Corpus Christi Cathedral in Port Harcourt to mark this year ’s children’s day celebration which also coincided with his 48th birthday said: “Let me say to you, I am the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum. That we are not talking is because we have decided not to talk. They voted, we voted and we won. If they had won, I would have congratulated them.”

Fayemi, Ahmed react Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has described the re-election of Amaechi as NGF chairmn as victory for democracy, just as his Kwara State counterpart, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has called for reconciliation in order not to lose sight of the peer review for development which motivated the forum’s emergence in the first place. Governor Fayemi who spoke with journalists at his Ishan-Ekiti country home at the weekend, however urged Nigerians to see the emergence of Amaechi as NGF’s Chairman as strictly a demonstration of his colleagues’ confidence in his leadership of the Forum. Ahmed on his part, while calling for reconciliation in the aftermath of the NGF election, urged his colleagues to shun divisive political tendencies and bury the hatchet.

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

Fracas in Ogboni Confraternity over new leader’s appointment

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

SOGBO — MEMBERS of Ogboni Confraternity in Osogbo may have turned the Osun Grooves to battle field following a fracas which ensued between two factions of the group. During the crisis which occurred, last week, the curator and site manager of the National Museum, Osogbo, under the National Commission for Museum and Monument Department of the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Mr. Olakunle Makinde, was caught in the web of the crisis and beaten blue black which led to his being hospitalised. Also, staff of the commission whose offices are located inside the Osun Grooves have deserted thier offices for almost a week for fear of being attacked like their boss. It was gathered that the fracas started following attempt to appoint new leader of the confraternity in Osogbo called Are Ogboni. It was gathered that one Okiki was appointed the new Are Ogboni and was to be crowned by the Olu-awo, Alhaji Adebisi, but because of the rift between Okiki and Olu-awo, Adebisi was by-passed while the World President known as Alaye was invited from Imesi-Ile for the installation. Shortly after the installation, the poster of new Are Ogboni was pasted on the Ogboni meeting Centre called Iledi located inside Osun Grooves. It was learnt that some members loyal to Adebisi, the Olu-awo tore the posters at Iledi which resulted in the fracas. In the ensuing melee, several people were injured as dangerous weapons were freely used before the intervention of policemen from the Zone II of the Nigeria Police. Some personalties were reportedly arrested, detained and later released on bail.

JTF impounds vessel, 2 barges, arrests 21 suspects BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

ENAGOA — THE Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, yesterday, said it had impounded a vessel allegedly involved in crude oil theft in the creeks of Bayelsa State. Media coordinator of the JTF, Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu, said the vessel christened, Erishna Dolphin, was intercepted by troops of 343 Regiment of Sector 2 JTF, along Obi Creek in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state. Nwachukwu in a statement in Yenagoa said the impounded vessel was being secured by operatives of the task force pending recovery to Brass terminal. He also disclosed that eleven oil theft suspects operating two barges laden with 7,500 and 500,000 litres of adulterated Automated Gas Oil illegally distilled from stolen crude oil were arrested respectively at Bakana creek and Abonema water front in Rivers State by troops of 146 Battalion of JTF, Sector 2 for engaging in oil theft activities. The JTF media coordinator said: “The barges which are now secured at Abonema Wharf were intercepted during one of the anti-oil theft patrols carried out by Gun Boat troops of the Battalion. “The suspects have been taken into custody by Headquarters Sector 2 to help in preliminary investigations, after which they will be handed over to an appropriate agency for prosecution. “In a similar anti-illegal oil bunkering and anti-pipeline vandalism operation, 21 illegal oil distilleries and 41 pumping machines have been scuttled in Ondo, Edo and Delta states."

FG warns private jetty owners over security breaches BY GODWIN ORITSE

AGOS — THE Federal Government, weekend, expressed worry over internal security breaches by the illegal activities of some private jetty owners. It warned of severe sanction for anybody found involved in such. Speaking at a closed door interactive meeting organised for jetty operators and owners, on-shore and offshore companies, stevedore firms and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar expressed worry over reports of rising security breaches at private jetties, adding that such reports have reached the government. Umar also revealed that the ministry had received series of complaints from stevedoring companies alleging that they were being prevented from operating at jetties approved to them.

Permanent Secretary, Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency, Alhaji Waziri Jalam (2nd left) and district heads during the end of the month environmental sanitation exercise in Bauchi State, Saturday. PHOTO: NAN.

DPO arrested while collecting sand from court premises for suspected ritual BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

WERRI— EAGLE-EYED security officers at the Imo State Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri, yesterday apprehended a man, who came into the premises to collect sand for suspected ritual purposes. The man, who was still held at the security gate when Vanguard visited the scene at 3.30p.m, not only gave his name as Alphonsus Madu but claimed to be a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, serving in Akwa Ibom State Police Command. “My name is Alphonsus Madu. I am a Deputy Superintendent of Police. I am the Ika Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in Akwa Ibom State Police Command,”Madu told Vanguard. On why he came under the heavy rain to collect sand from the court premises, Madu confessed that he has a case pending in the court. He said: “I have a land matter pending in the Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri. I have been fasting all day in respect of the matter. I came to pick some sand from the court premises in continuation of my fasting and prayer.” Asked why he chose a nonworking day to carry out his mission, he claimed that Sunday was the only opportunity he had to visit Owerri. When reminded that the court was a hallowed establishment and this singular act was capable of terminating his service, Madu told Vanguard that he was very sorry. He said: “I am not here for ritual purposes. I have no intention to go into any ritual. I only needed the sand for my personal prayers. I am afraid that this act may jeopardize my service.” Contacted on his mobile

line, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina, said: “Even if the man is a serving police officer, he has no reason to be in the court premises on Sunday and under the heavy rain.” Katsina said he would interview the man today to ascertain if truly he is a police of-

ficer and why he preferred visiting the court premises under the rain to collect sand. “The man must be a funny human being. Does he not know the security situation in the country? I have ordered the DPO, New Owerri Division to bring him to my office for interview,” the CP said.

Six killed in Lagos communal clash BY EVELYN USMAN

AGOS — SIX persons were, weekend, killed and scores injured in a communal clash involving Ajah, Olumegbon and Ilaje boys along the Lekki-Epe-expressway, Lagos. This came as 20 persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a mobile policeman, last week, in Ikorodu area. Although there were different accounts as to how the six persons whose identities were yet to be ascertained, yesterday, were sent to their early graves, report said the fight broke out, Saturday, on a football pitch following a lingering supremacy tussle between Olumegbon and Ajah boys. Another version of the account had it that some Olumegbon boys were on their way to a peace-keeping meeting over the lingering supremacy battle at the Ajah motor park, only to be allegedly ambushed by Ajah boys, who killed some of them in the process. Eye witnesses said Ilaje boys were not in the picture when trouble broke out but they reportedly got involved when fleeing Ajah boys attempted

to escape through their terrain. They (Ilaje boys) reportedly refrained, apparently to avoid being entangled in the fight. But in the process, another round of fight reportedly started, leaving two persons dead. Two corpses of the Olumegbon boys were reportedly taken to their traditional head’s palace where the youths mourned the loss, with each faction spoiling for reprisal attack. Report said dangerous weapons such as broken bottles, axes, knives and locally made guns were used during the fight. It, however, took the combined efforts of conventional and Mobile policemen drafted from the Area J Command, Ajah, to quell the fracas. As at yesterday, residents of the area were still in fear of a possible reprisal, but Vanguard gathered that military personnel and policemen were keeping surveillance in the area. Contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident, saying some persons had been arrested in connection with the crisis and that security had been also beefed up in the area.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 7

Nigerian children world beaters — Glo

Pharmacists urge Jonathan to review NHIS

LOBACOM has affirmed its faith in the future of Nigeria, describing the country’s children as highly talented and having the potentials to be worldbeaters in all disciplines. In a statement by the company’s Executive Director, Special Projects, Mr Mike Jituboh, on this year’s Children’s Day, Globacom said it was convinced that the Nigerian future was bright because of the brilliance exhibited regularly by Nigerian children in different fields of human endeavour. “This is why Nigerian scholars excel whenever they have the opportunities outside the country. They only need to be exposed to the right environment and the most current teaching aids,” the company said noting that the renewed drive of the government to improve the quality of education in the country would stimulate today’s children and prime them to exceed the achievements of the present generation.

Ijegun pipeline explosion: Fresh 100 victims demand compensation BY MONSOOR OLOWOOPEJO

ARELY seven days after La gos State Government commenced disbursement of cheques to the 233 identified victims of the 2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion, in Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area, LCDA, no fewer than 100 new alleged victims, weekend surfaced, demanding for compensation. The alleged victims, Vanguard gathered, stormed the disbursement centre with different burns, demanding inclusion in the compensation exercise.

Community alleges illegal acquisition of land by financial institution

OMMUNITY 111D Residents Association, Festac Town, has accused a financial institution, (name withheld) of illegally acquiring a parcel of land situated on 11 Road by 112 Road, in Festac, aimed at dislocating key infrastructural facilities that serve thousands of residents in the area. In a statement, Chairperson of the Association, Mrs Carol Olowole, said the parcel of land, is situated along the busy 11 Road by 112 Road, behind FO Filling Station, with infrastructural facilities.

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

SS O C I AT I O N of o m m u nity Pharmacists of Nigeria, ACPN, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to review the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, with a view to ensuring a level playing ground. This came as it demanded immediate presidential appointment of a substantive Executive Secretary of the scheme. At a briefing, National Chairman, ACPN, Olufemi Adebayo, said it was sad that such an important scheme which would have provided opportunity for many Nigerians to have access to quality healthcare was yet to have a substantive head. According to him, “For instance, over the years, agitation by stakeholders to stop the global capitation has not seen the light of the day. We urge the Federal Government to hasten the appointment of the substantive executive secretary as this will go a long way in effective running of the scheme". Also in appointing this head, President Goodluck Jonathan should provide a level playing ground for all professional associations in the health sector. C

COMMEMORATION—Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, (right); Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu 1 (middle); and National Leader, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (left) during a special prayer to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Oba Akiolu at the Iga Iduganran Palace, Lagos, yesterday.

Democracy Day: FG to give mid-term report

HERE are indica tions that the Feder al Government may take the concept of Democracy Day beyond mere ceremonies and parades, come Wednesday, May 29. Sources close to the Presidency, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, and Ministries of Finance and National Planning revealed that President Jonathan may use the occasion to emphasize that the gains of democracy embraces a culture of consultation, negotiation and

consensus under the inclusive umbrella of good governance and efficient ser vice delivery. The Federal Government’s position derives from the realization that the only way to bring home the concept of a Democracy Day to ordinary Nigerians is to use the occasion to remind everyone of the essence of a democratic culture, assess the extent to which it is being imbibed by the institutions of state and the citizenry at large; and then take stock on perfor-

Aviation workers accuse FAAN of unfair labour practice BY DANIEL ETEGHE

IR Transport Services Sen ior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, yesterday issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, over workers’ conditions of service and other unresolved labour issues. The union vowed that failure by the management of FAAN to address issues in dispute after the expiration of the ultimatum, FAAN would face industrial unrest. In a petition by its Secretary General, Olayinka Abioye, to the Managing Director of FAAN, Mr. George Ureisi, and copied Ministry of Labour and Productivity and Ministry of Aviation, the union claimed that FAAN had failed to meet its obligations to workers on welfare. According to the petition dated May 22, the union could no “longer fold its arms and allow FAAN to perpetually carry out anti-worker policies, fragrant de-motivation

and violations of the staff's rights and privileges to maximum benefits in career growth, promotions, recognitions of exemplary conduct and performance with cognate experience.” ATSSSAN argued that it issued the ultimatum to FAAN to enable the agency address outstanding promotions of some personnel since 2010 without receiving letters of promotion, lamenting that a situation where those who served the industry meritoriously over the years would have their career progression dislocated over political patronage was not favourable to the workers. It condemned what it called most retrogressive compensation system where newly recruited staff were placed in managerial position without the required skills, competences and experiences in public service, breaching and truncating extant rules of public service rules and FAAN’s conditions of service.

mance, policy thrust and national development. Presidency sources also say that the theme of the ongoing national centenar y celebrations, “One Nation, Great Promise,” presents a context within which this year ’s Democracy Day is being celebrated, noting that 100 years of togetherness cannot be wished away or ruined by temporary challenges of nation building. The idea of a Mid-Term Per formance Review Report of the administration is a way of bringing governance issues within the purview of responsible accounting to the people. This will give Nigerians a perspective on the extent to which The President has succeeded in the implementation of the policies, programmes and projects making up the administration’s Transfor mation Agenda (2011 - 2015).

