Constituency Projects: Is Buhari Guilty of Peddling Fake News?

Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi Visits Rwanda, Gives Hope to Victims of Genocide ISSN-2052-1979

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Constituency Projects: Is Buhari Guilty of Peddling Fake News?

BOSS OF THE WEEK

Ex-Ghana President, Mahama Makes Case for Border Reopening

PENDULUM

Let's Beg Buhari For A One Party State

Afrotech Silences The Rumors Of 'Not-Enough' Diverse Talent Available In Tech

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Ex-Ghana President, Mahama Makes Case for Border Reopening (Full Speech)

By Eric Elezuo

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he former President of G h a n a , D r. J o h n Dramani Mahama has come hard on the Nigerian government, calling on the immediate reopening of the the borders, which were closed a few months ago.

Mahama made the call while speaking as the guest speaker at the 7th Anniversary Lecture of Realnews magazine held at the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.

In his lecture, titled "Beyond Politics: An Economic Narrative for West Africa", HE John Mahama took a swipe at the various inanities taking place in the sub-region.

He condemned in totality the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the closure of borders by the Nigerian government, low level of education, poor leadership amongst others. While he blamed South Africans for forgetting the efforts of fellow Africans in the fight against apartheid, he came hard on the Nigerian government for not strengthening its institutions, resulting in the border closure.

Below is the full text of his speech: Distinguished Chairman, D r. M a n s u r M u h t a r, former Finance Minister of Nigeria Your excellences, ladies and gentlemen I wish to acknowledge Maureen and the team at the Realnews Magazine

for the commitment towards organising these annual lectures, as it provides a great platform for sharing and discussing ideas on contemporary issues that are impacting not only our sub-region, but the rest of the world.

I recall the efforts you made last year to get me here, unfortunately because of a number of prior engagements I was unable to confirm my participation.

Thank you very much for the honour done me in inviting me to share my thoughts as your Guest Lecturer for 2019. It sure feels like home when I am in any part of Nigeria. As many already know, it is my second home.

Having studied history at the undergraduate level, before branching off into communications and social psychology, I like to begin my presentations by putting things in context

with a bit of history. This will help to reconstruct the past- connecting the economic dots, in order to provide a brief narrative leading to where we are today.

AFRICA AND THE E A R LY T R A D I N G RELATIONS Africa’s early intersection with other parts of the world began as far back as the 8th century with the Tr a n s S a h a r a n t r a d e .

Goods from the Middle East, Europe and Asia were traded across the Sahara into the Savannah and forest regions, in exchange for gold, diamonds, kola nuts and other commodities.

The direction of this trade changed dramatically when the early European sea farers pioneered by Portugal, under Prince Henry the Navigator, arrived on the Western coast of Africa. The

resource endowment of Africa has been known for centuries and these resources have been exploited mainly to the advantage of the developed world.

Convinced about the boundless opportunities in our part of the worldwith respect to the wide variety, inestimable value and the huge quantum of natural resources they met- the European powers set up trading posts, forts and castles along the West African coast.

They did this, ostensibly, to trade with our local people and have a stake in the rich resources of West Africa and of Africa in general. Eventually, trading on a basis of equal partnership was not enough. They carved up Africa and took direct control of its resources.

Post-colonial independence for Africa

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made no difference because the neo-colonial arrangements put in place meant that the flow of natural resources from the continent continued uninterrupted at prices determined by the richer countries.

WEST AFRICA, A RESOURCE RICH SUBREGION Like most of the rest of Africa, our sub-region is resource-rich and blessed with bountiful minerals and natural commodities.

Brimming with resources, the region stands out on the global map. To cite a few examples, Guinea has an estimated 25% of the world’s known bauxite reserves, which translates to some 1.8 billion metric tonnes.

Ghana, together with Cote d’Ivoire is responsible for about 65% of the world’s cocoa beans used to produce cocoa products across the globe. Our two countries also have oil, and Ghana is already exploring this resource, which is contributing to our GDP. According to World Bank reports, Ghana is Africa’s largest producer of gold, overtaking South Africa and the 6th largest in the world.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil and gas and the 6th largest in the world, producing an estimated 2.5 million barrels of crude oil a day. Estimates by the United Nations puts the population of West Africa close to 400 million. About half of that population can

be found in Nigeria, clearly the leader in the region, a country, which according to the AfDB African Economic Outlook report, contributes nearly 70% of the region’s GDP. Indeed, each of the 16 nations of West Africa are either rich in agriculture, precious minerals like gold and diamonds, or oil and gas. We also have arable land that can feed a huge part of the whole world; and aside from the sea, there are

The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was celebrated just last week. It was a symbolic end to the era of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain.

These were heady times and the prospects for the world seemed bright. Talk of a global village and world prosperity were espoused in all international fora. The global targets resulted in reducing hunger and extreme poverty and raising millions of people out of poverty.

plenty of water bodies, many of them fresh, and also the sun. The prospects for West Africa and its people have always been enormous.

OUR CHANGING WORLD But Africa does not exist in isolation. Africa is an integral part of our world and cannot be immune to the changing global conditions. Our world is changing and there are many emergent risks to Africa’s survival and prosperity.

Our world is changing further, both in terms of physical circumstances and in terms of current world events.

The stability guaranteed by the mutual deterrence of nuclear annihilation is giving way to many proxy wars in the middle east, and unilateral actions by many of the major powers.

The glue that held the post-war multilateral system together is becoming unstuck. Russia is resurgent and intervening in many

theatres to re-establish her place as a world superpower. America is locked in a trade war with China, which is rattling global markets.

C h i n a ’s e c o n o m i c slowdown is having an impact on the commodity markets.

Economic emasculation, increasing cost of living and the fight for democracy have o v e r t h r o w n Governments in Sudan and Algeria. There are currently demonstrations and riots in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela.

A crisis of capital and western democracy is leading to the rise of populists and demagogues into political office in several developed countries.

In Africa, migration of young people in a hazardous journey across the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach the borders of Southern Europe in search of greener pastures has developed into a steady flow of humanity.

CLIMATE CHANGE The greatest threat to our existence as living species is the warming of o u r p l a n e t .

Archaeological studies have revealed many living species that have gone extinct as a result of some cataclysmic world events.

Most famous among these are the dinosaurs.

Humans could go the same way as other

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extinct species if the current warming of our planet is not halted in time.

Already many believe we are at the tipping point.

Fires in the high rain forests in Borneo, Indonesia and the Amazon, threaten flora that have been described as the lungs of the earth.

Apocalyptic wild fires in California and Australia due to unusually strong dry winds, floods in Europe and Asia, droughts in Africa, Hurricanes in America and the Caribbean, typhoons in Asia, cyclones in Mozambique and Southern Africa, are all a clear sign that our planet has had enough and can take no more of the years of abuse and plunder we have subjected it to.

West Africa is the most threatened part of our continent from this phenomenon. Having contributed the least to this adversity of nature, we are the most threatened by the change in the world environment. Being closest to the Sahara, the largest desert in the world, We s t A f r i c a r i s k s becoming completely transformed into a desert in the next two to three centuries. Droughts and erratic rainfall are an early warning signal of climate adversity.

TERRORISM AND INSURGENCY The greatest threat to security in West Africa is the rise of terrorist insurgency. The rise of terrorist insurgency is as much the result of

inequality and poverty, as it is, of religious ideological brainwashing.

This is exacerbated by the exclusion of large segments of our populations from the modest economic growth that our countries are enjoying.

Increasingly, insurgency is also being fuelled by competition for dwindling natural resources to sustain life and economic activity, such as land and fresh w a t e r. T h i s g e n e r a l insecurity affects investment and hurts economic activity. The w h o l e o f t h e Sahel/Savannah Region stretching as far as into Central and East Africa, and all the way to Northern Mozambique face some degree of threat from terrorist insurgency.

P O P U L AT I O N DEMOGRAPHIC The world is experiencing a changing population demographic. While population growth in the

developed world has slowed, to an extent where in some parts the rate of child birth is below the human replacement level in maintaining the size of their population, in other places especially Africa, the population is growing at an explosive rate.

A f r i c a ’s p o p u l a t i o n currently stands at about 1.1 billion people. At current rates, it could soar to four billion people by the end of the century, 2100. Nigeria alone will have approximately 400 million people and become the third most populous country after China and India.

Africa has averagely 4.8 live births per woman, which is still lower than the average of 6.8 in the late 70’s.

This demographic dividend presents both a benefit and a risk. An energetic workforce with greater prosperity if the next generations lower

their fertility rates and have fewer babies.

“Smaller families allow more women to secure paid work, and parents and Governments are able to invest greater resources in each child” – says Bloomberg.

The challenge facing Africa at the present rate of population growth is how to find jobs for this teeming population of young people. Africa adds almost 12 million young people to the job market every year, and yet is able to produce only about 7 million sustainable jobs. This means almost 5 million idle hands every year.

African economies must grow and clip along at above 8% GDP growth rate to be able to sustain this rate of population growth.

E C O N O M I C NARRATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA The reason, ladies and gentlemen, why we must

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explore the topic for this y e a r ’s a n n i v e r s a r y ‘Beyond Politics: An Economic Narrative for West Africa’ is because we need to aggressively position our economies for growth in other to provide more employment avenues for our growing populations.

To do this, we must change our existing economic models and paradigms.

Africa with its urbanizing population must look more to developing its service and digital economies faster. This sector of the economy, if nurtured, is prone to fast growth and can provide employment for millions of young Africans coming out of school.

Great potential for growth also exists in tourism, the creative industry, ICT, and financial services. In my country Ghana, as in Nigeria and other African countries, the services sector has overtaken agriculture as the largest and fastest growing sector of the economy. African countries must create the right environment for these to grow through tax incentives, reduced regulation and red tape.

We must change our model of being producers of raw commodities. Africa’s gold must reach the rest of the world as valuable jewelry, her oil must arrive as petroleum products, her timber as furniture, her cocoa as chocolates, bauxite as aluminum and copper as semi-conductor parts.

Va l u e a d d i t i o n a n d processing will provide more wealth for African economies and millions of jobs for our young people.

To achieve this, Africa must invest in making power more available for domestic, industrial and agricultural use.

While Africa cannot follow the model of the past industrial revolutions that have polluted and threaten the very existence of our planet, cleaner forms of energy, including gas-fired thermal, hydro,

economies.

Investment in social and economic infrastructure is imperative. We must make the big push, especially in the transport s e c t o r. R o a d , r a i l , maritime, aviation must all receive priority attention in order to ensure efficient movement of passengers and goods both within and between our countries.

This will enhance trade and services across the West African sub-region.

Sometimes trade between

to port and avoid the torturous long journey by road and most especially avoid the hundreds of check points that extort money from motorists.

Tr a d e b e t w e e n t h e Lagos-Abidjan Corridor could be a potentially very viable route.

We must aggressively pursue the dream of a Continental Free Trade Area. This is a dream our founding fathers fought for. Having served as Chairman of the African Union High-Level

solar and wind energy are areas we must aggressively invest in.

Nigeria must as a priority aggressively pursue a gasto-power policy and stop the flaring of almost 300 billion standard cubic feet of gas per annum representing a loss of almost $700 million a year.

Africa must support the Inga dam and other potential hydro power projects, which could bring about an additional 40,000 MW of power to South, East, West and Central African

African countries is curtailed because there is just no transport link between them. Where the roads exist, they are in many cases so bad that they do not facilitate efficient exchange of goods between them.

West Africa must consider a ‘Roll-on Roll-off’ ferry between coastal countries. This kind of service is used as an e ff i c i e n t a n d c h e a p transport link in many parts of Asia and Europe.

Vehicles and goods are moved by ferry from port

Committee on Trade beforee, I was privileged to participate in the work leading up to the signing of the agreement on A C f TA . I h a v e a n abiding belief in its benefit for all African nations.

Trade between African countries, reports say, stands at about 11%.

Comparable statistics with other regions are:the Americas at 47%, Asia 61%, Europe 67% and Oceania 7%. Intra African trade will

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BOSS NEWSPAPER staunch the current i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e outflows that leave the economy, they must not be continent yearly and result persecuted and killed on in a recirculation of wealth any basis. within the continent.

South Africa must take Since the signing of the a g g r e s s i v e s t e p s t o A C f T A h o w e v e r , improve the circumstances developments in the two of its excluded black biggest African economies population in order to have been worrying. The remove the negative attacks and expulsion of emotions that prompts foreigners from South s u c h u n f o r t u n a t e Africa has been, indeed, xenophobic attacks. m o s t u n f o r t u n a t e In Nigeria, the unilateral considering her history. closure of the borders Africa stood in solidarity since August is a worrying

goods.

The total closure of, especially, the Benin border is having a significant toll on many small and medium businesses especially in Togo, Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire that rely on this inter-country trade. I am sure that businesses in Nigeria that rely on supplies from these countries are also suffering.

With the signing of the

with South Africa in the struggle against apartheid.

It is a slap in the face to see the lynching of fellow Africans as a result of the recent waves of xenophobia in that country. Of course, one does not advocate that foreigners engaged in criminal activity must be entertained in any country.

Such persons must be arrested, prosecuted and deported by the security enforcement agencies. But where the presence of such persons is legal and are based on a positive

joint border task force agreement between Nigeria and her neighbours, I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to Nigeria to open up her border so that economic activities can resume.

As the largest economy in West Africa, I believe it is not by accident that Nigeria is home to the headquarters of the Economic Community of West Africa States. The import of the following quote from the objective principles for

The

development for the growth of free trade in the ECOWAS sub-region. Off course, one can understand the harmful effects of unbridled smuggling goods on the growth of local production. But it is problematic that subregional economic activity and trade should suffer because of domestic institutional weaknesses.

Nigeria must invest in strengthening its institutions and systems that are responsible for preventing the importation of illegal or prohibited

establishment of ECOWAS cannot be lost on us.

“ECOWAS was set up to foster the ideal of collective self-sufficiency for its member states. As a trading union, it is also meant to create a single, large trading bloc through economic cooperation.

Integrated economic activities as envisaged in the area revolve around but are not limited to i n d u s t r y, t r a n s p o r t , telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial issues, social as well as cultural matters.”

