Several persons were killed on Monday as suspected suicide bomber detonated bomb just as Muslim brotherhood were on procession.
Earlier reports say the bomber targeted the Muslim brotherhood, adding that the bomber were among the worshippers.
Details soon

BREAKING NEWS! Scores killed in Yobe bombing

(HUMAN EMPOWERMENT/FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION)
Without sounding immodest, I am proud to state there was no administration be­fore us which fought cor­ruption as much as we did for the eight years we held sway in Abia State. I lay claim to this feat because the evidence of our 22monumental war against treasury-looting, malfeasance and other forms of cankers that impeded the administration of the state in the past was unambigu­ous. In my inaugural address on May 29, 1999, I pledged to run an open, trans­parent and God-fearing administration, hinging my hope on the covenant I made before God to serve the people of Abia State with all my heart, mind and soul.
I thank God that we were able to keep to this promise despite the huge challenges that confronted us.
To drive the transformation agenda of our government was no mean task. But we knew that we could achieve the agenda only when we had given up our selfish desires and em­braced altruism and openness. And so, we started by reorienting the people, beginning with the civil service – teaching them the need to imbibe the culture of discipline and self-giving.
However, the initial opposition we faced was how to make many people who had been used to the culture of impunity to give up their old ways and step into the new vi­sion we had conceptualized. Those who did not want change worked hard to sabotage our effort in this direction but failed. The reason they failed was very simple: they could not get any accomplices from among the policy-makers in our government – be­ginning from myself, the governor, down to the directors in the ministries and govern­ment parastatal agencies.
It was a beautiful thing to see a once-cor­rupt citizenry embracing God and renewing their lives in the ways of moral rectitude and candour. Punctuality soon became the soul of business in Abia State. The civil servants who used to come to work any time that suited them and used the greater part of the day doing their own businesses turned a new leaf. A special department in the Office of the Head of Service was established to mon­itor the performance of civil servants, reap­praise them and reorient them. The resultant reports showed dramatic shift in attitude and service-delivery capacity among workers.
It was a wonderful feeling to hear civil servants discuss the positive changes that had taken place in the service and expres­sion of interest to partner with the govern­ment to move the state forward.
I wish to state at this juncture, that the performance of any administration is ma­jorly dependent on the virility and vibrancy of its civil service. That was why we fo­cused attention on rearming the civil serv­ants to serve as an added impetus to our fight against systemic decay.
The Abia State Civil Service for the whole of the years we served as governor cooperated with us wholeheartedly in driv­ing the structural changes that we spear­headed. The most surprising thing they did was to consciously expose corruption where it existed. They brought the names of gov­ernment officials involved in official corrup­tion. Some of the names on the list would make even the most incurable pessimist quiver. We handled identified cases of cor­ruption as swiftly as the occasions demand­ed without sparing anybody found culpable. By so doing, we were able to almost achieve a corruption-free state before we vacated of­fice in 2007.
I must mention here that money saved from leakages was what we leveraged upon in providing the social amenities that have helped to elevate the living standards of our people. I have spent the past seven editions of this column listing the achievements of our administration from 1999 to 2007. All these achievements were made possible by the austere mien and fiscal discipline we adopted in the running of government affairs. Between 1999 and 2007 we col­lected only N108 billion and achieved so much, while the present administration has collected over N600 billion (not including internally-generated revenue) and achieved nothing tangible.
Imagine what Abia State would have be­come if Governor Theodore Orji had con­tinued with the pace of development we put in place, rather than the current wild-goose chase and shadow-boxing he has engaged in since he was sworn in! My heart bleeds whenever I see the projects we built being allowed to waste, because the governor does not like my face. What have these projects got to do with him not liking my face? Go to Umunnato General Hospital or the Univer­sity Teaching Hospital, Aba and see how the governor has allowed petty envy to erode his sense of reasoning.
Our administration committed huge fi­nancial resources to establish the two pro­jects to better the lot of our people. Why has the governor not allowed both projects, which we completed and equipped before we left office, to operate? All the equipment and buildings in the site have depreciated for lack of operability. The same situation ob­tains at many of the projects we completed before the expiration of our tenure.
Let me ask: what is the situation in Abia State with the fight against corruption? Has the governor been able to resist the tempta­tion of not compromising his office for what­ever reason? How far have his workers and other appointed officials fared with the war against corruption? I have asked these ques­tions because there is nothing on ground to show that the Theodore Orji administration is performing. The administration is bogged down by corruption and bureaucratic bottle­necks in high places. If the government of Theodore Orji were not corrupt, perhaps, it should accept the challenge I threw at him over a month ago for us to bring the best auditing firms in the world to audit our two administrations to see which has performed better in terms of human capacity building and fighting corruption.
