Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams underlined their French Open ambitions with convincing final victories in Rome on Sunday.

In what was his 30th meeting with Roger Federer, clay court king Nadal outclassed the Swiss 6-1, 6-3 as he continued his stunning comeback following a seven-month injury absence.

Williams, who will head to Paris next week hoping to avenge her stunning first round defeat to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano last year, was in equally imperious form as she swept aside Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3.

Serena Williams with her trophy in Rome. AFP

Nadal’s triumph means he now leads Federer 20-10 in their series, with 13 of his wins coming on clay.

He also now has 24 Masters titles in a career total of 56.

Ahead of his bid to extend his record run of seven victories in Paris, Nadal admitted he had never dreamed of such success — he now has 36 wins in 38 matches since his return to the tour in February.

“If you’d told me that four or five months ago I would have said you are crazy,” said fifth-seeded Nadal.

“So after eight tournaments, six victories, and two finals, it’s a dream for me.”

Federer, the second seed, had overcome French upstart Benoit Paire in a late semi-final on Saturday to make his first final of the season.

But despite winning the opening game on serve on Sunday the Swiss failed to really get a grip on the match.

In all, Federer finished with 32 unforced errors to Nadal’s eight.

Federer-Nadal in a handshake after the Rome final

“He played very aggressively from the start, he didn’t make too many mistakes and had a good match overall,” said Federer, who admitted the change in class from his previous challengers this week had been a factor.

“Rafa has much more top-spin than all the guys I played this week, so the change was quite a big one.

“I tried to play offensively, but unfortunately I didn’t have the best day. It didn’t go the way I was hoping it to go.”

Williams looked equally impressive on the red clay of centre court.

She broke Azarenka’s serve three times in a one-sided first set and despite a tighter second set the American prevailed to stretch her career-best winning streak to 24 matches.

It was Williams’s 51st career title and took her victory tally over Azarenka, who beat the American earlier this season in the final of the Doha hardcourt event, to 12-2 in their series.

Williams said the match was closer than the score suggested.

“It was very close, the first three games were over 20-25 minutes or so, so it wasn’t really easy out there. Nothing is really easy,” said the American.

“I just took the opportunities when I had them. I know she (Azarenka) did as well, but I came up with the good shots sometimes.”

Azarenka agreed the match had been closer than the score suggested but admitted: “She definitely showed some more incredible tennis today… she’s been playing her best tennis for the past year and a half or so.

“But today she played much better in the key moments of the match.”

It is Williams’s second title at Rome, having first won the event in 2002.

And after conceding defeat to Razzano in last year’s first round at Roland Garros, the American said she is taking a different approach this year.

“It’s definitely different. It has to be,” she said.

“I was feeling excellent last year and didn’t do great. This year I’m more cautious. I want to work hard and stay focused and win every point hard and not slack at all.”

Defender Uzochukwu grabbed the winner three minutes from full time after Tunisian club Sfaxien held their own inside the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.

However, Uzochukwu was given a red card minutes later after he picked up his second booking of the day and this means he has been ruled out of the all-important return leg match in Tunisia.

Rangers were without internationals Sunday Mba and Chigozie Agbim, who are away with the Super Eagles in Germany, while first-choice goalkeeper, Godwin Ayalogu, was not fit enough. This forced the coach, Okey Emordi to settle for third choice goalkeeper, Emmanuel Daniel, who is also the U-20 Flying Eagles’ goal poacher.

Sfaxien attacked from the onset and it needed goalkeeper Daniel to scramble into a corner to safe a goal-bound shot by the Tunisians after just eight minutes.

Razaq Adegbite replaced injured striker Sanusi Sani after 28 minutes as Rangers fought in search of a go-ahead goal.
On the hour, Nigeria U-20 striker, Alhaji Gero, had a chance to put the home in front but he missed a great opening off a corner.

MTNFootball.com reports that just when it looked like Rangers would be cancelled out by Sfaxien, Uzochukwu produced the winner late on, but he was booked for celebrating by pulling off his shirt. He was then sent off moments later for a second booking.

Sfaxien, three-time finalists and the only club to successfully defend the Confederation Cup, host the second leg at the beginning of June.

No Egyptian club has won the nine-year Confederation Cup and the hopes of Ismaily or ENPPI creating history suffered serious blows.

Ismaily conceded a late goal to crash 3-0 at CA Bizertin of Tunisia while an early brace condemned ENPPI to a 2-0 defeat at Saint George of Ethiopia.

Bizertin, beaten by Egyptian giants Al-Ahly in the Champions League before dropping to the Confederation Cup, exacted sweet revenge.

A goal in each half, from Kamel Zaiem and Ali Machani, put them on top and a last-minute strike by Al-Arabi Gabir left Ismaily with little hope.

Shimeles Bekele and Abebaw Butako scored in Addis Ababa for the Saints, who hope to be the first Ethiopian team to reach the group stage.

Like Bizerte, Saint George were eliminated from the Champions League by an Egyptian side, losing to Zamalek on the away-goal rule.

Big spenders TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo whipped surprise qualifiers LIga Muculmana 4-0 in mining hub Lubumbashi.

But no scorer was Congolese with Zambians Given Singuluma and Nathan Sinkala, Ghanaian Richard Kissi-Boateng and Tanzanian Mbwana Samata on target.

Return matches are scheduled for the weekend of May 31-June 2 and the eight surivivors qualify for the group stage, which kicks off in mid-July.

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NEHRU ODEH

Nigerian filmmaker and President of the Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP), Mr. Alex Eyengho has been elected Vice President of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, FIAPF. With his election, Mr. Eyengho has become the first African to occupy that position.

The election of Eyengho came during the General Assembly of FIAPF held at the ongoing Cannes International Film Festival in France on 18 May 2013. Through the efforts and platform of ANCOP, Nigeria was in May 2011 officially admitted into the membership of FIAPF during the Cannes International Film Festival in France.

