How to enjoy maximum sexual impact BY FUNMI AKINGBADE

For many months now, questions have rolled in from various couples asking for what to do to enjoy maximum sex.  So today, we shall be studying the technicality for maximum sexual enjoyment. Sexual technicality is simply the act of treating your spouse in a very special way during sex to enhance his or passion for sex. In other words, sexual technicality is following a sexual and sensual pattern.

First, there must be a proper preparation if sex must be enjoyed. Careful groundwork is essential; preparation begins long before bedtime as sex starts by breakfast and not by bedtime. The first homework is to settle any known or foreseen quarrel as soon as possible. Get ready for sex with a positive mind-set. Many times, couples find it difficult to have good sex because of life challenges but I have observed that if couples always wait for a perfect life situation for sex, they might not find one. So a positive mind-set for any sexual eventuality is very important.

At any given time, filth, lack of neatness, unclearness and poor sense of orderliness have ruined many anticipated sexual thoughts. You must be neat and clean, and at the same time be seductively attractive and sexually appealing. Oral, armpit, vulva and penis hygiene should be well observed, especially when the penis is uncircumcised. The pubic hair should be well shaved to avoid sharp coarse ends that will cause irritation on the skin of your spouse. As simple as this appears, it has ruined good, passionate sex and made some men to develop quick ejaculation while some wives have to apply hot water for healing. Complete sensitive neatness is one of the guiding rules for successful lovemaking. Much good sex has turned out to be a nightmare just because of some offensive odour from the genitals. Since sometimes sex might be unpredictable, it is important to brush the mouth twice daily especially while retiring at night. This is very important because if there is a need to use your tongue on each other, the mouth must be brushed to prevent infection. Many couples contact some form of toilet disease just from unwashed mouth, because the same bacteria responsible for toilet disease are mostly also found in the mouth.

The bed should be laid with clean or new bed spread. Old, stinking bed spreads are turn off. Get enough privacy; make sure doors are well locked as this prevents the mind from roaming on and off to the door side. At no given time should spouses disapprovingly take off each other’s clothes in an offensive, rough manner. It is important that both husband and wife slowly undress each other. This is an exciting part of the technique and the moment this is well in place, the best part of good groundwork has been achieved. As a matter of fact, these particular habits mostly usher in the love play.

Couples should lay themselves bare to one another by letting their partners know their sensitive areas and point of triggers. For majority of ladies, it is the clitoris, the breast, especially the nipples and let him know that it takes time before your sexual organs respond, especially the clitoris. Make him kiss and use his tongue to caress your breast, your nipples, neck, gently and lovingly, then later your genitals. As this goes on, the nipples get erect and the clitoris increases in size. Caressing should not be done in a hurried way. Take enough time to fully enjoy each other! It is important to understand the timing in lovemaking. There should be a gradual building up and intensifying of emotions and sensations. Do not stop or let up the stimulation once it begins, but continue in an ever-increasing manner of arousal.

Basically, the whole body of a loving couple is an erotic zone. For the man, the nape of the neck, the back of the ear, the breast, the armpit, the navel, the inner parts of the thigh, the groin, the pubic hair, the shaft of the penis and the eye of the penis are their most sensitive areas. All these should be kissed tenderly or caressed gently with the hand and tongue of the wife. If the man’s skin is too dry, you can get a bottle of baby lotion and seductively rub both bodies; it will send sexual signals to the whole body. The female erotic zone include the base of the neck, the base of the hair, the lips, the armpit, the breasts especially the nipples, the tummy, the navel, the inner parts of the thigh, the pubic hair, the clitoris, the lips of the vagina and the inner parts of the vagina.

All these could be tenderly touched and caressed with the man’s hands or the tongue. Caressing various areas of your partner’s body shows an interest in the whole person.

In foreplay, the husband and the wife should talk freely with themselves. They should tell each other what they want. While caressing one another without a rush, it is advisable for the wife to take a comfortable position with legs apart so that the man will be able to gently play with her genitals. As her husband caresses her, she in turn plays with his nipple, the shaft of his penis, the eye of the penis, the scrotum (some men like it when their scrotum is fondled with).

To be continued next week

Penis size, sex position leading cause of marital infidelity, study reveals

“Our results show that in the perspective of women, large-sized penises are associated with extra-marital partnerships possibly due to pain and discomfort during sex.”
Married women whose husbands have longer, erect penis, and who are being denied their preferred sex position are more likely to cheat on their men, a study has revealed.
The study, published in Plos One, an online journal, and led by Kenyan and U.S. researchers, sought to investigate the predictors of extra-marital partnerships among women married to fishermen.
The study also showed that domestic violence, younger age, and lack of sexual satisfaction were critical factors leading to marital infidelity in women.
However, women older than 24 and who have increased sexual satisfaction were associated with reduced likelihood of extra-marital affairs.
“Integration of sex education, counselling and life skills training in couple HIV prevention programs might help in risk reduction,” the study noted.
The researchers conducted a total of 1090 structured interviews with 545 married couples from 33 beaches along Lake Victoria, in Kisumu County, Kenya.
A total of 545 women married to fishermen were enrolled to participate in the structured interviews with an average age of 24, with mostly primary level education.
Fishing communities along Lake Victoria are reported to commonly engage in high risk sexual behaviour and have high HIV prevalence rates of up to 26.5 per cent, compared to the regional and Kenyan national average of 15.1 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, the researchers stated.
The majority of the women (56.7 per cent) were affiliated to African Independent Churches while a quarter attended Protestant Churches. Also, over 90 per cent of the women were in monogamous marriage; the majority of those who were in polygamous marriages were in unions that consisted of one man and two wives.
About 6.2 per cent of the women admitted to extra-marital sex in the preceding six months, stated the study, which was published last weekend, while 27 per cent suspected their spouses to be engaged in extra-marital affairs.
Those women who suspect their spouses to be having extra-marital relationships were more likely to be involved in extra-marital affairs themselves than those who did not.
“Our results show that in the perspective of women, large-sized penises are associated with extra-marital partnerships possibly due to pain and discomfort during sex,” the researchers stated.
“This is contrary to men’s perspectives that have caused them to do all sorts of things to augment their penis sizes. Some have even insisted on penile enhancement against medical advisories that their penises are within the normal size.
“This is probably because of the received and popularized fallacy equating a larger penis with masculinity. This thinking needs to be progressively corrected, especially in the light of results such as this from women who are supposedly the main beneficiaries of penile enhancement outcomes.”
The researchers also found that women who are not stimulated by being offered certain preferred sex positions may go the extra step to seek satisfaction.
The study noted that women who experience domestic violence are more likely to become infected with HIV, probably because men who abuse their wives also exhibit riskier sexual behaviours.
“In the context of this study, it seems like women who experience violence from their spouses engage in extra-marital partnerships. It can also be the reverse that women who report extra-marital relationships experience domestic violence especially if their spouses suspect or get to learn about the relationships,” stated the study

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Salary Scale of Nigeria's Policemen

A police recruit earns a consolidated annual salary of N108, 233, 00 and a monthly consolidated salary of N9, 019.42 but when N676.46 is deducted as pension, the recruit goes home with N8, 342.96.
A police constable on grade level 02 (1) earns a gross monthly salary of N42, 508.13 while the one on grade level 02 (10) earns a total of N46, 840.86 with rent.
A police constable grade level 03 (1) earns a gross monthly salary of N43, 293.80 while the one on step 10 earns N48,619.16 including rent while a corporal on grade level 04 (1), earns N44,715.53 and a corporal on grade level 04 (10) goes home with N51,113.59 per month including rent subsidy.
The gross monthly salary of a police sergeant on grade level 05 (1) is N48, 540.88 while a Sergeant on step 10 earns N55, 973.84.
A sergeant major on grade level 06 (1) earns N53, 144.81 and the one on grade level 06 (10) earns N62, 204.88 per month.
For senior officers, the package appears relatively improved.
A cadet inspector on grade level 07 (1) earns N73, 231.51, an Inspector on grade level 07 (10) earns N87, 135.70 including rent subsidy while a cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, on grade level 08 (1) earns N127, 604.68 and an ASP on grade level 08 (10) earns N144,152.07.
An ASP1 on grade level 09 (1) earns N136, 616.06, an ASP on grade level 09 (10) earns N156, 318.39, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) on grade level 10 (1) earns a total monthly salary of N148, 733.29, a DSP on grade level 10 (10) earns N170, 399.69, a Superintendent of Police (SP) on grade level 11 (1) earns N161, 478.29, an SP on grade level 11 (8) earns N187, 616.69.
A Chief of Superintendent of Police, CSP, on grade level 12 (1) earns N172, 089.06, a CSP on the same level on step 8 earns N199, 723.96, an Assistant Commissioner of Police on grade level 13 (1) earns N183, 185.73, an ACP on grade level 13 (8) earns N212, 938.16 while a Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, on grade level 14 (1) earns N242, 715.65, a DCP on grade level 14 (7) earns N278, 852.79.
A Commissioner of Police, CP, on grade level 15 (1) earns N266, 777.79; a CP on step 6 earns N302, 970.47. While an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) on grade level 16 (1) gets N499, 751.87, an AIG on step 5 earns N546, 572.73.
Still, the salary of the Nigerian Inspector-General of Police, IG, is meagre compared with those of the heads of the State Security Services, SSS, National Intelligence Agency, NIA and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
While the IGP earns N711, 498 per month, the Director General of the SSS earns N1, 336 million per month and the EFCC Chairman, N1.5 million, per month.