The governor is simply being afraid not to have accepted the challenge. In the alterna­tive he has intensified his media war against me and acted in a manner inconsistent with decency and truth. An administration that has nothing to hide would have spent scarce resources working for the people instead of fighting perceived enemies in order to cover its inefficiencies and incompetence. The governor knows deep in his heart that he has failed Abia people, which was the origin of our misunderstanding. Again, the gover­nor is a very incorrigible person and hardly brooks meaningful criticisms. So, what he gets daily is praise-singing and sycophancy. And huge sums of money go into greasing the palms of thousands of the praise-singers who troop to the Government House on a daily basis.
My fear is that it will take his successor enormous time, thinking and strategising to address the wanton destruction caused to the system. For instance, the incoming governor will be expected to perform wonders. But with what resources when the current gov­ernment in Umuahia has never ceased bor­rowing money from the banks? The simple deduction is this: whoever takes over from Governor Orji will spend the first tenure cleaning the Augean Stable created by the governor’s gross incompetence and grab­bing propensity.
Who will bell the cat then? This is where experience and vision come to play. Abia State needs a governor that is with enor­mous capacity to create new ideas. We need somebody who is selfless, God-fearing and people-oriented in his thinking and ideol­ogy. We do not need a political demagogue, a salacious and garrulous person, a sloth and grabber. It is to avoid this latter kind of per­son arising that has motivated me to devote my time, resources and energy to the rescue mission I have embarked upon. I have never pretended that it is going to be an easy and smooth sail. But I am determined, because I am familiar with the terrain, to go the whole hug. Anybody who thinks he will intimidate me into abandoning the struggle is deluding himself.
Those who know me very well will at­test to the fact that I do not fight shy when I believe in a cause. Abia State needs imme­diate redemption as things have continued to go out of hands under the close watch of a grossly incompetent and selfish leader. What are well-meaning Abians – at home and in the Diaspora – doing to rescue our state? Should we all sit down and watch while corruption destroys the fabric of our state? What are we going to tell the future generation that we did when the state was in dire need of redemption?
I am glad that Abians are wiser now than they had ever been. The clamour from them for things to be done right in our state grows by the day. I am inundated daily with inquir­ies from numerous Abians about what role they would play to wrest power from the grips of the evil government in Umuahia. In­terestingly, many of the inquirers are youth below the age of 30.
There is no doubt that the future is for this age group whom the administration of Governor Orji has constantly relegated to obscurity. Since 2007 his administration has not done anything tangible to provide jobs for the teeming population of our youth. All the government had done since 2007 was to establish a personal foundation called Gov­ernor Theodore Orji Foundation. The major objective of the foundation according to its founders was to empower the youth of Abia State. From the activities of the foundation it is very clear that it was established to fund clandestine operations targeted at perceived enemies of the governor. Run by his eldest son, all the foundation has done so far to em­power the so-called youth was to distribute second-hand vehicles with the photograph of the governor boldly emblazoned on them to political thugs and social misfits. How many of the youth have been given decent jobs? They should name them. What would N5000 do to a full-blooded youth with big dreams? Even the N5000 per beneficiary does not go round. They just hand pick the beneficiaries and hand out
to them the miserable sum every month or as the occasion demands.
What we did during our stay in govern­ment was totally different. We set up well-equipped skills acquisition centres across the state to train youth in diverse vocations. The result we achieved was amazing. The products of these centres, on graduation, were provided working tools and financial assistance to continue life from there. Ex­pectedly, thousands of youth benefitted and are doing well today.
We also removed many youth engaged in hawking from the highways and other spots across the state. We enrolled them in mass literacy centres, where they were taught by special teachers and prepared for WASCCE. Surprisingly, many of them made it in first attempt and have since graduated from ter­tiary institutions. I know many of them who occupy important positions in government and private organizations and are doing well overall.
Apart from the youth we also empowered other categories of people. It is on record that it was during our tenure that many Abians built their first houses and bought their first cars. Anybody in doubt should conduct an independent and random survey to ascertain the veracity of this claim. What do we have today: many people are hungry because they could not benefit from government: no jobs, no patronage of any sorts. The allocation from Abuja every month does not go round. It is held by a few people, leaving the major­ity hungry and rejected. Go to the markets and you will be shocked at the the level of poverty ravaging our people. Many traders could stay the whole week without selling a pin. Many of them also have died while those living are worse than those who had died. That is how bad the situation has be­come.