Alex Enyegho

While addressing international journalists shortly after his election, Mr. Eyengho, who thanked FIAPF members from over 28 countries of the world for the confidence reposed in him, stated that his victory was the beginning of a new dawn for Nollywood, adding that it was not for ANCOP alone but for Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

“My election is not about me or ANCOP. It is about deepening the Nollywood brand. It is about attracting maximum respect to Nigerian film producers at the international level. It is about Nigeria. It is about Africa. This is a confirmation and testimony to the fact that we are on the right track in Nollywood. The election is over. We must get to work immediately. Because of my humble experience in the industry, I know I shall hit the ground running with a view to ensuring that value is added to Nollywood and the African film community as a whole within the ambit of the lofty aims and objectives of FIAPF,” he said.

Delta State-born Alex Eyengho holds a first degree in Mass Communication from the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, and a Master in Media and Communication (MSc.) from the School of Media and Communication of the Pan- African University, Nigeria.

He also holds several other certificates including the ones in ‘Best Journalism Practices in the Digital Age’, powered by the United States Consulate, Lagos, and ‘Film Production and Script Writing’ powered by the Deutche Welle Akademie, Germany.

A practicing journalist cum filmmaker of over 17 years, Alex Eyengho who is also the President of the Association of Itsekiri Performing Artistes (AIPA), has produced, directed and or acted in films like award-winning Oma tsen-tsen and Nanna of the Niger Delta; AMAA-nominated Suara La; Beyond Obligation (1 & 2), Ogodobiri, Judgment Day, Second Coming, Scruples, A Queen for Domingo, Back to Africa etc.

He is well traveled both locally and internationally, where he has participated in various film festivals, master classes, conferences, seminars and workshops as Guest Speaker, Panelist or Delegate in places like USA, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, and South Africa etc

“After a mop up of scenes of battle (since Saturday), 14 terrorists were confirmed dead… Altogether three soldiers died, while seven are wounded and are being treated in a military medical facility,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Special forces troops were continuing “the advance and attack on identified terrorist camps”.

“Patrols are also ongoing to secure towns and villages from infiltration, while curfews on identified flash points are being enforced,” the ministry statement said.

Meanwhile, the 24 hour curfew imposed on Maiduguri was having its effect on residents as the military blocked supply routes in its sweeping campaign against Boko Haram.

The curfew was being enforced on Sunday, with most roads deserted, an AFP journalist reported, while some living in areas not impacted by the curfew also stayed indoors.

“My area is not affected but I have to stay at home with my family,” trader Ezekiel Adamu said.

He explained that he was afraid of coming across soldiers, who “seem to have more power with the state of emergency”.

The operation against Boko Haram, the group that wants an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, is aimed at retaking territory seized by the militants and ridding the country of “terrorist activities,” the military has said.

The offensive has included air strikes on Boko Haram strongholds in remote parts of northeastern Borno state, and has spread to the state capital Maiduguri, the insurgents’ traditional home base — which residents said Sunday was under a blockade.

The defence ministry in a mission update said 14 insurgents and three soldiers had been killed in battles since Saturday
Soldiers have sealed roads heading out of Maiduguri, blocking supply routes to remote towns where Boko Haram Islamists have seized power, residents said.

“There is a huge build-up of trucks loaded with essential commodities… along the Baga road on the way out of Maiduguri to the northern part of the state,” said resident Ibrahim Yahaya.

“The drivers said they have been prevented by the military from going northward,” he told AFP by email.

The phone network in Borno has all but collapsed since President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency there and in two neighbouring states, Adamawa and Yobe.

Supplies were also running short in the city, where Boko Haram was founded more than a decade ago by the radical cleric Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in detention in 2009.

The price of basic goods has soared with supply lorries prevented from entering the city.

“We’ve been eating without meat since Friday… but there is nothing I can do. This is the challenge of emergency rule,” said resident David Olutayo.

Supply shortages and price hikes have also started to bite in the town of Gomboru Ngala, on the border with Cameroon, where some Borno residents have fled to escape the air raids.

“Trucks bringing in goods from Maiduguri have ceased since last week,” said resident Grema Babagoni, adding that prices had soared as much as 25 percent.

“If the blockade continues for some time we may completely run out of supplies,” he told AFP

Residents in Gomboru Ngala can be reached by phone as the service uses Cameroonian lines.

The town has seen an influx of people fleeing the nearby Marte district, one of the areas where Boko Haram chased out the government and removed Nigerian flags.

Marte has been among the areas targeted by air strikes, residents have told AFP.

A senior rescue official who requested anonymity told AFP that he had could not say what impact the offensive has had on civilians because his staff in Borno and Yobe have been unreachable.

“I have sent emails and texts but have not heard anything yet,” the official said.

The operation could prove to be the largest ever against Boko Haram.

A brutal crackdown on the insurgents in 2009, concentrated in Maiduguri, killed more than 800 people and forced the Islamists underground for a year.

Since re-emerging in 2010, they have carried out scores of attacks, including gun raids and suicide bombings.

Many fear that like the 2009 crackdown, the current campaign may fail to crush the group.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer, has been urged to tackle root causes of the conflict, including acute poverty and excessive government corruption which has helped radicalise many young Muslims in the north.

There is also a risk of high civilian casualties, with Nigeria’s military having been accused of massive rights abuses in the past.

The conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security services.

Jonathan has said that negotiations remain possible amid the sweeping offensive, but the Islamists have so far shown no signs of wanting to talk.

The bodies of a five-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were discovered on Saturday afternoon in the man’s apartment in Saint-Priest, a southeastern suburb of Lyon.

The unemployed father confessed to the gruesome crime “but did not go into details of the motive”, prosecutors said.

The tragedy was “linked to a bitter separation” and “the state of his visitation rights which he considered insufficient”, another judicial source told AFP.

“In 2010, there was an incident of violence with his spouse which led to restrictions on his visitation rights,” the source said.

He was arrested on Saturday evening in Lyon and placed in custody. A judicial official said a knife which is thought to have been the murder weapon had been found.

The man had visitation rights but only in the presence of another person, the official said, adding that this was the first time he had brought the children home to his apartment on the second floor of a four-storey building without a third party being present.

He remained in custody late Sunday and was to be presented to a prosecutor on Monday when he was expected to be charged.

Police were also questioning his ex-wife, notably to learn more about “the legal framework of the children’s visits to their father”.

“We understand that a British national has been arrested in France,” a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP. “We are in contact with the French authorities and we await the outcome of their investigation.”