8—Vanguard , MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI & BEN AGANDE

DDIS ABABA, ETHIO PIA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has said the State of Emergency declared in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states may not last six months as prescribed by the constitution in view of the successes recorded. This came even as it has been gathered that before the deployment of troops, Boko Haram sect had planned to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into the Presidential Villa or other national monuments. President Jonathan who met with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki Moon on the sideline of the Africa Union conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said the military operation in the troubled states was going very well and the military had strictly adhered to the rules of engagement. He explained that the successes recorded by the military was exemplified by the lack of collateral civilian casualties, noting that the operation has helped in creating a better relationship between the civilian population and members of the armed forces. The president told the Secretary General of the United Nations that the government would do everything possible to ensure that the civilian population was not put through hardship, adding that the governments’s decision to release women and children members of the Boko Haram was in the spirit of the rules of engagement of the operation.

Ban Ki Moon cautions Nigerian military The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki Moon, sympathized with the government and people of Nigeria over activities of Boko Haram, saying that terrorism was a global phenomenon that must be confronted by the international community. He reiterated his call on the Nigerian military engaged in operations in the states where state of

Emergency rule may not last 6 months — Jonathan zBoko Haram planned to hijack commercial aircraft, crash it into Aso Rock, others emergency has been declared to be prudent and cautious in protecting the civilian population in their areas of operation. Mr Moon also thanked President Jonathan for Nigeria’s contributions to peace keeping operations of the United Nations. Meanwhile, as the military onslaught against Boko Haram terrorists continues, Vanguard has gathered that before May 14 when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of emergency, credible intelligence revealed plans by the sect to hijack commercial aircraft fully loaded with passengers and use it to attack one of three national monuments.

Boko Haram plans to attack national monuments These are Aso Rock, the seat of the Federal Government, the Central Bank Headquarters, CBN, Glass house and the Four Towers headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. It was gathered that the terrorists would have carried out the attack on Aso Rock and NNPC Towers similar to the September 11 attack on the Twin Towers in the United States with all the passengers on board and send a message that they have taken over affairs of running Nigeria. Aside the planned attack, Vanguard was told by very competent security sources that the acquisition of Anti-Aircraft Gun and Long Range Surface to air technical guns by the sect, was meant to shoot down aircraft that flew over the North Eastern parts of the country, especially as the terrorists had hoisted their flags

in Yobe and Borno states. The sources said: “Consequent upon our discovery of their plot, security agencies warned the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and other aviation agencies to stop local and international aircraft from over flying the North East airspace to avoid collateral damage. “This warning was heeded and for about three weeks before the State of Emergence was declared, commercial aircraft, both local and international were diverted from over flying the North East areas except military aircraft". It was to unearth the ammunition and heavy weapons capability of the Boko Haram sect that troops of the multi-national Joint Task Force on reconnaissance mission to the Mosque in Baga, where some of the antiaircraft guns were to be mounted, were attacked and when reinforcement came, they fired the weapons at the soldiers. “As I am talking to you, many people will not know that in one of the deadly Boko Haram attacks and coordinated bombings in Kano State, that resulted in the destruction of the headquarters of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 1, and the killing of over 120 people, including about 40 Policemen, over 15 Immigration, Customs and Federal Road Safety officers, the terrorists tried to get to the Kano Airport”, the source said. Vanguard was further told that the terrorists shot at an Air Force Helicopter gunship from the dreaded Sambisa Forests where several camps for recruitment, training and IEDS con-

LUNCHEON—From left: President Joyce Banda of Malawi; President Williams Harrison of Swaziland; President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria; and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia at the AIDS Watch Africa, AWA, Heads of State Action Committee working luncheon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. Photo: State House.

struction were located, using anti-aircraft technical guns from mounted vehicles, was confirmation that indeed the terrorists were on course to carry out that plot. From Borno and Yobe states, the ultimate strategy of the terrorists was to launch a jihadist type of invasion of the entire Northern part of the country hence the gradual build up of arms depots and training/recruitment centres in several parts of Yobe, Borno and lately

Adamawa states where several raids were carried out on banks, prisons and police stations. It would be recalled that Vanguard exclusively reported in April, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s official visit to Borno and Yobe states, that plans by Boko Haram terrorists to shoot at the Presidential Jet were uncovered hence the flooding of the two states with security operatives and deployment of technical equipment with ability to intercept signals of such attacks.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 9

Nigeria loses N2.6 trn to 2012 disaster

FINAL comprehen sive assessment of total losses resulting from the 2012 flooding which ravaged many states of the federation has shown that Nigeria lost a total of N2.6 trillion. Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Muhammed Sani Sidi, made this known while addressing the 4th Global Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland, weekend. The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is the the world’s foremost gathering of stakeholders committed to reducing disaster risk and building the resilience of communities and nations. Sani Sidi said: “The comprehensive Post Disaster Needs Assessment conducted from November 2012 – March 2013 with the support of the World Bank and Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), United Nations, Development partners and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies put the estimated total value of infrastructure, physical and durable assets destroyed at US$9.6 billion. The total value of losses across all sectors of economic activity was estimated at US$7.3 billion. The combined value of these damages and losses was US$16.9 billion.” He described 2012 as one of the most challenging for Nigeria in recent history with the unprecedented flood that ravaged several states of the country, affected over seven million people, displaced 2.3 million people, killed over 363 persons and destroyed or damaged about 597,476 houses. According to him, Nigeria as a country believes that it has the responsibility to increase the tempo of activities in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and enlist the support of every one in confronting the hazards risk in the country especially with the consequences of climate change and global warming steering everyone in the face."

From left— Former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje; Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada and former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, at the Saudi Arabia Cultural Centre Mosque, Julius Iyerere Crescent, Asokoro Abuja, Friday.

Governors will come together— NGF DG, Okauru BY HENRY UMORU

BUJA—DIRECTORGeneral, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, Asishana Bayo Okauru, yesterday, said that what was presently being perceived as political quagmire in the family of the forum will end soon. Reacting to planned moves to set up another secretariat different from the present one following disagreement on last Friday ’s election, Okauru noted that they are politicians and colleagues, adding that they will come together and work as one body. He said: "The matter will soon be resolved. They are all colleagues. I am sure, they will still work together as a team.” It will be recalled that amidst political intrigues, speculations, scheming, backstabbing and character assassination, the governor of Rivers State and Chairman, Nigeria Governor ’s Forum, NGF, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was last Friday re-elected as Chairman of the Forum. Amaechi polled 19 votes to defeat governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, the only governor who contested with him to score 16. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum which was established to among others, provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas, help strengthen and promote Nigeria’s federal system and promote understanding among governors and States, is the umbrella body of all the

thirty-six state governors of the federation. At the end of the meeting which lasted more than four hours, Director-General, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru disclosed that Governor Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari of Zamfara was unanimously voted in as the Vice Chairman, following the withdrawal of governor Olusegun Mimiko from the race. All the governors except that of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam were present and the election was through secret ballot. Be-

fore yesterday, speculations were rife that governors Ibrahim Shema and Isa Yuguda of Katsina and Bauchi were out to wrestle with Amaechi with the blessings and support of President Goodluck Jonathan. It will be recalled that because of his leadership style and being dogged and forthrightness, Governor Amaechi has been having a running battle with the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which culminated in a formation of a PDP Governors’ Forum fourteen years

into the existence of the party, with Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom as the Chairman. Soon after the announcement of the results, the Chairman, PDP governors’ Forum and governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio rejected the results and he was joined by other governors, just as those who opposed the outcome of the election have vowed not to recognise Amaechi’s second coming with plans to set up a parallel Secretariat.

We 'll not relent until normalcy is restored, says Jonathan BY CALEB AYANSINA

BUJA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, vowed that his administration would not relent in its fight against terror until normalcy was restored in every part of the country. President Jonathan said this in Abuja at a special interdenominational service to mark Nigeria's Democracy Day. Represented by the Senate President, David Mark, Dr Jonathan expressed satisfaction at the extent of achievement of the Special Forces fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. According to him, the operation would end once terrorists

were completely rooted out. He said: “Report reaching me indicates that our security forces are painstakingly reversing the negative trend of insurgency in the three affected states and their environs. I want to assure Nigerians that this administration is up to the task and we will not relent until peace and normalcy returns to the affected states. We will return sanity and peace to the streets of Nigeria, and we will defeat all the threats to our corporate existence. “My prayer to the family of our brave service men and women and all those who have lost their lives during the internal crisis in the nation, their memory will linger on in our hearts and to the unfortunate

victims of the family, the churches, the mosques and those who lost possessions to the attack by insurgency, as a great nation, let me assure you that we will stand by you”. Also speaking, the Director of National Issues of Christians Association of Nigeria, Revd William Okoye, noted that the country found itself in the present situation, because of declining in societal values. He said: “The declining of societal values largely responsible for collection of conflicts, we witnessed in our lives. The churches will address moral decay in our society, by launching all denominational campaign for the restoration of values.”

10—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

Ondo CP reads riot act to officers

Akeredolu, Boroffice clash over Ondo State ACN leadership

BY DAYO JOHNSON

KURE — POLICE Commissioner in Ondo State, Mr. Patrick Dukumor, weekend, read riot act to officers and men of the state Command to stay clear of any case that borders on land disputes and chieftaincy matters. Dukumor appealed to those involved in such matters to instead of using police to harass the people should approach the court of law for the settlement of such matters

BY DAYO JOHNSON

KURE — TWO chief tains of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Ondo State, Senator Ajayi Boroffice and the governorship candidate of the party in the last election, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, are at loggerheads over the leadership of the party in the state ahead of the 2014 elections.

While Boroffice is insisting that as the highest political office holder in the party the leadership mantle falls on him, Akeredolu said Boroffice joined the party few months to the governorship election and was not qualified to control the party. The simmering crisis within the party was blown open when Boroffice led other leaders of the party to inau-

guration of the All Progressive Congress, APC, merger committee in the state without recourse to Akeredolu or the state executive of the party. The state executive of the party allegedly acting the script of Akeredolu reacted within 24 hours after the inauguration to dissociate the party from the action of Boroffice.

The state Publicity Secretary of the party Mr. Rotimi Agbede said that the “Senator Ajayi Boroffice-led merger panel was null and void because it was without the support of the national secretariat of the ACN. Agbede in a statement disowning Boroffice committee said: “The meeting expressed its utter dismay and condemned in strong terms, a publication in some national dailies announcing the constitution of a steering committee for the APC purportedly by

Truck owners protest multiple taxation

ACN defends Ajimobi over funding chieftaincy title

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

BY OLA AJAYI

BADAN — THE Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Oyo State has described as false the allegation that the state state spent on the chieftaincy titles given to Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his wife. The party said through its publicity secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole that no penny of the state was spent. The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana honoured Ajimobi with the chieftaincy title, Atuluse of Ibadan in appreciation of his urban renewal programme.

Councillors endorse Amosun for 2nd term BY DAUD OLATUNJI

BEOKUTA — ALL the 236 councillors under the banner of Ogun State Local Government Legislative Forum(OSLGLF) said they have endorsed the state Governor Ibikunle Amosun for a second term bid ahead of 2015. Addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, weekend, to mark two years administration of governor Amosun, the forum acting Chairman, Hon. Adeniji Ibrahim, said the forum is satisfied with Amosun's performances since he assumed power.

From left: Mrs. Oye Ibidapo Obe, Prof. Oye Ibidapo Obe, chairman of occassion, during the presentation of award to Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, and his wife Mrs. Mercy Oduchi Orji (right), during Independent Newspapers Ltd's investiture of Man of the Year 2012, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos. Photo: Shola Oyelese

Osun PDP guber aspirants want application fees refunded BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

seeking refund of sum of N8.5million paid to the party as SOGBO — THE proposed their intention and registration conduct of the Peoples Demo- fees. The aggrieved governorship ascratic Party primaries in Osun State pirants are of the opinion that the to pick its governorship candidate for the 2014 election may have suf- money which they paid to the fered a serious set back as some as- party national secretariat and pirants in 2011 general elections are state is still valid and that the party must not ask them for new fees. The party was at the peak of picking its governorship candidate in BY OLA AJAYI 2010 when the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan BADAN— FOLLOWING declaration of declared the Action ConState of Emergency in three Northern gress of Nigeria, ACN, States, the Caretaker Chairman, Iwajowa Lo- candidate in the 2007 cal Government, Mr. Salami Olawale election, Mr. Rauf Tajudeen said he had held a meeting with Aregbesola the winner. It was also learnt that all security agencies to prevent invasion of about 12 governorship the council by the violent Islamic sect. He said the decision was taken in view of aspirants actually paid the fact that the council is close to the coun- the N8.5million in the build up to the 2011 gentry’s borders. He said this, yesterday, while speaking eral elections. Out of the with newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Jour- amount, N5.5million was paid to the National nalists, Iyaganku, Ibadan. He said: ”We had a security meeting yes- Secretariat while anterday about the Emergency rule declared other N3million was in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. We paid o the state chapter don’t want to receive any visitor from those of the party for the same areas except they can prove they would be purpose. Among the governorof good character."

Council boss worries over possible invasion

ship aspirants that paid the said money then were Senator Iyiola Omisore, Alhaji Fatai Akinade Akinbade, Dr. Peter Babalola, Akinrogun Tunde Odanye, Hon. Gbenga Onigbogi, Alhaji Lateef Bakare, Chief Segun Bamigbetan, Chief Alafe Aluko, Chief Gbenga Owolabi, Chief Lere Oyewumi and Diran Odeyemi.

