THEWILL FEB. 28 - MAR. 6 EDITION

VOL 1 NO.3 • FEBRUARY 28 – MARCH 06, 2021

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E XC LU S I V E . . .

BE WARNED: ‘BIG BROTHER’ IS COMING FOR YOU

DSS Acquires N3bn WhatsApp Bugging Technology • To Monitor Calls, Messages •IPOB/Biafra Agitators Unfazed •It’s Against The Law - Igbo Youth Congress

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COVER BE WARNED: ‘BIG BROTHER’ IS COMING FOR YOU

DSS Acquires N3 Billion WhatsApp Bugging Technology •To Monitor Calls, Messages •IPOB/Biafra Agitators Unfazed •It’s Against The Law- Igbo Youth Congress

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BY FELIX OBOAGWINA igeria’s foremost spy agency, Department of State Services (DSS), has received approval from President Muhammadu Buhari to acquire a super-sophisticated BIG BROTHER technology that will grant secret agents limitless, round-the-clock access to everything you say or transmit via the encrypted WhatsApp mobile application as part of an invasive surveillance of the country’s 170 million phone subscribers and 122 million internet users.

Authoritative sources familiar with the approval and development confided in THEWILL that a budget of about N3 billion has been approved to purchase the technology.

“The technology has been paid for and should be on our shores and operational in another 6-8 weeks,” one of the sources told THEWILL. A training programme has also been arranged for designated security operatives who will operate the equipment, according to the sources, who opted to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Apart from targeting users of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, THEWILL could not as at press time determine whether the technology can bug users of other fast-growing encrypted phone messaging services like Telegram and Signal.

TOTALITARIAN AUTHORITARIANISM Known informally as the BIG BROTHER technology, the new equipment will expand the DSS’s capacity for phone monitoring, phone tapping, audio surveillance, video surveillance, internet monitoring and location monitoring throughout the country’s entire communications spectrum.

According to our sources in government, the purchase is coming on the heels of the country’s challenging security issues – terrorism, kidnapping and banditry, and not even constitutional provisions guaranteeing citizens’ personal privacy will be allowed to pose a stumbling block to this new acquisition.

In what many see as the Buhari administration’s treading in the footsteps of totalitarian authoritarianism, the government’s proposed acquisition of the snooping technology will be holding grave implications for human rights.

Legal minds say that apart from trampling upon citizens’ Freedom of Speech, the plan knocks heads with Section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution which stipulates that: “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”

“If you think your Whatsapp messages are safe, you are kidding, neither are your phone conversations nor emails. The DSS is now the Big Brother with wider eyes and ears on every phone conversation and messages and no one has a hiding place,” one of the sources told THEWILL with a smirk on his face.

WE ARE NOT BOTHERED - IPOB/BIAFRA AGITATORS THEWILL gathered that some members of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and other ‘faceless’ Biafran agitators appear to be jittery about the development, as they have been operating discreetly, THEWILLNIGERIA

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and now believe that the new snooping device would unmask their identities, thus putting them into trouble. However, many say they are not bothered and would continue with their struggle. An IPOB loyalist, Cyprian Nwaka, based in Enugu, said he was aware that the authorities were following IPOB activities closely.

Nwaka said: “Yes, I am aware that they are following us closely but that cannot remove anything from the struggle. Our activities are hottest in Aba and Onitsha and things are really happening in those places. Even Delta people are joining the struggle.”

“I don’t know what is happening there in Lagos but as for South East, they are not relenting,” he added.

AGAINST THE LAW Activists are already up in arms.

“I can assure you that there will be a lot of litigations when this spying equipment gets launched,” said Comrade Bright Ezeocha, President of the Igbo Youth Congress (IYC). “All over the world, in as much as security is important to every nation, when it comes to spying on people’s conversations and activities on the internet, it is against the law and against human rights. Even America with all its greatness and technological know-how does not intrude into people’s privacy.”

Echoing these same sentiments, Mr. Solomon Oba Olufelo, an Information Technologist, said: “It is not done. You cannot wake up one day and say you are CIA or DSS and you want to start eavesdropping on citizens. You don’t do such. It amounts to being dictatorial and putting the Nigerian people under siege and slavery. We are entitled to Freedom of Speech. We must have our right to privacy. That is what a sane country does. Why would you want to deprive us the freedom to exchange ideas? Why would you come and eavesdrop on what I am saying?” *Continues on Page 4

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COVER ‘BIG BROTHER’ IS COMING FOR YOU

DSS Acquires N3 Billion WhatsApp Bugging Technology *Continued from Page 3

ANOTHER TOOL AGAINST THE OPPOSITION Although in theory, the snooping device will place Nigeria’s about 294 million mobile phone and internet subscribers under the secret service’s 24/7 real time surveillance, the fear is that the government will narrow down its application to haunt, harangue and harass those deemed as “persons of interest,” a euphemism for opposition figures and critics of the Buhari regime such as activists, opposition politicians, elected officials, human rights defenders and journalists.

On the plus side, however, the BIG BROTHER device will be able, also, to monitor, track, record and store sights, sounds and scripts related to terrorism and corruption.

Indications are that the National Security Adviser (NSA) and The Presidency were convinced to splash the huge amount on the comprehensive bugger following the failure of earlier initiatives to curtail Nigeria’s twin headaches of terrorism and corruption.

In government circles, disappointment has trailed attempts to provide security coverage through the formulation and implementation of policies like the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), National Identity Number (NIN) and mandatory Subscriber Identity Module (SIM card) registration for telephone subscribers, all of which have failed to yield the expected dividend of a safer, more secure and less corrupt environment.

Ezeocha said: “Of course, we know that, for long, they have been doing all sorts of things to monitor people. But it is just because they are going for something new now. Government has always been spying on people’s conversation, businesses and dealings.”

Citing places like Eastern Germany, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Apartheid South Africa and the Communist world where the liberties of citizens got greatly curtailed, skeptics pointed out that although the technology might be acquired as part of legitimate anti-terrorism protocols, it could end up becoming a veritable addition to the government’s current clampdown on opposition voices.

Part of that clampdown, as observers pointed out, included the government’s earlier attempt to bulldoze the “Hate Speech” law into the statute books, except that the wide condemnation it received appeared to have either slowed down the move or completely thrown it under the bus.

Additionally, the CAMA drama is cited. When the National Assembly worked on the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA), it conducted public hearings. The idea met stiff opposition, especially from NGOs, CSOs and religious organisations, who feared it could become a dangerous gagging and censorship tool in the hands of the government.

However, all contrary views were rubbished in the final analysis and the Legislature secretly collaborated with the Executive to railroad the Bill through both chambers, following which Buhari uncharacteristically signed it into law with dispatch.

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the Seriki Fulani fingered as alleged middleman for ransom payment to kidnappers.

Should the government push through with this expanded BIG BROTHER spy web that target encrypted communications, it would be following in the footsteps of some Third World regimes like the Ugandan government of Yoweri Museveni whom reports in 2015 claimed procured from an Israeli company for the sum of $85.5 million a similar monitoring centre for spying on his nation’s internet traffic.

IT’S GOING TO BE PRETTY TOUGH United States-based IT Specialist, Chris Tunde Odediran, says the deployment of the ‘Big Brother’ technology is going to be a tough job for the DSS, if really, it is targeted at WhatsApp messages.

“I think the technology is called ‘Big Brother’ because of what it does. We have many of such to monitor regular phone lines and text messages but they are mostly softwares, not hardwares,” Odediran said. “WhatsApp cannot be bugged because it is encrypted; it is endto-end, like a padlock. Unless you have the keys or codes, you cannot de-encrypt it. All encryption works the same. Not even the owners of Facebook can de-encrypt WhatsApp messages. The technology is tough.Encryption technology is the same; it involves billions of codes, it’s impregnable. There is no known way now that can break the WhatsApp encryption codes as they run in billions.”

He, however, believes that’s not the best route for Nigeria to go now, adding, “Though, I don’t know what the law says.”

According to the IT Specialist, “Under a democratic government, privacy is democratic right. In the U.S., before you can be monitored, there must be a warrant from the court. But not in a non-democratic society, deformed and unhealthy democracy like Nigeria, Russia.

Definitely not! Nigeria is operating between democracy and dictatorship because of many years of military rule. The Nigerian Government is becoming intolerant.”

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Human rights agencies like Amnesty International have fought against such “technological solutions” to no avail. The reason is not farfetched.

For the reason of enlightened self-interest that sees them willing to maintain the status quo of benefits they derive from friendly governments, Western nations will usually support Third World regimes to deploy any method to sustain themselves in power.

However, in August 2015, Germany unilaterally announced a Federal amendment to its laws seeking “to stop the use of [surveillance] technology for internal repression in countries of destination.”

RAMPING UP SURVEILLANCE The Nigerian Government’s novel plan will be ramping up communications surveillance a notch higher than presently obtains.

Currently, phone companies secretly record, collect and divulge call logs and cellular communications from specified persons of interest, in addition to courts having the latitude to compel carriers to disclose recorded phone and text messages.

Otherwise, information gleaned from such recordings is untenable and unacceptable to any judicial or legal exercise.

In the words of Olufelo, “Be it in Africa or the Western nations, when you go to court, you cannot use a tapping device or eavesdropper as evidence; it is inadmissible in criminal or civil litigation.”

LIKE THE WATERGATE SCANDAL In several countries, communications snooping has boomeranged and guilty perpetrators pay a heavy price.

It has also been pointed out how quickly government inept at tracing ransom monies and terrorists’ funds got the CBN, through the BVN, to shutter the accounts of profiled #EndSARS protagonists.

In 2018, for example, some United States cell-phone carriers, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, involved in selling customers’ realtime location data, publicly denounced that arm of their business after the regulator agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), charged the companies with negligent for failing to protect data relating to their subscribers’ personal privacy.

The BVN also came in handy against Sunday Igboho, the Yoruba activist who had all his bank accounts red-taped following his citizen’s action against Fulani killer herdsmen in his native Ibarapa rural birthplace in Oyo State, culminating in the razing of the residence of

In fact, US President Richard Nixon met his Waterloo over the Watergate Scandal and he was forced out of office in 1974 after being found complicit in secret recordings made of conversations around opposition Democrats •

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NEWS

Remains of the seven Nigerian Air Force officers who died on Sunday in the Beechchraft King Air B3350i crash at the grave side before their burial in Abuja on Thursday.

Arrest Five ‘Okada’ Robbers In Kogi Group Urges PDP NWC to Warn Legal Police ive motorcycle snatching syndicates terrorizing Adavi Local Government Area and Kogi Central in its entity have been arrested by the Nigerian Police Adviser Over Attempt to Stop Congress in collaboration with local vigilantes in the state.

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BY AYO ESAN

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Group within the Lagos chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, “the PDP Collectives” has called on the National Working Committee of the party to call the National Legal Adviser to order over its tactical support to a lawsuit that seeks to postpone the South West Zonal Congress of the party.

The group in a release it issued Friday, titled: “ PDP is on the path of self destruction” and signed by its Chairman, Professor Tejumade Akitoye-Rhodes said the role of the National Legal Adviser in a purported law suit that seeks to derail the Congress is rather disingenuous, suspicious, offensive and in bad taste, saying if allowed to subsist , it will lay a very dangerous precedent that may eventually set the party itself on the path of implosion.

PDP Collectives said “the Governor of Ọyọ State, Engineer Seyi Makinde brought to the public forum Thursday, an ambiguous attempt by the PDP National legal adviser to halt and postpone the South West Zonal Congress already scheduled for March 6 , 2021 through a very dubious court process, adding that, “there is apparently no smoke without fire”. “ And why single out the South West alone ? This is totally unacceptable. It is an insult to the Yoruba people. It is an insult to Governor Makinde himself who is the leader of the party in the Southwest. If this charade is another way of telling the Yoruba people that they are not wanted in the PDP, they should note that no party can win the presidential election without a significant electoral input from the Southwest”, the group said.

The Group said it strongly advise the National Working Committee to warn the legal adviser who is obviously playing an unveiled destabilizing role to desist forthwith. “ The Peoples Democratic Party is currently facing all kinds of self-inflicted challenges from various quarters. The National Auditor recently accused the managers of the party of untidy book keeping. Sponsored factions are springing up virtually in all zones. The party platform appears wobbly, stripped of a firm, steadfast rudder. If the present managers feel overwhelmed and incapable of equitable leadership, it is our strong belief that they should step aside graciously for a National Caretaker Committee whose vision and commitment will be predicated on instilling discipline, justice , fairness and sincere leadership to the party”, PDP Collective said .

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It was gathered that the suspects met their waterloo Wednesday while making effort to snatch a motorcycle from an Okada Rider with their usual trick.

They were arrested at Ebogogo Community in Adavi Local Government area of the state.

The suspects were identified as; ThankGod from Kaduna State, Bello from Edo State, Abdullahi Musa from Gombe State, Zahamarudeen AKA (Yellow) from Zamfara State, and Mr. Solomon from Edo State.

They confessed to have been responsible for motorcycle snatching in Kogi Central axis.

They also added that, their operation hideout is along Auchi road, where they normally lured Okada Riders to and forcefully snatch their motorcycle.

The suspects also admitted that the motorcycles found in their possession were stolen from Okada Riders and many have been sold out at the rate of #30,000 each.

Enugu Imposes Curfew on Oruku, Nkanu East LGA

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overnor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has imposed a curfew on the community following the recent killing of the Vice Chairman of Orukwu Town Union Caretaker Committee, Chief Samuel Ani. The murder of Ani is coming on the heels of the December 26 killing of Igwe Emmanuel Chidiebere Mba, traditional ruler of Nkanu East Local Government Area of the state, which is the “subject of an ongoing Judicial Commission of Inquiry.”

A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Nnayelugo Chidi Aroh, disclosed that the governor imposed the curfew pursuant to Executive Order No. 2: 2021, of February 25, 2021.

Aroh stated that the curfew, which is between the hours of 6pm to 6am daily, commences from 6pm, on Thursday, February 25, 2021 and ends at 6pm, on Wednesday, 31st March, 2021, in the first instance.

The Information Commissioner further stated that “the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command has been directed to take all legal measures to enforce this order and ensure the arrest as well as prosecution of the perpetrators of this heinous crime”.

The state government therefore “enjoined the people of Oruku to stay the course of peace and go about their lawful businesses outside the hours of the day under curfew”.

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FEATURES Is Writing a Cure For Depression?

MUSTAFA JAMAL ponders on the possible therapeutic benefit of writing...

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aptop is where it is named for – on a cushioned plank balanced on my lap – for medical reasons, so I was advised, and tapping the keys, punching out random recollections to rid me of my mild “black dog.”

“Black dog,” as Winston Churchill so aptly described it, was the code name for a severe form of depression he suffered all through his life, especially during his laidback years, after the war with Hitler, after his years at 10, Downing Street, in between his decades-long public engagement and speeches. For a man who relished work or action, or both, his depressive moods recurred when he was mostly inactive.