Several witnesses said the man fled on roller skates after his former wife encountered him on the stairwell of the building and saw him with bloodstained clothes. She immediately alerted the police.

A neighbour said the mother was soon joined by relatives, including her brother-in-law and the children’s grandparents, and was lucid although in shock.

A psychiatrist from the emergency services was immediately dispatched to give her counselling.

“They were devastated but relatively composed,” the neighbour said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“She said: ‘He has killed them’. I tried to comfort her saying we didn’t know as yet although I knew at the bottom of my heart that they were dead.”

Ahmed Benguedda, another neighbour, told AFP the couple had divorced “two or three years ago” and that the man had drinking problems and was a wife beater.

After the divorce the wife, who worked as an assistant accountant, moved out of the apartment they had jointly bought and was living in the Isere region of eastern France.

But the children were “well-balanced”, said Benguedda, whose seven-year-old daughter often played with them.

“All the people in this building are in a state of shock,” Benguedda said.

More neighbours were being questioned by the police on Sunday.

LONDON(AFP) – Arsenal won the race for fourth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at Newcastle, while Alex Ferguson’s extraordinary career ended in remarkable fashion as Manchester United drew 5-5 at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger’s side needed three points to guarantee a spot in next season’s Champions League qualification rounds ahead of north London rivals Tottenham and Laurent Koscielny’s second-half strike ensured they achieved that aim.

Koscielny’s goal meant more heartache for Spurs who once again had to settle for a place in the Europa League that comes with finishing fifth despite their 1-0 win against Sunderland at White Hart Lane.

“The players are special. I’ve told them many times but they’ve shown it in the last two months they’ve been absolutely exceptional,” Wenger said.

Arsenal players celebrate

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas added: “It is difficult to take. In the end we did what we had to but Arsenal did their job well and go through. It is difficult at this moment.

Ferguson was taking charge of United for the 1,500th and final time before retiring and the Scot looked set to bow out with a win as the Premier League champions romped into a 5-2 lead.

But Albion scored three times in the last nine minutes in an incredible finish to spoil Ferguson’s farewell at the Hawthorns.

“5-5, what a mad result! Let’s be honest, the boss was never going out with a boring 0-0,” United defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted.

United striker Javier Hernandez added: “We wanted to win it, but the gaffer is certainly going to remember his last match. He has put the club on the top and we’re going to miss him.”

At St James’ Park, Arsenal bagged the priceless goal when French defender Koscielny swivelled to volley home from close-range after Lukas Podolski flicked on Theo Walcott’s free-kick in the 52nd minute.

The victory secured Arsenal’s 16th consecutive Champions League qualification and will ease the pain of another trophyless season for the Gunners, who trailed Tottenham by seven points at the start of March.

Spurs struggled to break down Sunderland until the closing moments, even though Black Cats midfielder David Vaughan was sent off for a second booking in the 75th minute.

They finally took the lead when Bale cracked a stunning strike into the top corner from long range in the 90th minute, but Arsenal were just seconds away from victory by then.

Since taking charge of United for the first time in a 2-0 defeat at Oxford on November 8, 1986, Ferguson has amassed an incredible 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns.

This was his swansong, as well as the final game before retirement for United midfielder Paul Scholes, who came on as a second-half substitute, and it was suitably dramatic.

Ferguson says goodbye

Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa got United’s first in the sixth minute and Albion defender Jonas Olsson scored a ninth-minute own goal.

Alexander Buttner smashed in United’s third in the 30th minute before James Morrison got one back for the hosts in the 40th minute.

Romelu Lukaku scored for Albion in the 50th minute before Robin van Persie netted for United three minutes later and Hernandez bagged the fifth in the 63rd minute.

Yet Albion provided an incredible finale as Lukaku and Youssouf Mulumbu both scored in the space of 60 seconds in the 81st minute before on-loan Chelsea striker Lukaku completed his hat-trick to equalise in the 86th minute.

Ferguson will be succeeded at Old Trafford by Everton manager David Moyes, who saw his team beaten 2-1 at third-placed Chelsea in his farewell after an 11-year reign.

Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata slotted home in the seventh minute. Steven Naismith equalised for Everton seven minutes later, but Fernando Torres struck the winner in the 76th minute.

“It’s emotional because it’s the last time I walk away from the players but part of the job is you move on,” Moyes said.

Chelsea’s interim manager Rafael Benitez, who masterminded the team’s Europa League final victory over Benfica in Amsterdam in midweek, was also saying goodbye, with Jose Mourinho reportedly lined up to return to west London once he quits Real Madrid.

“I am really proud because we have a team in transition and you can see young players, playing 69 games and doing well to the last game,” Benitez said.

On a day of emotional farewells, Jamie Carragher captained Liverpool on his 737th and final appearance for the club, a 1-0 win over already-relegated QPR at Anfield.

Carragher hit a post in the second half, but Philippe Coutinho got the only goal, lashing home from long-range in the 23rd minute.

Manager-less Manchester City, already guaranteed to finish second, were beaten 3-2 at home by Norwich.

Stoke striker Michael Owen made a 16-minute cameo appearance before his retirement in his team’s 1-1 draw at Southampton.

FA Cup winners Wigan, already relegated, drew 2-2 with Aston Villa, while second bottom Reading lost 4-2 at West Ham and Fulham won 3-0 at Swansea

Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, in an interview with Sahara Reporters, speaks on his relationship with compatriot, Chinua Achebe and slams those, he describes as ‘an incorrigible sect’, promoting lies that his Nobel prize poisoned the relationship. Excerpts…

“Well then, this prospect that “my 1986 Nobel Prize in literature poisoned my personal relationship with a supposedly resentful Achebe” – I think I shouldn’t dodge that either. Even if that was true – which I do not accept – it surely has dissipated over time. For heaven’s sake, over twenty-five people have taken the prize since then! The problem remains with those vicarious laureates who feel personally deprived, and thus refuse to let go. Chinua’s death was an opportunity to prise open that scab all over again. But they’ve now gone too far with certain posturings and should be firmly called to order, and silenced – in the name of decency.