What is the purpose of a government that does not serve the interest of the people or cater to the welfare of the same people? Such government should be called to order and made to pay for its sins. The government of Chief Theodore Orji has only succeeded in impoverishing our people throughout the 8 years it has served. And our people are groaning under the weight of rejection and abandonment. All the noise you hear from the government propaganda media is nothing but gibberish. This government has nothing to offer to the suffering people of our state.
I thank God that our government came at the time it did, because the little we were able to do with the little funds available to us is what people point to as the presence of government in Abia State. Yet the man at the helm of the misdeeds in Abia State has never thought it proper to give some credit to us. Instead of giving us credit he has con­tinued to cast aspersion on us and do other atrocious things to destroy our reputation.
Thank God the people of our state are wiser now. They know who between Theo­dore Orji and me who has served them bet­ter.

MY STEWARDSHIP AS ABIA GOVERNOR (1999-2007) – 7

For us writers, little things matter. Little incidents in our lives make big news. Don’t ask me, what is news? It’s the question I have been struggling to answer all my life. And I am still answering it, because there is no one definition of news.
On my first day at the school of journalism, I was told: When dog bites man, it’s no news. But when man bites dog, that is news. That has been the classic definition of news. And in the same journalism school, we were advised to keep ourselves out of the news as much as possible and be mere reporters of the extraordinary happening in an ordinary world.
As a young reporter and a feature writer, human angle sto­ries have always been my forte. I have always loved stories of animals making news, animals doing the unusual stuff, animals involved in heroic feats, such as a dog rescuing a drowning girl. Or the faithful dog that refused to leave its master’s grave. Or the burial of the old family dog. Or the story of how a younger Gani Fawehinmi in my days as editor of the Weekend Concord re­jected a ram Sallah gift from the then military governor of Lagos State, Buba Marwa and I titled the story: RAM-COUR!
You must have read a story of a goat offered in marriage to a man caught making love with her. And you may remember the story of a goat arrested and detained in a police station some­where in Kwara State for being a suspected armed robber !
Stories about animals in the news, particularly animals in danger and animals involved in heroism, have poetic richness and human angle dimensions. If it is well written it can be touch­ing. Particularly stories of animal fidelity.
It was the poet Alexander Pope who wrote: “History is more full of the fidelity of dogs than people.” I read Pope many years ago in my HSC English literature class. He is famous for such epigrammatic statements like: “To err is human, to forgive, di­vine” and “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” He is the au­thor of “An Essay on Criticism,” the mock epic, “Rape of the Lock” and many other famous poems that fill me with the nos­talgia of old schooldays gone by.
Talking about poets writing about animals, I remember D.H. Lawrence, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, writ­ing about his encounter with a snake in a poem simply titled ‘SNAKE.’ The poet had gone to his water-trough on a hot, hot day only to discover a visitor in the form of a snake there before him. The snake had come for a drink and Lawrence was forced “like a second-comer” to wait. As he waited, the poet engages himself in a monologue. An internal dialogue ensues between the poet and his other self on what to do with the snake, whether to kill it or not. The voice of his education was telling him: “If you were a man you would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off…If you were not afraid you would kill him!”
Another voice was telling him not to be hostile to a visitor who had come visiting from beneath the earth, passing through a wall in the hole, to reach down to the water-trough. In the end, Lawrence picked a “clumsy log” and threw it which hit the wa­ter-trough with a clatter, causing the snake to quickly snake its way back through the hole into the darkness of the underworld where it came from. It was an action that the poet regretted, wish­ing he had not been that hostile to his serpentine visitor. How he wished the snake came back, so that he could make amends and treat it like a royal, “like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld, now due to be crowned again,” as Lawrence wrote.
I read this poem many years ago in secondary school. It has continued to stick in my memory and whet my huge appetite for literature. After reading poets like D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Gray, William Wordsworth and Pablo Neruda, I wanted to be a poet in those good old days. I spent the best part of my Sixth Form years writing poems furiously in preparation for a vocation as a poet. I remember those days as a sixth former when I met the poet Odia Ofeimun (through my friend Segun Oyegbami now a businessman) in his undergraduate days at the University of Ibadan and he introduced me to Christopher Okigbo and Pablo Neruda, the poet of rebirths and regeneration.
From Odia, I once borrowed an anthology of poems by Pablo Neruda, featuring ‘The Heights of Macchu Picchu’ which I so much fell in love with. I was tempted to keep that book forever. But after much threats and harassments, I returned his precious book after photocopying it all. Every writer has a bad and painful memory of his stolen book or an unreturned book. A book stolen is as painful as a tooth extracted from the library of the mouth. Please, this is not a poem!