As a former Chair of t h e E C O WA S Authority of Heads of S t a t e a n d Government, I have an abiding interest in the progress of ECOWAS and its people. I believe that as an economic and regional bloc, a lot of e c o n o m i c opportunities are available to us, and we must take advantage of them.

Back home in Ghana, I also look forward to our g o v e r n m e n t ’s intervention that brings an immediate cessation to the forceful and illegal closure of shops of foreigners, especially Nigerians, by members the local trade associations.

The uptake of science and technology in all sectors of our economies will allow Africa to leapfrog

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its development. Africa need not go through all the stages of industrialization the developed countries went through. Today, biotechnology and tissue culture would allow us to multiply agricultural productivity tenfold. Use of innovation will allow us to increase productivity and free more people from back-breaking labour and allow them to pursue careers in services, tourism and the arts.

We must grow our SMEs and blue collar labour.

SMEs and middle level blue collar manpower have been the main drivers of growth in middle income Latin American and Asian economies. This means that our educational curriculum must be rejigged to produce the skilled human resources to drive this sector.

Te c h n i c a l a n d Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must be rebranded to be a career of first choice, rather than the humbler alternative when other doors of progression in the grammar schools and humanities track have been closed to a student.

Despite the end of the M i l l e n n i u m Development Goals, we must strive to achieve the basic goals of universal enrolment of African children in school. We still have nearly 30% of African children out of school.

We must also work to keep them in school,

especially with the girl child. Keeping girls in school till post secondary means less early child marriages and also delays the onset of pregnancy till well after 18 years of age.

Finally, the path of democratic consolidation we have adopted must be aggressively deepened.

Regular elections in all West African countries have ensured greater participation of our people in governance.

Democracy has created relative peace with most political interests wiling to wait patiently to stake their political claims during elections, rather than attempts to usurp power through force of arms, which was the norm in the past.

This has created a peaceful and predictable

environment that is conducive for investment and creativity. In the nearly two decades that West African countries have been pursuing a path of democracy, improvement in the human development index has been far better in terms of education, health and other social outcomes, compared to t h e p e r i o d o f unconstitutional rule.

It is necessary for us to provide leadership. We must let our people continue to have faith in the democratic process.

West Africa must look beyond its short term domestic political interests and promote a new economic narrative for the West African Subregion. It is achievable if we see ourselves as one

people.

I enjoyed a plate of Moimoi during dinner yesterday. When it comes to Moimoi, there is no competition.

Nigeria certainly is the place to enjoy a delicious plate of moimoi. But when it comes to the ‘Jollof war’ and the Black Stars/Green Eagles soccer rivalry, Ghana will never cede an inch to our bigger brother, Nigeria.

Thank you Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you Maureen and Realnews Thank you Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to what I foresee will be an exciting panel discussion to follow this presentation.

May God bless us all.

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GlobalWIIN Partners Al-Saad Foundation to Enhance Women Invention, Innovation

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United Kingdom based group, Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network (GlobalWIIN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster knowledge and research in Kuwait with Al-Saad Foundation of Kuwait. the programme will accommodate the entire M i d d l e E a s t Wo m e n Inventors and Innovators Network (MEWIIN).

The agreement, which was signed in Kuwait City is aimed exchanging experiences as well as creating opportunities for women investors and innovators towards developing and marketing their skilled projects on the global level.

Speaking at the formalisation event, Chairman of the AlSaad Foundation, H.H Sheikha Fadyah Saad AlAbdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah expressed her support for MEWIIN and the importance in recognising and celebrating women inventors in Kuwait and across the Middle-east as they bring crucial solutions to challenging issues. It was also revealed that the launch and inaugural awards of MEWIIN will take place in Kuwait City on March 8, 2020 under the umbrella of Al-Saad Foundation and in cooperation with the Kuwaiti U n i o n o f Wo m e n ' s Association In a statement, CEO of MEWIIN and Kuwait's Ambassador to GlobalWIIN,

Engineer Jenan Al-Shehab, welcomed the forthcoming launch and explained that the MOU aims to exchange experiences and cultures in the interest of inventors and innovators in the Middle East and to find mutual opportunities for them to develop their projects and invest in global markets.

The Middle East Network will include the wellestablished annual (IBTIKAR) Award to support inventions and innovations which would provide winners to qualify to participate in the GlobalWIIN Awards in London, United Kingdom.

In her remarks, Dr. Bola Olabisi, CEO of GlobalWIIN, said that she was absolutely honoured to welcome the Middle East network and delighted that the collaboration with the AlSaad Foundation would assist with putting the invaluable recognition of the contribution that ingenious women from the Middle East bring to society and the world.

"We look forward to the opportunity to put the spotlight on the well deserving women from across the Middle-East while embracing the international participation of various other countries," she said.

In a short while, portals for registrations for nomination will open, and the public is advised to follow MEWIIN on social media as follows to be updated: Instagram: @ m e _ w i i n Tw i t t e r :

@me_wiin Facebook: @mewiin mewiin The UK based GlobalWIIN is an independent, nonprofit network organization which aims to help and promote women with bright inventions and innovations worldwide.

The organisation works with government departments, leading industry experts, voluntary organisations, enterprises and educational institutions in finding effective ways of bringing the support, assistance, tools, advice and information that assist women in achieving significant growth in the workplace and in businesses.

GWIIN launched in the United Kingdom in 1998 and at the European Parliament in 2006 in Brussels, and has since held relevant and invaluable international activities across the globe.

Al-Saad Foundation for knowledge & Scientific Research was launched on the April 25, 2012. It is under the headship of H.H Sheikha Fadyah Saad Al Sabah. The Kuwait based foundation is dedicated to the historical legacy of the late Emir of Kuwait H.H

Sheikh Saad Abdullah AlSalem Al-Sabah. The foundation works to advance human development through Primary social research, Public advocacy in education, advancing scientific knowledge, Data driven social change, and Dignity research.

IBTIKAR headed by Sheikha Nabila Salman Al Sabah is an initiative dedicated to promoting and recognising women inventors and innovators.

IBTIKAR sets out to achieve this by providing d i ff e r e n t e v e n t s a n d seminars throughout the year to help in developing all the MEWIIN members and women in the scientific field.

The initiative will also be working hand in hand with MWEIIN providing the I.B.T.I.K.A.R Award. This award will be given at the MEWIIN ceremony event whivh will be ticket into the GlobalWIIN International Award.

For more information please contact Jessica Townley +447956501727 or E n g r. J e n a n o n Jenan.alshehab@gmail.co m or visit

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Buratai Rewards Gallant Soldier With Promotion

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he Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has approved the promotion of Private Illyasu Bala to the rank of Lance Corporal for exceptional courage and gallantry in the war against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Area.

The Chief of Military Public Information for Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Col. Timothy Antigha, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that the Commanding Officer, 118 Task Force Battalion, Lt.Col. Murtala Aminu, recommended Bala to the Force Commander of MNJTF, Maj.-Gen Ibrahim Yu s u f , f o r a u t o m a t i c promotion.

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Antigha quoted Aminu as saying, "Private Bala who is only three years in service h a s b e e n e x e m p l a r y, courageous and a source of inspiration to his peers.

"His gallantry in the face of the enemy has been exceptional".

According to Antigha c o n s e q u e n t l y, o n t h e authority of Buratai, the Force Commander promoted and decorated the soldier to the admiration and applause of the entire battalion.

He said that while addressing t h e t r o o p s , Yu s u f commended them for their courage and services to their fatherland.

According to Antigha, Yusuf emphasised the need for collaboration between Nigerian and Nigerien forces fighting in Bosso – Mallam Fatori axis in order to benefit

f r o m t h e experiences and expertise of each other.

"As a morale booster and mark of appreciation for their services and patriotism, t h e F o r c e Commander d e c o r a t e d commanders, some officers and soldiers with Operation YANCIN TAFKI medal.

"It would be recalled that in the last couple of weeks troops location in Mallam Fatori have been under repeated attacks by Boko Haram Terrorists.

"However, on each of those occasions, troops have robustly defended their

location, counter – attacked and inflicted heavy losses in personnel and equipment on Boko Haram.

"The maiden visit of the new Force Commander to troops in the front line, therefore, provided the opportunity to reward the gallant soldier," he said.

ECOWAS Parliamentarian Decries Climate Change Impact In Burkina Faso, Cape Verde arliamentarian from has affected 34 per cent of w e l l a s s e r i o u s measures defined in the

Burkina Faso and C a p e Ve r d e o n Thursday said that Climate change was one of the major challenge affecting the countries.

The Parliamentarian said this during their countries reports at the Second Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament held in Abuja.

Hon. Jeremie Sankara, Member of the Parliament from Burkina Faso said that Climate change has adversely affected the rural development due to the constant decline in rainfall.

He said that degradation

land in the country which represents more than nine millions hectares of arable lands.

"Climate change is adversely affecting rural development, owing to the constant decline in rainfall in terms of volume and quality of precipitation as well as high temperatures, upsurge in the number and intensity of floods, droughts and wind storms.

"These extreme weather conditions hampers the performance of agricultural, livestock and animal production systems which had lead to increase population movement as

humanitarian problems and economic losses."

According to him, the government is set to implement a specific action plan to improve on the agricultural production.

"To improve the living conditions as well as the production and consumption patterns of the people to prevent environmental degradation and the degradation of the living environment.

"The government has fast-tracked the implementation of Specific actions and

second National Rural Sector Programme (PNSR 11) to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production in the country."

He said that to facilitate the transition to free e c o n o m y, t h e government would take actions to improve environmental governance, promote the reduction of green house gas emissions and enhance the resilience of grassroots communities to climate change.

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Prepare For Heatwave, LASEPA Warns Lagosians

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he Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency has advised Lagosians to guide against extreme heat by drinking lots of water.

The General Manager of LASEPA, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, in a statement on Thursday urged residents to ensure adequate ventilation at homes and offices in order to mitigate the intensity of the prevailing heatwave in the state.

Fasawe also advised Lagosians to adequately prepare for the heat intensity associated with the dry season which had manifested globally as

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heatwaves with serious public health implications.

She said that Lagos, being a highly urbanised city, had a higher risk of increased warming due to the heat.

According to her, the effect is palpable where there is a high density of dark surfaces (concretes structures, paved roads and buildings) that absorb and emit more heat within a defined area.

“High rate of fire and flooding incidents are some of the effects of heatwaves, and this underscores the need to desist from burning refuse, being a contributory factor

to a high rate of heatwaves.

“Other factors that contribute to heatwaves include the use of poorlyserviced generators and use of ozone-depleting materials, all of which add to greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.

Fasawe urged Lagosians to engage in tree planting activities and greenery within their localities and environments, ensure that they were properly hydrated at all times and stay within wellventilated areas.

Niger To Change Anthem Over Reference To Colonial Masters, France a landlocked committee tasked with corresponds to Niger ’s the poorest countries in the

iger, former French colony in the Sahel, plans to change its national anthem, six decades after the country became independent.

The decision follows criticism that some of the lyrics appear to express gratitude to the country’s former French rulers for their freedom.

“Parts of the anthem are unanimously subject to criticism. An anthem needs to galvanize the population, like a sort of war cry to touch our patriotic fibre,” the minister of cultural rebirth, Assoumana Malam Issa, told state television late Thursday.

The minister made the announcement after a meeting with President Mahamadou Issoufou and a

working on the new anthem — music as well as lyrics.

On social media, many Nigeriens have challenged lines 3 and 4 — “Let us be proud and grateful for our newfound freedom” — saying it insinuates a feudal deference to their former colonial ruler.

The words to “La Nigerienne” were written by Maurice Albert Thiriet, a French movie composer, in 1961, a year after Niger gained its independence. The anthem’s music was written

by Robert Jacquet and Nicolas Abel Francois Frionnet.

The committee preparing the new anthem said it would study the lyrics and make corrections and “if possible find a new anthem which

current context.”

The committee called on Nigeriens to suggest contributions towards a “work in the national languages.

French and Hausa are the m o s t c o m m o n o ff i c i a l languages.

Next year will be a bumper year for African countries celebrating their 60th a n n i v e r s a r y o f independence.

In 1960, 14 states were decolonised in the former French West Africa, in addition to the Belgian colony of Congo, Somalia and Nigeria.

Niger, one of

world, faces jihadist and criminal gangs on six of its seven frontiers, especially from the Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants and other Islamist fighters to the west.

Its military is part of the socalled G5 Sahel, which also pools troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania, aimed at combatting jihadist violence in the Sahel.

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68% Of Nigeria’S N25.7tn Debt Is Domestic, Says DMO

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he Debt Management Office has said out of Nigeria’s total debt profile of N25.7tn as of June 2019, external borrowing accounts for about 32 per cent while the 68 per cent is domestic. It also said the Federal Government is responsible for 80 per cent of the debts.

The Director-General of the DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, made this known when she appeared before t h e H o u s e o f Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Friday in Abuja.

Oniha said DMO serves as an advisory body to the Federal Government on debt management and to put the debts at 25 per cent ratio to the Gross Domestic Products.

She stated that the office does not receive borrowed funds, noting that they are paid directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria which ensures that the money is used for what it is borrowed for.

Oniha said, “As of June

2019, our debt profile was N25.7tn; this includes the federal and state governments and the Federal Capital Territory.

We call it the total public debt. Out of this total, the Federal Government is responsible for 80 per cent of the debt.”

She explained that the DMO began operations in 2000 due to Nigeria’s debt management problems, which made the country to seek debt relief.

She added that the agency is responsible for the management of public debts, while its mandate includes contracting debts on behalf of the Federal Government.

According to Oniha, the responsibilities are stated i n t h e F i s c a l Responsibility Act and the DMO Act. She said, “If you look back several years, over 85 per cent of budget deficits are funded by borrowing, which the DMO undertakes as approved by the Federal Executive Council and the National

Assembly.

“We borrow from various sources: the multilateral, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the China-EXIM and we also issue products in the international market. Locally, we are also very active in domestic borrowing; we issue treasury bills and Federal Government treasury bonds.”