I refer to that incorrigible sect – no other word for it – some leaders of which threatened Buchi Emecheta early in her career – that she had no business engaging in the novel, since this was Chinua’s special preserve! Incredible? Buchi virtually flew to me for protection – read her own account of that traumatizing experience. It is a Nigerian disease. Nigerians need to be purged of a certain kind of arrogance of expectations, of demand, of self-attribution, of a spurious sense and assertion of entitlement. It goes beyond art and literature. It covers all aspects of interaction with others. Wherever you witness a case of ‘It’s MINE, and no other’s’, ‘it’s OURS, not theirs’, at various levels of vicarious ownership, such aggressive voices, ninety percent of the time, are bound to be Nigerians. This is a syndrome I have had cause to confront defensively with hundreds of Africans and non-Africans. It is what plagues Nigeria at the moment – it’s MY/OUR turn to rule, and if I/WE cannot, we shall lay waste the terrain. Truth is, predictably, part of the collateral damage on that terrain.

Yes, these are the ones who, to co-opt your phrasing, “diminished (and still diminish) Chinua’s image”. In the main, they are, ironically, his assiduous – but basically opportunistic – hagiographers – especially of a clannish, cabalistic temperament. Chinua – we have to be frank here – also did not help matters. He did make one rather unfortunate statement that brought down the hornet’s nest on his head, something like: “The fact that Wole Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize does not make him the Asiwaju (Leader) of African literature”. I forget now what provoked that statement. Certainly it could not be traced to any such pretensions on my part. I only recollect that it was in the heat of some controversy – on a national issue, I think.

But let us place this in context. Spats between writers, artists, musicians, scientists, even architects and scientific innovators etc. are notorious. They are usually short-lived – though some have been known to last a life-time. This particular episode was at least twenty years ago. Unfortunately some of Chinua’s cohorts decided that they had a mission to prosecute a matter regarding which they lacked any vestige of understanding or competence or indeed any real interest. It is however a life crutch for them and they cannot let go.

Prof. Wole Soyinka

Chinua Achebe: an incorrigible sect diminishes name

What they are doing now – and I urge them to end it shame-facedly – is to confine Chinua’s achievement space into a bunker over which hangs an unlit lamp labeled “Nobel”. Is this what the literary enterprise is about? Was it the Nobel that spurred a young writer, stung by Eurocentric portrayal of African reality, to put pen to paper and produce Things Fall Apart? This conduct is gross disservice to Chinua Achebe and disrespectful of the life-engrossing occupation known as literature. How did creative valuation descend to such banality? Do these people know what they’re doing – they are inscribing Chinua’s epitaph in the negative mode of thwarted expectations. I find that disgusting.

China, with her vast population, history, culture – arts and literature – celebrated her first Nobel Prize in Literature only last year. Yet I have been teaching Chinese literature on and off – within Comparative literary studies – for over forty years. Am I being instructed now that those writers needed recognition by the Nobel for me to open such literary windows to my students? Do these strident, cacophonous Nigerians know how much literature – and of durable quality – radiates the world?

Let me add this teacher complaint: far too many Nigerians – students of literature most perniciously – are being programmed to have no other comparative literary structure lodged in their mental scope than WS vs. CA. Such crass limitation is being pitted against the knowledgeable who, often wearily, but obedient to sheer intellectual doggedness, feel that they owe a duty to stop the march of confident ignorance. For me personally, it is galling to have everything reduced to the Nigerian enclave where, to make matters even more acute, there are supposedly only those two. It makes me squirm. I teach the damned subject – literature – after all. I do know something about it.

So let me now speak as a teacher. It is high time these illiterates were openly instructed that Achebe and Soyinka inhabit different literary planets, each in its own orbit. If you really seek to encounter – and dialogue with – Chinua Achebe in his rightful orbit, then move out of the Nigerian entrapment and explore those circuits coursed by the likes of Hemingway. Or Maryse Conde. Or Salman Rushdie. Think Edouard Glissant. Think Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Think Earl Lovelace. Think Jose Saramago. Think Bessie Head. Think Syl Cheney-Coker, Yambo Ouologuem, Nadine Gordimer. Think Patrick Chamoiseau. Think Toni Morrison. Think Hamidou Kane. Think Shahrnush Parsipur. Think Tahar Ben Jelloun. Think Naguib Mahfouz – and so on and on along those orbits in the galaxy of fiction writers. In the meantime, let us quit this indecent exercise of fatuous plaints, including raising hopes, even now, with talk of “posthumous” conferment, when you know damned well that the Nobel committee does not indulge in such tradition. It has gone beyond ‘sickening’. It is obscene and irreverent. It desecrates memory. The nation can do without these hyper-active jingoists. Can you believe the kind of letters I receive? Here is one beauty – let me quote:

“I told these people, leave it to Wole Soyinka – he will do what is right. We hear Ben Okri, Nuruddin Farah, even Chimamanda Adichie are being nominated. This is mind-boggling. Who are they? Chinua can still be awarded the prize, even posthumously. We know you will intervene to put those upstarts in their place. I’ve assured people you will do what is right.”

Alfred Nobel regretted that his invention, dynamite, was converted to degrading use, hence his creation of the Nobel Prize, as the humanist counter to the destructive power of his genius. If he thought that dynamite was eviscerating in its effects, he should try some of the gut-wrenching concoctions of Nigerian pontificators. Please, let these people know that I am not even a member of Alfred’s Academy that decides such matters. As a ‘club member,’ however, I can nominate, and it is no business of literary ignoramuses whom, if any, I do nominate. My literary tastes are eclectic, sustainable, and unapologetic. Fortunately, thousands of such nominations – from simply partisan to impeccably informed – pour in annually from all corners of the globe to that cold corner of the world called Sweden. Humiliating as this must be for many who carry that disfiguring hunch, the national ego, on their backs, Nigeria is not the centre of the Swedish electors’ world, nor of the African continent, nor of the black world, nor of the rest of the world for that matter. In fact, right now, Nigeria is not the centre of anything but global chagrin.

Chinua is entitled to better than being escorted to his grave with that monotonous, hypocritical aria of deprivation’s lament, orchestrated by those who, as we say in my part of the world, “dye their mourning weeds a deeper indigo than those of the bereaved”. He deserves his peace. Me too! And right now, not posthumously.