I was still determined to take poetry as a vocation until the call of journalism made me to abandon English literature to go and read mass communication at the University of Lagos in 1973 .
As you can see, I have come a long, long way. But all through my life’s journey, I have never seen anything like what I expe­rienced last Saturday as I went jogging at the wee hours of the morning as I usually do.
Out of nowhere came a goat that decided to be my jogging partner. Believe me, this is no fiction. I wasn’t dreaming. If it had been a dog, I would have understood. A dog is said to be a man’s best friend. But a goat? Running after me? The whole thing is still a puzzle. It’s a mystery. I am not that superstitious to start reading meaning into this little drama, this trivia .
As a journalist, I don’t know what else is news, if not this drama of a complete stranger, this uninvited visitor following me as I jogged down on this deserted street. This co-jogger clothed in a snow white fur. This goat dressed in a coat of two colours— white with some small patches of black around the eyes and be­neath the neck.
Because it was still dark, not many people witnessed the breaking news of a goat trailing a journalist. But I heard the deri­sive laughter of a small boy who was the sole witness of this ab­normality. From a distance, I could hear the echoes of the boy’s loud laughter as he watched this theatre of the absurd.
Initially, I too found the whole eerie scene funny. I thought after a short while, this aberration would quickly end and the goat would turn back, but the stubborn fellow was determined to finish the race with me. The voice of my education was telling me to stop, attack and drive back the intruder. But I am not the violent type. How can I attack a goat who just wants to be my friend?
Next, the voice of my religion was telling me to “bind and cast” the poor goat and “plead the blood of Jesus” upon it. But isn’t Jesus Himself the Good Shepherd and a lover of goats? Isn’t Jesus the Lamb of God who came to lay down His life for sin­ners like me to attain salvation? Didn’t the Book of Psalms say: The Lord is my Shepherd? Why then must I invoke a spiritual curse on a supposedly young, innocent goat just out to have play, just out to exercise its body with a new-found human friend?
I would pause and the goat would pause. I would cross to the other side of the street and the goat would cross the street after me, not afraid that it would be knocked down by the fast-moving fleet of vehicles—cars, trailers, danfos, molues and commuters all rushing menacingly to work with their full lights on. I would cross again and the goat would cross. At this point, I started get­ting afraid. I started getting worried. I started feeling like a pris­oner to the goat. I was the prisoner and the goat was like a warder or a policeman pursuing me for what I have not stolen, pursuing me for a crime I have not committed. I started feeling like the captain of a ship held hostage by a little Somali pirate. It wasn’t funny.
I started watching and guarding my legs in case the goat at­tempts to bite. I know dogs can bite. I have never heard of a goat biting a man. That would be the biggest definition of news ever: Goat Bites Man! God, I wasn’t ready to hit the headlines on ac­count of a stubborn goat.
As I raced with the goat, all kinds of thoughts raced through my mind. Could this goat be a spirit? Could it be a phantom? Could it be a human being transformed into a goat? Was I at­tracted to the goat because I was wearing a white vest? Could this be real? Or am I just dreaming? No, I am not dreaming. This is real. I am panting and the goat is also panting, bleating: meeeh, meeeh, meeeh. Two tired souls locked in an energy sapping race.
After almost a fairly long distance of jogging trailed by the goat, I made a U-turn. And the phantom goat equally made a U-turn. God, what is this? This is no longer a laughing matter. In the name of Jesus, I bind and cast you stubborn goat! Whoever sent you after me, I bind you and break your yoke. Suddenly, I found myself speaking in tongues, such as I have never spoken before. Who shall I tell that a goat forced me to speak in tongues? Who shall I tell that a goat brought me salvation of a rare kind while jogging along the street of Lagos? Who shall I tell that I had a Saul-to-Paul experience and spoke in tongues on a highway with a goat pursuing me?
My dear reader, the Egyptians that pursue you, you shall see them no more. All your enemies shall be drowned in the Red Sea as you read this column. To cut a long story short, I miraculously discovered that God had answered my prayers and the goat had temporarily diverted to an adjacent street corner perhaps in search of water. After running such a long, hectic race, the goat needed water. We all depend on water and oxygen as common creatures of God, in this brotherhood of man and mammal .