The 10 Habits of Financially Successful People By J.D. Roth

A couple of weeks ago, a reporter from Kiplinger interviewed me about financial habits. "Do you think there are specific habits that make certain people more successful with money than others?" she asked.

I generally don't like to make generalizations, so at first I hedged my answers. But the more I talked with the reporter, the more I realized that I do see differences in the way people handle money. I thought about the people I know who are always broke, including my brother. These folks seem to share some common qualities. And the people I know who have managed to build wealth? They share some similarities too.

None of these differences are absolute, of course, but from looking at my own friends, and from reading the stories Get Rich Slowly readers have sent me over the years — especially stories about how people have moved from debt to wealth — I do think there are some patterns, including:
Successful people surround themselves with positive people. They limit their exposure to negativity and naysayers, preferring to spend time with folks who have can-do attitudes. They don't have time to listen to the reasons something can't be done; they'd rather find ways to make it happen.
Successful people aren't flummoxed by failure. They know that mistakes are inevitable and should be treated as stepping stones to success rather than signs of weakness or reasons to stop trying. (As a side note, I've become increasingly convinced that the best thing we can do for our children is not to praise achievement, but to praise effort. The former breeds fear of failure.)
Successful people manage their time effectively. They recognize that minutes and seconds are a precious non-renewable resource. So, they set priorities and pursue them with passion. My successful friends seem to watch less television (and play fewer videogames) than my unsuccessful friends, for instance. There's nothing inherently wrong with TV and Flappy Bird, but they suck up time that could be spent exercising or reading or taking a class.
Successful people ignore the opinions of others. They don't feel compelled to "keep up with the Joneses." They limit their exposure to mass media not only because it allows them to be more productive, but also because it reduces the influence of advertising and the pressure of cultural norms. When investing, they don't follow the herd. The wealthy people I know all drive older cars (many of them bought used!), dress modestly, and avoid conspicuous consumption. But the people I know who are most often broke? They're on top of trends and fashion.
Successful people have direction. They act with purpose. They know why they're working hard and saving money. They have a mission, even if it's as simple as putting their kids through college, and their daily actions are aligned with their long-term goals. None of the folks I know who struggle with money have a clear idea of what they want to do with their lives.
Successful people focus on big wins. Yes, they develop smart habits and pay attention to the small stuff. But they also understand that if they're diligent with their dollars, then the pennies will take care of themselves. The average person economizes on the small things but isn't willing to make sacrifices when it comes to housing, transportation, or income. And the folks who are broke all of the time? Well, they fritter away their pennies and their dollars.
Successful people do what's difficult. They don't procrastinate. My friends with money work longer, harder, and smarter than my friends who have less. They practice deferred gratification, sacrificing small comforts today in order to obtain greater rewards tomorrow.
Successful people make their own luck. They practice awareness so that they can recognize opportunities when they come along. Moreover, they act boldly, seizing these opportunities where others might hesitate to act.
Successful people believe they're responsible for their future. They have an internal locus of control. That is, they understand that although it might not be their fault they're in a given situation, it is their responsibility to change it, to respond productively — and proactively.
Successful people grow and change over time. They adapt. They evolve. They're not afraid to entertain different points of view. Most importantly, they're not afraid to change their minds. They seek knowledge and experience, and they allow the things they learn to mold them.
Most people (including me) follow a few of these rules but not others. The most successful people I know do all of the things on this list; the least successful people do none of them.

I guess the bottom line is my friends who are successful with money (and life) take what they do seriously. They treat their personal life as if it were a business. They act as both CEO and CFO, and they do their best to "grow the business" over time.
Your personal wealth is your real business; everything else just supports it.

From your experience — and from observing the people around you — what qualities do you believe separate successful money managers from those who remain broke? Given roughly similar backgrounds, why do some folks build wealth and others struggle to make ends meet? And have you seen anyone overcome their past to build wealth?

The original article: The 10 habits of financially successful people appeared on GetRichSlowly.com.

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We have too many quacks masquerading as teachers— Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the question  of his party, All Progressive Congress (APC), zoning the presidency in the 2015 general elections does not arise as the party has no provision for it. The governor also, in this interview, speaks on his running battle with teachers over qualification, his efforts to address infrastructural deficit in Edo and the National Conference, among other issues. Excerpts:
The burning issue right now in Edo State is your effort to reform the educators. You have rebuilt schools but the people who make good education possible – the teachers – you have been having running battles with them over the need to identify the qualified ones among them through competency tests. Even though the problem is there all over the country, can you describe the peculiar situation in Edo State?
We have abandoned the idea of competency test for what we now call assessment test. The basic difference is that we want to assess the teachers in our employment to find out what is the level  of their competence. That way we will be able to establish the level of assistance they require. For instance, a man who has a National Certificate of Education (NCE) but can’t teach will be put in the hands of experts to determine the kind of training he requires to make up for his deficiency.
If he has the knowledge but does not know how to impart the skill, an appropriate training can be designed. On the other hand, if we find that someone was not supposed to be a teacher at all; he is not even educated but somehow, due to corrupt practices, either through monetary inducement or political manipulations by successive governments and they were dumped on the system, such that their weaknesses cannot be cured through training and retraining, we will decide what to do with them.
If they cannot be redeployed to other areas where they can be useful, then they have to give way to others who have what it takes. We want to understand the nature of the problem besetting education in Edo State, that is why we call it assessment. We can help teachers to be upgraded through in-service training and  refresher courses.
We need a lot of investment in education because that is the most important infrastructure. Infrastructure like roads, hospitals, electricity, water – those are conventional infrastructure that people can see. The most important infrastructure is human capital. And the foundation is primary and secondary education.
I think that is the logic behind compulsory basic education; that every child, irrespective of  his economic circumstances, should have quality basic education. If you get the buildings, the furniture and other things right but the teacher is not competent, then all that investment will be wasted.
As I walk round the state, I often come across young pupils going or coming from school, most times in company of their parents. I look at the uniform and realise that it does not belong to one of the government schools. Some of the m are attending these mushroom private schools. Some of the schools operate  from  uncompleted buildings, no playgrounds, no sporting, recreational facilities.
Then I ask the kid, why do you like to go to that school?’ Or sometimes I ask, ‘have you seen the government schools, the red roof schools?’ They say ‘yes’. ‘So why are you not attending there?’ ‘My mummy or my daddy said no I should attend this one’. A couple of times I have had to interview their parents. They tell me they are happy with the way we have rebuilt the public schools but they are not sure of the teachers.
Across the country, everybody recognizes the crisis in the education sector. It is easy to see the dilapidated school buildings. What is not easy to see is the quality of the teaching staff. The result is that every year West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and other examination bodies announce 70 per cent failure. And we just move on.
We are producing children who do not have what it takes to be employable, or go into the university or polytechnic or even acquire technical education. You now have educated people who cannot read and write.
To underscore the problem, I came across a woman who, in the course verifying her credentials, could not read an affidavit. Instead of “I solemnly declare”, she said “1 Solomon”. Instead of “Judicial Province”, she said: “Onitsha Prophet”.
“Judicial” starts with “J”, yet she was confusing “Judicial” with “Onitsha”. “Province” is “Prophet”. We asked yet another teacher: ‘how many local governments are there in Edo State, list some of them?’ She said: “UNIBEN”. UNIBEN is a local government! I mean, I don’t want to talk about it. We saw things like these in the process of checking credentials, and we realised that the problem goes beyond ghost teachers, or teachers refusing rural postings, but that there are people parading as teachers who are not.
We have too many quacks masquerading as teachers. And the moment I realised this, it was only natural that I had to find courage to deal with this human element which makes all the difference. I started meeting with the Nigerian Union  of Teachers (NUT), civil society organizations, we had town hall meetings. In all these meetings, civil society, human rights organizations, royal fathers, community leaders, market women all said yes, teachers must do this test.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN SUNDAY VANGUARD

Evil People’s Apology! My kidnappers begged for forgiveness – Edwin Clark’s son

IT’S not easy to seize a prey from the mouth of the tiger, but that was exactly what the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, Warri, did, last Sunday, when it forced kidnappers of Mr. Ebikeme Clark, son of a former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, to unconditionally release him, four days after he was taken hostage in Kiagbodo, Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State.
THERE was an instantly recognizable vibrancy in the tone of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, as he spoke to Sunday Vanguard, on the release of  Ebikeme.
His joie de vivre, it was later found out, had to do with the novel strategy deployed by the DWSC to secure the release of the victim.
DWSC, a security group, comprising former Niger-Delta agitators, youth leaders and professionals, is the first committee that Uduaghan inaugurated on assumption of office in 2007, to ensure peace and security on the waterways of the state, and provide intelligence  to security agencies, among other things.
Uduaghan was understandably worried that Clark’s son was kidnapped and, given the information available to him, it was a matter that native intelligence had to be applied.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that Uduaghan, who insisted that no ransom should be paid, contacted the leadership of the committee and tasked it to secure the release of Ebikeme.
He said, “The committee has justified my confidence in it with the adroit manner it went about the rescue operation.”

