The Nation April 19, 2015

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

Truck of bees overturns on Washington highway

CAPTURED

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TRACTOR-TRAILER carrying millions of honeybees overturned on a highway north of Seattle early Friday, scattering hives and sending white-suited beekeepers scrambling to save as many insects as they could.

The truck had just merged onto Interstate 5 around 3:30 a.m. when it tipped on its side, dumping its load of 448 hives, or about 13.7 million bees, Washington State Patrol Trooper Travis Shearer said. The driver, a 36-year-old man, was not hurt.

The company that owns the insects, Belleville Honey and Beekeeping Supply of Burlington, sent beekeepers to recover as many as possible, and bees covered their protective suits as they worked.

The bees became more active as the sun rose and the weather warmed, and firefighters had to spray a layer of foam on some of the boxes, killing the insects for safety.

Many of the hives were still along the highway more than seven hours after the accident, when a front-end loader began scooping them up and dumping them into a dump truck, Shearer said. The majority of the hives had been crushed.

The bees were being transported from Sunnyside, in central Washington, to a blueberry farm in Lynden, a city near the Canadian border about 160 kilometers north of Seattle, Shearer said.

Their job: pollinating crops.

First responders and reporters alike swatted at the bees as they tried to do their jobs.

“I think everybody there got stung,” Shearer said.

Seattle television station KIRO posted a video compilation of its on-scene reporter swatting the insects as he reported on the accident.

Shearer urged drivers to keep their windows up and to “#beesafe when traveling through that area,” as he wrote on Twitter.

Company owner Eric Thompson told The Seattle Times the beekeepers he sent recovered 128 hives before the sun came up but he said the damage would be hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and future profit. Everything was insured, he said.

“I’m disappointed we caused such chaos and confusion,” he added.

What now?

Now that the elections have been won and lost, and the crowds have disappeared, those who ran and lost are left alone to contemplate the future. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Jimi Agbaje, who lost the contest in Lagos, is captured here lost in thought at a recent event. A penny for his thoughts!

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

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ITH 19 states already in its kitty out of 29, and a handsome win in the presidential election far in excess of predictions, the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears set to make history, or more accurately, to build history on the ashes of its main rival and former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

If it would win, no one expected the APC to win on the scale it has managed to do just two years or so after its founding. So far, too, the intrepid challenger has managed to win about 64 Senate seats out of 109, and about 214 House of Representatives seats out of 360. In short, roles are being reversed, and it remains to be seen how responsibly the new ruling party will use the enormous power and influence the voters have entrusted into their hands, or how smartly and adequately they can interpret the repudiation the PDP has just suffered.

Had polling been free and fair in Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, the APC plurality would have been far larger, and its dominance of the National Assembly more overwhelming. But notwithstanding its great win, the APC must prioritise the reform of the electoral process in view of its implication for peace, progress and stability.

The kind of brazen and humiliating thievery that characterised polling in the three states must not be allowed to go unanswered, as if nothing happened, as if no one died.

The dead must be avenged, and the criminals who perverted the electoral process and orchestrated the openly violent subversion of popular will must be held accountable. As it is also evident, even the Permanent Voter Card

sunday@thenationonlineng.net

APC’s far-reaching poll win

and Card Reader innovations are neither immune to tampering nor are they infallible. To kick-start the process, and quite apart from any legal option the APC might wish to take, the Muhammadu Buhari government, once sworn in, must institute an inquiry into what went violently wrong in the three troubled states.

Overall, the APC must help itself with a comprehensive analysis and understanding of its momentous win on March 28 and April 11. Embedded in the victory are countless lessons with far-reaching implications for Nigerian politics, ethnic groups and religions. These lessons must be deconstructed and disaggregated in order for the winning party to proceed more sure-footedly into the future, consolidate on its win, for it is not an accidental win, and understand the kind of reforms the country needs, the tempo required to sustain them, and the amperage with which the party

must pursue its revolutionary and transformative agenda. The country is famished for change; and the APC has made change its credo. Both should now meet substantially and creatively on the national continuum, and knit a tight and inspiring national fabric worthy of the trust reposed in the party during balloting.

By now, even to the most optimistic and idealistic proponent of ethnic politics, the formulaic approach to presidential elections, which began nervously with the election of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, is fast receding. Gen Buhari was elected, not because he is a northerner, but because by geopolitical alliances and the creative engineering of public impressions both in the North and elsewhere, he came across as the desperately needed antidote to President Goodluck Jonathan’s serial political malfeasances, governmental im-

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EN Buhari has ridden to power on the back of a Southwest/North alliance mediated by the APC. It is unlikely that in the foreseeable future that alliance, even if it is severely tested by intraparty competitions and misunderstanding, will collapse. Having done so many things right in the frenetic space of two giddy years, and cobbled together a smorgasbord of strange ideological bedfellows, the party is smart

potence, general lethargy, and personal weakness. Nigerians were tired of President Jonathan’s economic management style and exasperated with his undignified and uninspiring habit of cavorting with militants and all sorts of ethnic and religious bigots.

They needed change, and they believed Gen Buhari best approximated their definition of change.

Closely leashed to the receding formulaic approach to presidential polls is the somewhat less evident lesson implicit in the electoral behaviour of the Southeast and South-South. Both zones seem at odds, perhaps culturally, with pluralism, preferring as they do the paradoxically unitary approach in which one person or party is supported for mostly sentimental reasons. Some south-easterners have argued that the zone consciously supported President Jonathan for the same

contradistinctive and countervailing reasons most northerners supported Gen Buhari, and does not regret it.

But consequent upon the way the last polls were decided, the Southeast will have to figure out, in a political world where the presidency is no longer vouchsafed to any zone simply because that had to be done, how to produce a candidate that will resonate with the nation, build or utilise a party that can capture popular imagination, and construct a winning alliance. Having shot itself in the foot, as it were, by being unimaginatively closeminded in not producing a ranking senator for the winning party in the Eighth Senate, it makes the job of producing a nationally acceptable Southeast politician and presidential material doubly difficult. There are no shortcuts.

Surely, the Southeast and the South-South must recognise the need to ponder why they voted

the way they did: insularly, fanatically, unrealistically and coercively. The North, despite the popularity of Gen Buhari, gave substantial votes to President Jonathan in some states. And the Southwest, whose son was on the presidential ticket, gave huge votes to a man and party that alienated the zone for more than five years and insulted them with tokens shortly before the fateful March and April elections. There was little voting in the South-South and Southeast. Both zones, which are unfamiliar with life in opposition, now have a responsibility to play politics more responsibly if they are to produce a president anytime soon. If they do not, but so that the nation is not destablised by deliberate or inadvertent politics of exclusion, they must be compelled to play politics the right way.

The APC, judging from its recent antecedents, is now intrinsically liberal and democratic. It knows what to do to effectively police the next elections and leave no one in doubt that electoral malpractice will be punished most severely.

It should diligently proceed in that right direction.

If APC is to succeed enough to know that regional alliances are inherently destabilising. The APC must remould party politics in Nigeria to transcend or even denude ethnic, religious and class divides.

As it prepares itself for the great economic transformation needed to rejuvenate the country, it must also spend quality time in weaving a better and vi-

sionary tapestry upon which to build a great, competitive and stable nation. Part of this change will be constitutional, and other parts will be attitudinal. Whichever way it is done, the party must recognise that the country cannot be greater than its vision, as the Jonathan government showed so depressingly to our shame and dismay.

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

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COLUMN

After the biggest party

T was a messy and dismal end.

There are some deaths that are dignified and ennobling in their calm fortitude and heroic defiance.

But not this one. The PDP has died as it lived: beyond its means and probably beyond the means of the country as well. A presidential capitulation quickly snowballed into an anarchic retreat and a rout ending in an electoral massacre on the scale of a Homeric battlefield.

We will be counting the principal political casualties for many years to come. State orphans abound. The sixty year Reich has become the sixteen year wreck. There are no mourners in this Sambisa forest of the quick and the wounded; only rotund vultures and pot-bellied hyenas having a field day. It is an Eliotsian wasteland, and April is the cruelest month.

Not even the greatest political soothsayer could have foreseen this distressing disintegration and death of the greatest party in Africa. One of its shrewd and astute founding fathers, in a moment of embattled lucidity, had cautioned that this was not a political party but a rally. A rally is just a collection of different mobs on parade. If there is food, the mob will stay quiet. But if there is no food, the mob will quickly dissolve into its component units, all heading in different directions.

After the greatest party comes the great hangover and headache. An army founded on the principles and ideology of loot can never survive the removal of its feeding bottle. The same fate also awaits any political party founded on such nefarious axioms. But we cannot afford to gloat too much on the horrid demise of the Nigerian behemoth. Like a festering corpse abandoned by even close relations, the PDP has become a national and public health hazard.

The methods, means, principalities and instrumentalities by which this maladroit mammoth met its timely end will be studied and analyzed by students of politics in multi-ethnic societies with self-cancelling pluralities of power fulcrums for years and generations to come.

They are beyond the standard fares of conventional post-colonial Political Science. But it is also important for the Nigerian intelligentsia both at home and in the Diaspora to study and analyze what went wrong as a guide to the future in all its gripping immediacy. We are not out of the wood yet.

In the long run, the PDP was a child and victim of the circumstances of its provenance and progeny. It was an army arrangement. It was never conceived as a genuine and organic political party or mass movement.

You cannot give what you don’t have.

The army does not do mass movements, except in battle formations.

That is a contradiction in terms and offensively pejorative of its constituting ethos. The army thrives on hierarchy and rigid differentiation.

All animals are not equal, and some are even more unequal than others.

This is the pecking order of nature itself. Democracy is a product of human evolution away from the state of nature, but even then for democracy to thrive there are certain undemocratic institutions that must be permanently in place.

Like its NPN forebear which met the same fate in a military putsch, the PDP was not conceived as a conventional political party, but as a gargantuan coalition of big people and power brokers whose influence and authority would be so all-encompassing as to guarantee national stability and ward off the centrifugal forces which have hobbled Nigeria since independence. In the event, the PDP was just a variation of an old theme by very much the same military aristocracy.

On the face of it, it was a patriotic and nationalistic move. You cannot blame the military for being unable

(The rise and fall of the PDP)

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nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

• Solomon Lar

to envision a society beyond its own regimental and ideological purview.

The Babangida political experimentation with a two-party system threw up a wildcat and a political maverick that could not be relied upon to guarantee military interests which under the long gestation of despotic rule had become national interests. In an attempt to forcibly liquidate the contrary forces, Abacha almost ended up liquidating the whole country.

Under clever guidance and astute remote control, his successors were not about to make the same mistake.

It is easy to forget that General Abubakar Abdulsalaam, in his first broadcast to the nation after General Sani Abacha’s demise, promised solemnly to see the Abacha transition programme to its speedy conclusion.

But after being swiftly countermanded by those who put him there, a contrite general announced a new transition programme.

But just as you cannot step into the same river twice, no two historical conjunctures can be completely alike whatever their outward similarities. 1998 was not 1993. If the military hierarchy had bothered to take a peep into the political horoscope, they would have noticed that popu-

lation-wise, Nigeria was becoming a much younger country and the demographic condition was about to change forever. The relentless forces of globalization had led to a radical democratization of the means of violence as well as the methods of mass enlightenment.

In the event, the logic that led the military to an Obasanjo also led to the eventual disintegration of the ruling party. Having exhausted its historical and political possibilities, the military hierarchy had to look for a safe pair of hands and a bluff retired general to cover its retreat to the barracks. The PDP opening convention was a classic case of a textbook military operation as the founding fathers of the party were muscled out by sheer military might.

Obasanjo famously took his delegates to the convention in a sealed train and tellingly bivouacked outside the city.

In the circumstances, the organic growth of party and the deepening of the democratic process were left in the hands of a man who by training and temperament is an authoritarian autocrat who had no truck with democratic niceties. When the retired general famously asked the Turaki

of Adamawa whether he could obey simple instructions, many thought it was an eccentric joke. Atiku himself would later find out to his political peril that the Owu warlord meant every word.

As for the deluded remaining founding fathers of the PDP, they soon found out that military khaki is not civilian brocade. As Obasanjo went for their political jugular, they began deserting the temple, one by one and two by two as the occasion demanded. The fiery autocrat next turned his caressing attention to the main opposition parties, engineering such momentous fissures that none of them survived the thunderous implosion.

If the PDP ever had a soul it fled at the Jos convention. In other words, the party died in vitro. It was a mere vehicle for demilitarization which quickly transformed into a fascist terror machine for maintaining a hegemonic stranglehold on the nation. As Obasanjo has brilliantly demonstrated, it takes two to play at the fascist game of hegemonic domination. The same logic of the despotic suborning of a nation which made it possible for a military cabal to impose Obasanjo on the polity also made it possible for Obasanjo himself to impose two successors on the nation without heavens falling.

The game could have gone on for quite some time, but for the dramatic intervention of hubris so overweening that it is beyond the ken of human comprehension. Yet it was a matter of time, with the PDP becoming a stalled behemoth unable to move itself or the country forward and with its monstrous proboscis sucking life out of the nation.

But only the bold and deeply cunning can call to the bold and deeply cunning. It took an inchoate and incongruous alliance to have the measure of the PDP in the remarkable political plot that brought the unflappable and wonderfully pokerfaced Aminu Tambuwal to the speakership of the House of Representatives At that point in time, political neophytes, particularly the traditional carrion feeders of the South West otherwise known as mainstreamers who

did not know where the game was heading ,thought that the ACN had thrown away their pot of amala. But the PDP had been pole-axed and it was only a question of time before the mammoth would crash on the canvas with a resounding thud. As the end approached, even the wily patriarch openly tore his membership card.

There are great lessons to be learnt from the rise and fall of a party that constituted itself into a nuisance and menace to the Nigerian polity.

Despite the national euphoria that greeted the dethronement of the ruling party, the future is full of dark forebodings. Unfortunately if care is not taken, the same fate awaits the now dominant party. This is what should concern all patriotic Nigerians.

As it was in the beginning, so it seems at the end of the beginning.

Like the PDP, the APC remains an inchoate and incongruous alliance; a mere vehicle to capture power teeming with contrary characters and mutually contradictory elements all in a state of antagonistic but paradoxical complicity. In trying to outsmart and outwit the PDP, it has had to be like the PDP; or at best its veritable doppelganger. In other words, there is no qualitative difference or deep ideological divergence between the two parties.

This is a veritable source of a coming anarchy. The ranking APC hierarchs must now find within themselves the deep reserves of strength and character to give the party a soul and a capacity for organic growth which will drive change and accelerated development for the country as a whole.

Luckily, they don’t have to look very far for a driving template. The APC already has their two leading chieftains as shining exemplars of the power of a missionary envisioning of a new society. The APC should fuse the pragmatic Democratic Welfarism of a Bola Tinubu with the instinctive messianic populism of a Mohammadu Buhari to evolve a left of centre party whose developmental strides will resonate with Nigerians and the Black Race for generations to come. This is the only way to avoid the fate of the PDP.

Shifting cultivation among the Nigerian political class

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H boy, oh boy, Nigerian politicians are something else. Whilst we are still on the subject of the death and disintegration, has anybody noticed the epic migration going on among the Nigerian political class since the PDP gave up the ghost? We do not know whether this is an attempt to evade death duties or the fear of imminent hunger which has induced the disease known in Northern Nigeria as Sokugo or wandering psychosis among Nigeria’s dissolute and irresponsible political class.

What we know is that since the

death of the PDP was announced, there has been a Gadarene rush to jump ship or to flee the sinking hulk of the biggest party in Africa.

Hordes of internally displaced political prostitutes, homeless ideological destitute, rank-shifted renegades, politically homeless vagrants and other hobos and yobos of reactionary politics have taken to the road to Bourdillon as if it is a new highway to Babylon. In Yoruba folk parlance, it is known as eni ori ba yo odile. (If you survive, we shall meet at home) Among these wastrel wayfarers is a notorious political scoun-

drel from the old Adamawa province who has betrayed just about anybody in contemporary Nigerian politics including the illustrious MKO even while mouthing meaningless Marxist mumbojumbo about pending and impending class conflagration. Another is a fugitive from American justice who seemed to be permanently encamped at the gate of the Lion of Bourdillon. Thrice he had attempted to gain forcible entry and thrice the fat fool has been driven away.

Snooper has a political theory for these unprincipled gyrations

and shameless gallivanting. It is taken from soil science. When native farmers exhaust the nutrients of a particular plot of land due to incessant and relentless cultivation, they simply abandon it and move on to the next plot of land until the entire farming space is crying for mercy. We are looking for a worthy son of the soil to marry soil science with political science in a compelling treatise on the habits and habitats of the Nigerian post-colonial political class. So long then for shifting cultivation among contemporary Nigerian politicos.

Missing persons index: mum is the word from a mumu

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ND whilst we are still on the subject of the hordes of displaced political refugees flocking the highway of politics, it is meet to file a missing person report from another department. It would seem that our man, the Kirikiri canal columnist, has committed hara-kiri.

Snooper has been waiting in vain for his response to the electoral triumph of General Mohammadu Buhari, the

man he claimed to be simply unelectable and Senator Bola Tinubu, the one he excoriated so callously and unremittingly.

A dark cloud has since enveloped his even darker visage. While the dyspeptic diatribe lasted, it was a classic case of the column as unrelenting calumny and shameless hate sermons. Snooper was happy to watch from the sideline knowing that

it will all end in a fiasco. Only in the annals of psychotics can a man who claims to be a pastor be so consumed by hatred and malice towards fellow mortals no matter the opposition to their politics and person.

Yet a cursory glance at this mishmash of misanthropy reveals nothing but jejune emoting and the sophomoric canards of a mind so superficial, so incapable of analytic

rigour, that a robust engagement is out of the question. You cannot argue with unarguable lunacy. For those who know their history, this is not the first time the fellow’s hate platform would collapse under the weight of its own troubled contradictions. The first time around, he disappeared for a long spell. Here is hoping that this time around, the spell will be much longer.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS

Trillions of dollars required to end poverty by 2030

Kogi deputy governor's wife, three others injured as Lagos home collapses

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ORLD leaders have drawn up ambitious goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and promote development over the next 15 years, but now they have to figure out how to pay the bill.

Trillions of dollars would be required to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations is expected to adopt in September, global experts said. The goals address a wide range of issues from healthcare for all, to education, water, energy and protecting the environment.

But in an era of budget austerity, Western governments have made it clear, ahead of a development finance summit in Addis Ababa in July that foreign aid will be insufficient to do the job. Total official development aid (ODA) currently runs at about $131 billion a year.

Heads of state must embrace a new financing framework, one that mobilizes ODA, private investment and higher levels of government revenues, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.

"Much more is needed. We need to shift the conversation from billions (of dollars) to trillions," Ban told a World Bank panel on development finance.

Improving tax collection in developing countries was high on the agenda at several meetings held this week during the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings to discuss new models for increasing development finance.

Better tax systems would bolster budgets and give governments more funds to invest in social programmes. In many low-income countries, tax as a percent of GDP is under 15 percent against at least 24 percent in advanced economies, IMF data show. Finance ministers asked for more technical help.

But equally pressing is the need to crack down on illicit finance, tax evasion by multinational corporations and unjust mining and energy contracts that rob countries of their natural resource wealth, Ngozi OkonjoIweala, Nigeria's Finance Minister said.

Multinational corporations have immense expertise on how to exploit tax loopholes, financial knowledge that developing countries lack rendering them unable to capture corporate taxes on profits earned in their countries, she said.

"We are losing a lot of money," Okonjo-Iweala said.

"ODA matters but generating our own resources matters even more."

A U.N. panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki has estimated that Africa loses $50 billion a year to illict finance, double the amount of official development aid that flows into the region, and that multinationals account for 60 percent of the lost revenues.

World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati singled out fighting tax evasion and illicit finance, including the offshore hubs and shell companies used to transfer money, as important elements for addressing the shortfall in development finance.

One U.N. study estimated that $250-300 billion a year in development finance is lost through the outflow of potential revenues that can be taxed.

Indrawati said sophisticated financial centers act as "quasienablers," assisting corrupt individuals and legitimate companies in diverting money from the poor.

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By Precious Igbonwelundu HE wife of the deputy governor of Kogi State, Mrs. Tokunbo Awoniyi yesterday sustained injury after their Ikoyi residence collapsed.

The incident which occurred at about 7am at 19b, HFB Way, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, was said to have caved in following a cooking gas explosion.

Also injured were three of the deputy governor's domestic staff who were said to be at the residence at the time of the collapse.

But for the timely intervention of emergency workers who rushed all victims to St. Maria Hospital in Yaba, the situation would have been more tragic.

Among the injured was the family's driver who was said to be washing car outside the building.

Confirming the incident, Southwest spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Ibrahim Farinloye said the cooking gas exploded around 7:15am and was suspected to have caused the collapse.

He said the police antibomb squad as well as disaster management unit promptly responded to avert tragedy.

Farinloye who confirmed that the building was the deputy governor's (Mr. Yomi Awoniyi) house, stated that personnel of the Lagos State Building Control Agency have moved to the scene to determine the next line of action.

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• A shattered section of 19b HFB Way, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi Lagos, home of Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, rocked by an explosion yesterday.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

Governors move to hijack PDP from Jonathan

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RESH woes may be on the way for President Goodluck Jonathan following his ill fated re-election bid.

Most of the governors elected on the platform of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are understood to be plotting to sideline him in their plan to rebuild the party.

The governors, outgoing and surviving, want to chart a new course for the party with them in the driving seat.

But they are also disposed to bringing in as many of those frustrated out by President Jonathan as possible, sources familiar with the development told The Nation in Abuja yesterday.

Barring any alteration of their plan, the governors are expected to go full blast from May 29, hijacking the party's affairs from President Jonathan whose tenure terminates on that day.

One of those the governors have listed to bring back to the party under the reformation plan is former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who shredded his PDP membership card in the run up to the just concluded presidential election, and publicly campaigned against the President's return to office for what he termed below par performance.

Also likely to be brought in is the Second Republic Vice Presi-

•Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, may now finance party FROM: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

dent Alex Ekwueme, who engineered the founding of the PDP during the late Gen Sani Abacha regime.

Sources said yesterday that Friday's public castigation of President Jonathan by Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State for causing the fall of the PDP from power in the elections, was not a co-incidence.

Aliyu who doubles as Chairman, Northern Governors Forum said in Minna that President Jonathan and PDP's defeat in the elections was caused largely by his failure to keep to the alleged single term agreement he reached with the North on assumption of office.

Besides, the reformation plan is believed to have informed a recent meeting in Dutse, Jigawa State attended by Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa, ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu and others.

"Some PDP governors, exgovernors and party leaders have started talking on how to revive the party and restore its glory as a democratic party," said one source.

"It might involve doing away with the present crop of leaders in the party to restore

the PDP to its pre-1999 era. Some of the present leaders of the party have been rated as 'mere usurpers' because they have destroyed it.

"One of the issues on the card is how to snatch the party from the grip of President Jonathan who brought in the present National Working Committee (NWC) which failed to sustain the party's winning streak.

"We will not allow any individual to own the party anymore. Even if you are a former president, you have equal right as any member of the party. This is what has made the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa to survive over the years, including the apartheid period."

Another source said: "The reformation of PDP might be pioneered by some of the founding fathers of the party like Chief Ekwueme and other members of the Board of Trustees of the party.

"It might involve bringing in on board former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former national chairmen of the party, ex-governors, past elected leaders and others who can help to revitalise the party.

"It is going to be a total overhaul of the party from the grassroots because we realised that

we have really lost our goodwill and focus as a national party."

Alhaji Atiku has repeatedly said he has no intention whatsoever to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the PDP. He has turned down several overtures from the leadership of the PDP to jump ship including a recent personal visit to his Abuja residence by President Jonathan.

The Nation also gathered that pro-Jonathan forces in the PDP are not prepared to give up.

They are said to have drawn up a revival plan of their own with President Jonathan as the rallying point.

They are looking up to the incoming governors of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers states to bankroll the PDP revival project.

Lagos State was in the original plan but that is no longer possible with the loss of the party's governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje to the APC candidate, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode .

"Unless these rich states intervene in financing our party, we may not be able to fully recover," a member of the NWC said.

He added: "You know we have never been in opposition, it will be difficult to survive."

Mark plots return as Senate President

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ENATE President David Mark is allegedly plotting a sensational return to the plum office regardless of the defeat of his party, PDP, in the recent elections.

Although, the PDP won only 45 seats in the elections as against the 64 by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mark believes he stands a good chance of snatching the position from the APC. His calculation, according to sources in his camp, is that the APC will zone the Senate Presidency to the North Central from where he hails.

He will subsequently penetrate and divide the APC senators, and then win to his side some of them who will vote for him along with the 45 PDP senators.

The plan, The Nation gathered, is Chief Mark's contribution to the effort to rebuild the PDP ahead of the 2019 elections.

He is said to have the support of PDP leaders who believe that he is the only one, for now,

•Hopes to divide APC•Votes massive war chest

By Our Reporter

who stands a relatively bright chance of standing up to the APC and stop the PDP from losing out completely to the APC. Sources close to his camp said he may have found an accomplice in an APC senator who is a former North West governor.

The former governor is expected to work on his fellow APC senators to back Mark.

A massive war chest of N10billion is allegedly being readied for the battle for the Senate Presidency, sources said.

Mark who has been in the saddle since 2007 is one of the few PDP members to win in the last senatorial election in the North.

Some PDP members do not want him to return to the Senate as minority leader or an ordinary member having been Senate President since 2007.

A party source said: "Our leaders are thinking of how to man-

age Mark's situation because we do not want him to play a second fiddle. He was elected on March 28 based on our previous equation that we would still retain power.

"Our leaders are calling for a new international role for Mark who has become a statesman in view of the manner in which he had used wisdom to save this nation at its crisis time. Some are also saying that Mark should play a strategic role in the reformation of PDP ahead of 2019 elections.

"Although the ultimate decision belongs to the Senate President because has the mandate of his people, he is a party man." But Mark has a different idea.

Reacting recently to the gale of defections from his party to the APC in the aftermath of the Presidential polls, Mark vowed to be the last man standing who would help in positioning the party for future elections.

"I have no reasons whatsoever to leave PDP, no reasons. I have risen to where I am on the platform of PDP. PDP has a manifesto and I believe in it," he said during a mass held at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja, to mark his 67th birthday anniversary.

He added: "Those who are leaving PDP now are fair weather friends of PDP. So they have gone (and) they have no problem. When PDP bounces back in a few years in the next couple of elections or next election they will come back again to PDP. So they will move. Those ones are not really the issues.

"So, the point I want to make is that I remain in PDP and I will try to restructure PDP, bring it back again. This is democracy, there will be a winner and there will be a loser and the loser must accept it and the winner must accept it. It is not anything new for us.

Air traffic controllers strike: There will be no flight disruption, says NAMA

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor HEAD of tomorrow's full scale strike by air traffic controllers nationwide, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said yesterday that there will be no flight disruptions at airports nationwide.

It said the agency has put a contingency plan in place to ensure provision of air traffic services.

The spokesperson NAMA who is also general manager of public affairs, Mrs. Olajumoke Adetona said the agency is working hard to resolve the current agitation by air traffic controllers bordering on harmonisation of professional allowances with other groups within the agency.

She said the agitation had been addressed by the Federal Government.

Adetona urged airlines, operators and other service providers who depend on NAMA services to go ahead with their scheduled flights.

In a statement, Mrs. Adetona said, "The Management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) hereby wishes to inform the general public that there would be no disruption in the provision of air traffic services on Monday, 20th April 2015 in line with the agency's mandate to provide safe, economic, efficient and expeditious air navigation services.

"The agency wishes to restate that the current agitation by Air Traffic Controllers on harmonization of professional allowances with other professional groups in NAMA has been addressed on its merit and resolved by the Federal Government.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS

Bayelsa rescheduled elections hold amidst tension •Voters scramble for cash From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa ENSION enveloped most of the eight constituencies in Bayelsa State where rescheduled elections were held yesterday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shifted the elections in Ekeremor Constituencies 1, 2, and 3, Kolokuma/Opokuma Constituencies 1 and 2, Sagbama Constituencies 1 and 2 and Southern Ijaw Constituency 1, citing insufficient electoral materials.

But the elections held as rescheduled amidst tight security in some of the constituencies believed to have possibilities for stiff contest.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and 13 other political parties boycotted the elections after accusing the PDP, the state government and INEC of perfecting measures to rig the elections.

But the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the National Conscience Party (NCP) and some other parties participated in the elections.

The elections which generally witnessed large turnout of voters were peaceful in some constituencies but turbulent in other areas following reports of pockets of violence.

At Sampou in KolokumaOpokuma, violence was said to have broken out but was quelled by security operatives after some persons had sustained injuries.

In Odi community, crowd of persons trooped out to participate in the exercise but only voted for the highest bidder.

It was observed that the contest in Odi was between the incumbent PDP lawmaker, Tonye Isenah and an APGA candidate.

Isenah looked tensed and ruffled after voting at his polling unit following the uncertainties surrounding the elections in the area.

But most of the people were seen sitting idly after accreditation waiting to exchange their votes for money.

“It has now become a case of the highest bidder. Right now people are not voting because they want money in exchange for their votes,” one of the community leaders who failed to disclose his name said.

In Toru-Orua where the state governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, voted, the exercise was peaceful.

Dickson after his accreditation and voting said that the exercise started as scheduled, adding that it was generally peaceful. The candidate of PDP for Sagabama Constituency 1, Dr. Peter Akpe, said he was impressed by the turnout of voters.

Akpe who is also the Majority Leader, Bayelsa State, House said INEC effectively conducted the accreditation and the voting process.

He said parties who boycotted the election had already conceded defeat.

“There is a very high turnout and also I want to commend INEC for the way they have conducted the accreditation and the exercise. I believe that it is going to be very free and fair.

Kogi plans LG caretaker committees

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•Prince Harry on secondment to the Australian Army in the jungle undergoing training this week.

Row as FG concedes $470m national security system to private firm •Top Presidency official mounts pressure on Ministers to sell NPSCS •Panel: Selling NPSCS will compromise national security

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HE Federal Government has conceded the $470million National Public Security Communication Systems (NPSCS) of the Nigeria Police to a private firm, in what appears to be a threat to national security.

The concession is also believed to be in contradiction of the recommendation of an inter-ministerial panel set up by government itself, sources knowledgeable about the deal said yesterday.

The six-man panel comprising Police Affairs Minister Jelili Adesiyan and Communication Minister Omobola Johnson, it was gathered, had opposed any such concession on the ground that it would compromise national security.

The panel was set up by Vice- President Namadi Sambo.

The concession to Messrs.

Openskys Services Limited is also unlikely to go down well with the Chinese government which provided the bulk of the funds for the project through the China Export-Import (EXIM) Bank. Investigation revealed that the concession was made without input from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The conveyance of concession was contained in a letter to the Managing Director of Openskys Services Limited by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs, Dr. James N. Obiegbu in which he conveyed “ the approval of His Excellency, Mr. President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR for your company Messrs. Nigeria Satellite Communications (NigComSat) to partner and form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will operationalize and commercialize the National Public Security Communications System (NPSCS) network of the Nigeria Police Force.” Details of the deal, according to Dr. Obiegbu, are: •the Equity of the SPV shall be held at the ratio of 82% by OpenSkys Services Ltd and 18% by the Federal Government; •the Federal Government’s

From Imam Bello investment in the Project so far is to constitute the 18% Equity of Government; •upon its formation, the SPV shall assume the assets and agreed liabilities of the Federal Government in the project, except the reimbursement of Messr.

ZTE Corporation in respect of cost incurred in the maintenance of the network prior to this takeover; •the Government is not making any further investment in the network while the SPV shall undertake the repayment of the agreed portion of the China EXIM Bank liabilities through the Federal Ministry of Finance. A copy of the Financing Agreement containing the repayment schedule is herewith attached; •consequent upon the above, the SPV will be required to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Police Affairs on the repayment of the agreed portion of the loan obligation; and •the Nigerian Police Force shall operate on the network using the 500,000 subscriber lines at no extra cost to Government.

It is expected that government will hand over the assets and agreed liabilities of the NPSCS to Messrs. Openskys Services Limited once it avails the authorities with the details of the SPV. Of the US$470million spent on the project the Federal Government contributed $85million (15%) through the Ministry of Police Affairs, while the balance of $399.5m (85%) came from a concessionary offshore long term loan facility from China Export-Import (EXIM) Bank. The project was certified substantially completed by the Nigeria Police in December, 2012.

Upon the completion, NigComSat entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministries of Finance and Police Affairs on December 18, 2012 to “partner in the implementation of the NPSCS and the commercialization of the excess capacity on the network in order

to repay the USD399.5m China Exim Bank credit facility and support the sustainability of the network.”

It was learnt that dispute over the sharing of the same 450 MH7 frequency with OpenSkys and the non-provision of the take-off funds had hampered the operational deployment of the NPSCS. While the nation was sourcing for funds, the Technical Contractor, ZTE operated the system up to December, 2013 at the cost of N3.2 billion.

But since 2013, the system has been “largely underutilized which has been the source of concern, especially in the face of the present security challenges.”

It was gathered that the government was faced with three options including a joint venture between NigComSat Ltd and OpenSkys Services; sourcing funds to sustain NPSCS; and outright sale which was considered dangerous.

There had been tension in government over the fate of the NPSCS. But the six-man InterMinisterial Panel, raised by Vice President Namadi Sambo, rejected proposal to sell or concession the nation’s security network.

Members of the panel apart from Adesiyan and Johnson were Mr. Obiegbu (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs); Mr. Abba Kassim (Senior Special Assistant, Research and Statistics, Office of the Vice President); Ms. Abimbola Alale (Managing Director, NigComsat) and Mrs. Nuratu Batagarawa (Director, Police Services, Ministry of Police Affairs).

The committee, in its report, was of the view that “The NPSCS network is viable as the Central Bank of Nigeria has expressed the desire to roll its nationwide cashless policy thereon for a fee and additionally some security agencies have expressed interest to operate on the network.

“The operation take-off fund required by Messrs NigComSat Limited could be sourced from the funds for the Nigeria Police Force Reform Programme and in respect of which a provision should be made from the 2014 funds.

“In the light of the above, the meeting is of the view that

greater value for money outcome would be achieved by raising the required take-off funding for Messrs NigComSat Limited to run and operate the network rather than its outright sale to a third party to whom payment for the use of the services there from would again be made (round tripping).

“Accordingly, the Interim Implementation Committee on Police Reform Programme is requested to consider providing the required take-off funding for the project.”

The panel said the proposal

by Messrs Openskys Services Limited (OSL) “to absorb the NPSCS, a network ab initio dedicated to national security service, to provide for an independent, private and secure communication platform for the police and other security agencies is considered to be a compromise.

“Messrs OSL only proposed to absorb funds expended by the Federal Government subject to its own assets valuation. Hence the obligation to pay the balance of the EXIMBank loan will again fall on government.

“The National Telecommunications and Industrial Policies specifically preclude foreign companies’ participation in telecommunication matters relating to defence and security of the nation. Accordingly, the proposal of Messrs Openskys Services Limited (OSL) with heavy foreign participation would also appear a compromise of the policy.

“A colossal resource of the Nigeria Police Force was committed to the implementation of the NPSCS project. Hence the proposal which now requires annual payment for the use of the same network by the Nigeria Police Force will indeed disadvantage the Force.

“That in consideration of overriding national interest, the approval granted Messrs OSL for the 450MHz Frequency Band ‘A’ be withdrawn at no cost to and assigned to the NPSCS project. “That consequent upon above, Messrs OSL should be migrated to Band ‘L’ of the 450MHz Band to deploy its network.”

HE Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, may have already finalised plans to constitute a local government caretaker committee contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

This, according to sources may take effect from Monday or Tuesday. This followed the post-mortem done by the governor and his aides on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the presidential and National Assembly elections to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sources who were at the meeting disclosed to The Nation on Sunday that one of the reasons suggested for the party’s failure was the voiding of the May 2013 local government election by a Kogi State High Court sitting in Koton Karfe. The APC took the State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) to court on the ground that it was not properly constituted. In December 2014, the court ruled that the electoral body was indeed not properly constituted, and its actions could not stand.

The governor was said to have been chided for his timidity in fighting to sustain the illegality in the local governments and using the third tier effectively to fight the PDP’s political battles. The High Court ruling had voided not only the election, it also directed the government to ensure the affairs of the local government were transferred in the interim to the most senior directors in each local government. The directors did not yield to government use during the March 28 and April 11 polls.

Sources also told The Nation that the governor and his aides are worried that if something was not immediately done about the local governments, the governorship election sometime in October could go the way of the presidential and National Assembly votes.

To forestall this from happening, the governor is planning to appoint caretaker committees in all the 20 local government areas despite knowing full well that the Federal Court of Appeal had declared it unconstitutional.

Ademowo’s mother dies at 85

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HIEF (Mrs.) Caroline Abosede Ademowo (nee Awonubi), mother of Archbishop Adebola Ademowo, is dead A statement by the Diocesan communicator, Venerable Seyi Pirisola, said the deceased passed on at 85 on April 14.

Burial arrangements will be announced later by the family.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

Four die, five injured in Lagos bus mishap

By Precious Igbonwelundu

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OUR men were yesterday confirmed dead with five others injured after fire gutted a commercial bus around Costain in Lagos.

The incident occurred at about midday while the commercial bus was descending Eko Bridge inward Costain.

With nine passengers, all male, on board, the bus was said to have been on high speed, which led to it somersaulting.

It was learnt that immediately it somersaulted, it went up in flames, resulting to the burning of the deceased.

Confirming the incident, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe said the five persons rescued alive sustained burns and injuries.

He said rescue workers evacuated them to Lagos Island General Hospital, while the dead have been deposited at the morgue.

NEWS

PDP condemns xenophobic attacks in S/Africa

50 Nigerians affected by South African violence T

From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

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O fewer than 50 Nigerians have been affected by the xenophobic violence in South Africa, the President of the Nigerian Union in that country said yesterday.

Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene said efforts were being made by the association to resettle those affected.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by phone from Pretoria, South Africa, that the Nigerians were displaced at Jeppes Town, near Johannesburg.

“We met about 300 Nigerians in Jeppes town, near Johannesburg, who fled for their safety and about 50 of them do not have any place to stay,” he said.

“We are making arrangements with the Nigerian mis-

sion in South Africa to get them a place to stay for their safety.

“The Nigerian union has also presented relief materials to those affected by the attacks and we are in touch with various branch chapters of the union in the provinces on their safety and security,’’ he said.

According to him, Nigerian shops and businesses in Durban and Johannesburg have been looted and some burnt.

He said that two shops belonging to Nigerians in Durban were looted and goods worth 400,000 Rand lost.

“In Jeppes Town, near Johannesburg, five shops were looted and one burnt while the estimated loss is put at One million Rand.

“The incidents have been

reported to the police and we are still taking stock of attacks on Nigerians,’’ he said.

Mr. Anyene reiterated the union’s call to the Federal Government to put more pressure on the South African government to halt the attacks.

The Nigerian foreign minister had however claimed on Thursday that Nigerians had so far not been attacked, saying it would only evacuate Nigerians only if the situation gets worse.

“With the discussions I have been having with Nigeria’s Head of Mission in Pretoria, no Nigerian has so far been affected,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali said Thursday in Abuja.

“They informed me that

they have called the Nigerian community and addressed them and told them to close their shops, stay home and keep out of trouble and obey the laws of South Africa.

“They have also confirmed that the South African authority has moved in to take actions that would forestall any further disturbance in South Africa,” Mr. Wali said.

“If it gets worse it is the duty of our country to make sure our people are brought back, and we are taking that duty serious.

“We are not prepared to allow any of our nationals to be subjected to such inhuman treatment.

“We are monitoring the situation and will now take action according to the situation that develops,” he said.

Adefuye congratulates Buhari, others

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ENATOR Anthony Adefuye, Chairman and Secretary of Executive Secretaries of Local Governments in Lagos State, Kolade Alabi, and. Ahmed Seriki, have congratulated the leadership of the All Progressives Congress for their success in the recent polls.

The trio especially congratulated the Presidentelect, gen Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, for their dogged stride to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

They called on the incoming president to unfold programmes that would liberate the country from poverty.

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OUTH African police detained more than 30 people overnight as xenophobic violence simmered around the economic hub Johannesburg, officials said yesterday.

Anti-foreigner violence that erupted in the country’s eastern port city of Durban several weeks ago has so far left at least six people dead, spreading to Johannesburg, displacing thousands and sparking alarm at the United Nations and in neighbouring countries.

South African President Jacob Zuma cancelled a state visit to Indonesia with officials scrambling to respond to the deadly violence.

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari expressed support for federal government’s move to ensure the safety of Nigerians in that country while President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe denounced the attacks as shocking and disgusting.

Overnight, small groups attacked shops in several areas around Johannesburg, police said.

“More than 30 people were arrested last night. At this stage the situation is calm but we plan to increase our deployment,” police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini told AFP.

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• Adamawa State Governor-Elect, Sen. Bindow Jibrilla (l), being presented with certificate of return by the national commissioner of INEC in charge of Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba States, Dr. Nuru Yakubu, during the presentation of certificate of return to elected politicians in Yola ...yesterday.

•••30 detained as xenophobic violence spreads

By Tony Akowe, Abuja

“They are going to be charged for public violence, malicious damage to property, house breaking and theft,” he said.

Police had to use rubber bullets to disperse the looters in Alexandra, an impoverished township north of the city, he said.

Several thousand foreigners have fled their homes to shelter in makeshift camps amid the violence, and neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique announced plans to evacuate their citizens.

The latest burst of anti-foreigner violence in the country has been largely blamed on a speech last month by King Goodwill Zwelithini, traditional leader of the Zulus, in which he blamed foreigners for South Africa’s high crime rate and said they must “take their bags and go”.

The king has since said his words were misinterpreted, but for some, Zwelithini simply articulated what many were feeling.

This is not the first wave of anti-foreigner violence in South Africa. In January, foreign shopkeepers in and around the vast township of Soweto, south of

•Zuma cancels state trip • Buhari backs FG on safety of Nigerians

Johannesburg, were forced to flee and six were killed as looters rampaged through the area.

And in 2008, 62 people were killed in xenophobic violence across the city’s townships.

President Jacob Zuma cancelled a state visit to Indonesia yesterday,saying “there can be no justification for the attacks on foreign nationals. These attacks go against everything we believe in.”

He added:”The majority of South Africans love peace and good relations with their brothers and sisters in the continent.

We will engage stakeholders next week as we need all leaders to work together to bring the situation to normality.

Working together we will be able to overcome this challenge.”

Neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have announced plans to evacuate their citizens.

Reflecting international concern, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees noted most victims targeted “are refugees and asylum seekers who were forced to leave their countries due to war

and persecution.”

Yesterday’s violence was focused in Alexandra, an impoverished township north of Johannesburg, where police fired rubber bullets to disperse the looters.

In the Zimbabwean capital Harare, demonstrators marched to the South African embassy to condemn what they called the “senseless and gruesome slaughter” of fellow Africans — a protest Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe echoed yesterday.

“We are glad President Zuma has assured us that this is not the South African way,” Mugabe said during the country’s 35th independence anniversary, when he also noted his “shock and disgust as we abhor the incident that happened in Durban where some five or six people were burnt to death deliberately by some members of the South African Zulu community.”

President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, said yesterday that he was in full support of the steps taken so far by the federal government to protect Nigerians in South Africa

from the wave of xenophobic attacks.

Nigeria’s Head of Mission in Pretoria,according to Buhari, took the right steps by advising the Nigerian community in South Africa to close their shops, stay home and keep out of trouble, while ensuring that they obey the laws of their host country.

“We equally understand that the South African government is making efforts to bring an end to this unfortunate situation,” General Buhari said,adding: “In the meantime, Nigerians in South Africa should abide by the words of caution extended them by their government representative in Pretoria.”

He was happy that government “is very well aware of its responsibilities to its citizens in South Africa,” General Buhari said.

This is not the first wave of anti-foreigner violence in South Africa. In January, foreign shopkeepers in and around the vast township of Soweto, south of Johannesburg, were forced to flee and six were killed as looters rampaged through the area.