Aware of his unusual medical condition, Queen Elizabeth’s most favourite PM till date took to writing and painting. But fate punished him with longevity, and so he experienced bouts of depression to his dying day. Sir Winston was 90 when he died.

Churchill’s “black dog” didn’t come out of the blues. It came encoded in his DNA via his family tree. His grandfather, John Spencer-Churchill, suffered severe bouts of depression just as his own son, Randolph, Churchill’s father.

I have never being depressive nor is there any sign of it in my lineage – maternal and paternal – I am not gloating, please. In that sense, I suspect that what I am basically suffering from now isn’t medical type depression but the difficult times on account of being an unemployed idler.

Let’s face it your spirit cannot soar when you don’t have a credible employment to speak of. Worse still, it becomes ironic when colleagues and others acknowledge your work and worth yet you live on the dole. It is unbearable to live in perpetual inertia, self-induced or not. It makes your future uncertain and almost bleak when you don’t even know what future there is.

Nothing seems to be happening. The economy is in recession, which is bad news for all but particularly so for the jobless. Companies are layingoff workers by the thousands. In journalism, my area of comparative advantage, offers are as few as my keenness to work is huge.

But not many media houses break even today let alone hire more staff. One potential employer groused about my age recently. “But didn’t writing get better with age?” He pretended not to hear me, looking over and above my head, whistling a soft tune.

The other day, a friend took me along to the publisher of a specialized all-gloss magazine pitching to resuscitate a once popular monthly. On invitation to his office, the publisher spoke without let about his visions for the publication, spinning ideas upon ideas like an energetic performer with more rabbits to pull from his hat. “Send your CV to so and so,” he declared imperiously after the meeting. I was elated.

I sent him a carefully-worded reminder through sms after personally dropping the CV at the appointed place and time. No response. I called as follow up. No response. In the end, his performance turned out to be, as George Orwell once quipped, “lending an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Well, I put it all that down to the economy, stupid!

There have been several such put-downs that can, bit by bit, erode the confidence of even the stoutest of heart, from friends, former colleagues and

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supposedly friendly neighbours, those who, unwittingly but assiduously, gauge your gradual ascendancy or otherwise on the social ladder.

How is he doing? Does he have a job? Is he married? Where does he live?

Does he drive a Sports Utility Vehicle and so on? It’s as if those are the only values that count: work, family, social status around here.

I once chanced on a piece about the austere but accomplished life of a Hungarian professor of mathematics, Paul Erdos. Distinguished in every academic sense, Prof. Erdos denied himself all worldly acquisition, going about Europe and America burdened with a half-empty suitcase: no property, no children, nothing.

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Distinguished in Arriving at the numerous scientific conferences where he was almost every academic always a sure presence, he would declare: “My brain is in town.” Nobody disputed that, and so equally distinguished professors of mathematics and sense, Prof. Erdos applied science accorded him due respect. But that is Europe, or, as we say here, “na oyinbo land be dat, no be Africa.” denied himself Around here, any jobless, ageing bachelor would surely be looked at, all worldly and treated, differently – and not in flattering terms. “Dat man? E no well,” you often hear; when the subject is safely out of earshot, though. acquisition, going “Something de worry am. I even hear say na im be first pikin.” about Europe and “If you don’t have a base, where you work or earn income, you are America burdened nobody,” a radio presenter said one night last week. It was the bitterest pill to swallow that night. Sleep flew through the window, leaving me with a halfsweating and confused, as if my destiny had already been sealed by unseen hands. empty suitcase: I remembered a touching letter a Jewish woman wrote to her sons before no property, no she was gassed in Auschwitz. Crushed by her suffering and others and the incredulity of it all, she lamented: “I live with such a sense of unreality as children, nothing if I were standing like a spectator beside my own fate.”

The difference for me today as I sit in a poky room, laptop where it should be, fingers lightly skimming the keyboard, I feel a certain release, a certain euphoria •

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FEATURES

Vengeance ala Cat In which a stray cat revenges this reporter for a past slight MICHAEL JIMOH

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here are cats in this house,” my interim landlord told me one day soon after I moved into a house somewhere in Oregun. I had not stayed long when I started seeing the furry felines everywhere in the compound, in a mélange of colours – black, brown, grey, yellow and white, and sometimes a mixture of three or four hues.

They were all stray cats because nobody claimed ownership of any, plus they were not permanently resident in any one compound but lived in almost all, bounding gracefully from house to house, stepping gingerly over wired fences, slinking stealthily through gaps in gates or leaping several metres in the air to stampede and paw pigeons careless enough to trespass their territory.

Sometimes you spied one or two through broken beams in the roof, posing Sphinx-like with their galvanizing glare stopping you dead on your tracks.

No day passed without coming across a dozen or so kitties, sometimes making me conclude that cats are quite as prolific as their staple. But I have never for once chanced on a mother cat suckling her kittens soon after giving birth, or the birthplace for that matter. I have come across a dozen pink mice, eyes shut nibbling their mother’s nipples on kitchen shelves only minutes after birth.

I am not particularly fond of any pet but I have become quite close to a regular in the compound. A combination of gold and black, with white rimming its lower jaw and beard like its more aggressive cousins in the wild, I have since named it Skip, Skip because it’s right front leg is broken. Skip limps around the compound, making its job of hunting quite difficult.

I don’t know how or when we became close. One day, I was cooking a pot of stew when I heard a mew sound near me. (If there is one thing my friends know me for, it is my famous palm oil stew.

This is no boast, especially those who have sampled a recipe I learnt at my grandmother’s feet, a recipe she starts preparing from the grinding stone all of which will be deposited in a simmering clay pot.)

And there was Skip on the floor not far away, looking weak and hungry. It was panting through very visible ribs.

From that day, I started feeding Skip whatever I ate. I sometimes tried biscuit soaked in milk or just plain milk. Skip lapped the milk faster than he devoured the biscuit. I also collected fish head from a friend who sell frozen food.

The beast was never discriminatory, coming ever more frequently and promptly, too, like Dr. Pavlov’s dogs. After consuming a peppery piece of chicken one day, I noticed Skip’s discomfort: he was opening and closing his mouth the way people do after eating a hot and peppery meal.

One day, another cat accompanied Skip to dinner unasked. I was not amused. It was fat and healthy and didn’t look to be in any critical condition. It looked suspicious - like a thief.

Feeding two felines was out of the question for me. It had to be Skip, for obvious reasons. Yet, the rogue cat never stopped coming to share Skip’s chops, or even purloin them.

In the event of a cat fight, I reckoned, Skip will simply be overwhelmed. I chased the rogue away each time it came around so that Skip could eat undisturbed. It went on for some time, all the while it never occurred to me I was a marked man until early this week.

(Lest we forget, and sadly, too, Skip died one evening, apparently poisoned by someone in the neighbourhood and for whatever reason I can’t tell.)

I had prepared the same palm oil stew during the weekend. Needless to say that it was eh, eh, eh superb cooking, that kind of home-cooked stew you savour and begin to feel pleasurable sensations at the back of your head.

There is this thing about people saving the best for the last ala Christ’s example in turning water to wine. So did I. The last beefy piece was saved for dinner that evening. It had become browner, absorbing the nutrients in the stew ageing like old wine. It was in a covered pot on a 3kg gas cylinder just outside my door, the way tenants sometimes leave stoves by their doors in face-me-I face you buildings.

Around 3pm that day, a friend called me to say he was around my neighbourhood. We had not seen for some time. One time, I was off to see Sam, spent about an hour bantering and drinking. After he left, I came back home.

At first, I didn’t notice it. I was coming out of the room a second time when I saw, from a side-long glance, that the pot of stew was not on the gas. It had been upended on the floor, the stew splashed here and there. But the beef was nowhere near the pot. Only a trail of oil suggested a culprit had visited in my absence.

It had to be a cat! To confirm my suspicion, I went around the corner of the house and there it was, Skip’s unloved dinner guest, lounging on its back, its paws caressing an empty space and passing its tongue over its upper lip the way lions do after a particularly satisfactory meal. I thought I saw a fleeting vengeful smile on its face.

Do I charge the beast and club it on the head? Forget it. Still, I thought of my fried, chunky beef swirling around in the digestive system of a domestic cat, denying me the pleasure of something I had saved for the last, and I began to seriously consider the possibility of assassinating the animal.

An irresistible and sizable head of fish, head of state, so we called it in boarding house, laced with otapiapia will finish off the rogue cat. It will be its last supper. But then, I decided against it.

The ultimate revenge, I reasoned, is to write about the cat and man incident and get paid for it.

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Some of the IDPs at their camp in Uhogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State

Edo IDPs Seek Assistance As Hunger Bites Hard

BY ISAAC OLAMIKAN, BENIN

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bout a hundred students of Christ Like School situated in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Uhogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, are crying for support from philanthropists and well-meaning Nigerians to enable them actualise their educational pursuit. The students, mainly victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country and orphans, who just gained admission into some of the tertiary institutions in the country this academic session, are lamenting that they are yet to join their mates since the commencement of the session.

Narrating their pitiable conditions, the students said, daily, they are in anguish knowing that lectures have commenced in their institutions but they are yet to join their mates.

They asserted that what is holding them back from actualising their lofty dreams is lack of funds and, as such, they are praying that in no distant time, their plight will be redressed through the intervention of kind-hearted people.

Some of the affected students thanked Pastor Solomon Folorunsho (Commandant of the Camp) for accepting and taking care of them.

“I am happy to gain admission into the University while I look forward to God’s intervention to raise the money needed to fulfil my dream, “ one of them, who craved anonymity, stated.

One other major challenge facing the IDPs is inadequate foodstuff, shortage of drugs in their health clinic and lack of clothes. Food for 5,000 kids and adults twice daily is becoming a big problem in the camp. And the IDPs are appealing and praying that God should touch the hearts of the privileged ones in the society so that they can assist them in whatever way possible.

In a chat, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, the Commandant of the camp, said: “Right now, we have almost 5,000 internally displaced persons(IDPs) here. Most of them are young people who love education. We decided to put effort in that aspect of their lives from the time they came. People come here to inspire and encourage them on the benefits of education.

“Most of them are leading their class in their institutions. They score high marks in their JAMB examinations, WASCE, JSSCE, NECO, NABTEB etc.

“On the average, we register nothing less 200 of them for any examination and when you calculate that, we pay between N9,000 and N12,000 to register each pupil; we spend a figure in the region of millions of Naira to do this.

“Presently, we have more than one hundred of them in different Nigerian universities studying courses like Medicine and Surgery; Law; Engineering etc.

“There are widows who just need help to learn some skills. They need to be empowered to be able to establish themselves in the society.”

Speaking further, he said: “We want to go into large scale farming. We are asking people to donate land to us in any part of the country that is safe. They should also give us the things to plant.

“Right now, we are in real critical situation. In the aspect of education, the ones that just gained admission into universities need school fees. We are pleading with Nigerians to come to our assistance.

“We have gotten in touch with some people who promised to help us talk to the Governor of Borno State, where most of them are from, Babagana Umara Zulum. Till this moment, we have not heard a word about how the meeting went.

“The children love Governor Zulum a lot. They are always excited with the things he does when they watch him on TV. They have promised that they would love to go back home to serve and develop their state.

“There are many children who are out of school. But here are those who have made efforts on their own to get to this stage. They are pleading with the government, the UNICEF and all other agencies that have the wherewithal to help them to do so•” THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS APC : Tinubu’s Presidential Ambition and The Crack Within AYO ESAN

T

he ambition of the former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the All Progressive Congress, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu to be the country’s president in 2023 might have drawn him into a battle with certain powerful forces in the ruling party.

It would be recalled that in 2014, aside the fact that Tinubu and others led the Action Congress of Nigeria into a merger with Congress for Progressive Change, a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, that gave birth to the APC, he also played a leading role in the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s candidate and eventually as the Nigerian president.

However his belief that both President Buhari and other top notchers of the party will support his ambition to rule the country in 2023 as payback time to what he did in 2014 has already turned sour.

The signs that all may not be well with his ambition within the presidency and top ranking members of the APC started when Tinubu’s man, Babatunde Fowler, was unceremoniously removed as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services in December 2019.

Fowler who is known as ‘Tinubu boy’ and was believed to have been picked by Tinubu to head the Federal Inland Revenue Service as the Executive Chairman in 2015 wanted a second term in office, but Buhari would have none of it. So on Monday, December 9, 2019, he was booted out.

A seasoned tax administrator who rose through the ranks at the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) from 2005 to 2013, Fowler was credited with boosting the tax office revenue of Lagos, from one that generated N3.6 billion a month in 2006 to one that averaged over N20.5 billion per month in 2014 and arrived the nation’s tax office with plenty of goodwill and a track record of taking tax revenue in Lagos to record highs.

His removal, according to watchers of economic and political developments in the country, was part of effort of a strong group in the presidency nay APC to whittle down the power and influence of Tinubu in the APC-led federal government.

Then the second shock to Tinubu and his group was the manner through which Adams Oshiomhole, a close ally of Tinubu was removed as the National Chairman of the APC in June 2020. The belief was that with Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the APC, the ‘anointed’ delegates to the primaries may make it a work over for Tinubu to emerge as candidate in 2023.

Oshiomhole was sacked during a controversial virtual NEC meeting of the Appeal Court had upheld his suspension given by a high court.

Majority of the NWC members had opposed the NEC meeting, saying it was wrongly called by Victor Giadom, whom they said was not competent to call the meeting. But President Buhari, however, declared support for the meeting, saying “the law is on the side of Victor Giadom as Acting National Chairman.”

Though analysts concluded that it was a blow to Tinubu‘s 2023 ambition, both Tinubu and President Buhari said that their relationship remained cordial and that the step was taken in good faith to find a way for the party to continue waxing stronger.

Buhari also said that the Caretaker committee was to last for only six months during which it would organize a convention that would replace the sacked executive within the period.

To the surprise of Tinubu and his group within the APC, the tenure of the caretaker committee was not only extended, but it was also saddled with the responsibility of conducting registration/revalidation of members.

On hearing this, former interim National Chairman of the Party, Chief Bisi Akande, former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba and former South West Vice Chairman of the Action Congress, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi went to the Villa to convince President Buhari that there was no need for the exercise. But Buhari was alleged to have turned down their plea saying the exercise will hold as scheduled.

It was Akande who prepared the membership register that was submitted to INEC during the APC registration in 2014. But observers believe that having another register that will be ‘alien ‘to Tinubu and his group is also another way of whittling down his influence in the party.

The registration/revalidation of members brought joy to the camp of the faction of the party in Lagos State led by Fouad Oki. Farouk Oki’s faction which also has former Legal Adviser of the party, Dr Muiz Banire in its fold openly expressed support for the exercise and described it as THEWILLNIGERIA

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Tinubu victory for the truth.