Strategy that paid off
A top member of the committee said, “When the governor spoke to the leadership of DWSC, it was obvious to us that we must perform since the marshy terrain will be difficult for the police, the army and DSS to penetrate.”
He then narrated the strategy that rescued Clark’s second son: “What happened is that we first went on intelligence gathering to find out the people who carried out the kidnappin. We sent our boys in Ijaw axis to find out the gang that abducted Ebikeme and its whereabouts; the DWSC member said.
“Our machinery worked well and we got information on the gang, their leader, simply identified as Joshua. We arrested a member of the gang, who claimed he only participated in the planning and the man whose speed boat was used to whisk Ebikeme to the den of the kidnappers in the creek. They were handed over to the police and they made useful statements on the crime and their co-conspirators.
“Thereafter, we traced some of the family members of those holding Ebikeme in the creek. Our plan was to arrest more of their family members, but satisfied that we had them where we wanted them with the arrest of three suspected members of the gang, we called them on the phone number we obtained from their men in our custody that the game is up.
Linchpin
“It was in the course of investigation that  we found out that the kidnapping  was masterminded by the driver to an ex-militant leader in the Niger-Delta. He hails from Kalafigbene in Bomadi council. He was the one that provided the AK-47 rifle used for the operation.
“His boss did not know anything about his involvement until we informed him and he worked with DWSC thereafter.
“At first, they played hard, but when we made their members in our net to speak to them, they understood that we had gone ahead of them, as we threatened that if Ebikeme was not released in less than three days, we will go after their other family members.
“The gang thought we were bluffing when we told them we knew them and had some of their family members with us, which was why we made their loved ones to speak to them.   I believe that was what weakened them.”
New tune
At this stage, the suspected kidnappers, the DSWC official stated, began to beg that we should spare their families and save them from going to jail, but we told them that they must release Ebikeme hale and hearty.
Release
“When the fear-gripped kidnappers dropped Ebikeme, they sent a message to the Vice Chairman of DWSC that they had dropped him at a location,” he said. “Following the text message, DWSC mobilized to Bomadi, between 1.00 am and 2.00 am. It was the committee that informed Ebikeme’s  father, Chief Clark,  about the rescue and he told us where to take him to.”
The official said the wife and children of the one of the suspected kidnappers, who were arrested by DWSC, were still in police custody on Sunday morning when the gang released Ebikeme.
“I am, however, pleading that police should release the wife and children because they had no hands in the kidnapping.
Mr. Dickson Bekederemo, a cousin and legal adviser to  Clark, told Sunday Vanguard  that the rescue of Ebikeme  was the handiwork of DWSC.
He said a member of the committee contacted him in the early hours of Sunday that the kidnappers sent a text message to the effect that the victim  had been released, adding, “I joined him and we went to Bomadi with a team of security to bring him.”
Ebikeme himself said he was astounded hours before he was released, when the kidnappers started begging him to forgive them and plead with government not to kill them or harm their families.
He spoke of how they tied his hands and legs, and took him to the high sea, threatening to throw him into the water because his father was “stubborn” and refused to pay them ransom.
Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, said  his command was worried over the whereabouts of other members of the kidnap gang still at large.
“Other gang members still at large, according to him,  include Timi, Abel, Ndamaw, and Jacob. “The suspects further confessed to being behind the kidnapping of one Madam Rose at Udu Road, Warri, from whose family they collected a ransom of N1.8 million,” Aduba added.
The State Police Command’s spokesperson, Celestina Kalu, who paraded the suspects on March 7, said one of them, Joshua Ogofa, was the master mind.
Another, David Emevor, a native of Kiagbodo, was said to have been “the Judas” who plotted the kidnapping as an insider. Ebikeme  told Sunday Vanguard that the suspect  kept tab on him for two months. Bosin Kevwe, a native of Aladja, allegedly provided the Audi 80 saloon car used for the operation.
Sylvester Dio, a native of Isaba in Ogbe Ijaw, Warri South West council, was said to have provided the speed boat. Pius Arhavwaren, a native of Olota in Ughelli South council, provided the motorcycles used for the operation.

vanguard

Fayemi nominated as APC candidate for Ekiti election

The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi  has been nominated as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in the state for the June 21 election.

Details later.

Aregbesola wins APC ticket in Osun

    
The Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has won the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress, for the August 9 governorship election n the state.

He won with 269,631.

Details later.

GDP Rebasing: Questions Jonathan and Okonjo-Iweala must answer By Dele Sobowale

“If a man stands with one foot in a bucket of boiling water, the other in a bucket of ice, statistically, he is comfortable -” VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 233).
Before going into the substance of the matter, rebasing the economy, that is, permit me to make a few observations which are pertinent to the discussion, as the readers will soon discover.
That entry, in the Book of Quotations, was made after years of observing the uses and abuses of statistical data like the figures just released after rebasing the Nigerian economy by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
That exercise also reminds me of the quip by Mark Twain, 1835-1910, the incomparable writer of one of our best childhood classics – THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Mark Twain, who had an abiding distrust for statisticians, once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics -” (BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 130).
Twain was not, and is not, the only person to take a pessimistic view of statistics, especially when released by bodies, particularly governments, which have lost credibility. Even, when the figures presented are true and correct, and I am not saying these are at the moment, the messenger becomes part of the message and both are thrown into the garbage can immediately.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Yemi Kale, must be deeply disturbed at the degree of skepticism which had greeted the release of those figures last week. Nothing hurts a professional more than seeing his best efforts publicly rubbished by the people he intended them to help. For that he has my sympathies; but that is all. He, like every public official, must carry his cross.
With little doubt of contradiction, it is true that rebasing is more an exercise in statistics and less of an economic process. It mostly seeks to correct a lot of assumptions about an economy without immediately conferring any economic advantage on the people – as most people, including government officials, suppose.
Indeed, Kale can observe the tendency to exaggerate the benefits, if any, of rebasing in some of the comments made by the Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, regarding the increase in in-flow of Foreign Direct Investment that might follow the exercise.

For a former Managing Director of the World Bank (Okonjo-Iweala), this is an inexcusable attempt to turn information into propaganda. It was not surprising, therefore, that the day after the new GDP, $510billion, was announced, the World Bank felt called upon to correct the misinformation, deliberate or inadvertent, by Okonjo-Iweala.
According to experts from the World Bank, policies and profitability, as well as security were more critical elements in the determination of Foreign Direct Investments; and not the size of GDP.  I will return to this later.
So, if Kale is in search of an answer to why most Nigerian received his figures with disbelief, bordering on derision, he can start by reading again what Federal Government officials are saying about what this new figure represents – which are mostly fallacious.
The Statistician General of the Federation knows that I am one of the few Nigerians who were not surprised by the figures released. In fact, it was expected – almost to the letter. As far back as last year, the NBS had hinted at these figures and the announcement, then, tucked inside newspapers, had attracted very little attention.
But I was among the few Nigerians, economists or laymen, who paid close attention. I even made a comment about the exercise, at the time, which resulted in a long conversation, lasting almost two hours, on the phone, between Kale and I.
My misgivings about the entire exercise were made known to the Statistician-General. So, unlike most commentators, my reactions now are by no means, spontaneous and ill-considered. I have had almost a whole year, waiting for these figures to be released in order to join the debate on it publicly.
One thing which strikes me forcefully, now is the fact that I was under the impression that the hints, given last year, did not represent the final position; that those were preliminary figures which might change. But, what was released, last week, was almost the same set of data which were labeled ‘Work-In-Process’, last year. Very little has been changed.
Then, as now, it was claimed that the Nigerian economy was already bigger than that of South Africa and all the other countries we have now overtaken in one leap of giant data. The coincidence between the lowering of noise, for almost a year, about VISION 20:2020, and our new status as the 26th largest economy, from 39th last year, is the sort of thing which had left most Nigerians scratching their heads in disbelief.
Obviously, the NBS has a lot of explanations to give to persuade Nigerians that the motives behind the release of these disputed figures, at this time, are professional and honourable.
However, before closing this first part in the series, on rebasing, let me leave all Nigerians, including government officials, with some questions to ponder. Some of those questions were asked, last year, without satisfactory answers being provided.
If I recall accurately, Kale had pointed out that rebasing should be undertaken every four/five years and that the last one was conducted in 1990 – almost 15 years ago. If that is true, one exercise should have been conducted in 2009 and another in 2004. Okonjo-Iweala was the Finance Minister in 2004. Why was the rebasing exercise not conducted at the time? Or is she just hearing about this for the first time in her career?
President Goodluck Jonathan was the Vice-President in 2009 and he became President in 2010. Why was there no rebasing at that time? How many times since independence has the rebasing exercise been carried out? We need to have answers to these questions in order to be convinced that the exercise is totally professional and was not conducted for ulterior motives.
Finally, how much was spent on the exercise? Was the amount budgeted and approved by the National Assembly before it was undertaken?…
To be continued.