It was at that point of respite, I smelled freedom. Freedom from my captor. Then like Usain Bolt, I bolted fast into freedom, sprinted fast and moved far, far, from this goat. And that was the end of my encounter with this beastly fellow who wanted to be my friend by force. Even if I want a friend from the animal world, it is not a goat. I have no pact with a goat. A goat is only good for hot pepper soup. Not as a running mate. (First pub­lished on Saturday, May 02, 2009)
NEXT WEEK: AN ENCOUNTER WITH PASCAL DOZIE, ANOTHER BANKER OF OUR TIME

A goat came jogging with me

Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon popularly called GOS is no doubt a household name in Lagos politics. He is today one of the longest serving public official in the state; having won election into the state House of Assembly, elected Chairman of Mushin Local Government Area in 1999, member, House of Representatives in 2003 and Senator representing Lagos West in 2007 and re-elected 2011. Son of an astute poli­tician and die-hard Awoist, Alhaji Rafiu Ishola Solomon, better known as R.I, the younger Solomon appears set to contest the governorship of Lagos State in the 2015 general elections.
In this interview with CHIOMA IGBOKWE, the Senator opens up on his political sojourn so far, his governorship ambition and the cat-and-mouse game between the legislature and the executive. In all, he submits that the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo remains his role model even in death because of his leadership qualities. He urges current leaders in the country to emulate Awolowo so as to deepen the nation’s democracy. Excerpts:
You have been in the Senate for almost eight years now. How has the experience been?
It’s been a wonderful experience being in the Senate. It’s quiet an eye-opener and gives one the opportunity to gather a lot of experience as it relates to legislation and representation. I think it’s a worthwhile experience.
Have there really been challenges you want to share especially as a member of an opposi­tion party?
I think the Senate being a key part of legislature is ex­pected to play a prominent role in the polity and given the composition and the entry requirements, Senators are considered as elder statesmen. To that extent, we hardly result in partisanship, not that it doesn’t happen. There are occasions when we toe party line, but we are always at every time guided by national interest. Occasionally, issues of the party you belong find a way of creeping in on us. The method of voting is by majority most times. We on the minority side most time have our say. One major challenge that readily comes to mind is when some of our colleagues wanted to leave our party. It was quiet a key mark. Eventually we had to let it go. That can be considered as our greatest challenge. We should also know that this came to be because of the swell in the rank of the opposition side. Suddenly, we controlled more than one third as against the situation we had be­fore. The size increased the activities of the opposition party. It became more visible. Apart from that, we work together irrespective of party affiliation.
How would you describe the relationship be­tween the Senate and the presidency?
The relationship between the Senate and the presiden­cy is that of two arms of the government that are work­ing together. That should be the ideal thing. But we still have the situation where part of the executive still sees some legislators as mere close accomplice. We are just lucky that the leadership of the senate is always finding ways to avoid crisis between the executive and the leg­islators. Everybody has his duties and responsibility. It’s part of our duties to check whatever they are doing, may­be their excesses as human beings. But they still think it’s none of our business. They need to go through a lot of re-orientation so that they will know that whatever the Senate is doing, it’s still within the provisions of the law and it’s not necessarily interference. After all, there can­not be any spending without the approval of the National Assembly and if that is so they must also be ready to submit themselves. They still go about saying they are not answerable to any Senate. And we believe 16 years along the line, we should have gone beyond this. I think it’s because of the constant change of ministers. They ought to be told their responsibilities to the Senate and the president. We are not doing too badly.
It’s on record that you sponsored a bill to cater for older people. Why not the youths?
The whole idea is that elderly people are vulnerable and they need assistance. It is agreed that they must have spent their pro­ductive years one way or the other in the service of the country. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that at their old age they are taken care of. That’s why we came up with the bill. The bill is not to build old people’s homes. It will be a research cen­tre for old people and health service delivery for old people. It has passed first and second reading and then to the president. But he did not sign. The bill is still sitting there. We have another Bill which seems to amend the Act of National Directorate of Employment. The essence of this is this; the present Act is over 20 years old. It needs to be looked at. When it was introduced, they didn’t have as many youths as we have now. Perhaps there is need to look at it here and there to put reality into it.
Last week, the Senate President read a letter announcing your inter­est to be the next governor of Lagos State. That seems to be the first time such was happening in the Senate. How did you come about that?
I have been in the Senate for two sessions. I thought it wise to meet my friends in the Senate to tell them of my intention to be the governor so they can assist in any way they can, including through their prayers. It’s only right that I tell my friends. And because of the relationship we have in the Senate, I feel one of the best ways is to tell the Senate President. He announced it. The reception has been en­couraging. It is also part of the consultation process. As I said, Lagos is a mini Nigeria, every senator has relatives in Lagos. Letting them know that am running is just like let­ting their relatives know that am running. We agree that every state is represented in Lagos. The aftermath has been heartwarming.