And in 2008, 62 people — including about 20 South Africans — were killed in clashes across the city’s townships.

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the recent xenophobic attacks targeted at Nigerians by some South African xenophobes, describing the action as provocative and completely unacceptable.

A statement yesterday by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh said the attacks were outrightly barbaric, primitive and cannot be justified under any guise whatsoever.

The party said it was unfortunate and disheartening that South Africans, by this attitude, have shown that they are not appreciative of the roles played

by Nigeria and other African countries in liberating their nation from the clutches of the obnoxious apartheid system.

“Whilst we are aware that this unfortunate incident is a fall out of incendiary utterances by certain leaders in South Africa, we call on the ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) and South African government to take urgent practical steps to stem the tide and guarantee the safety of lives and property of Nigerians and other nationals targeted by the xenophobes.

“All well-meaning world leaders, especially Africans, should stand up and condemn this dangerous trend, which is a clear threat to the much desired unity, cooperativeness and development in the continent.

“We recall that this disgraceful act had taken place in recent time in the same country. As such, we charge South African leaders to do everything humanly possible to halt this wickedness and forestall a repeat in the future.

“Africans and indeed all citizens of the world must be allowed to visit, live or work in any part of the continent without fear of attack as long as they meet local statutory requirements of the country of their sojourn”, the party stated.

While urging the Federal Government to take immediate action to ensure the safety of lives and property of Nigerians in South Africa, the PDP also called for calm and restraint at home even in the face of an obvious provocation that is capable of sparking off a reprisal.

It said the Federal Government should draw the attention of South Africa to the danger the actions of its citizens portend given the fact that the world has become a global village where political and economic interests have become universal.

United Nations names first female Peacekeeping Mission Commander

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HE United Nations has appointed the first woman to command one of the world body’s peacekeeping operations.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Major General Kristin Lund, of Norway, as the force commander for the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Cyprus.

In a statement, Ban said, “Major General Lund has had a distinguished military career, with over 34 years of military command and staff experience at national and international levels.”

Lund will command some 900 troops and police that monitor a 112-mile buffer zone that has separated Greek and Turkish Cypriots for decades.

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'Buhari's emergence best option for Nigeria'

By Remi Adelowo ORMER governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) in Lagos State, Ambassador Nurain Mumuni, has commended Nigerians for voting massively for General Muhammadu Buhari in the March 28 presidential election.

Describing Buhari's emergence as President-elect as the best option for Nigeria, Mumini said Nigerians deserves praise for not squandering the opportunity of electing the former Head of State despite the negative propaganda deployed by the opposition to tarnish his image.

The former ambassador, who is a close political associate of the President-elect added, "I have no doubt in my mind that General Buhari is the most suitable for the Nigerian leadership among all other contestants, because of his enviable pedigree as an incorruptible leader whose passion for the development of Nigeria is described even by his political opponents as legendary."

While expressing confidence that Buhari would tackle some of the major challenges confronting the country headlong once he assumes power next month, Mumuni said, "Nigerians should be excited about his (Buhari) emergence as the next President, because it's our collective victory and liberation from a group of people who have held us hostage since 1999.

"I'm confident that the country stands to benefit a lot from Buhari's leadership.

Nigerians should not allow themselves to be distracted by unsavoury comments about General Buhari. How can any right thinking person say Buhari plans to islamise Nigeria as a civilian President when he had all the powers to achieve that as military Head of State but refused to do so."

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'Electorate now more aware of their power'

By Oziegbe Okoeki ITH the outcome of the 2015 general elections, no elected public office holder can afford to take the electorate for granted any longer.

Deputy Whip of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Abiru, made this assertion while speaking during an interview with our correspondent.

Another major lesson learnt from the elections, according to the lawmaker, is that the Nigerian electorates are now fully conscious of their power to change any government that is not living up to their expectations.

Giving his assessment on the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the elections, Abiru praised the electoral body for improving on its conduct in the governorship and House of Assembly elections as compared to the presidential and National Assembly elections held two weeks earlier.

He also gave thumbs up to INEC for insisting on the use of the card readers, saying the devise contributed largely to the credibility of the elections.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS

Ondo deaths: Youths committed sacrilege, says Chief

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HIEF Moses Enimade, the Oyewoga of Ode Irele in Ondo State, has attributed the recent death of 20 youths in the town to what he called sacrilege done to Molokun, god of the land.

Enimade, next in command to Oba Cornelius OlanrewajuLebi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Irele at the weekend, that the deaths were not caused by any strange disease or the Ebola virus.

No fewer than 20 youths reportedly died of severe headaches and blindness in the town recently.

Enimade contended that some stubborn youths broke into the inner room of Molokun Shrine on April 15.

"Molokun is a deity of the land, only the Chief Priest and High Chief Gboguron are qualified to enter the shrine," he said.

The chief alleged that the youths entered the shrine and made away with traditional items in a bid to acquire extra-ordinary powers and engage in money ritual. "They were not qualified to enter the room (shrine). They had to face death penalty," he emphasised.

The Oyewoga said it he could not remember the last time

•Ondo, Ogun border under surveillance Malokun or any other gods had to strike like it recently did in the area.

According to him, there is no community or town without its own culture and tradition, adding that what happened in Irele is the judgement of the gods on stubborn youths.

He said: "Even the Kabiesi himself is not permitted to enter the Molokun Shrine's inner room except the Chief Priest and High Chief Gboguron. Sacrifice must be performed before they can enter. Because these youths want to be rich at all costs, they entered the sacred place and made away with traditional items and 20 of them have died as a result of their desperate acts.

"We have to appease the gods or else many will still die and we have to bury them according to tradition. Their corpses belong to the gods and will be exhumed if buried by their families."

He restated that the deaths were not caused by diseases or Ebola as widely speculated.

Some residents who spoke appealed to the chief priest to make necessary atonement to avert calamity in the town.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State government has intensified

surveillance at his border points with Ondo State in order to prevent the spread of any epidemic to the state.

In a press statement issued by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, the state government also disclosed that it has set up a monitoring response team, which would maintain close contact with the Ondo State authorities and based upon the information available, put on alert all its disease surveillance teams.

Soyinka further disclosed, "In particular, we are monitoring Ogun Waterside local government area closely and are sensitising our border communities to reduce cross border movements to Ondo State for now. Further blood tests are being carried out on collected samples, to ascertain if the deaths have been caused by ingested poisons or other infectious agents."

This assurance came on the heels of the plea by the Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, calling on residents of the state not to panic over the outbreak of the epidemic, assuring that the state government has put in place measures to check the scourge.

In a broadcast to the people, the governor expressed regrets over the loss of lives currently put at 17, but however expressed joy that no new death has been recorded in the last 48 hours.

Shedding more light on the disease and steps being taken protect Ogun residents, Olaokun said the unexplained cluster of deaths which affected Ode-Irele township and Ayadi Community in Irele LGA, Ondo State is yet to be explained, adding that recently released laboratory results have ruled out fatal infectious diseases such as Lassa fever and Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

The commissioner advised residents of the state to avoid travelling to the affected areas until the nature of the illness is fully ascertained. He also tasked them to continue to observe strict personal and environmental hygiene and ensure that food and drink are obtained from reliable sources.

While calling on residents to quickly report any discovery of strange occurrence at their local hospital, Olaokun said the state Public Health Hotlines can be reached on 01099140121, 09099140122 and 09021715984 for prompt action.

• Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN (right) with the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu (left) and the Chief Imam of Lagos, Alhaji Garba Akinola Ibrahim (middle) during a Special Prayer session to commemorate the eight years in office of the governor at the Central Mosque, Lagos on Saturday.

'NAFDAC confiscated N5billion fake drugs in two months' IRECTOR General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, has disclosed that the agency had confiscated fake medical products worth more than N5 billion in the last two months.

Orhii made the disclosure in Akure, the Ondo State capital at the weekend during the 37th International Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) where he was honoured with an excellence

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From Tayo Johnson

award for scientifically tackling the scourge of fake drugs and also placing Nigeria on the global map as a country producing very reliable drugs fit for both export and local use.

The NAFDAC boss said that the confiscated drugs, including 244 containers of Viagra products, which could cause instant heart attack, were waiting to be destroyed in the agency's laboratory in Oshodi, Lagos.

Orhii, who sounded a note of warning to people dealing in the illegal business, pledged that the agency would not relent in

its fight against "these enemies of the society."

The introduction of cuttingedge technology, Orhii disclosed, has helped in combating sharp practices in the health care industry, while adding that this has also drastically reduced the influx of counterfeit and fake drugs into the country.

He revealed that NAFDAC has, in recent years, taken its campaigns against counterfeit drugs to the international arena and also deployed technologies locally in fighting the battle.

Orhii said: "We are the first regulatory agency in the world

to employ the use of TRUSCAN (a hand-held device) which, within one minute, detects the genuineness or otherwise of a medicine. This has significantly boosted our capacity for post marketing surveillance."

He added that the introduction of Mobile Authentication Service (MAS) has also provided a unique and secure authentication platform for medicines.

According to him, MAS has put the detection of counterfeit medicines in the hands of over 100 million mobile phone users in the country.

Speakership: Group drums support for Famurewa

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socio-political group, the Ijesas in Diaspora, has drummed support for Hon. Ajibola Famurewa as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Chairman, Board of Trustees of the group, Bobaseye Akinyemi Fasakin, in a statement, said Famurewa, who represents Ijesha South federal constituency, deserves to be the

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo next Speaker because of his achievements and valuable contributions on the floor of the parliament in the last four years.

While calling on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other lawmakers in the House of Representatives to

support Famurewa's ambition, Fasakin maintained that if Famurewa becomes the Speaker, his leadership would impact positively in the implementation of government policies and programs.

Fasakin said: "We are not being sentimental on this cause; we are not supporting Famurewa because he is from Ijesa. We are supporting him to

be the next peaker of the House of Representatives, because we believe that he merits and deserves it. Famurewa is one of the lawmakers with the highest number of sponsored bills and motions in the 7th Assembly of the House of Representatives, while his contributions on the floor of the House are highly valuable and impressive."

Fasehun's OPC breaks into two factions, as new President emerges

By Remi Adelowo

T

HE Dr. Fredrick Fasehun's faction of the Oodua Peoples' Congress (OPC) has broken into two with the emergence of Comrade Dare Olasope as its new President.

In an interview with our correspondent, Olasope accused Fasehun for bringing the name of the organisation into disrepute and running it like a slave camp.

While pleading for understanding and support from well meaning Yorubas for the organisation, Olasope said the OPC should no longer be judged based on the past actions of its founder, Dr. Fasehun, who he said was removed due to his refusal to heed to wise counsels from his associates.

Arguing that the change of baton was imperative at this point in time, Olasope said: "We are not running a monarchical system in OPC and so no one must be allowed to run the organisation for 20 years. The way and manner we would run OPC henceforth will be in consonance with the constitution of Nigeria where decisions would be taken after due consultations with relevant stakeholders."

Speaking on the outcome of the 2015 general elections, Olasope congratulated Gen. Mohammadu Buhari on his victory, describing his election as the President-elect as divine despite the opposition to his candidacy by some Yoruba leaders.

The OPC boss also praised the electorates in the South West for defying the call by some Yoruba leaders not to vote for Buhari, adding that he was in the vanguard of those who supported the mantra of change as propagated by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He tasked the next administration to spread the dividends of democracy to all the regions in the country and also find a lasting solution to the power problem in order to attract more investors into the country.

On the successful conduct of the elections, Olasope commended the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega, for his mature handling of several delicate issues, which he noted, could have scuttled the outcome of the process.

Expressing optimism that the incoming president would correct all the mistakes made by the outgoing administration, Olasope praised the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the Governor-elect of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode for their doggedness in achieving victory, he while urging them to put the opposition of certain Yoruba elements to the APC behind them in the interest of the Yoruba race.

Archibishop Ademowo's mother passes on at 85

T

HE death of Chief (Mrs.) Caroline Abosede Ademowo (nee Awonubi), mother of Archbishop Adebola Ademowo has been announced.

According to the Diocesan Communicator, Venerable Seyi Pirisola, the deceased passed on, on the 14th of April, 2015 at the age of 85.

Burial rites will be announced later by the family.

9

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

I

F some politicians could rewind the hands of the clock, they would have done so over the just-concluded general elections. Every moment before, during and after the elections presented its own unique features until it became evident that Nigerians have voted for change. What were the behind-the-scene issues?

These were intrigues bordering on President Goodluck Jonathan, the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and others.

DEALING WITH BUHARI Apart from the hate documentaries aired against the President-elect, there were desperate underground moves by a South-South governor to force the Nigeria Police to arrest him for forgery and perjury over the certificate saga and disqualify him from contesting.

Armed with a war-chest running into billions of naira, the governor and his small committee of some stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sought for judicial fiat to subject Buhari to trial. But the project failed because the subterranean team put the cart before the horse, they did not follow due process.

To get a fiat for prosecution of Buhari, there must be a formal complaint lodged before the Nigeria Police Force. The allegation(s) ought to be investigated and a prima facie case established beyond reasonable doubt. After the long and winding process, the Police then write a formal letter to the office of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation calling for Buhari's trial. The AGF, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) was alleged to have refused issuance of such a fiat to save the nation from conflagration.

Again while the South-South governor was coordinating the plot, some aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and strategists of the President from the North were also angry that a case of alleged forgery/ perjury was to be raised against Buhari. Those unhappy with the suits read "ethnic meanings into the whole drama" because all those behind the applications were mostly Igbo. The suits were FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 01/ 2015 by Chukwuemeka Okafor; FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 14/ 2015 by Max Ozoaka; FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 68/ 2015 by Ayakeme Whiskey; and the last at the FCT Magistrate's Court by Shield Jones Ufot.

2015 POLLS

Intrigues that cost Jonathan the presidency The ballot box verdict doesn't tell the entire story of the 2015 general elections. In this piece, YUSUF ALLI, MANAGING EDITOR, NORTHERN OPERATION reports on the intrigues and high-wire politicking that toppled an incumbent president for the first time ever in Nigeria.

Another governor with a leaning to the opposition also bankrolled some of the suits against Buhari to the tune of $1.5million (by underwriting the legal fees) with the hope that the plot will sail through and the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be forced to conduct another presidential primaries.

The problem for those questioning whether Buhari had a secondary school certificate was the interpretation of Section 131 of the 1999 constitution which says the minimum requirement is ability to read and write.

There were also past pronouncements by the court on the eligibility of Governor Adams Oshiomhole which appeared to make the suits

mere academic exercises. Time factor, resilience of the police, grave security implications and legal/constitutional issues which were raised by legal experts in government convinced President Goodluck Jonathan that such an adventure could backfire. In fairness to the President, he conceded that Buhari should not be arrested no matter the flimsy excuse.

CONSPIRACY OF THE MILITARY ELITE Findings indicate that the 2015 poll was settled the day the Nigerian Army claimed that it did not have the secondary school certificate of Buhari. The military elite, especially retired army generals who are now big players in

politics and the nation's economy, felt insulted and opted to back Buhari and APC in their respective states and at federal level.

The subsequent nationwide electoral Tsunami, which led to the loss of governorship seats in many states in the North by the PDP, was a consequence of the anger of these military leaders.

The same military elite who bankrolled and worked for the formation of PDP in 1998 were disenchanted that a platform they had created for the unity of the nation had been hijacked by some hawks and turned into an instrument of hate and disunity. The unhappy military leaders, including the taciturn ones, emptied their bank accounts to finance the election of Buhari against Jonathan.

They said they were not expecting anything in return other than to prove a point that the Jonathan campaign was "dirty and a threat to the survival of the country."

From an empty purse, a poor Buhari was able to give the then ruling PDP a run for their money in campaign advertising. A big face of this soldierly resentment was ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who openly tore his PDP membership card through a proxy. Many other former military brass joined APC to effect a change in the country.

If there is any Nigerian that President Goodluck Jonathan was looking forward to for backing during the presidential election, it is a former prominent Northern general who is also a Christian. But this respected individual who had warned Jonathan against seeking reelection, stood aloof instead of mobilizing Northern Christian minorities against Buhari.

He was neutral, calculating and watching from the sidelines.

This explains why even in Plateau State, the APC has produced the governor-elect. The greatest shock Jonathan received was a security report indicating that the general made his residence in a posh area of Abuja available to Buhari to live in and coordinate his campaign.

A source said: "As a presidential aspirant, Buhari had no house in Abuja and the general decided to bail him out by giving out his imposing white house for him to squat. Buhari •Contd. on page 10

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS REVIEW •Contd. from page 9

lived in the house till he was elected on March 28. He is just planning to move out any moment from now.

THE CARD READER ROADBLOCK All attempts to portray INEC as a failure over the distribution of PVCs and deployment of smart card readers failed due to the overwhelming public confidence in the electoral agency. Although he PDP never hid its disdain for card readers it was never able to advance acceptable excuses to dump them.

The public were forced to conclude that the device would make it impossible to rig the general election or return jumbo figures as was the case in some zones in 2011.

Following INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega's insistence on card readers, the ruling party and 15 others opted for three options: blackmail him through mass protests and force the presidency to rethink his continued stay in office; go to court to stop the use of card readers, or frustrate him to resign.

All these plots were hatched not minding the fact that the presidency had received legal advice that card readers do not violate Section 52(1) (2) the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

There were protests which began at INEC headquarters and some other parts of the country. In the South-East, the outlawed Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) led the anti-Jega demonstrations, while the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) ran a failed makeshift show in Lagos.

The biggest of the plots was the recourse to the courts to cage Jega who would have had no choice than to obey the order of a court. They had expected the court to determine the following prayers: * An interim order restraining INEC from proceeding with arrangement and plan to use the CRM for the impending elections. * An order of interim injunction restraining the defendant, its agents, servants, privies or assigns, by whatever name, from implementing or commencing or further implementing or further commencing or directing or further directing the use and preparation of the Card Reader Machine or any name of like nature, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. * Deployment of card readers for the election is a violation of the provision of Section 52(1) (2) which prohibits the use of any electronic method of voting in the country.

But Justice Ademola Adeniyi, emerged the unsung hero when he refused to stop the use of the card readers. When the anti-card readers' forces wanted to take advantage of some challenges with the machine during the poll, the backing of the United States foreclosed their plot. The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Eintwistle, said: "I was very impressed about the decision by INEC to use technology in this election. I will tell you something, the PVCs are very hi-tech. They are more hi-tech than my voter card from the State of Virginia in the US. My voter card does not have my biometrics; it does not have my fingerprints. So, I was very impressed by the decision to go hi-tech because hi-tech, I think, gives the process more integrity."

REAL REASONS PLOT AGAINST JEGA FAILED There was no doubt that the plot to remove Jega was real. Except for the air he breathes, the INEC chairman was closecircuited or wired in such a manner that even sensitive text messages he exchanged with the powers-that-be on the preparation for the election were made public by the press.

According to sources, in such instances, Jega would say: "Why should we descend so low to this level?" Yet he refused to change his mobile line. His saving grace, however, was his tremendous goodwill with Nigerians. The presidency at a stage found it difficult to run against the overwhelming positive public opinion about Jega.

Even when the then supervising Minister of Information, Edem Duke tested the public pulse with comments that suggested that Jega's position was less than 100% secure, the public stood like the rock of Gibraltar behind the INEC boss.

Duke had said: "On the issue of the INEC

2015 Polls: Intrigues that cost

• Jega

• Orubebe

• On the campaign trail chairman, I align myself with what the President said that he has no plan to sack the INEC chairman. That is not to say that if it is time for the INEC chairman to naturally exit his office, then the natural course of things will not take place. It is like saying a civil servant has done 35 years or achieved the age of 60; we now begin to say that he must not retire or he must retire. I think all of that is in the terrain of the Presidency and he has spoken. I have nothing to add to that."

A team headed by a former chairman of INEC was hired by some pro-Jonathan campaign strategists to understudy the system and expose how to circumvent it, including the likelihood of weaving any scandal around Jega.

Right from the time he assumed office Jega has studiously avoided banana peels and was always telling his team of five aides to shun any bait from civil servants in INEC in terms of award of contracts and perks of office. To insulate him and key aides from being influenced, he made sure that they draw their salaries from an electoral basket fund provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Even with such a concession, he ensured that the UNDP evaluates him and the aides on monthly basis.

Secondly, Jega's reforms in INEC made every staff a stakeholder in the electoral business.

A highly-placed source said: "Unlike in the past,

there was no cult system where only few knew what was going on in the commission. He used to lay all the cards on the table for everyone.

This transparency made it difficult for any of the National Commissioners to rock the boat.

One or two of them may have collected slush funds to destabilize Jega and INEC, but they could not go far at all. All they could do was to leak official memos."

When the card reader supplier was arrested by security agents, it was said to be an opportunity to unravel the other side of Jega but there was no blemish.

BEHIND THE SCENE POLITICS AT NATIONAL COLLATION CENTRE AND WHY JEGA DARED ORUBEBE Though Nigerians were glued to their television boxes watching the development at the National Collation Centre, they had no advantage of knowing the behind-the-scene politics of releasing the results. Ambassadors and representatives from some Western countries supported Jega and his team in such a manner that they were always in and out of the collation centre to make sure the will of Nigerians prevailed.

The constant feedback from these shuttles by diplomats who disguised as foreign observers, actually accounted for a joint statement by the US and the UK that the poll must be conclusive. Although the action of some

of the ambassadors was rated as "undiplomatic" and interference in the nation's internal affairs by the Federal Government, the international attention on the collation of results and the support given to Jega by these foreign powers strengthened his resolve to see the process through to the logical conclusion.

The INEC chairman made the International Conference Centre (ICC) his permanent abode and if there was any message from any government official or Nigerian, it had to be delivered in the open. The scene created by exMinister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe, was a script drafted by some forces but the pressure from the international community aborted it.

While Orubebe was barking at Jega, he intermittently raised his fist as if he was expecting an invasion or a back-up from some sources but there was no reinforcement from anywhere. Faced with no better choice, President Jonathan conceded defeat, a development which threw Orubebe off balance at the collation centre. He later left the ICC abruptly before Jega announced the final result.

LAST-MINUTE SECURITY CHALLENGE AT THE COLLATION CENTRE Before the final results of the presidential election were released by INEC chairman, most •Contd. on page 11

J

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS REVIEW

Jonathan the presidency

• The Commander-in-Chief

• Card reader of the security operatives at the centre suddenly withdrew their services, except for a few policemen and members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Jega's saving grace was the live telecast of the announcement which enabled Nigerians to have first-hand knowledge of how things were going. At almost zero point security, he braved the odds to complete the 2015 poll assignment.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA'S HISTORY The 2015 polls will go down in history as the most expensive campaign because the spending of US dollars took centre stage.

Between $3 and $4 billion might have gone down the drain in violation of Section 90(1) and Section 91(1-10) of the Electoral Act on campaign funds. The sections state in part: "Election expenses shall not exceed the sum stipulated in subsection (2-7) of this section.

"The maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a Presidential election shall be N1billion. The maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a Governorship election shall be N200, 000.000.

The maximum amount of election expenses to be incurred of Senatorial seat by a candidate at an election to the National Assembly shall be N40, 000.000, while the seat for House of Representative shall be N20, 000.000.In the case

• Father Mbaka of State Assembly election, the maximum amount of election expenses to be incurred shall be N10, 000.000."

Different groups emerged to milk the party system of funds. There was the case of a renowned party chieftain who converted his hotel suite in Abuja to a vault where money was stashed from wall to wall. Public officers seized the moment to tamper with funds under the guise of contributing their quota. It was also a season of betrayal as some party stalwarts, especially PDP, collected huge funds and later diverted such to personal use or defected to other parties.

During the countdown to the April 11 governorship poll, a PDP chieftain in the SouthEast had raised the alarm to forces in Abuja that the party was cash-strapped. A quickie N20million was raised but barely 24 hours after, the man abandoned the party after collecting what a source described as a "parting gift."

The source said: "The struggle for personal benefits overshadowed the target of winning the election. Virtually everyone wanted to make money from the campaign as if there will be no tomorrow or as if we were going to lose at the poll. The President saw the gaps and decided to personally drive his own campaign but it was too late."

It is not surprising that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which was helpless during the

general election, has now limited foreign exchange withdrawal to $50,000 a year and $300 per day.

FIVE REASONS JONATHAN CONCEDED DEFEAT Jonathan has been widely lauded for calling Buhari to concede defeat even before the final results were in. The reason most readily proferred for the action was the need to save the nation from the tension and violence that could have followed any attempt to contest the election's outcome.

But were there other reasons? Findings indicate that there were five reasons why the President accepted defeat and they are: spiritual, loss of international goodwill, personal experience/ decision, obvious betrayal by some people and wise counsel from some aides he has respect for A top source said from Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ground in Enugu to some other Christian clerics consulted in the inner recess of the Presidential Villa, there were signs that it was time for Jonathan to leave power although he might bounce back in the future.

The source added: "I think he chose to tread the right path by heeding the spiritual voice. Some had argued for selfish reasons that he had been ordained to rule for second term but he opted for the lonely path."

11

The betrayal by some PDP leaders, governors and members of the cabinet during the election was said to be emotionally challenging too for the President. Before the poll, it was learnt that his cabinet had split along North-South lines. Some governors, ministers and PDP leaders from the North were pretending to be for the President but they did not do anything practical to demonstrate this.

Apart from the general and symbolic campaign at each state capital, most of the ministers from the North did not on their own mount the soap box to campaign for their boss. A minister said: "There was always this security fear of mob attack."

More importantly, the body language of some Western nations, like the US, UK, France, and Germany, showed that they were not keen on Jonathan as they did in 2011. These nations, according to sources, only kept to a "tolerable" diplomatic relationship with Jonathan's administration. And the bashing of Jonathan's government by some Western media organisations pointed to the perception of their governments. So, the President fought the just-concluded election on two fronts -local and international.

At personal level, investigation revealed that Jonathan had always marveled at the electoral model of some African countries without post-election crises. Since 2010, he had been relating with some African leaders on the magic wand behind their electoral successes. He had promised to emulate some of them. It was gathered that the peace accord brokered by the ex-UN SecretaryGeneral, Kofi Annan weighed down the President too and for once in six years, he chose to paddle his own canoe. It was also learnt that the fear of the backlash of rejecting the results of the presidential poll and the consequential turmoil made Jonathan to take his destiny in his own hands. Having been warned by exPresident Olusegun Obasanjo not to play Laurent Gbagbo, he did not even consult members of his kitchen cabinet before doing the needful.

The National Security Adviser, Mr. Sambo Dasuki gave an insight in the week on the personal factor. He said: "President Jonathan had already given his words to all the security and service chiefs before the election that he would abide by the decision of Nigerians. At the meeting, he also told them to perform their duties professionally during the polls.

"While we anticipated that he would congratulate his opponent if the result was announced in favour of the opposition candidate, he gratuitously without the prompting of anyone conceded defeat to the surprise of all.

"By that singular gesture, he had saved the security agencies and the nation of unnecessary tension and stress in maintaining law and order and curtailing excesses of likely protesters."

Notwithstanding these factors, some ministers and aides of the President have been credited with the task of persuading the President to concede defeat on March 31st. These "heroic" aides included the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN); the Aviation Minister, Mr. Osita Chidoka, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa.

Whatever is the correct position, the President's memoir will reveal what transpired before he conceded defeat. His saving grace however was that PDP hawks were not around at the crucial moment. And it is amazing that no one was able to give an account of the whereabouts of the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan on the March 31st. It is also not clear whether or not she played any role in her hubby's landmark decision. Until Jonathan joins the league of memoir writers, the untold stories of Jonathan's presidency and the 2015 poll will continue to make the headlines.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

Ropo Sekoni

13

Page 14

Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

W

HEN towards the end of last year, I wrote a piece on two halffilled bottles of a particular brand of soft drink sold to a consumer in the country, someone who had lived in Germany for years called to tell me how the situation would have been handled there. The person had lived in Germany for years and even had a German wife; so he was eminently qualified to speak on the matter. He said all the manufacturer of that drink would have done was to quietly offer the customer two cartons of the product, probably with an apology, and that would have settled it. In other words, I should not make an issue over what should otherwise not be a serious matter.

I was stunned because I had thought hell would be let loose because of what I then perceived as the high level of consciousness in that environment.

Of course, what prompted my interest on the matter then is this concept of the ‘customer is king’. In the last few weeks, there has been another matter between a customer and an auto firm, which I guess must have been beclouded by the general elections. It is the story of Mrs Ebele Marie Omorodion, a German married to a Nigerian. Mrs Omorodion bought a BMW X6 from Coscharis Group, the representative of BMW in Nigeria, on August 1, 2012, for N16m. Not long after, she discovered that the DVD was faulty. A new one was ordered. The new one too was faulty and a new one ordered on June 27, 2013. And, as she put it, “Just while I tried to begin to enjoy my car, six months later I was driving out of the Chevron toll gate at 100km/ hr when all of a sudden the car stopped on the high way with no prior warning”. This was blamed on Mechatronic gear box failure. The car was about 15 months then.

She had a similar experience of the car suddenly stopping on motion, at times in the night with her kids in the car, on another occasion. Then the reverse camera (Ultrasonic system) too started malfunctioning.

These, no doubt, are not funny experiences. Of course, the company appears to be aware that there could be issues on its products sometimes; but these apply to virtually anything mechanical or electrical. Hence, it makes provision for courtesy car for their customers having issues with their cars for the duration of the repair. The company said it made one available for Mrs Omorodion which she allegedly did not use well.

Anyway, while the example of the soft drink is not exactly the same with the BMW issue, the point running through both is that of the customer being the king. I guess that is why Coscharis Group has restrained itself from joining issues with its customer on the pages of the newspapers that she has taken her case to; a decision which makes business sense. In most relation-

B

How far can the customer go?

Coscharis vs. client as case study

• Olusegun Aganga, Industry Minister

ships, personal or business, there would always be cause for disagreements. And when they occur, they are bound to be settled whether by adjudication or through the legal process.

The problem, in this instance, could jolly well be from the manufacturer. It could be from the customer. But, if the company gave out a courtesy car as is the standard practice; and if it is true that all repairs covered by warranty were carried out under warranty at no cost to the customer, but at the expense of BMW AG and Coscharis, then, it might have proved good faith. Anything could have happened down the line.

Indeed, there are a lot of issues in this matter. One, different people have different attitudes to handling and maintenance issues. Two people may buy the same brand of cars the same day and in six months’ time, if both products are put up for sale, the prices offered for them, even if they are to be bought by the same person, would differ.

The prospective buyer would make his offers after examining the two, based on his assessment of how they had been used and maintained. I have seen many instances where people were given the same brand of official vehicles at the same time and in less than a year, one would not believe that the vehicles were given out the same day, see-

Like father, like son

ABAJIDE Obanikoro: like father, like son. But we have the woman who bravely confronted him at the polling unit where he was not supposed to be in the first place last Saturday. But we also have to thank God for her. If she had done that in places like Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, the least she would have escaped with were gunshot wounds. She might have died for daring to confront the son of the honourable Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 2, who happened to be working for self and his father’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party, albeit illegally.

Lest we forget, his father is also enmeshed in the Ekiti rigging video saga of last year, where he and his fellow accomplices were reportedly ordering an army general about on how to rig the election

•Obanikoro...the father •Obanikoro...the son

for the ruling PDP. Who can blame Obanikoro Jr. He is merely learning the ropes early so that his father’s shoes will not be too big for him by the time he is to step into them.

ing that some of the vehicles have become jalopies due to bad handling and maintenance. While some of those given the vehicles would treat them as eggs, some do not care, even if their children turn some of the features to toys, it is simply a case of ‘the kids are playing’.

Regrettably, this kind of attitude is a luxury where some of these modern cars are concerned. They are too complex to be handled with levity. Then, there is the question of the Owner’s Manual that many people do not bother to read. They just assume that since they have been using the brand for some time, they should have been conversant with its features.

This may not hold true in all cases with some of these cars whose technologies change frequently.

Now, what is the way out of this quagmire? The pragmatic thing to do, for me, is to look for a middle course that would not short-change either party. Here, the idea of trade in would be more like it. I said this because it is going to be difficult for the customer to insist on getting a 2015 model of the same car that she bought in 2012, for several reasons.

Firstly, the warranty period is long over.

Secondly, it is not realistic to ask for a brand new car in lieu of a car purchased three years ago; the prices must have changed. Thirdly, if cars are replaced for every customer in that manner, then it is only a matter of time before the company would close shop. Of course, the only situation which could make that possible is if it is proven that the model is defective beyond replacing, at no cost to the customer, the faulty parts; or if the car or model should have been recalled outright from the market. But if it is just one such experience among the lot, an argument for replacement with a brand new car of the current model could be a difficult argument to sustain.

Now that Mrs Omorodion has taken her case to the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), it could decide to look into whether her experience with the BMW X6 is one-off case or the issues are common with the model and proceed to offer its opinion. That is more like it; CPC is likely to give a verdict that would yield result. This the media cannot do.

Anyway, all said, if Mrs Omorodion or even Coscharis Group is still not satisfied after the CPC might have given its opinion on the matter, the only option open is for the dissatisfied party to seek redress in a court of law as against that of the public opinion (which the newspapers that she has been using represent).

It is the courts that would sift the wheat from the chaff, sift sentiments from sensible business decisions and juxtapose them with the issues of safety of the customer and fairness on the side of the two parties, and deliver an incontrovertible judgment that would be binding on both parties, whichever way the judgment goes. But the judgment would be a classical one not only for jurisprudence, but also, and more fundamentally, for this notion of the customer being king. The customer is king, yes; but with what powers? Asked differently, how far can the king go?

CHIBOK GIRLS. STILL IN LIMBO. SINCE APRIL 15, 2014.

otufodunrin@thenationonlineng.net

08050498530(SMS only)

Three lessons from 2015 elections

I

N many ways, the just concluded 2015 general elections was exciting and will remain memorable for long.

From the realignment of forces by the opposition political parties with disgruntled members of the Peoples Democratic Party, the primaries for electing candidates to the campaign and the elections there was so much to keep Nigerians interested discuss about the political future of the country.

As we all savor the outcome of the largely successful and peaceful elections, there are a number of lessons we should take note of, reflect on and take necessary steps to better our lives.

Don’t give up easily After losing the 2011 presidential election, it was almost certain that General Muhammed Buhari would not be able to fulfill his ambition of becoming president of the country. Media analysis based on available facts predicted his loss in 2011 just like in his previous attempts. He also indicated that he may no longer vie for the presidency.

As it turned out, the alliance of opposition parties gave him a stronger platform to challenge PDP’s 16 year-hold on the presidency and now, Buhari is President in waiting.

If you are one of those who don’t believe that they can make it to the top in their endeavours , Buhari’s steadfastness should inspire you to not give up easily.

Your best efforts sometimes may not appear good enough to get you to where you think you should be in the profession, but you should not be discouraged or look for what seems to you the easy way out.

Sometimes, we are closer to our breakthrough without knowing.

Good name and reputation counts Critics of General Buhari have a number of facts that they put up to fault his suitability for the presidency, but what they cannot deny is his reputation as being a honest and very disciplined person. He is one past leader of the country who is not known to have enriched himself with government funds.

The questions you should ask yourself are : what impression do your colleagues, people you live and work with have about you? How ethical are you in your practice?

Are you a ‘cash and carry’ professional ?

Are you qualified and competent for the position you are eyeing?

Politicians are not worth fighting over One of the very disturbing feature in the campaign for the elections was the disagreement between members of the public, many of whom are not members of any parties over who they supported for the presidency.

Instead of respecting the rights of everyone to support the candidates they preferred for whatever reasons, many engaged in bitter exchanges on social media over one another’s choices.

They engaged in all kinds of name calling and abuses, and in some extreme cases, deleted friends and colleagues from their accounts.

While the main presidential candidates were busy signing peace agreements and respecting the terms after the election, many have remained ‘sworn enemies’.

We can disagree over our positions on any issue but it does not have to degenerate to the level where we sometimes behave worse than politicians.

14

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

COMMENT

Implications of Change Manifesto (1) What is billed for change is not diagnosis of Nigeria’s ailments but the efficacy of the treatment of such ailments

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HILE the history of the decline of the PDP as the largest political party in Africa, particularly the reasons why the party lost to the APC in all the elections waits to be written, the belief in many quarters—elite and folk— is that majority of voters who chose the APC over PDP in all the elections did so because of the promise of change by General Buhari and the APC. Just as the president-elect has started to inform citizens about policies he would introduce to herald change, so are many politicians and even public servants acting and talking in a way to suggest that they do not understand what a manifesto of change means. Even after most Nigerians have opted for a new ideology of governance, many of those who have benefited over the years from a government that has little attention for citizens’ welfare still behave as if Buhari’s change manifesto is mere rhetoric.

It is clear to the average observer that the most appealing aspect of Buhari/APC campaign is not as much the focus on issues (as distinct from the preoccupation of the ruling party with smear campaign) as it is the desire of most Nigerians for change.

Nigerians were fed up with a governance ideology and style that had failed and wanted to have a socio-economic experience that is different from what had obtained for the past sixteen years in general and the past six years in particular.In effect, Nigerian’s desire for change and Buhari’s promise of a socio-political experience that is different from the socio-economic menu of the past sixteen years coalesced to bring what used to be the opposition party to power.

It is, therefore, not surprising that the President-elect has since March 30 been introducing doses of policy change that is expected to move away from the traditional way of governing the country. Even after General Buhari has said that anyone interested in becoming a minister in his government must be prepared to declare his or her

asset, those who have been poster-boys and girls for corruption in government are very loud in announcing their desire to work with Buhari. Individuals who are running away from the laws in other lands and those who should be in court answering to EFCC charges are in the forefront of those advertising their support and selling their expertise toBuhari, as if change is only about content with no connection to form.

Many of the dimensions of governance that Buhari and APC have promised to change have been part of the rhetoric of government in the last sixteen years: corruption, poverty, infrastructure, education, health, national security, and the country’s political structure and culture, to name a few. What is billed for change is not diagnosis of Nigeria’s ailments but the efficacy of the treatment of such ailments. In other words, Buhari and his party want to move away from rhetoric to praxis.

In doing so, it is obvious that it is not just content that should require the attention of the new president but also form.

As today’s piece promises to be one of many on the implications of Change Manifesto, the rest of today’s column will focus on what should be changed about the fight against corruption. Fighting corruption requires the integrity of a leader who himself or herself is averse to corruption. What is known and propagated about General Buhari is encouraging for the reason that he is the kind of leader that is favorably placed to take the fight against corruption from its present highly rhetorical level to a noticeably practical level. As it is with any desperate problem that requires desperate solution, corruption has both cause and effect.

The effect is often material or tangible and thus identifiable. For example, having a candidate for governorship or ministerial appointment declare his assets is capable of addressing the material aspect of corruption, especially if such candidate is unable to prove the source of the pre-engagement income he has declared or if at the end of his time in office, he is unable to explain changes in his income at the point of exit from of-

fice. Secondly, character flaw can help to facilitate corrupt behavior on the part of office holders. Individuals with moral weakness and poor ethical standards are more likely to be more corrupt than disciplined and morally upright persons in positions of power. So, making sure that only individuals with high ethical standards are appointed as ministers and into other positions can assist the fight against corruption.

But the cause of corruption deserves as much attention as its effect. Strong institutions and a political system that is not designed to facilitate corrupt behavior are matters that should be of concern to the Buhari administration. Without mincing words, the distribution of power and responsibility between the central and state governments over the years has contributed to the growth of the culture of corruption in the country in the last forty or more years.

The rise of political and bureaucratic corruption that has earned the country the stigma of being one of the most corrupt countries on earth in the last thirty years has links with the descent of the country into a modern form of hunting and gathering culture that has been in vogue in the last forty or more years. What is often referred to in modern political and economic vocabulary as rent collection from petroleum sale is a modern variant of hunting and gathering as sources of livelihood.

By replacing the relative productive sector in place in the early part of the postcolonial phase with rent collection from petroleum, Nigeria created a socio-economic and political culture that fostered alienation of the citizenry from the country’s rulers.

Under a system that is characterized by running both national and subnational governments on allocations from rents collected from petroleum, citizens’ efficacy was eroded. Citizens ceased to be actors (tax payers) and became consumers of what is passed down to the states from the federation account. Overloading the central government with powers and functions that do not have to be performed principally be-

cause of the absence of strong institutions and primacy of the rule of law, those charged with the power to run the country have had so much pork to use to bribe or silence citizens, and to cripple dissent. Impunity consequently grew to an endemic level at the centre, just as it also became part of the culture in states, especially those that are governed by the same party in power at the center. There are many telling examples all around us till today.

The culture of ruling with impunity and consuming with recklessness on the part of those in power became part of the economic and political culture of the country, to the extent that finding honesty in public and also private sectors has become like finding a needle in a hay-sack. The effect is the penetration of corruption to every level and aspect of life in the country.It is, therefore, salutary that INEC has helped to bring the first corrective step to the culture of impunity and corruption in the country. Having a free, fair, and credible election that made it possible to make citizens’ ballots count to the point of replacing the political party in power with the opposition party for the first time in over sixty years is a remarkable boost in citizens’ political efficacy. It is therefore appropriate that the President-elect has chosen to focus on fighting corruption. But the first step in doing this effectively is to return the country to a productive economy that shuns the dependence on fossil energy. Easy flow of petroleum dollars has also made it easy for states to become fiefdoms that also depend on manna from the federation account, rather than the productive centres that the regions were up till the end of the civil war.

Cutting recurrent expenditures must include creating a budget that does not need revenue garnered from selling of petroleum.

Whatever money accrues to the country from petroleum can be devoted to infrastructure building and renewal, rather than allowing revenue from petroleum to provide resources for the running of our government at the national and subnational levels and the interminable ballooning of recurrent expenditures fomented by those who see political appointments as license for infinite acquisition.

To be continued

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

COMMENT

15

The Fayose paradox It is unfortunate that the law could still rise to protect a man who has scant regard for it ?

T

HE triumph of the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, at the Supreme Court, would rankle many who feel genuinely offended, by his maltreatment of the law and its officers, in his fight to keep his position. Resorting to unconventional ways to stave off pre-election qualification suit against him, Mr. Fayose’s thugs allegedly got a judge roughhandled, had a court’s registry upturned, and ensured that the High Court’s proceedings against him were forcefully aborted. Yet, despite these allegations of brazen assaults against the judiciary, the majesty of the law rose to protect him, in the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, which upheld his election.

In dismissing the appeal filed by the APC, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Election Petition Tribunal, which had upheld the governor’s election. In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court held that Mr. Fayose was not legally impeached in 2006, and as such he could not be deemed unqualified to re-contest the governorship election held last year. The apex court held that the actions of the then acting chief judge, Jide Aladejana, which set up a second impeachment panel, after the first panel set up by the former chief judge, Kayode Bamishile, had failed to find impeachable offences against the governor, amounted to a nullity, as it contravened section 188(8) of the 1999 constitution.

The Supreme Court also dismissed the claim that Governor Fayose presented a forged Higher National Diploma Certificate, on the grounds that the appellant failed to prove his allegation. The court resolved that whether Peter Ayodele Oluwayose and Peter Ayodele Fayose are one and the same, had been resolved in

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TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh

•Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile

•Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye

•Associate Editor Sam Egburonu

•General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

the judiciary to rise up in defence of that critical arm of government. In a manner which smacks of autocracy, Mr. Fayose has so far been able to use seven members of the state House of Assembly to run the legislative arm of the state, while the majority 19 members have been forced out of town. Shockingly, the efforts of the majority members to rely on the judiciary, to save their authority from the cudgels of Mr. Fayose have at best met limp support.

The sorry state of our democratic enterprise in Ekiti presently, is that with less than onethird members of the state legislature, Mr. Fayose has been pretending to be running a democratic government. The speaker whose position has been usurped, is left in the lurch with his group, while his minority colleagues, turned law-breakers, have been able to ‘pass’ the budget, approve commissioners and engage in other legislative misdemeanours, while the law stands akimbo. That is why those opposed to Mr. Fayose were wishing that the apex court would have ears and eyes to see for itself that the man whom the law seeks to protect has shown scant regard for the rule of law.

For the ordinary folk, the law surely acts strange. Such strangeness lies in the fact that Mr. Fayose could well abuse the same system that aides him, without any severe consequence.