vanguard

Men from hell snatch 20 children in Calabar

With over 20 kids abducted in three months in Calabar, the stories surrounding their disappearance are like tales from the moon, but what is happening to kids between the ages of three and six in the Cross River State capital, is far from tales; they are real life incidents which are sending fear down the spine of many parents.
Since February,  men from hell have besieged the city, snatching children suspected for ritual purposes or sale to barren women around the city who  allegedly pay triple digit amounts for the kids.
The Cross River State House of Assembly and the State Security Adviser, Mr Rekpene Bassey, disturbed by the  trend, raised the alarm but this has not yielded any results. The police in the state are yet to make arrest on the kidnapped children.
Describing the modus operandi of the abductors, Bassey said they would  position themselves in busy areas to watch out for parents who park cars with children inside to abduct the kids. In other cases, the thieves abduct children playing outside their residences. Others are snatched while on errand or on the way to or from school. And in some daring cases , the abductors snatch kids from parents while pretending to offer them lift. The security adviser warned parents to beware of  child kidnappers and assured that security agencies had been placed on the alert  over the situation.
In one of the cases of child kidnapping which occurred on March 23, a four-year-old, Nsew Udo Akpan, was snatched by abductors while playing outside his home with his sister at Atekong Street, Biq Qua Town.
Another  4-year-old-boy, Effiong Edet, was abducted in Ikot Onim  area of Calabar by hoodlums who raided the community in an Audi car with the  number plate covered.
The kidnappers struck at about 8:30 pm on Wednesday March 12 while the local vigilante members, majority of whom are  said to be football lovers, were preoccupied with watching the Arsenal match against  a Turkish football club in the European league.
The gang , on arrival at the community, reportedly drove to the Edets compound where they sighted the boy (Effiong) and his friends playing.
The hoodlums first attempted to whisk away a six-year old boy, identified as Joseph, who resisted his assailants by crying and biting one of the kidnappers on the hand which caused them to abandon him and then seizing   Effiong  who they bundled into their car and sped off.
In February, a three-year, old-boy, Victor Offiong-Edem, was taken away by  unknown persons at the Assemblies of God Church, located at  14, Nnamdi Azikiwe Street, Calabar South, during Sunday service.
The father of the boy, Mr Offiong Edem, a staff of the College of Health Technology, Calabar, told Sunday Vanguard that he took his family to the church on the fateful day. After the offering, he went to work and left Victor in the company of his wife, Angelica, and his other son, Samuel, but was later informed that Victor had gone missing.
“I work on Sundays. After giving my offering that day, I went to work leaving behind my wife, Angelica, Samuel, my first son, and Victor in the church only to be called later that Victor had gone missing ”, Edem stated.
Mrs Angelica Offiong, mother of the missing boy, said after the close of service, she had a short meeting with some church members. “After the meeting, I  went to pick my bag where I kept it not far away from where I stood and, when I turned back, Victor was nowhere to be found”, she narrated, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The kidnapper, according to her, must have been monitoring her and the children and as soon as her eyes were turned away from the child, he took away the boy.
Pastor Chukwu Ekeke, the head pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, said this was the “first time an unfortunate incident like this would take place in this church”. He added, “Prayers have been said and I know God will certainly bring back that boy”.
In January, two siblings, Goodluck Charles Eyo and Promise Charles Eyo, were playing in front of their residence, located at 98 Eserebom Street, Calabar South, while the mother, Uduak Charles, went to the back of the house to take   her  bath. When she stepped out of the bathroom, the two kids were gone. Their father, Charles Eyo, a Keke Napep rider, said he had done “everything spiritual and physical to get the children back to no avail”.
Also in January, a mother, Janet Ekpe, was walking along Bakoko Road, at 8 Miles, Calabar, when two men in a car stopped by; she thought they wanted to find out how to locate a place. “One of them was in the car while the other came out. I thought he wanted to ask me the number of a street but, before I knew it, he snatched Junior out of my hand, ran into the car and they sped off”.
The lady, who said she was stunned to know what was happening, said she came to her senses after the car had gone far. By the time she started screaming, the thieves had disappeared.
A member of Cross River State House of Assembly, Ngim Okpo, brought a motion of urgent public interest “on the increasing incidents of child snatching where, in recent time which have seen cases of kidnapping of innocent children by some unscrupulous elements for alleged ritual purposes”, before the House.
He called on the House to pass a resolution to compel “relevant government agencies to sensitize members of the public against falling prey”.
The police, on their part, said efforts were on to unravel the syndicates behind the stealing of children in Cross River State. Mr Hogan Bassey, the spokesman for Cross River Police Command, told Sunday Vanguard: “Police cannot be every where; members of the public should volunteer information on those they suspect to be the brain behind  abduction in the state”.

vanguard

70-year-old HIV positive man allegedly rapes 13-year-old girl

The suspect reportedly admitted to the crime and disclosed his HIV status.
A 70-year-old man, Thursday, allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl in Barkinladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Chris Olakpe, confirmed this on Saturday to journalists in Jos, the state capital.
Mr. Olakpe said the suspect, who is HIV positive, was arrested, following a tip off by neighbours; and brought to the state headquarters of the command.
“A son of the landlord of the suspect, suspected the act of the 70-year-old man, and alerted the neighborhood,” the police chief said, saying that led to the suspect’s arrest.
The suspect reportedly admitted to the crime and disclosed his HIV status. He then pleaded for mercy.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that residents of the area had gathered to lynch the suspect, but for the intervention of the police.
The Police Commissioner said the suspect was being interrogated by the police; while the victim has been taken to a hospital in the state for treatment.
Mr. Olakpe, who spoke via a telephone conference, said the suspect would be prosecuted after investigations.
There have been increased rape cases in Barkinladi.
About two weeks ago, a mobile police officer attached to the Special Task Force on Jos crisis was dismissed from the Police Force, for allegedly raping a 4-year-old in Barkinladi.

Premium times

Nigeria releases man detained after tweeting photos of gun-battle at SSS headquarters

Yusuf Onimisi Siyaka, the Nigerian man arrested and detained by the State Security Service for 12 days, for tweeting pictures of an attempted jail break in Abuja, has been released, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report this morning.
It is not clear how and when Mr. Siyaka was released but family members confirmed to this newspaper that he has been set free.
One of his relatives, who described herself as his auntie but declined to give her name, told PREMIUM TIMES at Mr. Siyaka’s Life Camp residence in Abuja that the detained man simply returned home after he was released.
She said after he returned home, a driver was asked to drive him to Okene in Kogi state to visit his mother, who she said was apprehensive and was longing to see him.
Asked about Mr. Siyaka’s health, the woman simply said he was in good health and did not appear traumatised.
As she spoke to our reporter and other sympathizers who visited the residence, the woman appeared flustered and scared, indicating the SSS might have warned the family against providing information on Mr. Siyaka’s detention to anyone.
Although she claimed Mr. Siyaka was already travelling to Okene, our reporter got hint he was in the apartment but was being shielded by family members from speaking to anyone on his ordeals.
Mr. Siyaka had disappeared after tweeting photos of fighting between Nigerian security operatives and Boko Haram suspects trying to escape from the State Security Service (SSS) headquarters.
Witnesses said he was arrested by armed plainclothes operatives outside his office and whisked away. He was not allowed access to family members or lawyers.
The SSS has so far failed to confirm or deny that they  arrested and detained him.
But while the SSS kept mum on Mr. Siyaka’s whereabouts, Nigerian bloggers and activists mounted intensive push for his release, with some organizing for a “physical campaign” to press authorities to act.
“If we are all scared and quiet, the Abacha tendency in our government will arise again,” a social media activist, Babatunde Rosanwo, said. “Yesterday, they came for@ciaxon. Today, they will come for you. By tomorrow, they will have all of us.”
Mr. Siyaka, 28, was born on June 14, 1986.
An indigene of Okene in Kogi state, he attended Government Secondary School, Gwarinpa, Life Camp, Abuja, graduating with a Senior School Certificate in 2000.
He later studied Electrical Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello University, graduating with a Second-Class Upper degree in 2010.
Between 2011 and 2012, Mr. Siyaka worked with the Department of Electrical Electronic Engineering of the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State, for his National Youth Service Corps programme.
Before then, he had, as an intern, amassed industrial experience working with construction  giant, Julius Berger. He monitored the construction of street light along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
He also, between 2005 and 2006,  interned at the Faculty of Enginnering of the Ahmadu Bello University, learning designs and construction of engineering tools.
He speaks Ebira, Hausa and English fluently and enjoys E-learning, swimming and memorization of the Holy Quoran.

Premium times

Celebrity lies that became truths

For one reason or other, our celebrities seem to think they can take us for a ride whenever, however and wherever they want. And that includes telling us all sorts of lies, either to promote their image or just to stick it on our faces that we are plain stupid. But what they seem to forget is that their innocent public, as stupid as it may appear, doesn’t forget easily. All their deeds, utterances and even silence,most often do not go unrecorded. For reading pleasure, here are some celebrities’ ‘lies’ that became ‘truths’, whether inadvertently or deliberately. Tiwa Savage and Tee Billz So many times, Tiwa Savage and her manager, Tee Billz were found kissing and caressing each other. Even the social media was rife with pictures suggesting some romantic dalliances between the duo. Yet the ‘Kele Kele’ crooner vehemently denied any relationship between the two of them insisting they had nothing beyond work relationship. Having grudgingly swallowed this lie and denial, Nigerians were dumbfounded when videos of their engagement began trending online. Today, most people are upset because they were lied to as the love birds recently got married. Funke Akindele So many white lies have escaped the lips of our dear Funke Akindele a.k.a Jenifa, especially about her wedding to her ex-husband, Kehinde Adeola Oloyede popularly known as Kehinde Almaroof. She lied in print about the venue of the much talked about wedding. While the ceremony was scheduled to hold at The Haven Events Centre, Oba Akinjobi Road, GRA, Ikeja, she circulated an invitation card which read, All Seasons Plaza, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos as the venue. Apart from the media, she also misled other invitees, especially those from distant places clad in Aso Ebi, who expressed their regrets and disappointment on finding out the truth. When confronted, Akindele, who spoke through her media aide, blatantly denied knowledge of the card with the fake address. DBanj In 2012, when the Koko master premiered his first reality show, Koko Mansion, he made series of promises which till today has remained unfulfilled. His promise to feature the adjudged winner, which turned out to be Bolanle Okhiria, in the official video of “Fall in Love” is one of those unfulfilled promises. The Koko master was either lying to all or deliberately reneging on his promise as he ended up featuring Nollywood beauty, Genevieve Nnaji, in the video. Yvonne Nelson Her recent outburst following her failed romance with Kukere crooner, Iyanya came as a rude shock to many people. When the going was good, the star actress not only savoured good moments of the romance with the “Your Waist” master; she also denied having an affair with him. But when the relationship crashed and became an open secret, all she could do was to bow in shame. Suddenly, the lie about not dating the artiste turned out to be the truth. Tuface Idibia It may have been that Tuface Idibia had one woman in mind when he wrote and sang ‘African Queen’, but for long, he has been entangled in a love triangle involving not less than three African beauties who have given him children. He did find this situation funny, hence in an earlier interview, the international star stated thus: “the truth is that marriage is not in my plans. I will never marry. Let me put it bluntly. I don’t want to marry. I am angry.” Today, Tuface is not only married but had a large society wedding outside the country precisely in Dubai. So, the truth is, either Tu Baba lied about his decision never to marry or he simply had a rethink. Doris Simon In March 2012, reports of marital turbulence centred on the family of crossover actress, Doris Simeon when her celebrated filmmaker husband, Daniel Ademinokan allegedly trod the path of infidelity with another top actress, thereby putting the couple’s three-year marriage under tension. The story made the cover of various newspapers and magazines and equally trended heavily online. In reaction to the story, the award winning English and Yoruba actress debunked the rumoured crack in her marriage, insisting it was a figment of the peddlers’ imagination, a distraction and a product of idle minds. Today, Simeon has buried her head in shame, not only because the marriage irretrievably nosedived, but for initially lying and deceiving both the media and her numerous fans about the true state of her marriage.