You are seeking the ticket of your party from Lagos East. There are al­most eight other aspirants running for the same ticket from the same zone. How well do you think the par­ty can elect a candidate among you without rancor?
The solution to that is very simple, if we have transparent election without manipu­lation. The electorate are more enlightened now. They are interested in the process of the emergence of a candidate. We have moved from an era when everybody will say let me present a candidate and they vote for him on the strength of my political party or the candidate. We have moved out of that time. The recent happenings in some states indi­cate that as long as you belong to a particular political party, whoever is showing interest does so legitimately. The only thing in par­ty leadership is to present a level platform. We cannot afford a situation when you say I will support this particular person and you expect them to just accept that. We have got to a stage when everybody is going about meeting party members. It will be difficult to support a particular person. What happens to those people? You will show your intention by buying the form. Nobody will come out to say we have agreed to support this person. What we should be looking at is having a pri­mary election. We require a very transparent election. We believe we have come to a stage when we show institutionalized democratic precedent. I thank God, our party leaders, when they were forming this party, said that they will make sure that the principles of internal democracy are adopted within the party. I know none of them will change this policy. So, whenever we are having election, everybody will know about it. And nobody will have the fear that he is hopeless because he doesn’t know anybody. This will increase their chances of vying for positions and polit­ical offices without being pushed aside.
Does that signify the end of the wide held view of godfatherism?
Right now, people talk less about that. Emphasis is about the primaries. I was at a function when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said that whoever wants to run should go and pre­pare for primaries. I believe some of these aspirants want him to embrace them and en­dorse them. If you want to contest, meet the members. Why disturb the leadership about anointing you or endorsing you? But because there will always be one flag bearer, the only way to go about it is through primaries and the leaders as fathers will have to sit down and watch without indicating their preference whether openly or secretly because at the end of the day if there is no reconciliation, they are the ones to see it and settle it. Whoever wins will first need to bring the rest together because it shouldn’t be difficult if the process is transparent.
Now that there is this move for in­ternal democracy in your party, some of your leaders have been heard se­cretly say that some of you calling for primaries have been beneficiaries of the old order.
They are talking of the old order. This one is a new order. We are talking about a mega party. We are talking about change. Let’s make sure everybody has an opportunity of becoming who he wants to become. Let’s not leave it at the level of select few. It’s never done anywhere. Yes, you can have sympathy for a person but you don’t pursue that vigor­ously. So, even if you are beneficiary of the old order, this is a new order. It’s time for change. We should not continue with that. We should not continue to gamble with ev­erything. Picking one person may be right or not. It’s only God that can do that successful­ly. I always quote one part of the Bible. God chose David. He gave instruction to Samuel to go and look for him and he has ways of choosing such people through His prophets. That was the Old Testament. In the New Testament, when they wanted to choose a re­placement for Judas, they prayed. Candidates came forward. Matthias and Barnabas and they prayed. He didn’t give them a particular person but they voted through election. Now nobody should attempt to manipulate the votes. Let me say this. I am not saying this for this election alone. I am saying this for fu­ture elections. Let everybody have a sense of belonging. It means they have a future in this party. It’s better than a system where a few people are picked, where the leader says if you don’t want to be part of this you can leave us. You can’t say if you don’t take it you can leave us. Nobody says that anymore. So, if you can’t say that you should have on ground something that is highly acceptable.
You just quoted from the Bible. That means you have a good knowledge of the Bible even though you are not a Christian. What is your view on the issue of religion being played up in Lagos politics now as a factor in de­termining who the candidate of the party becomes?
That is also part of the grand plan to impose a candidate on the party. It has never been an issue in Lagos politics. Anybody can prove me wrong. Until now there has been no idea of zoning. It’s now that you see a group of people talking about a candidate coming from a particular zone or local government. Even if you want to do that you can mention a sena­torial district. On the issue of religion; we are trying to start what is not known in Lagos. Nobody cares about religion. We have people go to church and mosque. We have house­holds having both Christians and Muslims. In my family, it’s a mixture of both religions. My dad was a Muslim and his elder brother was a Christian and that’s how it runs in the family. I can wake up today and tell you that I am a Christian. We attended missionary school. When my grand mum died in 1985, the burial ceremony was held right in the church. Even Chief Obafemi Awolowo was there. So, what are you talking about? Why should anyone bring the issue of religion to a place that is religion tolerant? I know Lagosians are wise. You cannot force them. They are enlightened. They know when you want to deceive them
You just mentioned Chief Awolowo. What is the relationship between your family and the late sage?