Perhaps the problem lies with those handling the case. Perhaps the litigants have not adequately made their case before the court, or if they did, they were not able to prove it. Perhaps the problem lies with our legal system.

Perhaps Fayose’s executive lawlessness aided by the federal power had made it impossible for the court to hear and determine the post-election suit against him. Well, in forcefully emasculating the lower courts, Mr. Fayose’s confidence was well founded, as the Supreme Court has now resolved the germane issues in his favour.

LETTER

IR,

IN 2008, I had the rare privilege of visiting the Warri refinery in Delta State. What I saw stunned me, particularly as several administrations before this one had often grappled with issues related to power, energy and how this affects our life as a nation. I was also very surprised that for several years, millions of naira that were being allocated for turn-around maintenance, TAM, of those refineries were monies being

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2004, when the then Alliance for Democracy took the matter before the Court of Appeal, which was the apex court on governorship election matters then. The court also failed to rely on the issue of deployment of soldiers as a ground to nullify the election, as it contended that the finding of the Court of Appeal was an obiter dicta (a judge’s incidental remark that is not essential to his decision and therefore not legally binding as a precedent) and not a ratio decidendi (the point in a case which determines the judgment) appealed against.

Many of Fayose’s opponents expressed sadness that a fellow who has been very callow with the judicial process could be protected by it.

In expressing her frustration, the APC in a statement said: “we had expected that the judgment will serve as a deterrent to the like of Mr. Fayose, who believes in impunity and extra-judicial method of doing things. We are shocked that a man who did not allow a case of eligibility against him to be heard till today at the State High Court after assaulting judges and desecrating the judiciary would come out clean at the topmost temple of justice”.

Even stranger is Mr. Fayose’s capacity aided by the federal authorities, to emasculate the Ekiti State legislature; and the seeming inability of

Let’s focus on renewable energy used to refurbish a magnificent edifice of what can be termed scrap metal.

I was also to find out that these refineries were indeed sold but because of the affection that our people have for those old pieces of metal, that sale was reversed. Yearly, those big sums of money are still being spent on turn-

around maintenance even though we import fuel and pay subsidies to those who import refined fuel.

Sir, I don’t think it makes sense to continue to dole monies to a group of faceless people for the TAM of refineries that have not turned around our economic fortunes.

What Nigeria should in-

stead focus on today, is not to concentrate on these refineries. We should focus on investing very massively in the area of renewable energy, and this is simply because many countries today are discovering that cheap energy can be harvested from a rich variety of sources and these sources - the sun,

water, wind, and biomass - are in abundance in Nigeria. Apart from that, our greatest customers like the United States have stopped buying oil from us and all of this is within the context of the diminished importance of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries, OPEC, influence in regulating the

worldwide production, import and export of oil.

Already, the focus of the incoming administration seems to be on reducing the pump price of fuel.

It should have not. It should be thinking of downsizing and creating a ministry of renewable energy development.

By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ Benin City, Nigeria.

Open letter to Adamawa State governor-elect

I

WISH to use this medium to congratulate you over the victory of being elected as the new Governor of Adamawa State and as a member of my peer group, having shared certain things in common such as being born in the same year (1963).

Also, if I am not short of memory, we finished secondary school in 1983; you attended the Government Secondary School, Hong, while I attended Yelwa Government School Yola.

Therefore, it is quite imperative and ideal for me to write you this open letter to intimate you about the decay in almost all spheres of

life of the state and for you to have a clue of the enormity of problems confronting the state that requires your full attention of the problems in order to do something.

Adamawa State, you would agree with me, is the most relegated and backward in the whole of the federation with no visible sign of development, especially the state capital. And also, there is the need for you to pay attention to the Adamawa Urban Planning Development Authority through the acquisition of the modern sweeping machines to keep the state capital clean and acquiring of vehicles.

The civil service needs a complete overhaul. This can be done by giving full attention to the welfare of civil servants through payment of their salaries on time and other incentives such as leave transport grant, annual increase etc.

Also, the state secretariat should be rehabilitated through the construction of the roads leading to the complex.

As a businessman, you should explore the abundant mineral resources by inviting investors to come and invest. This can help the state tremendously by not only depending on the federal allocation. You can empower the people, espe-

cially the youths through the opening of industries by the government.

You should extricate yourself from godfatherism, and avoid nepotism as Adamawa State is the most complex as the people usually told the leader what they want him to hear and the other way round of what he wants to hear.

Avoid booby traps by selfish politicians, so as not to fall inside, as it is common in Adamawa State with many examples abounding. Take any indigene of the state as your own as you are the governor of all and not the APC only.

You should form your cabinet with credible peo-

ple, who can deliver and not corrupt ones that can put you and your government in total mess as things would not be business as usual with General Muhammadu Buhari as president. You should ensure pragmatism in leadership as sycophants may invade your administration to lure you into taking decisions that may adversely affect your political sojourn and ultimately lead to your downfall, if care is not taken.

Take constructive criticisms well, as it would enhance greatly the success of your administration. You should also strike a balance in whatever action

you may take for good governance. Beware of political hawks. They can do great harm than good to you.

Putting your act together before you are sworn in on 29 May, 2015, would no doubt put you in better perspective for good governance, so that the people who elected you can enjoy the dividends of democracy.

May Allah guide you as you begin the journey to build a new, virile Adamawa State devoid of acrimony in whatever form.

By Usman Santuraki, Santuraki Close, Jambutu, Jimeta-Yola.

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16

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

COMMENT

Ayo Fayose: Before it is too late Of all those I spoke to, not a single one was convinced Governor Fayose would honour his word...

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ET me state from the outset that this is a dangerous undertaking I am getting into; not from the point of view of safety of life - that is in God’s hands - but rather from the multiple interpretations that could be given to what you will be reading in this article. The Yoruba, in their millennial wisdom have this saying: oun to wa lehin ofa, o ju oje lo – which can literally be translated as there is so much that is unknown. I expect that Governor Ayo Fayose, as a free born Yoruba, should understand that perfectly.

Left to those watching the running, macabre drama playing out in Ekiti from a distance, the governor is not only well loved by Ekiti people, he has, in fact, become a demi god. After all, didn’t he win the June 21, 2014 governorship election 16:0, followed it up with two successive wins in the 2015 general elections and capped it up with the victory at the Supreme Court; serving as an icing on the cake? And by the way, didn’t the whole city of Ado-Ekiti poured out on his victory parade through the state capital? At a stage in his life, Charles Taylor could have had the entire Liberian population line up the streets, in scorching sun, to sing panegyrics in his honour. But on Thursday 26, September 2013, Charles Taylor lost his appeal against a war-crimes conviction as judges confirmed a 50-year jail term against the Liberian ex-president for encouraging rebels in Sierra Leone to mutilate, rape and murder victims in its civil war, holding that “the primary purpose was to spread terror, and that brutal violence was

purposefully unleashed against civilians with the purpose of making them afraid, afraid that there would be more violence if they continued to resist.”

On that day, not a single one of his crooning Freetown crowd was anywhere in sight as Presiding Judge George Gelaga King pronounced those words. Lesson: Governor Ayo Fayose should desist from encouraging acts of brigandage in Ekiti state.

I am aware that Governor Fayose has reacted, soberly, to his Supreme Court victory and among other things he said, and I quote: “to my opponents, I plead with you to sheath your sword and join me in the development of Ekiti State.

If truly our struggle is about service to our dear State, it is time to come together and channel all our resources towards the development of the State. I am irrevocably committed to the protection of all, including the opposition in the State. Nobody is infallible, and I am not a perfect being. The only one that is perfect is God…” Before I set out to write this piece at all, knowing my views could be given a million interpretations, especially at a time PDP could not have completely expended all its dollars, I consulted a variety of Ekiti stakeholders, deliberately avoiding speaking with any of our politicians. Of all those I spoke to, not a single one was convinced Governor Fayose would honour his word, going by what they claim to have come to know about him. When I posited that a

wise one like him should understand, and appreciate, the probable consequences of May 29, one of the individuals, a Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon who told me he had studied Fayose closely since his first coming, told me: Oga, with all due respect, you would believe anything if you took the governor’s words for it.

I consider these testimonies a major character flaw and a possible hindrance to how much my suggestions would go in resolving the logjam since they would require trust and fidelity on both sides of the divide. Trust is of the essence as, without it, Ekiti as well as its poor people would literally rot in this unfortunate conundrum.

On the Ekitipanupo web portal, an indigenous intellectual forum , Wednesday, 14 April 2015, a forumite, Port Harcourt-based Tope Ojo, directly asked from me: ‘What is the way forward,’ in this long running, profit-less battle between PDP and the APC, each of which has ruled Ekiti for 8 years? I replied, with some editing, as follows: ‘Thanks Tope. Let me react to the most important part of your mail: the way forward. Honestly, effective from today, given the Supreme Court decision, I will candidly advise as follows: Let everybody, party, organisation and individuals reach a consensus that governor Fayose should run his term. Let him in turn climb down from his high horse, apologise to Ekiti people, via a television broadcast, for all the obvious illegalities he has committed and promise that henceforth, he will conduct Ekiti affairs decently like any other governor in the country. I am sure that those who neither like nor trust

him will be willing to forgive while those who love him will do so the more. Let him try everything, together with all stakeholders, to return peace to Ekiti. On the other hand, let the G.19 drop the impeachment process all together in the full knowledge that four years, even ten, is not a life time. We cannot fight one another forever as we have done for the last 10 years at the expense of the state’s overall development. It is time to sheath our swords’.

‘There is a lot more to do for genuine peace. For starters, Governor Fayose should pay all outstanding emoluments due to the G.19 as well as pay the outstanding salaries, and severance packages, of the political appointees of the last administration. Whoever was relieved of his/her job for political reasons should be promptly recalled. The governor must genuinely set out to restore peace to Ekiti. It has been shown abundantly in the bible that God can use anybody for His purpose. Governor Fayose should not see the Supreme Court judgment as an opportunity for gloating. Rather, he should use it to usher in peace and cordiality in Ekiti. We have lost a lot. We have become the butt of jokes worldwide. Let him initiate a rapprochement, first with all the former governors, and then, with Ekiti leading lights across board.

Let the interest of Ekiti take centre stage. He must make the first move for others, our Obas and leading lights in commerce, church and community as well as the people, in general, to join him in starting a new era of peace and understanding in Ekiti. He is not a sole administrator and must never see himself as such. I have been a constant Fayose critic but I think we must

now put a closure to all that for the sake of Ekiti. May the good Lord help us. Amen’.

Nobody needs be told that there has been nothing like governance in Ekiti in the past six months.

Enough should be enough. The era of brigandage should be over. Governor Fayose must provide an enabling environment for every arm of government to operate and Olugbemi and his gang of 7- man rogue parliament must be put exactly where they belong. I regret being a member of the state ACN screening committee that cleared that man for elections in 2011. The G.19, as w all saw in the recent elections, must have realised that in politics, as in life generally, you cannot win all the time. They too must embrace peace. Ekiti has suffered enough and one of the topmost Ekiti lawyers I spoke with does not think the impeachment attempt stands a chance in a million of being concluded before the end of their term. That is even, if all approaches to their hallowed chambers were not to be barricaded as we have once seen. It should be time for governance which many of those I spoke with said Fayose is incapable of. He must now prove such people wrong. He must realise he is the face of Ekiti and come May 29, he would look for, but not see any of those roughnecks currently at his beck and call if they do not want to spend time in jail. Governor Fayose, in case he does not know, is himself under some close watch by the Human Rights community, whatever the braggadocio of his spokespersons.

Finally, I plead with all well meaning Ekiti, across board, to buy into this peace process and let us see Ekiti take its rightful place in the progressive and totally development-oriented government General Muhammadu Buhari is set to usher in effective 29, May 2015.

Ure Ekiti a soju kete ra o. Amin.

Oronto Douglas: Man of uncommon courage M

Y last lunch with Oronto Natei Douglas was February 22, 2015. Venue was his hotel room in Eko Hotels, Lagos.

President Goodluck Jonathan was just few kilometers away making frantic consultations on his Presidential campaign. Oronto had visited the President briefly in the morning, came back and went straight for a quick nap.

Unlike before, I had planned not to discuss anything relating to the elections, we were all worried about his health. That day he was billed to travel in the evening to California to keep an appointment with his doctors.

For the lunch, my wife had prepared Amala with Ewedu and Gbegiri soups; those were his favourites. With very deep Egba connections, Amala, ewedu and gbegiri with Orisisi (assorted meats) and Ahon (tongue) menu was the routine anytime Oronto was in town since mid last year. As we finished setting up the table, he insisted that the four of us in the room that day do lunch together.

He resisted my protestations that I had eaten earlier and that I was full. We all sat down to eat. He took just very little and we began what was our longest chat ever over lunch.

He poked fun at me first about how my body frame projected “false sense of affluence” and that when he comes back we have to “deflate” my protruding tummy. We all laughed. I gave him a few punches too. I spoke about how he was detained at an airport in Europe for travelling without any money, and how he and former House of Representatives member Uche Onyeagucha were almost beaten up by Ijaw youths on allegation that he was impersonating

By Akinbode Oluwafemi Oronto Douglas because the youths could not reconcile his gentle look with the name and fame. We also talked about how we were arrested in Abeokuta on our way to attend the burial of Reuben Abati’s mum. We all laughed again. We ended up on a long debate about whether I am a mere “Media Strategist” or if I can also double as a “Political Strategist.” His final word was that it was time that I change my mindset from the current ‘conventional activism’ to ‘governmental activism’ just like he did a few years back.

By the time I checked my watch, we had spent over three hours at the lunch table. It was very unusual. As I drove back late evening that day, some surreal feelings enveloped me. It was as if the long chat and banters were a premonition of something about to happen.

Yes, I do see him very often, but we never sat down for that long to chat since about a year that his health nosedived. Not only that, I have always been part of very close associates who monitor his engagements so that he doesn’t overstretch himself. This time we had over three hours on the table merely chatting and exchanging punches- it was strange.

Anyway, Oronto left that night for California and few days after, we got very disturbing reports from the hospital. He had asked his wife and a very close friend to join him in there.

Then I became very agitated.

While on his return trip back from California another common friend of ours, Simon Kolawole who met him at Heathrow Airport, London where he

had a stopover, called me that we needed to intensify prayers.

Then on Sunday March 25, I got this terse SMS from him: “Can we see on Monday? Very warm regards. Come straight to the house on arrival so that you can go back immediately.”

I eventually entered his Abuja home at about noon on Monday 26th, immediately I saw him on the settee I couldn’t hold back tears. I wept uncontrollably. This was not the same man we did lunch together on February 22. Simon was right after all.

He asked one of his aides to give me napkin to wipe my tears “Don’t you have faith again in God. My health is now in the hands of God”, he said.” He then asked me to sit by his side.

“Bode you are the first person I am asking to come among all our Lagos friends because of the trust I have in you. You have been more than a brother to me. I just want you to know that from now I will no longer be as active…..” By this time a stream of tears ran down my eyes. He went on to talk about his charity projects I have helped over the years to supervise and several other issues. I got his message very clear, yet I refused to accept. Oronto was too dear to us. We just don’t want him to go. No. Something will happen, he will survive it. He has always survived such.

Now I know we cannot dictate to God. Before I got to the airport, he sent another SMS: Thanks for coming”. I replied that he should remain strong for which he responded “Thank you my brother. Your friendship is most cherished my brother.”

I went back to his house by evening of Tuesday April 7, it was very brief.

“How is madam and the kids? I need to release

you quickly” he said. Little did I know it was going to be our last. By 5.40 am on Thursday 9th, I got calls from Simon and his aide Ipi Gamsi almost simultaneously on my two phones. Ipi cried: “we have lost Oga.” It was heart rendering.

I first met Oronto sometime in 1998 at the Maryland home of another activist, Wale Adeoye. I have just crossed from the defunct Today’s News Today (TNT) to The Guardian. He introduced himself as Abayomi Omowale. He speaks flawless Yoruba.

He wore snickers, jeans, face cap and sun shade like a yuppie just back from a foreign country. He was actually at that time one of the most wanted activists by the then military Junta. While they were searching for him in the creeks Oronto was walking freely in Lagos.

We had talked for close to half an hour before he revealed his true identity.

He with another brother and great friend, Doifie Ola practically pulled me from The Guardian into ERA/FoEN in 1999. I have since journeyed with Oronto through the creeks of Niger Delta, through the days of Chikoko Movement till his last job at the Presidency. A journey that makes me, a Yoruba, an observer at Ijaw Youth Council Congress when Ijaw and Ilaje were at each other’s throats.

As an activist, Oronto remained a shining hero for human rights and social justice. He was celebrated internationally and loved by his community folks in Okoroba.

He was a brother, friend, boss, a mentor and many more Oronto cares too much about the welfare of others. Back in the days, he will give out all his money to a stranger

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and come back to borrow transport money from us his junior colleagues at ERA. He has a large heart and generous to a fault.

As a boss, he helps you discover your inner abilities. He will never accept that any assignment cannot be accomplished. No. “Mr Oluwafemi, Listen”, Oronto will say, you just have to get the message to push the limits.

That has helped many of us who worked with him at one point or the other to break frontiers.

I have been opportune over the past four years, to supervise the Community Defence Law Foundation (CDLF) which he formed. With the Foundation, he had single- handedly built modern libraries in close to 20 communities. Obafemi Awolowo Community Library in IreleEkiti, my village, was the last we completed and many more are at various stages of completion. Oronto’s heart for charity was legendary. He loved education. He romanticized books and will do whatever it takes to lay a book on people’s hands. He read voraciously.

I leant a lot from him. He will be greatly missed. He was an Akanda Omoluabi. He was a man of uncommon courage. Throughout his battle with cancer, he remained strong. I believe he has fulfilled his mission on earth. He touched many lives for good.

Though very heartbroken, for us remaining, we owe Oronto a duty of keeping his dreams alive.

Adieu OND! Rest in the bosom of the Lord.

-Oluwafemi is Director, Corporate Accountability Campaigns, Environmental Rights Action /Friends of the Earth, Nigeria

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

COMMENT

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Beyond May 29: as one ruling party replaces another, five things to keep in mind O

N May 29, 2015, the Jonathan administration will hand over to the Buhari administration and the APC will replace the PDP as the ruling party. As everyone knows, this will be a historic occasion in our country’s political history because it will mark the very first time that a ruling party at the centre of power in Abuja would have been replaced, not by a military coup but through relatively free and credible elections. There were profound doubts that this could ever happen in Nigeria but all things being equal, it will literally come to pass on the 29th of May. For a long time, this column has been asserting vigorously that an eventual replacement of the PDP by the APC through an electoral victory would be a replacement of the party, the government in power but not of the class in power, the ruling class. I lent my support to this eventuality by relentlessly calling for the defeat of the PDP, but in a decidedly critical spirit. This is because history abundantly teaches us that when a ruling class throws out a ruling party and replaces it with another ruling party, there will be changes which may or may not be significant but which will not lead to a fundamental reordering and redistribution of power and resources between the rulers and the ruled, the haves and the have-nots.

With this historic caveat in mind, I offer the following FIVE points as things to keep in mind as we move with euphoria and hope towards May 29, 2015. As a final prefatory note to these five points, let me add that the first TWO will substantially move us away from the worst and most nation-wrecking aspects of the PDP era while the last THREE points will, in all probability, prove to be very daunting and perhaps even insuperable challenges to the APC as Nigeria’s new ruling party.

One: We can expect and will probably get a great reduction in the levels of corruption, waste and squandermania of the PDP era, especially at its terminal point in the Jonathan administration. Nigerians expect it and the whole world waits for it; our country’s notoriety as one of the most corrupt nations on the planet has in the last three decades been truly global in scale. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala infamously asserted that corruption in Nigeria is so deep and wide, so endemic that it could be reduced by no more than 4%. Expect Buhari and the APC to do much better than that! Expect a reduction in the fleet of the presidential jets. Expect a massive reduction in the size of the entourage that used to accompany Jonathan and the other PDP presidents to international meetings.

Even expect the wasteful sponsorship of private citizens to pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem by state and federal governments to be discontinued, not gradually but “with immediate effect”.

Do not expect, but don’t be surprised if Buhari moves to slash the astronomical salaries, allowances and emoluments paid to our law-makers, these being the highest in the world.

•From left: Femi Fani-Kayode, Chris Ubah and Ayo Fayose. “They shall disappear into the night and vanish from the seat of power at Abuja”

Finally, don’t expect but do not be surprised if Buhari also moves to substantially reduce the recurrent expenditures of the state and federal governments while concomitantly increasing capital expenditures for development projects. Expect these changes in the scale of the culture of corruption and waste of the PDP era because these are the “easy” challenges that corruption poses to us as a people. Don’t expect that Buhari and the APC will take on, and if they do, will be able to successfully engage the structural aspects of corruption at the present time. For that, compatriots, you must wait for a future stage in the emergence and evolution of the APC as a new and truly progressive ruling party in our country – if that ever happens.

Two Expect a noticeable change in the style and culture of governance in a post-PDP Nigeria. We are rid, hopefully forever, of the thugs, the nonentities and the glorified “area boys” who more or less represented the expressive face of power and sovereignty in the PDP era. The Fayoses, the Fani-Kayodes, the Obanikoros, the Orubebes, the Ubahs and the Okupes will go into the night and vanish from the seat of power in Abuja after May 29 and it is highly improbable that APC will promote its own large corps of thugs into the same kind of eminence that they had in the PDP era. It is highly unlikely that Aisha Buhari will be anything like Patience Jonathan, since in fact no Nigerian “First Lady” ever remotely approached the level of uncouth and maniacal love and display of power of by the infamous author of “dia ris god o”.

The new rulers are no saints; indeed, many of them decamped from the moral sinkholes of the PDP only at the very last moment and so they carry with them the miasmic scent of the ordure within which they wallowed for so long in the defeated ruling party. But don’t expect the level of barefaced, cynical lying and deceitfulness of Jonathan himself, the chieftains of the PDP and the official and

unofficial spokesmen of the party and the government. We will not get from the APC ringing declarations that millions of jobs are being created while, in fact, scores of millions of our youths are jobless. Hopefully too, we will not get from Buhari and the APC the level of impunity with which the PDP responded to the revelations of the Ekiti-Gate scandal, an impunity which I converted to the phrase, “wetin una fit do?” from Nigerian Pidgin. We are unlikely to get true bourgeois or even traditional African civility with the coming into power of the new ruling party, but at least we will not have a new breed of neo-fascist megalomaniacs in Aso Rock.

Three The change in the relationship between the incumbent president and the presidency as an institution will not change much if at all in the months and years after May 29. This is because the APC does not present us with a meaningful departure from the degeneration that has completely overwhelmed political parties and the party system in Nigeria in the last three or four decades. Perhaps the most consequential effect of this decay is the fact that incumbent presidents in our country since the end of military dictatorships in 1999 have all had far greater power and authority than both the ruling party and the presidency as an institution.

This highly personalized and patrimonial structure of governance, this extreme concentration of power, authority and patronage in one man will not change significantly under the APC, unless of course the party undergoes a profound transformation from its origins and antecedents.

I may be wrong, but nothing that the APC has said and done so far convinces me that this will happen. The only slightly hopeful portent that we have is the fact that there are a few genuinely bright and humanistic thinkers and visionaries in the party.

But their ranks within the party are too thin, their critical mass too insubstantial.

Perchance Buhari will smile

more often than he did as a military dictator; perchance he will listen more to his advisers and be more accountable to the populace than he was when he governed as an unelected, absolutist ruler. But such hopes rest dangerously on the unspoken and unacknowledged acceptance of the supremacy of the president over the presidency and the ruling party. This is more or less a feudal, pseudo-bourgeois conception and practice of democracy. The big question here is: will Nigerian democracy move into the modern bourgeois or post-bourgeois age under the APC? There is also the feeling that with Buhari’s victory, power has returned, so to speak, to the North having stayed in the South for more than a decade since the return to formal civilian democracy in 1999. Coupled with this is the fact that one of the three historic power blocs in the country, the Southeast, is largely absent from the electoral plurality that enabled the political victory of the APC over the PDP. If the party system remains unreformed, if the president remains supreme over the ruling party and the presidency, and if the presidency itself remains unreconstructed, these two particular issues will prove extremely fraught for the peaceful, united and equitable functioning of democracy in the post-PDP period.

Four Ultimately, everything comes down to genuine and farreaching economic and social reforms in the post-PDP era. The most apparent and urgent site of these reforms pertains to the complete overhaul of our infrastructures, with special regard for the generation and distribution of power and the construction and maintenance of good, motorable roads across the length and breadth of the country. Don’t we all dream of the day when modernity would have finally taken root in our country and power would be reliably and affordably available to all our peoples?

Beyond such fond dreams,

infrastructural transformation in the power and transportation sectors of the economy can act as the ultimate guarantor of job, food and health security for the vast majority of our peoples beyond the narrow circles of the economic and political elites.

In other words, beyond the inherent and incalculable benefits of complete and effective electrification of all our towns and cities, all our villages and hamlets, cheap and available power can and should act as the engine of growth and development for the entire West Africa region.

The great obstacles to this potential are the relentless looting and the squandermania through which “legal” and illegal massive transfers of the bulk of our national or collective wealth are made to the private coffers of the few at the expense of the vast majority of our peoples. The classic economic term for this is primitive accumulation. Can the APC as a ruling party historically take Nigeria and its economy outside and beyond primitive accumulation? This question is not as abstract as it seems.

Posed differently and concretely, the question asks us to wonder when the day will come when the vast majority of our men and women of great wealth will make their fortunes from genuine and productive entrepreneurial activities and not from legal and illegal handouts from government. No policy statement, no vision of economic growth and development that I have personally read of or heard about from the policy wonks and spokesmen of new ruling party indicates that the APC recognizes that the ‘legal”, structural forms of corruption are just as harmful and condemnable as the illegal, sleazy and much talked about forms.

Five Nigeria in the post-PDP era will command respectful and beneficial attention from the oil conglomerates working in our extractive industries and the world of global capitalism in general if and when our oil resources are converted into engines of growth and development in our country and in our region of the African continent. In the short run, the inanities of the PDP era will perhaps be overcome and both our trading partners and the world at large will stop taking advantage of our self-inflicted weaknesses while staring in mocking unbelief at the scale of our rulers’ corruptibility and mediocrity. But at this point in time, it is a debatable proposition whether under our new ruling party we will become one of the national economic powerhouses in Africa and the developing world, one of the truly just and egalitarian bourgeois or postbourgeois democracies on the planet.

In the weeks and months ahead, this column will return in greater detail to each of these five points.

Meanwhile, let us hope that May 29 will at least lead to the eradication of the worst features of the long misrule of the PDP at the centre of power in our country.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

COMMENT

sms only: 08116759748

B

EFORE President Goodluck Jonathan is canonised for conceding defeat at the March 28 polls, let it be pointed out that his action was not unprecedented – even in these parts. Last year, after losing the Ekiti election to Ayo Fayose, Governor Kayode Fayemi did the unthinkable: he called his opponent and congratulated him.

Sections of his All Progressives Congress (APC) who thought he had been too hasty were outraged because they felt the results had been rigged.

But he explained that he conceded to avert bloodletting that could have followed had he rejected the outcome.

In calling General Muhammadu Buhari even before the final tally was in, Jonathan has offered a similar rationale. There’s no doubt that his action deflated the tension that had built up in the polity and removed the ground upon which some of his supporters could have stood to react violently.

What Jonathan did, despite all the accolades, was ultimately in his best interest. The other option open to him was to take the nation down the road travelled by former Cote d’Ivoire leader, Laurent Gbagbo, with unpredictable consequences for himself and Nigeria.

The change in Abuja has been the most obvious talking point, but something equally far-reaching also occurred in the regions. Despite religious polarization Buhari achieved a breakthrough in the North-Central zone for the first time. The South-West that has always travelled a parallel route with whoever governs in Abuja now finds itself in proper alignment with the center.

Although it may not appear that way on the surface, the region most likely to witness long term impact of the changes in the polity is the SouthEast. For the first time ever the Igbos backed the wrong horse and voted themselves out of power at the center.

It’s not something that happens every day. In the First Republic the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) which controlled the Eastern Region aligned with the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) to control the federal government.

Again, in the Second Republic the pattern was repeated as the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe-led Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) joined forces with Shehu Shagari’s National Party of Nigeria (NPN) to form the central government. Although NPP had an outcrop in Plateau State under the late Chief Solomon Lar, its main strength was in the East.

The abbreviated Third Republic threw up unusual political dynamics as the two-party system manufactured by the Ibrahim Babangida military junta produced a Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) that were fairly equal in strength across the regions.

Still, the dominant faction of the Igbo political elite largely drifted towards the center-right NRC. That explains why the party’s presidential candidate in the ill-fated June 12, 1993 elections, Bashir Tofa, chose Dr. Sylvester Ugo from the South-East as his running mate. He could have gone West or to the South-South zone.

Ever since the onset of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has maintained a vice grip on Igboland that only the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s (APGA) modest excursion into

E-mail: festus.eriye@gmail.com Twitter: @EriyeFestus

Igbos and the new Nigeria

•Alex Ekwueme

Anambra has been able to distort.

In 2015, Igbos were even more fulsome in their support for Jonathan than his own kith and kin in the SouthSouth. In many states of the SouthEast the incumbent received over 90% of votes cast on March 28.

Although Jonathan was sold as one of their own, the closest he came to being Igbo were his middle names Ebele Azikiwe. That is just like saying Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, is Yoruba because of his first name!

Aside the names, the other plausible reasons for the South-East welding its fate so tightly to Jonathan’s was his promise to build them a bridge across the Niger. Of course there was also gratitude arising from the fact that the president favoured several of their sons and daughters with choice political appointments.

With the results in and APC headed for the center, the dominant tendency among the Igbo political elite have woken up to a strange new reality: they could roam the opposition wilderness for anything from four to

S

OMETIMES it is hard to believe that the country that produced Nelson Mandela is currently the scene for nauseating waves of xenophobic attacks that have seized global headlines.

There are very few people anywhere who have not been inspired by the powerful story of how the former South African president emerged from 27 years’ incarceration to ascend his country’s presidency.

What is especially remarkable about the man was that he emerged from prison without bitterness and was willing to forgive former Apartheid rulers who had brutally kept blacks in sub-human conditions.

Mandela’s generous spirit inspired what came to be known as the Rainbow Nation – a South Africa which committed itself to its different races living together harmoniously.

It is rather sad that the generousity of spirit demonstrated

by Madiba and some leaders of his generation hasn’t percolated down to some of his countrymen. One of the worst blights on South Africa’s image post-1994 majority rule is regular orgies of xenophobic attacks.

Wikipedia estimates that between 2000 and March 2008 up to 67 people were killed in such incidents.

•Rochas Okorocha

•Anyim Anyim

16 years. Or to rip a page from the PDP’s book of dreams 60 years?

So lopsided was the regional backing for Jonathan that APC couldn’t even manage a senate seat in the entire zone. That caused Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, Senator Chris Ngige and others to convoke a wake where they bemoaned the miscalculation by the zone’s elite. The upshot is that Igbos are likely to miss out on the top four political positions come June.

The grumbling has triggered two types of reactions: defiance from the sociocultural group Ohaneze N’digbo who insist they have no regrets backing the losing horse. On the other hand, desperation has seen some suggesting that some newly-elected PDP senators from the zone defect to APC so the zone could be allotted the Senate Presidency.

I don’t believe Igbos did anything wrong in voting the way they did. After all, the North-West and North-East followed the same pattern in their backing for Buhari. Indeed, the PresidentElect received a hefty 1, 903, 999 million votes in Kano – leaving Jonathan with a measly 215, 779.

It would have been expecting too much to think the scenario in the SouthEast could have been any different. The main political strain in the zone has always been center-right or right wing.

They have always hewed to the center.

There was no reason for them to dump Jonathan for Buhari in a country where an incumbent has never lost an election.

But having voted the way they did the Igbo must realize that there would be consequences. They cannot consume the cake and insist on having it whole. They cannot have something for nothing. Their political elite lost the gamble and must now watch the high stakes power play in Abuja from the sidelines.

Of course, constitutional protection means the zone cannot be totally marginalized or punished for its choice. They would get the ministerial seats allocated to each state as well as other appointments courtesy of the federal character principle.

In reality it isn’t the zone that is losing out but the dominant faction of the regional elite. Now the few

Igbo ‘nobodies’ who tagged along with APC when it wasn’t fashionable to do so, and when its prospects didn’t look so attractive, would be the immediate beneficiaries of whatever is being divvied up in Abuja.

As the former PDP lords pine away in unaccustomed opposition wilderness, yesterday’s ‘upstarts’ would be promoted and built up by the new APC powers-that-be with federal patronage. Over the next few years their power and influence would grow as the new governing party dismantles the strongholds that had been built throughout Igboland in the last 16 years. It is a script that PDP knows so well; how galling that they would be at the receiving end.

March 28 means that in the not distant future the balance of power in the South-East would be more even between progressives and conservatives.

The likes of Second Republic governors Jim Nwobodo and the late Sam Mbakwe were like aberrations in their day. Ultimately, their ideological foes saw the off. But the day is not far off when a Rochas Okorocha wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb among the Igbo political elite.

This is not to say being in opposition is such a terrible fate. For most of Nigeria’s civil rule or democratic experience, the main faction of the SouthWest political elite have always managed to maneuver themselves into opposition to the center.

But rather than bemoan their fate, they took their destiny in their hands and focused on rebuilding the zone.

Today, Lagos is globally celebrated as a model for good governance on the African continent.

A long stint on the opposition sidelines might not be a bad thing for the South-East after all if it inspires the governors and leaders to look inwards and transform their region – rather than praying to be in good graces of the latest master of Abuja.

From Mandela to xenophobia A series of riots triggered by rage against foreigners claimed 62 lives.

The latest wave of attacks which have already cost 15 people their lives are believed to have been triggered by comments made by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini. He reportedly said foreigners must pack their bags and get out of South Africa. He made the comments in the presence of the country’s Police Minister Nathi Nhleko and provincial Member of Executive Council (MEC) Willies Mchunu.

Since the violence flared 5,000 people have marched in Durban to express their disapproval of the attacks.

But not so for the king whose spokesman Prince Thulani Zulu told South Africa’s Daily Sun during the week he had nothing to be sorry for.

At the root of the anger of South African blacks towards the foreigners in the midst are the old claims: they have taken away our jobs, women, commit crimes and make the environment filthy. While one can appreciate the frustration in a country where unemployment and poverty remains high among the black population, it hard to see how this constitutes

ground for killing and setting fellow Africans ablaze. Such bestiality is unacceptable.

Unfortunately, many South Africans are so insular and ignorant they think the sun rises and sets in their country. A colleague in Johannesburg once told me that some of his countrymen travelling to other locations on the continent would say things like “I am going to Africa” – as though their country were part of Europe, Asia or America.

That ignorance blacks out the fact that while their country was laboring under Apartheid many of their fathers and grandfathers lived in the same countries whose nationals they so despise now.

Countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria and others not only supported their struggle by hosting freedom fighters they educated and funded them generously. Some of those countries that were then termed Frontline States were subject to repeated deadly military incursions by the Apartheid regime. All of that is conveniently forgotten now.

Despite the humiliations they received in the past and sometimes re-

ceive now from their white compatriots, black South Africans somehow believe they are superior to other Africans. We await empirical basis for this belief.

Unfortunately, xenophobic attacks continue because successive governments in Pretoria have not dealt with them firmly. South Africans have been getting away with murder and this must end. If the authorities will not move to stop the nonsense then other countries must act to protect their people.

South Africans often sneer at the rest of the continent but don’t see anything wrong in their ambitious companies making killer profits from the rest of us. A good place to begin to sending the message that the killings are not acceptable is to target their business either with official sanctions or consumer boycotts.

In addition, all those who have fuelled these attacks with their inflammatory hate speeches must be held accountable. People like Zwelithini should be investigated by the ICC and if found culpable prosecuted. Enough is enough.

LIFE

19

SUNDAY

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

•Main photo: Visually-impaired students preparing for a music session; above- Finished bead work made by the students; right one of the students at work PHOTOS: Olusegun Rapheal

TAIWO ALIMI captures the tales of a group of visuallyimpaired young men and women, daring to learn, hope, live and dream again. He brings to the fore their plight in an otherwise hostile society and the courage of one lone woman, championing their cause, welfare and education.

•Continued on page 20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

20 SUNDAY LIFE •Continued from 19

Daring to dream again

•Samuel Dabiri on the band stand

•Mary Ibiba

•Tunde Olatunji

. “My wife and I helped people clean their houses and later we started carrying blocks at building sites. Both of us would carry the block and my wife would lead me. I stopped after I fell into a well and the contractor drove us away.”

•Christophe Essien

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE 21

•Ohakwe, Director BHB

•A student at work

‘Blindness takes away your right to live and freedom to associate’

•Ifeanyi Ukwueze

•Samuel Dabiri

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

22 SUNDAY LIFE

•Olayiwola

PHOTO: Taiwo Abiodun

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

SUNDAY LIFE

•Basyrah Owodunni

•Chukwuma

•Mariam Aderemi

Medinat Kanabe catalogues the fall-out of the recently concluded elections and the restriction on movement, as it affected housewives, under-age children and commercial motorcycle riders.

•Youths playing football on the deserted highways

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

24 SUNDAY LIFE

With the elections over, Gboyega Alaka takes a retrospective look at the online campaigners and the numerous wars of words and photo-shop creations that dotted the social media, as they all struggled to score points for their favourite candidates, while putting down their opponents.

“Not done with the Jonathan harassment, another photo-shop work showed the rear-view of a defeated Jonathan wading through a pool of water with his luggage. The mischief makers left little to the imagination, as it could safely be deduced that he was on his way to Otuoke.”

•Continued from 21

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

29

APRIL 19, 2015

Sir Olanihun Ajayi 90th Birthday bash

A

breakfast get-together with Sir Olaniwun Ajayi took place at Muson Centre, Onikan , Lagos. Some important personalities present at the occasion were Emir of Kano HRM Mohammed Sanusi, who was the chairman of the occasion, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Jim Ovia, Oba Otudeko, Aliyu Dangote, Ladi Balogun, Erelu Abiola Dosumu and others. PHOTO:MUYIWA HASSAN

Chairman of the occasion, Emir of Kano, Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi; celebrator, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi

L-R :Mrs Victoria Majekodunmi, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu and Femi Majekodunmi

Guest lecturer,Prof.J.D.Y Peel

ArchBishop of Ibadan Methodist Church Nigeria, Most Rev. Kehinde Stephen and Otunba Subomi Balogun

L-R: Ladi Balogun, Aliyu Dangote and Konyin Ajayi

Folusho Philips, Biodun Sobanjo

Mr. Olawale Labi and his wife Oluwafumilayo during their wedding recently in Lagos

Emir of Kano ,Alhaji Mohammed Sanusi, at the occasions

L-R: Editor, Complete Fashion Magazine, Antonia Soares; Creative Director, Bijelly Couture, Obiageli Maduwuba a n d G e n e r a l Manager, MercedesBenz, Michael Wagner during the briefing on Bijelly Couture returns to fashion radar show at Vita Tower Victoria Island, Lagos.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

A modern dictionary •Election edition Being the conclusion of complex and not-so-complex political terms explained for the benefit of the keen reader in the season of choice.

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

L. LANDSLIDE adj.: The wide margin of victory boasted by party officials but which PDP itself experienced in some states during the March 28 presidential election.

M. Manifesto n.: The political party statement of intent substituted with slander and mudslinging by the party in power.

N. Nomination n.: The (s)election of a candidate for a particular office by a political party.

Related: Nebuchadnezzar.

O. One term n.: What the president promised to serve, according to PDP officials who should know. Opposition n.: The progressive force of many responsible for the unprecedented defeat of a democratic president.

P. PVC. n.: INEC-issued permanent card with which voters elect candidates for credible reasons or sell votes for incredible reasons.

Related: Politicking. Primary.

Q. Queuing v.: An orderliness in public initially enforced during presidentelect Muhammadu Buhari’s 1983-1985 reign as head of state and subsequently embraced on Election Day by resolute voters.

R. Rigging. n.: Anti-democratic dispensation by party officials involving ballot box snatching, wanton thumb-printing and illicit vote-counting in the bid to outscore more popular opponents.

S. Spin doctor n.: A term that describes all the president’s men in the business of spinning the truth and skewing the opposition’s image and chances at the polls. Stand up for recognition Labaran Maku, Ahmed Gulak, Reuben Abati, Doyin Okupe and Femi Fani-Kayode. Slogan n.: Catch-phrase used by parties to arrest voters’ imagination and earn loyalty. For enduring example, compare PDP’s ‘Power (to the people?)!’ to APC’s ‘Change!’

Related: Stomach infrastructure. Speculate. Spending. Sentiment. Sniper.

T. Thuggery n.: The Area Boy put to ‘good use’ by the desperate politician.

Related: Ticket. Thumb-print.

U. U-turn n.: Also known as policy somersault, the sudden change in policy or political direction caused by electoral considerations as the president’s preelection relocation to a Southwest neglected in the previous six years.

Related: Unanimous. Unopposed. Upset. U-turn. Utopia.

V. Viewpoint n.: The perspective behind party reaction to issues in the polity.

Related: Violence. Volunteer. Victory.

W. Witch-hunt v.: The imminent investigation of the corrupt dreaded by the president’s wife Patience ‘Mama Peace’ Jonathan before the presidential election.

Fear of the one to ‘put Nigerians in prison’ apparently marked the culmination of desperation. Whistle-stop n.: The practice of making speeches in many towns in a short time, a test passed by President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, APC’s 72 year-old candidate, despite Ekiti State governor Ayodele Fayose’s advertised ill-wish and Mama Peace’s sarcasm on the ill-fated campaign trail.

Related: Ward. Woo. X. Xenophobia n.: The obvious legacy, beside religious and sectarian division, of Goodluck Jonathan, arguably Nigeria’s most divisive leader.

Y. Yield n.: The electoral harvest recorded by the unprecedented merger of political parties while stopping PDP’s march to a target of ‘60 years’ of political domination.

Z. Zoning n.: Less pronounced in 2015, the system of representation that favours selection of candidates as opposed to democratic choices. Zeitgeist n.: The spirit of the times. It reflects true power to the people for a change. Long live the PVC, the Card Reader and a true Federal Republic!

Reader’s Response If Bravo! On today’s ‘If’: “Couldn’t have put it better myself!”

Olu Ayanwale. +2348062508***

QUOTE A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.

—Texas Guinan

Jokes Humour

Mr Chu THE LOCAL hospital’s Intensive Care ward had a strange case. Patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning at 11 a.m., regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought that it had something to do with the supernatural.

Why the death? Determined to correct the anomaly, the doctors one day decided to go down to the ward and investigate. So a few minutes before 11 a.m. on the next Sunday morning, all doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about.

Some held other holy objects to ward off the evil. Just then, the clock struck 11.

Mister Chu, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so that he could use the vacuum cleaner.

Horrific Comedy THREE vampire bats live in a cave surrounded by three castles. One night, the bats bet on who can drink the most blood.

The first bat comes home with blood

dripping off his fangs. He says, “See that castle over there? I drank the blood of three people.”

The second bat returns with blood around his mouth. He says, “See that castle over there?

I drank the blood of five people.”

The third bat comes back with his body covered in blood. He says, “See that castle over there?”

The other bats nod.

“Well,” says the third bat, “I didn’t.”

Clear Difference WHAT a difference race makes.

If a black man starts losing his hair, what should he do? Just cut it all off.

And if a white man starts losing his hair, what should he do? Take the hair from the side and fold it over the top.

The black man clearly can’t go out like that.

Through the ‘Birdvine’ DID YOU hear about the man who got too close to a parrot?

He started to repeat everything that was said around him. Someone called the condition ‘chirpes’.

And the worst thing? It was ‘untweetable’.

•Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain IPS for the beginner: Avoid using an adverb after she/he said means. This is dangerous in writing as it could in dialogue. The dialogue itself should mean the difference between a character convey the intent behind it and shouldn’t eyeing a pretty woman and worshipping her.