Many believe that the registration and revalidation of members was done to weaken Tinubu’s influence in the party. The open criticism that greeted the exercise by Akande, Tinubu and Oshiomhole reinforced this position by the observers.

The open condemnation of the exercise by Akande and tactical support of Tinubu to Akande’s condemnation of the exercise showed that it is not wrong that the group is not comfortable with the exercise.

But former National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun said the controversy trailing the membership registration/revalidation exercise being organised by the party is shocking because, according to him, it is needless and unnecessary.

Odigie-Oyegun while speaking with THEWILL said the controversy trailing the exercise is unnecessary. “If Akande said it is wasting of time and resources, tell him I said it is not. It is a normal and routine exercise in a political party. If Oshiomhole said the revalidation exercise is not necessary and not in tune with our constitution, tell him I said it is necessary and in tune with our constitution.”

“

They said Tinubu is a strategist. I just laugh whenever I hear that. A strategist that can’t see what is happening in APC

Political observers and watchers of political development believe Tinubu’s ambition is already causing noticeable crack within the ruling APC. Speaking on the development, a chieftain of the Pan Yoruba Sociocultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo said: “They said Tinubu is a strategist. I just laugh whenever I hear that. A strategist that can’t see what is happening in APC. You are the principal partner in this merger but you have no constitutional position in the party. They deceived you that they are going to make you chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) but they never set it up deliberately. So, the constitutional bodies of the party you have say no and yet, he is still thinking that he is something in the party. There was an occasion when Buhari told him that there cannot be two national leaders in the party and that as President; he is the only national leader. So, if Tinubu continues deceiving himself; that is his problem. You can see (Aremo Olusegun) Osoba now begging the party to call a national caucus meeting when they now know that by doing the membership registration, they are trying to edge them out and it is going to affect them. I have been saying it that Tinubu betrayed us and now in his lifetime, he is already receiving his reward. Are the APC people not paying him back? I am not saying this for the first time that Buhari is deceiving him and he is also deceiving Buhari. Let them keep deceiving themselves. He is already receiving the reward for his betrayal in his party•”

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POLITICS

Uzodinma

“

Imo Gladiators Fight To Finish

AMOS ESELE

I

n a video circulating on Social Media, former Imo state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, dressed in deep blue agbada while his successor, Hope Uzodinman, fitted in his traditional red cap and short sleeves, banter like two college mates, laughing and slapping hands amid politicians until former All Progressives Congress, APC, National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, dressed in his trade mark ‘khakhi’ outfit, walked into the picture and spoiled the fun for the viewer.

Okorocha said: “They kept me It is old but in view of their current fight, the post portrays deception and looks like a replay of an attempt at a well-intended but futile effort by there (police southeast governors and party stakeholders to settle the rift between the two gladiators of Imo politics, Okorocha and Uzodinma. headquarters) and current But their fight runs deep, says Martins Ori, Managing Editor of an Owerri based newspaper, New Echo. about 11:30pm, Ori, who described himself as a participant observer of the politics of the state told THEWILL that politics, power and ego is driving the combatants. they asked me According to him, the “rift is very deep. This is fight to finish. The thing is that both of them are fighting in their own way. Okorocha claims he brought APC to Imo state and stabilized it and why he was doing it his enemies like to go. “I want Uzodinma labeled him “Okorohausa,” a derisive term to portray him as a sell out. Now, all of them are claiming to be APC members but in reality, to thank the the former governor has more grassroots supporters while the incumbent controls the elite. And you know in Nigeria, the grassroots may vote but the Presidency for elite determine the outcome. The way, I see it, both of them are fighting in their own, separate ways. It is not good for APC here at all.” intervening in the The fact that it is not good for APC showed during last midweek visit by Governor Uzodinma to President Buhari in Abuja to brief the leader of the matter party on disturbances in his state. Speaking with State House Correspondent after his meeting with Buhari, the governor did not mention for once his fight with Okorocha as part of his brief with the President. Just as there has been no real presidential intervention, so too has nothing been heard from the zonal chairman of the party in the face of Governor Mai Buni ledCommittee.

What looked like presidential intervention was Okorocha’s claim while addressing his supporters at his Spibat mansion in Owerri on Monday, that the Presidency intervened in the matter.

Okorocha said: “They kept me there (police headquarters) and about 11:30pm, they asked me to go. I want to thank the Presidency for intervening in the matter.

But the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba on Monday cast doubt on Okorocha’s claim.

Emelumba said: “Okorocha was released on Sunday by the police on medical grounds. The man was purging and stooling consistently, the police had to release him on medical grounds to enable him to take care of his health. His release doesn’t mean he will not answer his case.”

In the current phase of their blistering face-off, that social media encounter reads like the opening chapter of their longstanding quarrel and perhaps a pointer to the fact that their fight will not abate soon. While Okorocha simply put up a wry smile, Uzodinma, backing the camera, looked as if ready to pounce. Only Oshiomhole, while trying to mediate kept making overtures to both of them to the amusement of others in the video.

At that moment when Oshiomhole still held sway as party chairman, the primaries of the party was upcoming in Imo state and Okorocha was bent on imposing his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu as governorship candidate of the APC in the 2019 elections. Uzodinma and many party chieftains including Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, kicked against it. When he could not get his way,

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Okorocha

Okorocha asked his son-in-law to move to Action Alliance, AA as its candidate, while the APC adopted Uzodinma as its candidate.

But the departure of Nwosu and crowing of Uzodinma worsened their rivalry. For one, Okorocha had also felt he had proprietary right to APC in Imo and by extension the Southeast. He took his faction of his former party, on whose platform he won his first term as governor, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA into the merger parties that formed APC. While he was at it, Uzodinma, who was a Senator on the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, platform accused him of a sell out of his zone to the North. Uzodinma’s emergence as party candidate, after his defection to the APC, reportedly infuriated Okorocha to no end.

Since then, former governor Okorocha, who currently represents Imo West Senatorial Constituency since the 2019 election has drawn the battle line with Uzodinma, embittered by the over night emergence of the governor, courtesy of a Supreme Court ruling that annulled the governorship of PDP’s Emeka Ihedioha in January 2020. Since then, what Okorocha felt when he was insulted with the appellation “OkoroHausa”, can only be imagined by the governor, who is often traduced by his enemies by calling him ‘Supreme Court Governor.” Okorocha threw that jab in his reaction to his arrest by the police on Sunday, saying, “…Uzodinma who became governor through the courts must learn to obey court order..”

While it was easy for people to read political rivalry in Ihedioha’s attack against Okorocha’s seeming personalization of the state and its properties during his governorship, Uzodinma’s similar attack would therefore be viewed differently because they belong, ordinarily, to the same APC. That is why in a Wednesday, February 24 statement Okorocha said that the governor was attacking him out of “personal hatred and vendetta” and he “cannot win me.”

Is it really? To particularly situate the brawl between them, hear what Justice Flourence Duruoha, head of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry On Lands set up by Ihedioha to investigate cases of corruption and graft in government during and Other Related Matters in 2019, said after receiving 1532 petitions and memoranda: ‘’The visual evidence shows that the distortion of the Owerri Master Plan is colossal and mind boggling. It requires a man and government with a lion’s heart to restore same.”

AND THE FIGHT MAY CONTINUE The last week Sunday clash of government officials, security agents with aides of Okorocha at the Royal Palm Hotel, owned by his wife and Tuesday, February 23 follow-up of the pulling down of the fence of the building housing Reach FM Radio, owned by his daughter, Uloma Nwosu, reportedly by government officials is just another display of raw power and control in the supremacy battle between the duo, leaving the courts or law out of the equation.

Meanwhile, the court case involving his personal aides will keep the fight in public view. The aides, Darlington Ibekwe and 13 other loyalists of Senator Okorocha, were accused of conspiring among themselves to disobey a lawful order issued by the state by removing the seal of the state government and entering into the sealed premises of Royal Spring Palm Hotel and Apartments belonging to Okorocha.

And on Thursday, Justice Fred Njemanze of the Imo State High Court, Owerri, ordered an interim forfeiture of all the properties illegally acquired by a former governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, who was in office from 2011 to 2019.

The order was sequel to an application brought by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Louis Alozie• THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS N30bn Storm Water Probe: Obaseki Should Be Commended - Lawmaker In this interview Honourable Ephraim Otaigbe Aluebhosele, the Deputy Whip of the Edo State House of Assembly, who represents Igueben constituency in the legislature, talks with ISAAC OLAMIKAN about some issues of importance in the state. Excerpts:

I

t is being said that the absence of some elected lawmakers in the Edo State House of Assembly is affecting the quality of debate in the house. Do you agree with this?

It seems very funny when you say the number of members in the Edo State House of Assembly affects the quality of debate. Wherever you have two or three people that are intellectually sound one could say that whatever the debate is it would be robust.

Let us take for instance when we had the old Bendel State. I would want to ask how many members actually represented the state at that point in time? There weren’t up to 24 members. I am proud to tell you that the number of members we have in the House is not due to our own making. I must tell you that the debate we are having in the House is very robust because I am part of the people in the house.

The issue of a candidate of Esan extraction emerging as the governor of Edo State in 2024 is now a trending topic in political circles in the state. Recently, a top politician in the state was quoted as saying that Governor Obaseki never made that agreement, that the idea was only used to deceive Esan people. Do you share this view?

As the lawmaker representing Igueben Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, my role is actually to have a robust debate and represent my people adequately. I cannot speak on the issue of who becomes governor in 2024 because we just did an election. We have a governor who just came in; who has not fully settled down. Yet, we are talking about 2024. I don’t think I would be part of that debate right now because it is not right at all. We have a governor that we all rallied round. The entire state rallied round him to be elected. He has not even composed his cabinet. Then we are discussing 2024.

Well, for me I am very much concerned about what happened in the House of Assembly and how we are able to assist the governor to achieve his set goals.

this matter. It is a national issue and I am proud to tell you that the government is on top of it.

As the representative of Igueben Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly what are your plans to address the sorry state of Idimogo Road in your constituency?

That’s my constituency you just mentioned; It shows that you know Igueben so well. Well, you won’t know Igueben better than I do because that’s where I come from. That’s where I was born and where I currently live. They’re the people that I represent in the Edo State House of Assembly. On the gully you just mentioned, I happen to be the Chairman of the House Committee on Budget and Appropriation. We have so many of such gullies across the state.

That gully didn’t just start today. It has been there for more than 25 years now if I am not mistaken. I am proud to say that just recently it has been captured in the current budget and before the year runs out I am proud to say that something would be done regarding that gully.

Officials of the state Ministry of Environment have been there. A lot of feasibility studies have been done before now. Money has been appropriated for that gully and I am proud to tell you that something would be done•

Governor Godwin Obaseki has said that he will probe the N30billion Storm Water Project of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s administration. People are saying that Governor Obaseki was part of that administration. Do you think that probe will see the light of the day?

You have heard the number one citizen of the state saying that he wants to probe. What is a probe? It is a holistic work. Like you just said that he was part of the Comrade Oshiomhole led administration.

Don’t you see sincerity in him? We should actually give him accolade. It then means that he is one of the most sincere persons we have on earth because he is saying that whoever is involved would be probed. To me, he is doing the right thing. I don’t know who and who is concerned or involved. Just the way you heard about it is the way I also heard about it. As the lawmaker representing Igueben constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, I am also very happy to see that we want to get to the root of the matter.

What has also being trending in recent times is the issue of insecurity versus armed robbery, cult killings, kidnapping, invasion of communities by killer herdsmen etc. Does it not worry you that the Edo State House of Assembly has not said anything about it?

The issue of banditry, insecurity, as the case may be, is not something that just started today. If you recall, last year we had a motion on the floor of the House that was raised by the member representing Esan West then, who is now the Speaker of the House where we robustly discussed the issue of insecurity in the state. That was when we came up with an idea of how we can bring forward again Forest Guards. To say that the House has not said anything regarding that is not true. We are also doing our best to actually enact some enabling bills that will enhance the security of the state. You know we are legislators. I must tell you that the government is not sleeping over THEWILLNIGERIA

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“

I am very much concerned about what happened in the House of Assembly and how we are able to assist the governor to achieve his set goals

Aluebhosele

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POLITICS/ INTERVIEW

Odumakin

George

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Governance everywhere is fast losing its grip on the first principles of protecting lives and properties

President Buhari Should Rise Up, Stop The Ongoing Killings - George Chief Bode George is the former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. He is also the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on the security crisis rocking the nation especially the killing, kidnapping and raping of the indigenous Yoruba people by the rampaging herdsmen in the South West and the state of PDP in Lagos and South West. Excerpts:

Y

ou said earlier that Nigeria is on the brink. How do you mean?

I have observed critically over the last three months and have watched with disbelief, with despair and with dismay the gradual hurling of our country to the precipice.

The widening spread of banditry, the reckless shedding of innocent blood, the bitter murderous clashes between farmers and herdsmen, the loose brigandry - have virtually made all corners of our society insecure, vulnerable to the rule of the cudgel and machete.

Governance everywhere is fast losing its grip on the First Principles of protecting lives and properties. From Sokoto to Lagos, from Ebonyi to Borno, from Katsina to Ogun and from the Savanah to the rain forest, lives are daily cut down without the culprits being brought to pay for their crimes. Road users are kidnapped, brutalized, exposed to all un-

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imaginable kinds of cruelty and then forced to pay ransom.

Even the homesteads are no longer safe as all kinds of criminals descend upon the rich and poor, breaking into private hearths, breaching our collective security, inflicting the most sadistic venom on their victims as they are brutalized and their properties stripped bare.

And even in the streets, various warlords declare their own turf wars, wielding cudgels, guns and all kinds of available missiles in pitch battles.

All over the country lives are no longer being treasured. Nothing is sacred. There are no Holy of Holies anymore. Everything is a free game. Gradually, we are slipping into the rule of the mob, in form of the Hobbesian state of nature where the rule of the strong and the

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POLITICS/ INTERVIEW

...Stop The Ongoing Killings cudgel prevails.

When lives are neither treasured nor safe, and ordinary citizens cannot carry out their legitimate businesses without being hindered and molested, what then is the purpose of governance? What then is the responsibility of leadership?

The primary responsibility of government, among other things, are to preserve, protect and defend her citizens from both internal and external threats.

Governments are elected to guarantee the pursuit of happiness, to ensure the protection of personal liberties, to create an atmosphere where all citizens can carry out their economic livelihoods without being subjected to oppression or being savaged by the lawlessness of incendiary actors.

Sadly, we are living in an increasingly dysfunctional society, where the structures of power are un-representative, skewed in unitary bias, devoid of democratic balance.

There are so many aberrations thwarting equitable governance in our country. The centre is too encumbered with many responsibilities. It is overburdened, stressed with unnecessary functions that ought to be devolved to the states.

Our federation is only a federation in name. It is more of a unitary system, barking out command and control like a military hierarchy.