Chairman of the committee, Wole Oke, stated the importance of the parliament having all the relevant information documented. He said the House needed additional facts and figures, following the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed’s revelations during the 2020 budget defence that revenue generation was a challenge for the country.

Oke noted that the committee was determined to monitor the ministries, departments, and agencies to prevent

abuse of the law in the area of revenue generation and remittances. He pointed out that even when the MDAs have the powers to spend from the revenue they generate, the lawmakers were determined to ensure transparency and accountability.

He said partly, “This country belongs to all of us, irrespective of the three arms the Constitution recognises; those in the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary are all Nigerians. We have to synergise to ensure this country progresses.”

I Won’t Make The Mistake Of ‘Third Term’ -Buhari

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r e s i d e n t Muhammadu Buhari has said that he would not make the mistake of attempting a third term in office.

The President spoke at the opening of the ongoing National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja.

Apart from age, the president said he was limited by the two terms stated in the constitution.

“I’m not going to make the mistake of attempting a third term. Besides the age, the constitution makes provision for only two terms,” he said.

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News

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PDP Senators Reject Bayelsa, Kogi Results

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate, on Wednesday, rejected the Bayelsa and Kogi Governorship election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The senators, led by the Minority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, made the rejection at a news conference in Abuja.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC had declared the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), David Lyon and Yahaya Bello winners of the gubernatorial elections.

“We want to call the attention

of Nigerians. We are very disturbed by the elections that were held last weekend in Bayelsa and Kogi.

“We totally reject the pronouncements after the elections by INEC and we are worried about the trend of what happened during the election.

“We know that the results that were announced were not a true reflection of what happened in the field. “ We a r e m u c h m o r e concerned about the fact that it seems that all the gains made by the PDP in all the period of democracy starting in 1999 seem to have been eroded from the elections starting in Osun, Edo and culminating into last weekend.

“We are further pained by the fact that the PDP woman leader, Salome Abuh, after declaration of result, hoodlums still chased her to her house and burnt her to dead in the clear view of security agents.”

The caucus called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the InspectorGeneral of Police and other security agencies to immediately fish out the killers of Salome.

“We hear that the police are launching an investigation but this is something we don’t want to be put under the carpet because it involves life,” Abaribe said.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Senate, Sen. Godiya Akwashiki, in his reaction to

Tinubuof the Bayelsa the outcome and Kogi gubernatorial elections said: “I don’t think it will be right for the Senate to say anything about the election.

“Nigeria is not a lawless country and we must obey it. The Electoral Act has spelt out everything that there should be primaries between aspirants in political parties so a candidate will emerge.

“After the primaries, INEC will set aside a day for general election. Based on the Electoral Act, the elections have come and gone. If anyone has any grievances, the one knows what to do,” he said.

FG Explains Why Whistle Blowing Has Reduced

M

r Mohammed Dikwa, the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties in the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning says there has been a reduction in reported cases of whistle blowing due to some challenges.

Dikwa said this at a national workshop to discuss the draft bill of the whistle blowing policy in Abuja on Thursday.

He explained that some people that wanted to blow whistle were no longer comfortable with the new arrangement put in place.

According to him, the arrangement entails one fills forms as part of process to document their claims.

He said that lack of legislation was also a major

challenge hindering the success of the policy.

Dikwa said that improper coordination among stakeholders was a major problem confronting the policy.

“The reported cases of whistle blowing or the tips used to come frequently on daily basis when we just introduced it in November, 2016.

“When we started, we received 2,000 reported cases monthly but it has gone down drastically.

“We have instituted some measures to avoid situation where people will come and give false information and go with it.

“With what we are putting in place now, we will make sure anyone that gives

information that has to do with recovery of money is rewarded.

“The same measure will ensure that those who give fake information to undermine anybody are duly punished, ” he said.

Dikwa expressed the determination of the present government to give the policy a legislative backing for smooth implementation.

He said the aim of the workshop was to discuss with relevant stakeholders on the draft bill on the policy.

Dikwa said that the step was taken to have a bill that would be acceptable by all and sundry.

The permanent secretary disclosed that

between 2016 and 2018, N594.08 billion had been saved by the government from tips, adding that 50,000 ghost workers were removed from payroll.

He said within the period under review, 800 staff involved in collection of double salaries and 400 personnel who left civil service and still collecting salaries for two years were discovered.

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Constituency Projects: Is Buhari Guilty of Peddling Fake News?

By Eric Elezuo

A

s the Federal Government is coming down hard on fake news peddlers, even as the syndrome is causing untold crisis in the national life of most Nigerians, President Buhari may have joined the mass of persons guilty of committing the fake news blunder.

Recall that the President has brazenly accused members of the National Assembly of fraud when

he stated that about Ten trillion naira has been budgeted for constituency projects, yet nothing to show for it, a statement a cross section of the lawmakers including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, have denied.

The President made the accusation in Abuja at a National Summit on "Diminishing Corruption

in the Public Service organised by the Independent and Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

Buhari had categorically saidSKC thatOgbonnia "It is on record that in the past 10 years one trillion naira has been appropriated for

constituency projects, yet the impact of such huge spending on the lives and welfare of ordinary Nigerians can hardly be seen."

Stakeholders, political and legal advocates have wondered if President Buhari did not make the statement in error, in as much it was claimed to have emanated from the office of the ICPC. They however, agreed that the

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peddler of fake news is as guilty as the originator.

Earlier, a bill to regulate the use of Social Media as well as curb fake news on the internet has passed second reading at the Senate. The bill, 'Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019,' sponsored by Mohammed Musa was introduced in the Senate about two

for peddlers of hate speech makers, invariably relating to fake news.

Only a few days ago, the Senate, through the senator representing Niger North Senatorial district, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, recommended that culprits of any form of hate speech should be penalised to die by hanging if convicted.

The Senate also provided that any person found

By the establishment of the commission, if the bill is enacted, hate speech would become criminalised and the severe penalties shall be applied to offenders.

Also, the Bill, if enacted, would provide the offenders an option of fine to the huge sum of N10 million.

The Bill is expected to eradicate all manner of

weeks ago.

Musa said the bill does not intend to gag the media but to check the spread of false information on the internet.

"It is rather an opportunity to address the growing threats which if left unchecked, can cause serious damage to our polity and disrupt peaceful existence," he said. That seems to be exactly what the Buhari comment has done.

Not long ago also, proposed a bill which recommends death by hanging and life jail term

guilty of the criminal act should be accorded life jail sentence and or five years imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the hate speech.

These severe penalties are provided in the proposed bill to establish the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech which has passed first reading in Senate.

According to the Bill, "hate speeches are comments that insult people for their religion, ethnic, linguistic affiliation, racial contempt among others."

hate speeches peddled by individuals or organisations.

This would further ensure that hate speeches against ethnic nationalities or persons become a serious unpardonable crime.

In his reaction, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila noted that the statement credited to the President, and emanated from a report from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) failed to distinguish

between budgeted money and actual releases. He asked the commission and other related agencies to do due diligence in their investigation and not put the welfare of people at stake.

"I think it is a breach of our collective privilege as a house and not one person. My concern is the unintended consequences of words spoken. These are words emanating from a report by ICPC. "There could be unintended consequences that could come out of it. You put p e o p l e ' s wellbeing at risk.

I feel it is okay to use the National Assembly as the whipping boys.

But it must be backed with facts. The fact is that there is the FoI (Freedom of Information) Act. The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Emyinnaya Abaribe described Buhari's statement as "erroneous."

"We are not worried by the statement. The reason we are not worried is because we know that it was a statement that was erroneous, he said.

He noted that though the President's utterance was a product of an ICPC report presented to him, there was still need for him to go through it, ask questions and make

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Cover amendments before presenting it in the public domain, insinuating that having made the speech in the public made the utterance and as a result, the president is guilty of making erroneous and unconfirmed statement.

According to a legal practitioner, who craved anonymity, the President's action is tantamount to agreement with the report, hence his reading it.

"If he had had any form of reservation, he would have questioned it," he said.

Echoing Gbajabiamila's position, Abaribe added, "Somebody must have written a speech and then put false information in the speech. I have done constituency projects and we have always said that they are not done by the Senators or members of House of Representatives.

"They are domiciled in the executive who execute the projects. If the President said he has not seen anything, he should ask his ministers and the agencies under him as the executive, as they are the people who have been executing these projects."

A member of the All Progressives congress (APC) from Nasarawa State, who has become the Senate spokesperson, Godiya Akwashiki, dismissed the President's accusation, saying it was mere comment since he had not written officially to the National Assembly about his concerns on the constituency projects.

He said the Senate would only react when President

Buhari communicates his reservations over management of the Constituency Projects.

"Mr President has not written to the National Assembly officially on this matter. We have modes of communication and I want to believe if he has anything he writes to us, he will," he explained.

Setting the records straight, House of Representatives Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu from Delta State, explained that one trillion was actually budgeted but never released. So it was a disservice to the lawmakers for the President to tell the public about one trillion naira.

"Yes, in the last ten years, N1 trillion was actually made available by way of budgeting N100 billion annually for constituency p r o j e c t s . Tr u l y, o u r

constituent does not have value for such provisions.

"My worry and why I am bringing this up is that, yes I got N100 billion was budgeted annually, but actual releases were not up to 50 per cent. In actual sense, and even this year, we have not gotten releases of more than 40 per cent. I can conveniently tell you that only about 30 percent has been released."

Citing Section 4 of the 1999 constitution as amended, the lawmaker stressed that "We don't award contracts. I don't know of any member who is a member of the tenders' board. In effect, the National Assembly has nothing to do with the execution of any contract.

"It is painful that the agency that generated that information failed to state that while it is true that N1 trillion was

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budgeted in the last 10 years, this money has not been released.

"I am not happy because the information is capable of giving me a bad name before my community.

The ICPC that wrote this report failed to tell the truth of how much was actually released.

"When you say N1 trillion is budgeted like the President said, if that money was released completely, there will be value commensurate to the money. I wonder why the ICPC man failed look at what was released.

Why should ours be a subject of debate that they will tell Nigerians we received N1 trillion when that was budgeted, but not released.

"My message is that we should let them know that while N1 trillion was b u d g e t e d f o r constituency projects, by

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way of releases, we did not receive that because what was released was less than 40 per cent."

Further breaking down the constituency projects budgetary allocation, the lawmaker representing Bende Federal c o n s t i t u e n c y, M r.

Benjamin Kalu informed a lot of misinformation was contained in the ICPC report which Buhari p r e s e n t e d c o p i o u s l y, noting that 372 projects in total where brought to accountability, out of which 255 projects were completed which represented 60 per cent.

There were about 108 projects ongoing, representing 25 per cent of projects in review. Again, during the investigation, according to Kalu, only five projects, representing one per cent were abandoned. And only three projects did not commence at all. And then eight p r o j e c t s w e r e recommended for prosecution while 34 projects went back to site

when investigation started.

He asked: "why do this kind of reportage? Why was the whole analysis not published? Why did ICPC tell not Nigerians that only eight projects were recommended for prosecution, and only five projects did not commence? These are the details in the reports. This is what we mean when we are talking about fake news.

Kalu accused the ICPC of the same misinformation

when in August, 2019 it was reported that N900 billion has been recovered f r o m t h e N a t i o n a l Assembly, only for the same ICPC to come back two months later to say it was not so. He condemned the trend with the graft agency.

"And who is the victims of this misinformation?

The Nigerian public, the citizens. The reason behind the non completion of some of the projects was because the money was not released 100 per cent. What they do is called roll over. And that means releasing 30 or 40 per cent for a job of 100 per cent. There's no way you will release 30 per cent and expect a job of 100 per cent.

Mr. Kalu pleaded that the National Assembly just like every other ministry,

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department and agency including the military should be benchmarked based on the money released to them, not the budgeted amount. He reminded President that it is the "irresponsibility of the executive" that creates whatever loophole noticed in incompletion of constituency projects.

He also noted, according to the President, that contractors, complicit civil servants and project sponsors are to be held responsible for lapses in projects, saying that of the three, two are under the control of the executives.

"The blame goes to the executives; they are the complicit civil servants; they are the ones who select, supervise and pay the contractors. Not the lawmakers who do not even stay in the biding rooms when it is done.

There's a lot of false information out there, and they put it upon the NASS.

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Pendulum

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Tinubu

Pendulum - Dele Momodu -

Dele Momodu

Dele Momodu

Delemomoduovation

momodudele@yahoo.co.uk

Let's Beg Buhari For A One Party State attempted to do. All tiers and no prisoners! Once a and arms of government State or Local have been virtually There is no point Government is targeted, grabbed and cowed. no Jupiter can stop its allowing some blistering annihilation.

Even the Fourth Estate of the Realm is about to be fellow Nigerians S i n c e 2 0 1 5 , w h e n guillotined via a President Muhammadu to turn us into B u h a r i m i r a c u l o u s l y retrogressive and preposterous law returned to power, things defenceless stipulating death have not been at ease for s e n t e n c e s f o r a n y chickens or rams his opponents or the rascally writing... The opposition. Those who public have been shown to be slaughtered warned us Buhari will to be timorous, timid and on the altar of an n e v e r p r a c t i c e t r u e cowardly upon hell Democracy were rebuffed being let loose! No orgiastic bloodfest by us. We sold him at a resistance from them premium to Nigerians and either! the world as a "born again Let me summarise my administration is not Democrat..." We called thoughts thus. The ruling ashamed or afraid to being h i m " t h e p e o p l e ' s APCgovernment makes labelled haughty, brutal, G e n e r a l . . . " W e no pretence to being a brutish and reckless. romanticised about a party of nice or decorous Indeed, they revel in and leader who was coming to people. A few of their relish the appellation. turn Nigeria into an members may fall into this They like the idea that they Eldorado with his magic category, but they are the take no prisoners and w a n d b e c a u s e w e exception, an aberration. accept surrender only if earnestly and sincerely It is your business, if you you join their ranks. The believed in him. It would think otherwise but that is recent gale of resignations have been sad if we did not the hard-nosed truth. If the that swept Bayelsa State in give Buhari a second P r e s i d e n t G o o d l u c k the wake of the contrived chance. Pls forgive my J o n a t h a n - l e d P D P victory of the Lion-tamer, b l a s p h e m y, B u h a r i ' s government succumbed to David Lyon Perewonrimi s e c o n d c o m i n g w a s pressure and lost power in epitomised this new cult of almost tantamount to a the name of decency and no surrender, no matter parousia, like the second decorum, the Buhari-led how abject and plaintive,

“

“

F

ellow Nigerians, let me confess right away that I'm a realist. If you like, call me chickenhearted or lily-livered. No worries. All I know is that I was taught many lessons by the wisdom of the ancients. Let me share a few of them with you.