It is not all bleakness and aggravation however – I have probably given that impression, but the stridency of cluelessness, sometimes willful, has reached the heights of impiety. Vicarious appropriation is undignified, and it runs counter to the national pride it ostensibly promotes. Other voices are being drowned, or placed in a false position, who value and express the sensibilities between, respect the subtle threads that sustain, writers, even in their different orbits. My parting tribute to Chinua will therefore take the form of the long poem I wrote to him when he turned seventy, after my participation in the celebrations at Bard College. I plan for it to be published on the day of his funeral – my way of taunting death, by pursuing that cultural, creative, even political communion that unites all writers with a decided vision of the possible – and even beyond the grave.”

David Beckham, skipper for the night, bade a tearful Parisian farewell on Saturday as the former England star made his final appearance at the Parc des Princes for Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain before heading into retirement.

Last week, Beckham had helped PSG to their first league title since 1994 with a win over Lyon, and then announced he would retire at the end of the season having captured a championship in a fourth different league after England, Spain and the United States.

david Beckham: au revoir Paris. AFP photo

Coach Carlo Ancelotti made the 38-year-old captain for the night and Beckham duly basked in the applause as the capital club coasted to a 3-1 win over relegated Brest capped with two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Beckham had a hand in the other Parisian goal, his corner finding Blaise Matuidi as the former Manchester United star signed off with an assist while Charlison Benschop replied for Brest.

There followed a standing ovation for Beckham as Ancelotti withdrew him with 10 minutes remaining and the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and LA Galaxy star, watched by wife Victoria and his parents, left the arena in tears to warm applause from his teammates, who each afforded him a hug.

Forum Chairman and Niger Governor, Babangida Aliyu, disclosed this in a statement by Danladi Ndayebo, his Chief Press Secretary, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The NSGF however expressed the hope that the imposition of emergency rule would complement Federal Government’s offer of amnesty earlier made to members of the Boko Haram sect.

“We feel this will help to restore peace to the affected states,’’ the forum said.

The Northern governors urged all members of the security agencies deployed to the affected states to operate by their rules of engagement.

“We advise the military to respect the sanctity of human lives, especially civilians who are not involved in the crisis,’’ they said.

The governors also called on the people in the affected states to also co-operate with military personnel posted to their areas to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and destruction of properties.

While commending President Goodluck Jonathan’s action, the forum urged members of the Boko Haram sect to accept federal government’s gesture of amnesty.

“They should respond to government’s gesture so that lasting peace can return to the region in particular, and the nation in general,’’ NSGF said.

It also commiserated with families of those who lost their loved ones in a gunmen attack in Daura, Katsina State on Thursday, urging citizens to remain vigilant at all times.

Meanwhile, the NSGF will hold a meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday, May 28.

Top on the agenda of the meeting is deliberation on the report of the Committee on Reconciliation, Healing and Security, submitted to the governors in Abuja in April.

“To resign would be to flee,” Assad said in an interview with the Argentine newspaper Clarin when asked if he would consider stepping aside as called for by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“I don’t know if Kerry or anyone else has received the power of the Syrian people to talk in their name about who should go and who should stay. That will be determined by the Syrian people in the 2014 presidential elections.”

He nevertheless said he welcome a US-Russian peace initiative to end Syria’s two-year civil war.

The United States and Russia are trying to convene a peace conference in Geneva that would bring together members of the regime and the rebels fighting to oust Assad.

“We have received the Russian-US approach well and we hope that there will be an international conference to help Syrians overcome the crisis,” Clarin quoted Assad as saying.

He added, however, that “we do not believe that many Western countries really want a solution in Syria. And we don’t think that the forces that support the terrorists want a solution to the crisis.”

Syria calls the rebels who have been fighting to overthrow the regime “terrorists”

Saturday evening state television accused “terrorists” of detonating a car bomb in a north Damascus neighbourhood, saying it killed at least three people and wounded five others.

The state broadcaster said the bomb was placed in a car in the Rokn Eddin neighbourhood and that a disposal team was sent in to defuse another device.

“The terrorist explosion was the result of a big bomb concealed in a car … Three people were killed and five others wounded according to a provisional toll,” it said.

Television said the blast took place in a car park near a school and a mosque.

It broadcast footage of a rescuers bagging charred bodies, pools of blood, the twisted remains of a car and a damaged passenger bus, as armed troops stood in the background.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the bombing but gave a higher toll of eight dead and 10 wounded.

A statement said the bombing targeted “the cars of government forces, killing four regular troops and four civilians.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

It came after officials and the Observatory reported that gunmen on Saturday kidnapped the elderly father of deputy foreign minister Faisal Muqdad, a key government figure, apparently in retaliation for the arrest of relatives of one of their comrades.

A government source said the gunmen stormed into the Muqdad family home, “beat up” the 84-year-old man and fled with him to the city of Daraa, south of Damascus.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that Muqdad’s father, who was not named, was seized “in reprisal for the arrest by regime forces of relatives of one of the armed men.”

Muqdad is considered one of the most powerful voices of the embattled Syrian regime.

Elsewhere rebels seized four deserted Alawite villages in the central province of Hama, the Observatory reported.

Second seed Roger Federer will meet six-time winner Rafael Nadal in the final of the Rome Masters after a hard-fought 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 semi-final win over Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Sunday’s final will be the 30th meeting between Nadal and Federer with the Spaniard holding a 19-10 lead.

Paire has been one of the sensations of the tournament and pushed his Swiss rival to a first set tiebreak.

However, Federer raised his game in an equally tight second set to set up a Sunday final with Nadal after the Spaniard accounted for Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets.

Federer and Frenchman Benoit Paire

Paire had lost both of his previous encounters against the world number three — the first in the Basel quarter-finals last year and the second in this year’s Australian Open — in straight sets.

However the unseeded Frenchman came into the semi-final on the back of a one-sided quarter-final win over Marcel Granollers having accounted for Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round.

Paire started strongly, showing no sign of nerves in the opening game where he created two break points only to net one and send the other past the baseline.