BEOKUTA — HUNDREDS of Truck Owners Association in Ogun State,weekend, protested the alleged multiple taxation leveled against them by the officials of the state government and alleged plan by the government to increase the haulage tax fees. The protesters threatened to relocate their investments to the neighbouring states if the state government goes ahead with the planned increase through an executive bill which had been allegedly sent by the governor to the House of Assembly to effect the increase of the tax. The state chairman of the association, Lekan Adegun alleged that apart from "the outrageous tax, there are other two taxes that we pay, one of which is a local government tax."

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013—11

BDU vows to resist distraction of NDDC in Edo

Uduaghan urges traditional rulers to monitor SURE-P projects

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM ENIN—BENIN Dev el-opment Union, BDU, a socio-cultural organisation in Edo State, has vowed to resist any attempt to distract the activities of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in the state. It condemned the attacks on the person of the state representative on the Board of NDDC, Mr Henry Okhuarobo, by some persons, whom it described as mischief makers. The group argued that the state representative on the NDDC Board had worked hard to ensure the successful execution of the commission's projects in the state and, therefore, deserved commendation. EDU commended the recent call by the state House of Assembly that the Commission should ensure speedy completion of its projects in the state.

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA SABA—DELTA State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, weekend, called on traditional rulers in the state to assist in monitoring projects ongoing in their domains with the Federal Government’s Subsidy, Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P funds, adding that he would personally ensure that people at the grassroots benefit immensely from the N1.6 billion already released to the 25 local government areas in the state as their share of the SURE-P initiative. Speaking at a Town Hall meeting with stakeholders and traditional rulers in Asaba, the governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ovuozorie Macaulay, said that the SURE-P initiative was an addition to the state projects and programmes, which were put in place to ensure that the down

trodden, women and youths in the rural communities benefit from the initiative. Said he: “I implore our royal fathers, who are the custodians of our customs and culture, to help in monitoring projects that are being executed under the SURE-P initiative as Mr. President, with all good intentions, has put up the initiative, so that people at the rural level will not

be neglected. “Here in Delta State, we have put up many projects and programmes to ensure that the down trodden, women and youths in the rural and riverine communities are not left out of the benefits and dividends of democracy. So, everything will be done to ensure the success of this initiative.” Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, told the gathering

that the SURE-P initiative was designed to transfer part of the wealth saved from oil subsidy to the provision of employment opportunities for women, youths and people with disabilities in the various communities. Speaking on behalf of the royal fathers, the Ovie of Uwvie Kingdom, Abe I, said that the royal fathers should be carried along and be well informed on the priorities of the SURE-P initiative.

VISIT: From left: Maurice Lakanu, Registrar/Chief Executive, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered); Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, President and Chairman of Council, NIM, and Prof. James Aribisala, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) and the representative of the Vice Chancellor, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Oladapo Aina, when the Institute paid a courtesy visit to the University.

HOSTCOM alleges delay tactics by NPDC to negotiate with communities BY FESTUS AHON

GHELLI—CHAIRMAN of the Federated Association of OML34 Host Communities, Delta State, Mr. Benjamin Ebita, has accused the management of Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, of employing delay tactics and evading negotiations with the communities through their consultant, Kes Idogun Oil Fields Services Ltd. Speaking with newsmen shortly after a meeting of the host communities at Otor-Udu, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, weekend, Ebita said that the company was seeking to deal directly with the communities with a view to capitalising on their ignorance to shortchange them, emphasising that such approach was no longer acceptable to the host communities. He said: “Such timid dealings between oil exploration companies and uninformed community elders are responsible for the lack of commitment on the part of the oil companies to the development of the host communities as there are no tangible content in the ‘blind Generam Memorandum

of Understanding, GMOU’; the people were cowed to sign.” Saying that the host communities were now wary of the ill-treatment meted on them in the past by Shell Petroleum Development Company, from

which NDPC took over the oil fields, Ebita emphasised that “this set of leaders have, therefore, deemed it necessary to hire the services of experienced hands in the oil and gas sector, to negotiate on their behalf."

INYC tasks Orubebe on equity in N-Delta devt BY DANIEL GUMM

ARRI—THE Minis ter of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, has been urged to adopt the principles of fairness and equity in the execution of his official responsibilities as his current policy in carrying out his ministerial mandate will not do him any good, or advance the much desired unity among the generality of the peoples of the Niger Delta region. This view was expressed, yesterday, in Warri, Delta State, by the President of Itsekiri National Youths Council, INYC, Mr. David Tonwe, after a meeting of the Itsekiri youths body in Warri. Admonishing Orubebe to be fair to all the ethnic groups in the region, particularly the Itsekiri, giv-

en the fact that the Itsekiri nation remains the second highest oil-producing ethnic group in Nigeria, Tonwe called on the minister to note that the Itsekiri ethnic nation was not unaware of how he had, in different ways, treated the Itsekiri nation with contempt and hatred to the point of, among others, refusing to implement the housing units which his predecessor, Chief Ufot Ekaete, had billed for Ode-Itsekiri in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State. Tonwe said: “Orubebe will at the appropriate time give account of his actions to all those he has discriminated against,” explaining that of all the projects which the minister claimed to have executed, none can be identified as having been located in Itsekiriland.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

I had health challenges —Uduaghan BY EMMA AMAIZE & AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

A R R I — D E LTA State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday, dismissed rumours that he was dead, though he admitted that he had facial paralysis, commonly called bell palsy, a few weeks ago, and had to abandon a State Executive Council meeting for a medical check-up. Uduaghan, at an interdenominational thanksgiving service to mark the 2013 Democracy Day and 2nd anniversary of his administraion, at the Flock of Christ Mission, Enerhen, said part of the rumour was that he had stroke and was confined to a wheel chair, while some heartless persons were planning to buy casket for his interment. Restating his determination to “finish strong” in 2013 by delivering on his electoral promises, he said: “There is too much hatred in the land, so much rumour mongering. We are human, so I can be sick too. A few weeks ago, I had some health challenges. I had weakness on one part of my face. In spite of that, I went on a courtesy call with it. After three days, I was pressurised to travel for check up abroad. “But I am well now. I spent three days in Abuja because of my health. People were spreading rumours that I was dead and they were ready to buy a casket for my burial. However, you can see I have conquered the fear of death. If people are sick, we should pray for their recovery and not wish them dead.

“We must stop spreading dangerous rumours. They are destructive rumours, they do not build the society, but destroy society and that is why I am urging all Deltans on the need to live in unity and help my administration to finish strong.

Pray for us to succeed.” Governor Uduaghan said he had stormy elections and praised Rev. Simeon Okah of Flock of Christ Mission and National Vice President, PFN, South-South Zone for his prayers and support.

We had no relationship with Rivers on Aircraft N565RS —Caverton Helicopters

VIATION compa ny, Caverton Helicopters, has denied any relationship between it and Rivers State Government over an aircraft with registration number N565RS, contrary to the submission by House of Representatives’ committees on Justice and Aviation. In a statement, yesterday, the aviation company denied the existence of such a relationship and demanded concrete evidence from those who claim otherwise. It will be recalled that in their report, laid before the House last Thursday, the committees not only submitted that there was an agency relationship between Rivers State and the company, they called for the prosecution of Caverton Helicopters “for providing information that led the authorities to wrongly believe that Rivers State Government falsified documents leading to the grounding of its aircraft.” In a reaction, yesterday, Caverton Helicopters said it was surprising how the committees arrived at such weighty position and recommendation “without an independent, forensic investigation and without any

counter-veiling evidence other than the mere sayso of a party to a dispute.” The statement, by Mr. Waziri Adio, Communication Consultant to Caverton Helicopters, said: “We expected more rigour, nuance, balance and greater restraint from such an august body. We challenge those who insist on manufacturing an ‘agency relationship’ where none exists, to show concrete evidence. Such concrete evidence should include mandate from Rivers State Government to Caverton Helicopters on the said aircraft; evidence of payment(s) to Caverton Helicopters with corresponding invoice(s) for the purported services provided by us to the state government in the last eight months on this aircraft; executed management or agency contract between Rivers State Government and Caverton Helicopters; and any correspondences (whether through letter or email) on the issue during the past eightmonth period we were purportedly involved with the aircraft.” The company maintained that the only relationship it had on the aircraft was an “unconsummated” one.

Court order barring Ereyitomi not vacated —Legal Adviser to Ugborodo Community BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

ENIN—CONTRARY to claims that the Federal High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State, had vacated its earlier injunction, barring Chief Thomas Ereyitomi and his executive from running the Governing Council of the Ugborodu Community Development Trust, the community has said that no such order was given. In a statement in Ben-

in, Edo State, weekend, the Legal Adviser to the Ugborodo Community Development Trust, Mr. Itse Wilkie, explained that what the court did was grant an order for accelerated hearing of the suit. He said: “Our attention has been drawn to the publication in the media that the Federal High Court, Warri, has granted an order, allowing it (Thomas Eareyitomi-led Governing Council of Ugborodo Community Development Trust), to

run the affairs of the body pending the hearing of the substantive suit. “We, hereby, state that there was no such order. What the court said was that to grant an interlocutory injunction based on the facts before it will amount to delving into the substance of the suit. Rather, it ordered accelerated hearing. We are to add that the rule in lis pentis enjoins all to keep matters in status quo ante pending the determination of the suit.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 —13

2014: Ex-Anambra PDP chair faults Ezeife on power shift By ANAYO OKOLI

MUAHIA— FORMER chairman of Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State, Chief Ifeatu ObiOkoye, has faulted former governor of the state, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife’s position that Anambra North senatorial zone should produce the next governor of the state. According to Obi-Okoye, Chief Ezeife is allegedly among those who have frustrated the zone from producing a governor for the state and wondered his sudden u-turn. He said: “What Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife should have done first is to apologize to the people of Anambra North Senatorial zone before his insincere sympathy and the crocodile tears he is now

shedding for the people. “As the state secretary of the Social Democratic Party in 1991, I would wish to remind Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, of how he, in collusion with his kinsman from old Aguata Local Government Area, Prof. Humphery Nwosu, who was then in charge of the National Electoral Commission, truncated and denied Anambra North senatorial zone of an opportunity to produce the governor of Anambra State. “I recall that we conducted primaries of the SDP three good times in order to nominate our governorship flagbearer and on all three occasions Dr. Raymond Okechukwu Odunze, who hails from Umunya in the North senatorial zone, beat Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, to emerge the governorship

flagbearer of SDP in the state. “As it were, it was Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who in collusion with Prof. Humphery Nwosu orchestrated the disqualification and ban of Dr. Okey Odunze from contesting the election. I recall also how Dr. Okey Odunze as he is popularly called was arrested and detained on trumped up charges. “Consequently, upon Dr. Odunze’s disqualification, Dr. Ezeife, became the beneficiary of this undemocratic act as he went ahead not only to contest and won on the popularity of Dr. Okey Odunze. “That was, therefore, the most undemocratic manner of denying the people of the North senatorial zone of an opportunity of producing the governor of Anambra State.”

Agbaso goes to court to reclaim mandate BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

W E R R I — FORMER Deputy Governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso, has approached the state High Court, challenging his recent impeachment and subsequent removal from office by the State House of Assembly. Registered as suit number HOW/295/2013, Sir Agbaso is claiming that his removal was a classical example of deliberate disrespect for judicial process, rule of law and breach of right to fair hearing and should accordingly be declared null, void and of no effect by the court. Agbaso, through his

lawyer, Prince Ken C.O. Njemanze, SAN, contended that the publication in a national daily (not Vanguard), dated March 14, 2013, did not comply with the mandatory constitutional requirement for personal service of Notice of Allegation of Gross Misconduct under Section 188(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. The former deputy governor further urged the court to declare that the inauguration/setting up of the seven-man panel by the third defendant, Justice Goddy Anunihu, instead of the State Chief Judge, was invalid.

“A judge of the High Court has no role whatsoever under Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the appointment/setting up of the said panel,” Agbaso contended. He also sought a declaration that all the alleged steps taken by the defendants leading to his removal as deputy governor of Imo State were not in compliance with the provisions of Section 188 of 1999 Nigerian constitution. Agbaso pleaded with the court to declare that his “purported removal is unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.”

C M Y K

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

CHIEF EDWIN CLARK'S 86TH BIRTHDAY CEREMONY

From left— Vice President Namadi Sambo, Prince Dennis Sami, Publisher of Nigeria Pilot, and Chief Clark, celebrant.

From left— Mrs. Edwin Clark, Chief Edwin Clark and Most Rev. Emmanuel Egbunu, Archbishop of Lokoja, during the thanksgiving service to mark Chief Clark's 86th birthday at St. James’ Anglican Church, Asokoro, Abuja, yesterday. PHOTOS: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara (left) and Mr. Gada.

LEFT: From left— Mrs. Anne Banfa; Labaran Maku, Minister of Information; Mrs. Farida Waziri and Mrs. Delita Whitfield, Board Member of WOTCLEF.