Develop your characters. It is tempting require an adverb. If your dialogue requires adverbs to convey the meaning or intent, it to write only about perfect, flawless characters isn’t clear enough. Try reading the dialogue who go through and come out of each and out loud and if the meaning doesn’t come every situation gracefully, but this creates a boring, static story. Try to give them room to across, it may need to be reworded.

Don’t use words unless you know what grow or you will find yourself without room they mean. If writers have to guess the to write.

Brevity. Readers have a short attention meaning of a word, they shouldn’t be using it. The reader usually has a vague notion of a span and you will lose them with too much word without understanding what it actually detail. Try to be as concise as possible while still moving the story along. If you don’t need Man and animal: a description or an action, don’t use it. It will •A dog’s sense of smell is 1,000 times stronger weigh the story down and turn the reader off. than humans’.

Think of a skirt long enough to cover the •A gozzard is a person who owns geese. important things but short enough to keep •Armadillos, which look like anteaters, are things interesting. When writing on a certain the only animal besides humans that can get topic, there’s a balance between too much leprosy. detail and not enough. The writer must convey •Apart from humans, the only land animal the most important parts of the topic without that cries is the elephant. going into too much detail and risk losing •Ants closely resemble humans in manners. the reader.

When they wake, they stretch and appear to All points should be made with the fewest yawn in a human manner before taking up words possible while still giving all the tasks of the day. information.

T

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APRIL 19, 2015

PDP AFTER POWER

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

Polls fallout: Trials of Jonathan's men Following the electoral misfortunes of President Goodluck Jonathan at the last presidential polls, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, takes a look at the political future of some of his stout supporters

W

EEKS after the result of the presidential election was announced, loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan are adjusting to the reality of their principal's loss at the keenly contested poll in an array of ways. While some have already put the defeat behind and have found their voices once again, others are still too stunned to make themselves heard.

Also, while some are still reaching deep into their bags of trick to find ways of ensuring they remain relevant in the coming scheme of things, some have already jumped ship and are now overnight members of the winning All Progressives Congress (APC). In the same vein, while some are now recanting their earlier threats and vows, a few are insisting they will see nothing good in the coming administration.

Few days back, three of President's men, namely Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, and Director of Media/Publicity, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Office, Femi Fani-Kayode, were in the news, after days of unusual silence.

Doyin Okupe Erstwhile vociferous mouthpiece of the Jonathan presidency, Okupe, went on Twitter and Facebook to defend himself against the commitment he made when he tipped Jonathan to win the election. According to widespread media reports, the Iperu, Ogun Stateborn politician had, few days to the presidential election, said he should be called "a bastard" should the Presidentelect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), win the March 28 poll.

While admitting that he predicted that Buhari was not going to win, Okupe denied ever suggesting he should be referred to as a bastard should the General win. He argued that he only said he would change his name if the APC candidate emerged victorious.

Okupe however gave an insight into how he intends to handle the fallouts of the presidential election when he said "no doubt, I am still bent on changing my name as I said before the election."

The presidential aide said, "I never said if the APC survived, 'call me a bastard;' what I said was that 'I would

change my name'. That is the truth, but the prerogative of changing my name is mine. 'Bastard' is not an alternative, but you can continue to say that if you want. I really and truly do not care."

However, observers fear that rather than change his name or accept being called a bastard, Okupe may soon change his political affiliation to suit the current political mood in the country. "It is unlikely that Okupe will change his name or even his ways. The only thing likely to change is his political affiliation. I expect to see him joining those seeking refuge in the APC soon. Don't forget how he abandoned parties in the past without blinking an eyelid.

Okupe will go with any administration that finds a use for him. So, he is not one of those who will stay with President Jonathan for long after office. He will not wait long enough to go through any trial or travail. I'm very sure of that," former Alliance for Democracy, (AD) Secretary in Okupe's senatorial district, Alh. Sadiku Afuwape, said.

Fani-Kayode Amidst allegations that at a book launch in Lagos recently, he reportedly took a swipe at the Jonathan administration, saying he was leaving behind a legacy of "destruction and disaster," Fani-Kayode, who practically went underground following Jonathan's loss at the presidential election, reared his embattled head to say he is yet to abandon President Jonathan.

The former Aviation Minister, in a recent tweet, said "the assertion that I went to a book launch in Lagos last week and criticised the legacy of President Jonathan is purely false."

But very much unlike his usual explanatory self, Fani-Kayode, who didn't deny being at the book launch, failed to say what he actually said at the public event. And this appears like an unusual style.

The development is fuelling insinuation that the Ife-born politician may be on his way out of the President's camp soon. Sources at the presidency also told The Nation that Fani-Kayode, who before now was a regular visitor to the seat of power, has not been seen coming around since the electoral defeat suffered

by Mr. President.

"Shortly before and all through the electioneering campaign, Fani-Kayode became more or less a part of the media team in the presidency. He was always

• Okupe

• Fani-Kayode

I never said if the APC survived, 'call me a bastard;' what I said was that 'I would change my name'. That is the truth, but the prerogative of changing my name is mine.

'Bastard' is not an alternative, but you can continue to say that if you want • Muazu

coming around to compare notes with the likes of Okupe and Reuben Abati. He was very much around here then. But since the loss of the presidential election, not much of him have been seen around here," our source said.

The former minister and erstwhile APC chieftain, had in April 2014, dumped the opposition party to rejoin the PDP, which he had left few months earlier.

FFK, as he is fondly called by his admirers told State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Jonathan that he was kicking against alleged plan by the APC to field two Muslims as presidential candidate and running mate for the 2015 elections.

Observers say given his background, it is not unlikely that he will soon find some good reasons to return to the fold of the progressives. "Except if the APC outrightly reject him, FFK will soon be speaking glowingly of General Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is not likely to stay in the PDP or with President Jonathan for much longer," an analyst opined.

Diezani Alison-Madueke Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, is another of the President's allies already feeling the impact of PDP's loss of the presidency.

Last Tuesday, she had to come all out to assure Nigerians that she was not seeking asylum in any part of the world.

This followed trending reports started by an online publication that the influential minister had been denied asylum by six countries where she had so far applied but did not mention the countries involved.

Madueke, who spoke through the Group Public Affairs General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, denied ever contemplating relocating from Nigeria.

But pundits say she might have reasons for wanting to leave the country before May 29. "Diezani is a strong supporter of the outgoing administration and a leading anti-Buhari campaigner.

Aside all these, she has been enmeshed in a number of allegations over her activities at the Petroleum Ministry. It should be no surprise if she is thinking of easing out for a while," a source close to the embattled minister said.

Among other numerous allegations, Alison-Madueke was alleged to have spent N10bn on a chartered Challenger 850 aircraft in two years for which the House of Representatives is currently probing her to no avail. The President Jonathan-led Federal Government has always rebuffed plea to probe several allegations of financial recklessness against the Petroleum Minister.

Bode George Unlike Diezani, former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George says he may be going on exile following the victory of Gen. Muhammudu Buhari (retd) on March 28. George had prior to the election, said in an interview that he would proceed on exile if the APC wins at the federal level.

Speaking recently following PDP's defeat at the polls, the PDP chieftain said "What will I be doing here? I can decide to go and live anywhere. Look at everyone surrounding him (Buhari). So, I am not joking about it, what will I be doing here?

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

33

Buhari will not disappoint Nigeria -Kasumu N

• Alison-Madueke

• George

• Clark

• Obi

At 70, what will I be doing here? All we have been doing to restructure the country has been lost. We have been trying to ensure balance in the polity but all that has gone. What else will I be doing here?"

not clear if he will be in charge to see the party bounce back as he is currently being attacked from all fronts by party chieftains who feel he contributed to the woes of the President and the party.

Adamu Muazu Still trying to recover from the defeat suffered by his party in the Presidential and National Assembly elections, National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, admitted that the party was humbled by the loss while assuring Nigerians that the PDP will be reformed to meet the expectations of its members and Nigerians.

According to the chairman, the ruling party has learnt lessons from its defeat and will never again let Nigerians down when it bounces back to power. However, it is

Edwin Clark Allegedly leading Muazu's accusers is a former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, who has accused Mu'azu, of misinforming President Goodluck Jonathan on issues relating to the party.

Sources say Clark is particularly unhappy with Mu'azu for imposing a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, as the PDP governorship candidate in Adamawa State. "Clark is of the opinion that the imposition of Ribadu in Adamawa vexed many northern leaders and prompted them to work against Jonathan. He is alleging that Mu'azu misinformed the President on the alleged popularity of the former chairman of the anti-graft commission," our source said.

The development, The Nation gathered, is threatening Muazu's continued stay in office as boss of the embattled party.

Shortly before and all through the electioneering campaign, Fani-Kayode became more or less a part of the media team in the presidency. He was always coming around to compare notes with the likes of Okupe and Reuben Abati.

He was very much around here then. But since the loss of the presidential election, not much of him has been seen around here

Peter Obi The former governor of Anambra State on the ticket of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who defected to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shortly after leaving office was the Chief Jonathan marketer in the South-East. Many of his critics both in the PDP and APGA still hold him responsible for allegedly misleading Ndigbo to go all out for PDP. It is not yet clear what he will do next.

EWLY elected member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adedamola Richard Kasunmu, has said that he is confident the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, will not disappoint Nigeria.

He also identified some of the things he insists the president-elect must do for the country.

He said: "Our in-coming President, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, has a lot of work to do and one of it is change. What Nigerians desire at this critical juncture of our national history is change in every sense of the word. People's expectations from the President at this time are very high and he cannot afford to disappoint; so he must do everything possible to bring about positive changes in every facet of our national life.

"He must address the insecurity problem that is currently threatening our national sovereignty. It is already one year since those innocent Chibok girls were abducted, if the President can find those girls and bring them back, the world will applaud him. We all know that the economy is currently in shambles, he should fix the economy. He has made a lot of promises on corruption; he should also hit the ground running and tackle corruption headlong, especially in the oil sector and the civil service. Nigerians also expect him to perform magic in fixing the power sector and he just has to do something remarkable on this."

Kasumu, who owes his victory to God and dedicates it to the Nigerian youth, said of his new assignment, "it is not going to be an easy task but we are confident that Gen. Buhari will not disappoint Nigerians.

Not forgetting to also advice the governor-elect of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, Kasumu said he is coming at a very crucial time in the history when Lagos State will no longer be regarded as an opposition state.

By Medinat Kanabe "With the expected support from the federal government, a lot will be expected from his government and I know that he will not fail because he has the experience and the intellectual capacity to excel as Lagos Governor. He should be magnanimous in victory by being a governor to all Lagosians irrespective of those who deliberately voted against him, he said."

Commenting on his constituency, Ikeja II, which comprises of parts of main Ikeja, including the popular Computer Village, Oba Akran, Ogba, Ojodu, Akiode and other areas, the lawmakerelect said: "I live among the people and knows where the shoe pinches, so I am going to the House to sponsor bills that will make living in my constituency more comfortable than ever before.

"I will also initiate laws that will create conducive environment for commerce and business to thrive in my constituency. I also have special programmes that will create empowerment for our youths and women."

He further stated that he is grateful to all the APC Party leaders who gave him the opportunity to contest this election. "I also appreciate all our party members and constituents who supported me and worked day and night to ensure that I win this election.

This victory is for all of you and I promise to work hard to justify the confidence you all reposed in me," he said.

The lawyer, who had his secondary education in Kings College, Lagos and University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, said the youths in Ikeja trusted and voted him because he has been at the forefront of the campaign for Youth Empowerment for some time.

"It is now time to take it to the next level. This is a victory for Nigerian youths and I promise to remain committed to the cause," he said.

• Kasumu

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POLITICS

• Buhari

• Amosun

Heroes of Buhari/Amosun's victories D

ATELINE: Saturday, May 28, 2011; European Champions League; Final Match; Wembley; 19:45 GMT; Barcelona v. Manchester United; Barca 3, Man U. 1.

At least three things can be deduced from the data above. (a) Barcelona played better and won. (b) Manchester United outplayed Barca but lost due to ill-luck (Barca's victory was a fluke). (c) The match officials, as often alleged, were biased in favour of Barcelona.

"Its results that count," is a trite remark.

Really! But this result (3-1), on its face value, has left many questions unanswered, because anyone who did not watch the match can go for any of the options above. Therefore, it is always important to know the context in which a certain result was achieved. Then we will be able to accord credit to whom it is due.

Now let's look at the condition under which Barca achieved that 3-1 victory over Man U., as reported by the British press who watched the match live.

The Sun: "They (Barcelona) floated like butterflies and stung like bees. Led by the unstoppable Leo Messi, Barcelona left Manchester United battered. Bruised.

Broken... the Red Devils were subjected to a footballing masterclass. Relentlessly torn apart. Relentlessly executed."

Daily Mail: "In the entire history of this beautiful game, few teams have ever approached the state of perfection which FC Barcelona enjoyed in this European final. In recent years, they had promised to deliver the ultimate performance, the one which would lead them beyond compare. That performance was delivered."

Daily Telegraph: "Messi's dalliance with the ball was pure, breathless tango with United cast in the role of wallflowers. This was the sort of spellbinding performance from Barcelona, and particularly their wonderful Argentine magician, that makes even cynics fall back in love with football…

Pass and move, move and score.

Bewitching."

The Guardian: "Barcelona made Manchester's game look rudimentary... A triumph for artistry, patience, imagination.

And not a hint of gamesmanship.

Magnificent, actually."

Daily Independent (Nigeria): "The best team in Europe wins the biggest prize in Europe… Barcelona was sensational last night, leaving Manchester United outpassed, outfought, out-thought and outclassed."

For those who watched the match, if it had ended 5-1 or 6-1 in favour of Barca, no one would have questioned the result by virtue of the master class performance displayed by the team. So, the score-line doesn't necessarily tell the full story of a match.

By Soyombo Opeyemi The results of the March 28, 2015 presidential poll in Ogun State (APC - 308,290; PDP - 207,950) still rankle. Crestfallen is the word. I stand to be corrected, but I am yet to know of any political office holder in this country that embarked on such an extremely laborious ward-to-ward campaign as the governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, did in the run-up to the 2015 polls.

After such strenuous visits to 236 wards, leaving home in the morning and returning sometimes 2am or 3am the next day and doing such daily without a break except on Sundays, the second phase of the electioneering saw the governor touring the 20 local councils in the state, visiting virtually every market in each council.

The third phase (partly merged with the second) was another exceedingly tight schedule in which the state helmsman met groups and associations for hours - trade groups, professional associations, artisans, civil society groups, labour unions, student bodies, civil servants, organised private sector, community development associations (CDAs), traditional

heads, religious bodies (Christians, Muslims, Traditionalists), etc.

In all these, four points were placed on the same pedestal by Amosun: The election of General Buhari as president. "With the dire state of our country today, it is only a man like Gen. Buhari that can fix it," was Amosun's refrain throughout the campaign; His own re-election; the election of the National Assembly members; and members of the House of Assembly.

I testify that Amosun worked very hard and gave his all for the presidential poll. It is in this context that his feelings and some of us could be understood by the close result of 308,290 to APC and 207,950 to PDP. This is because PDP, in all honesty, started its campaign very late and did not do one-tenth of what APC did in terms of reaching out to the electorate. And just like Barcelona, if the poll outcome had been 400,000 to 100,000 or 500,000 to 100,000 in favour of APC, no one would have questioned it by virtue of the extra-ordinary hard work put into the electioneering by the Ogun APC. Indeed, results only do not

necessarily tell the full story of any competition. APC, for instance, was denied thousands of PVCs, especially in its strongholds. Should one fail to mention, in passing, the financial challenges that were the lot of the opposition states and peculiar politics of enmity?

Given this background, I believe Senator Ibikunle Amosun should hold his head high for having commendably played his allotted part at this momentous turning-point in Nigeria. Indeed, he is one of the icons of this historic moment - the first victory of an opposition at the federal level in Nigeria's history.

Some of the rewards have not been late in coming. Amosun has won a well-deserved re-election.

We must give glory to God for his mercies as we toured the nooks and crannies of Ogun State three times before the conclusion of the 2015 General Elections on April, 11. That these tours witnessed no terrible incident can only be attributed to the munificence of the Almighty. We commend also the opposition for a good fight and hope they will accept the will of the electorate. As Amosun himself once remarked, "I do not believe in a conquest.

When you have an election in which you won all the votes; that is no longer democracy. Indeed, every government needs a credible opposition that is committed to constructive criticisms to succeed. In the end, we are members of the same family and belong to Ogun State."

The Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, caught my fancy during the electioneering. She put in her very best. And congratulations to everyone that was on the campaign train and those who kept the home-front!

But the heroes of the victory of Buhari and success of Amosun in Ogun are those our parents all over the state who, on a number of occasions, waited from morning till evening to receive the campaign train led by the governor. I was personally touched by this expression of fondness.

Certain exigencies, most often the number of men, women and groups that met the governor on the way to one ward, market or council led to arriving at nightfall in some hamlets, villages and towns. These elderly men and women waited patiently to identify with the governor. And Amosun was overcome with emotion on a number of times by this show of affection and fellowfeeling by our parents. They, and all those who trooped out in numbers to vote for Buhari and Amosun are heroes of the victories of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 polls in Ogun State.

Congratulations to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the "Governor of many firsts" for these outstanding feats. We give all the glory to God. -Soyombo, Special Assistant on Media to the Governor of Ogun State, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com

Ndigbo deserve respect, says South-East Coalition A S the results of the last Presidential and National Assembly elections are being analyzed by stakeholders and commentators across the country, some groups in the South-East zone, including South East Self Determination Coalition and Igbo Youth Movement, have lamented what they described as "sustained abuse of Ndigbo and threats against the race over their alleged 'failure' in the last concluded elections.

"The 2015 election have come and gone, but the spate of abuses poured on the great Igbo nation by all sorts of characters, from all quarters is both annoying and eye opening.

"Some blamed us for not abandoning President Goodluck Jonathan; others blamed us for not flowing with the band wagon. They mocked Ndigbo to no end, assuring us that the South-East has surely lost out completely in the National Assembly leadership.

"Many assured us, we will be sidelined, oppressed and afflicted. All expected Ndigbo to switch sides and pursue solely political accommodation of any sort without convictions.

What a great pity.

"Surprisingly, so many pretended they have conveniently forgotten where Ndigbo stand in the debate for a successful Nigeria.

"Ndigbo stand for a restructured Nigeria, anchored on true federalism, based on regional autonomy. They told the world so 48 years ago at Aburi, Ghana; they re-echoed it at Gen Sani Abacha's Constitutional Conference 20 years ago.

They reaffirmed it at the 2014 confab, because they truly want Nigeria to survive," they said.

In a statement signed by Evang. Elliot Uko, the founder of Igbo Youth Movement and leader of South East Self Determination Coalition, the

groups said, "Our vote pattern is synonymous with our conviction that only true federalism will take us to the Promised Land.

"Yes, we all know that the political class is dominated by hypocrites and crass opportunists, who will decamp and join Boko Haram tomorrow if (God forbid) Abubaker Shekau seizes central power tomorrow. These politicians who do not believe in anything except their pockets, will shamelessly and gleefully announce that Abubaker Shekau is the saviour Nigeria needs, just like they did 17 years ago at the 2 million man rally in Abuja; Men without honour; apostles of any government in power.

"These leaches and vultures who dominate the political space cannot take away the core values and beliefs of a people, no matter how much they tried. Ndigbo believes in a restructured Nigeria, where no man is oppressed, where the unjust containment of Ndigbo in five states is removed, where all are equal, where no section is born to rule.

"Mocking us, abusing us and telling us we will be punished by the next government, probably vindicates our vote pattern and reminds the younger generation of the task to sustain the struggle for freedom from internal domination.

The joke really is on our compatriots who promise to wage a war of attrition and pursue a scorched earth policy towards Ndigbo. They probably do not know that we are used to all that already, neither do they understand that amongst the fruits marginalization and oppression bear is the production of a next generation of liberators and warriors. The struggle has just begun.

Finally, for those who are celebrating the seizure of central power under this unworkable unitary structure, we ask them to please respect us, our views and our beliefs.

• Uko It is a pity, if they still do not understand the urgency to restructure Nigeria. It is a tragedy, if the fact that only a restructured Nigeria can fly, is completely lost on them.

The multi religious, 180-man strong country of over 250 tongues has just entered an important stage in the search for true nationhood.

The months and years ahead, are truly pregnant. But we insist that our views must be respected. End of discussion," said the leader of South East Self Determination Coalition.

•Contd. on page 41

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

Ondo APC not a party, it's a movement - Agagu Femi Agagu is no stranger to politics, most especially the politics of Ondo State. He served in the administration of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State as Chief of Staff from 2003 until a court decision sacked the PDP government in 2008. Now a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Agagu in this interview with Femi Odere lent his views on the state's politics and its players, the recently concluded presidential and National Assembly elections, among others. Excerpts:

E

VEN though the recently concluded presidential election ended on a good note generally for the nation but more specifically for APC because it won the race, there's no doubt that there were challenges experienced in your own theatre of operation before and during the elections.

What were these challenges and how were they overcome?

The process of change was something that was even more desired in the state because the situation of things in Ondo State calls for urgent intervention. Sometimes in 2014, when the presidential election was approaching, a lot of political forces in the state began to look for a credible platform to change things around in the state and PDP looked like that platform then. Don't forget that the governor (Mimiko) was still in the Labour Party. Because of the governor, a lot of people moved from the LP to PDP. Some people also moved from ACN as it was then to the PDP. So, the PDP was beginning to be very strong and getting ready for the 2015 elections. But the whole thing became problematic when Governor Mimiko left LP and came to PDP. Once the governor came to PDP, the original PDP members became alienated. People got frustrated and ambitions and aspirations were thwarted just because one man joined. We looked for ways to remedy the situation within the system but after a while it became very clear to some of us that there was not going to be any headway.

Some people went to court over it; some were agitating from within and some of us just looked at it that the way things were going all the efforts that were being made from within were not likely to solve the problem. Then APC was relatively not very strong in Ondo State. So, we got ourselves together and we went to the platform and built capacity for it (APC). That was how we became APC members. Of course, we made consultations here and there.

It is said that your members are in the party structure. Why? Because the party structure had been fully formed before we came to join and we didn't want to rock the system. If we had insisted with our sheer size and strength to share offices with the existing APC members, we would have been given a substantial percentage. But in the process of doing that and with the elections approaching, it could also cause disaffection.

Could that have explained the reason why APC could not win the South Senatorial District, also bearing in mind that the district is traditionally known to be a PDP stronghold?

Thank you for this question. You see, PDP is well entrenched in the southern senatorial district to the extent that if you add the LP to the party, it almost accounted for about 90 percent of the political share in the south. So, for those two parties coming together it became very difficult to penetrate. That we even did as much as we did; running almost neck and neck in the senatorial election was because of the clout of some of us that moved to APC. We were not able to fully break through because if you look at the south, the major political figures holding substantial positions at the federal level are from the south. The real political actors that draw strength from Abuja to come and fight political wars in the state are Pius Ajube, who is from IleOluji, Kinsley Kuku, with plenty of

• Agagu resources, is from Ese-Odo, Olusola Oke is from Ilaje, Jimo Ibrahim, although in a battle with Mimiko, is a big political leader in PDP. So, these people were able to convince (I don't want to say confuse) our people that President Goodluck Jonathan would still win. Their argument was that since the south is the base for PDP, that it would not be nice to just abandon it for Mimiko in case Jonathan wins again. It means that Mimiko would be the only person left in PDP and it would be disastrous for them in that area. And a lot of people believed them. You see, if the four people I mentioned are saying the same thing, the tendency is there for people to believe them.

We were able to get as much as we got because of the sentiments that my name carries.

Your name? What about your name?

Yes, some people, for the sake of Agagu's name believed me even when they were not convinced. Some voted for APC just to honour the name and not that they believe that APC would ever be able to win the state or even win at the federal level. So, going forward, the only issue that was not very clear to everybody was whether PDP would still win the federal or not. The result came and they were in shock that PDP lost at the centre. So, we're going to build a formidable APC in the state, going forward.

Can you comment further on the real politics of the southern senatorial district visĂ -vis your late brother? You just mentioned that it was pretty much because of the Agagu name, and I am sure you're referring to your later brother, the former governor of the state, Dr. OlusegunAgagu. What about other APC stakeholders with name recognition such as Dr. Paul Akintelure and Chief Akinyelure? Are you saying they became inconsequential when the electoral chips were down?

Chief Akinyelure is not from the southern senatorial district. He's from Idanre. Paul is from Igbotako. There are two wards in Igbotako and we lost heavily in these two wards. I am

not saying that Paul is not a good politician.

The PDP candidate for the House of Representatives is also from Igbotako. So, we cannot discount the people's tendency to vote for their own in Igbotako. I told you earlier that APC have never been strong in our place.

PDP has always been strong in Igbotako. And if the PDP candidate is from that same Igbotako, chances are he would get substantial number of votes from there. In fact, it was the defeat we suffered in Igbotako that didn't allow us to win the local government. We won handsomely in the two wards in Okitipupa. Ilutitun is where our candidate comes from. There are three wards in Ilutitun and the assumption was that the people of Ilutitun would also vote for their own son, thinking that our win in the three wards in Ilutitun would cancel the two wards in Igbotako. But it was not so. We lost in Ilutitun, more so because our candidate is relatively unknown in his own town. So, we found it very difficult to penetrate even in Ilutitun where our candidate comes from. These are the realities on the ground.

This southern senatorial district has its own unique structural complexity. It's largely a riverine area where communities literally sits and lives on water. It's unlike the mainland. I can imagine how difficult it could be just to campaign in this area not to talk of conducting elections. Could this geographical challenge have been a major contributor to why your party got washed off in this district?

The challenge posed by the terrain is very real. What this means is that the kind of resources you need to prosecute elections on land is quite different from the one you need on water. You have to rent boats and all the rest. Although with the administration of the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, a number of those places had been linked by roads. The problem is that these towns and villages are numerous.

They're not urbanized like what you have on the mainland. They're used to how they run their elections but they require more resources

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than the people on land. There're two local governments in the riverine areas and these are Ilaje and Ese-Odo. The Ijaw-Arogbos at Ese-Odo are the people who really live on water. This is where Kingsley Kuku comes from. His people are enjoying the amnesty largesse. Bibopri Ajube, their warlord, is one of the people that benefitted from the pipeline protection contract. Their sons and daughters are benefitting both from the amnesty programme and the pipeline contract. So, there's nothing you want to tell them that they'll listen to you. They're President Goodluck Jonathan's kinsmen. We know who the real players are in the south and we know ourselves. It's the advent of Mimiko into the party that divided us in that place.

Now speaking of Mimiko, if he had not crashed into the PDP; would APC have had an easier time in the state?

Mimiko or no Mimiko, Buhari would still have won the presidency. But APC would have had very little showing in Ondo State.

The way things were going then, PDP would have been the dominant party in Ondo State.

APC and whatever was left of LP would have struggled for a second position in the state.

There was no question about that. And of course, the addition of LP to PDP for Jonathan would have been a very big victory for Jonathan in the state.

Despite the fact that Mimiko was the South-West coordinator of the president's campaign, why in your view was he not able to win the state in which he's a sitting governor for his principal?

Frankly, the vote for APC in the presidential election was a vote against Mimiko. Majority of those people that voted for APC did not cast their votes based on the issues involved, neither did they do any critical analysis of candidates and things like that. It was just a vote against Mimiko, majorly.

I understand that you're now a pastor. I am of the view that politics and pastoral calling are never good bed fellows. For someone who has been in politics almost since the beginning of this republic, how did this pastoral calling come about? Did you decide to get closer to God as a result of the death of your brother?

My ministerial work started much earlier than my venture into politics. I became a worker in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1996. Even though I supported my brother on the side during his campaign, I got directly involved in politics in 2000. My brother have always been very nice to me right from my early years that I thought that helping him to realise his political ambition was an opportunity for me to pay him back. So, I went into the campaign with him with all commitments at my disposal. Fortunately, he won and I thought I was going to be on the sideline.

But circumstances conspired and somehow I ended up becoming the Chief of Staff of his administration against his own personal wish because it took a lot of arguments and persuasions for him to accept. His argument then was that although he had no doubt that I would do an excellent job, but our society was not as sophisticated to be unmindful of that scenario. He said our people might not understand that I was qualified for the position on merit. Actually, it was Prof. Agbi and our current Deputy Governor Alhaji Olanusi that persuaded my brother to let me be his Chief of Staff. I was ordained a Deacon in the year 2000. It was after my stint in my brother's government as Chief of Staff that I was ordained an Assistant Pastor.

Do you see any role for yourself either now or in the future as far as the politics of the state is concerned?

Well, in the politics of the state, fate has suddenly put a leadership status on my laps.

There are people who moved to APC just because of me. These are people I told that APC may very well be where we can better the lots of our people and they believed me.

So, whether I like it or not, I must be actively involved in the party for the sake of these people. The system in the party needs to be properly garrisoned. APC in Ondo State as at today, if we want to be honest with ourselves, is not yet a party. It is a movement.

It is a movement for change. We need to build it into a party. For those who understand what a party should be and honest enough in the assessment of the party will agree with me. We still need to mold it into a party with structures that are well and running and effective. I will not say more than that for now.

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POLITICS

PDP after Power

Since it lost out in the just concluded 2015 General Elections to All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suffered more misfortunes, including mass defections, resignations and internal crisis. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo and Sunday Oguntola report on the survival options available to PDP

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ITH the 2015 General Elections concluded and All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the presidential seat, most of the state governments and a comfortable majority at most of the legislative houses both at the federal and states, the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is hanging in the balance.

Already, the initial panicky reaction of some of the party chieftains has raised grave concern over the party's ability to survive the shock of defeat, rebuild and provide robust opposition after serving for 16 uninterrupted years as the ruling party of Africa's most populous country.

Soon after the emergence of APC's candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, as the President-Elect, there were reports of PDP chieftains dumping the party in droves in preference for a move into the victorious APC. This gale of defections within the embattled ruling party, according to observers of the country's politics, confirms the looming change in the power bloc, and the fear that PDP may not survive the defeat.

"With the victory of the APC in the presidential, National Assembly and a lot of state elections, the PDP is embattled and may be further deserted by its chieftains," an observer said.

Party leaders, current elected public office holders, political appointees, former aspirants and even newly elected public office holders on the platform of the PDP all found one reason or the other to desert President Goodluck Jonathan's party soon after his loss at the presidential polls.

Initial defectors The first set of defectors, whose defection was announced barely a week after Buhari's victory included Ambassador Fidelis Tapgun; Senator Victor Lar and Ambassador Ignatius Longjan.

Others were Edo PDP candidate in the 2012 governor ship election, Maj- Gen. Charles Arhiavbere, former governor, Prof.

Osarhiemen Osunbor and former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, BrigadierGeneral Idada Ikponmwen. Jigawa State Deputy Governor, Ahmed Mahmoud and former Governor Saminu Turaki also defected to the APC within the first week.

In Ogun State, candidate of the PDP for the House of Representatives, Ijebu Central Federal Constituency, Otunba Adewale Moses Osinubi, left the party.

Former military governor of Kaduna and Katsina States, Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd), Senator Gbemisola Saraki and Maj-Gen. S.B.S. Biliyock (rtd) joined the APC from the PDP. Within the week also, a former Legal Adviser of PDP was set to dump the party for the APC in Ondo State. Oke, who was the PDP governorship candidate in 2012 in Ondo State, defected to the APC. He formally announced his exit from the ruling party at a

press conference in Akure. The defection glee has continued ever since then.

Resignations Aside from the incessant loss of its members to the APC, the ruling party's future is further threatened by the resignation of some of its other leading chieftains from partisan politics.

While those in this category may not jump into the moving train that APC has become, the PDP will no longer enjoy their membership and loyalty.

Few days after the presidential election, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, resigned his membership of the PDP. Aondoakaa said he was leaving partisan politics to take care of his personal business and also engage fully in his law practice.

He said: "I am leaving politics to fully engage in a bigger law practice and also tend to my business. I have already tendered my resignation letter to the party." On the allegation that he intended to decamp to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the former Minster debunked the rumour. "I am not joining any party, it's not true; I am leaving now before anyone starts saying anything or insinuating anything, I am quitting partisan politics," he said.

Earlier this year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had torn his membership card of the PDP and declared he would no longer join any political party. Obasanjo renounced his membership of the party at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta while hosting PDP leaders from his Ward 11, in Abeokuta North Local Government Area.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

• Muazu

• Mark

• Anenih

• Akpabio

There are also strong indications that notable PDP leaders like former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida and former PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, may follow Obasanjo's footstep into political retirement anytime soon.

Already, prominent PDP chieftains like Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, amongst others, have been inactive in the affairs of the party for some reasons, including old age, ill health and the likes.

'We'll stay back and rebuild' The reaction of these top PDP chieftains has given observers the impression that the party may not survive the shock of its sweeping defeat and as a result may not be able to serve as a strong opposition party from May 29.

But most of the remnants in the party, The Nation approached this week to comment on the development and what the party's reaction would be said they are set to rebuild the party with the view of reclaiming federal power in the near future.

Immediate past Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, believes the PDP will bounce back in the next two years.

He told The Nation: "I am positive we will be back. In the next two years, all those who left will be begging to come back because they will be so disappointed with the APC-led government."

He said the party should do a post-mortem "on why we failed to win the elections" and continue to attract "critical, honest and reliable people who can rebuild the party".

Gulak believes that attracting and sustaining honest, reliable people to the party will be crucial to its bouncing back soonest.

Former Senate Leader and Director-General of the Jonathan Goodluck Campaign Organisation during the 2011 presidential elections, Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, also reacted.

He believes strongly that the PDP, having learnt from its mistakes, will soon be back as a political force to reckon with in Nigeria.

"We have no option than to go back to the drawing board. We have to feel the way the opposition felt over 16 years. We must learn from our mistakes so that one day we will come up strongly and win all elections again. People should know that there is nothing permanent in politics. The victory of APC is also not permanent; one day, it will be the turn of

another party in power not necessarily APC or PDP. I say so because Nigeria is not matured enough to maintain two party system, talk less of having PDP or APC in power for many years," he said.

While admitting that the gale of defection from the troubled party into the victorious APC may affect the chances of his party to bounce back to its old winning ways in good time, the current Nigeria's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom said PDP members defecting to APC are mischievous, dishonest and lack principles.

He said: "For me, I will simply say PDP members defecting to APC are mischievous, dishonest and lack principles. You see, they'll eventually regret when PDP begins to restructure. They defected because PDP lost elections? I think it is unwise. One thing they don't know is that political parties are formed, not necessarily to form government, though ultimately, power is the goal, but parties are also meant to checkmate the activities of government in power, providing healthy competition and strong opposition. You don't have to defect to another party to prove that you are good. If you are good, you are good

and you can contribute to national development from any political party. I remain PDP and I will help to put our house in order by the grace of God." Earlier, PDP as a party had described those defecting from its fold to APC as "political Trojans," who, it alleged had "from within ceaselessly worked against the interest of the party and now fear they would face sanctions for their actions."

In a statement signed by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, PDP said it "would not miss such fair weather members."

The party also claimed that necessary arrangements are already being made to reorganise and reposition the party "to regain power in the next four years."

Since then, some influential members of the party, including those rumoured to have commenced moves to defect, have come out to associate themselves publicly with the resolve to stay back and help rebuild PDP. Among the first of such PDP chieftains to publicly state their resolve to stay back is the Senate President, David Mark.

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ITH outgoing President Jonathan expected to take a break from partisan politics for the time being and thereafter assuming a statesmanship status, chieftains of the PDP are now condemned to embark on intense soul searching and introspection with the aim of refocusing the party for the challenges.

Two posers would suffice. First, can a newly repackaged PDP happen in a vacuum and without boasting of a leader with the guts, stature and resources to unite party members and chart the way forward? Can this new leader be disciplined enough to sacrifice self comfort at critical moments for the overall good of the party? Who is this new leader that would reposition a badly fractured, fragmented and demoralised party capable of reclaiming the Presidency in 2019? Some of the names that readily come to mind amongst PDP chieftains include: Anthony Anenih Fondly called 'The Leader" by his political disciples, Chief Anthony Anenih is well respected and versed in the art and nuances of politics. His deep knowledge of Nigeria's political terrain comes with loads of experience.

Currently, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, the Edo State-born politician dabbled into politics following his retirement from the Police in the early 80's.

In the run-up to the 1983 general elections, Anenih, as the State Chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the former Bendel State (now Edo and Delta States), allegedly led the line in partnership with his party's governorship candidate, Chief Samuel Ogbemudia, to send the ruling Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) from the Dennis Osadebey Government House.

From this moment till today, the almost 80 years old politician has remained a constant

New leadership fixture in the country's political terrain, and in the process building a controversial reputation that has attracted praises and flaks in equal measures.

It was, however, in the Third Republic that Anenih assumed a nationwide household name in politics following his emergence as the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), one of the two political parties founded by the then military government.

His alleged trade-off of his party's victory in the 1993 presidential election won by late Chief MKO Abiola, which led to the formation of an Interim National Government (ING), was described by not a few Nigerians as a sore point in the political career of the man, also fondly called 'Mr. Fix It,' a name given Anenih on account of his adroit style of solving otherwise complex political issues.

And from 1999 till now, the story of the PDP would not be complete without Anenih featuring prominently in it. From being the Minister of Works to emerging as the Chairman, BoT, Anenih has virtually seen it all in the party.

Factors against him Though well respected by the rank and file of the party, Anenih's advanced age (he is 79), many political pundits say, could work against the party both in the short and long term.

Another school of thought is also skeptical of Anenih's ability to command absolute loyalty from top party members, many of who believe he is one of those culpable in the precarious state PDP has found itself today.

Adamu Muazu A former governor of Bauchi State for two consecutive terms (1999-2007), Adamu Muazu's emergence as the PDP National Chairman early last year sure calmed frayed nerves after months of plots by aggrieved party members, particularly some state governors, to remove Muazu's predecessor, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

challenge Fondly called the 'Game Changer,' a name that came about following the initial positive effect his coming on board had on the party, not a few had thought Muazu would lead the party to victory in the March 28 presidential election. But that was not to be. With PDP's loss of the polls, Muazu has gone down in history as the man who led the party to defeat for the first time since 1999.

The former governor's administrative acumen is also being called to question. The acrimonious PDP primaries across all levels, with many aspirants feeling shortchanged is being cited as one instance where Muazu failed to make any headway.

Also the alleged cold war between President Goodluck Jonathan and Muazu in the weeks leading to the general elections is also another factor that could work against the latter in the onerous task of repositioning the party before the 2019 general elections.

David Mark As the Senate President for a record eight years, David Mark, who is returning to the National Assembly, also for a record 5th term, is being touted as one of the few PDP stalwarts with the requisite experience and guts to restructure the party into meeting the challenges of an uncertain future.

Having skillfully managed the varying, albeit complex political tendencies in the Senate for eight years, Mark has won plaudits from friends and foes alike, but question still linger if he would be able to win the trust and command the loyalty of party members across the six geo-political zones with little or no controversy.

Also, his recent statement that he would not leave the PDP in these trying times may have endeared him to members of the party across board. But whether this would be enough to earn him the leadership position of the party remains to be seen.

Anyim Pius Anyim Eight years after a self imposed sabbatical from politics, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim bounced back into reckoning following his appointment as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

A former Senate President, Anyim was one of the arrowheads of the president's re-election campaign. His office, it was gathered, allegedly coordinated the activities of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).

Described by close associates as one politician with the guile and adroitness to lead the party in the next dispensation, it remains to be seen if Anyim will command the respect of the big guns in the PDP when the chips are down.

Godswill Akpabio Beside his acknowledged achievements as governor of Akwa Ibom State in the last eight years, Akpabio's profile went several notches higher after his election as the Chairman, PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF).

But did Akpabio succeed in using the PDPGF to advance the fortunes of his party or the re-election ambition of the president? Absolutely not, many political pundits will say readily.

So, the search remains ongoing, even as no one will doubt the possibility of any of these mentioned PDP leaders rising up to disprove bookmakers by successfully taking up the challenge.

There is also the possibility that a new leader, who many may not have given any chance, may emerge to unite the PDP members across the country and help rebuild the party.

He spoke at a special church service to mark his 67th birthday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy Apo in Abuja, where he said: "I have no reason to jump ship. I will not leave the PDP. I will be the last man standing for the PDP. The party gave me the platform to be where I am today.

"I will stay in PDP to contribute my quota to the rebuilding and restructuring of the party.

This is democracy. Winners emerge and the losers go back to the drawing board and rejuvenate," he said, adding, "The outcome of the presidential election in favour of APC is the will of God and majority of Nigerians. We, in the PDP have accepted the result in good faith.

"Those drifting to the APC now are fair weather friends of the PDP. They are seeking new green areas. When the PDP bounces back, they will seek another return to the party.

"I believe in PDP manifestos. I will work hard to bring the party back on track. What is important is that we have established democracy in Nigeria."

At about the same time, Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, also stated that he would rather resign from politics than defect from the PDP, even as he described the defectors as "people who are suffering from poverty of integrity, morality and principle."

Other top PDP chieftains who made the same pledge to stay back include the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the outgoing governor of Kebbi State, Saidu Usman Dakingari, and the immediate past Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, among others.

While addressing a meeting of PDP stakeholders from Enugu West Senatorial District in Enugu, shortly after the elections, Ekweremadu said: "I have heard a lot of permutations on the possible mass defection of Ndigbo to the APC in the coming dispensation. While I will not hold brief for all the PDP stalwarts of South- East origin, especially because our constitution provides for freedom of association, I can assure you that on PDP we stand. ''At least, count Senator Ike Ekweremadu out of any defection to the opposition."

Governor Dakingari while interacting with journalists after the elections, at the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport, Ambursa, BirninKebbi, shortly after his arrival from Abuja, said "I am a Fulani man who stands by his principles; I will remain in PDP come rain or come shine."

He attributed the party's failure to what he described as "hurricane Buhari" which according to him has swept the chunk of PDP politicians not only in Kebbi but across the country.

'PDP will not die' One refrain that most PDP stalwarts have been repeating publicly since the conclusion of the elections and the first wave of mass defections is that 'PDP will not die".

Sen. Walid Jibrin, the Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT), last Sunday spoke to newsmen in Nasarawa State on the fate of his party, when he said, "Nigerians have seen what the PDP government had done in terms of establishing and equipping secondary and tertiary education, creating job opportunities,

• Ekweremadu

37

provision of infrastructural facilities, tackling insecurity and , prompt payment of workers' salaries, among others.

"In spite of the defeat our great party, PDP, suffered during the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections, losing the presidential seat to APC, PDP will not and will never die."

Mark, Ekweremadu, Aliyu, Gulak and many other PDP remnants say the same thing. According to Aliyu, "Our party is not dead. When all things cool down, we will properly re-organise to bring PDP back to its formidable political strength.

Many things have happened and this is not the time for us to apportion blames. "I, therefore, hope that the time we will have to re-organise our party, we would add more ideology to what we have."

Gulak said, "For me, there have been challenges on my way but having sat down to think, I will sit down in the party with like minds and rebuild the party under the leadership of Goodluck Jonathan, our leader, and give the APC government a run for their money as an alternative and credible opposition."

Crises The ruling party is also plagued by intra party squabbles in many of its state chapters, a situation that threatens its post-election recovery ability. Many analysts are of the opinion that the party's chances at bouncing back as quickly as possible would be hampered by the infightings.

Before the elections, such infightings in PDP degenerated beyond manageable depths in Sokoto, Osun, Ebonyi, Delta, among other states.

The PDP in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos States are not better off in terms of intra-party crises. The situation in these state chapters of the party, coupled with the party's losses has put serious strain on the national leadership of the PDP as the party look forward to experiencing life as an opposition party.

The first challenge seems to be that of leadership that will unite members, give the party the needed cohesion and direction.

The blame game As the embattled party battles with the defections and unresolved internal crisis, most of its top members who spoke this week reveal that another major challenge the party will have to contain with, if it hopes to survive is the on-going blame game. From their comments, it is obvious that the PDP leaders are still blaming one another for the party's defeat.

For example, the party's former National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, while explaining why the ruling party was defeated in the just concluded general elections, blamed the party leadership for lack of internal democracy. ''We have been preaching election not selection, internal democracy not imposition. Anywhere it was done, it will leave a bitter pill in the mouth," Tukur said.