Federer held serve, but the Frenchman went on to keep the Swiss on his toes until the sixth game when some wayward serves threatened to offer Federer the break until Paire steadied the ship.

Unperturbed, Paire broke Federer’s serve in the next game — the seventh — but failed to capitalise as Federer pounced on the second of two chances to break back after smashing home a Paire lob.

The pair traded blows until the tiebreak, when Paire took a 3-1 lead only for unforced errors from the Frenchman, and some massive groundstrokes from Federer, to give the Swiss the set.

Paire started the second set as he did the first, but back-to-back double faults in the third game gave Federer a crucial break.

The Frenchman pressed Federer throughout the remainder and despite recovering from a double fault at the start of the ninth game to close to 5-4, Federer made the most of three match points at the start of the 10th to seal the win.

Pope Francis on Saturday called for the respect of ethical values in public life and politics as their absence was “hurting all of humanity”.

Pope Francis: wants ethical behaviour in public life

“We are seeing a crisis of mankind which is destroying mankind,” the pope told a crowd of 200,000 people, most of them members of religious groups, in Saint Peter’s square.

“If there are no ethics in public life, in politics, anything is possible,” he warned, adding: “We read in the papers how a lack of ethics in public life is hurting all of humanity.”

As a number of European countries are struggling to overcome the consequences of the financial and economic crisis, Francis warned of putting the health of the banking systems ahead of families trying to cope.

“It’s a tragedy if banks fail in investments (but) if families are badly off and have nothing to eat, (the reaction is) so what? — this is our crisis today,” said the pope.

“A poor Church for the poor is fighting this mentality,” Francis added, speaking on the eve of Pentecost Sunday when Christians commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the 12 Apostles and other followers of Jesus.

Americans by the droves plunked down cold cash Saturday for a chance at fulfilling their most feverish dream: winning the $600 million Powerball lottery jackpot.

Millions will be glued to their TV sets when the Powerball numbers are drawn in a live event broadcast just before 11:00 pm eastern time (0300 GMT Sunday). If there is no winner, the jackpot could rise to close to $1 billion by the next drawing on Wednesday.

The jackpot is “the largest in the 21-year history of the game,” the Iowa state lottery agency said in a statement.

Kim Chatman, a building security guard in Washington who plans to buy her lotto ticket after work, said “you’ve got to take your chance — that’s what it’s all about.”

An advertising board shows the record jackpot of the Powerball US lottery with a record jackpot of 600 million US Dollars in a shop in downtown Washington, DC on May 17, 2013.

The $2 tickets are sold at supermarkets, corner stores and gas stations in 42 states, the capital Washington and the US Virgin Islands.

In the midwestern state of Minnesota, tickets are even sold at fuel pumps and automatic teller machines.

“Strong sales across the country are the reason the prize is taking big jumps now,” the Iowa state lottery agency said — particularly after the May 15 drawing, when the jackpot stood at $363.9 million, and there was no winner.

Sales were also boosted after Powerball tickets became available in California starting in April.

The game is a choice of five numbers from a pool of 59, plus a Powerball number from a separate pool of 35.

Powerball — a shared jackpot coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit group formed by the participating state lotteries — cannot be played from outside the United States or outside the participating states.

The richest US jackpot of all time was $656 million, won in a Mega Millions drawing in March 2012 and split between three tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. Like all US lotteries, the winnings are subject to tax.

Back then, “there were big lines for three days” of customers buying tickets, said Rajendra Prasad Bhusal, who works at the Continental Wine and Liquor store in downtown Washington.

That’s when the tickets cost $1. “Now, people complain that the tickets cost too much,” he said.

In recent days, customers have streamed in to buy Powerball tickets, but the crowd is only a third of the numbers seen in March 2012, according to the liquor salesman.

The Powerball website says the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 175,223,510. For a comparison, the odds of getting struck by lighting in the United States is one in 280,000, according to the National Lightning Safety Institute.

The main Powerball website advised that “swinging a live chicken above your head while wishing for the future numbers does NOT work” to improve the chances of winning. “There is no improvement to be had by swinging a dead chicken,” it added.

Buying more tickets helps, “but the odds are still high and hitting the jackpot is still a question of fate,” it said.

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to establish a free trade zone in the South East to boost economic activities in the area. He made the promise at the ground-breaking ceremony of the international wing of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu on Saturday.

The president, who noted that a free trade zone would only be operational where there was an international airport or a functional seaport, said the facility had been over-due in the zone.

“When the governor of Enugu State was making the request of a free trade zone, I was smiling in my mind. The certificate is right for the zone so you do not need to ask.

“Free trade zones can only be functional if it has access to a functional seaport or international airport, so it is something that has been approved before you requested for it so, you can go and sleep,’’ he said.

Jonathan at the Akanu Ibiam Airport

The president also promised to establish a cargo terminal for perishable food items at the airport for the quick processing and evacuation of agricultural produce from the farm to consumers abroad.

According to him, when the cargo is constructed, it will give Nigerians the opportunity to export agricultural produce and create wealth at home.

“The opening of this airport is one of the key requests I received from my brothers and sisters from the South East during my campaign for the election as president in 2011.

“ I promised them to bring about the transformation of our economy and nation. Today, it is a historical fact as we have fulfilled our promise,’’ the president said.

Earlier in a welcome address, Gov. Sullivan Chime of Enugu commended the president for his transformation agenda and the plan to exploit the abundant coal deposits in Enugu.

Chime appealed to the Federal Government to intensify the pace of work at the Makurdi-Enugu-Umuahia-Port Harcourt railway.

He called on the aviation ministry not to relent until the Akanu Ibiam International Airport became fully operational.

The governor said a free trade zone, to be situated in Enugu, would assist the entrepreneurial skills of the people.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, said the airport terminal would be completed within 15 months.

Oduah said the national airports modernisation programme of the Federal Government was part of the president’s transformation agenda toward remodeling the aviation industry.

The event was attended by governors, National Assembly members, ministers, former governors as well as captains of industry from the zone.

Some of the stakeholders who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) commended the president for fulfilling his campaign promises to the zone.

They, however, called on him to ensure the speedy completion of federal roads in the zone.

Jang made the declaration while speaking to newsmen on arrival at the Jos Airport after a three-week trip abroad.