Vanguard

Largest Economy: Irony of Numbers

Nigeria is now Africa’s largest economy and the 26th world over. True or false? Saturday Vanguard in this special report tried to get answers from Nigerians
It is a miracle but the reality is lost in its own incredibility.
Ordinarily, it calls for celebration, but no one would dare. That Nigeria has become the biggest economy in Africa and the 26th in the world after a recent rebasing exercise that has shot its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to $509 billion, ahead of South Africa’s $350 billion is cheery. But that was only a paper work and politics of statistics.
With a vast array of intractable social problems such as power, poverty, illiteracy, infrastructural deficits, corruption, unemployment, insecurity, etc, it would be a herculean task to convince any Nigerian that this is so.
Meanwhile, like every other organization in Nigeria,  Vanguard family was overwhelmed by the news last weekend. Consequently, Saturday Vanguard went out to harness the views of the people on the development as it affects the common man on the street. Below were the submissions.
Act One, Scene One
Five O’ clock, Sunday evenings, is usually the time for our weekly editorial meetings at the Abuja Bureau of Vanguard Newspaper. But 30 minutes past the hour last Sunday, the meeting was yet to come on stream. The newsroom was full and we were all seated, waiting for the Bureau Chief, Mr. Emma Ujah to come with the briefs, reviews and previews of past and upcoming weeks’ works. Such has been the practice: a conscious in-house exercise to evaluate our individual and collective copies and then, articulate ways of improvement subsequently.
But he was stuck in his office. This was as far as some of us who had gone to his office earlier on to greet him upon our arrival for the meeting could tell. He sat glued to his computer system and was battling with freshly knitted papers before him, flipping through the pages. Of course, he appeared too engrossed and wouldn’t welcome elongated salutations. That would distort this chain of thoughts. It was already production time and Lagos was waiting for the copy which would make news the next day.
Aside being the Bureau Chief, he also reports Business and Finance, and so covers the Federal Ministry of Finance. So, we left him alone and went back to the newsroom, patiently waiting.
Just when our patience had started wearing out, he emerged from his office. “Gentlemen, have you all read the short email I sent to your boxes? He asked.
Swiftly, some of us reached for our BlackBerry phones, IPads and Androids. Those who had previously powered the office computers began to surf them again.
The message was simple.
”Nigeria’s nominal Gross Domestic Product, GDP, now stands at $509.9 billion, making the nation’s economy the largest in Africa and the 26th in the world, according to the preliminary results of the rebasing exercise of the federal government.
”The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala announced this yesterday at a press conference jointly addressed with the Statistician-General, Dr. Yemi Kale, in Abuja yesterday.
”The rebasing exercise on the Nigerian economy which also saw the Per capita rising to $2, 688, covered 2010 to 2013. It came after two decades of the last exercise.
“The debased estimates indicate that the nominal GDP for Nigeria was much higher than previously estimated .  In 2010 the estimate was $360. 644 billion; in 2011 it was $408.805 billion; 2012 $453.966 billion ; and in 2013 $509.970 billion.
The growth rate is driving by the services sector with it contributing about 51 per cent of the GDP. Details later,” the piece reads.
That was the news.
Captioned “Nigeria’s GDP hits $510 billion, now largest in Africa, 26th in the world,” the essence of that mass reading was to enable all of us get reactions from Economists, financial experts, politicians, scholars and ordinary Nigerians.
But a couple of us were monetarily lost at the news he just broke. “Nigeria becoming the largest economy in Africa? No, something enigmatic must have happened. We thought mutely.
Even as he rushed through a transient explanation of what rebasing and GDP meant, some of us still showed some ignorance, nay indifference on the topic. Yes, we are all Journalists with degrees, some of us, post graduate diplomas and masters degrees in Mass Communications, Literature, Linguistics etc.
Also, quite a number of us have attained an age in the practice of journalism that  we could not, in reality, feign ignorance of the import or total meaning of GDP and rebasing. But we somewhat, temporarily wore the garb of a lay man at the mention of Nigeria becoming the biggest economy in Africa.
And so as Journalists who report the daily glories and woes of the contemporary Nigeria, we already had our reasons for our indifference at the finger tips: infrastructural decays, abject poverty, gargantuan unemployment vis-a-vis the harvest of deaths of youths at the recent job recruitment test of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); perennial threats of insecurity which has consumed uncountable lives in the last
four years especially in the north eastern geopolitical hemisphere, the almighty corruption and sundry funds wastages in some public institutions, the serpentine queues at the petrol stations, epileptic power supply, just to mention but a few. Then a flurry of thoughts engulfed us.
We thought of how to break this news to the clotheless “Danfo” bus driver and his emaciated conductor who ply the motor ways in Lagos daily for food. We thought of how to tell the young man who has traversed the streets of Abuja, Port Harcourt or Aba looking for a job after many years of graduation from the higher institution. So many things rushed through our minds that made us square up for an argument with the Bureau Chief.
But that was an assignment we needed to do. It was not in our plan to provide answers. Ours was to investigate and gather views from Nigerians. But we are still Nigerians living not in the moon.
Meanwhile, that was much we could do as some of us left for the assignment.  But that was not to say that we don’t know what GDP meant.
Act 1 Scene 2
What is GDP?
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year, or other given period of time. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country’s standard of living.
To a layman, rebasing the economy is simply an economic exercise aimed at producing current statistics of goods and service produced locally. In the case of Nigeria, the inclusion of Telecommunications and information services; motion pictures and sound recording; cement production; food, beverage and tobacco; construction and real estate sectors produced the information that jerked the country on the front row.
A belated exercise.

The rebasing exercise is obviously coming 24 years late. The last time it was done was in 1990. According to experts, countries rebase every 5 years but Nigeria’s has taken such a long time. Analysts are of the opinion that not heeding the frequency is by itself a failure on the part of the country.
Act One Scene Three
—Nigerians react
It is growth without real economic development —Alhaji Adamu Aliero, ex Governor, Kebbi State
It is good that there is an economic growth in Nigeria but at the same time, this growth has not translated into real economic development because we still have extreme poverty in the country. We still have unemployment on a very large scale and we still have over 15 million people in Nigeria that are illiterates.
They cannot read or write. This growth we are talking about is concentrated in a very few hands. It is not growth that transcends at every stratum of the society simply because the economic policy we have adopted is largely antagonistic.
It is all about statistics —–Ray Ekpo, Journalist and former Editor of defunct Newswatch Magazine
I don’t doubt that is the biggest because when you look at the population of Nigeria, the consumption level, it is entirely possible that we may have gone past South Africa which was the leader. Because, for instance, if you look at the telecommunication industry, Nigeria has done very well.
If you look at the music and movie industry, Nigeria  is rated the second in the world after Hollywood and the enterprise called Nigeria has really developed over the last 10 years. That is why you are able to find a Nigerian being named the richest man in Africa. So, the Nigerian economy has developed. Of course the oil industry has been quite an important factor in this growth.
But it is growth without development as far as I can see. If you have growth and the people are suffering, if you have growth and you don’t have employment, full or near full employment, if you have growth and you still have the level of poverty we have here, then it is not real growth. It is just statistics as far as I am concerned.
For me, the government ought to worry about the other aspects of growth which is the reduction of poverty, the reduction of unemployment, the increase in capital development and the improvement in infrastructure. If these do not happen, then your bigness means nothing.
It doesn’t change anything—Atedo Peterside, Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Bank
Whether Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa or not, it does not change anything immediately for the citizens. It is simply a case of correctly establishing our income.
People have confused that and imputed all kinds of motives. There is nothing to rejoice about, nothing to celebrate. All we have done is to correct the national income figures and the GDP figures that we have been compiling. Most countries are supposed to rebase every five to ten years. We have not done so for over 20 years. So, certainly our figures might be distorted and incorrect.
It is almost like saying you are measuring your height with a faulty tape. All you have done now is to use the correct tape to measure your height. Or you were trying to measure your weight with a faulty scale? You have removed the faulty scale and brought a correct scale and you have established the rightful way. That’s all. There is nothing to celebrate about it. If you are poor before, you are still poor. If you are hungry before, you are still hungry.
So, I don’t understand why people are trying to impute motive and to a simple exercise of rebasing. It is simply a case of producing more accurate data. It will only help those managing the economy with better data because you know where the income lies. For instance, with better data on income, you can better assess those who are paying their cooperate income taxes and things like that. That is where the benefit comes from.
But if you are hungry before, you will still be hungry for now. What you have in your wallet before has not changed. The only thing that can change is that those managing the economy with better data might be able to target policies and programmes that are more accurate because it is now based on accurate information as to where income lies, as to where the various sectors will contribute and so on.