One. If we cannot move forward, we must know when to turn backwards.

Two. If you have not yet grabbed the sword, you cannot risk asking what manner of death killed your Dad. Three. Even the Bible teaches us how to be meek and humble. "If your right cheek is slapped, turn the left cheek..." It may sound stupid to a lot of people but it might just save you a lot of headache.

The purpose of my sermon in this epistle to you today should be obvious by now.

I wish to admit and publicly acknowledge that President Muhammadu Buhari has finally achieved what no democratically elected Nigerian President ever

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Pendulum coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to add to his perceived saintliness, he had chosen a revered and respected man of God, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as his Deputy. Needless to say, we thank God that he came, he saw and he is currently conquering.

While it may be too early to judge his performance or non-performance, the signs are ominously visible. But that's not the purpose of this missive.

My worry stems from the new electoral template being enforced by APC, an extremely dangerous and volatile one at that. Except to the willing and grateful beneficiaries, what we've been witnessing is a monumental charade, a farce and a travesty which is an unfortunate trend indeed. While I will never say with any degree of certainty that PDP candidates would have defeated their opponents in all those elections, I would still have expected the ruling party to conduct the elections in a more transparent and honest manner and not in the kangarooistic banana republic fashion we've witnessed in recent times with our arms akimbo and mouths agape and ajar.

With the armed forces, the police, the other security agencies, the judiciary, the thugs and other nebulous, unseen or unknown characters in the kitty, it is almost impossible to defeat APC in any election in the near future, unless the people resist and say no, and this I don't see

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happening on account of money, ethnicity and religion. I have no apologies for my pessimism. And I believe the game is just starting.

These ones aren't kidding.

Only God can remove them ultimately from power. The tell-tale signs are too pungent to ignore.

Very soon, writers like me would only be writing about trips to Afghanistan, a sad reminder of the 1984-85 era, when the Sonala Olumhenses had to write about far flung

s i m p l e a n d straightforward, what Nigeria desperately needs today is a one party State.

It will save us at least three major things. The first is the acrimonious clashes between the mainstream parties. The battles would be limited to intraparty squabbles. The second is m o n e y. To o m u c h resources are currently being expended on campaigns and elections proper. It is unimaginable how much is being wasted by the gladiators. Let's

a victim of a malevolent maelstrom of anarchical Tinubu violence, and mindless arson and destruction. Are we Barbarians or what manner of human beings are we?

These are the real reasons I wish to appeal, most p a s s i o n a t e l y, t o t h e powers that be in Abuja, that we have agreed that Buhari is our Messiah, that he can do no wrong and we are willing to support him warts and all. Serving one's fatherland should never be a matter of life

places in order to avoid the wrath of Sango Olukoso, the god of thunder! What then is the solution? My answer, no easy way out.

As a matter of fact, I see a long walk to Freedom, with apologies to Nelson Mandela. When a Lion has tasted blood, it would be difficult to appease it with corn meal.

A l l w o u l d - b e troublemakers should be warned before it is too late that Nigeria does not need, and can't afford, another civil war. My suggestion is

even say that's their own cup of tea, what of the billions being wasted on INEC that has failed to deliver on its high falutin and grandiloquent rigmaroles. The third is the most serious and absolutely important, safety of lives and property. Our elections have become the most dangerous in the whole w o r l d . Yo u c a n n o t guarantee that you will return home alive after casting your votes, or indeed that days after the election you won't become

and death or an invitation to suicide and perdition.

For once, we should be prepared to let Buhari and his sagacious band of chorus singers think for us. There is no point allowing some fellow Nigerians to turn us into defenceless chickens or rams to be slaughtered on the altar of an orgiastic bloodfest. When it is God's time to liberate us, we won't have to lift a finger or fire a single shot.

Examples abound all over the world and most of us

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Pendulum are witnesses to God's mysterious ways.

For now, since Buhari came to save us from ourselves, we must allow him do his job unhindered.

We must dance to the 'kpalongo' beat and wait for the madness which it heralds to manifest, take root and consume its originators.

May God's will be done!

Tribute To Dr Ore Falomo (September 1940 - November 9 2019) My path and that of Dr Oluwatamilore Akinlade Falomo crossed nearly three decades ago. As a personal physician to my adopted father, Chief Moshood Abiola, it was impossible not to meet and know him reasonably well.

The first thing that fascinated me about Dr Falomo was his dress sense. He was always impeccably turned out, clean and debonair. He was a successful medical practitioner who was well known beyond his industry.

What fascinated me the more about him was his love for Chief Abiola.

Theirs was not a Doctor/Patient relationship. They were like brothers. Abiola was born in August 1937 and Dr Falomo was born in September 1940, but they interacted like brothers separated by only months in age, not 3 years. They lived like they were children from the same family. Interestingly, three of Chief Abiola's children,

Kolawole, Ayodeji and Agboola lived on the same road with Dr Falomo, just a stone throw away in Anthony Village.

The most unforgettable things about Dr Falomo were his uncommon courage and powers of elocution and elucidation.

He was such a brave and powerful speaker and he remained one of the few Nigerians that had the audacity to rant and rail endlessly against the dreaded General Sani Abacha regime. Perhaps if there were more of him now, our nation would be a better place. I often wondered how Dr Falomo escaped Abacha's snipers or detention. He spoke passionately and vociferously against the detention of Chief Abiola.

As Abiola's Medical Doctor, he regularly told the Dictators, Abacha and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, of that insane period, who detained Abiola about his patient's worsening health conditions and warned that he might be damaged beyond redemption if his wrongful incarceration continued. And his prophecy came to pass within a few years.

Whether Chief Abiola died of natural causes or not, the great African businessman and philanthropist died in detention on July 7, 1998.

I later met with Dr Falomo a couple of times at the functions of Capitalfield Group Limited of which he was the indefatigable and

tireless Chairman. His integrity was remarkable as attested to by many who knew him and interacted with him, hence it wasn't difficult for his colleagues to make him Chairman of this pre-eminent financial conglomerate.

We spoke a few times about writing an authoritative book on the Abiola and June 12 saga. I was willing and ready and in his own way, so was he, but our hectic schedules meant we were unable to find a convenient time for both of us. Not too long ago, I decided to take the bull by the horns and sent the head of Ovation Books and Publishing, Mr Sola Ojewusi, to book appointments with Dr Falomo in order to kickstart the laudable and necessary project by getting background information. However our attempts bore no fruit for a variety of reasons.

As I received the news of Dr Falomo's demise, the first thing I said was "my God, we have lost a goldmine of contemporary history..." It is always painful to me when we lose such great men and women. Documenting history is extremely important and necessary.

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Like all extraordinary and sentient icons, Falomo seems Tinubu to have had a premonition of his death.

He went on a 2 week holiday to the UK and America with his young friend and Group Managing Director of Capitalfield Group, Raphael Lewu, and shared several stories with him.

One of these was the fact that having marked his 79th birthday, the month before in September 2019, he was prepared to join his Maker because he had done at least one year better than his late father.

Dr Ore Falomo came to this world to s erve humanity. It reflected in his everyday life as he was larger than life. His physical frame belied his great stature in all facets of his social, economic and political life, not to mention his medical career where he simply excelled. Dr Falomo gave hope and succour to the rich and the poor. He touched the lives of almost all those he came into contact with for the better.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

Good night to an eminent, noble and revered personality...

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Feature

Afrotech Silences The Rumors Of 'Not-Enough' Diverse Talent Available In Tech

T

he vision behind Afrotech was through the lenses of C-Suite Executives of Blavity, Inc. Morgan DeBaun CEO, Aaron Samuels COO and Jeff Nelson CTO Blavity, Inc. Blavity, Inc. is a media company and home to the largest network of platforms and lifestyle brands specifically serving black millennials through original content, video and unique experience. Since 2014, the company has grown into a market leader for black media, reaching 30 million millennials per month through it growing brand portfolio.

The 3-day event attracting a sold-out city, with the pulsation loud enough to invite the best and brightest talents from ivy league universities, top tier tech companies, from fortune 100 tech startups and more.

Afrotech left us thirsty, and in-search for more forums like these which unifies and electrifies the ingenuity and creativity of our future. Imagine, a place where every conversation started leads to an ideation room of ideas driven by the love of tech-novation and expansion into uncharted waters.

Political Analyst Angela Rye. Angela Rye, dressed to head-to-toe in currency notes of the new' $20 Bill

by Moschino, a tribute to Harriet Tubman original.

H a r r i e t Tu b m a n , a n American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman escaped and subsequently made several successful missions to rescue enslaved people, using the network of anti-slavery activism and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

minds leaving colleges to enter into the workforce, she states, reach out to your supervisors for ways to improve yourself ahead of time, and, on an ongoing base. Ask them, how you can add value to the organization you are serving. She closes by stating, we need more forums and conferences like AFROTECH, where anyone of color in tech for the very first time, is able to be themselves and feel at home in a professional setting, even in the tech Angela Rye, credited the space. success of AFROTECH to Enters Isa Watson. political leaders like Tech world, gear up, this Barbara Lee, who has woman leader is making echoed the brilliance of moves and is already being Oakland, CA on Capitol compared to the likes of Hill. Now Oakland, CA the best from technology has become a flavorful history to-date. SVNED h u b , t h a t e m b r a c e s sat down with Isa Watson diversity in talent and is learn about her creation Isa inclusive of people and Squad. Watson recalls: "Isa various 'cultures' from all Squad is an app that helps paths of life. people build their offline +

SVNED had the honor of interviewing the most prolific talents and political leaders of Ogbonnia Watson community" Angela Rye, issues one IRLSKC tomorrow's world. Starting request to her younger found herself, and an with CNN International generation of talented increasing # of her friends

and mentees inundated with social media, feeling really lonely as a result and unfulfilling IRL. Growing up in a communityoriented immigrant household, Watson leaving Wall Street, found Squad was full circle move for her. She explains, "Squad launched in NYC this summer, raised nearly $4mm in venture capital funding and has scaled rapidly. We expect to expand into dozens of cities, globally, in 2020".

To Join the Priority Waitlist: text SQUAD to 474747 to join an exclusive list to be notified when Squad comes to your city, and get first access.

SVNED had one direct question for Isa Watson, who's current venture has raised $4 Million, How do you get to the YES?!

Watson, responded with three direct tips for young and diverse startups and founders. Firstly, connect with Investors who are interested in, investing in

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diverse or women-led founders and startups.

Secondly, connect with other founders and startups about funding solutions and engage with their networks through a direct introduction to a member of their community, like SVNED. Isa Watson explains, there are more peer-to-peer benefits when connecting founders with other founders. Lastly, Watson shared, many founders and startups when pitching are not representing the value of their industry honestly.

She recommends for founders and startups to spend some time on substantiating the numerical value of the industry and problem they are solving. Carefully, measure the market size and volume of the untapped and penetrable i n d u s t r y. Wi t h t h i s information at hand, founders and startups can demonstrate to investors the value your startup would bring to their investment portfolios.

needs of our communities.

Feature

racial and ethnic minority Additional research finds, patients are more likely that in 2003, the Institute of than white patients to M e d i c i n e r e l e a s e d refuse treatment".

U n e q u a l Tr e a t m e n t : The current picture is Confronting Racial and clear; the greatest health Ethnic Disparities in disparity between the total H e a l t h C a r e , a US population and any comprehensive review of ethnic group is found in disparities in healthcare African Americans. treatment. The attitude The study adds: "Access to e x p e c t a t i o n s a n d preventive, curative, and behaviors of providers and rehabilitative care must be patients were examined. assured to all persons C o n s c i o u s a n d including African unconscious differences in Americans. Access is a t r e a t m e n t b a s e d o n lifelong need. Care for the ethnicity, socioeconomic p o t e n t i a l l y p r e g n a n t status, and gender were women is crucial and may reviewed. These have long-term documents reviewed the consequences for her and biases, stereotypes, and h e r o f f s p r i n g . communication obstacles Comprehensive care for impacting the interaction the infant, child, and of providers and patients adolescent is the key to and their utilization of the their lifelong health and h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m . also their ability to Findings in the study function as productive and concluded that: "Bias, creative people. Adults stereotyping, prejudice, often must be reminded and clinical uncertainty on that there are standards for the part of healthcare healthcare from which providers may contribute they will benefit, and, as to racial and ethnic the population ages, access disparities in healthcare"; t o a p p r o p r i a t e a n d and that, "a small number comprehensive care must SVNED also sat down of studies suggesting that be assured for elderly with Gerren Wilson a young leader in healthcare, with an 8-year upward trajectory career at one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, Genetech. We asked Gerren Wilson, what was important to healthcare leaders these days, and the subject matter was directly geared at the African American Community and how we are participating in health discussions through focus groups, health SKC Ogbonnia research studies designed to better understand the

African Americans."

(Public Health Review: Improving the health of African Americans in the USA: an overdue opportunity for social justice).

Our interview concluded with the profound and eloquent, Starlett Carter, the Founder & COO of Kanarys. An organization that is committed to holding industry accountable for meeting their respective diversity and inclusion goals.

Kanarys provides company reviews and survey data on diversity, equity and inclusion issues — all posted anonymously by employees.

Overall, AFROTECH was an incredible experience, worthy of its praise and social media sensation created. The event's publicity and talent relations was provided by Code Six. This article was written in memory of Kaiser Permanente's CEO, Bernard Tyson.