This is not how democracies operate. This is not how true federating units function.

We must loosen the overarching power at the centre and return more responsibilities to the states.

This is the normative pattern all over the world. And why should our own be different? We must re-evaluate and remodel our structures of governance to be more representative of the will of the people.

Another contributory malady in the composition of governance is the inordinate greed and the unconscionable conducts of some of those who are elected to represent and protect the interests of the people. But they often act like overlords, distant and indifferent to the will of the people As a General, are you not worried about the level of arms proliferation in the country? You see herdsmen carrying AK 47 all over the place and you begin to wonder how they get these arms?

There are laws in this country, the agencies that are supposed to monitor the movement of arms are not there for fun. But you know, and tribalism is the greatest drug in any nation. It is worse than taking cocaine and we have over empowered tribalism. But this ought not to be, like I asked who decided which family he was born into and when you die and you are coming back, do you have the right to say that I want to go to China.

Do you know there is only one being, the one who was, who is and will forever be. He is the only one who determines where you are to be born and when you die and you want to come back, where you will go. We all need to calm down, take a step back and revisit our relationship. You know what I have interpreted this to mean, and that is why I said what the role of the media is? The media’s role is to point out all the mistakes being made by government and the governed. It is like asking who the national conscience of this country is. Who is the President? Is it good the way we are running the country? So, if a Yoruba man now becomes the president again, Yoruba people would start doing whatever they want with complete disregard to the laws that are there. As a young man in this Lagos Island, I have seen Fulani people driven their cows for fifty, sixty years but they never disrupted anybody’s farm. They knew their routes, but why now, the people are not saying, don’t drive your cows but you are damaging our crops. And then after damaging the crops, you now went the extra miles by fighting. The government must intervene, the government must ensure they have a committee to look into this. There are two types of Fulani’s, the Town Fulani, they don’t roam around, then the cow Fulani. The cow Fulani that cow is his God, he will die because of the Malu. And you think he would abandon the Malu to go and rape.

So the question is who are these characters causing problem, killing and raping women? Something like a devil has entered the country. The town Fulanis are elegant, and we stayed together. But suddenly, things have changed, if you see anybody that look like Fulani now , people will shout, he is a criminal, a killer. That is the interpretation now, so we are losing grip. It is only one person who can stand up and say enough and that person is the president. Because he is from the tribe of Fulani and when he talks, they will listen. Most of our colleagues in the north, even governors from the north are saying enough is enough. What is all these?

Look at Shasa in Ibadan, since I have been going there, I know that is the area of the Hausa people. They speak Yoruba, their children go to the same school with Yoruba children. Go to Agege Central Mosque on Friday, you won’t even know them, they will be speaking Yoruba with you. The same with our people in the North. So don’t let them politicize THEWILLNIGERIA

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this matter. Something is definitely wrong and the national conscience of our country should rise up and put a stop to it. If he doesn’t, we will not be at the brink that I said we are, we will go to the gutter. And if we go into that hole, God knows what.

It is a very serious matter. Look at the story in Ibarapa, how a young man, Aborode, a doctor, well-educated was murdered as if life is nothing. I met my best friend in the navy, he is a thorough bred Fulani man. He is a young man, I didn’t have a car, and I just came back from a course, so I stood in front of the road, waiting for anybody to give me a ride. And you know what? He passed and said where are you going? And I said to the base sir.

He picked me up. From that day till today, when he sees me, he would say my only brother south of Sahara. He would do things that I required that is lawful for me. The same with me. I want to plead especially during this period and the Muslims would also soon have their Ramadan. That is the period of atonement. Let us calm down. Nobody is your enemy, except the person that breaks the law. Why would the police run away and not take charge. Every Nigerian from the North Pole to the South Pole, are waiting for the statement from the President because it is going to be weighty as a Fulani man.

How do we solve the problem between the farmers and the herdsmen?

I made a suggestion here. Why don’t we see in Brazil, the same cow people driving their cows from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia or in Argentina to start going from one village to another with your cows? Ranch is the answer.

Let us embrace the modern way of keeping the cows. It can be done. If you want land to do ranches in Ogun, Oke Ogun in Oyo and in Ondo, I was once governor in Ondo, they have lands. They can give you areas where you pay and you have a ranch. People still eat the cows, they will go there and buy.

Driving them all the way, destroying the farms of the people, God himself will be annoyed. So let’s holistically take few steps back to look at this issue and resolve it. This is because it can lead to unimaginable crisis which we don’t need now, avoidable crisis.

Do you nurse any fear for this country, Nigeria?

We should resolve this crisis. We are still battling with COVID-19 and I learnt COVID-19 is no respecter of anybody. And it doesn’t respect weather. That one is on the ground and we still want to create more problem for ourselves. And this is why we are talking about restructuring of this country. The system we are running is not working, it is so military in its concept and operation. Let the will of the people prevail. And this system has an apex. Somebody sits there as a president and dictates to everybody.

If the state is empowered, won’t you sort yourself out? We copied American system, it is bottom up and not up down. The system is not working, we must restructure before 2023. Those who are angling for positions, we must restructure first. Lets sit down and talk. They can take the report of the constitutional conference of 2014. Everything that could be done is there, and they were approved at the plenary sessions. Jonathan gave the report to Oga. If I see him, that is what I will tell him, if you want peace, implement the report.

“

The system we are running is not working, it is so military in its concept and operation. Let the will of the people prevail

Of recent some of your party members/leaders in South West decamped to the APC. What is the cause of this?

Was it not two days ago that I was sitting down in the office here and the issue of Gbenga Daniel came up? And I said to them, those who were with me, that I learnt that they invited Gbenga Daniel to come and lead Ogun PDP, I said how? For over an hour here, we discussed the matter.

I said don’t waste your time. For instance, the problem we have in Lagos especially, you have people who would grandstand, and they would say they are with you, but they are not with you. They are with Bola Tinubu because of the pittance they get from him. They pretend that they are here, Olorun a de foju gbogbo won han (God will expose all of them). They don’t know the meaning of Atona Odua, my chieftaincy title. The pathfinder of our progenitor. God will expose them and shame them. Gbenga Daniel has gone to APC long time. There is a reason why he left for APC but I won’t say it here. He has gone there a long time. Fayose , that is making noise when he was governor, who did he consult? You don’t know what he did , the National Treasurer is from Ekiti, Eddy Olafeso is also from Ondo.

So one wing from the three wings in the South West got very prominent positions in the National Working Committee of our party. What I mean is, we have Ondo/ Ekiti, Oyo/Osun , then Lagos/Ogun. Only Ondo/Ekiti got two positions in the NWC when he was the only governor in the South West. It is not done like that. Who did he listen to that time? He is now saying one young person is rude to him. He said Seyi Makinde is junior to him. And that one junior person was insulting him, when you were insulting the elders, you didn’t remember.

You too, you are now saying some of our people left for APC. Anybody can go anywhere, there is nothing that has a beginning that will not have an end.

And Yoruba people say when the time has come, it has come, I won’t say more than that•

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EDITORIAL Bandits As Nigeria’s New State Actors A rmed banditry is fast becoming a recognised vocation in Nigeria.

This comes as hardened criminals and heartless bandits are being treated as the new state actors. The role of some state governors, especially in the North, and apparently, with the tacit support of the Federal Government, in this evil transformation, is really disturbing.

To be referring to dare-devil criminals and hardened armed bandits, most of whom are not even Nigerians, as aggrieved persons is, to say the least, disappointing. It is therefore no surprise that these bandits are now holding the entire country to ransom as they coerce government officials into negotiating with them on their terms as if they are state actors.

The unfolding scenario where bandits now dictate to the government their terms is the lowest level the country has ever fallen in recent times.

It is therefore unimaginable that bandits would now storm secondary schools at will and abduct innocent children with the aim of making the government open negotiations with them on ransom being demanded.

The role of supposedly religious leaders in this unholy alliance, turning themselves into overnight mediators, is the highest form of insult on the intelligence of Nigerians. That elected state governors and other government officials would even follow an unofficial mediator such as Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi into the forest to negotiate with armed bandits is the lowest level to which some of these governors have descended. It is a shame that supposedly chief security officers of states would descend so low to follow an unofficial negotiator into the forest to negotiate with bandits who are nothing more than criminals.

We therefore condemn Gumi’s new role and vocation as a ‘mediator’ as we wonder whose interest is he really serving and who appointed him as a mediator. More annoying and condemnable is his recent reference to journalists as “criminals” for describing armed bandits as criminals.

THEWILL therefore gives kudos to the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) for calling Gumi out and challenging him on his new romance with the bandits.

We align ourselves with the NUJ in condemning Gumi’s attempts to seek amnesty for these bandits who have killed and abducted innocent citizens, especially school children . We also join the NUJ in challenging Gumi to explain to Nigerians why despite his recent negotiations with bandits in Zamfara State, the criminals have continued maiming, killing, raping and kidnapping innocent citizens, including the 300 female students just abducted in the same state.

The abduction of the Kankara school boys in Niger State and the recent storming of the Government Girls Science Secondary School Jangebe in Jangebe, Zamfara State, by armed bandits who made away with about 317 students are all sad commentaries in the unfolding drama. It is however unfortunate that the unofficial mediator would come out to say that the bandits he met in the Niger forest were not responsible for the kidnap of the Kankara boys.

These actions and the non-challant attitude of the Federal Government to the plight of the innocent school kids have really gone a long way in confirming Nigerian political leaders as failures. Moreso, a country which has no control over violent crimes and criminality is nothing more than a failed state.

THEWILL is however glad at President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise not to negotiate with bandits but no one is sure what his ministers would do, especially now that most government officials speak with discordant tunes on issues of national importance. We find it very disappointing that while the Federal Government would rise to the occasion to free abducted students in Katsina and Zamfara states, those in Niger State are being left to their fate, with the state government being helpless •

om

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief - Austyn Ogannah Editor - Olaolu Olusina Deputy Editor - Amos Esele Politics Editor - Ayo Esan Business Editor - Sam Diala News Editor (Online) - Felix Oboagwina Cartoon Editor - Victor Asowata Entertainment/Society Editor - Ivory Ukonu Photo Editor - Peace Udugba Head, Graphics - Tosin Yusuph Circulation Manager - Victor Nwokoh

Nigeria Bureau: 36AA Remi Fani-Kayode Street, GRA, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria. info@thewillnigeria.com / @THEWILLNG +234 810 345 2286, +234 913 333 3888. EDITOR: Olaolu Olusina @OLUSINA PAGE 14

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OPINION Nigeria: An Unlucky Lucky Nation?

BY SULAIMAN ALEDEH

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an Nigeria truly work? Why is almost everyone now a thief? Why does the one who complains or does it differently and well is seen as the problem? Why can’t we truly make people pay for their crimes? Why?

Every sector of our national life is enmeshed in corruption. Tell me which one that’s free? As you try to fix it, you have those who pretend to be helping to fix it, destroy it. Now, it looks like we no longer have Boko Haram. It’s now “bandits” and that’s a lucrative business.

Sadly, we are told ransoms aren’t paid. So, what’s the incentive for the almost weekly business of kidnapping our school pupils? For fun or money? Why would anyone even try hard to rationalise these acts? Would this be happening if leaders have their children in those schools?

Take the power sector as an example. Isn’t a simple logic that any business that’s trying to give better service and make a profit will embrace any technology that will guard against loss? Why are ALL the DISCOs against metering? Aren’t they profiting from the lack of it?

Why does it take forever to meter a customer? Why is it almost impossible to have your bad meter replaced when it goes bad? Even when communities buy transformers, why do DISCOs refuse to install or ‘energize’ those transformers?

Are the DISCOs not aware? Are they aware?

Is it some unwritten plan to steal from the customer? Oh, talking about stealing.

Two categories here steal. The Disco and the customer. There’s always a customer who steals power. He finds a way to manipulate the system by getting served without paying. He gets shamed if caught.

Then there’s the Disco that pretends to care and will not meter the customer but will be quick to slam bills off the top of some heads. Oh, they unlike the thieving customer are never shamed. They do no wrong. They’re lords and the country is at their mercy.

You’d think the regulator is for the people. Far from it. It is enmeshed in this whole play of games. It was they who said only 40% of customers have been metred. In any examination, that’s an ‘F’. Whenever the outcry gets louder, they throw and open a new plan just so you think all is well. Like the MAP! The Metre Asset Provider Scheme is the biggest fraud lately. How successful has that been? Have you taken a look at the books? It was one move with plenty of motions yet no success. 40% as given my NERC is even being modest. This isn’t about the sector. It is about Nigeria and that’s one example of how sectors fleece those they’re meant to serve.

By the way, a particular Disco has placed itself in the spotlight. I am still studying. The countless letters, visits by this Estate in Baruwa, Lagos hasn’t resulted in any good. The Discos are gods!

Security is one that everyone expects to be seen and felt. It starts with the

recruitment process. How do we get into the system? How do we train them?

Who trains them? Just like the power sector, the corporate image is absent but seem to be present. A visit to any police station shows the rot in our larger society.

You have to be “someone” to even be given a listening ear. “Hey, oga stop there”, “ You cannot park there o”, “Leave there”, “ Go back!”, “Why are you looking for the DPO?”, “ Oga, if you no talk well, we will detain you with them” et al Which are you familiar with? By the way, did you see the lucky stupid policeman who almost died by being knocked by another crazy Nigerian caught driving against traffic? Lucky to be alive. Stupid because of the way he placed himself in harm’s way. That gives you a picture of training and orientation. Every training school in Nigeria is an aggrieved mind who has been “punished” by being posted there. Psychologists will help here by telling us the kind of training anyone will get from an unhappy instructor. Keep in mind, the focus is on the bad guys.

Every sector has the good guys and the worry here is that the good ones are being gaslighted by the bad ones; making them feel they’re the problem. Far from it.

Corruption is deep. Very deep. The one who complains even thinks it’s the “big man” and not him. A close look tells it.

Artisans are rippers too! As careful as you are, a mechanic can right before you open an account on your car. “Catalytic Converter or catalyst” a device around the exhaust system of your car is one thing many have lost. When your car visits the auto shop, thank your God if it comes back intact with that device still in place. When was the last time a tailor returned your excess material? You wondered if we have all same shape and sizes that the same yard of clothing material goes into the making of that dress. Who else isn’t into this bad dealings?

The media isn’t free! Some have been so pauperised that they lose their confidence and self-worth. Some have veered off the professional paths to become businessmen and women that for every work published, for every airtime something has to give. This is sad and must stop.

We are in a pandemic quite alright and it became business for many. Unprecedented exploitation and hike in some cheap vitamins. Companies scampering to get in the business of palliative. Make headlines as “helpers of the people” when it is actually about helping their stomachs.

Aren’t we all bandits? Do we all need a Gumi to do the right thing? Does a Gumi speaking for us make our bad actions acceptable?