Another former National Chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, who visited APC National Secretariat on Friday, to hold a closed -door meeting with the party's National Chairman, Chief John Odiegie Oyegun, described APC's defeat of his party as "a job well done," expressing satisfaction for APC's General Muhammadu Buhari's victory at the presidential election.

Reminded by newsmen that as a PDP henchman, he had said before that PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years, he retorted, "Well, when they dismantled Governors Forum, what do you expect?"

Niger's Babangida Aliyu was also quoted during the week of blaming PDP's defeat on President Jonathan's refusal to honour the alleged one term agreement.

With this blame game in the face of mass defections and unresolved internal crisis in most of the states, observers say the first challenge PDP must overcome to move forward is that of leadership.

Goodluck Jonathan Following his defeat at the presidential election, there are fears within the PDP that President Goodluck Jonathan may not play any significant role in the future of the party, especially after he might have handed over power to General Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress on May 29, 2015.

This fear, according to reliable party sources, is hinged on his current body language regarding party issues. The Nation learnt that since the results of the presidential election became public, the President developed apathy towards party issues.

•Contd. on page 39

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

The 8th Senate, billed for inauguration on June 4, promises to be full of men and women of calibre. Sunday Oguntola considers some members that may well define the shape of the incoming Red Chamber

I

Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West) It would be a homecoming for Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Osun West). He was in the Upper Chamber from 2007-2011 but then on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He lost his reelection bid in 2011 to Mudasiru Hussein of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) when the political environment of the state changed with the declaration of Rauf Aregbesola as governor by the Appeal Court.

Adeleke is returning to the Senate with executive experience being the first civilian governor of Osun (1992-1993). He won't also be a complete stranger as he was in the Chamber for four years. He even served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

All the parliamentary experiences he garnered during his first stint as senator will sure stand him in good stead and enable him to navigate easily in the parliamentary business.

Being elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will also allow him to make more radical and robust contributions on the floor of the Chamber.

Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central) The Chairman, Committee on Environment and Ecology made his impact felt in the outgoing 7th Senate. He contributed to motions and bills in the Upper Chamber.

His reelection is expected to give a boost to the quality of legislation in the senate. As a former Special Assistant on Budget to the President (20002003) and two-term governor of Kwara, the Turaki of Ilorin has executive experience. That he is returning to the Chamber will be a great plus to his contributions and motions on the floor.

He should bring his urbane and versatile outlook to governance to bear in the new assignment.

Beyond the projects he is expected to attract to his constituency, he is also billed to be a leading light for parliamentary functions in the 8th Senate.

Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto North) Though he is a first-termer, Wamakko comes to the Upper Chamber on the back of impressive resumes in governance. He started out as Principal Assistant Secretary of Zurmi Local Government Area before his promotion as Acting Secretary. He was later appointed Chairman of the Sokoto local government from 1986-1987.

He later became General Manager, Hotel Management and Tourism Board, Sokoto. In March 1992, he was promoted to Director-General, Careers and Special Services, Governor's Office, Sokoto .

By 1999, he was ripe enough to emerge the Deputy-governor to Attahiru Bafarawa. He was reelected for a second term in April 2003. He resigned as Deputy Governor of Sokoto State on 15 March, 2006 after falling out with Bafarawa.

In 2007, he was elected Governor of Sokoto State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was reelected in 2011. He is resuming as a senator from May 29th with such wealth of experiences.

As a former council chairman, two-term deputy governor and twoterm governor, he is certainly one new senator-elect to watch out for.

Joshua Dariye (Plateau Central) A fiercely popular grassroots mobiliser, Dariye returns to the Upper Chamber on the strength of his towering political influence.

The two-term former governor of Plateau State has weathered all the storms against his political ambitions so far.

He was impeached in November 2006 but reinstated by the Court of Appeal. His second coming to the Chamber is expected to be much better. This is because he would have understood Senate working rules better.

Jonah Jang (Plateau North) Smarting from the defeat of his anointed successor, Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, has the Senate as consolation for the next four years. But the retired Wing Commander will come under serious scrutiny by his constituents, co- senators and the nation.

It would be interesting to see how he would quickly settle down in his new assignment and improve the lots of Plateau State from the Upper Chamber.

Being the only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator from the state will further put him under immense pressure to perform and justify his election.

Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano Central) Arguably the new godfather of Kano politics, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso had a stint as Deputy Speaker in the aborted Third Republic. He couldn't learn much of parliamentary function before the Republic was terminated.

He will have the opportunity to perform lawmaking functions with his election into the Red Chamber.

The two-term governor has sufficient experiences that will be handy in relating with the executive arm of government.

As former Minister of Defence, he should also find oversight functions easy to navigate. Ever ebullient and vocal, he is expected to bring the Senate alive with his contributions and motions.

Theodore Orji (Abia-Central) All eyes will be on the outgoing Abia State governor, Theodore Orji.

Orji, a first termer, will be watched on how he will perform in the Senate. He was a civil servant until he became Chief of Staff to former Governor Orji Kalu. He succeeded Kalu as governor of Abia.

Bukar Ibrahim (Yobe-East) Ibrahim has the distinction of being a three-term governor of Yobe.

He was governor from 1992-1993 before he served out a two-term in 2007.

As soon as he was out of Government House, Ibrahim moved to the Upper Chamber in 2007. He was reelected in 2011. He is returning for a third-term in the Senate.

As a ranking member, Ibrahim will certainly play prominent roles in the 8th Senate. He will also be there for those learning the ropes

Senators-elect to w • Adeleke

• Dariye

• Tinubu

• Melaye

• Oduah

• Aliero

• Bruce

• Useni

• Egwu

and serve as a stabilising force. That he is now of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will boost his visibility and impact in the Upper Chamber.

Abdullahi Adamu (NasarawaWest) The former two-term governor of Nasarawa State is a ranking member of the 8th Senate. He was elected in 2011. As the former Secretary of Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he is well versed in party politics.

He was also a Minister of State of the Works and Housing from 1995-1997, which should help his oversight functions. His elderly posture should provide a calming influence for younger senators.

Though he didn't make much of the first term in the Chamber, his second coming is expected to be much better considering that he has learnt the ropes and is now of the APC. Goje Danjuma (Gombe Central) The former governor of Gombe is not new to parliamentary world.

From 1979-1983, he was a member

of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.

In 2011, he was elected Senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Having served as Minister of State, Power and Steel from 1999-2001 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, he should do a better job with oversight functions.

Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom West) The governor of Akwa Ibom has enjoyed life as a power broker in the outgoing administration.

Things will not certainly be the same for him in the Upper Chamber.

His critics will be eager to know how he will adjust to a life outside of the ruling party as well as how soon he will understand parliamentary procedures.

His time in the 8th Senate will sure be test of his patience and humility in politics.

Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) The Third Republic governor of Kano has been in the Upper Chamber since 2007. He was Deputy Minority Whip in his first term.

Since then, he has grown to become an active senator, sponsoring motions and bills.

Much more are expected from his third term in the Upper Chamber.

Shaaba Liafiagi (Kwara North) Also a Third Republic governor in Kwara, Liafiagi won election to the senate in 2011. The former PDP's Board of Trustees member (BoT) has learnt parliamentary procedures enough to really sparkle in his second term.

The fact that he is now of the APC will make more people expect him to play more active and prominent roles in the Red Chamber.

Sam Egwu (Ebonyi North) The two-term former governor of Ebonyi is becoming a legislator for the first time in his political career. What should count for him is the fact that he was a former Minister of Education though his years were blighted by unending strike.

Having served as a minister and a party executive should help him do a good job with oversight functions as a Senator.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

o watch • Saraki

• Olamilekan

• Kwankwaso

THE 8TH SENATE IN FIGURES: • 11: Number of former governors elected • 5: Number of elected outgoing governors • 8: Female elected senators • 2: Number of returning senators from South-south states • 33: Number of returning senators • 76: New senators-elect

George Akume (Benue North West) The Minority Senate Leader is much loved among his colleagues.

He carries a calm mien that attracts many to him. The two-term former governor of Benue joined the Senate in 2007.

He is expected to provide a leaning shoulder for first-termers in the Upper Chamber, especially those from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Because he is a third-termer, his visibility and influence in the Senate will surely be huge.

Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) Aliero first won election to the Senate in 2007. He left in 2008 to become Minister of Federal Capital

Territory (FCT) under the late President Umaru Yar'Adua.

The two-term former governor of Kebbi returned in 2011 to the Upper Chamber. His third term in the Senate is expected to be explosive on the account of the vast experiences he has garnered over the years as a former minister and governor.

David Mark (Benue South) He is dubbed the Methuselah of the Upper Chamber, having been a senator since 1999. He emerged the Senate President in 2007 and has offered the much-needed stability for the Red Chamber.

But his fifth term promises to be different as Mark will no longer be Senate President. This is because the PDP, which he belongs to, is the new opposition party in the Senate.

Many will watch how Mark will relate with those who once deferred to him as Senate President, especially if they become Principal Officials. Every move he makes with the new leadership will also come under scrutiny.

Ike Ekeremadu (Enugu West) The Deputy Senate President might also not be a principal official in the 8th Senate. This will be a new, unfamiliar terrain for someone used to wielding huge influence since 2007.

The former Secretary to Enugu State Government however has enormous parliamentary experiences that will serve the Upper Chamber well. He is the chairman of the Committee on Constitution Review and Speaker of the Parliament, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

James Manager (Delta South) He is one of the two senators returned from the South-South region and carries a huge responsibility as a third termer.

Many will be interested in knowing how he will justify the huge confidence reposed in him following a bitter primary with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for the PDP ticket.

Barnabas Gemade (Benue North-east) The former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will resume his second term in the Senate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after a titanic contest for the seat with Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam of the PDP. His elderly counsel and maturity will be handy for the Red Chamber.

Bayero Nafada (Gombe North) Lawmaking is his turf. From 1999 to 2003, Nafada was a member of the Gombe House of Assembly.

By 2003, he moved on to represent Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency. He was reelected in 2007 and became Deputy Speaker following the resignation of former Speaker, Patricia Etteh.

He is returning to the business of lawmaking in the Upper Chamber with so much expectation from him. Having been a House of Assembly member and a two-term rep, Nafada will be in a familiar environment. Though he is a firsttermer in the Senate, he will make ample contributions because he is familiar with legislative procedures.

Jeremiah Useni (Plateau South) The former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister is back after many political setbacks. Ever blunt and bold, eyes will be on how Useni will contribute to debates and motions in the Upper Chamber.

Many will also want to know if Useni has put behind the many controversies that trailed his public life and political activities.

Stella Oduah (Anambra North)

POLITICS

The former Aviation Minister's last public service was dented by allegation of buying inflated BMW bullet-proof cars without following due process. That eventually rubbished all the accolades she received for remodeling of airports across the country.

Her entrance to the Senate will be a learning curve for sure where she would hope to redeem her public image and regain confidence. How she handles her new assignment will determine, to a large extent, if she has a future in national politics.

Ben Murray- Bruce (Bayelsa East) If his success in private business is anything to go by, one can easily say this medal mogul will make his term in the Senate count. But politics is a different ball game from private business.

Yet, Bruce remains one senatorelect to watch. His presence should add panache and finesse to the business of lawmaking. Going by his passion, Bruce should be a strong voice for legislation against piracy and other ills affecting the entertainment industry, his main forte.

Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central) The human rights crusader has made the big leap to join active politics. The adventure has been bitter-sweet for those from the human rights community like him.

Nigerians will be curious to know if the President of Civil Rights Congress will still be his radical, fire-splitting self when the pressure of governance shows up. They will also be banking on him to help with legislations that will further improve protection of fundamental human rights in the nation.

Dino Melaye (Kogi West) After piping Smart Adeyemi of the PDP to the seat, the former House of Representatives member has huge responsibilities tossed on his shoulder.

He was a delight to watch in the Lower Chamber, especially his roles during the Integrity Group's efforts that led to the resignation of Etteh. Many will watch to see if he still has that fire in him. His constituents will also be hoping he will better their lots. How Melaye handles the new assignment will define his political future.

Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) Her first term was defined by massive empowerment projects for her constituents and intense lobbying. The wife of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, returns to the Upper Chamber better equipped for quality lawmaking.

Adeola Olamilekan (Lagos West) The Chairman of House Committee on Public Finance has given a good account of himself in the Lower Chamber. Many will be eager to know if Yayi, as he is popularly called, will extend that performance to the Upper Chamber.

To represent one of the largest constituencies in the Senate is no easy pie. But Olamilekan should cope well having acquainted himself well in the Lower Chamber.

Buruji Kashamu (Ogun East) The chairman of the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West is still facing allegations of drug deals in the United States of America before his election.

The change of government at the centre has put his victory in serious jeopardy.

Whatever happens, Kashamu's actions or inactions in the Red Chamber will attract special attention.

39

PDP after Power

"It appears the President is in a hurry to assume his new position of an elder statesman. It is as if he is no longer interested in party issues.

"The party leadership too has not been able to get through to him as they used to do. Everything within the party is in a fix as nobody appears ready to take charge. And if you consider the fact that the President is the leader of the party in PDP, you will understand why nothing is happening now," our source said.

Also there are those who feel the President, on the strength of his commendable act of conceding defeat at the elections, would prefer to become an elder statesman on leaving office.

'It is not likely President Jonathan would want to be the leader of PDP after May 29. Instead, I see him gravitating more towards international diplomacy and statesmanship. He is widely commended by world leaders for his patriotism after the election and as such will enjoy the respect of world leaders after office," an analyst said.

Options before PDP Operating as the opposition party is alien to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For 16 years, it held sway as the ruling party at the federal level with many states under its control. But things have changed and the PDP has to adjust too. The first challenge before it is to bounce back to national reckoning.

With the All Progressives Congress (APC) about to take off as the ruling party, it is hard to see how the PDP can do just that soon.

Provide viable opposition So, to bounce back, there are options the PDP must consider, according to political analysts and experts. "The PDP must firstly keep its cool and navigate this difficult transition smoothly," Emmanuel Ojei, a political analyst stated. He said most ruling parties that lost elections in many African countries never really bounced back to reckoning.

But to really bounce back, Ojei said the PDP must devise means of providing veritable opposition and convincing Nigerians of being a better alternative. "Truth is the APC will make some gaffes. It is just coming into national politics with some new cabinet members that might not be familiar with governance at that level.

"So, there would be initial mistakes that the PDP can always point out and provide alternative solutions to. If they do that consistently, they will gradually win over Nigerians again," he stressed.

It appears the party is already thinking in this direction too. Its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the PDP will not be joining the APC in any government of national unity, for any reason.

Rather, he said the party will support the APC's administration for the growth and development of the country through viable opposition but will not be part of any

Government of National Unity (GNU).

Stand alone The PDP's spokesman added that the party was committed to making a comeback in the next four years.

According to him: "We will do everything humanly possible within the rules to defend democratic principles and ethics, which we have successfully nourished in the past 16 years.

"Because we are convinced that the APC lacks what it takes to sustain our democracy, the PDP is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that it returned to power in the next four years to save the nation's democracy and re-channel our vision of a greater Nigeria."

That also hints that the party might decide to stand alone, rebuild and win the confidence of voters on its own. This, to Dr. Musa Yahya of the Department of Political Science, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, is another option the party should consider. "I think the PDP is already a national party. Forget the defections you have seen lately. That is always the trend in Nigeria.

This, Yahya stated, would mean the party will have to maintain its structure and keep members busy in the run-off to the 2019 presidential poll. But that to Rilwan Adedeji, a former member of the party in Oyo State, is not an easy route to pass.

He stated: "Truth is many PDP members thrive on government patronage and sponsorship. That was their mainstay. Now that the party is out of power, how will it get the resources to oil the many machineries and structures across the nation?"

Merger with fringe parties But there is yet another option that appears so easy and tantalizing for the PDP to consider. There are 28 registered political parties with only the PDP and APC as dominant players. That effectively leaves 26 parties available for merger with the PDP. The party can draw inspiration from the APC, which became truly national in outlook only when it merged. The defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) fused to inject new vibrancy into the APC. Suleiman Ango, a political analyst, believes such option is not out of place for the PDP to consider.

"It's easy to 'eat up' or consume these fringe parties everywhere. They will be teased to work with the PDP and will come with values from their strongholds. So, the PDP will do well to see the parties such as APGA and PDM with regional strength that can offer better chances of winning elections again," he stated.

But this also comes with snags.

Will the parties readily dissolve their structures for PDP? Won't they be threatened by the size of the ruling party? Will the PDP also consider them equal partners in the merger?

Will the PDP consider a change of name like the parties that formed APC did? These are some of the hurdles that a merger option will bring up for the PDP.

• Aliyu

• Tukur

•Contd. from page 37

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

40

• Suswam

T

HE outgoing governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, must be wondering where he went wrong.

In a space of two weeks he saw his hitherto enviable political career built over the years crumble like a pack of cards.

First, he failed to ensure victory for President Goodluck Jonathan at the March 28 Presidential Election in the state.

Against all predictions, his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, came a distant second in the presidential poll in state.

Second, Suswam again failed to actualise his senatorial ambition which he said was "non-negotiable." He lost to Barnabas Gemade of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Gemade defected to APC few weeks to the general elections.

A former National Chairman of the PDP, Gemade was one of those Suswam frustrated out of the party.

Determined to prove a point, Gemade dazed and gave the governor a bloody nose in the hotly contested election.

The unsavory outcome of the presidential and senatorial elections in the state was said to have forced the over confident governor to re-strategise to salvage what remained of his political image in state.

The rescue attempt however became a mission impossible.

On April 11, Suswam's enviable political empire was comprehensively demolished by the sweeping broom revolution.

Suswam's gubernatorial candidate, Terhemen Terzoor, was roundly defeated by the APC's Ortom.

Like Gemade, Ortom was also frustrated out of the PDP by Suswam.

The wild celebration that heralded Ortom's declaration as the governor-elect in the state may have been one indication that Suswam have lost considerable political relevance in the state.

Benue people were angry with their governor. The anger expressly manifested in suffocating rejection of Suswam and those he backed for the presidential, National Assembly, gubernatorial and House of Assembly polls.

One voter at Tse Ajio Ward 1 in Makurdi Local Government area, after casting his vote, joking described Suswam as "bad market." As if the costly joke was

Benue: How Suswam suffered bloody nose Assistant Editor, Onyedi Ojiabor, who monitored April 11 polls in Benue State, reports on how Governor Gabriel Suswam lost out in both the national and Benue State elections not bad enough, another voter, this time a female, openly recalled how Suswam refused to pay teachers in the state for months. It was a red card for the governor, if you like, she said.

At the INEC headquarters, as Local Government Electoral Officers, under the watchful eyes of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Istifanus Dafwang, reeled out election results, local government by local government, it became obvious that Ortom was coasting home to victory.

With 22 local government election results announced by the electoral umpire officials, the APC candidate was leading PDP candidate with over 91,564 votes.

Out of the 22 local government area results announced, APC received 387, 753 votes while the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) got 296,189 votes.

APC was ahead in 14 local governments while the PDP won in eight. Only one local government area, Buruku, was still outstanding out of 23 local governments in the state.

It was also obvious that the only outstanding local government would not make any difference in the entire result.

APC supporters in the state took to the streets in a wild jubilation and celebration of their deserved victory. Victory songs were heard in beer parlours around the state

capital while all manner of liquor were freely offered to passers-by.

For many residents of Makurdi capital city, especially teachers, their "tormentor in chief" had been chased out. For them it was a done deal.

Apart from the defeat of Suswam, another major upset in the election was the defeat of PDP in Otukpo Local Government hitherto under the firm grip of the Senate President, David Mark.

Perhaps, the defeat of PDP in Otukpo Local Government was a signal that even Mark should watch it.

It may also be an indication that future elections in the Benue South Senatorial District, which Mark represents, could go to anybody.

Some of the areas that gave the APC candidate victory included Gwer East Local Government Area, where APC had 23, 831 votes to PDP's 12,657 votes; Oju Local Government Area, APC16,948, PDP 10,491, Vandekya APC 33,075 votes PDP 15,228; Tarka Local Government Area, APC 14,888 votes, PDP 3,571 votes.

In Makurdi Local Government Area, APC had upper hand with 33,245 votes while PDP got 23,550, Obgadibo Local Government also had upper hand with 7,892 votes to PDP's 7,358 votes.

In Obi Local Government Area, APC 7,786 votes while PDP got 8, 440 votes also in Okpoku Local Government Area, APC 7,209 votes while PDP received 10,849 votes.

In Otukpo Local Government Area, the APC candidate received 15,715 votes to PDP candidate's 14,519 votes.

According to community leader in the state, "if Suswam is searching for what went wrong, why the great people of Benue State gave him a cold shoulder, he needs not go far.

A leader must know when the people have left him. How well did the governor execute the social contract he had with the Benue people about eight years ago?

Did the governor put smiles on the faces of greater number of the people of the state?

How was the question of who gets what in the state handled by the governor?

A top politician in the state and an associate of the governor, who do not want to be named, said, "Suswam may need to go back to the drawing board for soul searching. It is well and good that the governor has said he has put his defeat in the senatorial race behind him. That is no doubt, one of the hallmarks of a good sportsman.

"As he settles down to the realities of the time, Susman may do well to use the remaining time left for him as the governor of the state to heal political wound he may have unwittingly created.

"If he succeeds in the task of healing the wound, Suswam may not have much to regret after leaving office on May 29."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

I

T is no longer news that the people of Borno State known for their high level of tolerance, resilience and fatalism for many centuries, finally humbled Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the self acclaimed ''Lion of the Desert''. They deported him from the political space, just like the American electorate humiliated Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential elections because he overrated himself.

This was someone who told President Goodluck Jonathan to hold him responsible if he does not deliver Borno and Yobe states to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Going by the results of the governorship and presidential elections in Borno, it might take him years to recover from this shock.

In order to understand how Ali Modu Sheriff got this far, it is important to take a historical excursion to put issues in perspective. For those who may not know, Ali is the son of Ngala born millionaire businessman, Modu Sheriff,who is also the Galadiman Dikwa. The senior Sheriff is a lesson in perseverance and hard work, having had a humble beginning as a local perfume seller to become a wealthy businessman of national repute. By Borno standards, Ali Sheriff comes from a wealthy family that humility should be his middle name. Reason, when the younger sheriff was growing up in affluence, many in Borno could barely afford the basic necessities of life. This is not because his father was more hardworking than others in Borno nor smarter, but, by sheer divine blessing and favours from Allah. Thus, many thought his administration will have a human face.

Sheriff is that Kanuri politician and defence contractor who scored many firsts in business and politics, being the first son of Dikwa emirate to become governor in Borno. He remains the luckiest politician in Borno history. He was in the senate thrice and two time governor of his state. He defeated the wife of Babagana Kingibe in the Borno Central Senatorial election during the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) days. He also remains the first governor to win an election without the support of the once powerful Borno elders. His emergence as governor in 2003, through divine providence and the power of the electorate, defeating Late Mala Kachallah, did not surprise many. The late Kachallah, despite being a peace ambassador with a genuine desire to serve his people, surrounded himself with sycophants that he lost touch with the people. By the end May 2003, Kachallah's major achievements were a peaceful Borno, rehabilitation of all Borno elders and fencing of all government structures. The rest is history.

POLITICS

Ali Modu Sheriff: End of an era

41

By Abdulrafiu Lawal Ali Sheriff's journey to political obscurity actually began May 29, 2003. This is because he started squandering his political capital through poor judgment and belief that noone was better than him in a state rich in human and material resources. He was allegedly vindictive and crippled the economic base of every Borno businessman or politician that could be a threat to him.

He drove fear into the minds of Borno elders that when he sneezes they catch cold.

Under him, thuggery, sale and consumption of marijuana grew in geometrical proportion that one would think

it was close to getting legislative approval.

Sheriff also added a new word ''Yirne'' to the political dictionary of the state. Yirne is a Kanuri word for ''throw', which involves him throwing money from the roof top of his jeep as he drives around the metropolis leading to the death of many children crushed by vehicles in his convoy or cars coming from opposite direction. Many were opposed to this, but could do nothing.

By the end of his first term in 2007, he had thrown sand in the eyes of all those on whose back he rode to power.

While all these may pale into insignificance when he left office in May

2011, his costly mistake of agreeing to the killing of Mohammed Yusuf, founder of Boko Haram in 2009, dealt a big blow to the home of peace. This is evident in the fact that had Yusuf been charged to court, the law may have unveiled the patrons of the sect. This single act of poor judgment proved costly as the sect regrouped and grounded economic, social and political life in Borno and neighboring states for four years, leading to the death of about 13,000 people.

Boko Haram took the state 50 years backwards. The sect also killed Senator Ali Modu Sheriff's younger brother, Goni Sheriff, cousin, Fannami Gubio, in-law, Awana Ngala and confidant, Mustapha Flawama. Sheriff could have used his closeness to Aso Rock to bring succour to his people. As a defence contractor, he could conveniently pay for the military hardware needed to crush Boko Haram.

He did not.

Governor Kashim Shettima, as a result, spent all his four years on paying compensation to victims of Boko Haram, burying the dead, paying hospital bills of the injured, supporting the welfare of soldiers on and off the front line, and enduring all sorts of insult from Abuja instead of building on what Sheriff left behind.

Also, the insurgency was a great opportunity for Sheriff to erase his 'sins' by being on the side of his people, but he bungled it forever.

Change they say is the only permanent thing in life. Today, Borno is gradually getting its groove back, thanks to the wind of political change blowing across the nation. Sheriff on the other hand is now a political orphan knocked out of the political ring by the same people he made life miserable for. Too bad, when next he is visiting Borno, he will have his heart in his mouth because there will be no battalion of soldiers to escort him to his house, neither will there be a police commissioner willing to put his job on the line by getting his men to provide security for the humbled ''Lion of the Desert''.

The political tragedy of Ali Sheriff underscores the following: power is transient, one is not deemed to be successful until one is able to manage success, money is not everything and one should always pray that emotions will not becloud one's sense of judgment. He has lost both ''the crown and the throne'' like the Hausa proverb ''Ba tarko, Ba tsuntsu'' and has to face the reality of being ''homeless politically." The Shettimas, Ndumes and Zannahs he vowed to destroy are now having the last laugh. Today's decisions are tomorrow's realities.

-Lawal, a public commentator wrote in from Boston in the United States. He can be reached on rafla2002pl@yahoo.com

By Fidelis Ogbogoh unfortunate situation would be greatly improved, and victims promptly helped if we can shorten our emergency number to just three digits. 3-digits number can be easily memorized by citizens, as against the present eleven-digit mobile phone number required for a citizen to request and receive emergency aid. If we were operating a three-digit national emergency number system, our girls could have remembered it easily and one of them could have called and, who knows, they could have been home today.

This is why the National Assembly should, as a matter of urgency, pass a Bill that enables the use of 3-digits emergency number to shorten the time required for citizens to request and receive emergency services from relevant government agencies. Currently, there are thousands of different emergency phone numbers throughout the federation, and present telephone exchange boundaries and central office service areas do not necessarily complement one another. Provision of a single, primary three?digit emergency number through which emergency services can be quickly and efficiently obtained would provide a significant contribution to law enforcement and emergency response by relevant establishments. This will make it less difficult for citizens to quickly notify public safety personnel. Such simplified means of procuring emergency services will result in the saving of life, a reduction in the destruction of property,

quicker apprehension of criminals, and ultimately conservation of public funds.

National Assembly members should appreciate and declare that the establishment of a uniform, nationwide emergency number is now a matter of national concern and interest, and enact an Act to be known and cited as the "Emergency Telephone System Act". The purpose is to establish the number "112" or any three digit number as the primary emergency telephone number for use in the entire federation, and to encourage units of state government and combinations of such units to develop and improve emergency communication procedures and facilities in a manner that enhances quick respond to any person calling the telephone number "112" seeking police, fire, medical, rescue, and other emergency services.

The emergency telephone service should be designed to identify the telephone number that a call has been placed from. However, with mobile phones and business telephones, the address may be a mailing address rather than the caller's location. The latest "enhanced" systems, such as Enhanced 112, are able to provide the physical location of mobile telephones. This bill must ensure that all emergency calls can be easily directed to the emergency communication centre within the locality of the caller.

The Bill for this Act should be given accelerated hearing as we all agree that the protection of

lives and property of the citizens is the hallmark of good governance. The new agenda of change, no doubt, should possess the robust political will for the establishment of "Performance Based Emergency Agencies" in all the states of the federation, with their "Operational Preparedness" harmonized by the appropriate federal government agency.

Disasters, both natural and man-made, will continue to place enormous and extraordinary burden on our communities, until government develops a performance-based system that can deal with our day to day emergencies. The system should define the basic objectives of government policies and procedures that should be used to achieve these goals. It must also tie together the activities of all three tiers of government, and coordinate the operations of various public and private organizations in order to provide the most effective and efficient utilization of available resources in fighting emergencies. It should guide official activities before, during and after each disaster situation.

This increasingly agonizing wanton destruction of our citizens' lives and property, as happened to the late INEC Commissioner in Kano and his family, must be halted and the vital lessons learnt by all of us.

- Ogbogoh, Retired Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service and Integrated Risks and Disaster Management Consultant, wrote from Abuja

• Sheriff

Why National Assembly should pass bill for use of 3-digits emergency number

I

T was shocking and agonizing as Nigerians read and watched with distress and in sorrow the news that the Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Abdullahi Minkaila, his wife, Zulaiha and their two children, Aisha and Asmau, died in an inferno when their home was engulfed by fire in the early hours of Friday, April 13.

The sad news sent shock waves across the length and breadth of this country, and the question on many lips was 'where were the staffs of the Kano State Fire Service when they were contacted? This brings to the front burner the fact that in the 774 Local Government Areas of the federation; only 244 Fire Stations can be relied on in situations of emergencies.

I mean 244 fire service stations covering the entire federation. Amazing, isn't it?

Some states have no fire stations. Most of the states have two or three ill-equipped and poorlymanned fire stations. Most firemen in Nigeria have only basic defensive fire-fighting knowhow. Majority of the fire stations across the country are accommodated within dilapidated buildings, and their equipment and appliances are very few. As things stand today, fire outbreaks can hardly be contained because as a nation, we have never been serious with how to deal with fire emergencies. The situation is compounded by the fact that emergency numbers, where they exist, are usually eleven digits mobile phone numbers that are hardly remembered in emergency situations. This

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

POLITICS

42

Mimiko bent on deputy's impeachment

E

XCEPT there is a last minute change of mind, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, is bent on taking his pound of flesh from his deputy, Alhaji Ola Olanusi, sources have alleged. The relationship between Mimiko and Olanusi has been frosty in the last two years, eventually climaxing in Olanusi's defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) few days before the March 28 presidential election. With the unexpected victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state House of Assembly election held on April 11, which came two weeks after it lost to the APC in the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections, the governor and some stalwarts of the party have allegedly vowed to ensure the impeachment of Olanusi before the third week of next month.

•Akande-Adeola

Why Akande-Adeola's third term bid failed

I

•Olanusi

•Mimiko

Jibrin intensifies lobby for Speakership

t's no longer news that Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola lost in her third term bid to the House of Representatives. The outgoing Majority Leader of the House of Representatives lost to her Labour Party (LP) counterpart owing largely to the influence of the party's governorship candidate in the last election, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, who fell out with the lawmaker over the latter's alleged refusal to defect alongside him to LP. Not a few in Ogbomoso, the duo's immediate constituency, credit AkandeAdeola's two previous victories in the 2007 and 2011 elections to Akala, who commands a cult-like followership in his hometown.

T

HE lobbying for the Speakership of the House of Representatives has assumed a feverish pace in the last few weeks. One of the ranking lawmakers jostling for the exalted seat is Abdulmumini Jibrin, a doctorate degree holder in Economics. Currently the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Jibrin has been a thorn in the flesh of some ministers, particularly Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and Diezani Alison-Madueke of the Finance and Petroleum ministries respectively.

Sources however say some influential returnees to the House are positioning the Kano State-born lawmaker as the next Deputy Speaker of the House.

•Jibrin

What next for Abdullahi?

•Maku

Maku under pressure to return to PDP

T

HERE are speculations over the political future of former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in the next dispensation. It would be recalled that he was removed as minister sometime early last year

by President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly due to his loyalty to Senator Bukola Saraki, the man who brought him into limelight way back in 2003 during the latter's tenure as governor of Kwara State.

Prior to the last general elections, Abdullahi served as Deputy Director of the Policy Directorate in the APC Presidential Campaign Council, a position his supporters in Kwara said made him very strategic in the politics of the state. With the victory of APC and his unalloyed loyalty to Saraki who is a senatorelect, tongues are already wagging over his next political move.

F •Abdullahi

OLLOWING his loss in the April 11 governorship polls in Nasarawa State, former Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, is reportedly under pressure to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it was learnt. Maku had dumped PDP for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which is relatively unknown in the North Central state after he lost the governorship ticket to Yusuf Agabi. For coming second in the governorship election on the platform of a political party they described as a "weak" platform, Maku has reportedly earned the respect of PDP chieftains in the state, with many already calling on him to return to the party and run for the governorship again in 2019.

IN VOGUE

By Kehinde Oluleye

Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

Raising a voice for the Nigerian girl With Temilolu Okeowo temilolu@girlsclub.org.ng 07086620576 (sms only) Please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com for more inspiring articles. Twitter@temiloluokeowo

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

‘Why I follow in my father’s footsteps’ Emmanuel Adejumo who goes by the stage name Boy Salah is the son of renowned artiste and comedian, Moses Adejumo, alias Baba Salah. In this chat with Edozie Udeze, he explains why he has chosen to continue from where his father stopped and more

H

•Adejumo

E comes from a family of artistes, a family where dance, acting, singing and even the playing of drums have consistently become a way of life.

Emmanuel Adejumo, who goes by the stage name Boy Salah is the son of the legendary stage artiste and comedian, Moses Adejumo, alias Baba Salah. The peculiar thing about Boy Salah is that he does not need to wear himself out too much to resemble his old man on stage.

He is a natural artiste in terms of the way he carries himself in and out of stage.

His striking resemblance of his father captures and defines his whole artistic essences.

His power of elocution as well as his mannerisms point to the fact that Baba Salah truly sired him. Emmanuel is indeed at home with the principles of theatre.

At the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) where he has operated in different categories as an artiste, Emmanuel is a well-known figure. Most often when he is expected to do a solo on stage, he does so, wearing that same type of make-up and costume for which his father was known. Adorned in an oversized spectacle and a huge smoking pipe he often captures the picture of the man he sets out to imitate. Emmanuel is simply maverick and quintessential, once he is set to entertain the audience.

At the moment, he is with the department of Music of the National Troupe, where, only last weekend, he conducted the Easter Musical Festival put together by the Troupe. While he did so, he was just in character, naturally doing what he said, “I love to do this all the time. Today, I sang one of the tracks in my musical album. That shows too that I am both a singer, a performer and a drummer,” he said.

He went on to say that the name Baba Salah has been opening so many doors for him. “Oh, yes, it is a well-known name among the artistes community and it has been helping me so far to do my act. The concept of Boy Salah is for me to dress like my father and do my bit on stage. Even as a singer, this make-up helps to attract attention to myself,” he said.

A multi-talented artiste, he was first employed as a dancer, later he became proficient as a keyboardist. Today he has been posted to the music department where he is expected to be more useful and relevant to rebuild the place for NTN. “Apart from all these, I love to dance all the time. Even though acting has formed the greater part of my life, dancing gives me much joy,” he enthused.

Some of his brothers who are artistes include Lanre Adejumo, Muyiwa Adejumo and Smart Adejumo. “All of them are good comedians like our dad. One good thing about us is that we do our acting naturally and people really get to see the effect of our dad’s profession in us.”

Professionally, Emmanuel has been into acting for close to thirty years. They were years when he said he was truly involved to make people relax and enjoy total theatre.

“I am quite happy now because National Troupe of Nigeria is where an artiste is given the opportunity to exhibit his talent. The current director is so good at it. He wants every artiste to excel in his area of interest.

To me, this is one of the best ways to encourage all of us to develop and be who we want to be.”

Talent, to Emmanuel, is what is inherent in everybody. “All we do at the NTN is to allow these talent to build in such a way that we can become big artistes tomorrow.”

This is how the management of the National Troupe has indeed produced so many artistes over the years. Today, the current director, Akin Adejuwon has also taken up the onerous task of developing and nurturing more artistes who can become their own masters in the years to come.

The young Adejumo said he began to nurse the ambition of being a professional artiste right from his childhood days.

“Around 1986/87, we began then to mimic our daddy. We would tie our wrapper on our neck and cut cartons of star beer and made bold ties out of it. We’d also put pillow on our tummy. Me and my immediate brother used to do this a lot. That would represent big tummy and we’d go about in the house pretending to be Baba Salah himself”.

From that moment, not only Emmanuel himself but others around him who began to suspect that he’d take after his father. “Yes, each time daddy travelled abroad he would buy toys for us his children. He would give them out to us according to how he felt. He did not make choices: he’d only wrap them with gift wraps and put them together. He would then ask us to pick them one by one.

Whatever you picked was your own luck.

However, most times I’d pick either a piano or a guitar. Little did I know then that mother luck was preparing me to be an instrumentalist.”

That was how his interest in music started. Just like his father who is equally a pianist and a guitarist, Emmanuel, quickly began to attune his mind in that direction.

Today he is not just a pianist, he also plays drums, guitar and saxophone. This was the moment the old man began to nurture him by singling him out for proper indoctrination. “Yes, my father was happy to see one of his many sons showing interest not only in the art but in his own style of acting and comedy. He’d then take me to places for rehearsals, for shows, for entertainment.

That was indeed how the exposure and training began for me way back in Ibadan where we grew up.”

Baba Salah who used to be a musician, was in love with the piano. “He began to teach me how to play the piano. He played the keyboard very well. So, after our morning prayer everyday, he would call me as he sang and played the keyboard. Often I would sing along as I watched him on the keyboard. At other times too, he would play the guitar or the saxophone not just to entertain the household but to keep my interest in the art aglow.”

Even though his mother and some of his father’s wives did not want him or his other siblings to follow in their father’s footsteps, they could not utter their objectivion openly.

“They didn’t want us to be artistes. But in the end our father’s wish prevailed. Our mothers were afraid we might end up marrying many wives just like our father did.

Anyway, my own mother could not stop me,

for indeed my love for the art was deep and convincing,” he said.

In his school days, Emmanuel used to be a prominent member of the cultural and dramatic societies. This was just for him to actualize his dream of being an artiste. “In those days, I was very popular in school. In the Igbo dance troupe then, I was the only non-Igbo who could dance Igbo dances with my Igbo brothers and sisters in school. Jide Alaje who is now a medical doctor was my closest colleague. Together we would do interesting Yoruba cultural dances to the delight of our colleagues. This was at Odona High School, Ring Road, Ibadan. By the time I got to form 4, we began to take other students out for cultural displays and competitions. That was how it all began for me.

Even my teachers knew I’d end up being where I am today. It has been a long journey so far but I am glad I have come thus far to represent what my old man has always stood for as an entertainer.”

In all this, the young Adejumo said he is not ready to be a polygamist. “Oh, no,” he exclaimed, waving away the idea, “I cannot marry more than one wife. Daddy warned us not to do that. He explained to us that he married many women to help him in his career and other business interests. He said to us: I want you to like everything in me, but not in the area of women. Do not emulate me in women o. I married many women because of my work. You know in their own time, no parents would allow his children to follow an artiste. So he began to woo and entice them with money. Each one that came eventually ended up his woman.

That was how it all started and daddy needed to protect and provide for them. So we all grew up without discrimination, for we all saw ourselves as one indivisible family,” he explained with profuse smiles.

Emmanuel who has his own dance troupe which he formed in 1994 at Abeokuta, Ogun State, has since relocated it to Lagos. With the troupe he makes tremendous waves by dancing and performing at social functions and all.

POEM

The Sun Sets IN Amuwo Odofin the sun Sets on the waters, On the brackish and on the fresh It sets on the marshlands, Creeks and mud traps The sun sets on the squatters Displaced from everyplace Not only on prostitutes and truckers And their road houses But also on the destite and rulers And their high fences The sun sets everyday In our Amuwo Odofin On shrines and mosques Their holiness and hypocrisy On churches and discotheques Their subterfuge and zeolotry On sinners and believers In their profanity and puerility On widows and widowers Their loss, pain and lust On beggars and boxers On traders and bankers Gunning and gain On car-shops and junkyards Also on Palaces and shanties Even on architects and proxies The sun sets On adversity and kinship It sets on hate and friendship And on love and stewardship On slaves and conquerors On cowards and warriors On spinsters and bachelors Complete with their Dreams, zestful youth And arrogant fantasies It sets on beauty and passion On style and fashion The sun sets on everyone On everything, some time Everyday some sun sets

By Uche Nwosu

56

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

ARTS

APRIL 19, 2015

Chronicles of truth at Mydrim C

HRONICLES of truth, an art exhibition of paintings and mixed media by two Port Harcourt based artists, Chinedu Ogakwu and Godwin Arikp, provides a comprehensive record of events, focusing essentially on the history of mankind.

The show seized upon various ideas of ‘Truth’ in suggestively rich and provocative in many ways. The memorable histories and wonderful revelation of truth exhibited by man, both past and present is what Chronicles of Truth portrays, according to the artists.

“The truth is appropriate everywhere, in every aspect of our lives, work family and more,” said the artists in a released statement, and this compiled the artists to focus on the chronicle of truth.

The exhibition opened yesterday, April 18 and will run until May 4, at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos. The artists said they will use the power of written words to spread ideas, the urgent beauty of handmade textured grounds and new media for this exhibition.

To them the truth is always relevant, and should be included. “Truth is the product of the recognition (identification) of the facts of reality. Man identifies and integrates the facts of reality by means of concepts. He retains concepts in his mind by means of definitions.

Though everyone thinks they know The Truth, nobody actually knows the truth except you, and me. We are ‘Truth’ and our engagement within the realm of time is the greatest expression of our truthfulness to life’s purpose,” the artists said.

Speaking about his works, Ogakwu said: “My art is a celebration of our roots as Africans, the simplicity of our culture, the beauty of our land, the values that we still practice, the wealth of our people, that which makes us who we are.

As an African Ambassador, art is my language and as you appreciate the work of my hands, you become a part of it. Ela-

•Face of Truth 1 and 2 mixed media 24 x 30 inches

By Udemma Chukwuma

tion, contentment and ultimate satisfaction are the feelings I experience when reaching the completion of one of my pieces, thus, granting me the drive and ambition to begin creating a new body of work. I like to define my artistic style as abstract in nature coupled with an expressionist quality.

“I believe that art always succeeds when alternate forms of utterance fall short. Form and colours are the language, and everyone on the planet has access to this purest type of communication. When I am unable to speak my feelings through blunt words or predictable actions, I take my brush to recreate my innermost self on a majestic camouflaged canvas using different media and techniques, forms and themes thus compelling myself to cre-

ate feelings that scratch the walls of my being in an attempt to escape into the world.

Ogakwu’s different styles are as a result of his years of exposure to art and “my love for Africa. It is this diversity that brings my ideas to life,” said this full time studio artist.

He specialised in mixed media painting and uses nets, ropes, sand, wood extract; glue etc to add some elements of sculpture to his works. “One great pleasure I derive from my art is the wide variety of emotions I inspire. I strive that every person viewing my art will find something that speaks to them whether I am physically present to hear the response or not, the viewer can still experience a connection to me and a deep sense that we belong.”

Ogakwu obtained Higher National Diploma in Painting at the Institute of Management

and Technology Enugu.

He is presently the chairman of a humble art group “THE MESSENGERS” and member of several other art groups; Society of Nigerian Artists, Pan African Circle of Artists, etc. He is currently working on a project of archival-coloured paintings, titled STONE AGE( as old as man ).His works are mostly historical and conveys strong message as

relates to the primitive life of an African man. Ogakwu’s vision as an artist is to really remind Africans and the world at large of their cultural heritage which should not be left to fade away.