“Our president knows better as the chief security officer of this country, and he has acted in the interest of all citizens. Without peace, there is no way Nigeria can enjoy the patronage of investors. Peace is a prerequisite for investment, development and growth.

“Ours is to support everything the President is doing, so that we can bring total peace to our country,’’ he said.

The governor said he and some others were just back from an investment summit in Canada aimed at attracting investors to the country.

He however said peace had to be in place for the trip to yield fruits, saying “without peace, no one will come and invest here.’’

Jang said this was why he saw the emergency rule as a welcome development.

“It is a welcome development, especially as the political structures are still in place,’’ he said. In 2004, former President olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Jang’s Plateau state, but sacked the incumbent governor, Joshua Dariye.

The governor said the delegation had fruitful deliberations with various investors in different sectors of Canada, and they had expressed their willingness to invest in Plateau.

Jang was among some governors, as well as ministers and members of National Assembly who accompanied Vice-President Namadi Sambo to Canada. In Canada, they attended a Business Investment Summit.

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, today installed the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi and his wife, Florence, the Aare Atunluse and Yeye Atunluse of Ibadanland.

The ceremony was witnessed by a large crowd of political bigwigs and senior citizens of Ibadan.

Speaking after his formal installation along with his wife and the presentation of certificate, Governor Ajimobi noted that he had turned down many chieftaincy titles from many monarchs from the state but accepted that of Olubadan because of his belief that the monarch gave him the title based on his objective assessment about his performance in the last two years of his reign.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his wife, Florence

Expressing profound appreciation to the Olubadan for the honour bestowed on him and his wife, Ajimobi described the Olubadan as a highly revered and principled traditional ruler who would not dole out chieftaincy titles to anybody who did not deserve it, no matter the person’s status in the society.

His words, “We are all very proud of the Olubadan of Ibadanland. Ibadan people are very tough. They are not given to frivolities. If they deem it fit to honour you, you should know that you really worth it”.

He thanked the Central Council for Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) and the Ibadan Elders’ Forum for their usual support stressing that the honour done him and his wife would further spur him into performing more than before in his quest at transforming and repositioning the state for socio-economic development.

Speaking on behalf of Olubadan, Otun Olubadan, High Chief Omowale Kuye said, “It is long we saw development in Ibadan last. It was last witnessed during Awolowo’s time, but Ajimobi has done it. The Olubadan enjoins you to continue to do well so that any governor that comes after you can be told to follow your foot step. Aare Atunluse title is a special title given to the governor. After him, anyone who performs the feat he has performed will be installed as Atunluse, while the governor remains the Aare. We have got a flyover, but we need more. Ibadan is now clean, but we need further developments in it”.
He explained that in the past few years, relationship between the palace and the government was not cordial, “but we thank God, things have changed. We need more of these developments”.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his wife, Florence with Olubadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, after the installation,

National Chairman, (CCII), Chief Bayo Oyero in his remark said Ajimobi first rejected the title when he was offered, but heaccepted later having been told the essence of it and that the Olubadan was in support of the initiative..

Among the eminent persons who attended the ceremony were the National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, Governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Oyo state Deputy Governor, Chief Alake Adeyemo, Speaker, Oyo House of Assembly Monsurat Sunmonu, Chief Judge of Oyo state, Justice Bolajoko Adeniji, Chairman, Odu’a Investment Company Limited, Chief Sarafadeen Alli, Senator Remi Tinubu, wife of the ACN leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the state of Osun represented by his wife Mrs. Serifat Aregbesola, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau state represented by the state Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Paul Samani White, Governor Liyel Imoke of River State represented by his Special Adviser on Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. John Ehekoye, Chief Lamidi Ajadi and Chief Bode Amoo.

Others include: Two former governors of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, former Oyo state Deputy Governor, Chief Iyiola Oladokun, GOC 2 Div Major General Ahmad Jubrin, Retired Chief Judge of Oyo state, Justice Nurudeen Adekola, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Chief Tom Ikimi, High Chief Omowale Kuye, Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland, Senator Lekan Balogun, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), Aare Musulmi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Azeez Arisekola, a business mogul, Chief Kola Daisi, Iyalode of Ibadanland, Alhaja Aminat Abiodun and Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Alhaji Suara Aruna.

Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Eleruwa of Eruwaland, Oba Akingbola Akindele and Ajinase, Oloogunebi, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Salawu Ganiyu Salau, were among the traditional rulers seen at the event, which took place at the Monatan residence of the Olubadan, in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State

It said weapons such as rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assorted ammunition and rifle magazines were recovered, just as it also announced the arrest by its Special Task Force of 65 persons suspected to be terrorists.

A statement signed by Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information, said the terrorists were caught while attempting to infiltrate Maiduguri as they fled their various camps now under attack.

The statement said the arrest was aimed at ridding the nation’s territories of all insurgent activities.

According to the statement, a total of 11 vehicles, four tricycles and 24 GSM handsets were also seized in the process.

“All the suspects are in custody of the Joint Task Force and are currently being interrogated,’’ it said.

The statement added that most of the terrorists’ camps were found to have been deserted by fleeing insurgents when STF troops stormed their occupied localities.

“The facilities have now been occupied by our troops,’’ it said further.

The statement also said some of the fleeing insurgents from various camps have been noted to be in search of fuel from neighbouring communities.

“Citizens are advised to report to the STF any group of persons roaming around the local communities with large quantities of containers in search of fuel. The advancement of troops is continuing on all fronts as scheduled,’’ it added.

The statement said the Defence Headquarters had further enjoined the troops to sustain the intensity of the operations.

Serena Williams. AFP

Victoria Azarenka has set up a Rome Open final with world number one Serena Williams after ending local hopes of a dream final with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Sara Errani on Saturday.

Azarenka’s all-round more powerful and varied game carried her through a first set that was interrupted three times – twice by rain and once by Errani calling for her coach after dropping the first three games.

Errani, who had beaten the Belarusian only once in their six previous encounters, emerged with bigger ambitions in the second set.

But despite battling all the way, she was broken by the tournament third seed in the 10th game before Azarenka served to take a 6-5 lead.