P.S: This is not to deride anyone or target anyone. I have deliberately not tagged anyone because those to be so tagged will still see this and if they choose to act right, fine, else someday soon, history will point to us with an irreversible and permanent tag. God bless Nigeria.

Sulaiman Aledeh is a Journalist, Strategic Media & Communication Consultant. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

Shell Vs Aiteo Et’al And Other Serious Matters

BY IFEANYI IZEZE

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o doubt, the recent injunction of a Federal High Court, Lagos, barring Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary from withdrawing money at 20 local banks until it ring-fences potential damages in a lawsuit brought against the oil major by Aiteo Eastern E&P, an indigenous operator, is a welcome development in our nation’s effort to checkmate the widespread malfeasance and blurred business dealings by multinational oil operators in this country.

For as long as they’ve been in the Nigerian arena, most if not all, the foreign operating multinationals have often indulged in wilful unfair practices and underhand activities against our national interests. And the case of Aiteo against Shell is just one in a million of such wuru wuru dealings which has characterised the conduct of the foreign operators in our oil sector.

The worst part of the whole insanity is that too many insatiably greedy privileged Nigerians at the corridors of power at different times and in the NNPC are aiding and abetting the ruining of their own country by the western and lately Chinese interests operating in Nigeria.

The bone of contention in this rare legal tussle between Shell and Aiteo is that between 2016 and 2018, Shell putting to use a metering device not approved by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) short-changed local operators, Aiteo, being the hardest hit, to the tune of millions of barrels of produced crude oil.

Aiteo, alongside some other indigenous oil producers, have had a protracted dispute with Shell alleging that the company short-changes them using unapproved methodology to calculate the volume of crude it lifts on their behalf from the terminal. These indigenous operators alleged that Shell deploys underhand practices including using unapproved meters dubiously calibrated by the Anglo-Dutch giant to facilitate crude theft from the smaller Nigerian oil companies that uses its facilities to transmit their produced oil to Shell’s Bonny THEWILLNIGERIA

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export terminal tank-farm.

As said, the interim Mareva injunction by the Lagos High Court is aimed at recovering the cash value of the millions of barrels of crude allegedly diverted from Aiteo, an indigenous operator by the Anglo-Dutch oil giant.

Court documents show that Aiteo is seeking about $4 billion in total over alleged problems with the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) pipeline it bought from the Anglo-Dutch group in 2015 and over claims Shell undercounted its oil exports.

Aiteo also accuses Shell of deliberate improper metering of the Nigerian company’s oil exports from the Bonny Light terminal. It is seeking $2.7 billion over the pipeline deal plus $1.28 billion for lost oil sales, the court documents show.

Is it not curious that before Aiteo approached the court, the DPR, the government regulatory agency of the oil and gas industry in its settlement after investigations had ordered Shell Nigeria to refund 2,081,678 barrels of crude oil understated between 2016 and 2018 to the affected local oil companies including Aiteo, Eroton, Newcross and Belema Oil. In an official communication, signed by M. Alaku, titled, “Allocation of Bonny Terminal Gross Volume From June 2016 to July 2018 Based on Comparison of Metered Gross Volume Between the Coriolis Meter and LACT Unit Installed on the NCTL,” the DPR demanded that Shell should return the missing crude amounting to over 2 million barrels to the affected local oil companies including Aiteo, Eroton, Newcross and Belema Oil. But because the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has no iota of regard for Nigeria’s constituted authourities and thinks it can do whatever it wants and get away with it (as has been its practice) because of corruption in our system, now this •Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

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Airlines Jostle For Smaller Aircraft PAGE 29

Continental Re Promises Quality Post−Covid Recovery To African Nations PAGE 30

E-Commerce: Courier, Logistics Firms Groan Under Multiple Taxes

BY SAM DIALA

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Yet, over 500 firms with a minimum of two motor-cycles had already registered for it and obtained their papers. Then you go to another LGA, they ask for the same paper that was said to have been cancelled

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perators of courier and logistic firms facilitating e-commerce in Nigeria are being squeezed by multiple, unending layers of taxes from the federal, state and local government authorities across the country, THEWILL findings have revealed.

The anomaly is impacting negatively on a key industry that is changing the landscape of global business and has transformed many firms into multi-billion dollar enterprises. Events of the last 12 months triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, also created a world of new normal and brought tremendous developments in the area of online shopping and e-commerce generally.

While Nigerian players have keyed in to compete in the global space, their efforts are being frustrated at home. Officials of government agencies are squeezing them in a bid to boost revenue and, perhaps, enrich their private pockets. Interaction with industry players in Nigeria’s major cities and in the up-country areas shows that the industry is choked with multiple taxes among a myriad of challenging factors.

In Lagos, for instance, dispatch riders of courier and logistics firms are required to carry over 30 tax-related documents while on duty to enable them to access their destinations. In many cases, touts from Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) which complicate the role of Local and State Government revenue officials, demand ridiculous fees for permits and other documents. They mount road checks at strategic places in a mood that betrays their readiness for “official” assault and battery.

THEWILL checks show that the documents required from the courier and logistics firms are literally countless. They also multiply by the day and are changed without notice. In many cases, they are the same permits approved by the state but obtained from a different local authority. Revenue officials often insist on the courier and logistic firms paying for the permits in their (the officials’) domain. This is increasing the operating expenses of the courier and logistics firm and causing them to lay off their workers or drastically reduce their pay.

are required to obtain in Lagos are: vehicle licence, insurance paper, road worthiness, Ministry of Transport (MOT), and Lagos State carriage. “But the touts are not bothered about these; they want you to carry the bunch of papers showing all manner of permits in different colours. Recently, they came up with Covid-19 road permit in some local government areas”, Ekere said.

Contacts made with courier and logistics operators in the up-country areas through the telephone revealed similar trend. A logistics firm operator in Owerri, Imo State, John Akaonye, said that local government touts have turned the roadblocks into an ATM of a sort, mainly for checking the papers of dispatch riders.

“Sometimes, the faces you see in the morning are not the ones you see in the afternoon. God save you if you are deficient in any area. They will milk you dry,” Akaonye said. In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the requirements include “environmental pollution permit, waste paper basket, Covid-19 movement permit” in addition to the regular ones.

Respondents from Kaduna, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Calabar and Benin-City all express concerns over the excesses of local council revenue officials squeezing logistics firms with multiple taxes in levies, permits and other forms of exploitation. Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra state recently ordered the dismantling of revenue roadblocks operated by local government officials and some touts.

At the national level, the courier companies are not finding it easy, either.

They have been in a long-drawn battle with Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) which plays the dual role of a regulator and operator. The battle has taken a toll on the courier and logistics firms leading to many of them closing shop as they cannot cope with the financial and regulatory pressure.

For instance, NIPOST in 2020 imposed N20 million for new licences on international courier firms and N8 million annually for renewal. It also pronounced N10 million licence for new local firms and N4 million yearly for renewal. But the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, cancelled the policy following public outcry against the draconian.

Courier and logistics firms in Lagos are still asked to show proof of payment *Continue on Page 31

Among the documents requested by the revenue officials are: unified clearance, mid-year paper, radio licence, consolidated permit certificate, vehicle road tax and dustbin permit. Others are environmental sanitation levy, vehicle road tax and state carriage. Sometimes they are required to obtain the stage carriage of adjoining state (such as Ogun) in Lagos and vice versa. An operator said at a time, touts in a Lagos LCDA asked them to present Ogun State and Zamfara State vehicle road tax, mobile and state carriage permits even while in Lagos.

In June 2020, the LCDAs came up with Mid-Year Paper for which logistics firms rushed and paid N3,000 for each motor-cycle to avoid obstruction on the road. After about a month, the government authorities told the courier and logistics operators that the Mid-Year paper was a scam as the government had not approved it and that a ‘genuine one’ has been issued.

“Yet, over 500 firms with a minimum of two motor-cycles had already registered for it and obtained their papers. Then you go to another LGA, they ask for the same paper that was said to have been cancelled. To be on a safe side, the companies buy the Mid-Year papers from all sources – both temporary, prohibited and genuine, and you can imagine what this means for a firm with 10 or more motor-cycles”, said Anthony Ekere, a dispatch rider in a logistic firm in Lagos.

THEWILL confirmed that the legal documents that logistics companies

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Post & Courier Services Growth Under Transport 2017 – 2020 Source: NBS THEWILLNIGERIA

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AVIATION

Airlines Jostle For Smaller Aircraft •As IATA Predicts Cash-Negative Trend In 2021

BY ANTHONY OKECHUKWU

B

Describing the cabin configuration, Olajide said: “The interior is excellent.

The staggered seats that we have in the Business Class are second to none.

Furthermore, there is an innovation with the table – it has an iPad holder”.

She emphasised that Air Peace wants the Nigerian flying public to experience the enhanced comfort, increased privacy and beauty offered by the brand new E195-E2, which is considered the best in its segment.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), each new generation of aircraft is on the average 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the model it replaces. Most experts have, however, attributed diversion to smaller aircraft to cost savings. Beyond the cost savings, there are clear environmental advantages to flying the most modern planes.

Olajide further revealed that one of the strong points of this plane is its advanced fly-by-wire system which enables the aircraft to adjust seamlessly through turbulence in such a way that the passenger is oblivious to it.

oth local and international carriers across the world are gradually shifting towards narrow-body aircraft, which are today found in all the rage in the commercial aviation circle. The accommodation of these smaller aircraft are readily seen when it comes to fleet upgrades, giving a room for replacements.

Traditionally, narrow-body aircraft have been used for short and mediumhaul flights. But technological advances are making it possible to fly them longer distances. The fuel efficiency and smaller capacity make these aircraft a pervasive tool for long-haul flights to secondary airports with lesser demands.

For instance, one of the biggest airlines in Nigeria, Air Peace, recently took delivery of the first brand new E195-E2 aircraft in Africa, from Brazilian aerospace conglomerate, Embraer. This is one out of 13 E195-E2s ordered by the airline in 2019, with purchase rights for 17 of the same aircraft type.

Speaking on the choice of the aircraft, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, told THEWILL that the E195-E2 is uniquely configured to offer a superior travel experience to Air Peace’s customers.

Olajide, who made this disclosure at a media interview, explained why the airline chose the E195-E2 aircraft model, which is a 124-seat capacity stateof-the-art jet with impressive economic performance. She stated: “Now, why have we introduced the E195-E2? The E2 is a brand new aircraft, superefficient, an aircraft that is for the future and even now.

“This is because a lot of money will be saved as regards the operating cost; there are savings on fuel, bearing in mind the high cost of aviation fuel in Nigeria. These aircraft coming into the country will help lower operating cost. The performance is awesome. A lot of Nigerians who hitherto were apprehensive of travelling by air, can now be rest assured. This is the plane for them. Once onboard this aircraft, you will feel transported to a world of luxury and comfort and most importantly, safety. This is what Air Peace represents. This is the Air Peace Experience”.

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Embraer’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Francisco Gomes Neto, in describing the new aircraft acquired by Air Peace, also said that “The E2s are really fantastic airplanes. Your engineering people are going to love the technology. Your crew are going to love flying them.

“Your accountants are going to love the operating economics, and your passengers are going to love the stunning interior, especially those sitting in business class with the staggered seat layout. That innovation is an industry first, and we’re so pleased that Air Peace will showcase it to the world and, of course, that you’re the first airline in Africa to fly an E-195-E2”.

Similarly, another new entrant into the Nigeria’s aviation industry, United Nigeria Airlines, on resumption of Flight Operations few weeks ago, opted for a smaller aircraft.

The new airline, on the 12th of February, 2021, conducted its inaugural flight with an EMB145 aircraft type from the domestic wing of Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MM2) in Ikeja, Lagos and terminate it at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, the operational base of United Nigeria.

Explaining the rationale behind the choice of Embraer, Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Dr Obiora Okonkwor confirmed why they have settled for Embraer brand of aircraft for their operations.

Dr Okonkwor said, “There is no person who would go into any business of this nature without a business plan. Perhaps, if one has not gone through this and getting to the point of AOC maybe I have given what you said a taught but just coming out of the process I can tell you that it doesn’t have to do with lack of business plan. There are more to that. There are a whole lot of issues that have to be straightened out from all the sectors and parties that are involved, it is a very crucial area of business but I think it breaks us *Continue on Page 31

“

Traditionally, narrowbody aircraft have been used for short and mediumhaul flights. But technological advances are making it possible to fly them longer distances. The fuel efficiency and smaller capacity make these aircraft a pervasive tool for long-haul flights to secondary airports with lesser demands

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BUSINESS NEWS Continental Re Promises Quality Post−Covid Recovery To African Nations

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eading private pan-African reinsurer, Continental Reinsurance on Friday said it is “delivering and is positioned to deliver long-term value to shareholders and a wide group of stakeholders across Africa”. The announcement is coming almost 35 years after the company was founded in Lagos, Nigeria.

• As Group Managing Director/CEO Retires

Group Managing Director, Dr Femi Oyetunji, disclosed that 2020 was one of the most challenging years ever experienced globally, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We faced daunting business conditions, but our teams responded with the enterprise and commitment I have come to expect. We boldly adapted to the business environment and embraced a range of new opportunities,” he said.

Friday’s announcement coincided with the publication of an independent brand survey by Kantar that recognised Continental Re as a truly credible panAfrican company. Conducted in six representative markets, the survey shows that the company exceeds the global reputation benchmark.

“It was gratifying to obtain an overall score of 79 points which is above the global benchmark of 73.

Now, however, our goal is to keep pushing higher”, said Dr Femi Oyetunji.

Not just a marketing exercise, the study is the result of a 360-degree assessment of all aspects of the business. Reputational gains can clearly be attributed to a successful “inside/out” thinking that considers employees the very foundation and starting point of sustainable business planning.

Friday’s announcement was further marked by the opening of the company’s headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.

Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, Chairman, Continental Reinsurance Plc said “The new headquarters is a milestone in

T

The research was conducted to measure the Relevance of Crisis Communication on Businesses in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Health Crisis by the communications company and to announce its new service offering: Crisis & Issues Management Specialized Service to media correspondents in Lagos.

According to CMC Connect BCW, the research was carried out on over 200 business owners and employees and further revealed that 78% of respondents agreed that the existence of a crisis management plan was important in inspiring confidence in organizational leadership.

The insights gathered from this research confirmed the gap in strategic crisis management for businesses which the company hopes to fill with its specialized service. The Crisis and Issues Management service is a specialized

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Continental Re’s ambitious long-term plans. It is a physical manifestation that positions the company at the heart of Africa’s largest economy. Both the brand survey and the unveiling of the new headquarters coincide with the imminent retirement of Dr Femi Oyetunji, Group Managing Director who has provided decade-long transformational leadership to Continental Re. Dr Oyetunji retires on 31 March 2021. He leaves a strong legacy of significant contributions that will live on in the company for many years to come. His key achievements include landing an aggressive strategy to position the company as a pan-African brand with a strong presence across six key geographical locations; under his leadership, revenue grew fivefold, profitability threefold, and productivity more than doubled, along

with the transformation of the company’s culture, processes, and standards. He has collaboratively led the creation of an enabling environment for thought leadership and sound corporate governance agenda in the industry on the African continent.