While Goodwin Arikpo is an exposed of diffused and highly intense creative energy, a multidisciplinary experimental artist, creative designer, illustrator and painter

with content driven methodology. His highly perceptible mixed media art is a metrical synthesis of Drawing, painting graphics, mixture, assemblage, and sculpture composed to mutually create new veracity with a more easy-toread, figurative arrangement.

Arikpo’s extensive patois and innovative use of alternate materials and tactic surpasses routine technique, crafting a vigorous pictorial phrase that is not only multi-dimensional but also multi- sensual. These he expresses by fussing beads, fabrics, ropes, papers etc, into his works. He incorporates traditional symbols into his works to authenticate his quest for history, his imagery is instinctive, Subjective, contemporary and simple. He graduated from the University of Port Harcourt.

Arikpo’s works are a journey of contemporary life and he backs them up with history. This also includes his ties to his fatherland, theology, community, and social values.

Nwosu back in the studios

H

E is now back in the studios working for his third solo art exhibition in three years. For Uche Nwosu, the beat continues even though his health condition has not in any way improved. Mowed down by stroke since 8 years ago, Nwosu is ever eager to keep close to his work. He still paints with precise precision and unequalled enthusiasm.

An artist to the core, Nwosu has since learnt to use his left hand to handle his brush. Left paralysed in the right side of his body, using his left to paint now has somewhat altered Nwosu’s style of art. More of a mischievous painter now, he resorts to great deal of satire and comic relief to give vent to the varied areas of life through his paintings.

Most of his works even though show some signs of someone who wishes to recover fully to face the rigours of life, Nwosu is undaunted in his resolve to be different.

His strokes are variously anchored on human anatomy, on the very knotty issues that may mar or keep the world together.

There is often that confu-

By Edozie Udeze

sion in terms of terminologies or ideologies which Nwosu expresses. To him the term rocket may be for delicate peace in the world. Yet, often he jokes that it may stand for human anatomy where bullet helps in procreation.

Most of his new works point to family transformation, to areas where community efforts can help to rejuvenate the people and point them towards growth.

He said: I paint to seek the face of humanity, to display what the world stands for me.”

Some of his works include: Sacrifice (2011) is a painting depicting a stylized image of man with outstretched arms in the foreground. In this painting, the artist seems to be attempting to interpret the crucifixion story. Here the image of Jesus Christ bleeding on the cross of Calvary is depicted. In Uche’s version, however, there is no cross and the hands and feet on which Jesus was nailed are not illustrated. The only reference to blood in this picture is the crown of thorns around the head.

In Seeker (2011), the artist

typifies man’s search for truth, but like Pontius Pilate who asked Jesus in the book of John in the Bible “What is Truth?”

Uche Nwosu seems to be asking some critical questions here, the answers to which are yet hidden. As the lone figure in this picture is seen embarking on a journey into a labyrinth, the end to which no one knows, we can see the depiction of an equal-armed cross inscribed in a circle akin to that used by adherents of the Grail message on the right of the picture and its reflection is seen on the left side.

Colonization (1997) one of his older pieces talks about the domination of world affairs by the Western nations.

Here you see a Caucasian man dressed in a robe with the symbol of peace emblazoned on his chest. In his right hand is a cell phone as well as a switch for the nuclear bomb war head. At the extreme left side of the picture plane is a list of espionage agencies from around the world. On the right are flags and symbols of some western governments lie the Nazi symbol (swastika), Israel (the Star of David), Britain (Union Jack)

•Colonization; Acrylic on canvas; 122cm x 184cm; 2003

and USA 9Star spangled banner). Everything points towards Western imperialism and its effects on international politics. This work has obviously influenced by the fall outs of the cold war era.

It would however be un-

fair to say that Nwosu’s works are just about social commentary, politics and religion.

There are other works that are purely aesthetic or personal in nature. Works in this category include Horizon.

Beach (2013), Couple

(1996), and Obsession (1991).

On the whole Uche Nwosu’s paintings can be said to be reflections of a personal nature which invariably leads one to conclude that there is indeed something to be said for Art for its own sake.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

ATM hackers on the rampage Page 58, 59

•Roux

‘Consistency, innovation required to build sustainable brands’ Page 60

WikiLeaks puts NIMASA in the spotlight

W

IKILEAKS, the international whistle-blower reputed for revealing top secrets in high places has given a damning verdict on the current board and management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), alleging that it is peopled by grossly incompetent professionals.

In a classified cable titled: 'CONFIDENTIAL SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000044 SIPDIS E.O. 12958' exclusively obtained by The Nation, the Julian Assangeled WikiLeaks was equally unsparing of the President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, which it blame for allegedly truncating the progressive moves made by a former Director General of the maritime agency, Temisanren Omatseye, by placing merit on the altar of mediocrity, a development, the whistle-blower said has been counterproductive.

According to the classified documents, Donna Blair, the Consul General reportedly paid a courtesy visit to NIMASA on December 22, and they were taken on a tour of the maritime agency's training and operations center in Kirikiri, Lagos to highlight current capacity, shortfalls and strategic plans.

In a summary of the report on US Ambassador's visit, WikiLeaks revealed that "the Ex-DG of NIMASA, Temisanren Omatseye used a tour of NIMASA's training and operations center in Kirikiri, Lagos on December 22 to highlight current capacity, shortfalls, budget, proposals, and strategic plans to the Ambassador and Pol/

• Thumbs down Jonathan's administration, accuses NIMASA's management of gross incompetence, lauds former DG

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf with Agency report Econ Officer (Political Economic Officer). NIMASA has taken the first steps toward establishing safety and security in Nigerian waters, but it requires considerable assistance in further capacity building.

NIMASA is also engaging the GON with respect to training ex-militants in the context of the post-amnesty program."

On shortfalls in capacity, the online portal, which was co-founded by Assange, the Australain journalist in October 2006, further stated that: "Omatseye, NIMASA former DG gave the Ambassador and Pol/ EconOff, a tour of NIMASA's training and operations center at Kirikiri, Lagos on December 22 including a brief meeting with the NIMASA board of directors.

Omatseye highlighted both the improvements made in NIMASA's capacities and the existing shortfalls. NIMASA is currently capable of receiving and recording any distress signals from vessels operating along the West African coast, but has no capacity to respond.

"NIMASA also has a Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) repeater station which provides the capacity to see and identify ships up to 30 nautical miles off-shore, but wants to be able to monitor ship movements 200 nautical miles off shore.

NIMASA possesses one search and rescue helicopter but has no capacity to do

aerial surveillance. NIMASA maintains has a small twentyfour-hour health unit that can provide first aid and do triage, but not respond to major emergencies or do surgery.

There is a helipad on the facilities, but the jetty and maintenance workshops are still under construction."

The online portal further revealed that: "Omatseye's proposed budget for 2010 totaling 46 billion naira (USD 306 million) includes funding for the purchase of 28 patrol boats, one additional helicopter and the purchase of a long range tracking system with capacity up to 220 nautical miles. (NOTE: Nigerian media reported November 27 that NIMASA had signed a services agreement with International Mobile Satellite Organization (ISMO) of the United Kingdom (UK) for a Long Range Identification Tracking System. Other plans includes: locating a workshop for the patrol boats on the premises for oversight and control purposes but out-sourcing the actual maintenance work. In addition, Omatseye is looking into ways to cooperate with the Nigerian Air Force, which recently acquired assets suitable for conducting aerial surveillance."

The report further noted that: "150 of these ships are off-shore according to the Indigenous Shipowners' Association and their lights create a false shoreline at night. Contacts in the shipping community suspect that armed sea robbers and

pirates use these derelict ships as their base of operations for launching attacks on vessels awaiting entrance to Lagos or already alongside at Lagos port. These ships are hazards to navigation and their anchors have cut telecommunications cables in the past. Omatseye wishes these vessels to anchor outside the shipping lanes into Lagos harbor.”"

The Nation also gathered that the Department of Commerce, Energy & Treasury, having studied the reports earlier submitted by the American Ambassador to Nigeria on NIMASA under Omatseye's tenure, observed that: "Omatseye is a dynamic leader with a palpable will to improve Nigeria's maritime environment with respect to security, safety, pollution and economic opportunities. He launched a number of initiatives that are already bearing fruits such as the installation of RMAC, the acquisition of scavenger boats to address the pollution in Lagos harbor, the budget proposals for patrol boats, helicopters and Long Range Tracking Systems.

"However, he appears to be operating in a legal greyzone. There are no clear sanctions for many of the practices (e.g. failure to use AIS, anchoring in sea lanes) he wishes to prohibit. Likewise, NIMASA's mandate to develop into an independent law enforcement arm similar to the USCG is, at best, ambivalent.Further legislation is probably needed.Nevertheless, supportingNIMASA's vigorous efforts to increase its capacity are in U.S.' interests in the short and medium term."

•From left: Communications and Engagement Manager, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Ms. Bolaji Sanyaolu, Chief Planning Research and Statistics Officer, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Ms. Susie Odiete-Onwuka, Group Product Manager, Ms. Aigbeme Momoh and Brand Manager, Ribena, Mr. Essien Ekemini both of GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, during the final draws of the Lucozade Ribena Big Cash Giveaway Promo in Lagos at the weekend

57

-- Page 53

The many sins of MultiChoice •Ugbe

Page 62

Group alleges economic sabotage at OSOPADEC

T

HE National Secretary of the Egbe Omo Ilaje, Ondo State, Comrade Robison Ogunfeyijimi, has alleged that the Ondo State government has withdrawn large sums of money from the account of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development (OSOPADEC).

At a conference in Lagos, he said the government's illegal withdrawal of money from OSOPADEC account has led to decaying infrastructure in the Ilaje community and the state at large.

He said the money meant for the development of oil producing communities, if properly utilised, would transform the state, noting the people of Ilaje were negatively affected by government's action.

He said: "It had equally come to the knowledge of Egbe Omo Ilaje that some unscrupulous politicians are subverting the collective destinies of our people. They are fomenting trouble in the process crippling economic activities and making life difficult for the Ilaje people.

"We are calling on the Inspector General of Police, AIG Zone XI, Ondo State

Commissioner of Police, Ondo Area Commander and the DPO Igbokoda to put extra security measures to thwart the plans of these evil perpetrators."

He added that the community has suffered under the present administration, stressing that there are no good roads, electricity, functional health centres, recreational facilities and pipe-borne water despite the money allocated by OSOPADEC to develop the oil producing communities.

Ogunfeyijimi maintained that the purpose of OSOPADEC and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been defeated. "It has become an avenue for politicians, particularly the governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, and member of the commissions to amass illegal wealth.

"We are calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the activities of OSOPADEC since 2003 to date.

We equally call for the relocation of the headquarters of OSOPADEC sited at Oba Ile, Akure to Igbokoda in line with the law that sets up the commission."

Professionals for international agro-food fair in Lagos N a bid to properly address the challenges in the Nigerian agro-food and packing industry in the country, the trade fair 'agrofood & plastprintpack Nigeria 2015' is bringing professionals from all over the world to discuss and show a way forward in the sector.

The event will be held between 28-30 April at the Landmark Centre in Lagos and more than 1,500 professional trade visitors are expected at the free-entry event.

The organisers of the event told journalists over the weekend in Lagos that over 80 notable international technology leaders from 26 countries are expected to display latest technologies and proffer solutions for the Nigerian agrofood and packaging industry.

Supported by the Institute of Packaging Nigeria, IOPN, President, Mr. Mike Adekola, said that exhibitors come among others from Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and of course Nigeria.

He noted that the presence of IOPN at 'agrofood & plastprintpack Nigeria 2015' was ideal for visitors who needed a

global understanding of the food value chain in Nigeria, from the field to the final consumer including farmers, suppliers, transporters and processors.

The Project Manager Market Development Africa at German Engineering Federation / Food Processing & Packaging Machinery Association, Ms. Martina Claus, said that a delegation of member companies would be showcasing the strengths of German engineering at the first international 'agrofood & plastprintpack Nigeria 2015' trade show in Lagos.

Also commenting on the event, the Head of Delegation and Ambassador of EU to Nigeria, Michel Arrion, said that European suppliers could assist the Nigerian agro-food industry with machinery, equipment and technological know-how meeting a high degree of food safety and compliance with international hygienic standards.

He added, "For this reason, the European Union supports this important event and wishes that during the years to come it will develop into a leading platform for technological exchange in the areas of agrofood, food processing and packaging."

58

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

BUSINESS

ATM hackers on the rampage I

N EVERY age and time, technological advancement has always been a double-edged sword-offering one solution at a time as well as introducing, if you may, problem(s) with it. This is sadly the case of the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) which has become a nightmare of sort to banks across the globe because of the myriads of attacks by cyber fraudsters.

When ATM first came into the scene few years ago, they were generally thought to be impregnable but events have since proved otherwise as they have come under ferocious attacks in the past and it does appear that this ugly trend will continue for much longer.

Last week, the news media was awash with reports of some syndicate who invaded some banks' ATMs across Lagos metropolis and other cities across the country, destroying several ATM facilities and subsequently made away with undisclosed cash in the process.

Commenting on this development, Richard Aloysius, a staff of a new generation bank, said this is certainly bad news for banks. "For banks and depositors alike, this is obviously not cheery news and for the growing level of unbanked population, such sad news would further serve to make them a lot more disinterested in owning bank accounts whether now or in the future."

Echoing similar sentiments in a chat with a cross-section of security experts in Lagos, they told The Nation that cyber crimes, especially ATM-related frauds, were rampant these days and should be curbed before it further escalates.

While adducing reasons for the upsurge in ATM-related fraud, Andrew Ojei, an ICT expert in Ikeja, said ATMs have become easy targets because they are thought to be easy way of breaking into banks' vaults these days, whether in Nigeria or abroad.

"ATM frauds are not peculiar to Nigeria. It's even much worse overseas, especially judging by the spate of attacks and burglary in the last few weeks," Ojei observed.

Ojei, who recalled that he once consulted for a new generation bank to build their ICT infrastructure, said not many banks are investing enough in the area of ICT security, a development, he said, is counterproductive.

Particularly disheartening, Ojei noted, is the several unreported cases of ATM-related frauds in the country.

"Most of the banks affected have been maintaining a rather mute indifference," he said somewhat regrettably.

"You have a situation where some of the banks deliberately compromise their ICT security and this is usually to the detriment of the bank on the long run because if hackers come calling mostly unannounced, such a bank would be a mince meat for them, no more no less," he said matter-of-factly.

In the view of Bambgoye Dehinde, a Microsoft certified expert, he is worried that the outlook is really gloomy for the country where inertia has assumed a national culture of some sort.

"Unlike what other advanced countries are doing and will continue to do to nip the activities of these hydra-monsters in check, we in Nigeria, it does appear, are not doing enough in that regard and this is of serious concern."

CBN directive on ATM security Perhaps, this is why the apex bank had in March last year ordered all Deposit Money Banks to install antiskimming devices on their ATMs on or before June 1, 2014, following the alarming rate of ATM-related frauds across the country.

The CBN had warned at the time that failure to do so would attract severe penalties as it would invoke ap-

The unscrupulous activities of daredevil hackers who have made Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) easy targets in recent times pose a lot of danger to banks across the country, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

•Suspected ATM hackers being rounded up by Chinese security agents

propriate sanctions for non-compliance in line with the regulations guiding ATM security.

The directive was contained in a circular dated March 5, 2014, which read in part, "The CBN has observed with satisfaction the growth in the adoption of ATMs by Nigerians as one of the channels of e-payment. The bank is, therefore, committed to ensuring that the deployment and management of ATMs are in line with global best practices.

"However, we have observed with dismay the upward increase in the number of ATM-related frauds in the banking system. This development does not portend good news for the industry and requires urgent steps to curb the abuse.

"Consequently, in addition to the existing guidelines on card-related frauds and in order to guard against card-skimming at ATM channels across the country, all DMBs are hereby mandated to comply with the provisions of Section 3.2 ATM operations and Section 3.4 ATM security of the Standards and Guidelines on ATM operations in Nigeria, and also install risk-mitigating devices on their ATM terminals on or before June 1, 2014."

However, when The Nation placed a call to Ibrahim Muazu, spokesman of the apex bank, to ascertain the degree of compliance with the CBN directive on security precautions against ATM-related frauds at the bank, he neither returned his calls nor responded to the text messages.

A staff of the CBN who asked not to be named, as he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the CBN, however, volunteered that a lot was being done by the CBN to whip erring banks into order.

Nigeria not alone Worrisome as ATM hacking is to Nigerians, it is equally a very troubling phenomenon abroad.

Only last month, a gang of computer hackers was believed to have stolen tens of millions of pounds from UK banks by ordering ATM machines to dispense cash at pre-determined times - even without a bank card. It is unknown which banks have been targeted, and the scale of losses to British banks has not been disclosed.

The computer scam was so sophisticated that the gang, known as Carbanak, was apparently able to order ATM machines to dispense cash at pre-determined times - even without a bank card.

The massive theft was part of a bold £650million raid, meticulously orchestrated over the past two years, on more than 100 financial institutions around the world.

Attacks by the gang, thought to be based in Russia but with members in Ukraine and China, are feared to be continuing, despite being investigated

by Interpol and international authorities.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the internet regulator that manages the global top-level domain system (TLDs), last week joined a long list of major global companies that have been compromised by cyber hackers this year. The attack affected vital systems belonging to ICANN and accessed the system that manages the files with data on resolving specific domain names.

ICANN said it is investigating a recent intrusion into its systems and believed a "spear phishing" attack was initiated in late November 2014 involving email messages that were crafted to appear to come from its own domain being sent to members of its staff. The attack resulted in the compromise of the email credentials of several ICANN staff members.

A statement from ICANN said, "In early December 2014, it discovered that the compromised credentials were used to access other ICANN systems besides email such as Centralised Zone Data System (czds.icann.org); ICANN GAC Wiki (gacweb.icann.org); ICANN Blog (blog.icann.org) and ICANN WHOIS (whois.icann.org) information portal. No impact was found to either of these systems."

ICANN joins a long list of global companies including European Central Bank, CNN, Sony Pictures Entertainment, eBay, Twitter, Skype, Snap chat, iCloud, Linux OpenSUSE, Forbes, Tesco, German Aerospace Centre, KT Corp, AOL Mail, Bangalore City Police, 4Chan, Avast, Israeli defence con-

tractors, Sony Play station Network, Home depot, Infected ATMs, United States Postal Services, Drop box, Snapsaved, etc.

Modus operandi The cyber-criminals would pull off a raid by first gaining entry into a bank employee's computer.

They did this by sending authentic-looking emails that unsuspecting recipients then clicked on, inadvertently infecting the bank's machines with Carbanak malware - a technique known as 'spear phishing'.

Hackers were then able to infiltrate the internal network and track down administrators' computers for video surveillance.

This allowed them to see and record everything that happened on the screens of staff who serviced the cash transfer systems, which meant the fraudsters got to know and could mimic every last detail of bank clerks' work.

The cyber-criminals were able to hack into a bank employee's computer, allowing them to record everything happening on-screen and then mimic workers online to transfer money into dummy accounts.

They used this information to impersonate bank staff online, in order to electronically transfer tens of millions of pounds from the bank into dummy accounts.

On average, each robbery took between two and four months, from infecting the first computer at the bank's corporate network to making off with the money. Another method used was where the criminals would gain access to someone's account and inflate the balance many times over before transferring the cash.

The raids, which date back to 2013, were finally detected by Russian cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab, after a Ukrainian ATM was found to be giving out notes at random times - when no one had put in a card or touched a button.

The scale of the crime was global, with banks in the US, China, Russia and Europe targeted. Security experts are trying to identify the banks hit but say customers, such as this man, have not been affected… Security cameras

showed how money would be picked up by customers who appeared to be in the right place at the right time.

Kaspersky's principal security researcher Vicente Diaz said the theft was unusual as it targeted banks directly, rather than individuals' bank accounts, and that the hackers seemed to set their limit to around £10million before moving onto another bank.

'In this case, they are not interested in information. They're only interested in the money,' Mr Diaz said.

'They're flexible and quite aggressive and use any tool they find useful for doing whatever they want to do.'

A spokesman for the firm added: 'The Carbanak criminal gang used techniques drawn from the arsenal of targeted attacks. The plot marks the beginning of a new stage in the evolution of cyber-criminal activity, where malicious users steal money directly from banks, and avoid targeting end users.'

The scale of the crime was global, with banks in the US, China, Russia and Europe targeted, and the attackers thought to be expanding throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

In one case, an unnamed bank lost $7.3million (around £4.7million) through ATM fraud. Another financial institution lost $10million (around £6.5million) after the attackers exploited its online banking platform.

Kaspersky has not identified the banks hit by the scam, and is still working with law-enforcement agencies to investigate the attacks, which the company says are ongoing.

Losses to UK banks have not yet been disclosed, but are thought to run into tens of millions of pounds.

However, as the scam targets institutions rather than individuals, customers' accounts have not been affected.

Despite the fact the fraud has been uncovered, it is feared that banks could be hit again, as once installed the malware can operate almost independently of the gang and is difficult to detect.

Sergey Golovanov, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said: 'It was a very slick and professional cyber-robbery'.

They're flexible and quite aggressive and use any tool they find useful

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

•CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele

for doing whatever they want to do.

US authorities are putting an increasing focus on cyber security in the wake of numerous data breaches of companies ranging from mass retailers like Target and Home Depot to Sony Pictures Entertainment and health insurer, Anthem.

The White House wants Congress to replace the existing patchwork of state laws with a national standard giving companies 30 days to notify consumers if their personal information has been compromised.

Timelines of major cyber attacks worldwide Timelines of major cyber attacks showed that on January 1, 2014, Skype's Twitter account, Facebook page and blogs were hacked into to protest the NSA surveillance resulting in the leak of contact information of its outgoing CEO, Steve Ballmer.

On January 2, hackers going by the name Snapchat DB posted usernames and phone numbers of 4.6 million Snapchat users.

On January 7, hackers going by the name H4x0r HuSsy hacked into the official forums of Linux distro OpenSUSE defacing it and compromising account details of 79,500 registered users. Again, on January 24, Syrian Electronic Army attacked many accounts belonging to CNN such as CNN's Facebook page and Twitter account, along with several CNN Blogs; January 26 saw hackers defacing 2,618 Indian websites; February 2, computer networks of three major medical device makers were breached by suspected China-based hackers and February 14, websites of Forbes and Tesco and email accounts were.

Tesco stated that around 2,200 of its accounts were compromised.

March 6, KT Corp, South Korea's largest telecom service provider, was breached by hackers who accessed bank details, employment information and home addresses of around 16 million customers.

April 15, Germany's Aerospace centre based in Cologne was attacked by hackers. The Trojans were so advanced that they would self destruct if detected. April 15, eBay said that hackers raided its network, accessing some 145 million users' records, leaking names, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers and date of birth.

April 19, Pakistani hackers attacked BJP websites of Bihar and LK Advani's personal website and that of the Bangalore City Police. April 22, AOL Mail was hacked into and genuine user accounts were used to send spam messages. Around 50 million users were urged to change their passwords. April 30, 4chan, the image-based message board was hacked into. The hacker had gained access to the administrative functions due to software vulnerability.

On May 25, Avast's security forum was hacked into, culminating in the release of details such as hashed passwords, usernames and email addresses of about 400,000 people. June 10, names, addresses, social security numbers of Twitter staff members were leaked on the internet. On June

11, Twitter was overrun by a worm, which makes users tweet a self-propagating code. Due to this 84,700 users tweet the same message at the same time, thereby reaching a millions of followers.

June 16, Evernote's forum was hacked and company sent an email to around 164,600 members to change their passwords. Compromised data comprises profile details, password hashes, email addresses and birth dates. July 24, European Central Bank website hacked and personal information of employees and customers stolen. Hacker claimed to have a database of 20,000 email addresses, telephone numbers, and addresses of people who had registered for an ECB conference.

July 28, Israeli defence contractors responsible for the 'Iron Dome' missile shield, were hacked. The targets namely Elisra Group, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems were attacked and sensitive security documents pertaining to the Iron Dome were robbed. July 30, Tor Project, which allows one to surf anonymously protecting your location as well as browsing habits, was hacked.

August 24, hackers going by the name Lizard Squad hack into Sony's PlayStation Network using DDoS attacks making the plane carrying Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley to be diverted after posting through their twitter account that the American Airlines flight had explosives on board.

August 31, the iCloud accounts of several Hollywood celebs were hacked and nude photographs were released online. It first appeared on image-message board 4han and was later propagated via Reddit communities. September 2, US departmental store Home Depot payment systems were compromised by hackers across 2,200 stores in the US and Canada compromising 56 million debit and credit cards details.

October 7, Popular cloud sharing service, Dropbox, was attacked by hackers, who exploited third-party apps resulting in close to seven million accounts being compromised. October 9, Snapsaved, a third party application that lets users save Snapchat images and videos, was hacked leading to a 13GB dump of stolen images and videos surfacing online.

November 10, hackers exposed personal details including names, addresses and social security numbers of 600,000 USPS employees along with high profile customers. November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by the hacker group Guardians of Peace exposing personal details of film celebs and staff.

Coming nearer home, report had it that the ICT security network of some banks in Nigeria were attacked by some hackers but not much later heard of the banks as the affected banks maintained sealed lips for fear of raising anguish of its customers who might get panicky.

Interpol to the rescue Meanwhile, Sanjay Virmani, director of the Interpol Digital Crime Centre, said: 'These attacks again underline the fact that criminals will exploit any vulnerability in any system," adding that "the scale of the crime was global.''

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, a nonprofit organisation that alerts banks about hacking activity, said in a statement that its members received a briefing about the report in January.

"We cannot comment on individual actions our members have taken, but on the balance we believe our members are taking appropriate actions to prevent and detect these kinds of attacks and minimise any effects on their customers," the organisation said.

"The report that Russian banks were the primary victims of these attacks may be a significant change in targeting strategy by Russian-speaking cyber-criminals."

BUSINESS

F

IRST City Monument Bank(FCMB) has unveiled a new corporate identity to reflect an expansionist disposition cum contemporary flavour.

With the new look, its traditional corporate colours of black and gold which denotes exclusivity have been replaced with a vibrant combination of purple and yellow in an attempt to reflects its new positioning as a retail bank.

The Logo also went through some tinkering to make it less formal and more contemporary, yet retaining the distinct FCMB touch.

Speaking at the formal unveil of the new corporate identity, the GMD/ Chief Executive, FCMB, Ladi Balogun, who noted the refreshed identity signposts the present position and future of the bank added that it is a reflection of the bank's move from

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FCMB xxxx gets new corporate identity

By Adedeji Ademigbuji

exclusivity to retail banking.

"We have reached the height of our evolution, and we feel we are now ready to wear a new look that is reflective of not only where we are, but also where we are going. Our long term goal to be the premier financial services group of African origin remains. At the heart of the group is emerging a vibrant retail bank that seeks to rewrite the rules of the game."

Balogun added that the once-

exclusive bank now provides banking services to a vast majority of individuals."Today, our products provide practical solutions to the borrowing, saving, investment, and payment needs of our customers.

Every month, we welcome 50,000 new customers and we disburse 20,000 new loans, with over 2,000 monthly to women owned micro-enterprises.

Every month over 70,000 customers are registering on our mobile banking solutions that offer reliable and convenient ways to bank.”

Millionaires emerge at Lucozade-Ribena big cash promo

I

T was naira rain at the weekend for participants at the justconcluded Lucozade and Ribena 'Big Cash Give Away' promo as GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc lived up to its promise producing eight lucky winners who got one million naira each at the grand finale of promo which ran from February 8-April 8th.

The grand finale anchored by VJ Adams of SoundCity saw the eight lucky winners, Glory Idoda, Henry Oboro, Jude Nwosu, Tomide, Osawe Valentina, Akan Essinwang, Ibe Ejike and James Etukpo were randomly selected via electronic draws which were held at the GSK Head office in Ilupeju, Lagos.

An elated Henry Oboro, one of the millionaires, expressed his profound gratitude to GSK for fulfilling its promise to reward loyal consumers in the 'Lucozade Ribena Big Cash Give Away Promo.'

"GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc is indeed a credible company, am so glad to be a proud winner of N1 million for participating in the promo. I have always bought Ribena for my 20 months' old baby and that was what made me participate. I am happy I won in this promo and I promise to keep buying Ribena for my son for the next two years."

A total of 14 million naira was given out as eight winners of N1,000,000 each and 600 winners of N10,000 each emerged through the eight weeks of the Big cash giveaway promotion period.

The promotion which was specifically designed to reward new

and existing Nigerian consumers who purchase Lucozade and Ribena drinks offered all promo participants the opportunity to win the grand prize of one million naira each week.

Aigbeme Momoh, Group Product Manager, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, congratulated the winners on their big win and explained that the promo was essentially created to reward consumers for their loyalty.

According to Momoh, "Lucozade and Ribena are credible and nutritious health drinks that have been in the Nigerian market for over 40 years.

Needless to say, these drinks have had a very good heritage and enjoyed decades of loyalty, especially with Nigerian consumers. The 'Big Cash Give Away' promo is our own way of thanking our consumers for their patronage over the last four decades, and also to restate our commitment to keep producing quality brands."

Reiterating the commitment of the company to reward its consumers, Brand Manager, Ribena, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Mr. Essien Ekemini, said that GSK will not relent in its efforts to continuously appreciate consumers for their loyalty.

Also speaking at the draws, the Chief Planning Research & Statistics Officer, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Ms. Susie Odiete-Onwuka, who witnessed the draw, attested to the transparency in the handling of the draws leading to the emergence of the eventual winners.

According to Ms. Susie, "We at CPC advocate the use of electronic draws for promos and we are glad

that GSK has complied with that process. The transparency and forthrightness displayed at the draws will go a long way in strengthening consumer confidence between GSK and its loyal consumers."

Odiete-Onwuka, who represented the Lagos Zonal Head of the CPC, Mr. Tamuno Nkobia, while emphasising that a promo is not supposed to make the consumers get their money's worth as the money's worth, is the satisfaction from the products, however, noted that a promo is simply a way of appreciating the consumers for patronising a particular brand.

"I think that's just what the promo is all about. Sales promo is a way of promoting business. So anything that promotes business is good. The only thing the Council wants is that consumers should not be shortchanged. The promo should be genuine and fair and be registered with the Council so that we can monitor and follow up. So we're here to protect the consumers against fraudulent promo.

So, it is allowed."

The CPC rep however commended the management of GSK for adhering strictly to the rules of the council.

Other winners like Mrs. Dominic Charity, was full of excitement as she said of how she won her price. "I have been a customer of GSK since I started having children. I do buy for my kids.

I feel excited because I wasn't expecting.

Since I didn't work for the money, it's a bonus on my part. Of course with the cash reward, I am now encouraged to continue to patronise the brand."

Winners emerge from ICM Easter Eggtravaganza promo

W

INNERS have emerge from the Ikeja City Mall Promo tagged 'Easter Eggtravaganza'. The one week promo was in three folds. The first was the 'Easter Bunny Promo' held last Friday, and to participate, shoppers submitted their receipt of N5,000 purchase with their contact details at designated boxes placed at the three entrances into the mall.

And in a raffle draw, winners were selected and contacted. They won gifts donated by participating stores.

The stores include Mr Price, Cold Stone, Bheerhugz Cafe, Sports World, Nike, Swatch, Da Viva, black Up, Bruno's Place, Jack & Jones, Seven Eagle Spur Restaurant, Harmony, V Shop, Shoprite, Mango, Enzzo, Diva Accessories, Kidz Country, KFC and much more. Six winners emerge from this promo.

On Easter Sunday, there was the treasure hunt called 'The Easter Bunny Treasure Trail' where shoppers had to search twitter, Facebook and the Ikeja City Mall blog for clues about participating tenant stores to help them locate treasures(The Easter Eggs) strategically positioned inside participating stores. The clues were uploaded on the eve of Easter Sunday to ensure fairness in the whole process.

The third phase, tagged 'Easter Bunny Lucky Walk' saw the mall's bunny walk round the mall the three

days, sharing gifts to more than 20 people, appreciating them for their patronage and having selfies with them. Altogether, more than 35 people benefited from the promo.

At the raffle draw session, the Mall's Marketing Manager, Eniola Ositelu advised participating stores to always encourage their customers to submit purchase receipt whenever there is a promotional offer.

According to Ositelu, the Easter

promo benefits everyone who is involved.

For the Promotions Supervisor, Festus Adinoyi, working with the mall has been rewarding. "My experience has been rewarding, my job as the Promotion Supervisor of this mall has broaden my scope unlike when I was just the brand ambassador. My duty is to liaise with store owners in the mall and make them understand the benefit of promotional offers."

•From left: Festus Adinoyi (ICM Promotions Supervisor), Eniola Ositelu (ICM Marketing Manager), Esther Bassey (Diva Accesories), Olabisi Rabiu (Black Up Rep), Mrs Onyinye Buchi Thomas (Sports World Manager), William Akanbi (Bheerhugz Café), Austin Lawani (Samsung Retail Outlet Manager) at the Eggtravaganza Promo at Bheerhugz Café

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F

OR the Group Managing Director/CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, Guillaume Roux, sustainability is very key to Lafarge Africa. For a company which sets stores by the ideals and ideas of good deeds, the only way to become a sustainable enterprise, an entity that pursues culture sustainability , it'll involve transforming the entire value chain from the supply of materials to product design, operations, sales and marketing, and end-of-life management.

Urbanisation and rapid development have made the building industry play an integral part in our daily lives. This formidable sector has helped create roads, homes, schools and offices in which we live, learn and work.

As a world leader in building materials, Lafarge, both in Nigeria and globally, has over the years won accolades in recognition of its many sustainability initiatives - from corporate governance to environmental sustainability, human resource best practice and corporate social responsibility and continues to lead the charge.

"We have been operating in Nigeria for over 50 years, with over 98 per cent of our employees as Nigerians. Lafarge's commitment to building better cities is unwavering, hence we initiated projects to help provide access to affordable housing for Nigerians," Roux said.

He said as a brand that is passionate about the environment and its preservation for future generations, Lafarge has led the pack in awards globally recognising this culture.

"The Environmental Excellence Award in 2010, Water Management Solution Award in 2012, British Precast's Sustainability Champion Award in 2011 for the third year running, the Fleet of the Year Award in 2012 and a host of others are worth mentioning here," he said.

It is obvious that corporate responsibility is not an empty term for Lafarge, but the whole meaning of the company's commitment to the future and of the positive contribution intends to make to the society, future generations and to better cities.

Lafarge has a robust and realistic sustainability plan known as "Sustainability Ambitions 2020", which is a roadmap that signifies its desire to put people and the environment at the heart of its concerns.

The 2013/14 CSR report of the company shows that the company's annual budget appropriation on community development between 2006 and 2012 had continued to witness a steady growth from an expenditure of N77 million in 2006 to N189 million in 2013. An authoritative source

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

BUSINESS

'Consistency, innovation required to build sustainable brands' Guillaume Roux, Group Managing Director/CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, at a news conference recently, spoke on the giant strides made by the conglomerate in the over 50 years of its existence in Nigeria, especially in the area of affordable housing, environmental protection, innovation and sustainability of the Lafarge brand thus far. Toba Agboola was there confirmed that the CSR budget for year 2014 was over N200 million.

The various community development initiatives are deployed to address the needs of their local communities to provide programmes in artisan training, graduate trainee programme, employability trainee programme and community computer learning, among others.

According to Roux, "Our Sustainability Ambitions 2020 will help us to make a net positive contribution to society. This is not about philanthropy. It's about defining our role towards society while at the same time creating value for shareholders, customers, employees and communities."

As part of the company CSR campaign, about 4, 000 Nigerians, recently, have so far benefited from its affordable housing scheme project.

The scheme tagged 'Ile Irorun' was initiated by Lafarge Nigeria in response to the challenges of urbanisation in the most populous country in Africa, with a housing gap estimated at about 16 million units.

Thus far, over 4,000 Nigerians have benefited from the scheme, saying that this is a major step towards the realisation of Lafarge's ambition to help build better cities in Nigeria.

"Lafarge's commitment to building better cities is unwavering, hence we initiated this project to help provide access to affordable housing for Nigerians.

"With the development of the real estate, the mortgage system is beginning to come up, that is the way we can have a good growth in cement consumption. In Nigeria, 70 per cent of cement consumption is for individual homes builders with 17 million housing deficiency."

Interestingly, the company has been working with LAPO Microfinance Bank, ultimately to provide the professional expertise and LAPO provides the finance as this would bring a sustainable solution to the needs of local population in terms of housing.

Roux described the scheme a major step towards the realisation of

• Roux Lafarge's commitment to building better cities is unwavering, hence the company initiated projects to help provide access to affordable housing.

"This scheme will be the start of hope for many and we embrace the momentous difference it will make in their lives and businesses."

Also, as the perfect example of a corporate citizen, Lafarge was the first player in the cement industry that pledged to reduce its carbon emission.

Its target of a 20 per cent reduction per ton of cement between 1990 and 2010, which was achieved in 2009, has been attributed to the organisation's strategy of innovation and energy efficiency. It continues to research and develop new avenues to create products that will bring about a 30 per cent reduction of carbon emission, in

line with its Sustainability Ambitions for 2020.

Realising that the raw materials used to produce building materials are non-renewable and finite, Roux said Lafarge has gone top-notch by incorporating into its products, materials that are sourced from demolished buildings. This initiative, according to him, has helped create a virtuous circle for transforming materials and conserving natural resources.

As a market leader in building solutions in Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc is setting the sustainability standard for our great nation with the commitment to building better cities with safety as its core value.

In 2014, the company received several awards, including the Africa

Best Employer brand awarded by the Employer Branding Institute of Mauritius in confirmation of Lafarge's focus on diversity, inclusion; and investing in people development, health and safety.

The same year, Lafarge in Nigeria was awarded the Capital Finance International, Best Corporate Governance in West Africa in recognition of its efforts to protect minority stakeholders during the creation of Lafarge Africa Plc, which is a combination of Lafarge Nigeria's operations and Lafarge's South African assets.

On the merger with Holcim, another leading building materials firm based in Switzerland, Roux said the merger would benefit investors, customers and other stakeholders of Lafarge Africa Plc. He said the objective of the merger is to create the most advanced building materials group, considering the fact that both firms are leaders in their area of business.

"It is a merger of equals between the two groups who share the same values and standards of professionalism and performance, while also benefiting from very complementary geographic portfolios," Roux said.

He explained that the merger is high value-added creation project to their customers, shareholders, staff of both companies and their local suppliers, noting that by combining their forces, the two groups will offer the best products, solutions and services in cement, aggregates and concretes.

"With a global, diversified and balanced geographical presence, LafargeHolcim will benefit from both accelerating demand in growing markets and the economic recovery in developed countries. With the merger, our combined know-how will enable us to become more innovative, more competitive and faster off the market to meet the extraordinary challenge of global urbanisation - there will be two billion new country dwellers by 2050," Roux said.

Guinness Nigeria's boss becomes President, Diageo Africa

UINNESS Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc, has announced a change in the leadership of the company.

Mr. John O'Keeffe, current Managing Director/CEO, has been promoted President, Diageo Africa, joining the Diageo Executive Committee and reporting to Dr. Nick Blazquez, President Africa and Asia.

Mr. O'Keeffe's new appointment will take effect from 1st July 2015.

John will bring a breadth of marketing and general management experience to the executive team, having, in addition to his Nigeria role, led Diageo's Global Innovation, Beer and Baileys categories, served as Managing Director for the Russia and Eastern Europe business and undertaken senior marketing roles across multiple European markets and Jamaica. The Managing Directors of Diageo's four African markets (Nigeria, South Africa, East Africa and African Regional Markets rest of Africa), as well the Regional Finance Director, Africa, will re-

•O’Keeffe

port to John.

Since his resumption as Guinness Nigeria's Managing Director/CEO in November 2014, Mr. O'Keeffe's has been engaged primarily with sustaining the recovery of the business, building a fit-for-purpose commercial organisation and improving employee morale and engagement.

•Lauridsen

Growing and broadening our innovation portfolio has also been a key area of focus for Mr. O'Keeffe.

Under his leadership, the improvement in the performance of the business has accelerated.

Mr. O'Keeffe will continue as a Non-Executive Director of Guinness Nigeria and, as the Diageo executive responsible for

Diageo's African business, will continue to stay involved with the Nigerian business.

Meanwhile, Guinness Nigeria has also announced the appointment of Mr. Soren Lauridsen as Mr. O'Keeffe's successor.

Mr. Lauridsen joins Diageo from Carlsberg and brings with him considerable experience in the

beer category and knowledge of emerging markets. During his 10year career at Carlsberg, Mr. Lauridsen held senior leadership roles including Regional CEO of South Asia, based in Bangkok and Managing Director for Carlsberg India. He also has leadership experience of working for Carlsberg in Laos and Poland. Prior to working at Carlsberg, he worked as Category Director for Orkla Foods covering Nordics and Eastern Europe for three years and held several leadership positions in Unilever Foods for 13 years.

Mr. Lauridsen is thrilled at the opportunity to work in Nigeria and lead this exciting business.

"We believe that his track record as Managing Director in a globally renowned beer business as well as significant emerging market experience will serve him well in the role."

Mr. Lauridsen will resume his role in May 2015 and will work alongside Mr. O'Keeffe until the end of the financial year in June 2015 to ensure a smooth transition.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

Y

OU said in one of your past interviews that you almost eradicated second hand motor cycles when you started local manufacturing and assembling of motor cycles. Do you hope to achieve this same feat in the motor industry?

Exactly.

How do you hope to do this?

With the support of Nigerians.

How, please can you explain more?

Nigerians need to recognise and appreciate made-in-Nigeria goods.

Are you not getting patronage from Nigerians?

Well, they are trying.

Sir, I want to be very practical in this interview. How can someone on a monthly salary of N150,000 afford to buy a brand new vehicle considering his other basic financial commitments?

Someone on that salary can buy a brand new vehicle.

My cheapest vehicle costs N1.4million. It depends on the person's priority. You can decide to spend your money on anything you want.

A majority of your customers are government officials; does it mean that the average Nigerian finds your vehicles too expensive?

My vehicles are not expensive. Individuals, banks, corporate bodies and some government officials patronise me. The main problem is that a majority of Nigerians are not used to brand new vehicles. They focus their attention on tokunbo vehicles.

What do you think is the reason for that? Don't you think that price is part of it?

Even rich Nigerians buy tokunbo vehicles. The problem is the mind set, but gradually it will definitely change.

In the recent past, you said that one of your goals is to bring the price of brand new cars to less than N1million.

That is my goal, but because of the high exchange rate it has not been possible. I had planned to sell that vehicle am selling now for N1.4million for N1million. I do not manufacture my vehicle engines, I import them. So as soon as the foreign exchange becomes attractive I will review down the price of my products. It is not a Nigerian problem, the whole world is affected. It's as a result of declining oil price.

Do you consider things peculiar to our environment, e.g bad roads when manufacturing these vehicles?

Yes, we take those things into consideration and that's why we give our shock absorbers more reinforcement.

Our vehicles are more rugged. They are strongly built.

How available are your vehicle parts?

We manufacture the parts here, so they are readily available.

Are your vehicle parts compatible with other vehicles. For instance, can one use your Innoson's vehicle parts to service a similar vehicle?

(Cuts in) I know what you

Brand new indigenous vehicles' prices crash Chief Dr. Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma, OFR, the Chairman of IVM Innoson Group of Companies, needs no introduction. He is a manufacturer and producer which no consumer can ignore. It's either you are driving his vehicle or you are using one of his numerous household or industrial products.

In this no holds barred interview with Jill Okeke, he spoke on many things, including his goal of eradicating second hand cars by bringing the prices of brand new cars to less than a million naira, his disenchantment with government for not patronising locally manufactured goods, the need to revive production in Dunlop, Michelin, General Tyres, amongst others. mean. The same companies abroad manufacture vehicle engines for all of us but brand them differently, so the engines fit all.

In a previous interview, you said your boss gave you N3,000 in 1979 to start your own business. For someone who wants to go into the same business now, how much should he have?

It is not a question of money, but determination and commitment. You must be ready to work. Some people in that 1979 were given more money than me but they failed and some who had less money succeeded.

Apart from profit, what motivated you into going into motor manufacturing?

I studied the business and was convinced I would succeed. I do not go into anything because everyone is doing it.