Unemployment rate still high—Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, National Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF)
This GDP issue they are talking about is something that is more academic in the sense that they are talking about products and services on a higher scale in Nigeria. But for a common person who doesn’t understand the way the economy works, it is difficult for him to acknowledge the fact that Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa. Because a lot of things are not working. For example, power.
If you talk of improved services and your power is going down, there seems to be a problem because there has to be some corresponding effect in this kind of situation. But recently, we read in the papers that our electricity generation that was 3,000 megawatts has dropped now to about 2.8 and it is going down due to so many factors. And yet, you said the economy is improving. It is very funny. Not only that.
Even our unemployment rate is so high. According to a lot of figures being bandied around, you have a lot of Nigerians, over 10 million, qualified Nigerians that are out of job and that is a very serious issue. So many things are really incomprehensible for a lay man for him to understand that the economy is really improving.
So to me, my reaction is that the government should come out with things that can convince the common man.
Let there be jobs. Let’s have food. Let’s have power. Let’s have people who are self employed, really doing something productive so that Nigerians can see just like you have in other countries like Malaysia. We see a lot of their products here and that tells me that their economy is booming. But do we really have our products outside apart from the petroleum? Do we? We don’t.
Another issue is, if you look at the economy or money critically, it is in the hands of few people. I was very shocked when I heard someone saying that Nigerians have progressed because we have people like Dangote. We have so many big people, he mentioned. But out of 170,000,000 people and you have less than 10,000 who are controlling the economy; to me, that is a very serious issue. Otherwise, gradually, these 170,000,000 people will consume these 10,000 people they think have the resources.
Nigeria is getting somewhere —-Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN)
Yes, on paper, theoretically, it is the biggest economy. But in practice, it has not yet impacted on the people of Nigeria. There are certain indices that this world body looks at and you may discover that Nigeria is a quietly growing big elephant, humongously so that we yet have not taken note of.
As time goes on, the development they are talking about will begin to manifest in terms of physical showing. We may not see them yet. But Economists, the world over do get the indices right and I think I believe them. We are getting somewhere.
We speak too much of grammar—-Hon. Zakari  Mohammed, House of Representatives spokesman
Nigeria, we need to be very realistic with certain developments. For me , I think that all those indices are just things that one can just place on paper. Rather, what is important is meeting the standard. There is too much of grammar being spoken. What about the living standard of the average Nigerian?
All of us know that in this clime, so many people live on less than two dollars per day and if a country is in that bracket, I exactly do know what indices that are being used to propound those theories. I think  we should deviate from theories and go into practicalities where the basic necessitates of life will be provided for the Nigerian people and that has been the problem over time.
We speak too much of grammar when it comes to economics but in the reality, how much is an average Nigerian worth on the street? I think those are the things that should concern us. Going to unemployment, all of us know exactly what is going on. So, my own take is that all of us must look at those things that retard our economy so that rather than our youths being job seekers, they can become employers of labour because government cannot provide all the jobs in this world.
And in the economy too, power is at the lowest ebb now and there is no stable economy that runs on diesel. So, for me, we should depart from all those theories and at least address the issues. How can infrastructural deficits be addressed? Security, employment, etc, should be addressed.
Translate it to food—-Rep. Ogbonna Nwuke
Of course, it is nice to hear that the nation’s GDP is registering an upward swing, with economic  analysts saying the average 6.8% growth rate annually makes the Nigerian economy one of the most vibrant in the world. But the progressive rise in GDP is yet to translate to more food on the table given that many still live below poverty line.
We are still importing from South Africa-—Odilim Enwegbara, Development Economist
Despite Nigeria’s per capita GDP rising by 89 per cent standing at as low as $2,688, ranked as number 121st in the world’s per capita GDP ranking, Nigeria remains one of the poorest countries not only in the world but also in Africa. It has a population of 170million with $509.9billion while South Africa with 51 million has $370.3billion GDP.
Just like the most populous nation with highly unproductive youthful class, Nigeria as the largest economy status in Africa also comes with all its ironies. Yes, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and the 26th largest in the world, and yet to be an industrial economy has virtually all its consumables imported, including from South Africa. Also, it has overtaken South Africa with mere 4,500MW against South Africa’s 43,000MW.
Therefore, while South Africa’s economic competitive advantage is dependent on its high industrial and financial sectors, which are driven by the country’s world-class infrastructure, Nigeria’s economic competitive disadvantage is caused by moribund industrial and financial sectors because of equally moribund infrastructure.
In other words, whereas South Africa’s economy is dependent on internally generated revenue made possible by horizontal economic activities, Nigeria’s, being an oil rent seeking economy with externally generated revenues is vertically economic system, which grows without development.
This means that South Africa’s economy enjoys both multiplier and trickledown effects, and as a result creates jobs and reduces poverty. Nigeria’s economy on the other hand experiences mere multiplier effects without trickledown effects, making a jobless and poverty-ridden economy.
Whereas Nigeria is a nation of two economic extremes — extremely rich and extremely poor without middle-class; South Africa on the other hand is a vibrant middle-class striving economy where the extreme rich pay the right taxes as a way of not only lifting the poor out of poverty, but also making them productive citizens.
That is why while the euphoria following this announcement couldn’t be overemphasized, particularly around Nigeria’s corridors of power, especially for Nigeria to have finally beaten its hegemonic challenger in Africa, becoming largest economy in Africa  isn’t different from the most populous country in Africa and the devil with the details.
That is why unless we understand that GDP rebasing has little significance beyond handing government clearer picture about the structure of the country’s economy as well as providing it with the most reliable tools in tackling the challenges facing the economy should the goodwill be there. That explains why there was little or nothing to celebrate by Nigeria’s millions of poverty-ridden and jobless citizens.
Yes, while the rebasing has confirmed that the most populous nation in Africa shouldn’t be fighting with South Africa over which of the two African countries has larger GDP; the unhidden truth remains that despite larger GDP, Nigeria’s per capita income remains a fraction of South Africa’s. This means Nigeria’s largest GDP in Africa has to be considered along with the cost and ease of doing business.
To reverse the country’s vertical economic growth, which is dependent on externally generated revenues and multiplier effects without corresponding trickle-down effects, we have to start  addressing head-on the country’s high infrastructure deficit, especially if all now agree that without world-class infrastructure there is no way Nigeria could emerge as a modern industrial economy genuinely driven by the real sector.
Bottom line
No doubt, all things being equal, it is indeed a giant leap into economic greatness for Nigeria to emerge the Africa’s largest economy. But according to some analysts, this greatness can only be substantiated if it is translated to food and wealth for the citizenry. Having got the figures correctly, according to Peterside, the leadership is hereby tasked to ensure proper planning that will usher in a better tomorrow henceforth.

Vanguard

Enugu mystery ‘Pool of Bethesda’ dries up

The only permanent thing in the world is change.  Less than four months after its inundation, the Enugu mystery pool has dried up triggering major soil excavation by new visitors who had come for healing in the pool. The town itself which became a tourist destination a few months back, has had a fair share of the change as it has become a ghostly abandoned place.
No people and vehicular movement were  present; the motorcyclists have relocated to major towns while the plastic container’ sellers at the junction leading to the forest have abandoned the business. The dreaded path to the forest took 20 minutes walk to the pool with heart palpitation.
When Saturday Vanguard visited the pool recently, it was found to be completely drained with trenches here and there dug by desperate visitors with a view to getting water from the soil for healing.
Saturday Vanguard had earlier visited the pool which many claimed had healing powers. Thousands of people from far and near visited the pool, dipped their bodies in the water, drank from the water, cut trees around the basin of the pool and took away sand within the precincts of the stream with the belief that it had supernatural healing powers.
The seasonally flooded pool basin now look different from the surrounding upland. Most parts of the soil have been excavated by new visitors to the stream who rather than being utterly disappointed, dig up the pool’s basin to see if they could get some water for healing.
Leaves in the pool basin are compacted and had turned gray. The soil also exhibit features of dehydration, which meant they have been dried up for a period of time.  There were not even water stains on the trunks of trees which was an indication of complete level of dryness.
They explained that its inundation in the first place was not as result of heavy rainfall but natural.
Villagers who spoke to Saturday Vanguard ruled out the hot temperature as reason for its dryness, maintaining that it was natural as it was not the first time the pool will dry or be flooded.
Christopher, who lives in Umuaga, said: “It does not matter the type of weather, even in the rainy season, the pool may not be flooded but may be aided by the level of rainfall. Why we believe the pool is mysterious is because it could spring up during the dry season and that is why it is called Oririmiri.”
A few persons Saturday Vanguard met at the stream said they have made the place their second home not only to watch development on the pool but also to attract blessings.
They narrated that it is those few who just heard about the pool and its healing power that visit the area. “It is those who just heard about it and usually from far places that  visit because there is nobody close that has not  heard about it.  So, we welcome them and sell some items to the like the calendar with details about the water,” said Emeka.
Asked how the visitors felt when they discovered that the water had dried up, he stated: “they feel disappointed. That is why some of them dug up some areas to get water.  Recently, some people  came from the North and they had to dig up to six feet before getting water which they drank and collected in plastic containers to take home.” he stated.
Villagers, Okada count losses
Just as villagers and petty traders lament the slide in the profits they make on their brisk businesses, others including commercial motorcyclists noted that many of them had to relocate to the heart of the town to eke out a living.
“We sold a lot before now because people throng the village.  In fact, every part of the country must have heard about the river and that enough is a blessing for us. But you cannot compare the commercial activities then with what you have now.  Not only the transport business benefited, everybody selling one thing or other other benefited,” said a petty trader in the area.
An okada who identifies himself as Dan said: “For me as an okada man, these days, I can stay there looking for passengers but none was forthcoming. You will not make money. Last November when it surged to January this year, we made a lot of money.  I personally made over N20,000 daily then, but nobody is coming again because the water has dried and no clever okada would wait at the junction searching for passengers,” Dan said.
Asked what how he used the money, he said: “I paid my house rent and bought another okada and also set up my wife on business.  It has been blessing for us and I can’t wait for another opportunity. I pray the water comes up again soon,” Dan stated.