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Entertainment

Any Actor Who Goes into Movie Production Must Be Broke – Emeka Rollas, AGN President

By Sylvester Kwentua

E

meka Rollas is the incumbent president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). He was elected as the president of the Guild, few weeks back in Calabar. In this interview, he speaks about his plans for the AGN and how things should be in Nollywood. Excerpts Congratulations on your victory as the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria.

Thank you very much How did your colleagues in the movie industry react to your victory?

Well, it has been jubilation everywhere; the victory is not just for only me but for everybody with good intentions for Nollywood.

This is because in the last five years, the AGN has been involved in one crisis or another but when I came on board as the president of the government of national unity, we were able to stem the tide; we were able to bring peace back to the Guild. We were able to make every stakeholder know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. So, we were able conduct an election void of rancor. Imagine, weeks after the election, we have not heard of anybody being dissatisfied with the election, and that is how it is supposed to be. We met with all stake holders and after series of discussions and deliberations; they all gave their blessings and go ahead for us to conduct the election.

The AGN is now a united body and that is how it will be

for a long time.

In the past like you rightly observed, the AGN was known to always experience post-election crisis but this time around, there seem to be serenity in the Guild. How did you achieve it?

First of all, I will give it to God. I committed my leadership from 2007 to God and then there are certain ingredients needed for peace to reign. My mother used to say that for you to achieve total peace; you need to get to the grass root to find out what actually caused the problem, then you tackle it. Hope you understand me? I had meetings with all the factions and everybody involved. As a matter of fact, before the election, I met with Emeka Ike and he gave me his blessings and asked me to go ahead with my plan. Then from the Ibinabo angle; when I found out that the then national secretary was interested in being president of the guild, I didn’t give up; rather I became more interested in contesting. I tried closing up the gaps in places where we had factions; I even went as far as visiting states that had factions, just to close up the gap and bring peace to the state guilds and to make sure we worked as one family, under one leadership. Prior to the election, there were suggestions that voting could be done online but I said no, because I felt it was going to be more expensive doing

that. So, I made sure that all state guild chairmen attended the election, to show to the world that we are truly united. You won’t believe it that this last election was an election where every stakeholder was present.

Desmond Elliot, despite his busy schedule was in attendance, Mr Latin, who is the president of TAMPAN (Theater Arts and Motion Picture Producers Association of Nigeria), was there. The president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, SKC Ogbonnia Fred Amata, was there, Segun Arinze was there, Pete Edochie was there. A whole

lot of people were there to show support and solidarity and they added glamour to the election. When people saw all these big shots in the industry, it gave them the confidence that all was well.

Like I said earlier, it was God who just took control.

Now that you have been reelected president of the guild, what will you do differently, that you didn’t do previously?

Okay, let me just correct an impression before I answer your question. This is actually my first tenure as president of the AGN; in the other tenure, I was the head of

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the government of national unity; it was an interim thing.

Then, people came to me and said, “Go and head the government of national unity, if you do well, you can then come for your first tenure”. I did well and now, I am the president for my first tenure.

Now to your question, leadership, especially when leading an association that is dependent on dues from members, is not one you will come and say, “I will do this or that”, because the money is not a budgeted one, unlike being the president of a country. Being the president of Nigeria for example, means you can plan ahead because you are working with a budget but in AGN, it is not like that. Right now, we need to go down to the grass root to generate the fund needed to do anything at all. Convincing our people that they have a union that can defend them, should be of utmost importance to us a guild. We are actors, not directors. Our major concern is to protect the average actor and care about his welfare, either at location or anywhere else. We need to convince the actors that they now have a viable association that can fight for their rights and welfare. If we say that an actor has to feed well during a shoot, we must make sure that we set up a task force to make sure people are complying with what we say.

One of the major problems we have in Nigeria is that a lot of actors don’t even know what the profession is all

Entertainment

about; some don’t know it is a career thing. Some just feel it is an avenue to feed themselves. For example, a producer comes to meet you and say he will pay you 10,000 Naira for a job of 50,000 Naira, you will accept it because your mind will tell you that if you don’t take it, you will die of hunger. No! This is not right. In this country today, everybody can just wake up and say he or she wants to be an actor without knowing what it entails. We need actors to know that acting is serious business. As

Those who make films are aware of anti-piracy laws and they should be the ones to get legislative backings to fight this piracy. We are actors!

You can’t tell a musician to go out and fight piracy when he has a record label to do that for him. We are not a Guild that fights piracy; nobody should rob us of our right, all in the name of p i r a c y. O n e o f t h e perceptions that I have observed in our industry, is that of actors are being told that they won’t be paid because of piracy. Who does

an actor, you are a brand ambassador and the brand wakes up one morning and says your contract has been terminated but when you walk on the street, you see billboards of such a brand and your picture is on it! These are things the Guild can fight.

There are a lot of us who are yet to be paid for projects we executed a long time ago.

These and many more are some of the things the Guild will fight.

How do you intend fighting piracy?

For us as actors, we are not directly affected as actors.

that in advanced countries? It has even gotten so bad, that every actor believes he can’t blow, unless he produces a movie. That is wrong; as a matter of fact, an actor should be able to live comfortably being an actor. Quote me, any actor who goes into production of movies, if properly investigated, is probably broke and is doing this to earn money. If you are doing very well as an actor, raking in money, you won’t even have the opportunity to SKC Ogbonnia gather people and say you are producing a movie. Thank you.

So, what will the AGN do to make sure those saddled with fighting piracy, do their job?

First of all, for you to do a job you must be motivated, and motivation comes from interest. If nobody calls on the AGN to support them in fighting piracy, then there is nothing we can really do. Our hands are full with a lot of projects at the moment and we can’t start bothering ourselves on fighting piracy, unless we are called upon. If the DG of the censors’ board calls on us today to give him a few actors who will support them in a law case against pirates, we will gladly be there for him.

How will the Guild protect actors and actresses who face extortion from quack producers, all in the name of making them stars, yet they won’t produce a single movie with these same actors and actresses?

For now, we have not had any official complaint from any actor or actress, but if we get such a complain, we will surely act right, and fight and protect the interest of the affected actors or actresses.

Our responses are quicker now. Any case of extortion or sexual harassment would be dealt with decisively.

How cordial is the relationship between the AGN and other guilds in the movie industry?

We enjoy a very cordial relationship, as seen by their presence at our last election

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ADDING VALUE WITH HENRY UKAZU henrous@gmail.com

Be Prepared

G

reetings Dear Friends, Growing up as kids we all had desires, dreams, and visions of the kind of profession we wished to be identified with or engaged in. We all had that fantasy personality we wished to be. Fast forward to two or more decades later, we realise that while we have been able to achieve some, some are still in process and a lot more may have eluded us.

However, regardless of where you are, just know that it is never too late to live your dream. According to George Elliot, It’s never too late to be what you might have been”. Even if you have been able to achieve your childhood dream of being a lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc., C.S Lewis opined “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” The difference between remaining first and being the first is that the former engage in a productive activity in order to remain on top while the latter just attained the position. The underlying factor responsible for our success and failure is summed up in preparation.

What is preparation?

Preparation is simply the act

of preparing — getting ready, planning, training, or studying with a goal in mind.

According to Alexander Graham Bell “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

We all have desires in life, but some of us are not doing much to achieve those desires. For example, you may have desires of being the president of your country, governor, chief executive officer of a company, etc., but you need to ask yourself if you are doing enough to get to the position/title There’s no limit to what preparation can do; take for instance, you want to prepare a delicious meal, and you will definitely need to have all the ingredients ready in addition to adding them in the right proportion. That’s simply the way success in life works. It can never be in the reverse position. You may be hoping and trusting God for a car, job, wife/husband, or a particular opportunity of interest, but you are not doing enough to receive the blessings/opportunity. It’s instructive to note that opportunity meets prepared minds. So, if you are hoping to get a car from an angel, you must learn to drive, get a license and then work towards getting the car.

We shall be discussing how we can prepare in addition to sharing instructive notes relevant to preparation.

One of the most important parts of success is preparation. You must plan for success, otherwise, you’ll fail. Isn’t it true that failing to prepare is preparing to fail? There’s nothing like luck.

According to Bobby Unser, “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity” If you are not prepared for any job, even if you get it, you’ll fail.

You must be positively intentional about anything you plan to do. Success is like faith in action. You must put in the work and allow it to work for you.

Even the Holy book made us understand that faith without work is dead.

If you are an in business, a strong skill to have in order to succeed is being proactive. Let’s say you are a public speaker and you are called for an impromptu event, your ability to succeed at the event will more or likely be as a result of previous speaking events or even practicing by listening to accomplished speakers. Furthermore, if you a public servant or a good consultant, for you to succeed in your profession,

you must prepare for whatever situations you encounter from your clients. This is because a question might be thrown at you at any point in time and your ability to answer them will add more caps to your glory. You can be prepared by reading vast, researching to know what’s trending in the industry, or listening to the news.

Getting Prepared: There’s a thin line of difference between preparing and be ready.

When you are preparing, it basically means you are preparing for an opportunity, but when you are ready, it means you have finished preparing and now good to deliver.

For instance, if you need a promotion or raise in your job, it’s imperatively important for you to prepare yourself by getting more knowledge which can come in form of academic qualification, certifications or more training like the acquisition of related skills needed for the job. When you finish preparing yourself, you can be termed ready for the position.

Another way of getting

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prepared is by surrounding yourself with people/experts who are knowledgeable about the area you are interested in. The more specific you are about your intentions, the more chance you’ll get to succeed. With so many free resources available, there is no excuse not to learn something about any subject matter. I’ve seen people with barely entrylevel skills outshine the supposed experts simply because of how prepared they were.

Success entails preparation Trust me, you have a duty to come prepared for anything that matters to you. I will share a personal secret to you; most of the success I have attained in recent times are consequences of preparation. I always prepare myself with the right message, network, resources, opportunity, and information before I explore any opportunity of interest.

All these preparation add up in one way or the another to achieve a common goal. I have no choice but to do the hard work of preparing for the expected and the unexpected. I’m far from perfect, but by preparing again and again for each new situation, I get better and can deliver better results. Yes, it takes late nights and long hours, but if you aren’t willing to do the hard work of preparing, then you shouldn’t take on the task in the first place. If, however, you have taken on a project, you have an obligation to yourself and to the client to be willing to dive in and prepare so that you can really

deliver.

Benefits of preparation I cannot underestimate the benefits that come with preparation. It is truly priceless. I belong to the school of thought which believes that hard work is prayer in action. This is because you can attain success when you put in the desired work. While some people are academically and scientifically gifted, others are naturally talented and skillful, while some succeed by learning how to do the job.

Being Prepared Enhances Self Discipline Nothing disciplines the human race more than preparing for a lifetime opportunity. Imagine having an opportunity to meet your dream investor to pitch your idea, or being asked by the president of your country to meet him/her in a week’s time to discuss your business proposal. I will imagine you’ll take all the time the world to prepare for this meeting and this preparation entails disciplining yourself.

Being Prepared Enhances Our Strategic Thinking Preparation also enables you to think out of the box.

Preparation will make you to reason. Preparation will make you to explore options and opportunities. A strategic thinker is very proactive because they prepare for the next move when the desirable is not available.

The more complex the task, the higher the degree of strategic thinking is required.

Strategic thinking is a skill that is born through practice and experience. On a daily basis, our brain process so much information without you knowing. We may not always recognise our thoughts as being strategic but each act of preparation is working with our brain.

Being Prepared Develops Our Resilience Resilience is the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad has happened.

It is in preparation that we develop our mental resilience and it is through failure that we develop a life of resilience.

We all know that not every plan leads to success and it is through failure that we reach success. Having resilience allows us to stand up ten times after we’ve

been knocked down ten times and to continue on our course by making adjustments and realignments.

Leadership: All great leaders are readers. You cannot be an effective leader if you are not prepared for the task.

According to John Quincy Adams, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” As mentioned earlier, any height you want to reach in life, you must prepare for it, otherwise, you stand a great chance of failing when you get the opportunity even if you have great advisers because in one way or another your intuitive and rational skills must be tested at different moments. A great way of succeeding in this area is by applying the SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals for all you want to do.

Yes, you are prepared, I know you will say, but how prepared are you?

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How Firstbank Fintech Summit Is Contributing To Bridge Nigeria’s Financial Inclusion

A

s financial solution providers continue to face stiffer competition globally from Fintech startups and emerging technologies such as blockchain, crytocurrency and crowdfunding, and the increasing level of disruption in the traditional mode of payment and business models, technology holds the key to unlock the potentials in the financial service sector across Africa through Fintech.

As the banking sector continue to find newer ways of engaging and providing customers’ centric services to bridge the current level of unbanked and under banked population to achieve Nigeria’s 2020 financial inclusion target. The fall out of the recently held First Bank Fintech Summit 3.0., is that technology is the growth to financial institution in Africa.

“Customer experience and innovation are key in our approach to satisfying our customers. As a leading banking services solutions provider, FirstBank has continued to set the pace in the financial services industry, coming up with new initiatives to provide financial products and services with greater speed, accountability and efficiency,” said Adesola Adeduntan, the CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited at the recent First Bank Fintech Summit 3.0.

Adeduntan opined that the third edition of the FirstBank

Fintech Summit indicates that bank’s commitment to putting its customers first.

According to him, FirstBank is keen at offering excellent financial services by devising new ways of effectively and efficiently meeting customers’ financial needs.

“Evidently, financial technology is causing positive disruption in the financial services industry.

The impact of technology in lifestyle business and other areas of today’s customer is huge. We are therefore following global trends in collaborating with Fintechs and other big technology companies on several transformational initiatives to be able to satisfy our customers’ needs,” said Adeduntan.

According to Adeduntan, the main purpose of the FirstBank Fintech summit is to converge thought leaders in the Fintech space to champion discourse around financial technology and proffer solutions that will shape the future of banking.

He stated further that key areas of interest for the bank, is to champion the propositions around ebusiness and digital offering, agent banking, wholesale or transaction banking product suite, retail and consumer lending and SME productivity.

“I am optimistic that every organisation represented here will be empowered to provide services with greater

speed and solve real societal problems to the advantage of the Nigerian populace through the insights that will be gained from this event.