Dignitaries.

Declare state of emergency on corruption, Clark tells Jonathan BY HENRY UMORU

A Senior Pastor Chris Ukpabi (right) and Apostle (Mrs.) Eunice Osagiede, General Overseer, Spirit and Life Bible Church.

From left— Prof. Oladipo Afolabi, former Head of Service; Hon. Mercy Almona-Isei and Senator Lee Meba.

BUJA—FORMER Fed eral Commissioner for Information and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, declare state of emergency on corruption, saying he must put in place more drastic measures to tackle it. Speaking, yesterday, during the church service held for him on his 86th birthday at the St. James’ Anglican Church, (Anglican Communion), Asokoro, Abuja, the Ijaw leader noted that corruption did not start with the administration of President Jonathan, adding that everyone must be involved in the fight against corruption. Chief Clark argued that the government of Jonathan had made bold steps to address the problem of corruption by exposing those who were alleged to have stolen the nation’s money, especially the fuel subsidy funds.

Tasks elders

Choir.

He also urged other elders of the country to join hands with the government in building a more united country called Nigeria, even as he told them that

they do not have another country. He said the culture of destroying or pulling down a government, when some ethnic groups are not in power, must stop because all were equal as Nigerians, irrespective of state or geo-political zone. He said: “I want to appeal to other elders of my age, above my age and below my age to know that we don’t have another country to go to. I pray that Nigeria remains a united nation. “But the problem is that some people want to destroy when they are not in power. We are all equal and we want a united Nigeria where anyone can rise to any position.” According to him, at 86 he was satisfied and was not looking for anything in life having worked in different places, travelled to different parts of the world, served as a Minister and a Senator, among others. He urged the young ones to respect elders, adding that he will die a happy man if Nigeria remains a united country.

Sermon

In his sermon, the Archbishop of Lokoja, Most Revd. Emmanuel Egbunu, who preached on the ephemeral na-

ture of life and vanity, extolled the qualities of Chief Clark, who he said always spoke the truth irrespective of who was involved. Egbunu, who stood in for the Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of all Nigeria and Bishop of Abuja Diocese, the Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, said that each time Chief Clarks talks, it was always newsworthy and urged the celebrant to ensure that he makes same news in heaven.

Roll call

Present at the Church Service were representatives of Senator Hope Uzodinma, representative of Senate President David Mark; wife of Deputy governor of Delta State; delegations from Delta and Bayelsa sates; General Lawrence Onoja, and former governor of Edo State, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor. Others were Senator James Manager, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Alabo Graham Douglas, Ameh Ebute, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, Professor Sylvester Monye, Bala Kaoje, National Treasurer of PDP; former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; Senator Sekibo, Power Godknows Igali, among others.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 15

President, Senate on collision course over NCAA boss BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan may be on collision course with the Senate over delayed confirmation of Director-General, DG-nominee for Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu. In the aftermath of the sacking of immediate past DG of the regulatory agency, Dr. Harold Demuren, on March 12, the President sent Akinkuotu's name to the Senate two days later, asking the upper chamber of the National Assembly to expedite action on his confirmation because of the sensitive nature of the aviation sector. Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that the President was not happy that over two months after he sent the nominee’s name to the Senate, he was yet to be confirmed. The President’s letter to the Senate read in part: “Following concerns expressed by aviation stakeholders on perceived poor Internal Audit and Quality Assurance within NCAA, the Federal Government is in the process of restructuring the authority for better and more efficient service delivery. “Consequently, Dr. Harold Olusegun Demuren has been relieved of his appointment as the

Director General of the NCAA in line with provisions of Section 8 (3) (a) and (c) of the Civil Aviation Act of 2006. "In line with Section (8) (1) of the Civil Aviation Act of 2006, I hereby present the nomination of Captain Fola Akinkuotu, from the same geo-political zone as Demuren as Director General of NCAA for the confirmation of the Senate. “His Curriculum Vitae is attached. It is my hope that the distinguished Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will consider and confirm the nominee in your usual expeditious manner.”

Why Jonathan's calm

According to a source, the President is calm about the development because he didn’t want to be seen fighting the Senate on another front, having been locked in a battle with the lawmakers over his refusal to sack Arunma Oteh, Security and Exchange Commission's DG. It was learnt that the President’s plea for expeditious confirmation of the nominee was informed by the need to assuage the feelings of people of the South-West geo-political zone,

who saw Demuren’s sack as a continuation of marginalisation in the aviation sector. A source also told Vanguard that the delay in confirming the nominee as substantive head of NCAA was a deliberate plan by the Senate Committee on Aviation to prolong the stay of acting Director-General of the agency, Joyce Nkemakolam, in office. The source said: “The industry today is dominated by people from one geo-political zone of the country. The minister, chairpersons of the two aviation committees in the Senate and House of Representatives, to Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, are all from the same zone. “Therefore, there is this feeling that these key figures in government are deliberately delaying this confirmation to protect the interest of their zone. “I would want to leave the minister out of this game plan because she really tried to ensure that Demuren was not sacked. But unfortunately, it is this same Senate that put pressures on the President to sack him that is dilly-dallying now in confirming a new director-

general for the agency.”

Criteria, politics

Another source also raised questions about the eligibility of who should occupy the seat, as the acting DG is an air traffic controller. The NCAA Act stipulates that only a pilot or an aircraft or aeronautic engineer could occupy the office of NCAA's DG. Already, stakeholders in the industry are getting restive about the implication this would have on safety in the sector, as they contend that the aviation sector was too technical and sensitive to be drawn into politics. Aviation expert and certified instructor of US Federal Aviation Administration, Capt. Tito Omaghomi, wondered why the Senate should hold on to the nominee’s confirmation a month after his questioning by the Senate Committee on Aviation.

Aviation groups react

Omaghomi told Vanguard on the telephone, yesterday: “We were all in the Senate when he was drilled for three hours 15 minutes by the committee and he answered all the questions

asked him confidently. “He is absolutely qualified to occupy this position, so why are they delaying his confirmation? “If they say he is not qualified for the job, let them tell us. The young man was doing his thing at Kwara State Aviation Academy as rector when the President appointed him.” Omaghomi, who is also President of aviation advocacy group, Concerned Aviation Professionals, CAP, said the industry was currently in a delicate position not to have a qualified head. Another pressure group in the industry, Aviation Round Table, has also expressed concern about the delay in the nominee’s confirmation. It is not clear if the Committee on Aviation had recommended his clearance to the whole Senate for confirmation. Efforts to speak with the Chairman of Senate Aviation Committee, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to explain reasons for the delay have so far proven futile, even as his aide, who promised to get back to Vanguard on the issue, refused to do so days after. Senator Uzodinma has also not responded to text messages sent to his mobile phone.

C M Y K

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 ON Monday, May 20, staff of the National Aviation Management Agency, NAMA, withdrew their services to protest failure of negotiations between their union and NAMA management on new salary scales the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission approved for them. It was the third major disruption of air transport services in two months. Earlier interruptions were either caused when the authorities grounded airlines or by another set of workers with grouses against their employers. Services were skeletal during the recent case. Top NAMA management staff handled flights operations at major airports, but some foreign-originated flights were diverted to neighbouring countries. Thousands of passengers spent hours at various airports, as flights were either rescheduled or were altogether cancelled. It is very unfortunate that services in a vital sector of the economy can so easily be disrupted due to failure of NAMA to act. If NAMA management had implemented the pay adjustment or convinced the staff over the causes of the delays, the strike would have been averted. The attitude of government agencies towards

Avoidable Aviation Strikes their staff, and the public they serve, reflect in negligence or their inactions. NAMA and other aviation agencies do not seem to realise the importance of services they provide. They would rather explain their actions than act with the promptitude the industry handles strikes in other places. Flight disruptions have wide consequences in a globally integrated industry. There is no Nigerian standard of aviation practice. The smallest incident in the country, like elsewhere, attracts the attention of experts, regulators, and international standards administrators. All parties should consider the plights of air transport patrons, who after buying exorbitantly priced tickets, are subjected to

untold hardship, further expenses and loss of opportunities during the strikes. Among the stranded are those on important business and social assignments, foreigners, Nigerians returning to or travelling out of the country, families with children, the sick and elderly people. Nobody cares what happens to them, there are no compensations. Strikes are legitimate instruments for advancing workers’ rights. We however caution that they should be used sparingly and remain the last option. In the past year, there have been too many strikes from the unions, creating the impression that all they do is strike. During strikes, unions and their employers take their rivalry to travellers. The unions engaged in scare mongering, while the managements provide skeletal services with assurances of safety and comfort. Obviously, they cannot cope as management staff are in insufficient numbers for efficient flight management. Reforms in aviation must go beyond remodelling of airports. They should include attitudinal changes in aviation unions and management for safe, smooth, stable, reliable operations to cure air travel of new uncertainties.

OPINION BY MUSTAPHA MINJIBIR

S the nation forges ahead in its strenuous struggle against Boko Haram insurgency with the imposition of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, one can confidently say that we are out of the state of seeming indecision that characterized the government’s response to the challenge of insecurity. Prior to the widelyapplauded declaration of state of emergency in three states by President Goodluck Jonathan the nation was gripped with agonizing anxiety over the apparent deadly resilience of the insurgents to what was supposed to be a robust military intervention. This disillusionment spurred the concerted calls for dialogue and possible amnesty in palpable desperation. Unfortunately, there was no reciprocal response from the insurgents who defiantly doubled their attacks in the North-East sector where they had retreated to but certainly not for surrender purposes. By the time reliable reports confirmed that up to 14 of the 27 local government areas in Borno State had practically fallen to the forces of insurgency, there could not have been any alternative to a drastic intervention to reassert Nigeria’s sovereignty and decisively halt and eliminate the entrenched insurgents. Since the massive deployment of the military with all its arsenals to the three worst-hit states no

Politics of emergency rule one can deny that the battle has indeed been taken to the doorsteps of the terrorists with salutary effects on the situation. While all these scenarios are reasonable, logical and progressive in pursuit of the national interest, it was somehow objectionable to some groups of Nigerians for reasons that are patently unpatriotic to say the least. Signs of the presence of hypocrites, blackmailers and allied refuseniks lurking around came up even before the state of emergency broadcast by President Jonathan as orchestrated opposition to the option erupted even from such unlikely quarters as the Northern Governors’ Forum. All sorts of contrived arguments were bandied about dedicated to discouraging the government from moving in the right direction. It is to the credit of the President that he was able to execute the policy swiftly and deftly, thereby earning the reconsidered endorsement of the nay-sayers soon after his broadcast. Now we know that the Northern governors’ unexpected cold feet reaction was propelled by their selfish interest which was fixated on the likelihood of emergency rule ousting some of their colleagues, recalling what happened in the Obasanjo era. Others who rallied round the governors in objecting to the imposition of emergency rule must be similarly motivated. Appropriately, the

majority of Nigerians who supported the imposition of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states have correctly concluded that the critics could not care less if the country gets overrun by the insurgents because it is so glaring that the nation was tottering on the brinks of destabilization.

ot even the pro-dialogue advocates can successfully sustain an objection to the necessity for emergency rule. The carrot of dialogue and negotiated ceasefire and even amnesty have all along been on the table but was unattractive and unproductive due to the condemnable failure of the state governors concerned to muster their supposed local clout and connection as chief security officers of their states to effectively check the deadly activities of the insurgents in their midst before everything went hay-wire. Even in pursuit of the dialogue and amnesty option the governors performed woefully and had no encouraging results to show. The case for ousting them from office during the period of emergency rule was unassailable! As if to score another point, the President again directed for the release of all women and certain category of the insurgents to complete the circle of the carrot and stick initiative. The inclusion of Adamawa State in the

emergency rule cover was also the subject of agitated comments questioning the rationale. Even Governor Nyako who, as a retired military top shot, ought to know better went on air to express misgivings even as he had no choice but to submit to superior authority. It should not be difficult to understand that the borders of the three states now under emergency rule are strategically critical to the success of any military offensive in the areas affected, given the increasing evidence of cross-border incursions and foreign elements’ involvement in boosting the insurgency. As with the emergency rule it is not surprising that the people of Adamawa have since come to terms with the strategic sense of it all. All said, President Jonathan has cleared any lingering doubt about his capacity to act decisively when the occasion arises and has proven his innate patience and focus to address emerging issues copiously. He should use the lessons of the politics of imposition of emergency rule to put governors in their proper place down under whenever the national interest is the subject matter. After all at the end of the day, he is the Commander-in-Chief as well as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and on his shoulders rest the fate of the nation, especially in times of adversity. Posterity will prove him right!

Mr. Minjibir, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Kano, Kano State.

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Boko Haram excesses must stop —Jonathan be able to do so on their own.