Vanguard

2015: INEC begins distribution of permanent voters cards next month

Fresh voters registration on the way

As part of its preparation to ensure a credible general election next year, the  Independent National Electoral  Commission, INEC, may commence nation-wide distribution of permanent voters cards, PVCs, next month.
This was contained in a bulletin published by the Commission yesterday.
The bulletin further disclosed that Chairman of the Commission Prof. Attahiru Jega stated this while addressing a joint interactive meeting of INEC and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Abuja last Tuesday.
The INEC boss further declared that that the exercise would take place between May and September 2014 across the nation to enable every registered voter collect his or her PVC adding that the cards would be used for the 2015 general election to check electoral fraud.
Jega further stated that the Voters Registration would also take place to give room for those who turned 18 years to register and vote.
According to Jega: “During the  voters registration exercise, those who have lost their Temporary Voter Cards (TVC) and cannot be located on the data base would also have the opportunity to have their biometrics captured and cards issued to them”
Commenting on the on going restructuring  exercise in the Commission,  the INEC boss explained that the screening of Electoral Officers (EOs) across the country would soon be concluded and the “Commission will know those that would stay as EOs and those who will be replaced.”
Commenting on the relationship between INEC and civil society organizations, CSOs, Jega expressed concern that there was a creeping tendency among CSOs accredited for election monitoring to play to the gallery and give in to the biddings of politicians.
He noted that the unhealthy position of some of the CSOs gave room to the emergence of biased reports.
According to him: “We have seen how some politicians have used some CSOs in their role as Election Observers and indeed now we are seeing how some politicians are using reports of CSOs as exhibits in order to push their cases in court”.
However, the INEC boss observed that  “Under normal circumstances, if CSOs do their job professionally, with impartiality and non partisanship, there is no problem if their reports are used in court in order to prove if elections were done right or wrong”.
Jega assured that the Commission was still investigating such organizations and will not accredit them for future elections.
Nevertheless, the INEC Chairman appreciated the role Civil Society Organizations play in engaging citizens in the electoral process, alongside providing reports and criticisms which have helped the Commission in discharging its duties.
Said he: “We have no doubt about the role of CSOs in deepening democracy in our country and to ensure free fair and credible elections”.

How power outage forces Nigerian judges, lawyers to work in terrible conditions

Frequent power outages in both the federal and state high courts in Lagos have become an embarrassment for the judiciary.
Inside a dark court room at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo focused the beam from his torchlight on his notes. Protracted power cuts had stalled proceedings in his court for most of the last week of February and the case files had continued to pile up.
Opposite the judge, dozens of lawyers, their wigs removed and their faces clouded with perspiration, squinted into their case files with lights from their mobile phones.
Fifteen minutes later, and with no sign of restoration of electricity, the judge rose from his seat.
Moments later, lawyers crowded before the court registrar’s desk to decide new dates for their cases.
Frequent power outages in both the federal and state high courts in Lagos have become an embarrassment for the judiciary, several lawyers told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
In some cases, the outage lasts for days shutting down judicial activities in the courts and leaving lawyers scrambling for excuses to angry clients why their cases have stalled.
“The regular power outage in our courts is assuming a dangerous dimension,” said Victor Opara, a Lagos based legal practitioner.
JUSTICE DELAYED
Last month, the trial of Francis Atuche, a former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB, at the state high court in Ikeja was stalled due to poor power supply.
Mr. Atuche and his wife, Elizabeth, are facing trial for allegedly stealing N25.7 billion belonging to the bank.
In the same week, the epileptic power supply forced the adjournment of the trial of Wale Babalakin, the billionaire lawyer and chairman of Bi-Courtney Limited, accused of N4.7 billion fraud.
“Just last week, we were in court, the light went off and the judge said he was not sitting again,” said Jamilu Bashir, another Lagos based lawyer.
“It is getting worse in the Lagos Division. Once there is no light, some judges will say they cannot sit in this kind of condition. It is a very serious problem and something has to be done about it,” Mr. Bashir added.
But the frequent power outages is not peculiar to the state high courts, in fact, it appears worse at the federal high courts with their tiny court rooms.
Unlike the relatively spacious courtrooms at the Lagos State high courts, a typical courtroom at the Federal High Court accommodates about 20 lawyers, a couple of court registrars, and the judge. Parties involved in suits, journalists, and other lawyers squeeze against one another at the door of courtrooms as they strain their necks to get a glimpse of the activities within.
UNBEARABLE COURTROOMS
During the criminal trial of Adeyemi Ikuforiji, in November last year, before Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court; there was a power outage in the 42-seater court room which has only two functional ceiling fans and a non-functional split unit air-conditioner.
Minutes later, the temperature in the crowded courtroom had risen to an unbearable level.
“I suggest we come back when the atmosphere is more conducive,” Godwin Obla, the prosecution counsel, pleaded with the judge.
Without hesitation, the judge, who was sweating profusely in the poorly ventilated courtroom, granted the counsel’s request.
“There is no light and the court is unbearable,” said the judge as he adjourned proceedings to a later date.
Sitting on the floor above Justice Buba and defying the odds, Justice Mohammed Idris was peering into his written judgment with the aid of a torchlight, to the appreciation of the lawyers present.
Robert Igbinedion, a human rights lawyer, said that the frequent power cuts have added to the long list of reasons why the court has failed to sit.
“Most times we hear that the judge is attending seminar, judges’ training, illness, official assignments and several other reasons. This is also another added one,” Mr. Igbinedion said.
“It is very bad and it is causing a lot of embarrassment to lawyers,” he added.
Last week, Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Lagos, had issued a preservatory order restraining the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria from continuing investigations against Lamido Sanusi, the suspended Central Bank Governor, pending the determination of the suit.
The judge had adjourned till April 11.
However, on Friday, the next adjourned date, the courtroom was in semi-darkness due to absence of electricity, forcing the judge to adjourn to April 17.
The court complex, situated in highbrow Ikoyi, is powered by about seven giant generators, due to the abysmally poor supply of electricity from the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, the private successor to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, in the area.
None of the generators were able to supply electricity on Friday.
At least, four judges conducted proceedings in near-dark rooms with no air conditioning units as counsels were permitted to remove their wigs if they wished – several lawyers improvised their court papers into hand fans in the unbearably hot court rooms.
Other judges who sat without electricity include Mohammed Idris, Mohammed Yunusa and Okon Abang.
Monday Ubani, Chairman of the Ikeja Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, said that the frequent outages have contributed in the delay of the judicial system.
“Something is fundamentally wrong if we allow things as common at light to delay our judicial system,” said Mr. Ubani.
On Friday’s power outage at the Federal High Court in Lagos which stalled the suit involving Mr. Sanusi and the Nigerian government, Mr. Ubani stated that it was politically motivated.
“It is a politically-induced power outage. It is not ordinary for seven generators to fail to work in one day,” he added.

Premium times

I don’t have any moral burden because of Boko Haram –Oloyede

In this interview with KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, the Secretary-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, insists Muslims are underrepresented at the National Confab

Specifically, how did President Goodluck Jonathan’s selection of delegates offend the Muslims?

I think it is not a matter of offence. It is a matter of observation which we made to Mr. President. That is, it is in our view unfair by whatever means to select 184 Muslims out of 497 delegates. We have 497 delegates contrary to the 492 that is being widely reported. The delegates are 497, excluding the principal officers. If you add the principal officers, it is 503.I explained that just to let you know that there is an error even in the number that is being reported. If you look at the programme booklet, after the 497 names, the government came up with an addition that is funny, and you say it is 492 instead of 497. We believe that out of 497, if there are only 184 Muslims, which is just about one-third, it is unfair. We felt that it was deliberate, and that is why we did not go to the streets. We did not encourage the Muslims to protest; rather, we lodged a complaint with the highest authority in the land. That is what we did.

Don’t you think it might just be a sincere oversight instead of reading religious connotations to it?

Yes, the President said it was an oversight, but it is very difficult for the Muslims to believe that. But for me, the President appeared sincere. I sympathise with him because my perception is that the President meant well but was derailed by the people around him who had their own selfish agenda. I want to believe the President when he said it wasn’t intentional. I think Muslims should accept that it wasn’t intentional. Let us hope that the mistake won’t be repeated. Let us also think that other Nigerians will recognise that oversight and therefore do not further aggravate the situation by thinking that Muslims are troublemakers because they complained. If it had been the other way round, we believe even the press would have risen against whoever must have been responsible.

Were the Muslim members of the delegation satisfied with the President’s explanation?

I do not see anybody in the delegation who disbelieved the President. What others were saying was that what was reported in the media from sources close to the President suggested that there were people close to him that were hell bent on derailing his lofty ideas. You can go and find out what happened contrary to what some people are trying to sell in the media. There was a subtle way of misrepresenting what happened that couldn’t have come but from sources that could be official.

Why is the issue of religion becoming volatile among Nigerians nowadays?