Usually, I develop new lines of business and others follow.

I study it to see the way I will do it to make profit; the way I will nurture it to make profit.

I create time to make the new business succeed.

How has government's patronage and encouragement been?

The federal government is trying to support local manufacturing but the state governments are yet to show interest. State governments should patronise made-in-Nigeria products, that way local manufacturers will get invigorated.

As one of the indigenous manufacturers of motor cycles, how did the ban affect you?

It did not really affect me because I was already in car, tricycle, plastic and other manufacturing.

Many consumers go for Sports Utility Vehicle, why?

Because they like it; It's their choice. SUV is between a

A

•Chukwuma

jeep and a car. It is compact, the level from the ground is slightly high.

The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) attributed 75% motor accidents to second tyres, do you agree to that?

I encourage the total ban of second hand tyres as most of them even expire before being imported to Nigeria. They contribute a great deal to the accidents, especially on the highways.

So what will be the alternative?

Indigenous tyre compa-

nies like Dunlop, Michelline, General tyres should be revived. Government should encourage local production of tyres. We have abundant rubber in the country to produce premium rubber products. It is very unfortunate that we do not have encouraging government policies towards tyre production in Nigeria.

In your company's vision statement, regarding plastic production, you said you are working towards being a dominant player in Africa's plastic industry. How? I am already a dominant

player in the industry. I think we are the biggest manufacturers of high quality household and industrial plastics in Africa.

Where do you source your raw materials?

Most of them are from Nigeria.

What challenges do you encounter in the procurement?

We have no challenges as such.

You said you will rather engage people to work for you than using automated machines I have been doing it and that is why so far I have 7,200 staff. I use manual machines in my production lines. We have labour in the country, so until it becomes too expensive, it's better to engage people and pay them and alleviate their problems.

While at the gate of your company, I observed that your staff clock in to work. I mean it is not a common thing in Nigerian companies.

Every staff must clock in and out. I do not like people to claim they are working when they are not. I put in all my efforts and I want others to do that so we can achieve our goal. You must be hard working to work with me. You keep to your own part of the contract and I as your employer will keep to mine.

When do you plan to start training motor mechanics?

I'm already doing that. I signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with some schools like the Anambra State Polytechnic, Oko Polytechnic ,etcetera for the students to work in the motor factories for practical lessons.

They get exposed to all the various stages of car manufacturing including painting.

Can you tell me one of

Ibadan agog as Ace Roots debuts

FRICA'S brewing colossus, the Nigerian Breweries Plc, stormed the ancient city of Ibadan with the trade launch/unveiling of its new product, Ace Roots, to traders, distributors, retailers, entertainment spot operators and teeming consumers in the Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomosho, Oshogbo, Ilesha/Esa-Oke trade zone.

According to the company's Zonal Business Manager - West, Opeyemi Oluwalusi, Ace Roots is a product of painstaking research and response to consumers' retailers and distributors' demands and the result of Nigerian Breweries Plc's in-depth consultations with

critical stakeholders before its intervention in the herbal mix section of the beverage drink market.

"At Nigerian Breweries Plc., we love to respond to consumers' demands. You will bear me witness that your feedback from consumers and critical stakeholders have continued to play critical roles in our decision making process.

When our competitor came up with her brand sometime last year and stakeholders like you and our teeming consumers started asking when is Nigerian Breweries going to come out with her own brand of herbal mixture drink? We responded

by appealing to you to exercise patience as we need time to carry our proper research and consultation with you (retailers, distributors), including teeming consumers and other critical stakeholders before we can make a decision. The result of that painstaking research and consultation is what we are launching and unveiling to you here today - Ace Roots," he said.

Speaking further in his illuminating presentation to the tumultuous crowd of traders, retailers, bar operators, distributors and consumers that thronged the Ibadan Civic Centre venue of the trade launch in the Idi-Ape area of the

sprawling ancient Yoruba city, Oluwalusi stated that Ace Roots is produced with the wellbeing and welfare of the consumer in mind.

"Ace Roots takes the health, wellbeing and even the pocket of the consumer into serious consideration before it debuts.

The herbal mix comes with the lowest sugar content in the Nigerian market today.

Whereas there are herbal mixtures with as much as five cubes of sugar, Ace Roots has very low sugar content of just one cube of sugar. Aside this, Ace Roots is made with actual herbal juice extract from age-long roots, leaves and herbs.

your secrets as a successful business man?

I use a little profit margin to sell large quantities. If you are into wholesale, your target should be to sell large quantity and make your money.

Some Nigerian businessmen have opened manufacturing outfits in neighbouring countries, why have you not done the same?

Thank you, that is a good question. Two years ago, the Ghanaian government sent a delegation made up of the Deputy Minister of Industry, Chairman of the Ghana ruling party and the others. They offered me incentives and appealed to me to establish some industries in their country but I declined because my country must come first in everything I do as money is not everything. I have a staff strength of 7,200 people and it gives me joy to reduce people's problems.

As a manufacturer, would you say that consumer is king in Africa?

To an extent, yes. The consumer determines what is manufactured. If we feel that people may not want the product, we will not produce it. In terms of refunds and exchanges, the seller may not oblige you but the manufacturer will.

Is the government doing enough to protect the interest of consumers?

MAN, SON are already working in that area, but they can still do more. Manufacturers must be forced to meet up with the right standards.

How come we still have a high incidence of substandard and fake products in the market?

Go and survey the market, you will find out that those substandard and fake products are not locally manufactured goods but imported ones.

What edge do your plastic products, for instance the garbage containers, have over the imported ones?

We use virgin materials to produce our plastics, so they are stronger and tougher.

Those imported ones, especially the garbage containers from Germany, are not durable because they are manufactured with recycled plastics.

We supply industrial garbage containers to most African countries as we are the only company in Africa that has the exact machines as the one in Germany that is used for the production of garbage containers.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

62 BUSINESS

M

Y first experience of DStv was in 1996, some three years after MultiChoice arrived Nigeria with its pay-TV offering. It was during that year's Olympic Games, hosted by Atlanta.

My family had just moved to a new house and our next door neighbour was a DStv subscriber.

In actuality, he was the only one who owned a satellite dish on the entire street at that time. To welcome us to the neighbourhood, our new neighbour invited us over to watch Nigeria play Argentina in the final match of the football event at the Olympics. It is an experience that still remains fresh in my memory, principally because the picture quality was nothing like I had ever seen before. For a man who had watched much of the games (and, indeed television on good old NTA), seeing the vast difference in picture quality raised my excitement. And to crown an already pleasant evening, Nigeria's U-23 team (aka Dream Team) defeated Argentina to win the gold medal.

Nigerians of my generation were raised on a television diet served by the national broadcaster. The national broadcaster opened at 4pm and closed at 10pm on weekdays. On weekends, it opened by noon. Then it got better with arrival of state-owned stations, as we began watching right up to midnight daily.

Then came the fascinating experience of a 24-hour television service. The launch of DStv in the 90s totally changed the way we watch television.

Ideally, being the first to launch a new service in an emerging market or creating a new market altogether should be celebrated. But for some obscure reasons, this is regarded as one of many sins of MultiChoice. Subscribers and competitors seem united in anger against MultiChoice for pioneering pay-TV and keeping it alive and well for over two decades on an extremely difficult terrain.

MultiChoice, without fail, is blamed for the failure of its competitors. Editorials, as a rule, ac-

I

The many sins of MultiChoice

By Uriah Asemota

cuse MultiChoice of "killing competition" simply because the company continues evolving and innovating.

When it is not been accused of killing competition, it is branded a monopoly. But neither is correct.

There were and there still are competitors to MultiChoice. What it has succeeded in doing is staying far ahead of the pack that competitors actually require binoculars to see it. This has happened through its acquisition of the most exciting content and innovation, something for which it paid enormous sums. Even when it lost the rights to broadcast some football content a few years ago, it still remained ahead of the pack. The rival that won the bid, as we all know, is no longer in existence. Its inability to pay the amount required to retain the rights to the content, after initially overbidding to acquire it, not MultiChoice, was responsible for its demise. This narrative is well known, but it is omitted because critics find it a useful ammo in their war against the industry leader.

From the days of the huge satellite dishes, which cost over a N100,000 in the 90s, MultiChoice has upgraded its technology to make the DStv service more accessible to the average Nigerian. Because of these new technologies, the DStv dish is more compact, while acquisition, and installation costs are lower. Today, DStv is widespread with a complete set comprising a dish and decoder costing less than N20,000.

Despite these improvements, Nigerians are quick to highlight every hitch experienced with the DStv service. But is there a technology that doesn't have shortcomings?

Way back, I used to get angry when I experienced signal degeneration or service interruption whenever it rained. It was not until when I experienced same in the US a few years ago that I realised

•John Ugbe, MD MultiChoice that the problem is not exclusive to DStv. One day in New York, I was indoors watching the news when a raging storm broke. To my surprise, a message similar to what appears on DStv popped-up on the TV screen, and it went blank. That incident compelled me to read up about the occurrence on the internet.

The loss of signals when it rains is technically known as "rain fade."

Rain fade is a universal problem, but more prevalent in certain climatic conditions. It occurs when the sky is overcast during rainfall or when it snows. It does not need to be raining at a location for the service to be affected by rain fade, as signals travel many miles from the satellite. Digital satellite television providers which operate on the Ku band (such as DStv) or Ka band are faced with this challenge of rain fade. Contrary to the belief that rain fade is unique to DStv and the result of obsolete technology, the phenomenon also occurs in parts of Asia, Europe, South America and North America. Rain fade may occur less frequently in Europe compared to Africa, as its

prevalence is largely due to two factors: differences in rain characteristics in temperate and tropical regions and the quality of your installation.

These factors are ignored, often willfully, when the subject is discussed. DStv's critics prefer the convenient to the factual and have gone out to build-on willful ignorance- a vicious campaign against it.

Another sin of MultiChoice appears to be its decision to make huge investments in sports and entertainment. Our love for football, a huge one at that, has grown beyond the national team to affiliation with different European clubs.

Through DStv, a bond between us and those clubs has been created and is, of course, sustained by our daily exposure to their games and news about their activities.

A modern football fan in Nigeria is either a Gunner or Blue; proudly Red and so forth. This is all due to what DStv has created.

MultiChioce's investments in broadcast rights through the years have been heavy. That is expected, given that nothing good comes cheap. It is also entitled to reap dividends on its investments because businesses are set up to do exactly that. These broadcast rights escalate subscription fees. Recently, Sky and BT acquired the EPL rights for the 2016 to 2019 football season for 5.14billion pounds. That transfer of the additional cost to subscribers has already been announced.

The announcement has provoked no class action suit, the type we have seen here.

I have also heard a few people blame MultiChoice for our children's difficulty with our indigenous languages. An Igbo friend of mine once wrote a letter to an editor complaining of how his children have learnt to speak Yoruba from watching AfricaMagic Yoruba. Having married an Edo woman, it was not feasible for him to speak his language dialect at

home. And as is common in many cross-cultural marriages, in which wives and husbands do not understand their respective indigenous languages, my friend's children are unable to speak Igbo. Curiously, this was blamed on MultiChioce- for not having an Igbo channel. Thankfully, AfricaMagic Igbo channel is now available. But I wonder if it is right to blame a pay-TV company for our children's inability to speak our local languages.

MultiChoice is also perceived as arrogant and unresponsive to customer complaints. As a small business owner, I understand that poor customer service is a general problem which most service-oriented businesses in Nigeria are contending with. Whenever, I get poor service at a restaurant, bank or from a call centre agent, I have learnt not take it out on the organisation. The reason is not far-fetched. Whether it is a multinational or indigenous establishment, the staff are Nigerians. Sure, there is room for improvement in this area, but it should not be enough to provoke an all-out war against MultiChoice.

The lack of parking space and the long queues at MultiChoice branches are simply not acceptable. Rather than breaking MultiChoice down, new indigenous pay-TV operators should step up their game.

After all said and done, what makes a premium brand premium? Other than pricing and the tangible worth of the brand, it is quality. It is a consistent show of attention to detail and topnotch service. When one pays for a premium service such as DStv, expectations are high. My view is that to a large extent, the expectations are being met in the quality of programming as well as audio-visual quality.

- Asemota, an accountant and businessman, writes from Benin

Artisans receive working tools from lawmaker

T was more like a parting gift for the different artisan associations in Apapa axis of Lagos as the outgoing representative of Apapa 1 constituency at the Lagos state House of Assembly, Hon. Mufutau Egberongbe, gave out working tools to all of them.

The tools were given out in an empowerment programme put together by Egberongbe which took place at the weekend.

Justifying the need for the programme, the lawmaker who said he has always reached out to his constituents by way of empowerment since he became member of the state assembly, a position he has held for two terms, disclosed that he gave out the tools to the different artisan associations in Apapa "in appreciation for all they have done for our party and also for their support for me."

While thanking his constituents for their support, Egberongbe urged them to extend the same support to his successor "and I sincerely hope you keep supporting me in whatever I do even from now," adding that his leaders, party and constituents will decide his next political move.

The benefiting associations were mechanic, vulcaniser, tailor, hairdresser, battery charger

•A group of artisans being presented with work tools by the lawmaker collected motor mechanic tools;

By Oziegbe Okoeki

and car wash associations and they each went away with working tools relevant to their trade.

While the tailor association went away with sewing machines, mechanic association

the hairdressers association went away with hair dryers; while the vulcanisers, battery chargers and car wash associations were given tools to enhance and make them more efficient in their trade.

While commending Egberongbe, chairman of the occasion, former commissioner of home affairs and culture, Babatunde Balogun, said even though the lawmaker's attempt to return to the assembly was not successful "he is not frustrated or

deterred to do this kind of thing for our members. He is still trying to empower them, something he has always been doing, putting his resources in giving working tools to the workmen around here."

Balogun described the lawmaker as a loyal, committed, worthy, exemplary and inspiring representative. "So people should learn from the type of inspiration he is trying to give to our youths and to other people who are aspiring to be in the same position," he said.

While praying that God continues to bless Egberongbe, the senatorial leader in Apapa, Dr. Charles Esan, said, "he has been doing his best from beginning when he got to the Assembly and he is doing another one today on the verge of leaving the assembly, I commend him and may God continue to bless him," Esan said.

Speaking on behalf of the associations, Chairman of the Vulcaniser Association, Alhaji Musibau Oladele, said they were very happy over the working tools given to them by the lawmaker, "we thank him very much because all the tools he gave us here are very important for our work and that is how Egberongbe assists us every year," Oladele said.

63

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

INTERVIEW

F

ROM the reports you’ve had, how has the election been going?

The elections today (April 11) were much better conducted. INEC was clearly better prepared for this election.

Having seen what happened at the presidential elections and the national assembly elections, the electorates are better poised and informed.

The polity was heated. Everything was just charged unduly.

We thank God that at least Jega turned out to be a solid man. And he stood firmly. He was transparent enough. He was humanist given the conditions that he worked, dependable, solid, unwavering.

One wasn’t disappointed at all.

You said INEC was better prepared for the governorship elections but we’ve been getting some reports of pockets of violence in some parts of the state.

Have you heard any of such?

Well, I haven’t heard of any. I have walked down to Herbert Macaulay (road), it was peaceful everywhere. And the electorates were better prepared, more determined now to speak. I must say Nigeria has every cause to thank God. Before March 28, the whole atmosphere was uneasy. Tension was building up.

One could see enormous desperation from both the PDP and of course the opposition parties. It was more of a situation of ‘do-or-die’. It must be a time of decision for the country. That was the sort of atmosphere that was created during March 28.

What one has been praying for is that Nigerians must realise the power of the ballot box. I am beginning to see light at the end of tunnel.

That at last the Nigerian electorate is beginning to know they hold the ace. It’s going to bring good dividends. Politicians would now go into office and know they must keep faith to the people that have elected them. Nigerians are going to evaluate their performance. Anyone who gets to power and fails to deliver in accordance with what Nigerians want, at the end of four years, kick such people out.

And that is the stage where we can start saying, ‘yes, we’ve arrived.’ We are beginning to get to that. And thank God President Goodluck Jonathan showed what many people didn’t know he had – integrity, magnanimous, large mind, statesmanship which he rarely displayed. He displayed by conceding defeat ever before the results were officially announced.

He saw the handwriting on the wall. And the best in him came out by conceding defeat. He could have done otherwise. But we thank God he did what he did. Not only did he douse tension, everybody, including his party saw the need to toe his line of peace. So one is delighted not that the PDP had been kicked

‘INEC should embrace total computerisation’ Following the successful outcome of the 2015 general elections, The Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Lagos Mainland and first Nigerian professor of Robotics, Rev. Adebayo Akinde in this interview with Joe Agbro Jr, speaks on why Nigerians must utilise the power of the ballots and the efficient use of technology in elections, among others. Excerpts: out but because one could see Nigerians spoke and wanted a change. It’s a sign of maturity. And this time around, clearly the electorate is beginning to appreciate this value.

A number of people believe that Nigeria is more divided today than ever before. That if you look at the voting pattern of the last election, you saw the PDP winning in a part of the country and you saw the APC sweeping the polls in another part of the country, what would be your advice to the incoming president in view of this?

First, we must appreciate the fact that Nigeria is a massive nation. In terms of geographical size, it is a massive country. Numerically again, Nigeria is a massive country.

It is going to be very, very difficult, yes, some people have been warning and crying out about the danger of a one-party state. It can never happen in this country. We are simply too massive to go a one-party direction. It won’t happen. Nigeria is simply too massive a nation.

You’re not going to have a one-party state. It can never happen in this country. And then, there are too many bright, agile, articulate Nigerians that would hold their views convincingly, even when they are wrong. So, where you have such a nation, a one-party system can never thrive. There would be re-alignments and it is al-

T

HE Archbishop of Catholic Chaplain of the University Ibadan, Most Reverend Gabriel Abegunrin has urged Nigerians regardless of their religion affiliations to avoid abortion to avert the wrath of God. He said protection of life and family was critical to leading a fulfilled life in the contemporary world, adding that God created man to live forever.

The Catholic cleric stated spoke at the weekend in his Goodwill message during the international Conference titled “International pro-life and pro family conference” in Ibadan.

According to him, the root causes of abortion are knowledge, poverty, societal tendencies, legal structure and lack of support from the

• Akinde

ways happening. Just see what is happening in the UK. We must pray that this culture of people expressing their desire through performance to continue in the country. But, now, we are beginning to re-align ourselves along ideological lines.

The introduction of the card readers and PVC has been the major feature of the elections. the electronic system of voting. What advice

would you give INEC in this regard for the next elections?

First, we must commend Professor Attahiru Jega. As an academic myself, I’m very proud of him and he is someone one has known for decades. He has remained consistent – an activist, an antiestablishment person. If you know Professor Jega, he has not disappointed us in the academia. So, we must congratulate him and thank God

that the government was able to call upon someone of his own calibre to head our independent electoral body.

Secondly, Jega is an accomplished renowned political scientist who has brought his own experience to bear in the excellent performance of INEC. He has made use of technology at the highest level. But for our own local peculiarities, the result of the last presidential elections and the national assembly elections could have come out much earlier. But in his desire to be extremely transparent, of course, such a procedure would take time.

But he has made use of the highest technology – the card reader.

I know INEC cold have made better use of the computer in collation of results.

But then, transparency could be lost. So, he decided to do it literarily manually. If he had done full electronic, the results would have come out much earlier. If there is any drawback in the last election, it was the length of releasing the results.

Elections were concluded on Saturday, the official results did not come out until four days after on April 1.

America is a much bigger nation in terms of land space, in terms of population. Their election doesn’t take that long for the results to come. Nigeria could do it with what Jega has done through INEC if the whole procedure from the beginning to the end had

been computerised.

So, I think the only thing that needs to be added to the excellent arrangement that he has done is the computerisation of the collation of results.

It’s a matter of you getting the authentic results from the polling booths. The first set of collation would be done at ward level. From the ward level to the state level and all these have to be computerised.

From the state level, then you get to zonal. We have the six zonal structures in our country. And from the six zonal headquarters, then you get into Abuja, which is the national headquarters. A hierarchical type of computer network would have hastened the result much better than what we have. But then, as the maxim goes, ‘Rome was never built in a day.’ So, we should not be so much in a hurry.

The Anglican Church has shown concern over the conduct of the elections. What is the motivation?

It is concern. I don’t know of any greater concern on the part of the church than any other denomination. As far as our church is concerned, we want Nigerians to be godly, to be patriotic, to work for everything that is noble. The bigger the better, there is strength, there is power in unity. Nigeria as an entity is bound to be much more influential, much more powerful than any component in the event of a break-up. We must know that.

So, no single part can gain or will gain in the event of a break-up. It is a fact of life which Nigerians should appreciate. And the earlier we see ourselves as brothers, the better. What I believe should be uppermost in the mind of every Nigerian is to pray a simple prayer. ‘God, teach us as Nigerians to know the true meaning of brotherhood in the spirit of love, of justice, and of equity.’ There will be no peace without righteousness in any human society.

NEWS

Clerics preach against abortion

By Jeremiah Oke, Ibadan

family structure among others.

He said: “There is little or no respect for life anymore and of course without saying too much, the church is al-

ways preaching against abortion.

“If we are not supporting life then, why are we here in the world? God created us to protect life from inception.

Live must be protected.”

He enjoined everyone to

be interested in protecting life and renew their interest in the family.

The Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Most Reverend (Dr) Jude Arogundade, berated the western inventions such artificial fertilization, which he con-

demned as an abomination.

Speaking on the negative influence of foreign culture on the youth, Archbishop of Ibadan Emeritus Reverend Alaba Job, said: “The foreign information is dangerous to our existence.This convention is to send a signal to our people on how Africa cultures value lives.”

CLAM honours cleaner for returning N12m

T

HE Senior Pastor of Christ Living spring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM), Apostle Wole Oladiyun, has urged Nigerians to uphold honesty where ever they find themselves.

He spoke during a special service to honor Mrs. Josephine Ugwu, a cleaner, who returned N12million to the owner while working at

the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Oladiyun said: “I was touched when I read the story and I decided to reach her. As a ministry, we stand for the truth and we like people who are honest and we decided to honor her so that she can serve as a role model to other Nigerians.”

He encouraged those in-

volved in bad practices to have a change of mind before they are exposed.

With Ugwu’s action, he said a new Nigeria was evolving.

“A new Nigerian is evolving; Nigerians are now doing things right such that incoming generations will continue to build on this template,” Oladiyun stressed.

On what motivated her action, the cleaner said: “I was trained not to pick what does not belong to me and I have the fear of God in me.

“I am happy because people celebrate me in my family, workplace and my hometown.”

She advised Nigerians to be contended with whatever they have.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

WORSHIP

64

COLUMN

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Encounter with fresh oil through praise!

F • From left :Cathedral People’s Warden, Otunba Bolaji Osunba and lay reader, Chief Ebenezer Okunowo congratulating the new Bishop Adebayo Fagbayi and his wife, Funmilayo while the Provost Warden, Chief Akin Adejumo looks on... recently

Fulfill your promises, Adeboye tells Buhari, others

T

HE general overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has tasked the President- elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and other elected officials to make frantic efforts to fulfill their electioneering promises.

He spoke with newsmen at the RCCG Headquarters, Throne of Grace, EbuteMetta while congratulating the winners and other contestants in the just concluded 2015 general elections.

Adeboye, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Personnel and Administration, Pastor Johnson Odesola, said: “Nigerians are expecting positive

By Adeola Ogunlade

change in all areas of their lives; change in the healthcare sector, education, infrastructure, governance and reduction of the wide spate of corruption in public and private sector across the country.

“If you say a word, you must stick to it. We must be truthful to our campaign promises. Please make frantic effort to achieving them.”

He congratulated the winners and urged them to be magnanimous in victory and follow through on their campaign promises.

He noted that there were no losers in the elections because they could always seek another opportunity to serve the people some other time.

Adeboye, who restated his

commitment to love and play a fatherly role to everyone no matter their political affiliations, said: “I am a father to all. No matter the party you belong, I love everyone and would always be there to give my blessings and counsel to everybody.”

He commended the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, for bringing his knowledge, integrity and forthrightness to bear in the process, saying it remains a watershed in the nation According to him: “In my lifetime, I have experience eight elections; this is one of the best elections in Nigeria. I am happy to be living in a time like this.”

How to make heaven, by Ewuola

T

HE Deputy General Overseer of the Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT), Professor Samuel Ewuola, has urged Christians to always desire to be qualified for a place in heaven after their sojourn on earth.

He said Christians who are heavenly minded cannot be distracted by the sinful desires of the world.

Professor Ewuola spoke at the Easter retreat of GOFAMINT, Ikere District, at the church’s campground along Ikere-Akure Highway, Asu Area, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Delivering the retreat lecture entitled: “Building for eternity: The foundation, the structure and the finishing,” Ewuola described eternity as a dateless period which has no beginning or end.

By Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti

He also said that eternity as a large mass of time in which time is not measured by years, century, millennium, decades, years, months, weeks, days hours, minutes and seconds.

In building for eternity, Professor Ewuola harped on the needs to build a strong personal relationship with God that will qualify Christians for admission into the kingdom.

He said: “Foundation is a major part of any structure. It is the most important as it is the one that determines, to a large extent, the height, the structure, the weight, the utility and the life of the building.”

The cleric identified components of the Christian life’s structure to include truth, diligence, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, righteous-

ness, good works, prayer, avoidance of sin and watchfulness.

According to Professor Ewuola, there must be recourse to old time Christianity which produced better, more matured and strong Christians who have the stamina and ability of finishing their heavenly race well than modern Christianity.

He explained: “Presentday Christianity is more accommodating in pride, lies, ungodliness, hypocrisy, fraud in high places when social and material benefits are at stake.

But can an individual or organization take fire in his/its bosom and not be burnt?

“The love for position and struggle for posts are more common in the church today.

Self-imposed positions, lobbied promotions to places of high responsibility are the order of the day.”

‘I did’nt predict Jonathan, will win’

T

HE general overseer of Mountain of Liberation Ministries aka Liberation City, Lagos, Prophet Chris Okafor, has denied predicting victory for President Goodluck Jonathan in the just concluded elections.

He was reacting to being listed among clerics whose electoral predictions goofed.

A statement by the church last week, said: “At a point the man of God did saw Jonathan’s victory but he had

By Muyiwa Lucas

since updated that prophecy by insisting that the Lord’s hand had left President Jonathan and that God was no longer with him as was divinely revealed to him in a vision.”

It added that he later prophesied that Gen. Buhari was going to win if the election was free and fair.

“We make bold to say that that proofs and witnesses abound to support the fact that the oracle

of God had since updated his position on the outcome of the 2015 general election and has finally been vindicated by the outcome,” the statement added.

While setting agenda for the president-elect, Okafor urged Buhari to forgive all his enemies and address the power sector, which has become albatross to successive governments.

He also urged him to pick technocrats when forming his cabinet.

ROM scriptures, we understand that praise is a spiritual medium through which we encounter fresh oil. Just as we change the engine oil of our vehicles from time to time to prevent the engine from being damaged, we need fresh oil (the anointing of the Holy Ghost) in our lives for sustainable impact, victory and breakthrough (Psalm 45:7; Isaiah 61:1-3).

BUT, WHAT IS IN THE ANOINTING? The Power of God: We understand from scriptures that God rules by His power forever and that power, among others, resides in the oil. When Jesus called His twelve disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits before He sent them forth (Mark 6:7, 12-13). When Jesus gave them the oil, He called it power. It means the power of God is domiciled in the oil.

That is why when we engage the oil with the understanding that it is the carrier of God’s power, we dominate every situation of life (Psalms 66:7, 110:1-3; Acts 1:8).

Victory over our enemies: With fresh oil, we command victory over our enemies and the battles of life. The effect of fresh oil is seen in Psalm 92:1011. Remember, the power of God is superior to the powers of the enemy, so we have nothing to fear (Luke 10:19; Psalm 92:10-11).

Supernatural Breakthroughs: Supernatural breakthrough is triggered by the anointing, which secures our breakthrough destiny in Christ. Thus, when we keep

the oil on our heads fresh, no opposition can stop our advancement and our breakthroughs become unquestionable and irresistible (Isaiah 61:4-5; See also Isaiah 45:1-3).

Divine Protection: The anointing is a seal of protection over our lives and we understand from scriptures that we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. We must also understand that the anointing forbids molestation on our lives (Psalm 105:13-15). Therefore, when the anointing is fresh on our lives, the enemy stays off and we become a no-go-area for adversaries. Henceforth, no more molestation on your life! (Ephesians 1:13) Destruction of Yokes: There are certain problems choking our lives whose source we do not know, but we are just victims.

These include generational curses, hereditary diseases, plagues, etc.

However, we understand from scriptures that: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us… (Galatians 3:13).

The misfortune in our natural families is no longer our portion, because our family lineage changed at redemption. It is important to understand that the yoke-destroying power resides in the anointing (Isaiah 10:25, 27).

Another of such yokes is the yoke of unfruitfulness. It is important to recognize that fruitfulness is our heritage in Christ and through the anointing, the yoke of unfruitfulness can be destroyed (Psalm 92:10, 14). Therefore, no more barren experience in your life!

It is important to understand that God is the ‘anointer’ and to

be freshly anointed, we must gain access to His presence through praise. It is written: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name (Psalm 100:4).

For instance, David was a man addicted to praise as a lifestyle. He said: Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments (Psalm 119:164; See also Psalm 34:1). As a result, he experienced the flow of fresh oil, which caused him to subdue his enemies (Psalm 89:20-23; See also Psalm 23:5-6).

Every time we engage the mystery of praise, we encounter fresh oil and that is why the devil strives to steal our joy. However, we must recognize that depression disqualifies our access to fresh oil. We must therefore, live a praiseful life to access fresh oil from time to time, because committed and dedicated ‘praisers’ don’t run oil dry. Henceforth, the oil on your life will never run dry!

Friend, to encounter fresh oil through praise, you must be born again. This entails confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. If you are set to be born again right now, please say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins.

Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan, to serve the Living God. Today, Lord Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” I will conclude this teaching next week!

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books — Wonders Of Praise and Understanding The Power Of Praise.

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners.

We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively.

Encounter With Fresh Oil Through Praise! know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

NEWS

Fix Nigeria, Meduoye charges Buhari, others

T

HE President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has to hit the ground running to justify the enormous confidence reposed in him, the general overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Felix Meduoye, has stated.

Meduoye said Buhari had no choice but to fix the nation and deliver on his electioneering campaign to retain the support of Nigerians.

The cleric spoke yesterday with reporters during the international conference for ministers and leaders at the church’s campground in Ajebo, Ogun State.

The conference attracted no fewer than 10,000 participants from Africa, UK, USA and Asia.

While congratulating Buhari for his victory, Meduoye said: “I will tell him that he is an answer to prayers. The victory places on his laps a lot of challenges and the expectations of the people are high.”

•Reelected for five years

By Sunday Oguntola

Buhari’s emergence, he said, was because of the quest for accountability and performances among Nigerians.

He added: “Nigerians have proven that they are watching their leaders and their performances. They voted out a government and decided to pitch their tent with Gen. Buhari because they feel he can make a difference.

“Now that he has the mandate, I will advise him to deliver on his promises. He has to really change this nation because that is what Nigerians voted for.

“He has to fight corruption in high and low places and fix our infrastructural deficiencies. Regardless of what happens, Nigerians wants results, not excuses.”

He said other elected political office holders have no choice but to also deliver on their electoral promises because Nigerians are now better enlightened and ready to hold their leaders to accountability.

“They all have to sit down and look at their manifestoes again. They have to find ways to implement all the promises they made because I think Nigerians are beginning to hold leaders accountable,” he stressed.

Meduoye, who was reelected by a massive voice vote for another term of five years during the conference, assured he was poised to take the church to the next level.

This, he said, informed the decade of multiplication vision, which he claimed to have shared with leaders for massive soul winning and infrastructural development in the church.

“We attribute everything to God. He has not left us and I’m sure he will give us the grace to do greater works. We are humbled by the mandate and we pledge to stop at nothing, by His grace, to take the church to where God wants it,” Meduoye stressed.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

65

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

IGHOFETA

IGHARIEMU

BADEJO

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Frank Uduak Aniefiok and Frank Godswill Aniefiok refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as Frank Godswill Aniefiok. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Okwum Chinedu and Mr. Tasie Chinedu refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Tasie Chinedu.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OKE

OGUNLEYE I formerly Known and addressed as Ogunleye Oluwayemisi Abigail , now wish to be Known and addressed as Longe Oluwayemisi Abigail. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

AJOKU I formerly known and addressed as Anthony Avugara Ajoku, now wish to be known and addressed as Anthony Avugara Anosike All former documents remain valid .The general public please take note.

OGBEH I formerly known and addressed as, Miss Ann Nwakaego Ogbeh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Annabel Nwakaego ObiKeguna. All former documents remain valid. National Agricultural Seeds Council FCT Abuja and the general public please take note.

OLAMIJU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olamiju Dorcas Temilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Olaniyan Dorcas Temilola. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

OKOSI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okosi Chidubem Lynda Helen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Okoro Chidubem Lynda Helen . All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

AMOSU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Isiwat Olabisi Amosu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Isiwat Olabisi Amosu-Folarin.

All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

OKECHUKWU I formerly known and addressed as Okechukwu Agatha Amaka, now wish to be known and addressed as Chukwudoziri Agatha Chukwuamaka. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

ADADEVOH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adadevoh Tolulope Abla, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Fakehinde Tolulope Abla. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

OPABUNMI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwakemi Mary Opabunmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs oluwakemi Mary oludare. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

NWOBI: I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwobi Scholastica Ogochukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Nwene Scholastica Ogochukwu. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

ADEBAYO I formerly known and addressed as Victoria Adenike Adebayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Victoria Adenike Olatunde. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME Folorunsho: I known and addressed as ,Mr Awoyele Folorunsho Razak is the same person as Awoyele Razak and Awoyele Elijah Razak . All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Mr. GODSPOWER OGBONNA EMMANUEL and Mr. NWANKPUKE OGBONNA EMMANUEL refer to one and same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. GODSPOWER OGBONNA EMMANUEL. All former documents remain valid.

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ighofeta, Aghogho Anthonia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ejuone Aghogho Anthonia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Augustina Oghogho Ighariemu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Augustina Oghogho Ebiye Shopboy. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Monsurat Adenuga Badejo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Otubu, Adebukunola Monsurat. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Owolabi, Ololade Oluwakemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesinasi, Ololade Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Onine Blessing Ifeanyichukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odighibor Blessing. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoronkwo, Onyinye Cynthia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezeagu, Onyinye Cynthia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Ifebogun Oluwakemi Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Disu, Oluwakemi Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Nanie Claudius Enegesi, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Nanie Enegesi Nwawueze. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Abimbola Rukayat Gbadamosi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abimbola Rukayat Ogunlaja. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoro Efe Jane, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. lge Efe. Jane. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Caroline Oduwole, now wish to be known and addressed as Caroline Idowu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Odenogbo, Oluwakemi Bukola, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Bamidele, Oluwakemi Bukola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladipupo Bosede Bola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Egbufor Elizabeth Omobola.

All former documents remain valid.

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oyedele Sherifat Busayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Qasim, Sherifat Busayo Oyedele. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Toby Antigha Etim, now wish to be known and addressed as Umo Antigha Etim. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojo Grace Oluwayemisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olaniyi Grace Oluwayemisi.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nneka Chinyere Udeagbala, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nneka Chinyere Ijirigho. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoli, Prudent Onyinyechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Leo-Chukwuka, Prudent Onyinyechi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Livinus Ndubuisi Onwu now wish to be known and addressed as Livinus Ndubuisi Ejiofor. All former documents remain valid. WAEC,NECO and Polytechnic lbadan and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Balogun, Rahmot Omolabake, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adetayo, Rahmot Omolabake. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Odeyemi, Odetola Olusola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Umukoro, Odetola Olusola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Gift Agwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gift Nkem Philips. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Azeez, Basirat Dupe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebiyi, Basirat Dupe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okpeke, Queen -Rose Onyema, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bright QueenRose Onyema. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Bankole Motunrayo Aminat, now wish to be known and addressed as Adejuwon Motunrayo Aminat. All former documents remain valid.

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I formerly known and addressed as Miss Eniola Ganiyat Semiu Raji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eniola Folashade Raji. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ndifreke Polycarp John, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ndifreke Michael Njoku. All former documents remain valid.

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I formerly known and addressed as Uhegbe Chukwuebuka Charles, now wish to be known and addressed as Anozie Chukwuebuka Chaeles. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Lawal, Oluwafunmilayo Aishat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Jimoh, Olufunmilayo Aishat. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to notify the general public that Etim Jonah Asukwo is one and the same person as Etim Jonah Asuquo. All documents bearing the the above names remain valid.

University of Ibadan and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Enekamma, Ifeyinwa Anthonia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adinu Ifeyinwa Anthonia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to notify the general public that Ikuromo Bruce-Samiama, Ikuromo Rita Bruce and Ikuromo Rita Izuagie refers to one and the same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as Ikuromo Bruce-Samiama. All documents bearing the the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Titilope Omotayo Modile/ Miss Titilope Rahmat Modile, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Titilope Omotayo Rahmat Awe. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Nwachukwu Loveth Onyinyechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Nwachukwu Onyinyechi Faustina. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OWOLABI

IFEBOGUN

OKORO

OLADIPUPO

OJO

ONWU

AGWU

BANKOLE

UHEGBE

NWACHUKWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwachukwu Amarachi Caroline, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anozie Amarachi Caroline. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ODUYIKA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oduyiga, Adeola Sakirat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oni, Adeola Sakirat. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

LAWRENCE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Monica Lawrence, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Monica Ogwa Lawrence Godfrey.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ADEMOLA

I, formerly known as Miss ADEMOLA FOLASADE ALICE, now wish to be known as Mrs. OLAGUNDOYE FOLASADE ALICE. All former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

ONINE

ENEGESI

ODUWOLE

OYEDELE

UDEAGBALA

BALOGUN

AZEEZ

RAJI

LAWAL

MODILE

SULAIMO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Anuoluwa Ibiyemi Sulaimo/ Miss Anuoluwa Hadjat Sulaimon, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anuoluwa Ibiyemi Ogunro. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KALU

ADEWUMI

I formerly known and addressed as Kalu, Onyekwere Victor, now wish to be known and addressed as Chidima Victor Onyekwere. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ZIDOUGHA

I formerly known and addressed as Balogun, Ramota Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Osho Ramota Mosunmola. All former documents remain valid. Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adewumi, Racheal Opeoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oyeyipo, Racheal Opeoluwa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Zidougha, Rita Inongokpoemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Zidougha Inongokpoemi Rita Alamieyeseigha. All former documents remain valid. Niger Delta University and general public should please take note.

BALOGUN

UBA

ONWUKA

I formerly known and addressed as Uba Iloka, now wish to be known and addressed as Uba Enechukwu Iloka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EDWARD

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Suleiman, Olabamidele Halimat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kazeem, Olabamidele Halimat. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Onwuka Chukwudi Joshua, now wish to be known and addressed as Joshua Chukwudi Ezekiel. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Edward, Irene Ifeoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ihediwa Irene Ifeoma. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

SULEIMAN

OLUFAYO

I formerly known and addressed as Olufayo, biodun Mercy, now wish to be known and addressed as Johnson Mercy Abiodun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OKORONKWO

GBADAMOSI

ODENIGBO

TOBY

OKOLI

ODEYEMI

OKPEKE

JOHN

ENEKAMMA

LOVETH

ENA

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Enahoro Iluomonena Ena, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Enahoro Irhuoghene Blossom.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OLADEINDE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladeinde, Opeyemi Oluwakemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aduragbemi, Opeyemi Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OSUALA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Millian Akudo Kalu Osuala, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Millian Obiora Oji. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

JOHN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Patience John, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Patience Paul. All former documents remain valid. Abia State Ploytechnic, Aba and general public should please take note.

EKWEOZOH

I formerly known and addressed as Master Chikordili Fabian Ekweozor, now wish to be known and addressed as Master Chikordili Fabian Okeke. All former documents remain valid.

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AAGBARA

I formerly known and addressed as Aagbara Jack Moses, now wish to be known and addressed as Aagbara Jack Moses Ma-ol. All former documents remain valid.

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FASESIN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss FASESIN MOROUNMUBO OYINLOLA, and wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. IDOWU MOROUNMUBO OYINLOLA. All former documents remain valid.

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IDOWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss ADEKUNLE RUKAYAT OMOLARA IDOWU, and wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. JIMOH OMOLARA RUKAYAT IDOWU. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NNABUDE

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS NNABUDE JOY UKAMAKA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS . OZOBU JOY UKAMAKA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I ABIODUN BLESSING OPEYEMI: that I sat for (NECO) June/July, 2014 my name was registered as Abiodun Blessing with Exam No. 40374153ID, my rightful name is Abiodun B l e s s i n g O p e y e m i that A b i o d u n Blessing Opeyemi is the same person as Abiodun Blessing, Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I ADEWALE MOYOADE TOLANI that I offer addmission to Osun State Polytechnic Iree and my name was eroneously spelt as Adewale Moyeade Tolani not Moyeade is Moyoade, that Adewale Moyoade Tolani is the same person as Adewale Moyeade Tolani, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and general public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

I DARAMOLA SERAH OLUWATOSIN: that I sat for (WAEC) May/June, 2013 with exam no.

4302102046 and my name was registered as Daramola Tosin Serah.

My rightful name is Daramola Serah Oluwatosin that Daramola Serah Oluwatosin is the same person as Daramola Tosin Serah, Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public should please take note.

NWAUZOR

I formerly known and addressed as Miss NWAUZOR KELECHI LILIAN, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. EKWUGHA KELECHI LILIAN. All former documents remained valid. The general public should please take note.

OWAOMA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss OWAOMA. J. SONIA. Now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. AMAEWHULE SONIA. All former documents remained valid.

The general public should please take note.

IWUOHA

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS LUCKY CHIMUANYA IWUOHA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. LUCKY FESTUS GODWIN ESSIEN. All former documents remain valid. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the general public should please take note.

ONWU

I,formerly known and addressed as MISS ONWUANISHA LOVETH, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. LOVETH ALIEMEKE VINCENT. All former documents remain valid. Spring of Life International Schools and the general public should please take note.

MOMODU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Awuri Ochia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Awuri Nwanosike. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS JOSEPHINE IMADE MOMODU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OGHENEKEGBA JOHN JOSEPHINE IMADE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Enifeni, Kafilat Diekolola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogundeko, Kafilat Diekolola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss BAKARE ADENIKE JULIET, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OGUNDE ADENIKE JULIET. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OCHIA

ENIFENI

BAKARE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwatosin Ruth Oke, and wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adedara Oluwatosin Ruth. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

TEHINMOSAN

I formerly Miss TEHINMOSAN ESTHER TITILAYO now wish to be known as Mrs. FAJENYO ESTHER TITILAYO. All former documents remain valid. SUBEB, Ondo State and the general public should please take note.

OBANLA

Formerly Miss OBANLA ABIGAIL YETUNDE, now wish to be known as Mrs. KOMOLAFE ABIGAIL YETUNDE.All former documents remain valid. TEACHING SERVICE COMMISSION and general public take note.