Errani saved three match points in the final game but was finally broken by the more powerful Belarusian, who will face Williams in a final for the first time since her win over the American earlier this year in Doha.

The African Union Commission (AUC) says 75 Heads of States and Governments from AU member states are expected to attend the 21st African Union Summit, scheduled to hold from May 19 to May 27 in Addis Ababa.

A statement by the Commission’s Directorate of Information and Communication in Addis Ababa on Saturday, said 450 journalists had been given accreditation to cover activities of the summit, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the 10th anniversary of the African Union (AU).

The OAU was established on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa on a signature of the OAU Charter by representatives of 32 governments including Nigeria, while 21 States joined gradually over the years.

South Africa became the 53rd member on May 23, 1994 after the first multi-racial elections that ushered in Dr Nelson Mandela as the first democratically elected black African president of the rainbow nation.

South Sudan became the 54th state to join the AU after securing independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011.

The OAU was formed to promote the unity and solidarity of African States, coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa; defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

African leaders at an event in Sao Tome

Part of the objectives of the OAU was to eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa; promote international cooperation, with due regard to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

NAN also recalls that other objectives of the organisation was to coordinate and harmonise member-states’ political, diplomatic, economic, educational, cultural, health, welfare, scientific, technical and defence policies.

The OAU later transmuted into the AU following the adoption of the Act of the African Union during the Lomé Summit of the OAU on July 11, 2,000.

Meanwhile, the statement said activities of the summit and 50th anniversary will kick off in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 19, with a preparatory meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the AU.

“The year long celebrations will include a commemorative summit, celebrations, sporting and cultural events as well as a gala dinner.

“These events will coincide with the Special Commemorative Summit on May 25, on the theme: “Pan Africanism and African Renaissance”.

It said the 21st Assembly of the Heads of State and Government will hold between May 26 and May 27, where adoption of various proclamations will take place.

“The Commemorative Summit and associated events will be attended by about 75 Heads of State and Government coming from the continent and beyond.

“Several build up, parallel and side events will take place in the week of May 19 to May 27, which include an African Youth and Children’s Intergenerational Forum to be addressed by Kenneth Kaunda and Sam Nujoma, former presidents of Zambia and Namibia, respectively, among others.”

The statement said that the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) would also convene a one-day dialogue on “Securing Africa’s Renaissance: the Role of the Private Sector in the next 50 years’’.

“In order to ensure a transparent and all-inclusive commemorative summit and celebrations, the AU has, so far, accredited about 450 journalists from Africa and beyond.

It said that the journalists would receive a live feed of all proceedings through the web and Ethiopian TV based broadcast.

“A media centre and media hotspots have been set up for the first time in AU history, so as to ensure better coverage for the event.”

It said that a youth forum would also be hosted at the AU Conference Centre and Africa Hall (where the OAU was founded 50 years ago) at the instance of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), between May 22 and May 24.

It said that the PACCI dialogue would be hosted on May 24 by ECA, while a debate on the adopted theme of “Pan Africanism and the African Renaissance’’ would hold at the commission’s conference centre on May 25, with the media, guests and civil society participating.

The summit would be concluded with the 21st Summit of the Heads of State and Government, which will commence on May 26 with an open session and would roundup with the adoption of proclamations on May 27.

Alhaji Kamaldeen Oladeji, Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Saturday said that there was no going back on the newly introduced Computer Based Test (CBT).

Oladeji, who supervised the CBT of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination at University of Lagos, said this in an interview on Saturday in Lagos.

About 100,000 candidates would be taking the examination across 56 centres in the country.

The examination, which is the first of its kind conducted by the board is expected to come to an end on June 1.

The zonal coordinator noted that if the country was to compete favourably with other climes, especially with regards to technological advancement, all hands must be on deck to support the initiative.

JAMB: computer test has come to stay

According to him, the adoption of the CBT will eventually assist in enhancing ICT skills amongst the citizenry.

“This CBT examination has come to stay, once we get it right, others will follow because as you can see, our education system is gradually transiting to e-education.

“This means, we should be talking e-learning, e-teaching, e-research across all the various levels of education in our system.

“With ICT, we can achieve a lot in no time, but the only challenge currently is that the computer penetration and infrastructural backing is still very low in our society,’’ he said.

Oladeji implored stakeholders in the private sector to strive to improve infrastructure and internet penetration across the country.

“The private sector must wake up to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in ensuring that they tag along this line and seek ways of partnering with government in achieving this feat,” he said.

According to him, education is a fundamental issue and must not be left to government alone to tackle, adding that if this was accomplished; the society will be the better for it.

“Government and private operators should partner in such a way that the CSR should be 80 per cent education and 20 per cent others.

“When we talk of human personnel capacity, especially in respect to ICT, we have it and I want to assure you that by 2014, we might likely not have any more Paper Pencil Test (PPT).

“The examination will be reduced to only the Dual Based Testing (DBT) and the on-going CBT until 2015, when it will be a full blown CBT with the others completely phased out.

“I also want to state that as soon as the CBT mode fully takes shape, other examination bodies such as WAEC, NECO and others would follow, as the introduction of e-testing is already a national policy,” he said.

Oladeji said that if there was sound and qualitative education in place, there would be no militancy or any insurgent group holding citizens and government to ransom.

“Education promotes egalitarianism. If we want an egalitarian society, we must be educated,” he said.

The zonal coordinator said that the introduction of the CBT would also eliminate all forms of examination malpractice and assist candidates to develop skills in ICT.

The supervisor said that results of the 350 candidates, who wrote the examination at the University of Lagos, would be released within four hours after its completion.

He said that the results, which ought to have been released immediately after the test, were intentionally delayed, to avoid any attack on the systems by candidates who did not perform well.

“We are delaying the results slightly because we do not want the candidates to attack the system in a feat of anger, if they see their results instantly and are not pleased with their performance.

“The results will be made available to them through short message service (SMS) or any other means, but it will sure get to them same day,” he said.

Meanwhile, Oladeji said that withheld results of the more than 68,000 candidates that wrote the PPT and the DBT on April 27, on account of biometric verification related issues have all be released.

He advised affected candidates, who had protested the development recently in Lagos and other places to check their results on the board’s website.