“At FirstBank, our promise is to always deliver the ultimate ‘gold standard’ of value and excellence. We will therefore stop at nothing to provide excellent and innovative financial services to our esteemed customers,” he concludes.

Victor Asemota, keynote speaker at the summit said the essence of Fintech is the ability to deploy technology towards solving human problems with tools and processes. According to him, innovation simply means the ability to effectively combine and deploy tools, process and people together to achieve an aim.

Asemota opined that Fintech will help to end the deficit narrative associated with human centered innovation. Hence, people plus innovation will result into solving real life problems, real time.

Chuma Ezirim, the group executive, eBusiness and

retail products, said Fintech is an enabler in solving real problems in the financial sector. However, building a strong digital franchise in the financial ecosystem will be driven by successful partnerships.

In rolling out the figures, Ezirim said, “Over 18m customer accounts, over 10m cards issued (processes about 25% of card transactions in Nigeria). Highest number of Verve transacting cards; Visa debit multi-currency card. Over 8 million users (80% of customer base) with an average of 2.1 million transactions worth over N7 billion is processed daily.

“Over 3.3 million customers; over 500,000 transactions worth N23billion are processed daily. Over 36,000 active agents in Nigeria with a dominant presence in the 754 local governments in the 36 states. Over 600,000 transactions worth over N9billion are processed daily,” said Ezirim.

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8 African Nations To Withdraw Cash Reserves From France

T

he proposal of eight West African nations to withdraw their currency reserves from the French central bank, has evoked a spate of reactions.

While it has been largely hailed in the African continent, experts fear, the move having implications on the French economy, is fraught with political ramifications.

The move also comes with the decision to replace the CFA franc – the euro-linked currency used in 14 West and Central African countries – with new common West African currency, named eco.

Even though these eight West African countries which i n c l u d e , B e n i n , To g o , Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Niger and Guinea Bissau had gained independence years ago, they continued to vest their foreign exchange reserves with the French central bank.

They have now decided to move their reserves to Senegal.

"We all agree on this, unanimously, to end this model," Benin's President Patrice Talon told French media last Thursday.

He claimed that Paris has also agreed to release their reserves, which will now be vested with the Senegalbased Central Bank of West African States.

T h e C FA , w h i c h w a s specially created in 1945 for the French colonies of Africa, is linked to the euro and its convertibility is guaranteed

by France.

According to the arrangement, described by

analysts as a colonial relic, these African countries, had to deposit half of their foreign currency reserves, in the French central bank.

A Uganda based analyst Fred Muhumuza said the arrangement was linked to colonial ties with France.

Muhumuza, who teaches economics at the Makerere University -- one of largest and oldest institution of higher learning – said that depositing currency in developed countries was aimed to insulate it from political instabilities back home.

"They [developing countries] also keep their reserves in the central banks of developed countries, to get good returns, "he said. Many countries prefer to keep their reserves with the Federal Reserve System or the central banking system of the U.S., as international trade mostly uses the U.S. dollar as exchange.

"It is also true, that these reserves act as a good resource for developed countries and not for their real owners," Muhumuza told Anadolu Agency.

Move to hit French economy He, however, said the move was fraught with political implications, as it will hit French economy. "Loss of a

pool of resources and control of the economies of these countries will have cascading effects on France, which may not take the move lightly. It will be difficult to transfer reserves.

There were similar proposals before. They never materialized," said the experts, adding that he was keeping his fingers crossed.

President Talon agreed that the decision may take time, but it has been adopted at the meetin g o f Eco n o mic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In July, the leaders of the region also adopted a proposal to introduce single currency -- eco, for the entire region by 2020.

In the first phase, countries with their own currencies (Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) will launch the eco.

In a second phase the eight UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) member countries that have in common the CFA franc (Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Niger, Benin and Guinea-Bissau) will be covered by eco.

The introduction of the eco was initially planned in 2003, but was repeatedly delayed due to various

factors.

Chadian President Idris Debby said the move will clear injustice heaped on the African countries for too long. "The injustice has gone for too long. It is time to discuss issues with France to clarify many things, to allow us to have our monetary sovereignty.

We do not have it today," he told a media briefing on Monday.

T h e We s t A f r i c a n Economic and Monetary Union consist of Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo from West Africa. The Central African Economic and Monetary Union consists of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

"The success of the monetary union will depend on the dispositions of member states especially the Francophone countries who still rely on France for many things," Bashiru Animashaun, an expert on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), told Anadolu Agency.

Source: aa.com.tr

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Conoil, MTNN, Forte Oil, Others Lift Stock Market By N23bn

D

espite activities of profit takers on Custom Street, the Nigerian equities market still gained N23billion on Tuesday November 19, 2019 –thanks to stocks like Conoil Plc, MTNN Plc, and Forte Oil Plc. The stock market had on Monday November 18 lost part of its record gains last week.

The value of Nigeria's listed equities increased to N12.905trillion at the sound of trade closing gong as against N12.882trillion recorded the preceding trading day.

The NSE All Share Index (ASI) moved up by 0.18percent from 26,691.09 points to 26,739.44 points.

In 4,405 deals, equity investors exchanged 394,347,103 units valued

at N6.543billion. The stock market's negative returns year-to-date (ytd) currently stand at -14.92percent.

On the gainers table, Conoil Plc led the pack after its share price moved from N15.4 to N16.9, adding N1.5 or 9.74percent.

MTNN followed from N121 to N121.9, adding 90kobo or 0.74percent.

Forte Oil Plc advanced from N15.9 to N16.6, adding 70kobo or 4.40percent, while Nigerian Breweries Plc rose from N48.5 to N49, adding 50kobo or

1.03percent.

While the equities market advanced on the back of capital appreciation in the most capitalised stock –MTNN as well as gains in the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas sectors, market watchers expect the market to once again exhibit some level of volatility on Wednesday, with persistent profit taking in some counters and bargain hunting in others.

On the losers table, Lafarge Africa Plc led

others after moving down from a high of N14.9 to N14.65, losing 25kobo or 1.68percent.

It was followed by Zenith Bank Plc which dipped from N18.7 to N18.5, down by 20kobo or 1.07percent. United Capital Plc declined from N2.3 to N2.18, shedding 12kobo or 5.22percent, while ETI Plc dropped from N7 to N6.9, after losing 10kobo or 1.43percent.

NCC Setup Multi-Sectoral Committee To Tackle E-Fraud

T

h e N i g e r i a n Communications Commission (NCC) has on Wednesday inaugurated a multi-sectorial Committee to tackle the menace of eFraud currently bedeviling the country.

The committee members are drawn from; NCC, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Police Force, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) ,Consumer Protection Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit( NFIU) National Identity

M a n a g e m e n t Commission(NIMC),National Inter Bank Settlement System, ministry of justice , Nigeria police force among others .

The Committee has the mandate to develop a M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding (MoU) on the resolutions from the stakeholders forum on the financial fraud committed through telecommunications platforms.

BussinessDay recall that the proposed MoU was one of the resolutions of the Stakeholders Forum of Financial Fraud using Telecoms Platforms which was held on the 29th of January 2019.

The Executive Vice Chairman,

Umar Danbatta in his welcome address said, hackers and other unscrupulous elements are exploiting vulnerabilities platforms to gain illegal access to bank account through phishing and other social engineering ploys such as fraudulent SIM swaps to bypass authentication systems, regardless of whether the transactions are conducted via mobile phone, desktop b r o w s e r, o r p o i n t o f purchase.

He added that the Customer Service and Fraud Operations teams in Banks and Mobile Network Operators need stronger

processes and tighter guidelines on how to detect potentially fraudulent activities and to compensate victims where prevention mechanisms fail.

The NCC boss said, the committee would develop a p l a n f o r t h e implementation of the MoU, which according to him, would provide a roadmap for drastically curbing the menance of eFraud.

He identified effective collaboration between government agencies and private organisations as pivotal in tackling electronic fraud.

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Opera-Backed Opay Raises $120m In Series B Funding

S

till basking in the euphoria of Visa’s $200million investment in Nigeria’s f i n t e c h c o m p a n y, Interswitch and a $40million raise by Lagos based payment startup, PalmPay by China’s Transsion, Africa focused fintech startup OPay has raised a $120 million Series B round backed by Chinese investors, less than 6 months after it announced its last funding round of $50 million in June.

O p a y, i n c u b a t e d b y Norwegian based, global consumer Internet company Opera, is already Nigeria’s leading mobile wallet and motorbike ridesharing provider, and is rapidly expanding.

Series B investors included MeituanDianping, DragonBall

Capital (The Investment fund backed by MeituanDianping), GaoRong Capital, Source Code Capital, SoftBank Ve n t u r e s A s i a , Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Redpoint China, IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital China and GSR Ventures.

OPay launched its mobile payment service in August 2018, creating an infrastructure on which the company is now adding new services. The agent-centric mobile payment operation focused on reaching the massive unbanked population of Nigeria.

Since its Series A funding, OPay tripled its active agents to over 140,000 and saw daily transaction volumes doubling to exceed $10 m i l l i o n p e r d a y,

furthering the company’s position as the largest mobile transaction provider in the country.

Additionally, OPay’s motorbike ridesharing service has become the largest of its kind in Nigeria, more than tripling daily rides over the past three months, and the company recently launched additional services around food delivery and cashless

payments for offline businesses. While still focusing on Nigeria, OPay has the ambition to expand across the African continent.

According to the c o m p a n y, i t w o u l d deploy the $120 million across Opera’s Africa network as it looks to capture volume around bill payments and airtime purchase.

LAPO MFB Appoints Cynthia Ikponmwosa As New CEO As Ehigiamusoe Retires

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APO Microfinance Bank limited on Friday announced the appointment of Cynthia Ikponmwosa as the new managing director designate of the premium bank.

She succeeds Godwin E h i g i a m u s o e , founder/CEO, Lift Above Poverty Organisation and LAPO microfinance bank, who has just retired in line with the 10 years retirement policy requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ede Osayande, chairman describes Ikponmwosa as the founding member of the LAPO story in its commitment to social and economic empowerment of the members of lowincome household.

He noted that the board has absolute confidence in Ikponmwosa’s capacity to build on the accomplishments of the bank.

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OPPO Reno Series Ticks Nearly All Boxes For Nigerian Creatives

E

ntrepreneurship and creativity are two of the redeeming features of Nigeria’s young people which accounts for about 70 percent of the population, The features on the latest OPPO Reno Series appears tailored specifically for this demography.

The series comes in two models, the Reno2 and Reno2 F. One of the things both models have in common is their enhanced photography and video features. For Nigerian creatives and potential entrepreneurs starting a career in photography, this could be the most affordable phone to go for.

The quad-camera setup includes 5x Hybrid Zoom allowing users to get far closer to a subject, ultraclear night shots even under near darkness condition on Ultra Dark Mode and super-stable video shooting on the go thanks to Ultra Steady Video. The zoom option performs best in the most necessary conditions ranging from busy cities to natural landscapes to broad daylight to dark nightlife, otherwise, you may need telephoto and digital cropping.

Joseph Adeola, public relations manager of OPPO Nigeria said the models inherited the creative spirit of the Reno Series.

“This latest iteration presents our users with even more creative

possibilities, empowering them to discover new perspectives,” he said.

The Reno2 also comes with a 48MP primary equipped with Optical Image Stabilization, F 17 aperture and a half-inch sensor along with Quad Bayer technology which helps the phone achieve better performance in low light.

The Oppo Reno 2 ships with a very comprehensive package that includes a high-quality case, a preapplied screen protector, as well as a headset in the box. Additionally, the phone ships with a VOOC 3.0 charger and accompanying USB-C cable, as well as the usual quick-start guides.

With a 48MP primary lens equipped with Optical Image Stabilization, F1.7 aperture, and a 1/2-inch sensor along with Quad Bayer technology, Reno2 can achieve better performance in low light.

The Reno2 Series’ Ultra Dark Mode covers an

entire range of different night scenes via a powerful NPU, and OPPO fine-tuned algorithms. Even if light levels measure below 1 lux, it elevates your photos beyond the naked eye through hardware network-optimized AI noise reduction.

But a single photo can’t tell a whole story, and with social media users increasingly shooting video, OPPO is paying more attention to Videography than before.

OPPO’s industry-leading Ultra Steady Video Mode technology ups the stability of videos, enabling users to capture steady videos while running, skiing, skateboarding, cycling, and more. It’s achieved through an IMU measuring device with a high sampling rate and a hull sensor, equipped with Electronic Image Stabilization and Optical Image Stabilization.

These compensate for

users’ shaky shots more accurately, and together with a 60fps frame rate, enhance image stabilization, fluency, and overall image quality.

The OPPO Reno2 in Ocean Blue with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM will be available for sale on the 18th of November 2019 N179,000 only.

The OPPO Reno2 F in Lake Green and Sky White with 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM will be available for sale on the 18th of November 2019 at N129,000 only. Both devices come with the standard 2-year warranty policy.

You can think of the Oppo Reno 2 as a less powerful, more affordable variation on the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom – that’s the phone to get if you want the best that Oppo can offer right now, but if you want to save yourself some money, then this might suit you better.

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ISSN-2052-1979

BOSS NEWSPAPER

Lifestyle

Vol.2.28

www.thebossnewspapers.com

A Publication of Ovation Media Group

TOP NOTCH

African Music Stars Storm Lagos For AFRIMA 2019 EVENTS

Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi Visits Rwanda, Gives Hope to Victims of Genocide

Empress Njamah Releases Beautiful Pictures For Her Birthday

Ighalo, Ndidi, Iwobi, Uzoho Nominated For 2019 FIFPro/CAF Africa Best XI

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Entertainment

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TOPNOTCH ...Celebrity Gist Unlimited

Stop Playing Nigerian Songs In Our Country - Fuse ODG Begs Ghanaian DJ's

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hanian act Fuse ODG has taken to social media to beg the DJ's in his country to limit the way at which they play Nigerian songs.

Fuse took to his Twitter handle to beg the other Ghanaian DJ to limit the way they play Nigerian songs at events and outings they cater for, advising that they play more local songs.