By BEN AGANDE

DDIS ABABA—PRESI DENT Goodluck Jonathan, has said the federal government was ready to commit every resources at it disposal to ensure that the excesses of the violent Boko Haram sect was brought to an end. In an interview with journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending the 21st Conference of African Union, President Jonathan said his administration

would no longer tolerate the wanton killings by Boko Haram or any terrorist group for that matter. According to Jonathan, in order to check the activities of terrorists in Africa, all African leaders must come together to confront the challenge. He warned that while some countries such as Nigeria had robust military and security apparatuses to confront terrorism, other African countries might not

Threat of terrorism

President Jonathan said the threat of terrorism to African countries was “fairly big and if we don’t move fast because only some days ago, because of what is happening in Nigeria, it is now difficult for the terrorist to operate and they have moved into Niger Republic. “There was a suicide attack in two places simultaneously in Niger Republic, leading to the

death of about 19 or 20 soldiers. Niger Republic has been relatively calm though they have been noticing the movement because it is a general area from Mali, Niger, Chad to Nigeria. “But because Nigeria is fairly big, we now said no, this must stop. They are now moving, Central Africa, North Africa, West Africa; East Africa is not also safe. “It is only Southern Africa that is relatively peaceful in terms of terror. And it is a serious business. That it why all Presidents and Heads of Government on this continent must come together to fight,

otherwise, they will create more problems, especially for countries that cannot contain them. “Luckily, Nigeria is fairly rugged, fairly robust so we can confront it and we are confronting it now because we can no longer watch people being killed and it must stop. The excesses of Boko Haram must stop. “That is the decision of this present government now. It must stop; whatever it will cost the government. But not all the countries can confront it.” He revealed that the government had evolved a three-pronged strategy to check the Boko Haram insurgency, with a view to defeating it, adding that this involved the short, medium and long term approach. He said: “We are doing everything to make sure that we contain it in terms of immediate term, medium term and long term. For the short term, of course, there must be military intervention, you must beef up security, you must change the security architecture to make sure that you detect that something is about to happen before it happens so that you will be able to stop it.

SURE-P earmarks N30bn for Loko-Oweto Bridge BY KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

BUJA—THE Subsi dy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, SURE P, has allocated N30 billion for the completion of the Loko–Oweto Bridge, on the borders of Nasarawa and Benue states, by 2015. Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, gave the assurance of adequate funding of the project when he inspected on-going project in company of the Director (Highways) North Central, Ejike Mgbemena and other senior officials from the ministry at the weekend. Onolememen said the project was awarded to Messrs RCC Nig. Ltd. on November 2, 2011, at a cost of approximately N36 billion but added that work did not begin on time because they needed to change the project alignment to avoid difficult terrain over which the alignment initially traversed.

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Children's Day: Solution Media fetes children

S the world celebrates the Children Day today, parents, teachers and care givers have been charged to bring out the creativity in the Nigerian child by engaging the kids in various tasks which would make them a rounded individuals capable of developing their potentials. This charge was given by Prince Adeteloye Lipede, Executive Director, Solution Media and Infotech Limited at the introduction of educational series for young creative minds, whose maiden edition holds today at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos to mark this year’s Children’s Day, with the theme. Hi Impact 5 Creative Kids”. Addressing newsmen, Prince Lipede, said the event is an ‘edutainment competition” which is mind-engaging and fun for young minds. He added that High Impact for Creative Kids would take

place under a 50m by 50m diameter circular tent, first of its kind in Africa with a population of about 2,500 children. Also speaking, Mrs Diwura Dasilva, Head of Department, Customer Care unit, said the aim of the event is to “bring out creativity in children through the dance drama, instrumental display. We want to contribute to the lives of the children by exposing them to one of the best games inthe world. She added: “Its also aimed at taping into their potentials. She pointed out that to ensure that the competition cuts across all strata, we picked directly from both primary and secondary schools with 20 teachers to guide the children".

You will never be forgotten, Pini Onyebadue TRIB UTE TRIBUTE

By MELVILLE OBRIANGO

Opeyemi Akindehin, Abiola Akindele, Oluwatoyin Faleke, Mr Tokunbo Doregos, director, Doregos Private Academy, Lagos, Adebola Duro-Aina and Eniola Bello at a welcome reception in honor of the students who won grand gold prize at the international sustainable world energy engineering environment project(i-sweep) in Houston, Texas, USA and the intel-international science and engineering fair, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

T is extremely difficult for me and my family to come to terms with the reality that you have actually passed on. It is hard to believe. I am yet to reconcile my composure. Pini, you were indeed a man of honour, laced with integrity, humility garnished with absolute sincerity rolled up with very high christian values. When you recalled those good early days when we were in the Customs and Excise department at the Marina Lagos, in your last article, “Letter to Kawu,” you reminded me of how young minds could be positively nurtured towards greatness. It all started when we were idling away waiting for ships to anchor. Then on your “striking/ vehicle” table, you wrote humorous soft-sell articles to the Daily Times – Lagos Weekend newspapers. It was a must read every Friday. You made us laugh and happy, we were very proud of you.

Great privilege It is a great privilege for me to see the beginning of your greatness, while I was hobnobbing with Radio Nigeria doing plays in the Drama department. We indeed killed time positively. Why Pini Jason? Why? Did you recall the beginning so as to end it? With your writings you taught us history, you taught us philosophy, with your writing you prophesied. I will always remember your mantra, that we are always forgetful and do not remember some very important historical and political events and then time - tags. You will never be forgotten. You were the most consistent writer that made your readers get addicted by your indepth analysis of every topic, your opinion was always sought for, because you told the truth bluntly with volcanic brutality. You left us too soon! The timing was wrong! May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace in the bosom of the Lord! Adieu! Adieu my very good friend! Melville Obriango.

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AU tackles African conflicts A FRICAN Union leaders have met to tackle ongoing conflicts on the continent, a day after the pan-African bloc celebrated its 50th anniversary. This is even as the longrunning unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo dominated the start of the two-day AU meeting, as leaders from the Great Lakes region met for the first time since signing an agreement in February aimed at restoring peace in the region. “A lot of progress has been made. I think we will be able to fix it, the Congo is going to be fixed,” Tanzanian President

Jakaya Kikwete said after the meeting yesterday , on the sidelines of the main summit at AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital. Tanzania is sending 1,280 troops to join a new United Nations brigade with a mandate to conduct “targeted offensive operations” against rebels in DR Congo’s mineralrich east. However, UN chief Ban Ki-moon was more hesitant, saying that while progress was being made, promises on paper must be enacted on the ground. “We will need the test of implementation,” said Ban, who visited the flashpoint Congolese town

of Goma last week as part of a regional tour. Leaders are also expected to discuss a proposal to urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to back off the trial of Kenya’s leaders on charges of crimes against humanity. The proposal, agreed by AU foreign ministers on Thursday, would ask the ICC to refer the trials of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto back to their home country. The proposal would have no legal impact on ICC proceedings if passed, but would significantly boost Kenyatta’s standing on the continent.

Woolwich murder: Suspect arrested in Kenya in 2010

NE of the suspects in the Woolwich murder case was arrested in Kenya in 2010, the Foreign Office has confirmed. It said Michael

Adebolajo was arrested there and it gave consular assistance “as normal” in the circumstances. He was believed to have been preparing to fight

France army in key Mali withdrawal

RANCE has begun a key stage of its military withdrawal from Mali, four months after sending troops to push Islamist rebels out from the north. A convoy of dozens of lorries left a base outside the capital, Bamako, on its way south to Ivory Coast. France began withdrawing some of its 4,000 troops from the country in April. They plan to gradually hand over to the Malian army and a UN peacekeeping force, which will deploy in July ahead of planned nationwide elections. Saturday’s withdrawal comes just two days after Islamist rebels targeted

an army barracks and French-run uranium mine in neighbouring Niger, killing 21 people. French special forces helped Nigerien soldiers end a hostage siege at the barracks on Friday. It is not known if the attacks will affect French troop deployments.

Obama vists Oklahoma

RESIDENT Barack Obama traveled to Oklahoma Sunday to view devastation from last week’s monster tornado that killed 24 people, as the governor sought federal aid for thousands left destitute by the disaster.

Libyan congress approves new interior minister

IBYA’s national assembly yesterday approved a new interior minister after the incumbent submitted his resignation amid a rise in violence in the North African country. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last week nominated Tripoli police colonel Mohammed Khalifa al-Sheikh to take over from Ashour Shuail,

with Somali militant group al-Shabab, a Kenyan government spokesman told the BBC, and was later deported. Meanwhile, police investigating soldier Lee Rigby ’s murder have arrested a 22-year-old man in north London. The arrest at Highbury Grove, on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, brings the total number made so far in the case to nine. Members of Mr Rigby ’s family have visited the scene of the killing, laying flowers at Woolwich Barracks where the 25-year-old drummer with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was based.

after the latter said he would quit his post for “personal reasons”, official sources said. Shuail, former police chief in the eastern city of Benghazi, was named interior minister late last year to tackle Libya’s biggest domestic policy challenge - establishing a legitimate, effective national police force.

Obama departed Washington a little before 10 am (1400 GMT) for a three-hour flight to the tornadoravaged state, where he was to meet with survivors and first responders, and will survey the mountains of debris strewn across this battered state. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Governor Mary Fallin said she is seeking help streamlining assistance to her battered state from the Federal E m e r g e n c y Management Agency (FEMA) following the powerful twister, which ripped through this Oklahoma suburb almost one week ago, injuring 377 people.

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NGF Election: The inside story A major crack has set into the once boisterous Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, following last weekend’s re-election of Governor Chibuke Amaechi as chairman and the determination of his opponents within the forum not to recognize his election. The fissure is a firm fit into alleged plans of presidential minders to clip Amaechi’s wings and give the presidency unfettered leverage in its unfolding political plans SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH

HE split in the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF did not come as a surprise. The failure of the Presidency to cage the forum under the leadership of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was an attraction to slice the body into factions. The allegation against Amaechi by his opponents is that he has been using the NGF to confront President Goodluck Jonathan on many serious national sociopolitical issues thereby stifling the president’s performance in office. Whether that assertion holds water or not, the pro-Jonathan’s loyalists in the NGF would not want to hear his name as their leader any longer and had laid a political ambush to cut him to size last Friday but failed woefully to achieve their aim. The intrigues laced with high wired blackmail and some level of intimidation would have caught fire and sent Amaechi packing if his opponents led by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State had put their acts together before and during the tension-soaked NGF election. But many things went awry for the pro-Jonathan faction even before the ballots were cast. Of course, same elements had convinced President Jonathan that Amaechi was aligning forces with those from the North, who

*Jonathan: Denies involvement

*Akpabio: Against Amaechi

group that gave easy ride to Amaechi, none was as disastrous as the refusal of the camp to stick to a single candidate for the poll on time. Thus, its greatest undoing because the shifting of candidates up to the last moment and the results hit them below the belt, leaving them and President Jonathan with a sour

Some governors from the core north opposed Jang, whom they claim is grumpy and politically powerless and began to look in the direction of Amaechi, whom they claim, had led the NGF effectively and did not see why the president wanted to sacrifice him. “We know that Amaechi has not done anything wrong. Whenever we ask what his offence is nobody has been able to advance one concrete reason apart from saying that he has a problem with President Jonathan.

Some governors from the core north opposed Jang, whom they claim is grumpy and politically powerless and began to look in the direction of Amaechi

were opposed to his re-election bid in 2015 and why he should be shoved aside as the NGF chairman. Paradoxically, while they were emboldened by the strong backing of the Villa to uproot the Rivers governor, the delivery of the plot, however failed to sail through. For those who know Governor Godswill Akpabio, the arrowhead of the campaign to flush out Amaechi, no one would accuse him of not working hard to accomplish to goal. But many blunders came along. Indecision killed the Jonathan camp: Of all the blunders committed by the pro-Jonathan

taste in the mouth. All along, the presidency, through Akpabio, had been presenting the Katisna State Governor Ibrahim Shema as the beautiful bride being courted by the Villa as its candidate to challenge Amaechi. Although Shema was still not acceptable to all the PDP governors, it was clear to all that he could pose a serious threat to Amaechi. Curiously, barely five days to the vote, the same presidency, through the PDPGF leader, had a change of mind on Shema and suddenly drafted the Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, into the same race,

jettisoning Shema for reasons yet to be made public. The signing on of Yuguda, it was learnt, was even more attractive to both the PDPFG and the Northern Governors’ Forum, headed by Dr. Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, a recent political enemy of Jonathan. Aliyu got into the bad books of the Presidency when he challenged Jonathan to remember that he had signed a document with them in 2010 to do just one term in office and vowed that the North would not support his re-election in 2015. However like a stillbirth, the duo of Shema and Yuguda, who had already been railroaded into the ring of contest and their supporters ignited in the process, found it difficult to agree to step down for each other until last Friday. All attempts to browbeat them to see reasons to withdraw for the other fell on deaf ears and the Northern States Governors’ Forum had no option than to force them to pull out of the contest and give way to a neutral candidate in the person of Governor Jonah Jang. The ‘sudden’ drafting of Governor Jang into the race to replace Yuguda, who was the last candidate favoured by the presidency, significantly altered the voting pattern against the presidency and its candidate.