Commenting on his retirement, Dr Oyetunji said, “We’re passing the leadership on to the next generation. They will be faced with new and sometimes unprecedented challenges but in their stewardship is a company that has a rich legacy. Our predecessors and ourselves have created a strong foundation; I am confident that my successor will raise the company to lofty heights.”

“It is symbolic that the opening of the new headquarters coincides with the passing of the baton.”

CMC Connect BCW Launches Crisis Management Service for Businesses

he unprecedented global health crisis has thrown up the need for businesses to have a crisis management plan as revealed in a research by leading public relations firm, CMC Connect BCW, a member of the CMC Connect Group and an affiliate of Burson Cohn & Wolfe global communications agency.

The research reported that between Q2 & Q3 2020, 27% of businesses in Nigeria suffered a major impact from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 9.9% of the respondents having a crisis management plan in place while 59% never had a crisis management plan before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Outgoing GMD/CEO, Dr. Femi Oyetunji, (middle) with the Continental Re Board of Directors and some members of Management at the official opening of the company’s new headquarters in Lagos on Friday 22/02/ 2021.

portfolio that provides a strategic roadmap for crisis, employing a 3-step approach - Prepare, Manage, Recover to guarantees business sustainability and continuity in spite of a crisis.

planning seriously. Going forward, we are advocating for government to make it compulsory for any business to have a crisis plan as part of requirements for registration.

Every Limited Liability

The Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers), Mr. Yomi-Badejo-Okusanya said “When a crisis occurs, there is a breakdown of trust between the organization and its stakeholders.

Company must have a crisis manual before being allowed to operate, much like having a fire escape plan for building before approval by the government,’’ he said.

Led by an experienced team of experts in Crisis Management and a strategic advisory council locally and internationally, the portfolio will focus on providing services including Crisis Communications, Issues Management, Risk & Impact Assessment, Crisis Manual Development & Training.

Trust is a currency on which stakeholders trade, and it defines their loyalty and goodwill. Once this is disrupted, the organization is on its way down.”

“However, crisis preparedness presents an opportunity to rebuild trust and gain customer loyalty. Many organizations that have bounced back from major cri is to dominate the industry. Meaning that, crisis by itself is not an end but could be taken advantage of if planned for.

This is where your crisis preparedness comes in, requiring skill and expertise in managing and maintaining propriety in the middle a storm.”

Business Director, CMC Connect BCW, Jerry Sawyerr reiterated that the service is not limited to organizations but also to government and individuals who are concerned about sustaining their brands regardless of crisis. ‘’Crisis happens all the time, most times, unannounced.

It’s therefore important for organizations to take crisis

About CMC Connect BCW CMC Connect BCW is a strategic communications firm headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. CMC BCW offers public relations, corporate communications, financial communications, and ancillary marketing services to several companies including telecommunication giant, Airtel Nigeria. We are currently the exclusive affiliate to Burson Cohn & Wolfe (Provoke Global PR Agency of the year) with over 4,000 offices across 6 continents. CMC Connect BCW was also recently awarded the ‘Best Place to Work’ at the Lagos State PR Industry Awards. For more information visit www. cmcconnectbcw.com

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BUSINESS NEWS Cryptocurrency: ‘Central Banks Under Pressure To Create Digital Money’

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ollowing the sudden rise in value and acceptability of cryptocurrencies and the search by investors for alternative places to put their money, 60 per cent of Central Banks across the globe are under pressure to issue sovereign digital currency.

An economist and Chief Executive Officer, Global Analystics Tope Fasua, who disclosed this at the February edition of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) monthly forum in Lagos, said though no banker to the government will support cryptocurrency; they have no option than to begin to issue their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs).

According to him, about five (5) countries namely China, Ecuador, Senegal, Tunisia and Singapore have issued digital currencies, not Cryptocurency, and bankers know that they are done if cryptocurrencies really take off and replaces traditional currencies.

Specifically, he said quite a number of bankers have invested in cryptos just to hedge their bet. But the traditional financial system is deeply rooted, organized and backed by government, unlike the Cryptocurrency mining space.

This is coming at a time when Godwin Emefiele, the

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has honoured the invitation of the Senate over the ban placed on cryptocurrency-related accounts in the country.

Emefiele arrived at the National Assembly (NASS) on Tuesday to honour the request by the Senate Joint Committee on Banking Insurance and other financial institutions.

However, speaking on the topic: ‘Ban on Cryptocurrency-related accounts in Nigeria and concerns of global central banking,’ Fasua stated that the proponents of the cryptocurrency believe that there is a need to push back and do something different, that will mimic the attributes of a gold-backed currency in view of durability and scarcity, but better than the current system by being smart, secure and not possible for central banks to issue at will.

His words: “If it started as a rebellion (which is the case), then you must think of the incentive for the global economy to sign on to that rebellion with you against the devil they know. This then means that until there is global acceptance of the currencies, it will continue to be easy to create panic in the crypto world and big players can dump the currency when they have achieved gains.

Courier, Logistics Firms Groan Under Multiple Taxes

*Continued from Page 16

for the NIPOST fees which has been pronounced cancelled.

The President, Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (ANCO), Mr Okey Ubah, said the dual role of NIPOST as operator and player has worked against the operators.

He told THEWILL that NIPOST churns out policies that would favour it to the detriment of the private operators who struggle to meet up usually at a huge cost. He said a Bill has been passed by the National Assembly awaiting the President’s assent to terminate the dual role of NIPOST, maintained that NIPOST being a player and a regulator has not augured well for the industry.

On multiple taxes, Ubah said “Local government papers are never enough. You cannot say at any time that you have got all the papers the local governments need to allow you operate your business as a courier and logistics operator.

This is what a regulator should focus on – streamlining the tax requirements by the three tiers of government to provide a uniform tax system for the industry across the country.

“Courier is time-consciousness; it is a business that moves with time. The road blocks and harassment by local government revenue officials affect our service delivery.

Nigeria’s business environment is hostile. Many of our colleagues who invested hugely in infrastructure – imported equipment and machinery to transform the e-commerce sector, have closed shop because they cannot cope with the

and protects us, it need more protection and shield from all who are involved, from the regulators, from the government policy and all that. I don’t think that lack of business plan make airlines fail.”

“We took a business decision to start with the Embraer to test the market, develop our routes and as soon as that is done in the next three months, we will take decision appropriate to our business plan”, the airline operator stressed.

Corroborating the airlines’ reasons for their aircraft types for flight operations, Chief Executive Officer of Ropeways Limited and a former Managing Director of Virgin Nigeria, Capt. Dapo Olumide, said airlines’ problems are self-inflicted with the use of the wrong type of aircraft for domestic operations.

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He revealed that about 100 members have closed shop in the last five years, and some are hanging on the balance waiting for when things will get better after spending a lot to establish their firm.

“You cannot talk of e-commerce without the courier and logistics firms. They are at the heart of the business.

E-commerce cannot develop in isolation from the courier and logistics operators. But the challenge is myriad: poor infrastructure, bad road network, insecurity, high cost of fuel, inflation – all these militate against the business.

“The space is wide enough but the operating environment is not condusive. Many workers have been laid off as investors have also lost huge capital. Multiple taxes are killing e-commerce in Nigeria.”

Recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the non-oil sector contributed 91.84 per cent to real GDP, higher than 91.22 per cent recorded in 2019. Post and Courier Services Under Transportation and Storage Sector grew by 0.19 per cent in full year 2020 from 0.16 per cent in 2019 and 0.09 in 2018, an indication that the backbone of e-commerce should receive the full support from the authorities.

According to him, Cryptocurrency is heading to global single currency but one major challenge is that there are lots of losses in it and that when most coiners die, no one is able to access their investments which ab initio are encrypted with passwords, passphrases and whatnot.

“People don’t usually plan to die. Now, this is where regulation helps in the financial markets. Apart from deposit insurance, which kicks in, in the event of the collapse of an insured and regulated financial institution, the relations of a dead account holder in a traditional bank could still have access to their balances,” Fasua stated.

FMDQ Exchange Admits Parthian Partners N20bn Commercial Paper

T

he FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited has announced the registration of the Parthian Partners Limited ₦20.00 billion Commercial Paper (CP) Programme to its platform.

The registration of this CP Programme strategically positions Parthian Partners Limited (Parthian Partners) to raise short-term finance from the DCM with speed at a time in the future when it determines suitable, through CP issues within the CP Programme limit, FMDQ said in a statement.

“In support of the growth and revitalisation of the Nigerian economy, FMDQ championed the resuscitation of the CP market to provide corporate and commercial businesses with the opportunity to meet their short-term funding requirements, whilst building their profiles within the Nigerian DCM. “In addition to its commendable and efficient registration process, FMDQ Exchange, through its Quotation Service, will provide stakeholders and market participants with credible and real-time information as part of the Exchange’s commitment to facilitate transparency in the fixed income market space”.

Parthian Partners provides competitive wholesale brokerage services in the African OTC markets, and trades in Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds and Treasury Bills, State Government Bonds, Local Contractor Bonds, Corporate Bonds and Eurobonds. It provides regular market updates and liaises with market participants and regulators in the African markets to provide independent research on the African fixed income market.

Airlines Jostle For Smaller Aircraft

*Continued from Page 29

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high operating cost”, Ubah told THEWILL in a telephone interview.

“It then becomes worse than the stock market because, for cryptocurrencies, the fundamentals are non-existent apart from an analysis of how many is adopting the currency and who is winning between an established traditional banking system and the new kids on the block.”

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Capt Olumide, an aviation expert added that, by the end of this year, there is the likelihood that fewer Nigerian airlines would be in operation because of their overhead and associated costs”.

Meanwhile, IATA has predicted that airlines financial prospects are worsening as governments tighten travel restrictions. .Speaking at a recent media briefing, Director General /CEO of IATA, Alexandre de Juniac stated that burning a further $75 billion to $95 billion this year, is not something that the industry will be able to withstand without additional relief from governments.

According to the international body, the expectation that the industry will not turn cash-positive until 2022 is yet another reminder of the severity of the crisis. Juniac however, opined

that the dawn is being heralded by good news on vaccine distribution and growing testing capacity.

He opined that whether the vaccination timelines lead to an early re-opening or a late one, there is urgent need that the work ahead of stakeholders is the same, which includes: need to plan for the recovery; need for a way to digitally manage health credentials, and need to secure global standards to record test results and vaccinations.

“We need global standards to record vaccinations and test results. Speed is critical. Fraudulent COVID-19 test results are already proving to be an issue. And as vaccine programs ramp up governments are using paper processes and differing digital standards to record who has been vaccinated. These are not the conditions needed to support a successful restart at scale when governments open borders”, Juniac emphasised.

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SHOTS OF THE WEEK

President Muhammadu Buhari (middle); Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (3rd left); Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha (2nd left); Chief of Staff to the president, Ibrahim Gambari (left); National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) (3rd right); Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami (2nd right), and Minister of Defence, Maj-Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd) (right), during the unveiling of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy 2021 at the presidential villa on 23/02/2021

L-R: Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Anas Galadima; CEO, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola; Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila; Manager, Legislative Affairs, MTN, Usman Jahun and Chief Corporate Services Officer, MTN Nigeria, Tobechukwu Okigbo after MTN’s CEO paid a courtesy call to the Speaker at the National Assembly on Feb 25 2021.

Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hajiya Hadiza Bala-Usman (L) presenting a souvenir to Gov. Babajide SanwoOlu of Lagos State during her courtesy Gov Nyesom Wike of Rivers(R) receiving a souvenir from the Chairman, National Drugs visit to the gov. in Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa, during the Alausa, on Tuesday (23/2/2021 latter’s visit to the Governor’s Office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday (23/2/21).

President Muhammadu Buhari receives the New EFCC Chairman, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa a day after his Senate’s Confirmation at the State House Abuja on Thursday

L-R: Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN); First Lady Ondo State, Arabirin Betty Akeredolu; Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; during the inauguration of Governor Akeredolu’s second term administration in Akure…on Wednesday.

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Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. -Gen. Lucky Irabor (5th R); Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari (5th L); Principal Staff Officers of Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and members of the management of NNPC after a meeting at the DHQ in Abuja on Wednesday (24/2/21).

L-R: Business Director, Jerry Sawyerr; Group Managing Director, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya and Lead, Business Innovation & Strategy, Sunkanmi Ogunniyi all of CMC Connect Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) at the media briefing to announce the launch of the Crisis Action Plan 25/02/2021 in Lagos PHOTOS: PEACE UDUGBA THEWILLNIGERIA

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MEDIA Kingsley Osadolor: Quintessential Media Man & Teacher-to-be MICHAEL JIMOH

J

ust when you think he should be contemplating his years in retirement, of putting his feet on a puff, supping warm milk, I-pad, I-phone, newspapers, magazines and books handy, bifocals in place the better for long reads, one or two excited grandchildren romping around in his sitting room, Kingsley Osayande Osadolor, former Deputy Managing Director of The Guardian, media consultant and lawyer, hopes to take up teaching as a next career.

If he were in the civil service (which he once was as commissioner in Edo state) he would have retired compulsorily when he turned sixty on August 15 2020. But he spent a greater part of his career as a journalist from when he joined The African Guardian in 1985.

Before then, Osadolor had contributed to The Nigerian Observer in Benin, Nigerian Tribune, The Herald and Satellite newspapers, mostly on and about sports. During his youth service after graduating with a First Class Honours from Department of Mass Communication University of Nigeria Nsukka (an unsurpassed record since inception of the school in 1960) he sent op-ed pieces to The Guardian, some of which were promptly published.

His NYSC was coming to an end when Osadolor responded to recruitment of editorial staff for a soon-to-be-set-up weekly, The African Guardian, modelled after popular international magazines such as TIME and Newsweek in America, African Concord and Newswatch in Nigeria. He seemed perfect for the job. Why not?

With his previous contributions to some Nigerian newspapers, a superb result from UNN, it would have been unthinkable for any editor to pass him by. Thus was he employed, making Osadolor one of the first two editorial staff, the other being Fred Owhawha.

When the maiden edition of The African Guardian hit the newsstands in January 1986, Osadolor was posted to Harare as a correspondent covering the entire East and Southern Africa. He was recalled to Lagos in 1990 and appointed Deputy Editor of The Guardian daily.

From then, in his words, “subsequent appointments followed,” and rapid rise in the newsroom, making it as high as Deputy Managing Director.

In between his journalistic duties, he went on to read Law at the University of Lagos, topping it with an LLM in the same institution.

He passed out of Law School with distinction. Almost four decades after, Osadolor has indicated his interest in teaching. With his formidable resume, it is hard to imagine any of the federal, state or private universities denying him a place to mentor their students.