His post read that DJ's

should promote more of the underground acts the country has as if Nigerians had the same opportunity they have, everyone knows what will happen.

Super Eagles Star, Etebo Karo Welcomes First Child With His Wife, Isi Etebo

S

uper Eagles and Stoke city's midfielder Etebo Karo has welcomed a baby girl with his wife, Isi Etebo. The excited footballer took to his page to share beautiful photos of the baby and his wife just moments after giving birth. He also wrote the following message regarding welcome his first baby: "God has Blessed my home with another lovely fruit am just short of words right now but I just want to give thanks to God Almighty and use this opportunity to appreciate my Wife @isietebo for the courage she summone during this

period Atleast I witness this one all my legs Dey shake once again thanks to Oluwa His wife, Isi Etebo also wrote the following message to welcome her child: In life, it just doesn't get much happier than the arrival of a new baby.

One moment, there is simply the dream of this unknown, but alreadyloved person. ------Nothing makes us happier than seeing your smiling face. You are the most precious thing to us. Welcome home princess Etebo

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Entertainment

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African Music Stars Storm Lagos For AFRIMA 2019

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he Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel, Vi c t o r i a I s l a n d , Lagos, will come alive today, as leading music stars from across the continent and beyond gather for the 6th edition of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA. The star-studded main awards ceremony, which will begin at 7:30 pm with Red carpets commencing at 4:00 pm, has the backing of Ecobank, MTN, Daar Group and Coca-Cola as sponsors.

Over 500 African music superstars are expected to attend the award ceremony, which will be spiced with musical performances by leading stars.

Rendering outstanding performance to over 4,000 live audiences is Nigeria's Legendary singer, 2 Baba; Congolese star, Fally Ipupa; South African rapper, Nasty C; Tanzanian Afropop star, Rayvanny; Ghana's Afropop, dancehall and reggae act, Stonebwoy; and Egyptian singer, Mohamed Ramadan.

Joining their African counterpart on the 6th AFRIMA stage is Mauritanian Star songstress, Mallouma; Congolese Singer, Ferre Gola; Togolese Energetic duo artistes, Toofan and Moroccan favourite, Yann 'Sine.

Also from South Africa is Electro music star, Master KG; Pop star Nadia Nakai and talented Hip-hop act, Tellaman; Star rapper,

Kaligraph Jones; and songstress, Nikita Kering from Kenya; amongst various Nigeria superstars including Mr. Eazi; Teni; Fireboy; Praiz, Skiibi; and many more.

Olisah Adibua, Associate Co-producer & Jury member of AFRIMA said, "We have seen African music and arts industry grow, although h a p h a z a r d l y, b u t AFRIMA has taken up the big task to revive the industry and showcase Africa to the rest of the world. In addition, the platform has been able to use music as one of the most powerful tool to bring attention to various world issues like Xenophobia, Climate c h a n g e , E c o n o m y, Population, and many more in order to create a positive change to these issues."

"The 6th AFRIMA main awards will definitely feature some of the continents best talents in great performances and

e n t e r t a i n i n g showmanship, and it is good to know that most of the artistes billed to perform at the main awards are similarly impacting the creative industry of Africa just like AFRIMA is doing," he added.

The awards night will celebrate and reward talents and crafts of African artiste who have been nominated in the 36 categories of the awards, and also the AFRIMA Legendary awards, which is a non-voting category dedicated to honour individuals, who have impacted positively to the music world using their craft, position or personality.

Preceding the main awards ceremony was A F R I M A We l c o m e Soiree on Wednesday, November 20 at the Sky Lounge of Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island; AFRIMA Music Village tagged 'Wild & Wow' at the Agege Stadium, Agege Lagos, on

Thursday, November 21; and Africa Music Business Summit (AMBS), which held yesterday at the Fantasia Hall, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. This was followed by the AFRIMA Nominees Party, an exclusive party themed 'Fire & Ice' at the Landmark Beach, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. The Awards After Party holds at Fantasia Hall, Eko Hotels and Suites.

The events will be broadcast live to over 84 countries on DSTV channel 198, GOTV channel 29, Africa Independent Television (AIT), Bblack TV (France); Face TV (Uganda); CRTV (Cameroon), Gambia Radio Te l e v i s i o n S e r v i c e , ( G RT S ) , S i l v e r b i r d Television (STV), Nigezie, HIP TV amongst others.

Fans of African music globally can also catch the frenzy via the AFRIMA social media handles, live stream on the AFRIMA website, and the AFRIMA App.

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Empress Njamah Releases Beautiful Pictures For Her Birthday

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Events

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Online Media Platform, Opera Launches News Hub In Lagos

By Adeyemi Funmilayo

The panelists

A

new online media platform, News Hub where content creators can reach over 350 million people has been launched in Lagos.

The event took place at Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

Opera News Hub is a platform that helps authors and bloggers produce their original online content and share it with the fast growing Opera users of over 350 million worldwide and over 120 million in the African continent.

The new online media connects seamlessly with the Opera mobile applications like the popular Opera mini Daniel Chang, Thomas Wang & Bill Shen

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Events

browser and the stand alone news app Opera News.

This means that content creators who choose to distribute original content in Opera New Hub, will have a unique opportunity to reach a new international audience, increase their number of followers on social media channels, and run their online publication a cross the various opera mobile products.

"With Opera News Hub , we are enabling thousands of Nigerian authors and bloggers to explore their creativity in a collaborative online media platform based on generated content," said Scot Eritemu, Product Manager for Opera News.

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“Opera News Hub also guarantees premium content placement across the opera mobile apps, allowing them to be discovered by a large international audience of over 350 million opera users."

Opera is a global web innovation, opera's browsers, new products and fintech solutions are the trusted choice of more than 350 million people worldwide. Opera is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (OPRA).

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Events

Qu Bingtens, Jacob LI, Johnny Wu & Zhang Qi

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Peng Gao, Winter Thao & Wang Thelian

Kai Hou, Yue Luo, Ru Hu & Wenbo Zhay

Latifat Adebayo, Emmanuel Etim, Beeorla Solace & Chukwu Solace

Jubril Gawat & Adetayo Kennedy

Uche Onyekwulije & Okey Jude

Igony Bamett & Van Zeiji

Sunday & Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa (Charley boy)

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Events

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Mahama, Mansur, Obi, Momodu, Others Grace Realnews Magazine’s 7th Anniversary Lecture Story: Eric Elezuo

Photo: Ken Ehimen

Newly inducted members to the Realnews Hall of Fame

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he main hall of the Sheraton Hotel Ikeja, Lagos was filled to capacity as prominent national and international guests including former President of Ghana, HE John Dramani Mahama, were on hand to celebrate the 7th Anniversary Lecture of Realnews Magazine, published by renowned journalist, Maureen Chigbo.

The event, which brought together government and media personalities among others, also witnessed the investiture of distinguished citizens into the Realnews Hall of Fame as well as the unveiling of a book, Pathways to Political and Economic Development of Africa.

In her welcome address, Ms Chigbo enlightened the guests on the need for the lecture, adding that equally prominent personalities had been available to present the lectures of the past six editions.

She noted that they include Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud; Dr. Ibn Chambers, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, Prof. Maurice Iwu and Prof.

Charles Soludo.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion and former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Mansur Muktar, who spoke on the topic, The End of Oil: Whither the Nigeria Economy, revealed that time has come when the country should really diversify into other sectors because oil is no longer holding fort in the scheme of things.

In his anniversary lecture, titled “Beyond Politics: An Economic Former Ghana President, John Dramani Mahama

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Events

Maureen Chigbo with Former Ghana President, John Dramani Mahama

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Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, FounderCEO, Alpine Group, Alhaji Mohammed Hayatu-Deen

Ananbra State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Don C. Adinuba and wife

Olusegun McMedal with Mr. Bisi Kazeem

Monday Ubani with Paul Ejime

Chief Chris Ekwilo with Editor, Ovation Mag. Michael Effiong

Narrative for West Africa�, the Special Guest of Honour, who doubled as the Guest Speaker, HE John Mahama took a swipe at the various inanities taking place in the sub-region.

He condemned in totality the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the closure of borders by the Nigerian government, low level of education, poor leadership amongst others.

While he blamed South

Africans for forgetting the efforts of fellow Africans in the fight against apartheid, he came hard on the Nigerian government for not strengthening its institutions, resulting in the border closure.

A panel of discussants took centre stage afterwards with a representative of the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise, Mr. Alex Ayoola Okoh and Chief Executive Mrs. Ngozi Anyaegbunam, Editor, The Boss Newspapers, Eric Elezuo and Media Officer to HE Mahama

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Events

Publisher RealNews Mag. Maureen Chigbo

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Prof. Anyam Anyam

Hon. Dr. Hanna Luisa Bisiw with former Chief of Staff to John Mahama, Mr. Julius Debrah

Officer, American Business Council, Mrs. Margaret Olele, participating.

Other dignitaries that attended the event were former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi, Chairman, Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu; Rev Father Ebenezer Akinduro, Mr. Bisi Kazeem representing the Federal Road Safety

The

Maureen Chigbo, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, Mrs. Fatima Muhtar with Barr. Princess Meniatrix Chigbo

Commission, Mr. Maurice Achibong, representing the Police Service Commission; former Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed Olagunju; Mr. Yomi BadejoOkunsanya, Nkechi AliBalogun and Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C. Don Adinuba.

Chief Dele Momodu, Michael Effiong with Publisher Pride Magazine, Charles O. Anyiam-Osigwe

During the unveiling of the book, 'Pathways to Political and Economic Development of Africa’

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Events

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Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi Visits Rwanda, Gives Hope to Victims of Genocide Story: Femi E. Gabriel

Photo: Segun Lawal (Iroko)

T

he excellent woman of giving and F o u n d e r, E s t h e r Ajayi Foundation, Reverend Mother Esther Ajayi, has taken her philanthropic gestures a notch further by visiting the widows and orphans of the Rwandan genocide in the beautiful city of Kigali.

The over 180 widows and orphans, who are members of Solace Ministry, in the Rusoro District area of Kigali, Rwanda, received cash gifts from Rev. Mother Ajayi, whose visit was boosted by the company of her husband, Rev. Dr. Ademuyiwa Ajayi, her

sons; Adewunmi and Michael among others.

Rev. Mother Ajayi was in Rwanda on the invitation of her financial adviser, Dr. Aderemi Banjoko, to ascertain the level of efforts, rendered by Solace Ministry, with a view to commit her support.

Solace Ministries is a non-denominational Christian organisation dedicated to comforting widows and orphans in response to the overwhelming needs of traumatized survivors of the 1994 genocide, especially HIV/AIDS victims.

Founded by Jean

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Events

Gakwandi, Solace Ministries, apart from helping survivors to heal their wounds, is also committed to reconciling them to Christ, and providing hospital, where thousands receive treatment.

Overwhelmed by joy and surprise, Gakwandi, who also has a very terrible experience, losing his siblings, parents and grandparents to the 1994 genocide but survived by the grace of God said, “Today is a special day for us. Though we are small, we have a very big God. I heard of what Rev. Ajayi is doing around the world, but I thought we are not in the category of people she could have time to visit, but she is led

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by Holy Spirit to visit us today".

In her message of hope, Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi charged the congregation to be full of trust in God who is able to wipe off their tears.

Her inspiring ministration spurred faith in God among the people. “Devil will always want to remind you of yesterday to get you stuck in pains, but forget yesterday and thank God for today and be assured of greater things God will do for you tomorrow.

Jesus is the great healer, believe in Him and whatever that has happened to you will end in praise. If God can change my story, He will surely visit you and give www.thebossnewspapers.com

Events

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you reasons to smile. Do not despair, Jesus is alive,” she said.

The Reverend Mother also revealed that God told her that some of the people were with "no hope of food after the service" and this led to blessing everyone in the church with $50 each.

The same gesture was extended to all the widows and orphans in the congregation.

The action elicited untold joy and great appreciation was rendered unto the Lord.

Iya Adura, as Rev. Mother Ajayi is fondly called, also donated handsomely towards the ongoing hospital project of Solace ministries. She had embarked on the tour

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of the facility earlier in the day.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsis, led to the brutal killing of about one million people, leaving many who narrowly escaped, severely injured.

A day earlier, the Ajayis were hosted to a business meeting by the management of Rwanda Development Board on possible investment in the fast growing Rwandan economy. They also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, built in Rwanda’s capital at a site where some 250,000 victims of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide were buried. The Kigali Genocide Memorial is a

Olu Of Ileigbi , HRH Oba Lamidi Adeyemi

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place of rememberance and learning, which hosts tens of thousands of visitors every year.

In a brief remark, after the tour of the memorial, Rev. Mother Ajayi, tasked Africans to ensure love among themselves, as a way to avert the recurrence of such catastrophe.

"We should love to tolerate ourselves and love ourselves dearly.

Come to think of it, you are still going to come back to roundtable, why not go to the roundtable first? There is nothing love cannot solve. We should keep loving ourselves. And it's a lesson for Africa as well.

You can only know the beginning of a war. You

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never know the end of it, so why start something that you know will end?

We should learn from this. This is too sad," she said.

She joined her husband, Rev. (Dr.) Ademuyiwa Ajayi to lay wreath in honour of the victims of the genocide.

The Ajayis three days visit to the Eastern African country of Rwanda climaxed with a tour of the Ahagera National Park. At the park, they savoured the pleasure of the beautiful sight of some of the wild animals including: antelopes, elephants, tortoise, crocodiles, hippopotamus, zebras among others.

Olu Of Ileigbi , HRH Oba Lamidi Adeyemi

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Relationship

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Divorce: A Dangerous Fruit For Children D

ivorce is a difficult time for any family. It's a bit like breaking up an entire set up involving little tasks and ways of being that has become an identity and way of life over the years.

And so you have to start learning new ways of being, learning how to parent again and trying to establish new routines for the kids. Some kids might take everything in their stride, while others are completely shaken up by it.

The effect of divorce on children isn't something you can be totally sure about in terms of what the reactions may be.

What can lead to a divorce?