Governor from the north And if we ask what type of problem Amaechi has with the President, some would say that it is something that is best known to Jonathan himself,” a governor from the north loyal to Amaechi, said. A shot in the foot: Apart from the indecision over the choice of candidate to fly its flag, the proJonathan group was also in a fix to get its supporters to work together at the venue of the election because of the blocking of all forms of communication by security agencies in and around the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro District of the Federal Capital Territory, where virtually all the governors’ lodges

are located. Misfire: Apparently convinced that it had a simple majority of governors based on those who had signed a prepared document in favour of the Presidency’s candidate, the security agents were instructed to jam all GSM phones around the venue of the voting so as to prevent the proAmaechi governors from infiltrating the pro-Jonathan’s camp. Thus, as early as 4pm when the NGF meeting was about to start, hordes of security agents had stormed the venue and blocked communication channels making it difficult for anyone to communicate with the outside world. It was a shot in the foot as the move ironically worked against the pro-Jonathan governors. A governor, who was at the venue lamented that those who jammed the GSM phones contributed to the failure of the President’s candidate. The governor said, “Well, what the pro-Jonathan governors plotted actually turned against them and I think that is the way the Almighty God wanted it to be. They blocked all forms of communications around the Rivers Governor’s Lodge for over four hours making it impossible for anyone to use their phones.“I Continues on page 47

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NGF: The inside story Continues from page 46 believe strongly that if they had not blocked the phones it would have been possible for the supporters of the camp to brief the Villa on how the election was going and they could have stopped the voting when they realised that Amaechi was poised to win. “Unfortunately for them they hit themselves with their own weapon because while the Amaechi’s camp was united and determined to return him, the camp loyal to the President was divided over the sudden change of candidate. I can tell you that if Mallam Isa Yuguda or Shema had been allowed to run against Amaechi, the situation would not have been the same. While the battle to get a consensus candidate for the Jonathan’s camp lasted, it was learnt that a lot of water passed under the bridge and altered the political formula already agreed with the presidency regarding the poll. Under the arrangement, the list of the 19 PDP governors, who had earlier appended signature to a secret document in front of the President shortly after the Nigeria Economic Council meeting in Abuja, was to be presented to the meeting of the

*Amaechi: Won against odds all of them voted in a free and fair manner, believing that Amaechi had been booted out peacefully. But that was not to be, as he trounced Governor Jang by three votes coasting home with 19

The belated attempt by them to discredit the process after the defeat of their candidate is like disowning one’s wife after she had delivered a baby not liked by the husband

NGF as the decision of the governors. Thereafter, the proJ o n a t h a n group was to insist that Amaechi should step down as the NGF chairman since they already have a majority of governors on its side. Nonetheless, when the Jonathan governors arrived the venue of the meeting and saw that they still had the majority of governors in attendance, they opted for secret balloting believing that all the governors whose names were on the list would vote for Jang. It was an optimism carried to far in a murky political game where anything could happen. Shocker for Amaechi’s opponents: By the time the result of the election was read out by the Director General of the NGF, it was already too clear to the anti-Amaechi group that they had shot themselves on the foot and that the only way out was to mount a belated protest in a bid to salvage what they had lost through a transparent ballot. In all, there were 35 governors present at the Rivers Governor’s Lodge, venue of the voting and

votes to 16 netted by his Plateau counterpart. The result shocked Akpabio and the other governors in his camp. It was equally very difficult for them to swallow such a bitter pill. What will the governors report back to Jonathan, whose aides had been working round the clock to stop Amaechi and whose ears were on the ground to get the results and forward to him in far away Addis Ababa, where he is attending an AU summit? Protest as a panacea for proJonathan’s camp: Protesting the outcome of the vote, Akpabio, leading 17 other governors, accused Amaechi of not stepping down before contesting, thereby violating the election procedure. He said the group would henceforth have nothing to do with Amaechi, having ceased to be their leader on May 26, 2013. The pro-Jonathan governors, who spent most of the weekend trying to confer legitimacy on Jang, who actually lost the election, met at the Benue Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro after which they read a sixparagraph communiqué, affirming their support and

*Jang: Claims signature victory loyalty to Jang. They promised to set up a parallel secretariat in Maitama so as to disengage from Amaechi. Shortly after that meeting on Saturday, they met with the Board of Trustees Chairman of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih in his Asokoro residence and tried to convince him to support their camp. The Akpabio group did not end there. They then proceeded to the Presidential Villa where they met with Vice President Namadi Sambo and also briefed him on the actions they were taking to stop Amaechi from being recognised as the leader of the NGF.

Discrediting the process Analysts believe that the full participation of the pro-Jonathan governors in the NGF election from the beginning to the end and the belated attempt by them to discredit the process after the defeat of their candidate is like disowning one’s wife after she had delivered a baby not liked by the husband. But Amaechi has chosen to remain calm and calculated, savouring the victory he recorded against all the forces arrayed against him by the Presidency and others opposed to him. In a terse response after his victory, Amaechi said there was neither victor nor vanquished but democracy at work. Despite the obstacle allegedly planted against him before the poll, the governor still pledged to work with President Jonathan to achieve peace, development and unity in Nigeria. ‘’We remain committed to supporting our leader, the

president and commander in chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to realize the development dream of all Nigerians by reducing tension, uncertainty and insecurity in our beloved country. ‘’We want to pledge our steadfastness and resolve working alongside Mr. President to better the lives of our people as we render transparent and accountable stewardship,” Amaechi pledged shortly after being declared winner of the election. Nigerians react: Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has berated the governors crying foul over Amaechi’s victory. Describing the action of the anti-Amaechi governors as selfembarrassing, Falani said the victory complied with the NGF’s rules and could not be faulted by any of the members. Plausible next steps: The script being played by the antiAmaechi governors, it was gathered, fits into one of the game plans that had long been drawn up by the forces loyal to the President and President was not in the mood to recognise the governor as the NGF leader. In fact, some of the Presidential

strategists are said to be very comfortable with the decision taken by the Akpabio-led group to discredit Amaechi’s victory so that at best two factions of the NGF would emerge to stop the governor from further prodding the political landscape. There were also suggestions that some powerful PDP chieftains might be on their way to lobby Amaechi to back down on his rumoured vice presidential ambition with Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State so as to appease the President to recognise him as the NGF leader. The beginning of the end: How soon this will happen remains to be seen and leaves many at the brink. But as a democrat and acclaimed stickler to the rule of law, will Jonathan feign ignorance of the re-election of Amaechi and recognise Jang, who lost the election? Now, if Jonathan recognises the loser of the election, the issue then is, of what relevance is Jang to Jonathan’s re-election in 2015. What is Jonathan going to lose if Amaechi remains the NGF chairman? As the nation awaits answers to the posers, one thing remains on the horizon for the NGF: a dirge, as the denouement is already unfolding.

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which they were beaten in two regional wars by Israel. Today, they are feared even by the West because of their current, widespread suicide and war-mongering mentality over religion. Nigerians, previously not associated with the ability to commit suicide bombing, are regularly doing it now. Something happens to change a docile people into monsters. When society loses grip of its core values, the young people drift off into the waiting hands of alien influences. In their blind quest for material ends, parents are losing grip over their children. Communities, which used to play roles in the upbringing of Africans, are no longer doing so due to growing urban-related individualism. Government has lost its relevance because it is no longer able to play its role in the lives of citizens. In Nigeria, everybody has to hustle to provide for his family all the basic things of modern life such as housing, water, electricity, education, health and security. Little time is left to pay quality Michael Adebolajo after the brutal act attention to the moral and mental health of growing people, who so easily go astray. Government also plays a terror-prone people of the world. It is very easy to hear Nigerians say: huge role in promoting social injustice. “we are not terrorists”. Nobody is really The system does not allow citizens to come born a terrorist. Both Abdulmutallab and together as one. It rather encourages them Adebolajo were known to be quiet and from to draw battle lines and be at one another’s families you cannot describe as “poor”. throats. This, to me, is the summary of the cause Somewhere along the line, the devil got into them and they became pawns in the of the various problems that manifest in hands of evil people masquerading behind terrorism, militancy, violent crimes, evil cultism and general demonry. Others are religion. About forty years ago, Arabs were noticing this gradual change in us, but we perceived as being among the world’s most continue to live in denial of what we have cowardly people, given the ease with become.

Nigeria’s rising terrorist profile

ON Saturday, November 18, 2012, I arrived at the JFK International Airport, New York, on my way back to Nigeria after covering the US presidential elections. It was on this day that I underwent the most humiliating security browsing of my person. My exit processes were going smoothly until I arrived at the desk of the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA). I made the mistake of not removing my laptop and ipad from one of my carry-on luggage before I inserted it in the scanner. The scanner beeped as my bag with my electronic gadgets went through it. The operatives stopped the machine and scanned the bag again. There was another beep. They looked at one another. They told me to step out of the line. “You should have brought out your laptop and ipad before putting it in the scanner, Mr. Nnanna”, said a lady operative. She opened my bags and started a toothcomb search, while an elderly, white male operative practically took me apart with his gloved hands, looking for something incriminating; perhaps, drugs or weapons or worse. After about forty minutes, they took me further away and asked me to sit down. A minute later, a huge, heavily mustached operative looking like a character out of a John Grisham legal thriller, came. With a deceptive nice-guy smile and greeted me breezily: “Hello, Mr. Nnanna! How are you?” “I am fine”. “Good. Hope you stay fine!” Then another fifteen minutes of searching, with heavier gadgets conducted by three operatives, started. I kept looking at my watch, as departure time was closing in. One of the black operatives finally smiled at me and said: “Mr. Nnanna, you’re okay. If not, we’d have taken you in there, and your flight would leave without you”. Since he seemed so friendly and chatty, I decided to ask him why all the fuss. “Your luggage alarmed twice. You are a Nigerian, right? We are particular about people from Nigeria and the Middle East. Have a safe trip, Mr. Nnanna”. This experience came rushing back to me as I watched on CNN how a couple of black men, who were later identified to have Nigeria roots though they were born and raised in Britain, savagely stabbed and beheaded a British soldier in the glare of

About forty years ago, Arabs were perceived as being among the world’s most cowardly people, given the ease with which they were beaten in two regional wars by Israel. Today, they are feared even by the West because of their current, widespread suicide and war-mongering mentality over religion

the public in Woolwich, London. It was the most blood-chilling coldblooded murder imaginable. These young men, identified as Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale; converts to Islam, butchered army drummer, Lee Rigby. Adebolajo, in fact, went to a camera, still covered in gore, and ranted that the crime was retaliation for Muslims being killed by “Christian crusaders” around the world. After that, he crossed the road and joined his accomplice to wait for up to thirty minutes for the police to arrive! They were later shot and wounded before being taken into custody. It is this type of crazy escapade (which reminds us of Farouk Abdulmutallab, the lad who attempted to suicide-bomb a USbound plane) that is getting the world out there to put Nigerians in the basket of

TA’s growing turnaround

INCE Governor Theodore Orji came into his second term, he has gradually but steadily started leaving behind some of the unflattering image issues he had during his time in his former principal, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu’s camp. He has started laying a solid foundation for the development of his 22 year-old state. The make-shift institutions of governance are giving way to solid, permanent structures, which he proudly calls “Legacy Projects”. Recently, a House of Reps Committee on Works headed by Hon Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi visited the South East and reported that all federal roads reconstructed in the zone were substandard. The only ones that passed the quality standard rating of the Committee were federal roads reconstructed by the Abia State Government under Gov Orji, who was last weekend awarded The Independent Newspaper’s Man of the Year in 2012. At last, good stories are coming out of my state!

OPINION BY SUFUYAN OJEIFO

Y intention when I decided to write in defence of the Senate under the presidency of Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, was to be, as much as it is possible, frank and unapologetic of the positions that I would canvass in response to a piece, titled: “Mark’s House of Indolence” written by one Kikiowo Ileowo (I am not sure he ranks among the money men and women in Nigeria-a pun intendedgoing by his two names- and, I hope that is his real name and not some wacky pseudonym- which mean “plenty money” and “house of money”) and syndicated in no fewer than seven national newspapers and online publications. I refer, in particular, to page 13 of Daily Newswatch of Tuesday, May 14, 2013. I wonder how Kikiowo would feel after reading his patently jaundiced thesis, which newspapers and online media had been magnanimous enough to publish, bearing in mind that it was bereft of fairness to, and malicious of the institution of the Senate. Would he be true to his conscience to say he has offered altruistic service to the Nigerian public; that there was not a piper somewhere calling the tunes? Otherwise, how does one rationalise his magisterial claim, to wit: “The Senate, an arm of Nigerian federal legislature as presently constituted, is at best a joke of some sort, a money-wasting conglomerate and a cog in the wheel of progress and development in Nigeria”?