Transiting from the newsroom to the lecture room isn’t such a novelty in some parts of the world. In the US, for instance, it is commonplace for big-foot journalists to take up professorial positions in universities, some of them finding their way to respectable institutions such as THEWILLNIGERIA

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“

I equally look forward to returning to teaching,” Osadolor told the journalist. “The greater motivation for me is to be a catalyst for change through the instrumentality of my profession Columbia School of Journalism.

Here in Nigeria, it is almost rare to find an individual who has had a most successful run in journalism aspiring to teach or even making it to the classroom. No one remembers any of the following media gurus in Nigeria - dead or alive - doing time in Mass Communication or related departments in universities post-journalism: Sam Amuka, Chidi Amuta, Mamman Daura, Ray Ekpu, Dele Giwa, Abubakar Imam, Stanley Macebuh, Tony Mommoh, Alade Odunewu, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Sonala Olumhense, Segun Osoba, etc.

Instead, one or two of them left the academia to work in the media. Macebuh, for example, quit his teaching job in an American university and relocated to Nigeria as pioneer MD of The Guardian. Also, Ogunbiyi left University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) to the corporate head office of The Guardian Rutam House, Lagos.

If Osadolor’s ambition ever comes true, he will join the ranks of Dr. Bisi Olawunmi, former NAN New York Correspondent, who now teaches in a private university in Nigeria.

In an interview published on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday last August, Osadolor mused to Funke Olaode of THISDAY that he will most likely take up teaching from now on. Having spent much of the last three decades and half as a distinguished journalist, media consultant, special assistant, commissioner and lawyer, he hopes to crown it all as a teacher. *Continues on Page 34

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MEDIA

Quintessential Media Man & Teacher-to-be

*Continued from Page 33

“I equally look forward to returning to teaching,” Osadolor told the journalist. “The greater motivation for me is to be a catalyst for change through the instrumentality of my profession,” insisting that as human beings, particularly on his diamond jubilee, “one continues to aspire.

I give thanks to Almighty to have enabled me to record my modest accomplishments. I look forward to acquiring more knowledge and also contributing to the body of knowledge.”

Osadolor had his mentorship right from home under his parents long before he decided to study Mass Communication at UNN. As he recalled, “my parents were disciplinarians with high ethical values.

They believed in and invested in our education. There was no question about going to school without uniforms or books. When my elder brothers and I were in elementary school, it was mandatory for us to attend after-school extramural classes, called ‘Lessons,’ for which fees were paid in addition to school fees.”

“

The successful practitioner should have, on the one hand, general knowledge, and on the other, specialized knowledge

As a youngster, he was fascinated with medicine, which he hoped to read in university. But the sight of blood dissuaded him.

What convinced Osadolor to study Mass Communication in the end was, according to him, the “PR prowess” of his parents. “It was a combination of my father and my mother’s PR prowess. I was struggling to read the papers with him. There was also a re-diffusion box in the quadrangle. That fascinated me and stoked my interest in radio broadcasts.

“Re-diffusion, by the way, was a subscription cable radio service that was the precursor of transistors. Re-diffusion was fixed, while transistor radio is portable, easily movable, and requires only an antenna and no cable connection.”

Apart from his parent’s mentorship in gravitating towards journalism, writers in the international magazines also inspired/ influenced the young Osadolor. Though not physically around like his mother and father, they were something of absentee mentors far away in New York: he could feel their palpable presence on the pages of the magazines he read as a university hopeful in his father’s house in Benin City, Lance Morrow particularly.

Like some of his peers across Nigeria from the seventies onwards who could hardly resist the seductive prose of writers like Morrow, George J Church, Otto Friedrich, Nancy Gibbs, Paul Gray, Walter Isaacson, Pico Iyer, Hugh Sidey, John Skow, Strobe Talbot, to name a few, it was another significant step towards Osadolor’s career in journalism.

So, you could say that his deep appreciation and admiration for writers in the weekly publications rubbed off on him positively such that by the time he joined African Guardian, he seemed, again, a natural fit, as he himself told the same journalist from THISDAY. “I was thrilled by the prospects of a weekly magazine because that would, I thought, give me the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the inimitable Lance Morrow and TIME magazine which had made lasting impressions on me,” Osadolor said to Olaode. “So, I told Tommy Odemwingie (who, by the way, is an uncle to former Super Eagles striker, Osaze Odemwingie) to pass my papers for the forthcoming magazine.”

All of that would have gone up in a puff of smoke if Osadolor had followed his initial professional preference. Today, judging from his career trajectory, it is impossible not to rate him among the top ten media men of his generation.

There are two or so unforgettable moments journalists hold dear to heart: their first day in the newsroom and their very first publication.

Granted, Osadolor may not make much of his first published piece as a correspondent with The African Guardian because he had been published before then. But, as he has said in an interview, his first day at Rutam House was as memorable as it was historic.

“Sometime in April 1985, before my NYSC ended,” Osadolor recounted, “I came to Lagos to submit my application at The Guardian. I met the Features Editor, Tommy Odemwingie. It was the weekend after Marvin Hagler blasted Tommy Hearns with a third-round knockout in a middleweight title fight. The newsroom was abuzz with chats about the fight. Odemwingie hinted that The Guardian was planning on starting a weekly magazine, like Concord Weekly, Newswatch, Newsweek and TIME.” Continuing, he says: “Immediately after my youth service, I came

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back to Rutam House. The African Guardian magazine hired Fred Ohwahwa and me as its first editorial staff, other than a handful who were redeployed from the newspaper. We were, therefore, involved in the incubation and delivery of the weekly news magazine which hit the newsstands in January 1986.”

In a telling intro to Olaode’s tribute on Osadolor’s sixtieth, “accomplished, astounding, avid, adventurous,” are some of the adjectives she dressed the subject with, going further to describe him as “a Nigerian journalist of many firsts in his exciting career…Barrister Kingsley Osadolor excels with panache as a journalist, communication expert, broadcaster and scholar. Pragmatic and passionate, his life in the last 60 years illustrates the need to be focused and inventive. From journalism to law, Osadolor has not stopped learning and is following knowledge like a ‘sinking star.’”

Even more excitedly than her female counterpart, another journalist and public commentator Adeniyi, writing on Osadolor’s sixtieth in The Guardian, described him as “confident, calm, and contemplative, Osadolor bears the image of the cognitive, portraying an intuitive knowledge of the world around him, spiced with experiential pedagogy, and seeking opportunities to display the same…he was prodigious, revealing his erudition in not only wise, witty, and elevated prose, but in the management of talented writers.”

Osadolor has also managed his family life reasonably well, raising four children, a son who is a mechanical engineer, daughter who is an economist with a bias for fashion, another studying law and the last in school. “They are all avid consumers of media products,” he reminisced, “but none has shown any interest in becoming a journalist.”

There were times when wards routinely followed in their parent’s professional footsteps. Thus, if Joseph the Elder is an accountant, for instance, you will reasonably expect Joseph the Younger to take up accounting in school. These days, it is different, especially with liberal guardians like Osadolor who allowed his children to follow their career preference instead of dictating to them like an overbearing parent.

But as one who has been in the profession for decades, Osadolor knows one or two things about professionalism, about what makes a successful journalist. Hear him: “The successful practitioner should have, on the one hand, general knowledge, and on the other, specialized knowledge.

General knowledge enables you to navigate the gamut of issues; while specialized knowledge makes you an expert in given fields of journalistic coverage.”

Above all, you can’t achieve much as a professional if you are stripped of your integrity. “Another very important quality is integrity coupled with fairness,” Osadolor insists. “There is a limit to which a scoundrel can blackmail anyone. There is also a limit to which a partisan can ply his trade because the audience is very discerning and judgmental, and if a segment of the audience rejects you, then you have lost your influence over that segment.

“Perhaps nothing does more damage to a journalist and his product than reputational harm arising from integrity deficit. If media manipulators believe that you have a price, you are worthless no matter the price tag.

Nothing challenges or rattles a media manipulator than the realization that you are not his errand boy.”

To be sure, journalism in Nigeria today is unlike what it was during Osadolor’s time in the halcyon days of The Guardian with great minds like Macebuh, Eddie Iroh, Onwuchekwa Jemie, Odunewu, Ogunbiyi, Olumhense and a number of intellectuals from universities either as members of the Editorial Board or regular contributors.

Looking back at those glorious times and what he still thinks about the profession today, you tend to believe Osadolor when he declared in one recent interview that “journalism is a sacred calling,” locating those in it “as prime actors in the broad media function of informing, educating, and entertaining.”

More than any other person, he would have long heard the age-long belief that journalism is history written in a hurry. He sure knows, pointedly insisting that “as drafters or chroniclers of history, journalists owe a sacred duty to present and future generations. To appreciate what I am saying is to recognize the true worth of quality journalism of which scrupulous gatekeeping is an essential feature. To be a good journalist, therefore, I would say that a keen interest in public affairs, which translates to a desire for a better society, is the single most important aptitude.”

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RONKE ADEMILUYI

Ile-Ife’s Cultural Ambassador INSIDE:

•Kayode Otitoju, Residents Battle For The Soul of Lekki Phase 1

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•How Olorogun Oscar Ibru Survived NearDeath Experience

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Ronke Ademiluyi: Ile-Ife’s Cultural Ambassador There is no denying the fact that her royal background as the great grand-daughter of the late Ooni Ajagun Ademiluyi, the King of Ife Kingdom is largely responsible for her passion for promoting the cultural legacies of Ile Ife in particular and Osun State in general. However, it is her love for fashion and its promotion in the last 10 years via her Africa Fashion Week London, AFWL and Africa Fashion Week Nigeria, AFWN, that has earned Ronke Ademiluyi global recognition. Via the two platforms, organizations like KwaZulu Natal Fashion Council, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Seychelles Creative Enterprise and The Trade & Investment South Africa have all showcased creative talents from their various countries to the world. Recently, in collaboration with the Ooni of Ife, she launched an Adire production hub in Ile Ife, which sits on 30,000 square meters of land. Ms Ademiluyi speaks to TheWill’s IVORY UKONU on what the hub is all about and what it means for Nigeria.

.com

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beokuta is generally known as the home of Adire.

Why the need to build a production hub for it in Osun State? Isn’t this taking away business from the people who have been associated with it for decades?

The Hub is a collaboration between His Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II and my organization, Africa Fashion Week London and Nigeria for development and capacity building. The hub, meant to empower women and youths and to also increase the production capacity of artisans in Ife and Osun State as a whole. If you listen to Osun, its say Osun ilu Aro that means Osun is the home of dye. The art of indigo dye on clothing using the Elu leaf actually started in Ife by Orunmila who was inspired by Olodumare and this you can find in the book of Ifa. The Adire has since become a global fashion statement and celebrities from all over the world wear it. So we see this hub as adding to the global awareness of the Adire textile, that His Excellency the governor of Ogun State, Gboyega Oyetola is at the forefront of doing. Like the Ooni said at its commissioning, the hub will operate in tandem with the textile department of the

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Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and other tertiary institutions across the country as well as Yoruba speaking countries like Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela among others.

Besides the making of the Adire fabric itself, what other job opportunities will the Hub provide for the people of Osun State?

The Hub is the phase one of a cultural center that His Majesty and myself are building on 30,000 square meters of Land. It will benefit the local artisans who will be working with us as well as with the young people who want to train in the craft of Adire making as we start our 1st training program on March 8 in celebration of international women’s day where we will be offering training to 100 young women. The hub will also benefit students studying textiles and design to use for their industrial trainning program.

Is there provision for churning out already made dresses and possibly exporting them?

At Africa Fashion Week, we work with over 5000 designers and *Continues on Page 37

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...Cultural Ambassador already orders for export have stated to come in. The Hub has an in house tailoring department for those interested in making outfits with their fabrics.

How did you source funding for this huge project?

Even though it is a collaboration between His Imperial Majesty the Ooni of Ife and my organization, it is being funded by His Majesty.

What are the facilities on ground to aid production?

The production hub is only 10 per cent of the cultural center which we aim to build and the centre will include facilities like an African fashion museum, a digital library, Ife art world, an aso oke pavilion to mention a few. In terms of mass productions of the textiles, we are going to be working with over 300 artisans to increase their capacity to produce.

Why adire, why not something else like leather?

Adire is the most popular Nigerian fabric, it is recognized as a timeless piece and it allows the designer to communicate and tell their stories through the fabric they use. Back in the 1960s during the civil war in Nigeria, adire became an iconic symbol for the peace conference settlement and was seen as a symbol of peace and freedom.

What are your plans to make the fabric appealing to the younger generation who find Western wears more appealing?

Already adire is being used by the new generation of African and western designers to make contemporary pieces and our plan is to keep working with them to create designs they can use for their collections.

Some fabrics such as silk, taffeta, satin and the likes have been produced with adire patterns. Will the hub go in this direction or is it going to be strictly adire on cotton?

Our contemporary designers use the new Adire which is the Adire on silk, chiffon, satin,organza to make beautiful pieces. So, yes we will be working with other fabrics aside from the normal cotton and

brocade.

Last year, another one of your initiative, the Queen Moremi beauty pageant didn’t hold. Perhaps due to the pandemic. Are there plans to ensure it holds this year in line with the new reality?

Before any large social gathering event can hold it must be in line with the government regulations so until we know what the dos and don’ts are regarding this we can’t engage in hosting large event as we must ensure that we don’t go ahead with all the planning just for us to cancel.

How well have the past winners fared in terms of representing the exemplary and heroic attributes of the legendary Queen Moremi?

So far, we have produced four cultural queens who represent the legendary Queen Moremi and among them is a dental surgeon, an auto mobile engineer and an English graduate.

And then there is the Queen Moremi Ajasaro musical which the pageant birthed. For those who don’t know, could you explain what this is all about as well as its significance?

It was actually the pageant that birthed the Queen Moremi musical and so many other initiatives of the Queen Moremi brand. The pageant started in 2016 while I decided to do the Musical in 2018 and the reason behind the Musical was that after I finished publishing a book on Moremi I wanted more for her as I felt that the younger generation don’t know much about her story and the important role she played as a woman in saving her people. The Queen Moremi brand advocates for the rights of girls and women and promotes women empowerment in Nigeria and globally.

You and the Ooni both have a strong cultural and business chemistry. What is the secret behind your bond?

My journey with His Majesty actually started back in 2014 when he sponsored the 1st edition of my Africa Fashion week in Nigeria and ever since then we have both been hellbent on promoting our amazing culture.

In 2019, the Ooni broke protocol when he walked the runway at your Africa Fashion Show, AFWN. How did you get him to do that?

He actually did break protocol again during the launch of the Adire hub where he engaged in working with the students to Tie and Dye fabrics. He is the most humble king I have ever met and he is always willing to go the extra mile when it involves the youth.