My father, also of blessed memory, was an Awoist through and through. He was into politics from his 20s playing active role in the Action Group. He was the councillor represent­ing Ikorodu before we moved to Mushin. On several occasions they had to move us out of the house because of what was happening then. I grew up knowing the family particularly when there was ban on political activities. I remem­ber in the 80s, Committee of Friends held meet­ings in our house. Because of that, we had the opportunity of meeting Chief Awolowo. I still have pictures of the 71 and 72 and some of their meetings in our house. That is how close the two families were. To my dad, Awolowo was everything. The only person that would say a thing and he would not bother to crosscheck. He will always tell you that papa said this, papa said that. He is my role model even in death. People asked me why I don’t do certain things in spite of my exposure. That’s how I grew up learning from my dad. We were warned against doing some things. To me, he was just a perfect model.
Was that how you picked your own progressive politics?
Yes. I tell people that have had cause to in­teract with me. I always encourage them to be better politicians and to learn from the founding fathers. If you have them as your role models, there is no way you will go wrong. Our present leaders have one or two things to learn from them.
How would you place the chances of your party against PDP both at the fed­eral and state levels?
Let me start with Lagos. I am very sure about Lagos. There is no doubt. We know that 2011 was not the same as 2007 but we came out victorious. This time too we have a lot of losses and takings. It’s allowed. It’s free. But I know from the performance of our governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN and from our determination and with the result of the pri­maries, we will remain on top. But at the same time, Nigerians should be ready for a shocker. We are analyzing everything. APC stands the chance of winning. We are the party that will bring the needed change. The voters are more enlightened now. There is a little that you will tell them now that they don’t know. The issue of I belong to this party, am going to vote for this party will not count. It’s behind us. It is my well considered opinion that APC stands the chance
On a final note, why do you want to be the governor of Lagos State?
My supporters and I believe we have strongly what it takes to take Lagos to the next level. We have been interacting with Lagosians at various levels both with the rich and the poor. We have everything it takes to make that happen. We have this passion to serve. We know what they require. They want better life. We have every­thing it takes to make that happen. We need the government that is far ahead of individuals. We need the government that will take into cogni­zance the state of the people in future. We are not going there to manage. We must be innovative. Whatever mark that will be left by the current government, we will do much better through continuity, consolidation and innovation. I have been election into the state House of Assembly, I have served as a local government chairman, I have served as an elected member of the House of Reps and twice I have been elected as Sen­ator representing Lagos at the National Assem­bly. The implication of that is that, I have been deeply active in governance at the grassroots, local council level, state level and federal level. In essence, I have got sufficient knowledge of the two major arms of government; legislature and executive. That’s a rare advantage God has given me far and above every other person in the race for my party’s governorship ticket to­day and I am confident the people know who’s got the experience, the popularity and the net­work to bring dividends of democracy to them. We won’t start learning the ropes, we know the issues, we are conversant with what our people want and that’s what we will give them when they vote us in.

Awo remains my role model – Solomon, Senate Minority Whip

Pregnant passenger vomits blood, rejected by 3 hospitals
■ How Chisco saved the day
The prompt intervention of Chisco transport officials has saved a pregnant wom­an, who after alighting from one of the company’s buses at its terminal, Jibowu, Lagos, started vomiting blood through her mouth and nose.
The bus, with registration number KJA 950 XR, was said to have arrived from Abuja at about 10am on the fate­ful day when the incident occurred. Scared by the development, other passengers were said to have taken to their heels as one of the passengers screamed that the pregnant woman was displaying Ebola symptoms.
It took the timely intervention of Chisco officials who made use of their standby ambulance to rush her to three different hospitals that rejected her when they realised that she was still bleeding.
Narrating the incident to Saturday Sun, a staffer of the company, simply identified as Juliet, said that the pas­senger, whose name is Joy, boarded their bus from Abuja to Lagos where the incident happened.
“On October 12, 2014 at about 10.15 am, a passenger, who was preg­nant, alighted from one of our buses that just arrived from Abuja. Immedi­ately she alighted from the bus, she fell down and started vomiting through the nose and mouth.
“The Jibowu branch manager called on the medical section, who organised an ambulance and took her to three dif­ferent hospitals who rejected her.
She was finally admitted at the Mili­tary Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. After sev­eral tests, they informed us that she was hypertensive which led to convulsion. The hospital demanded that an initial deposit of N36,000 should be paid be­fore they could treat her. We paid the said amount and directed our workers to take turns in taking care of her.
“This became necessary as we could not make contact with anyone who is related to her. We even discovered that she did not fill the next of kin column in the form we give our passengers. She later gave birth to a premature baby, and we had to pay another N5,000.”