‘Mark’s House of Indolence' - A thesis redolent of dishonesty I am sure he realised from the outset that his was a voyage into the arena of the ludicrous. He was simply not smart enough to conceal the identity of his sponsors. At least, that was the conclusion he guided me to when he posited towards the end of his narrative thus: “Truth is, we are OK with having just the lower House of Representatives, and we can manage their little inadequacies. At least, they seem to be working compared to David Mark’s Upper House, whose only proud and gallant achievement till date is appeasing their hypocritical mindset by sending homosexuals to 14 years imprisonment or stoning to death in states where Sharia law is practiced.” The above lines capped his denunciation, in earlier paragraphs, of the Senate which he described as “senior ” to the House of Representatives “in nonperformance and salaries earned.” Read his warped judgement: “The Senate led by General David Mark is at best docile, and a waste of our limited resources…”. He had gone on and on to reel out figures in naira denomination that were spent to service each senator and the office of the Senate President per year and per term/tenure. He did not deem it fit

to juxtapose these with the amount that goes into servicing the House of Representatives. Ordinarily, I would not delve into such comparison were it not for Kikiowo who had deliberately chosen to negatively profile the Senate in order to demonise it in the minds of Nigerians. His mission was to unjustifiably incite the public against the institution of the Senate by trying to establish a negative nexus between the funding of the Senate and the alleged non-performance that resides only in his imagination. Such adventure was intellectually and historically dishonest. Fair-minded public commentators are not made of such depressing stuff. In fact, only unconscionable hirelings who masquerade as public commentators would think they can sit in the comfort of their study and try to re-write history and/or re-invent the wheel of great achievements that the Senate under Mark has recorded since June 5, 2007.

Continues on page 49

*Mr. Ojeifo, a journalist, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013—49

BY SUFUYAN OJEIFO MY intervention, more than defence, is from a position of knowledge and information, having covered the activities of the National Assembly, especially the Senate since 1999. I will now proceed to make certain assertions and clarifications, which will expectedly expose his folly, and ignorance, in the hope that they will help to collapse this kind of individual and corporate fixations that hatchet jobbers have persistently peddled in the public domain. First, even though I do not intend to join issues with him on funding of the Senate, it is apposite to underscore the fact that the National Assembly is the bulwark of democracy. It is an assembly of the people’s representatives. Given our system of government, it is not an aberration to massively fund the political and bureaucratic wings of the National Assembly to enable them perform well in all areas of legislative enagements. The point should be made that the Executive arm, made up mostly of unelected officials receive annually the biggest

chunk of the federal budgets compared with the Legislative and the Judicial arms of government. I noticed the attempt to sensationalise what is due to the Office of the Senate President annually. I hope he has not forgotten that the Senate President is the third highest office in the country. If he knows the workings and exertions of the office, he would not embark on his ill-fated campaign of calumny against the current occupant, Senator Mark. Second, where was my unknown friend, Kikiowo, between 1999 and 2007 when the Senate in particular was embroiled in leadership crises and instability? Has he forgotten the series of conflicts in the relationship between then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Assembly in his conscious effort to emasculate the legislative arm? From Evan(s) Enwerem to Ken Nnamani, it was a game of the musical chair. Five senate presidents from the South East zone in eight years! But all of that has stopped since Mark stepped in the saddle in 2007. Six years on, he has been able to stabilize the Senate and maintain an uncommon rapprochement

with the Executive arm of government controlled by his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. This is, no doubt, salutary to good governance. With Mark’s avuncular, sharply-focused and accountable leadership of the Senate, he has been able to eliminate leadership tension in addition to deploying his legerdemain to promote harmony in relationship with the Executive arm. In 2008, it is on record that he caused the Senate to return unspent N7 billion budget to the treasury in line with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Besides, when the Senate resolved in a closed-doors session that Mark was deserving of a bullet-proof

Lessons for Nigeria from Ram Charan’s ‘global tilt' BY BEMIGHO AWALA

FEW months ago, news broke of a rather interesting development: A littleknown Brazilian investment firm, 3G Capital was teaming up with legendary American investor, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway to buy H.J. Heinz, the iconic ketchup make for $28 billion. The deal was dubbed as the largest acquisition in the global food industry. Some analysts have noted that the deal, which follows in the footsteps of other mega deals such as the acquisition by China’s Lenovo of the personal computer business of IBM years ago, as being symptomatic of a resurgence of mergers and acquisitions. While there might be some validity to this claim, American thought leader and one of the most formidable management consultants on the globe today, Ram Charan, sees these developments as part of a bigger, more formidable trend that has vast implications for the future of practically every business. He calls the phenomenon the “global tilt.” The global tilt, according to Charan, refers to an irreversible shift in economic power from North to South – from the US, Europe and Japan in the Northern Hemisphere to China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and other countries mostly in the Southern hemisphere. It is to these countries that major industries are migrating. These are the countries with the population that can generate not only sizeable consumption, but in addition possess a work-force that can produce the same output for a fraction of what it would have cost in countries of the North. Little wonder therefore that the centre of gravity for jobs, wealth and market opportunities, is fast migrating southwards. Indeed,relative to the South, GDP growth in the Northern Hemisphere is low. America’s growth rate is at two to three percent while Europe and Japan are growing at less than one percent. Conversely in the

vehicle, he simply shot down the resolution. His logic was simple. He is just first among equals and, besides, he had argued that he would not sleep in the vehicle and that anybody who wanted to shoot him would only wait for him to step out of the vehicle to do so. I am not aware that the House of Representatives, at any time, returned unspent money to the treasury. Rather the stories that have been coming from the House, which Kikiowo has rated higher in terms of performance, have not been salubrious. Nigerians, I am sure, have not forgotten the N10 billion loan saga. One of the principal officers who was said to have initiated the idea is today part of the current leadership. I just hope Kikiowo is not playing the opposition’s trump card. The general impression is that Aminu Tambuwal’s leadership of the House of Representatives, given the defiant manner of its emergence, has been tending towards the ideals of the opposition elements. The opposition elements, like Kikiowo, have equated this outlook with progressivism. Indeed, just because the House is seen to be disagreeable with the Executive arm of government, it is doing well. What a twisted logic! What bizarre performance rating! And because the Senate, which is largely populated by

Continued from page 48

‘Mark’s House of Indolence'-A thesis redolent of dishonesty

With Mark’s sharply-focused leadership of the Senate, he has been able to eliminate leadership tension in addition to deploying his legerdemain to promote harmony in relationship with the Executive arm

South, India’s growth rate is between five and six percent, Indonesia’s is about six percent, China’s is about seven percent and Nigeria’s is about eight percent. Assumptions pertaining to the business managerial superiority in Northern hemisphere are to all intents and purposes, now obsolete. In an intricately networked world where information resides on everyone’s fingertips Charan submits that businesses inthe South have ready access to the capital and expertise they need to grow and scale up. Their leaders also have just as much knowledge, talent and drive as their Northern counterparts. They may not be grabbing the headlines as fervently as the top American business leaders but they are unleashing their entrepreneurial prowess no less fervently. The Southern hemisphere for instance, now boasts of world leading entrepreneurs of the likes of the Aliko Dangotes, the Koos Bekkers (founder of Naspers the largest media company in the Southern hemisphere), Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel the world’s fourth largest telecommunications company and many more. While increasing fluidity of capital and the communications revolution as well as the sheer explosion of the middle class globally are contributing to this tilt, says Charan, the human factor is also a key and powerful driver. The structures which the aggressive emerging business leaders in the South are building are such as could possibly rival those created in the 19th century by the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. Their owners are regularly on the move sourcing readily available funding and the critical expertise which they need to grow and scale up. Whereas there might be a possibility for business leaders in the North to try to portray their peers down South as people who owe their success to government patronage or low cost labour, Charam posits that such views may be mistaken.

The structures which the aggressive emerging business leaders in the South are building are such as could possibly rival those created in the 19th century by the likes of Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller

Many successful leaders down South are not only hugely ambitious with grand plans to extend their businesses on a global scale but also combine this with immense energy. In addition, they enjoy a good number of advantages over their Northern counterparts.

any emergent business leaders from the Southern hemisphere grew up under extremely difficult conditions. GT Bank’s co-founder, Fola Adeola, for instance, regularly narrates the story of how Aliko Dangote once sold his car in the 1980s when he fell on tough times. Dangote by then resided in a neighbouring flat in Surulere district of Lagos. Sunil Mittal, says Charan, began his career as a salesman selling crankshafts to bicycle manufacturers. Because his customers tended to bully him with regard to pricing, forcing him to sell at prices they practically dictated, he learned to ride on the back of trucks and crowded trains in order to maintain his margins. This discipline of maintaining tight margins has never left Mittal, he says. It can be argued too, that Dangote’s triumph over tough circumstances may have helped to hone his business shrewdness. Southern leaders are also energized by the huge changes they see taking place right before their own eyes in their own countries. In a little over ten years for instance, telephones have grown from practically nothing to well over 100 million lines in Nigeria. Such a pace of growth is

elder statesmen who are seemingly conservative or who choose to think deeply and weigh every course of action before acting, is not playing to the gallery or seen to be putting President Jonathan on his toes, it is lethargic and should therefore be scrapped! Haba, Kikiowo! What philosophy motivates you? Sincerely, I find it difficult to relate with Kikiowo’s standards of measuring performance, and what constitutes performance. When I saw the title of his piece, I had thought that it was a satire, because I never believed that any right-thinking watcher of developments in the National Assembly would reach a conclusion as damning as Kikiowo’s. He would have freely expressed his opinions if they were merely opinions, but to try to supplant facts, such as the stabilizing role the Senate played, for instance, by invoking the historic Doctrine of Necessity in 2010 to empower the then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to assume full powers of president when the then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was hospitalised in Saudi Arabia, with the House following suit, was fraudulent.

Concluded *Mr. Ojeifo, a journalist, wrote from Abuja.

unprecedented in this age in any Northern economy, but unleashes tremendous opportunity for Southern business leaders. While an American company may think that four percent revenue growth is acceptable, his Southern peer would probably set his sights more in the range of 20 percent revenue growth. The Chinese appliance firm, Haier, had by 2011 been ranked for three years in a row by Euromonitor International as the top appliance brand in the world. By operating with painstaking innovativeness, Haier has engaged well-known and entrenched Northern manufacturers on their own ground, succeeded and leveraged that success to resounding effect across the world. Haier ’s boss has never been equivocal about the main objective of the typical Chinese company, namely export products and earn foreign exchange. In the case of Haier, in exporting, it was critical that it also established a solid brand reputation. As head of the Brazilian beer company, AmBev, Carlos Brittos was keen on aggressive growth and expansion. Beyond spreading its tentacles across Latin America, it merged with Interbrew of Belgium in 2004 to form InBev. The Brazilian leader ran the merged firm even though the European Interbrew was the bigger of the two merged firms. By 2008, InBev purchased AnheuserBusch to form Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer. The global tilt which in a nutshell is the seldom appreciated (especially by the Northern Hemisphere) but growing shift in business and economic power from North America and Europe as well as Japan to the rapidly emerging economies of the Southern hemisphere, including China, India, Brazil, as well as the Middle East and parts of Africa. It is the end result of such forces as the volatile global financialinstitutions, increasing digitization and the rise of a new global middle class that is both youthful and urban. It is on account of these forces that industries and economies have merged, re-written the rules and upset the balance of power, in favour of the Southern hemisphere. *Mr. Awala, a communications expert, wrote from Lagos.

50 —Vanguard —Vanguard,,

MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

YOUR LUCK TODAY By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 LIBRA: After a few tension soaked days, you’ll have the needed opportunity to look through windows of the world and have your way as well. Magnetic and/or magic days is predicted for lovers today. SCORPIO: Even if you continue to work under pressure via increased workload, you will have good results to show for your efforts today. Be steadfast. SAGIT TARIUS: Promise made to genuine personalities should be kept if not because of today but for better tomorrow. Be reasonable and clean. CAPRICORN: Those of you willing to let go hard feelings at work are for a progressive day to the betterment of your finances. Let go yesterday, move ahead. AQUARIUS: Once again, you’ll have the needed opportunity to assert yourself to the administration of others. Both love and financial success can be yours with efforts. Reason with your tried and trusted friends.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY By Richard Eromosele

N which area do you specialise? The area you specialised in, is it a vice or a virtue? Is it in the area of curse or it is related to blessing? What is your specialty? Some of us are very good in magnifying problems – our

What is your specialty? challenges and that of other people. Some of us know all the powerful words and verses in the dictionary and the Holy Bible and Quran. And we say it with reckless abandon, that we

know how to curse people, haba! What is dignifying in this? The tongue that God gives you to bless, you are now using it to curse and destroy without justification, what a waste? If we must

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”

specialise in anything, let it be in good things. Each time we are tempted to specialise in evil thing, let us remember to ask ourselves – what will I like to be remembered for?