To me, I believe that religion or ethnicity or any of the differences could become issues particularly in the face of poverty. When you talk of sharing of limited resources, various interests would come in. It is possible that such interests would want to play up one trick or the other. In my view, I believe it is diversionary to be talking of ethnicity, religion, and the things that divide us. I believe it is diversionary. But the only way of addressing it is to be balanced. When people were talking of three-quarters, two-thirds, people did not ask why. It was because of the imbalance. It was because of the fact that some people felt short-changed. The real issue was not mentioned. What was mentioned was the externality of the matter. The issue clearly was that people who were under-represented felt that it was deliberate. Even if it was not deliberate, they felt they are threatened and therefore, they had to look for devices that would protect them against the onslaught of the undue majority.

Is it not possible to shelve religious sentiments when discussing national issues?

When you talk of religious sentiments, especially when they are baseless, there is no need bringing them up. But that does not mean when there are genuine complaints bordering on religion, such should not be listened to. The point I am making is that if people believe that the Muslims or Christians want to be represented in a place, to me, I do not see any issue out of it. The real issue is, do not allow politicians to use ethnicity or religion to distract us from the main issue to an extent that the Muslims and Christians will start fighting over issues that have no direct link with their survival.

Even at the confab, some Christians have called for Biblical court – to be an equivalent of Sharia court. Is such a call justified?

I am not a Christian, so I have no view about it. The only thing I want to say is that when you say the mentioning of Sharia in the constitution favours Islam, it’s just like when you look into the Bible, it talks about Lucifer, Satan, devil more than one hundred times; specifically 107 times. That does not make the Bible satanic. I believe in all the places where Sharia is mentioned, it is mentioned in order to restrict the implementation of Sharia. When you go to the Nigerian Marriage Act, the statutory marriage law, you will find terminologies that cater for church marriage. Church marriage is mentioned, the minister is mentioned. The Marriage Act provides for Christians what the Sharia Court of Appeal and other Sharia jurisprudence in the constitution provide for Muslims. So for me, I have nothing against somebody having a religious court. My own issue is that it is better to look at issues critically rather than looking at issues from a pedestrian point of view. You must look at the substance of the matter.

Do you agree that religion seems to be tearing Nigerians apart today?

I don’t believe that. I believe those who are wise will not allow religion to tear people apart. Religion is a unifying factor. If you know the number of ethnic groups in Nigeria, I understand they are two hundred and fifty. If you have any problems, it is just between two groups. In any case, if religion is properly understood, it will not cause any confusion; it will not cause any division, rather, it will unite the people.

Some Nigerians think much effort is dissipated on religious issues. Do you agree?

I don’t believe we are spending so much time on religion. People are just deceiving one another with religion. Religion is what so many people hide behind to commit so many atrocities. It is because we are a country where people are largely sentimental. If you belong to my religion and do something bad, instead of telling you, I will play about it. Or if you belong to my ethnic group, there is this ‘it is our turn’ syndrome. I think that is what is happening. Religion per se is not the issue, but people use religion for selfish purposes. They use that to promote disunity among poor people. When people want to go to the Corporate Affairs Commission, you see people across ethnic and religious groups coming together to form a company. It is when it comes to the welfare of the people that religion becomes a factor. They use ethnicity to further exploit and divide the poor in order to ruin them, not just to rule them.

Because of the activities of Boko Haram, some Nigerians have become very intolerant of Muslims. Can you blame them?

It is a myopic view. The effort to demonise Islam is an issue. When a non-Muslim does something, he is called by his father’s name. But when a Muslim does it, it is a Muslim that does that. Today, you don’t have cases of armed robbery in the North. Any violence is blamed on Boko Haram, as if they have eliminated robbery and all other crimes. This thing also happens in other parts of the country. But those people are called by their fathers’ names. That is why we should not glamorise criminality. Anybody that commits crime should be treated as a criminal. We should stop glamorising crimes by utilising religious label or demonising a particular religion. It is wrong. People should be treated on their own merit. As far as I am concerned, whether Boko Haram activities or any other type of violence, what is bad is bad. Islam has no apology because anybody can call himself a Muslim. We believe that Islam does not preach violence. If you know what is happening in Uganda and Central African Republic, people have used religion to perpetrate violence. People will not say they are Christian fanatics. I think it’s a problem of underrepresentation in the media, whereby western propaganda is against Islam.

As a Muslim leader, do you carry a moral burden because of Boko Haram?

Not at all. Who carries the burden of all other crimes being committed in the country? People commit crimes and they should be so treated. They should be treated as individuals and not part of a group. From the beginning of this problem when there was a bomb blast in 2010 in Abuja, before investigation, people had started pointing accusing fingers until Okah and others came out to say they were the ones. Even when they said so, some people still wanted to pin it down on others. Go and see the defence of Okah in South Africa, you will be surprised by the level people can go to criminalise Islam. Attempts were made, if not that those people insisted, that would have been counted as part of Boko Haram onslaughts. People are committing all kinds of atrocities and they are going scot-free because it is easy to label them Boko Haram, then no investigation.

Some Muslim leaders have come out to disown Boko Haram, but the group always alludes to Quranic injunctions to back up their actions.

Islam does not allow anybody to indiscriminately kill innocent people without the due process of law. Anybody can make any claim.

Would you say Boko Haram members are not Muslims?

I don’t know since I don’t know them. The Federal Government knows them and it is the government that should be asked that question. For instance, security is one of the duties of the government. To provide security is not my duty; I don’t take security vote. People who are taking security votes should be held responsible for security problems. The government should get to the root of the matter. In the past, we could say we didn’t know who Boko Haram members were but the President came out to tell us that they were in his cabinet, which means he has information which we do not have. I believe by now, the issue of ‘we don’t know them’ should not arise again since we have a large number of suspects in government custody. Apart from that, I also think that if we are serious about curbing the menace of violence in the north, we should grant access to scholars of peace, scholars of religion to interact with the suspects. But now, we don’t even know who is Boko Haram or not because it is easy for anybody who doesn’t like your face to dub you as Boko Haram. Before the person knows it, he is in prison. When he shouts, nobody believes because there are people detained who are not Boko Haram members. Look at one of the sheikhs who was killed recently in Zaria, this man was accused recently of being a Boko Haram member even when he was preaching against the group. When he was eliminated, the people arrested said he was murdered because he opposed their activities. What type of security system criminalises somebody who is innocent? I think there are people around the President presenting those they do not like as enemies of the nation and enemies of the President. We need to scrutinise some of these claims. I believe some of the pronouncements of the public relations officer of the State Security Service need to be verified concerning the recent shooting at the SSS headquarters, popularly called Yellow House. When you subject some of the claims to intellectual analysis, you will see that they cannot stand. A situation where you say somebody who was handcuffed disarmed people to the extent that you now killed 21 persons. Oh! How do you defend that? There is something missing somewhere. I believe we need to be careful not to create a situation that we will leave the substance and be pursuing the shadow. We have a serious threat to the nation, yet some people are playing politics with it. They are playing politics of religion and ethnicity. They want to destroy the foundation of this country simply because they want to score an ethnic or religious point.

How best can Boko Haram insurgency be solved?

I believe in sincerity and open-mindedness. I believe we should get to the root to proffer remedy. But if we look at it from the point of demonising a particular group, we may not get to the root of the problem. Security agencies should also be very careful because these days, Muslims have some very strong doubts about the neutrality of some of those who carry out security operations to the extent that Muslims are alleging that they are being killed without justification and innocent persons are being accused unjustly.

How best can Nigerians live together in peace?

Understanding and justice. Let us practise what we preach. Don’t say something in the closet and say another thing in the open. That is wrong. What we should do is to be sincere. Once we are sincere and firm in what we are doing and are disciplined, I do not see any problem.

As a confab delegate, what Islamic issues do you propose to put up?

Good governance and sincerity. If you look at the operation of the government, you will see that we are very wasteful. Some people have argued that we need devolution of power from the Federal Government to the federating units. In Islam, whatever is good is Islamic. Whatever that is for the good of the people is Islamic. Whatever is inimical to the good of the people is considered anti-Islam. As far as we are concerned, we do not have any peculiar Islamic agenda. What we want is justice. We need a statesman who is just. It does not matter where the president comes from. Once we are sure of justice, this cleavage of religion will be a thing of the past. All we need is a forthright and sincere leader.

Why is the Christian Association of Nigeria always saying notable Islamic leaders don’t condemn Boko Haram in the open?

I don’t know why because the Muslim leaders are not the public relations officers of the government, police or the armed forces and they do all that they can do within their power. So if somebody is still saying they are not doing enough, then that person should be asked what else he wants them to do.

As the national coordinator of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, are you enjoying support from Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor since he took over from Cardinal Onaiyekan as CAN President?

I don’t want to answer that question. It is better left to the observation of the people. NIREC is making efforts to continue to survive and be relevant. We try to derive 80 per cent of our resources outside the Federal Government. Despite this, the 20 per cent from the    Federal Government is not forthcoming. So, that is why you have a lull in the activities of NIREC. As soon as the government provides its little quota, NIREC will meet and continue to carry out its mandate. In the past, the Federal Government provided the 100 per cent of the resources to my predecessor. But this has not been so in the last two to three years.

What is responsible for this?

I am told it is due to lack of fund.

Have you made efforts to reach the government?

We try every time. In the last four months, we have been on this to host the first quarter meeting.

Do you have any advice for your fellow delegates?

We should think Nigerian and act Nigerian. Nigeria is a great country and will continue to be great if we all collaborate, understand one another and work sincerely for the development of this great country of ours.

Copyright PUNCH