According to Juliet, the woman and her child were later brought to their of­fice as soon as she was discharged on October 16, 2014. “We later assisted Joy to locate her sister, who resides in Ikorodu area of Lagos.”
Elated Joy thanked the manage­ment and staff of Chisco transport for assisting her in such a time of need. “I am okay and so is my little baby. It is only God that will reward them,” she prayed.
 BY CHIOMA IGBOKWE

Ebola scare in Lagos motor park

Victor Moses is expected to re­turn to action for Stoke City as in-form West Ham United bandwagon rolls on to the Britannia Stadium today.
Sam Allardyce’s men have won four of their last five games, and knocked off champions Manchester City last weekend to indi­cate that they are more than a flash in the pan.
The victory kept the Hammers in the top four of the table, and there is a growing belief around Up­ton Park that they could gatecrash what has been an exclusive European party this season.
Diafra Sakho contin­ued his record of scoring in every West Ham game in which he has started by notching for the seventh match in a row, but he is a major doubt for their trip to the Potteries after injuring his shoulder against City.
His potential absence is cushioned by the fact that fellow summer signings Enner Valencia and Mor­gan Amalfitano are also chipping in with goals, but it is the capture of Alex Song which could prove to be Allardyce’s shrewdest piece of business since his Bolton Wanderers days.
The Cameroonian mid­fielder has been instrumen­tal in West Ham’s success since joining on loan from Barcelona and has imme­diately formed an effec­tive partnership with Mark Noble which will keep fit-again Cheikhou Kouyate on the bench.
Club-record signing Andy Carroll, who is yet to feature this season because of an ankle injury, is near­ing a return, but this week­end perhaps comes too soon for him and therefore Carlton Cole is on standby to deputise for Sakho in at­tack.
With Mauro Zarate and Guy Demel still nursing knocks, Allardyce’s only other selection decision seems to be whether to re­tain James Collins at cen­tre-back, or recall James Tomkins now that the acad­emy graduate has recov­ered from the injury that has cost him two matches.
Stoke too have the scalp of Man City under their belts this season, but their problem is proving to be consistency, with Mark Hughes’s side having won three and lost three of their last six matches.
Their latest defeat came in the Capital One Cup fourth round to Southamp­ton on Wednesday, as they came from two goals down to level the match before conceding late on after the dismissal of Peter Crouch.
Crouch joins Phil Bard­sley in being suspended for the visit of the Irons, so Hughes will be forced into a reshuffle, with Geoff Cameron switching from midfield to right-back and Mame Biram Diouf play­ing centrally up top.
Victor Moses and Char­lie Adam could be recalled at the expense of Marko Arnautovic and Bojan, while Steve Sidwell may be handed just a second Stoke start in midfield, with Glenn Whelan injured.
Defender Robert Huth and forward Peter Odem­wingie, who scored in a 3-1 victory at the Britannia last term as the Potters com­pleted a Premier League double over West Ham, re­main out.

Moses returns for West Ham challenge

More Nigerians will vote Jonathan in 2015 – Morro

Minister of Interior, Abba Morro has given assurance that the gains of the transformation agenda will give President Goodluck Jonathan an edge over his challengers at the 2015 polls.
Morro, who stated this in an interview with journalists on Friday in Makurdi, commended the president for the courage of picking the PDP’s nomination forms.
He said Nigerians had started reaping the benefits of the transformation programme of the government with the revitalisation of key sectors of the economy.
The minister commended the meticulous manner the president was handling the insurgency in the country and said his decision to run for the presidency was in the best interest of the country.
He said that the president was tackling insurgency on three fronts; engagement, consultation and contentment.
Morro said 2015 elections would determine the next political direction of the country, stressing that it was important for the electorates to make the right choice of a president who would take them the next level.
“Most governors are doing their last tenure, the president will not run in 2019, therefore the choice of leaders in 2015 will shape the political direction of the country after the 2015 elections.’’
The minister dismissed speculations that the defection of speaker Aminu Tambuwal to the rival APC would jeopardise the political chances of the PDP, especially in the northern part of the outcry.
He said that the political history of Nigeria was full of defections, stressing that while Tambuwal was defecting from the PDP to the APC, some big wigs of the APC were crossing over to the PDP.
He said those who understood the political antecedents of Tambuwal would not be surprised that he crossed over to the APC.
The minister said Tambuwal had always been on the move, “from the ANPP he defected to the PDP and now back to the APC which is the precursor of the ANPP.”
He said that the president won his victory in 2011 across party lines and assured that he would surpass his performance in 2011 by winning a large margin in 2015