OLUWADARE

Formerly Miss LYDIA OLUWABUKOLA OLUWADARE, now Mrs. LYDIA O. SUNDAY OLUWALUSI. All former documents remain valid. Concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

OGUNLADE

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ogunlade Seun Adeniyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Moses Seun Adeniyi. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Makanjuola Oluwaseye Bankole Is the same person as Makanjuola Oluwaseye and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Makanjuola Oluwaseye Bankole, all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

RAJI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Raji Idayat Oyebola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Badmus Idayat Oyebola. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

ADEBAYO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Odunayo Moromoke now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Rotimi Odunayo Moromoke. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Oladosu Moshood Adewale is the same person as Oladosu Moshood and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Oladosu Moshood Adewale, all former documents remain valid. Osun State polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Abajingin Oluwafemi Olarewaju is the same person as Olarewaju O. and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Abajingin Oluwafemi Olarewaju, all former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Oyewole Mathew Victor is the same person as Oyewole Mathew and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Oyewole Mathew Victor. All former documents remain valid. Osun State polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Ilesanmi Tolulope is the same person as Ilesanmi Tolulope Olanrewaju and Tolutope henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Ilesanmi Tolulope Olanrewaju, all former documents remain valid. Osun State polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Ajibola Aleemat Temilade is the same person as Ajibola Halimot and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Ajibola Aleemat Temilade, all former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Adeoye Nafisat Ebunoluwa is the same person as Adeoye Nafisat and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Adeoye Nafisat Ebunoluwa, All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Ogunlowo Sodiq Abiodun is the same person as Ogunlowo Sodiq and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Ogunlowo Sodiq Abiodun, all former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Ogunmola Oluwafemi Ezekiel is the same person as Ogunmola Femi Ezekiel and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Ogunmola Oluwafemi Ezekiel, all former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Tijani Lukman Adewunmi is the same person as Tijani Lukuman Adewumi and henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Tijani Lukman Adewunmi all former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

OKHUMALE

I formerly known and addressed as Okhumale Victoria Omoyeme , now wish to be known and addressed as Olushola Victoria Omoyeme. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

EZE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Roseline Ndidiamaka Eze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onoh Roseline Ndidiamaka. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

AJAYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwatoyin Iyabode Ajayi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oluwatoyin Iyabode Oyegoke. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

ADEYEMO I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEYEMO OLUWABUKOLA DEBORAH, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OGUNDELU OLUWABUKOLA DEBORAH. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME That I, Obajuluwa Olawale Prince is the same person as Supo Biodun now wish to be known and addressed as Obajuluwa Supo Biodun. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

66

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Ekweremadu and PDP’s gale of defections “If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mind your grammar F I

MUST make it clear that the first part of the compendium entitled “Media Gaffes & Essays”, plus other interventions, is not a comprehensive textbook on the English language. In other words, the reader will not be exposed to the principles of the language or other didactic technicalities. The essence of the language section of this book is to point out blatant errors that stalk and leap at you in the day-to-day usage of this medium of communication by the mass media.

Familiarity with the practical methodology adopted in addressing the flaws will, undoubtedly, foreclose the reader’s probability of committing common, everyday, blunders.

Compiling this conspectus of saucy howlers over the years has evoked salient questions in me: why are these egregious flaws committed? Is it a function of ignorance, carelessness or sheer mistakes? Could it be tactlessness or just inexperience arising from slothfulness? Should it all be attributed to the evolution of what has come to be known (and locally accepted?) as ‘Nigerian English’. Staggered answers to these posers are contained in this book. I have the conviction that the enterprising contents of this book will enrich your knowledge. If they do, my career has been made. Otherwise, my calling would have been a fiasco!

From my practical experiences, it is not the deep-structured mechanics of any language that matter most, but the cultivation of critical self-consciousness which profoundly provokes you to identify or interrogate an impercetible flaw immediately you come across one without recourse to any literary basics—the nudge becomes internalized and spontaneous the moment you encounter any faux pas. This may have marginal limitations, but it does not confer any edge on the theorist. At the risk of immodesty, you will learn more from this book than all the English language textbooks put together

because of its unprecedented and compelling practicality that distinguishes it from all other books.

For many reasons, it is good to know the fundamentals of any language.

However, I have equally found out that most of the schoolboy howlers extracted and corrected in this book are a function of my intuition—not necessarily a case of English language mastery. And, interestingly, it has scarcely failed me in the past 32 years! You, too, can develop that innate competency to grasp such linguistic mysteries. We must not rule out human frailty, proclivity and predilection for committing mistakes. This notwithstanding, always strive after perfection and you will not be far from usage excellence. If you are able to attain this lofty height, this intervention would have been worth the effort. In a nutshell, knowledge and carefulness are the two main antidotes to committing faux pas in speaking or writing.

Do not ever forget that one of the few illuminating things that will enhance your respectability in the society and profile ascent is a mastery of the English language and a cornucopia of misapprehensions by any way you can—one of which is this book! What we learn outside the classroom is deeper and more enduring than the teaching-andlearning process that has systemically been vanishing since the 1980s! It is so bad nowadays that most graduates—including English language products!—cannot write or speak confidently for fear of being publicly embarrassed. Do you totally blame them when most textbooks, including those on English language, are replete with solecisms, some imperceptible.

Overall, all the scholastic methodologies, intellectualization of language and individuals’ abilities to codify inaccuracies do not guarantee usage quintessence. The summit of it all is voracious reading with emphasis on the three pillars of the English language namely grammar, logic and rhetoric and a conspectus of self-development irrespective of your aca-

demic background or professional pedigree.

Part one of this book is a summation of lapses exclusively gathered by this author in the past 31 years from the mass media, largely, other books, public speakers and nondescript publications/sources. Part two is a selection of a few of my published essays, while part three is a series of tributes to some distinguished Nigerians that I have come to respect and esteem, as they say, for reasons best known to me! Part four rounds off the segmentation with detailed accounts of my abduction and the global umbrage the barbarity drew to the country and the police particularly.

I welcome constructive criticisms of all the sections of this book for my personal edification and futuristic utility, hopefully, by way of correctional elucidation in subsequent editions if need be. Of course, I take full responsibility for any misprint or informational lacunae not just because of my tangential editorship of the interventions but on grounds of my authorship of virtually all the entries.

Over the years, I had been critical of American English, insisting on the British version only.

Having reflected on the hotchpotch miasma and collectivization of languages and events that culminated in the evolution of what is today known as British English, I henceforth accept the American variant, equally, which I expect Britons to be proud that their ‘mother-tongue’, so to speak, has been massively and widely adapted, modified and accepted by other countries. After all, should it not be a source of pride to Britain, as I mentioned earlier, that Americans borrowed their language and retooled it to supranational reckoning?

I hope I have whetted your appetite enough as the main thing and other allied matters would be served in the weeks ahead. Next week: Feedback from KOLA DANISA.

OR me, the post presidential election events in the country bring mixed feelings of pride and shame and they are fast separating the statesmen/ women from the opportunists.

Let me start with the good.

Considering on one hand the prediction by US scholars that Nigeria would break up in 2015 and on the other hand, the stoning of the President’s convoy and destruction of his billboards even as near as Abuja satellite towns as well as the threats by the ex-militants of Niger Delta to bring down hellfire if Jonathan did not win, it was clear Nigeria was hanging on cliff from the build up to the presidential elections to the emergence of the eventual winner- irrespective of whoever won.

However, just as people waited with their hearts in their hands, came the breaking news that President Jonathan had called to congratulate General Buhari even before the final result was announced. It was one of Nigeria’s finest moments.

Even Jonathan’s worst critics would agree that the singular act not only earned him a place on the roll call of African statesmen, but also put Nigeria on the gold spot of global democracy.

Conversely, the PDP’s fall in the presidential election and the loss of its 16-year stranglehold on the National Assembly have just reopened the ugly side of our democracy. It appears Mahatma Gandhi had Nigeria in mind when he listed “Politics without principles” as one of the deadly sins of the modern world.

It has thrown the floodgate of defections wide ajar as politicians jump in their droves into the APC house. Two of Plateau State’s Senators-elect Jeremiah Useni (Jerry Boy) and Senator Joshua Dariye could not even wait to be inaugurated in June before erasing Mary Onyeali’s Olympic gold long jump performance.

Thousands more already have their trousers folded to their laps, begging for a little landing space even in the APC’s Boys Quarters. This is total rubbish and only goes to confirm that we have more bellyticiansthan statesmen on our corridors of power. I am happy our party leaders are already decoding that this is no good luck. It is both obscene and bad luck for APC and democracy. Just when we thought we have finally got it right, with two strong parties keeping each other in check to end the culture of impunity we saw under the PDP, the bellyticians of PDP are frittering it away even before the game begins. I thought principled opposition makes democracy thick.

It is clear that the long jumps are not motivated by conversion to progressivism, but simply by a desperate quest for a space on APC’s dinning table. Sadly for them, it is not going to be business as usual under Buhari.

However, amidst the defection galore and speculations that ranking South East Senators are seriously lobbying for a parking space in our party, Senator Ike Ekweremadu recently made a whole world of difference by taking a principled stand to stay put in the PDP. Apart from the presidential address conceding victory to General Buhari,

•Ekweremadu

By Abdulrazak Olaniyi Ekweremadu’s speech in Enugu making the rounds on the net is about the most reasonable political statement and critique I have read in recent times. It was a most eloquent leadership, a timely and audacious exhortation for a people who could be probably lost in selfpity and blame for casting virtually all their ballots for a defeated party and candidate.

Far from being sullen or taking the long jump, he said: “I have read and listened to many lament what they regard as the South East misadventure in view of the emerging scenarios at the federal level. But, let me assure you that Ndigbo have done nothing to be ashamed of and we owe no one any apologies for casting our ballots for the PDP. For me, therefore, our voting pattern is rather a defining moment for Ndigbo because we spoke with one voice and we are proud of our electoral decisions.

We voted for a party that integrated us into the mainstream of Nigerian politics, elected/appointed our people into strategic offices, and addressed some of our major infrastructural challenges. So, we took a principled position and accept full responsibility for our political choices.

“I have also heard a lot of permutations on the possible mass defection of Ndigbo to the APC in the coming dispensation.

While I will not hold brief for all the PDP stalwarts of South East origin, especially because our constitution provides for freedom of association, I can assure you that on PDP we stand.

At least, count Senator Ike Ekweremadu out of any defection to the opposition. PDP leaders in the South East are committed to further repositioning and strengthening the party. We may not have the presidency, but we are strong in the states and remain the party to beat. On PDP we stand”.

Ordinarily, Ekweremadu probably stands to gain more in the Senate by defecting to the APC. He is going into the 8th Senate as the highest-ranking South East Senator and among the highest-ranking nationally.

He will be coming with a lot of experience and pedigree as a two-term Deputy Senate President, two-term/jinx-

breaking Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Constitution Amendment, and the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament. I also recently read that he holds a PhD in Constitutional Law. I prefer his principled stand and would rather our party treats him with a lot more respect as far as the National Assembly and the South East is concerned than these fair weather party men and women rushing to reap from where they did not sow.

They will take another jump if the weather changes. Ironically, while some of these opportunists should be ashamed of coming close to our party given the nasty things they said about Buhari, I couldn’t readily remember any particularly ill remark by Ekweremadu about the General.

His statesmanship also shows in his understanding that Buhari’s success is Nigeria’s success, while his failure (God forbid) will amount to a collective loss. He said: “South East PDP and indeed Ndigbo have nothing against General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) as a person or against his incoming administration. We will work hand-in-hand with him in line with our regional agenda and overall development of Nigeria.

We will give him all the support to succeed because he was elected as the President of Nigeria, not president of the APC or any section of the country in particular. He has the choice to be a statesman, bringing every part of the country on board his government or to run an exclusive government. He has the choice to ensure that no part of this country is discriminated against in the distribution of opportunities and development projects on account of their ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, and region or to do otherwise. But I believe that whatever choices he makes, will determine his place in history”.

This is a true man, my kind of politician.

Meanwhile, I commend the National Chairman of our party, Chief Odigie Oyegun for his timely advice to the defectors.

He bluntly told the jumpers their services are not needed. They should stay in their parties and build their parties and deepen democracy. I pray they heed the advice.

•Olaniyi, a political scientist writes from Ilorin

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

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67

The National Question – and the many ‘nationalities’ of Nigeria

HENEVER ‘the National Question’ is mentioned in the context of Nigeria, the figure that comes to mind is Professor ObaroIkime, distinguished academic, historian of the Ibadan school who made the theme famous following his celebrated 1986 lecture titled ‘Towards Understanding the National Question’.

The discussion, often heated and intensely polarizing, has tended to focus on the competition and conflict between different ethnic groups to control the political power and resources of the nation.

The origins of the issues are often traced all the way back to the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates into one nation under Lord Lugard in 1914.

The economic factors that have exacerbated ‘the National Question’ have been traced to the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, the consequent focus on this as the ‘national cake’, and the neglect for decades of other actual or potential sources of income which, before the advent of oil, had been the major economic resources of the different ‘Regions’ of Nigeria.

To quote a recent contribution to the discourse from Professor ItseSagay, Constitutional lawyer and Human Rights advocate, ‘Today the National Question has taken the form of a struggle to control the Federal Government in order to gain access and control to Niger Delta oil and gas proceeds.

The outcome is the subsidy scam, unremitted billions of dollars scam etc. Nigeria as a whole has been a tragic victim of total dependence on oil, but the North has suffered more from this syndrome…’

The Nigeria project has moved on somewhat since the days of military rule, when the controversy was first given air. Only the most die-hard separatists now talk about ‘the mistake of 1914’. The Nigeria project has come to stay, for good or for ill. The option of any of the components hefting their luggage and hitting the highway’ is confined to the fevered imagination of militant groups who must provide justification for their existence in the Nigeria of 2015. Seriously, Nigerians are destined, or doomed, to stay together. In the heady aftermath of the new beginning, represented by the first ever civilian to civilianchange of government through the ballot box and the ascendancy General MohamaduBuhari and the APC, it behoves the citizens of Nigeria to put some energy into making the union work. Nigerians not only have to make the economy work, they also have to make their emotions work for the Nigeria project. Nigerians need to learn to be happy with one another.

Well – maybe ‘happy’ is too strong a word, representing too lofty an ambition. Perhaps its better to rephrase and say that Nigerians need to learn to get along in reasonable harmony.

That is not going to come by fiat. It is not going to be delivered through a profuse outpouring of pious platitudes from political, religious, traditional or ethnic leaders. It is not going to be delivered by the Police – whether an Mbu-style ‘shoot twenty civilians for every downed policeman’ force, or even the well-trained, socially responsive psychologically savvy police force of our dreams. It certainly will not be delivered by the Army, which has no business with such matters. No. It will have to come through the creation of an ambience in which every man in word and deed shows respect and understanding for his fellow man, even where he does not necessarily agree with his ideas, his life-style, or his aspirations. It means eliminating from the culture any sense that anybody is ‘superior’ to another, has a ‘greater’ destiny than the rest, or is somehow not bound by the standard cultural and ethical laws that forbid the heart of man or child to be filled with hubris.

Reading through the Nigerian

By Femi Olugbile

Constitution, the good intentions of the framers jump at the eye from virtually every line. It is easy to assume that in a nation-state bound together on such terms, the attainment of the generalities outlined above is a given.

The reality is that in the Nigeria of 2015, it is not. Nothing has demonstrated thisunsavoury reality more than the events and exchanges of the past few weeks in Lagos.

Now that the elections are over, the nation could seek refuge in platitudes, as it usually does, or take a fresh look to see how it can improve the relationships between its nationalities, so that they are not perpetually in one another’s face.

In doing this, it would be useful to look at an aspect of the National Question that has received scant attention.

Every Nigerian comes from somewhere. Every Nigerian resides and makes a living somewhere. Every Nigerian feels allegiance somewhere.

The ‘somewhere’ in each of those descriptions is often not the same for all three for the same person.

The definition of ‘citizen’ is clear from the constitution. What about the definition of ‘indigene’? Afterall every Nigerian (except those who are citizens by naturalization) is an indigene of somewhere. Indigene-ship and ethnic identity are crucially linked to every individual’s sense of self, and to deny it is to be mischievous or ignorant. Every human being’s sense of self is linked to their roots. Nobody feels this more keenly than members of groups who have been ‘uprooted’. The example of African Americans spending time and fortune searching for their roots is instructive in this regard. In reality they are looking for their long lost ‘tribe’.

The Nigerian constitution gives every citizen equal rights to live, work and own property anywhere in the country. Of course this is a stipulation that is observed more often than not in the breach. In many parts of Nigeria, it is impossible for a non-indigene to get a Certificate of Occupancy on landed property. The ‘indigenes’ make hay out of this by selling ‘strangers’ land that remains in their name, and effectively continuing to charge ‘rent’ for the land, long after the non-indigene has ‘paid’ for it. In some places it is almost impossible to find non-indigenes in government services, such as the Civil Service and the hospitals, even where there are critical gaps that need to be filled. Until relatively recently, in some places, children of non-indigenes paid higher fees in some government educational facilities than indigenes.

What at first seems to be a blanket leveling of the playing field by the Constitution turns out in reality to be a bland and imprecisely detailed provision that everyone pays lip service to, with a wink and a nod, while recognizing that it is unworkable until it is populated with more exact and enforceable details, and until its implications are fully thought through and agreed upon in a national consensus.

What for instance are the protections available to indigenes?And indigenous cultures, including language and practice?When does a ‘settler’ become a more permanent category of resident, and what is the description for that category? What are the rights, privileges and DUTIES accruing to the citizen from that transition?

Lagos the city and Lagos the State have from the very beginning had the culture of welcoming visitors, including large numbers of other Nigerians who choose to make a life and a living there.

For its pains, it has recently endured the profoundly insulting experience of being labeled a ‘no man’s land’. The very notion is of course deeply offensive, even racist, and perhaps calculated to be so. At the very least, the description, widely bandied about in

•Jonathan certain triumphalist circles who felt they were poised to ‘capture’ Lagos just before the elections, was an expression of the sort of gross hubris and insensitivity that is the polar opposite of the basic requirement for people of different nationalities to get along peaceably in a federation.

Which brings us to the question of the heretofore unattended aspect of the National question. What are the duties and rights of people, when they move outside their indigenous areas to settle elsewhere? Before going into international dimensions of this problem, and before looking at practical expedients different sections of the country have resorted to in dealing with ‘strangers’, it is instructive to ask – Why do people migrate?

And the common answer is ‘To seek a better life’.

A central unspoken requirement from the dawn of human history for successful migration from one place to another is that one should feel a certain sense of affinity with the host community and culture, a readiness at least to empathise with their world view, and a certain amount of readiness to ‘acculturate’. The earliest internal migrants in the Nigerian entity were fine exemplars of this. It is said that the great Zik spoke fluent Yoruba. Other people who migrated to other places acculturated to the point of ‘going native’.

Unfortunately our latter-day migrations – which are based almost entirely on economic reasons, have not taken cognizance of this need to be ready to ‘love your neighbour’ in determining where to migrate to. The object is just to make money.

This has already led to quite invidious consequences in some places across the world. Up till recently there were ‘Little Pakistans’ in some parts of the UK such as Birmingham. The migrants, though they were in England, showed no interest in the English or their way of life. If anything, they despised them openly. They spoke very little English, taught their children in Urdu, and carried on for all the world as though they were back in their homeland. Which raised the question – if your homeland was so good, why did you leave it? If the English were weak, stupid and unfriendly, why come to their land to settle?

This dissonance was forced rudely unto public attention when young ‘Britons’ began to blow themselves and other people up, began to slit other peoples throats and behead them, and began to provide a steady stream of volunteers for extremist groups.

Psychologically the settler deprives himself and his future generationsof one of most enriching benefits of migration when he cannot bring himself to see anything good in his host, cannot empathise with his world view, or take on at least a little of his life-style. When migrants from a particular area cluster

in and ‘take over’ certain places (sometimes because the ‘natives’ leave because they cannot stand their ways) they create the atmosphere of ‘Little Pakistan’. Many Lagosians discovered only for the first time in their lives, in the nastiness of the argument generated by the Aso-Rock sponsored contractors who were ‘promoting’ (and in effect taking over) a candidatein the recent elections for Lagos Governor, that there were ‘Little Pakistans’ in Lagos, and they could be cobbled together into a power block to take Lagos in their preferred direction, irrespective of how the indigenes felt about it.

The Nigerian Constitution is incomplete, in so far as it has not yet addressed the touchy issue of ‘indigeneship’. Interpreting the Constitution literally as it is could lead to some bizarre scenarios. Lets takeDaura as a random example(the choice is pure coincidence, I asserverate!). Assume for the sake of discussion the population is half a million (it was actually twentyfive thousand thirty-three years ago, but obviously has grown since). There is suddenly the discovery of a rare mineral in the place. To catch the economic boom, there is a flood of Nigerians from all over going to settle in Daura. When you count, they suddenly have a population of one and a half million, with one million being ‘non-indigenes’.

What would happen? Would this new majority take over Daura, representing it at all levels? Since they are in the majority, would they need to bother with the Emir or any part of the traditional establishment, or pay attention to the ‘indigenes’’ world view, aspirations or way of life? Afterall, ‘Politics is a game of numbers’!

The various improbabilities make the hair stand on end in the nape of the neck.

But of course many cities in the northern partof Nigeria have all along had a pragmatic expedient for dealing with ‘strangers’ - penning them inthe Sabon Geri. The Sabo is like the world outside the traditional city walls, where anything goes, virtually.

Is this the solution to the issue of the non-indigene in Nigeria - the ‘Sabon Geri-nisation’ of settler populations?

Unfortunately it is not the solution, because what Nigeria seeks, and what the Nigerian Constitution says, is that Nigerians should integrate, interact, intermarry, and over time evolve a common Nigerian bond, even while keeping their ‘native’ identities.

The ‘Little Pakistan’ in AmuwoOdofin will not work, just as the Sabon Geri option will attenuate over time. But these will not happen until Nigerians tackle the National Question honestly, fairly, and NATIONALLY. There cannot be ‘State’ solutions, and no state, not Lagos, not any other, should be expected, or compelled, to give benefits its own citizens will not receive elsewhere.

What is to be done about the National Question – the indigene versus settler?Even the descriptions sound awkward. Because Nigerians had not thought it was important before, they had not applied their best minds to it.

Or perhaps because it is a nasty, ‘primordial’ topic, we all feel it demeans us if we ‘talk tribe’. We are, afterall, ‘detribalised’. This of course is the biggest, most dangerous nonsense of all.

Our best elements are true to themselves. Chinua Achebe, the father of Nigerian literature, was not ‘detrabilised’. He was proudly, unapologetically and most emphatically an Iboman, as well as a patriotic Nigerian. Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize using images derived essentially from his Yoruba essence, and he is clearly a Yorubaman and a proud Nigerian. There is no contradiction, and no ambiguity.

Two approaches to the ‘indigeneship’ matter in two related high-profile

nations may be quickly examined here.

Dr Mahathir Mohammed, founding father of Malaysia, reserved exclusive privileges, including political control, for the ‘indigenes’ of his country – the ethnic Malays, because he felt that if they were not so ‘protected’ they would be ‘overrun’ by the Chinese, who controlled most of the country’s economy. The very character of the nation would change inexorably. To this day the protections are still in place, the Malays are still in power, and the Chinese play an important role in a thriving national the economy. There is inter-marriage, and the face of the nation is changing, but very slowly.

Literally down the road from Mahathir’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, isSingapore, whereDr Mahathir’s contemporary, Li Kwan Yu was compelled to build a nation from scratch using whatever human material he found ready to hand. There were Chinese, Malays, and Indians mostly.

He discountenanced their various histories, was not interested in whether you were Chinese or Indian (he was himself of Chinese stock). He ‘disappeared’ their origins, and, over time, ‘re-invented’ them as proud Singaporeans. Today Singapore is a world economic power, but it does not have a lot of History. Malaysia is not doing badly, either, but it is clearly not in the same league.

So whose is the better solution to the indigene-ship issue – Mahathir’s or Li Kwan Yu’s? Would Li Kwan Yu’s ‘detribalised’ solution have worked in Malaysia, and made it even better?

Probably not.

More probably the Malays, an ancient people, and the owners of the land, would have woken up one night and murdered the Chinese in their beds, and stuffed their money in their faces.

What is the solution to the National Question in Nigeria, as it concerns Indigene-ship?

Nigeria needs to face it, and face it down.

There is a legal aspect, and there is an emotional aspect.

After residing continuously in a place for a stipulated period (or as soon as he commences paying his taxes there, if that is the preference), a person should be entitled to ‘full citizenship rights’ there (whatever that means). It should also mean that he should give up at least some of the duties and entitlements in his ‘native’ land. Or perhaps the law that evolves will allow ‘dual’ citizenship, with criteria, entitlements and duties clearly spelt out.

As much as possible, people who settle outside their ‘native’ lands in a future Nigeria should go to places they have a genuine affinity for. The people of that future Nigeria should not live in ‘Little Pakistans’ or even be confined to the Sabon Geri – no matter how wellintentioned the original formulation was. People should learn the culture of destinations they want to emigrate to in advance, and be sure they can learn to be accepting of them, whether this has to do with traditional institutions, festivals and celebrations, manner of dress, and so on.

The emotional part is basic. Don’t live with people you don’t like. Or perhaps like the people you live with, assuming that this is something that can be done by deliberate will rather than gut instinct. Allow the children to mix.

Learn the language. Teach the children respect.

Already it is beginning to sound like pious platitudes. Perhaps that is the nature of the subject, because it is so basic, and yet so fundamental.

It should be the fond hope of every patriot that the meaning, and value, of Nigerian-ness will be defined, standardized, and assimilated buy all in the era of President MuhammaduBuhari. It is wholesale Behaviour Modification, a much tougher task than penning an idealistic Constitution.

68

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

NEWS

20 gunmen kidnap Rivers council boss T

HE Caretaker chairman of Ahoada East Local Government Council of Rivers State, Chief Cassidy Ikegbidi, has been kidnapped by over 20 gunmen in military uniform.

The whereabouts of the council boss remained unknown while the kidnappers have not demanded for any ransom.

The House of Assembly candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ahoada East constituency 1, Eric Apia, in a telephone interview, said Ikegbidi was kidnapped from his village,

•Police launch rescue mission

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt Yiboko, in Ahoada East LGA, in the early hours of yesterday.

Apia said: “Reports received from Ikegbidi’s family stated that there was exchange of gunfire between the security personnel attached to the council chairman and the kidnappers.

“The gunmen later took the chairman away. They dragged him to a nearby river and went away in a

speed boat.”

It was gathered that the council boss put up resistance when the gunmen stormed his residence in the village, leading to sporadic gunshots.

The kidnappers however fired shots to scare the villagers and bystanders before Ikegbidi was overpowered and whisked away.

Ahoada East constituency was billed to have a re-run election yesterday but the APC candidates in other affected parts of the state

decided to boycott the poll.

They alleged that leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had already written the results in connivance with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Rivers state, Mrs. Gesila Khan.

The Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the kidnap.

He stated that the command had swung into actions to rescue the council boss safely.

Tension in Bayelsa PDP over alleged anti-party elements

F

RESH tension is brewing in the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following allegations that most stalwarts engaged in anti-party activities during the national and Houses of Assembly elections.

Major stakeholders of the party especially persons close to President Goodluck Jonathan were said to have sponsored candidates in opposition parties against PDP candidates.

They were said to have preferred sponsoring their candidates on the platforms of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), National Conscience Party (NCP), KOWA party and Labour Party (LP) instead of supporting candidates who emerged from PDP primaries.

Governor Seriake Dickson, who is also the leader of the state PDP,

•Paulker, Dudafa, others may be expelled

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

was said to have directed its leadership to begin investigations into the allegations.

Party leaders said to have promoted anti-party activities are the domestic aide to the President, Waripamowei Dudafa and Senator Emmanuel Paulker(Bayelsa Central).

The party through its Publicity Secretary, Osom Makbere directly accused Dudafa, who hails from Kolokuma-Opokuma, of mobilising security agencies to rig the elections in favour of his candidates in APGA. Dudafa, who spoke through one of his aides, Bebetimi Dasuo, denied the allegation and said he remained a member of the PDP.

But there was, however, a strong indication that Dudafa, Paulker and others would soon face the disciplinary committee of the party to clear their names.

A source, who spoke with The Nation in confidence, said those concerned would be expelled for alleged anti-party activities.

He said the leadership of the party had allegedly summoned and queried some top party chiefs over alleged anti-party activities during the House of Assembly elections.

He said such party chiefs gave open support to candidates of APGA, LP and NCP. For instance, the source gave clear instances where Senator

•(L-R) Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, Senator-elect for Lagos West Solomon Adeola and National Electoral Commissioner for Ondo, Osun and Lagos State Professor Akinola Salau at the presentation of Certificates of Return by INEC to winners of the 2015 elections.

Paulker and his wife allegedly mobilised thugs and resources against the interest of the PDP candidate in favour of his preferred APGA candidate.

The source said: “The Senator looked like a wounded lion as he was stopped from having his way.

“The bigwigs in the PDP in the state are working closely with our opponents and this is clearly a case of anti-party.

“Obviously no serious leadership, especially at this time will tolerate this kind of behaviour and very soon they will be expelled from the party.

“These are persons, who should know better the implications of their actions, having regrettably used the party’s platform to attain national recognition and positions of influence and affluence only to become traitors working against the PDP.” The source said since it was almost certain that the so-called Jonathan’s men were set to dump the PDP, the party was ready to wield the big stick against all erring members.

Also, an aide to the governor said Dickson was not treating the matter with kid gloves.

He said the governor was miffed that the tensions generated in some of the constituencies were orchestrated by PDP members working to ensure the emergence of their candidates in other parties.

“The governor has directed that there must be discipline in the state.

All the people who participated in anti-party activities must not go unpunished,” the source who spoke in confidence said.

But when contacted, Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Osom Makbere, dismissed the report.

Makbere said: “It is not true. The party has not deliberated on such a matter and neither has such a matter been brought to our notice.”

Kuku denies funding APC’s presidential victory

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PECIAL Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, Kingsley Kuku, has debunked reports that he contributed funds to the All Progressive Congress (APC) during the just concluded presidential elections.

He dismissed the insinuations in the social media and other platforms as the handiwork of mischievous persons aimed at stoking the embers of hate to curry political favours from the incoming federal government.

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor Speaking with reporters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja yesterday, Kuku challenged those circulating the falsehood to show proof he contributed money to the APC. According to him: “This claim is clearly mischievous and deliberately sculpted to sully my reputation by ignorant political jobbers.

“Ordinarily, I would have ignored

this laughable claim, given the fact that all discerning Nigerians are well aware that I loyally gave the PDP my best and even my all during the presidential, gubernatorial and assembly elections.

“However conscious of the fact that once falsehood goes unchallenged it tends to wear the garb of truth at some point, I have elected to place on record the fact that I did not contribute a dime to the APC.” Kuku added: ‘’Indeed I could not

have given money to the APC given my very deep involvement with my party, the PDP and our dear leader, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, during all elections.

“I truly do not worry much about this falsehood being circulated about me because those who know me well can attest to the fact that I am a loyalist to the core. I have never ever betrayed my leaders.’’

South Africa warned against xenophobia

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HE Chairman, Board of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, yesterday condemned the xenophobia attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Dr Awolowo-Dosunmu, who spoke during the inauguration of the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) Lagos Training Centre at LUTH,

...Nigeria gets first gastroenterology centre in West Africa

By Wale Adepoju the first in West Africa and 17th in the world, charged the South African government to call her citizens to order and ensure peace.

The attacks, she said, if not checked, could cause diplomatic rows between Nigeria and South Africa.

She said the two countries were known for different collaborations, which should be sustained as the centre inaugurated was supported by the Gastroenterology Foundation of South Africa.

This gesture, she said, should be a reminder that the two countries can

achieve a lot through collaborations.

The facility, Awolowo-Dosunmu said, will bring about development in gastroenterology and endoscopy training as well as simplify treatment.

She said the centre is a landmark achievement that will deepen gastroenterology and endoscopy training in the country and West Africa.

Baptists to Buhari: cut down size of govt From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

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HE Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC) has advised the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to cut down the size of his government to make more resources available for social and economic development.

The convention also urged Buhari not to disappoint Nigerians on tackling corruption, unemployment, erratic power supply, insecurity and poor infrastructure, among other ills that have bedevilled the nation.

The President of the Convention, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, stated these in Owerri, the Imo State capital during a parley to mark the 102 annual convention of the church.

He admonished Buhari not to appoint corrupt politicians who may have been pressurising him for positions in his team.

He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting “credible elections throughout the federation”.

Ayokunle however urged the Commission to ensure that all complaints emanating from the elections were addressed and elections rescheduled in places where need be.

The church lauded President Goodluck Jonathan for laying the foundation for a credible election and accepting defeat.

Speaking further on the convention, which commenced at the weekend in Obinze, Owerri North Council Area, Ayokunle disclosed that about 10,000 clergymen will converge to pray for the nation.

Madam Oyegbile, The Nation’s deputy editor’s mother for burial

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ADAM Mary Adekitan Oyegbile is to be buried on May 9, 2015 in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

A statement on behalf of the family

by Mr. Olayinka Oyegbile, deputy editor, The Nation on Sunday, said a Service of Songs is to be held at her residence on Friday, May 8, at 5pm.

It added that church/ funeral service is to hold on Saturday, May 9 at the Masifa Baptist Church, Idi-Araba, Ogbomoso at 10am while internment is at her residence in Kuye area off Orita Naira, Ogbomoso.

Madam Oyegbile died at 91 on March 3, 2015. She is survived by children, many grand and great grand children. Among her children are Mr. Matthew Oyegbile, Mrs. Adeola Ehigie, Mrs. Nike Ogunrinu, Mrs. Taiwo Dina and Arc. Kunle Oyegbile. Others are Mrs. Foluke Ogunbiyi, Olayinka Oyegbile, and Timothy Oyegbile, a Josbased legal practitioner.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015

69

QUOTABLE “Those are characters that cannot be referred to as disciplined politicians. They are opportunists, and ship wreckers.”

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3190

—Former Minister of Transport and member, Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief Ebeneze Babatope on the gale of defections by PDP members to APC.

I

N 2003 when he broke ranks with his fellow Southwest governors and declined to form an ethnically motivated political and electoral alliance with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, few people knew what really motivated Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was at the time Lagos State governor. When the alliance blew up in the faces of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors who blundered into it, it was suggested that Asiwaju Tinubu was prescient. It was obvious he could not trust Chief Obasanjo whom he considered adept at ambushing friends and enemies alike and skillful in seeking advantage over them, often unscrupulously. But there was a second, perhaps more potent, reason for balking at the deal with the former president. Asiwaju Tinubu was naturally uninterested in any alliance not anchored on ideas. Allying with Chief Obasanjo simply because he was Yoruba, especially one who neither approximated nor projected Yoruba worldview and values, was to him ignoble.

In retrospect, Asiwaju Tinubu served notice early in the day what kind of politics he wished to play, and what kind of person he liked to be thought of. His ideas might not possess Aristotelian streaks, but he was passionate about them, and he took inordinate risk imbuing them with life. He was not afraid to walk alone, nor be pilloried fairly or maliciously, and he seemed to take pleasure in risking everything he had for the sake of causes, and if it came to that, persons, he believed in. But he took care to outlive the enemy rather than hug reckless martyrdom.

He of course recognised he was not always right, but he seemed at peace with himself even when he was wrong. Sometimes brusque, sometimes combative, a little obtruding and consciously ruthless, he was in equal measure humane, farsighted, sacrificial and thoughtful. He in fact seemed to have built his political career on a curious amalgam of virtues and vices that made him one of the most loathed and loved, but more accurately paradoxically indefinable, person in politics today.

Twelve years after he defined his place as a huge risk taker in politics, and after more than a decade of plotting and scheming, envisioning and practicalising, Asiwaju Tinubu has worked himself into a central position as an ideologue, kingmaker and democrat to whom, more than anyone, the country owes both the deepening of its democracy and the dramatic electoral overthrow of the Goodluck Jonathan government. He could have shortsightedly entered into the unwholesome and opportunistic electoral arrangement with Chief Obasanjo in 2003, and settled any discussion as to what kind of man he was. And in 2007, he could also have accepted the government of national unity offered by his close friend and former Katsina State governor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua. But on both occasions, his instinctive understanding of the value of opposition politics, his unstated belief in the superiority of his ideas, and his charismatic independence, even aloofness bordering on isolation, compelled him into a different political trajectory.

That trajectory has taken him through a roller coaster of emotions, plucked him from the politics of one state — Lagos — and hopped, stepped and jumped him via regional politics of the Southwest, and landed him smack in the coveted middle of national politics, as tactician, strategist and kingmaker.

Now, even his enemies, of whom there are hundreds, will respect him though they continue to loath him. Asiwaju Tinubu’s success and prominence in politics must, however, be properly contextualised. In the 2015 polls, he was simply well positioned. Dr Jonathan had worked up the electorate into a fever over his poor handling of national affairs, including unemployment, Chibok schoolgirls abductions, declining economy, corruption and many debilitating and vexatious policies. A change had become desirable by as early as 2013. Gen Buhari, the APC candidate had also recognised the limitations of his politics of exclusion and non-compromise, and had risen astronomically in the stock of the electorate to achieve cult following. And the world itself, especially the great

APC and the Tinubu phenomenon powers and superpowers, had become quite fed up with the mediocrity in Nigeria. The conditions were ripe for change, and it required someone of uncommon perception, vision and courage to midwife it.

Nigeria was fortunate that the ripe conditions were met by one man (or what a great wit poignantly and cryptically describes as ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’), Asiwaju Tinubu, who showed fierce determination and character in 2003, reinforced that character and self-belief in 2007, expanded his horizon from thence onward, and in 2011 began to envision the kind of alliances and friendship across ethnic groups, regions and religions that were necessary to change the old order. While still confined to his Lagos State as a lone survivor of the Obasanjo Tsunami, and whereas the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) controlled more states than his Action Congress (AC), he began to act and speak as the national opposition, unafraid he could be crushed by a dominant Abuja and a domineering and unsparing President Obasnjo.

Not only did he succour former Plateau State governor, Joshua Chbbi Dariye, who was unlawfully impeached and hunted by both President Obasanjo and a colluding PDP in 2006, he also lent a helping hand to former Oyo State governor, Rashidi Ladoja, who had also come under President Obasanjo’s impeachment axe in the same year. To underscore the fact that his political convictions were not a fluke, he was to later extend the same assistance to the impeached Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako.

An incurable believer in presidentialism and its undergirding principle of federalism, Asiwaju Tinubu gladly reached out as a champion of the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers to anyone oppressed. It was no surprise that he took active interest in the electoral processes of Southwest states, including the South-South state of Edo; nor was it also surprising that many ambitious politicians saw him as a reliable friend and bulwark in the fight for electoral probity.

He fought to reclaim Ekiti, Osun, Ondo and Edo States; and by the next round of polls in 2011, he offered more than an arm and a leg to claim Ogun and Oyo States.

Between 1999 and 2011, it was clear to every observer that the presidency meddled in the affairs of the National Assembly, thereby robbing Nigeria of one of the main legs for the sustenance of democracy. In particular, Chief Obasanjo meddled actively in the legislature, enthroning and dethroning at will. Even out of power, in 2011, he still attempted to enthrone Hon Mulikat Adeola-Akande as the Speaker. By that time, however, Asiwaju Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had come of age.

Brushing aside the sentiment of zoning and ethnicity, and recognising that his party held the ace in the Southwest, and also aware that he needed to stamp his authority on the democratic process, he forged an alliance with other independent forces within and outside the House of

Representatives to elect a Speaker of their choice, Aminu Tambuwal.

It took enormous courage to embrace a prescient choice that at face value seemed to disadvantage the Southwest to which the PDP had zoned the position.

But needs must when the devil drives, and Asiwaju Tinubu shut his eyes, steadied his nerves and bit the bullet. The recriminations that followed were fearsome and unrelenting for more than four years. He was blamed for every problem in the region, and in particular for Dr Jonathan’s deliberate and orchestrated marginalisation of the Yoruba. The grey hairs and hot blood of the Afenifere and Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) respectively assailed him, and propped up the Teflon Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State as the new rallying point for the Yoruba. They are now all silent, their last hoary gasp made when Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos took the Igbo in Lagos to task.

It is not clear at what point Asiwaju Tinubu began to entertain the thought of winning the centre, especially because he had unsuccessfully tried to forge a winning alliance both in 2007 and 2011 for that purpose. But after seeing the political spinoff from his fortuitous backing of Hon Tambuwal for the position of Speaker, and considering the doors it opened to the North, and the fact that many permutations suddenly became appealingly possible, a fresh and more vigorous attempt to form an alliance looked realistic. The Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, bitterly opposed the ACN, denounced Asiwaju Tinubu, and blamed him for all the region’s woes. Undeterred, however, a new broad-based alliance, which took advantage of the estrangement of some five or seven PDP governors, was formed a year after in 2012. But notwithstanding the flourish and excitement with which the new party called APC presented its roadmap and manifesto, few knew that barely two years later, they could sweep so dramatically and grandly into power.

If Asiwaju Tinubu dreamt of winning the presidency for the APC, he did not speak it confidently. There were the structure and organisation of the gangling and unsteady party to contend with, as many old party hands resisted new ones. There were also contentious primaries to overcome, not to talk of the more volatile election of a presidential candidate. Indeed, every prognostication was unfavourable, with many analysts, including former Aviation minister Ebenezer Babatope, swearing that sooner or later the new party would implode. Surprisingly, perhaps also to the party’s leaders, the party held together. It also became clear that the driving force was Asiwaju Tinubu, who worked tirelessly and imaginatively to keep the new alliance going. Even if he could not get the ultimate prize of the presidency for the APC, he thought, the party could at least rise to become a strong and powerful opposition with expanded reach. A number of Southwest groups, includ-

ing Afenifere, accused him of helping the North to enslave the Yoruba, but he forged on nonetheless.

Any astute politician who studied the statistics of the 2011 polls would know it is sentimental nonsense to speak of enslavement.

Dr Jonathan himself had to forge an alliance between at least four geopolitical zones to win in 2011. No northern or south-western politician could win the presidency without a strong alliance. A smart politician would appreciate that Dr Jonathan’s policies had alienated the North. It was, therefore, ready for an alliance. The Southwest, notwithstanding the outlandish conclusions of the Afenifere, was also frustrated and alienated, and was ready for a deal. If no other zone embraced the change mantra, four zones already implicitly did. Having secured the friendship of the North, instead of hating and preaching to them like the Afenifere did, Asiwaju Tinubu managed to finally cobble together a winning alliance and formula which even the controversy over the presidential running mate could not scupper.

Two final factors seal the reputation of Asiwaju Tinubu. Not only was he ready to work with difficult politicians like Chief Obasanjo, whose crippling conservatism and meddlesomeness many Nigerians resented, since 1999 he had imbibed the Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello culture of leadership recruitment, building young men and women whom he unleashed on the country as future leaders, while also reconciling with his powerful detractors to the point of even describing Chief Obasanjo incredulously as the navigator. Those future leaders sometimes disagreed with him, and even took advantage of his liberal spirit and forbearance, but he seemed to have an uncanny appreciation of their limitations and thus readily accommodated or overlooked their foibles.

He may not be president-elect or vice president-elect, but the role he played in deepening democracy, sustaining and nurturing the culture of opposition, and strategising the defeat of the PDP, have all raised his profile sky-high. Like the APC, his main challenge will be how to manage both his success and new profile. Two years after its formation, the APC won the presidency even before it had time to solidify its structure and reinforce its raison d’etre. It is, after all, clear that the party has many tendencies, and its core values may seem even tenuous and fragile, especially seeing how a mixed multitude had flocked into its membership in the past months. Asiwaju Tinubu himself, the man with the onomatopoeic Borgu (kwara State) traditional title of Jagaban, is not the most patient of men when it comes to running with a vision; but while he is doubtless a progressive, he appears more pragmatic than philosophical, more practical than an ideologue.

The APC is a young party, undoubtedly precocious. But it is also brash and to some extent inexperienced. It needs time to establish itself and concretise its philosophy and traditions. Asiwaju Tinubu is tarred with the same brush. Though he sometimes sounds eclectic, his ideas are nonetheless still in formation. But much more challenging to him is that not being president or vice president, and being consumed by a gripping vision for the seemingly impossible, he must now watch how his party and other elected officials would run with the vision.

He will assume that everyone has cottoned on to the vision; but more, he will squirm and writhe in anxiety from a point (which point?) in the scheme of things that posterity will place him. For someone so enormously endowed, but one also abounding in his own idiosyncratic shortcomings, his greatest battles may be ahead of him: not battles of strategising and winning elections; but battles of sustaining the lofty height he has climbed as a person and politician, and turning the APC into a more cohesive, disciplined and philosophical organisation, one capable of both midwifing the change the country yearned for when it voted Gen Buhari and developing Nigeria into a developmental tiger far surpassing those of Asia.

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Website: www.thenationonlineng.net ISSN: 115-5302 E-mail: sunday@thenationonlineng.net Editor: FESTUS ERIYE