A divorce usually occurs when two lawfully married couples decide that they can't continue in the marriage because of irreconcilable differences and so they seek for ways to dissolve the union in court. What is peculiar about divorce in Nigeria is the fact that most people don't go to court for divorce to happen. Most times it is done verbally. It is not completely out of place to find a woman in Nigeria who just woke up and decided she was done with the man, packed her belongings and left. The man gets the memo when he doesn't see her.

E f f e c t o f d i v o rc e o n children Divorce can leave your children confused. There's no way to know if your kids will be particularly affected before your divorce. But if

they are going to be affected, the following are some of the ones you may expect.

They can become irritable When their parents are getting divorced, children don't know how to feel exactly. Which emotion to give into. Most times it ends up being irritability and anger. This anger is mostly directed at their parents for daring to divorce, themselves, their friends and classmates, even siblings.

Usually, they process the anger on their own and it lets up after a week or two. But if it doesn't, maybe it's time to seek counselling.

P o o r a c a d e m i c performance Often, when divorce happens children are left in a place they've never known before.

Confusion sets in. Why should they have to go between two homes now?

The confusion, along with the

changing dynamics, causes a distraction that affects their performance in school.

They may feel guilty The feelings of guilt are very common in children whose parents are getting divorced.

It is a time when they are searching for reasons for the divorce of their parents.

They wonder why the divorce is happening in the first place. Whether their parents have fallen out of love. The one that causes the most feeling of guilt is if they think they had something to do with why their parents are getting divorced. So it goes a long way if parents can provide context before divorcing.

They can lose faith in marriage Losing faith in marriage is another effect children whose parents are getting divorced might experience.

Divorce is even harder to

process if the children have watched and seen acts of love and dedication in their parents before the divorce.

They think, what's the point of marriage if my own parents failed at it? The institution becomes pointless to them and it can affect their relationships in the future.

They can become emotionally sensitive Children whose parents are on the verge of divorce may experience anxiety and a feeling of having lost something. It can be overwhelming for them. So they need someone to talk to, someone who can help process their feelings.

Talking to your children before your divorce can help a great deal. Let them know you're divorcing, but you both are still their parents and each of you will be involved in their lives.

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Fashion

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Turtleneck:

A Perfect Match To Smartness

A

By: Ajibade Morakinyo

turtleneck is a very high neckline that covers most of the neck. Turtlenecks are generally closefitting, but can also fit further away from the neck providing a roomier fit. You'll find turtlenecks on knitwear, tops and dresses.

Wo r k i n g w i t h clients with varying body types, I've found that their reactions to turtlenecks are mixed. Some enjoy w e a r i n g turtlenecks more than any other neckline. Some will only wear one as a layering piece or as a necessity for cozy warmth.

Others won't wear turtlenecks at all.

Whether you like w e a r i n g a turtleneck can depend on your body type, style persona, the climate where you live, and whether you run hot or cold, it looks great on both male and female...

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Fashion

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Sermon

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Humility

By Babatunde Jose

V

ERILY, for all men and women who have sur rendered themselves unto God, and all believing men and believing women, and all truly devout men and truly devout women, and all men and women who are true to their word, and all men and women who are patient in adversity, and all men and women who humble themselves [before God], and all men and women who give in charity, and all selfdenying men and selfdenying women, and all men and women who are mindful of their chastity, and all men and women who remember God unceasingly: for [all of]

them has God readied forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward. (Quran 33:35) Allah went on to say: IS IT NOT time that the hearts of all who have attained to faith should feel humble at the remembrance of God and of all the truth that has been bestowed [on them] from on high, lest they become like those who were granted revelation aforetime, and whose hearts have hardened with the passing of time so that many of them are [now] depraved? (Quran 57:16) The term "humility" comes from the Latin word humilitas, which derives from the word humus

(earth). Thus, the basic meaning of humility is "grounded" or "from the earth". Humility is the quality of being humble, verifying that the individual is firmly grounded in knowledge of self – neither arrogantly e l e v a t i n g n o r submissively lowering one's perception of self.

When we Muslims pray, we prostrate ourselves; a s y m b o l i c acknowledgement of our lowliness in relation to our Lord, our absolute humility before Allah.

Interestingly, prophets of the Old Testament too worshiped God in this manner; there are 33 verses of prostration in the

Bible: Numbers 20:6 'Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them. And many more.

Allah's Messenger (saws) say: When the time for a prescribed prayer comes, if any Muslim perform ablution well and offers his prayer with humility and bowing, it will be an expiation for his past sins, so long as he has not committed a major sin; and this applies to for all times. (Muslim) The Quran went on to say: Successful indeed are the believers, those who

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Sermon humble themselves in their prayers. (Quran 23:1-2) The Quran describes worship as Ibadah, which in effect means to express ones humility. Ibadah is the absolute sense of humbleness that is reflected by the individual who totally submits himself to the will of Allah (swt). Worship requires submission to God and the essential component of submission is humility.

Although humility in relation to Allah (swt) is absolutely necessary, it is not self-sufficient for salvation as there are other precepts to be followed such as prayer, zakat and so on. However, to worship Allah in total humility is very essential.

Apart from humility in prayer to Allah, we are also enjoined to show humility to our fellow man. Thus the Holy Prophet said: "Verily, Allah has revealed to me that you should adopt humility. So that no one may wrong another and no one may be disdainful and haughty towards another."

(Muslim).

Showing humility does not lower the individual in the eyes of thinking people.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (saws) as saying: Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth and the servant who forgives, Allah adds to his respect, and the one who shows humility Allah elevates him in the estimation (of the people).

(Muslim) What is the opposite of humility? Haughtiness,

arrogance and aggressive behaviour, both of which are loathed by Allah as He revealed in the Quran: see Quran25:63 Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors. (Quran 7:55) In relation to this Allah (SWT) says in Quran 17, Surah Al-Isra, Verse 37: " D o n o t w a l k pompously/arrogantly about the earth: you cannot break it open, nor match the mountains in height."

(Quran 17:37). But this is exactly what our rich and famous do. They bestride the narrow world like colossi, master of all they see; they are not only pompous but arrogant and self conceited as if they created all lesser beings.

They forget that their wealth is a gift from God and not based on their good works. Most of them wallow in stolen wealth which is a source of their eventual perdition. On the day when we would have to atone for our iniquities, there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But then it will be too late.

One of the many advices of wisdom that Luqman gave in Quran 31 Surah Luqman, verses 18-19 are: "Do not turn your nose up at people, nor walk about the place arrogantly, for Allah does not love arrogant or boastful people. Go at a moderate pace and lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is the braying of asses."

(Quran 31: 18-19) The story of Qarun in the

Quran exemplifies this topic of humility. Qarun was a man blessed with immense riches far beyond contemplation. He was however a haughty fellow who felt that it was because he was special, that was why Allah blessed him. Against the wise counselling of pious men, Qarun did not mend his ways and in the end Allah caused the earth to swallow him and his home. Verse 81 of Surah

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Al-Qasas says about Qarun: "We caused the earth to swallow him and his home: he had no one to help him against Allah, nor could he defend himself." Quran 28:81; See Quran 28: 76-83 for the details.

May the wealth Allah has bestowed on us not be the source of our perdition; Ameen.

Barka Juma'at and a happy weekend

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Sports

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Aluko To Leave Juventus After 18 Months And 3 Trophies

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nglish forward Eniola Aluko has announced she is leaving Juventus after 18 months at the Italian soccer club.

Aluko helped Juventus win the Italian league and cup double last season and the Italian Super Cup last month.

She says: "After winning the Supercoppa recently, I felt a sense of great completion with my time at Juventus, after also winning the Coppa Italia and Scudetto."

Aluko scored 15 goals in Serie A. Her last match will be against Juve´s main rival, Fiorentina, on Nov. 30.

The 32-year-old adds on Twitter: "I will leave Italy with good memories and special achievements for new opportunities, ambitions and further happiness back in the UK." Aluko most recently played for Chelsea in England.

Cristiano Ronaldo Speaks Out After Being Excluded From Juventus Squad To Face Atalanta

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ristiano Ronaldo says he is 'focused on his recovery' and has vowed to 'come back soon' after being left out of the Juventus squad for Saturday's match against Atalanta.

The Portugal international recently admitted he has been playing through injury, despite scoring a hat-trick against Lithuania and one goal against Luxembourg for his country during the

$

international break.

Following the confirmation of his exclusion from Sarri's latest squad, Ronaldo responded on social media with a picture of himself training accompanied by the caption: "Focused on my recovery to come back soon."

Ronaldo's performances for Portugal came after the 34-year-old appeared to react angrily to being substituted during

Juventus' recent wins against Lokomotiv Moscow and AC Milan.

Ighalo, Ndidi, Iwobi, Uzoho Nominated For 2019 FIFPro/CAF Africa Best XI our Nigerian players have been listed amongst the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations

nominees for the 2019 FIFPro/CAF Africa Best XI following their outstanding performances for club and country.

The quartet is led by former Super Eagles forward Odion Ighalo who was top scorer at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt with five goals.

Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi who has enjoyed a fine season with the Premier League club is also on the shortlist.

Alex Iwobi, who plays for Premier League club, Everton and goalkeeper Francis Uzoho are the two other Nigerian players that made the list.

winners Algeria dominate the 55-man nominee list with a total of 10 players.

The 2019 FIFPro/Africa Finest XI will be unveiled during the 27th edition of the Caf Awards set for the Albatros Citadel Resort in Sahl Hasheesh, Hurghada, Red Sea in Egypt on Tuesday, January 7, 2020. www.thebossnewspapers.com

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Third Term Agenda: The Power of Speaking Tongue in Cheek

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t the opening of the of the National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja on Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari finally ended his silence on the much talk about third term agenda, which not a few Nigerians have allegedly accused the President of harbouring.

Laying to rest the thoughts of doubting Thomases, Buhari said that he would not make the mistake of attempting a third term in office, adding that apart from age, he was limited by the two terms stated in the constitution.

“I’m not going to make the mistake of attempting a third term. Besides the age, the constitution makes provision for only two terms,” he said.

But to the follower of Nigerian history, and more especially the student of ‘Buhariology’, the utterance or rather proclamation sounds very familiar, and one wonders if the President is not speaking tongue in cheek like he had always done.

Recall that in 2011, after losing the election to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari publicly proclaimed that he would never run for the office of the president again. But he ran again in 2015. Yes, he may have been invited to run by powers that promised him victory, but he failed to keep his words.

Again, it is on record that Buhari also craved for one term in office, also citing age as his main discouragement, but he threw caution to the wind and sought a second term in office which he won, using apparatchiks at his disposal according to a cross section of Nigerians.

In recent times, Nigerians wake to various policies and acts that make them wonder if it was actually the same Buhari who promised so much prior to becoming president who is seated at the seat of power (no pun intended). If we consider that the promise of making one dollar exchange for one naira is still a pipe dream, then one will wonder if

the promise not to go third term will see the light of the day. How about the promise to convert the national fleet into the much sought after ‘Nigeria Airways’ and add addition aircraft as the years roll by? Has it been fulfilled almost five years after, or is there in sight to actually fulfill it.

Oh, we forget about and incessant medical pilgrimages. President Buhari has remained the biggest culprit of his own promises, the biggest breaker of his own pronouncements. How possible will it be for Nigerians to trust him regarding his denial of the third term agenda.

A scary insight into the third term jingle reveals that most of the policies and proposals of the government have a life span exceeding its time, even as the government as it stands seems not to have veritable opposition in terms of political parties or institutions.

Nigerians, behaving more like a conquered state, or to borrow the language of the ancient empires, a vassal state, seem to lack the energy and willpower to fight anymore, as a result, Buhari will surely get what he desires.

Well, was it not the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan who said, only recently that any request brought to the Senate by Buhari will receive express approval. Not wonder it took less than two months to pass the Finance Bill into law as anti-people it is. And was not Justice Tanko Mohammed, who declared that certificates are not necessary for contesting elections and that ‘technicalities’ take precedence over facts.

Now tell me, was the President not speaking tongue in cheek when he denounced the third term agenda?

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EDITORIAL TEAM PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dele Momodu momodudele@yahoo.co.uk ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Mobolaji Momodu EDITOR Michael Effiong mikeffiong2009@yahoo.com mikeffiong@ovationinternational.com ASST. EDITOR Eric Elezuo PHOTO EDITOR Adekoya Adegbite PRODUCTION MANAGER/ART DIRECTOR Isaac Edoh-Philip GRAPHICS DESIGNER Ajibade Morakinyo PHOTO JOURNALISTS Colin Ramsay...Ade James (USA)...Dayo Adedayo Isaac Adegbite...Dragan Mikki (UK)...Bodise Wilson Soji Adekunle...Vera Odjugo...Tope Brown Segun Lawal...Ken Ehimen Guy L’Avenir (Benin Republic)...Ben Dzakah (Ghana) WEB DESIGNER/MANAGER Kwaku Yeboah Darteh MARKETING/ADVERTS Zed Dominic Okolue (Benin Republic) US CORRESPONDENTS Samantha Ofole Prince...Shola Orolugbagbe CONTRIBUTORS Jimi Akinniyi...Sanya Ojikutu...Isatou N’jie Dayo Olomu...Makeba Boateng LAGOS OFFICE Babatunde Martins - Head Admin Aderemi Abiola - Admin. Officer UK OPERATIONS 7, Du Maurier House, Lawn Road, London Nw3 2XE Tel: +447951026178, +447956967160 UK DISTRIBUTION/WORLDWIDE SUBSCRIPTION Jay Magazine & Newspaper Distribution, UK +44(20) 76358888, +447976628251 UK AND EUROPE DISTRIBUTION Quality Magazine Distribution Global Distribution MANAGING EDITOR BENIN REPUBLIC BUREAU Jeanne-Frances Maduakor Centre Commercial Xanadu-Ancien Pont, Wlacodiji Contonou Tel: +229 97221918, +229 98155422 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ike Okonta...Sunmi Smart-Cole...Okagbue Aduba Osasu Obayiuwana...Dupe Ashama Isha Tejan-Cole (West Africa)...Richie Dayo Johnson GHANA OPERATIONS 17, Asafoatse Afua Street, West Airport.

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