By Lanre Kehinde

PISCES: You can make it a successful day with positive approach on your part. You will be in a better position to defuse tension within your working arena. Try to be more ambitious. ARIES Yes! You’re not scared a bit even, when opposition and/or competition come your way but, if you give in to diplomatic approach, you’ll fare better today. TAURUS: Pressure that came your way suddenly will give way unexpectedly, today, to the betterment of your course. The more financially ambitious you are today, the better for you. Be steadfast. GEMINI: You sincerely believe in intelligent argument or discussion. And if you allow your ability to be diplomatic come to play today, you’ll be better for it. Enjoy your love life. CANCER: You’ll tend to become both creative and persuasive to the administration of others. Then those who’ve been resisting secret love may slip suddenly and become excited.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

LEO: Even if opposition persists, supports you are getting from the influential people will be enough to see you through. Yet, the more cooperative you are the better. VIRGO: Your creativity quotient within your working arena will today be enhanced. You’ll be blamed if you keep official issues secrets from your challenges at work.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

What’s my Horoscope? Dear Joshua, Kindly tell me how the planets lined up when I was born and the day of the week I was born but don’t publish my date of birth.. Please tell me my full horoscope Anonymous. Nigeria Dear Anonymous You were born on a Sunday. The Sun was placed in early degree of Scorpio together with many other heavenly bodies. Then with the Moon in Libra when you were born Libra will equally be influential in your characteristics build up but, you are mainly a Scorpio born person YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA Day of Birth = Sunday Sun Sign = Scorpio. Sun in Zero Degree of Scorpio Moon Sign = Libra: Moon in 5th Degree of Libra Mercury in 12th Degree of Scorpio Venus in Zero Degree of Sagittarius Mars in 1st Degree of Aquarius Jupiter in 29th Degree of Cancer Saturn in 10th Degree of Scorpio Uranus in 27th Degree of Cancer Neptune in 25th Degree of Libra Pluto in 26th Degree of Leo North Node in 8th Degree of Capricorn South Node in 8th Degree of Cancer No planet in earth spar sign, one in available, two in fire, three in air, four in cardinal, fixed and water star signs hosted five planets each. PHYSICAL INFLUENCE = 50% NON-PHYSICAL INFLUENCE =50% PLANET AT HOME = NONE ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA You are both an intelligent and emotional person. And as there was planet at home when you were born, too many ideas will always struggle for prominent place in your mind, thus decision making is difficult but most times, your intelligence comes to the rescue. Certainly, you appear to other as a gentle person who can be mistaken for soft fellow but your inner-self is the personality with a steel like will power. You are the consistent type who may find it difficult to change once you have made up your mind as indicated by distribution of the planets as written out in paragraph two of this exercise. One major challenge you have been battling for a very long time is constant worries, some times, necessarily and the other time, uncalled for, as indicated by conjunction Mercury and Saturn formed when you were born.

VIRGINIA

Commen3

dadadekola@yahoo.com

by Lawrence Akapa

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 51

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

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Paul Bassey Continues from BP According to him, all the claims that the Chairmen of federations were returned wholesale was not true, that over ten chairmen lost their seats and some who won, did so by the skin of their teeth. “Let us have it on record that Chief Solomon Ogba returned to AFN after a keen election. In Cricket, Emeka Onyeama beat the incumbent Kwesi Sagoe, while in Table tennis Oshodi Enitan defeated incumbent A b d u l w a h a b Omotosho. “Jonathan Nnaji lost the Takwaedndo seat to George Ashiru, and the same scenario was played out in weightlifting where Chibudum Nwuche was preferred to former chairman Chimdi Ejiogu. Then of course, Daniel Igali triumphed in wrestling, knocking out ex president Austin Edeze.” He pointed out some accusations that he favoured the retention of some chairmen, especially those from his state of origin. “ …..very spurious allegations. How many chairmen are from my state? Are you aware that Abdulwahab Omotosho who lost his Table Tennis seat is from Kwara? Yes he is” The minister went on to say that the press should be fair to the Commission. “ We are in a democratic dispensation where the majority are bound to carry the day, yet the National federations elections was not as bad as the media is making it appear……” He is of the opinion that a lot of structures have been put in place to guarantee that henceforth, the business of sports administration will be radically different from what obtained in the past. I say AMEN. See you next week Quote: The reason for their reported withdrawal was laughable. Barrister Green said they said they have injuries.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 53

Neymar signs for Barcelona B

ARCELONA have landed £20million Brazil star Neymar on a five-year deal. The striker is heading

Harambe Stars Continues from BP foreign-based players expected to start training. Assistant coach James Nandwa said they expect a full house as they step up training for their June 5 World Cup qualifier showdown with the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Kenyan daily, The Daily Nation reports that twelve foreign-based professionals were called up last week to bolster the squad, with Azam duo of offensive midfielder Humphrey Mieno and versatile defender Joackins Atudo the latest inclusions.

to Europe after Santos finally agreed to sell South American football’s hottest property. Writing on Instagram, Neymar said: “I’m here with friends and family and they have helped me to write a few things. “I’m not going to hold out until Monday. My family and friends already know my decision. “On Monday I will sign a contract with Barcelona.” Barca top brass went to Sao Paolo for high level talks with the Brazilian club’s transfer dealmakers. And they convinced Santos to part with their prized asset, who could have left for NOTHING in July. Neymar wanted time to consider another offer from Barca’s bitter rivals Real Madrid but opted for

a move to the Nou Camp. He added: “I want to thank the fans of Santos for these incredible nine years. My feeling for the club and the fans will never change. It is eternal! “Only a club like Santos could give me everything I have experienced on and off the field.

Basketball: Ahmedu takes case to that justice is done. I will Court of Arbitration go to the Court of Arbitra-

ROPRIETOR of Dodan Warriors Basketball Club, Col Sam Ahmedu (rtd) has vowed to fight with the last drop of his blood to ensure that the cocktail of lies that saw him excluded from the elections into the Basket-

Groves Continues from BP ease. And he said: “Carl Froch has been a world champion for a reason. “I am not quite there yet but there aren’t many guys in front of me. “I knew if I bided my time I’d find the opening. He was doing his best to make it awkward for me. “I watched him a few

times on video and I knew the chance would come and it did. That was one of my best finishes. “It wasn’t the hardest punch I have thrown but it was certainly right up there in terms of accuracy.” Gonzalez tried to make it difficult for Groves by forcing him to work in close.

ball Federation by the National Sports Commission is reversed. The passionate Basketball afficionado was dropped at the last minute from contesting the election on allegations that he was not holding an elective position in FIBA. Ahmedu, however, swore at the weekend that “there will be no rest for the wicked until the truth is told on why he was excluded from the election”. “They told lies that I was not holding an elective position but yet they have a letter written by FIBA stating that I hold elective position as President of the FIBA Africa Council of Marketing, Member of the FIBA Africa Central Board since 1997. I am going to take the case to the highest level to ensure

tion and I am not ruling out a court process”, Ahmedu who was livid with rage said. He accused the National Sports Commission of not living above board but stressed that he would go all the way to get justice. “We’re unhappy but not frustrated”, he added. Also speaking, Chairman of Lagos State Basketball Association, Babs Ogunade who is an elected member of the NBBF Board said that though elected through the zones, he was fighting a fractured electoral process. “If the Ministry didnt want us to vote properly, they should not have given us guidelines. Our fight is not against any individual but against a flawed process and also to save the game of Basketball”, Ogunade said.

54— Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

Moses, Mikel … deja vue

E have passed this road before, countless times. The road where the players bus gets to a Carrefour and a player decides to jump the bus and take what he considers is his own way forward. We have had in this country, super stars who dictated to the coach and by extension this country, the matches they wanted to play. Barrister Green is not one to panic. When I got his call, he was calm in delivering the devastating news that Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Kalu Uche were not going to be part of Nigeria’s important world Cup qualifiers and other matches. I thought I should be scared. Confederations Cup apart, we need the best of our arsenal to be able to eliminate the Kenya menace and go on to confront Namibia, away matches all, in a world cup qualifying Group F where a slip will certainly spell doom.. The reason for their reported withdrawal was laughable. Barrister Green said they said they have injuries. Who? Moses injury? That Moses I saw and the pin point delivery of a headed pass that provided Torres with the clincher of a goal? Barrister Green said he had been playing with an injury and now that the season was over, he needed some rest before going for an operation. Can I then suggest that if the season was not over in Europe and Chelsea needed two matches to make hay by guaranteeing the Champion’s League position and win the Europa Cup, Moses would have played on? Those are the two matches ( Kenya and Namibia ) that this country is demanding from him. Enough of the club versus country row that has

The reason for their reported withdrawal was laughable

left us bruised and battered. It will be foolhardy to push an injured player to aggravate his injury in the name of patriotism. No. My argument is that the same window and possibility that is open to a club should be extended to a country especially one that is hanging on survival thread. That we are in this precarious world cup position is by no fault of our own. The same players who won us the Nation’s cup and got the appreciation and standing ovation of a whole country are the same players that flopped when Kenya came calling, and I believe it is the same players that must resolve to get us out of jail by guaranteeing victory in Kasarani and Windhoek Just yesterday, I was told that Mikel Obi who

was supposed to also be injured to the point of not playing for country was seen by his coaches in a flawless 90 minutes for Chelsea and has now decided to make a U turn. He should know better. Malawi, co group leaders with five points have the benefit of two consecutive home matches. We are therefore condemned to win our two away matches. The Good Book in Ezekiel 37 talks about God’s ability to give life to dry bones. Mikel and Moses are living witnesses to the Nation’s Cup miracle where some chosen declined and dry bones rose up, were fleshed and triumphed. Dear players “…..bring forth therefore good fruits, worthy of repentance……for God is able of these stones to raise up children (Players )unto Abraham ( Nigeria ) Luke 3:8 “NO, PAUL BASSEY……NOT EXACTLY” I was angry last week, very angry, to the point of committing “literary murder ”, according to African Sports writing boss Mitchell Obi. I wrote last week that “………..The guillotine was meant for those who in their false and bizarre calculations deceived that gold and other medals were going to be won aplenty ” during the Olympics and prescribed that “they should be tied to sports stakes and shot.” Then I got this call from the Honourable Minister. My reaction was fast. I said to the honourable minister that if it needs an article like the one I had just written to get him to call me, then I should be writing more of such, often. We laughed over it before he launched into the business of the day.

Continues on Page 51

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 — 55

VANGUARD, MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013

Page 53

Harambee Stars re-group for Eagles A

FTER a war of words between the Kenyan national team head coach, Adel Amrouche and Gor Mahia coach, Zdravko Logarusic over the release of the club’s players to the national camp, Harambee Stars will re-assemble tomorrow with the Continues on Page 53

Groves: I proved my class G

EORGE GROVES reckons stopping Noe Gonzalez proves he has upped his game. The Londoner produced the sort of fight Carl Froch has demand-

ed to secure a meeting between the two supermiddleweights. Groves put the Uruguayan down in the fifth round to claim his 19th professional win with Continues on Page 53

'FLOORLESS '... George Groves knocks out Noe Gonzalez

Eagles play test game in Germany

CHAMPION”S STUFF......Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben masterfully slots the winning goal past Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller. Bayern won 2-1.

PUZZLE

players to use for the exhibition match against Mexico in USA. A day after the test

game, the African champions will fly out to Houston, Texas, for the Mexico match.

F-Eagles fly out to Toulon

HE Flying Eagles will depart for Toulon, France, Monday evening from Munich, Germany. The team of 30 players and 10 officials will

leave Elfershausen, where they have been training for about two weeks, by 9am local time on Monday for the fourhour bus ride to Munich.

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

HEAD of next month’s 2014 World Cup qualifier against Kenya, the Super Eagles will today play against a local German side in a friendly game. According to reports from Germany, where the Coach Stephen Keshi-tutored Nigerian side are training, today ’s test game will enable Keshi to have a broader picture of which

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Journey (4) 4 Outfit (3) 6 Fortune (4) 8 Abrade (6) 9 Gipsy (6) 10 Vessel (3) 12 Speechify (5) 14 Precipitous (5) 15 Reluctant (5) 18 Ally (6) 20 Agree (6) 24 Figure (5) 26 Fume (5) 28 Teacher (5) 30 Beverage (3) 32 Rut (6) 33 Quake (6) 34 Frail (4) 35 Odd (3) 36 Tale (4)

DOWN 2 Repeat (5) 3 Gossip (7) 4 Retain (4) 5 Bitter (4) 6 Boundary (5) 7 Worry (7) 11 Choose (3) 12 Dolt (3) 13 Age (3) 16 Append (3) 17 Crone (3) 19 Regret (7) 21 Pose (3) 22 Stun (7) 23 Sailor (3) 25 Wrath (3) 27 Tap 29 Smell (5) 30 Rip (4) 31 Particle (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

How to Play Sudoku

ACROSS: 2, Lithe 7, Sheen 8, Utter 10, Adage 12, Run 13, Arise 15, Expanse 17, Street 19, Hat 20, Devalue 23, Date 25, Mash 26, Entrust 30, Via 31, Thread 34, Defence 37, Rally 38, Ail 39, Ethic 40, Arrow 41, Vexed 42, Shied.

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 1, Short 2, Lease 3, Indeed 4, Huge 5, Stratum 6, Sense 9, Tun 11, Exhaust 13, Aside 14, Irate 16, Pal 18, Terrace 21, Easel 22, Shady 24, Envelop 27, Tin 28, Thrive 29, Heart 32, Raced 33, Alien 35, Fir 36, Etch.

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lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number). Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row. No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470; Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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