As with most fashion shows around the world, your Africa Fashion Week London couldn’t hold last year. However, with the gradual return of things to normal, are there plans to hold this year’s edition?

Again we have to wait to see what the UK government allows in terms of hosting large gatherings and also quarantine laws as almost half of my designers are not based in the UK. Last year we engaged in webinars and online courses in partnership with Henleys Business School UK and Parsons Design School New York. This year we plan to have a virtual show with fashion films and an exhibition.

As a UK trained lawyer, what prompted your interest in fashion and cultural preservation?

When I studied law, fashion was not seen as a lucrative profession while I was growing up. However immediately after graduating as a lawyer I went straight into the fashion industry by opening a chain of retail stores in Ikeja and Surulere called Rukkies.

Ooni of Ife and Ademiluyi THEWILLNIGERIA

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BY IVORY UKONU

Ibru

How Olorogun Oscar Ibru Survived Near-Death Experience

For almost two months, the Otunba Boyejo of Ijebu battled for his life. His body got ravaged. His organs - his kidney, liver, lungs etc. collapsed. In fact, so bad was his situation that there were reports from some quarters that he had given up the ghost. But he shocked many with his comeback.

In a testimonial piece he penned, he said, “I almost died.

No kidding. Covid19 is EVIL. 7 weeks and 2 days man.

PNEUMONIA, KIDNEY, LIVER, COLLAPSED LUNGS, COUGH LIKE NO OTHER, FEVER... In short DEAD. Finally unconscious. No breathing whatsoever. Doctors lost hope; not your bro. I kicked that mother- fuckers, ass. But he left some serious collateral damage.

“Thank God my heart was strong from some of those things we did in dem days and at the same time being an athlete in the good old days. My heart refused to quit so here I am, home at last. My bro the shit was rough and painful as hell.

I do not wish for a re-match.

“I lost over 10 direct friends in my 7 weeks of incarceration.

Same hospital. The day I went in, Gbolu came out on the way to the mortuary. The day I left (on 2 feet) Kitoye (Kitty) Rhodes left but flat on his back, on the way to the morgue.

Praise GOD. I must have done something right or I am about to. All I know is THANK YOU GOD. PRAISE GOD.” He returned home to the loving hands of his wife, American born Wanda and other members of his family. Ibru controls several business interests like oil and gas, shipping, real estate etc. via the Ibru organization.

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he battle for the soul of residential estate, Lekki Peninsula Scheme 1 has assumed a new dimension with the major actors taking the battle to court to seek redress. On one side of the battle ring is 65-year-old Kayode Otitoju, the chairman of the Lekki Residents Association, LERA, while on the other side are aggrieved members and stakeholders of the residential estate. Thus far, Otitoju has emerged victorious from round one of the legal battle. But not satisfied with the outcome, the residents have vowed not to give up in their quest to wrest power from Otitoju and have decided to appeal the judgement of the case.

between him, residents and stakeholders of LERA and the Board of Trustees (BoT), Otitoju got suspended. His alleged crimes were listed as insubordination; unilaterally entering into and signing of land lease and development agreements with intending partners contrary to the decision of the BoT; refusing to submit handover notes following the expiration of his two-year tenure as Chairman on May 26 2020, even after other members of his Exco had complied, an act considered highly contemptuous of the position and authority of the BoT; lacking in leadership qualities and inability to understand what his portfolio entails.

What exactly is the bone of contention? Well, when the nationwide lockdown was announced in the first quarter of 2020 as a means of curbing the spread of Covid19, it invariably increased poverty and crime rates in most parts of the country. One of such areas that witnessed an upsurge in crime was Lekki Phase 1 which became a soft target for beggars, miscreants and armed robbers. Residents blamed the chairman for the invasion of the estate by miscreants because he disbanded the estate’s security apparatus and shut down the estate’s office which had, in the past, prevented miscreants from operating freely.

Otitoju a politician who is said to be seeking reelection considered his suspension illegal and a witchhunt and subsequently dragged the association to court. Surprisingly, he won. But the residents are not having any of it and are making swift plans to appeal the judgement.

A few residents approached Otitoju to get a grip of the situation but when he reportedly didn’t do anything and rather than watch his ‘non challance and incompetence’ continue to pose a danger to them, the residents quickly formed a group to tackle the security situation and eradicate the miscreants who posed security threats in the estate. These and a few other things the residents supposedly got involved in, didn’t quite go down well with Otitoju who not only accused these residents of forming a parallel association which he considered illegal and not operating within official capacity, he allegedly called them ‘criminals, cultists unworthy to make any contributions to the estate which they live in.’

Fed up with ‘his antics’ and following continuous altercations

Otitoju

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or Olorogun Oscar Ibru, the fact that he has been given another chance at life is more than enough to be thankful for. Not many of his friends, colleagues and fellow money bags were fortunate to have survived the Coronavirus. While some died within days of contracting the virus, others took a while longer, giving up the ghost after expending millions of their resources just to have a chance to experience good health one more time. But the scion of the Ibru dynasty got lucky.

Kayode Otitoju, Residents Battle For The Soul of Lekki Phase 1

Shoreline Energy Boss, Kola Karim, Tipped to Succeed Late Harry Akande As Agbaoye of Ibadanland

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Karim

hipping magnate Kola Karim has been tipped as a possible replacement of late businessman, Harry Akande who held the prestigious title Agbaoye of Ibadanland while he was alive.

The wealthy boss of Shoreline Natural Resources will be installed with the title once held by the late Akande who died a few months ago after wide consultations by Ibadan high chiefs and kingmakers. \ An astute and visionary businessman who owns a vast business empire with substantial investments in many key sectors of the economy, the polo buff’s emergence was reportedly approved by the high chiefs of Ibadan due to his affluent background, his charisma and status. They unanimously agreed that despite stiff competition for the title, Kola who is the youngest of the contenders is the perfect person to be honoured with the title.

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The incoming Agbaoye of Ibadan Land is also the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Costain (West Africa) plc, Nigerian Ropes plc, and serves as a director in seven other companies, including Shoreline Power Company Ltd, Shoreline Energy International Ltd, Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Schlumberger Testing & Production Services Nigeria Ltd, Trans Amadi Facilities Ltd. THEWILLNIGERIA

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BY FITZGERALD COKER

Erastus Akingbola’s Headache

contravenes the Central Bank laws. In the process of the legal tussle with the EFCC, Akingbola’s millions of dollars tied in choice properties in Lagos and London were confiscated. He started running from pillar to post.

On Friday, 19th February, 2021, before Justice A.O. Faji of a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, Mr Aro, who testified as fourth witness and works with Access Bank Plc, as Head, Global Compliance Advisory, told the court that he was part of an audit team that investigated a number of suspicious foreign transactions including the ones involving the $11.8million and £8.54million. Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank when it became financially distressed.

To further compound his woes, another witness who then worked at Intercontinental Bank told the court that around November/ December 2009, he was co-opted into a team set up in internal audit “to review and investigate some foreign transactions.”

According to him, “In the course of investigating the suspicious transactions, it was uncovered that on the March 11 2009, the sum of £8.54million was transferred from the bank’s Deutshe Bank Nostro account to a certain Messrs Fugler Solicitors on the instruction of Dr. Erastus Akingbola. The instruction was not signed and at that time, his domiciliary account with the bank had $19 and £10,000. The Visa Card account was also not funded at that time, so also the Naira account of Dr. Erastus Akingbola with the bank did not have the equivalent of £8.54million.”

Akingbola

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n the thriving banking sector in Nigeria, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, a former Group Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, now acquired by Access Bank is no push over. In fact, when it comes to issues of finance, Akingbola is widely vast and knowledgeable.

When he held sway at Intercontinental Bank, he lived like a king.

His cars were vintage; he owned buildings in choice locations and travelled around the world. Those around him benefitted enormously from his deep pocket and heavy financial war chest.

He was said to have doled out customers’ funds to friends like Santa claus. The cosmopolitan seasoned former banking czar enriched his cronies as he allegedly gave out loans without commensurate collateral. This and many more plunged the bank into crisis under his leadership before the Central Bank and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, waded in to salvage the situation. His misfortune started when the EFCC conducted a forensic audit on all funds transferred during his tenure as M.D. The result of the audit discovered lots of discrepancies and illegal shady deals allegedly carried out on Akingbola’s directive.

From the EFCC investigations, he was said to have allegedly bypassed banking protocols to transfer $11.8million and £8.54million offshore without recourse to the bank’s standard procedures. Investigation further had it that an alleged N179 billion fraud was committed by him.

The Ilesha Osun State-born banker was eventually swept off by turbulent waters as he was relieved of his job as M.D of the defunct bank in 2009. Ever since that moment, Akingbola has been facing litigations bordering on several counts of money laundering and misuse of office, among other financial-related offences that

He further told the court that the team of internal auditors found out that the bank’s Nostro account with Deutsche Bank was debited to the tune of $9.8million and a corresponding £7.1million was put in the bank’s GBP Deutsche Bank Nostro account.

He said: “Another $1.98million was observed taken from the same dollar Deutsche Bank Nostro account of the bank and a corresponding £1.4million put in the bank’s GBP Deutsche Bank Nostro account. The addition of the $9.8million and $1.98million will give you $11.8million while £7.1million and £1.44million will give £8.54million. Contrary to normal procedures for such transactions, there was no corresponding deduction of charges from Dr. Erastus Akingbola’s account before effecting the payments”.

With this and many more evidence against the septuagenarian, it seems he might not get out of his dilemma pretty soon. The EFCC is hell bent on sending him behind bars by pursuing judgment to the very end. They also want to seek an injunction for the final forfeiture of his choice properties. Sources averred that the case is taking its toll on his health as the former billionaire is not finding things easy.

“Dr. Erastus is not happy. Battling the EFCC for over 12 years is not a joke. He no longer attends events or public functions. After his unceremonious exit as M.D of the Bank, he has recoiled into his cocoon. This case is giving him sleepless nights and headache.

With the determination of the EFCC to secure a court conviction against him, we hope he meets grace,” a senior banker who worked with Akingbola at Intercontinental Bank said.

The case has been adjourned till March 1.

Has Fayose’s Late Sister, Bimpe Sorinolu’s Memory Faded Into Oblivion?

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even years ago, precisely on February 13, 2014, Bimpe Sorinolu, known as ‘Kolo For Christ’ a sister of the controversial former governor of Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose, breathed her last on mother earth. Her death, after a protracted battle with breast cancer had, quite expectedly, sent her family, friends, fans and beneficiaries into a prolonged state of anguish and mourning.

The feeling of anguish was not unexpected, especially because her earthly sojourn was defined by struggles and some unfulfilled dreams. Besides, she was unwittingly enmeshed in some controversies.

Senator Iyiola Omisore: Tale Of A Political Desperado

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re you a good scriptwriter? If yes, you may be interested in knitting a story around the political life of Senator Dr. Iyiola Omisore, and you can be assured it will make a box office success when the script is fully adapted with a high profile cast.

If you ask Omisore, who I will easy call a political harlot, what his biggest ambition is, I am sure he would confirm that it is governing Osun State. A dream he has failed to actualise multiple times since the advent of this republic.

Over the years, his perpetual failure at clinching the number one job in the state has remained a conundrum to many observers of the political development in the state, particularly, as he is regarded as a political heavy weight.

But with his series of political losses, many doubt if he is a real gladiator or a mere paper tiger.

Omisore has switched political parties multiple times in his desperate and frantic bid to govern Osun. From Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and now All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the 2018 governorship election where he contested under the SDP, he came third in the race with 128,049 votes. The former Osun East Senator became the political beautiful bride as the election between now incumbent, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, headed into a re-run in some areas.

After series of meetings and offer from the PDP leadership and the ruling APC for his support at the rerun election, Omisore, who was facing several charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, took the offer from the APC as he was allegedly promised a soft landing in his case with the anti-graft agency. The supposed offer was that; his seized travel passport would be released, his case with the anti-graft agency dismissed and his frozen bank account unfrozen.

In the long run, he pitched his tent with Oyetola and the APC won by a narrow margin.

Some sources have said part of the deal with Oyetola was that when Oyetola finishes serving his second term as governor, he would support Omisore to succeed him. It however appears the former Osun Deputy Governor is on the verge of being disappointed as a top force in the state’s APC; former governor Rauf Aregebesola, the Minister for Interior, said the party will never be ‘hijacked by murderers’.

I recall that the only dent on Omisore’s reputation is his alleged involvement in the cold-blooded murder of former Justice Minister and Attorney-General, Chief Bola Ige, an allegation Omisore has debunked severally.

With the recent political play in Osun State, most especially with the faceoff between Governor Oyetola and Aregbesola, it seems Omisore’s defection to the APC would further deepen the political crisis in the state and could potentially hurt his governorship ambition.

One politician told me this: “Dr. Omisore is a political harlot. That’s why you will see him change parties quite often. Let me tell you for free, he would soon dump the APC when he realises that the party can’t offer him what he wants. He failed to understand that; the party also has other qualified people waiting to contest. Coming from SDP won’t guarantee him an automatic ticket.

A survivalist during her lifetime, she hustled as a cab driver on the streets of London.

As if that was not enough, she ventured into the business of fashion design, where she also made a name for herself as a seamstress of note. She, indeed, shocked the world when she reportedly singlehanded designed the first house she lived in with her husband, Dapo Sorinolu, a creative effort that wowed many trained architects.

Call her a restless spirit, and you would not be wrong. Her lifestyle, to many around her, was like a riddle that could not be easily cracked. She believed God had given her almost limitless talents or abilities, which must be deployed to good use. Perhaps, this was what goaded her into music and acting at different times in her life.

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But it came to a stage when she went into self-discovery of a sort and realised that she needed to give more of her God-given resources to humanity; thereby, she launched Bisochin-Bimpe Sorinolu Charity Initiative, which saw her traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria attending to the destitute and some less privileged citizens. She was widely known across Oyo State for her weekly programme on BCOS, Ibadan, where she preaches and also shows love to destitute people and the needy.

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NEWS

NUJ Lambasts Gumi

BY AYO ESAN he Nigeria Union of Journalists has condemned in the strongest of terms, the remarks made on Arise TV last Wednesday by Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi where he labeled Journalists as criminals for calling bandits criminals.

In a release issued Friday by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and signed by its National President, Chris Isiguzo, the union said it has not seen any correlation between journalism and criminality.

Specifically, Sheikh Gumi said “you are emphasising on criminality, I don’t know.

Even the Press (journalists) are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire [sic]. These people are listening to you, don’t address them as criminals”.

Responding, Isiguzo said, it is instructive to note that one of the gangs that was recently interviewed by Nigerian journalist, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz and published in Daily Trust of today where the bandit leader insisted on being introduced properly as “Kachalla Halilu Sububu Seno, Leader of all Terrorists. He is the Leader.” Yet Malam Gumi insists they are not criminals.

NUJ said this unnecessary and unprovoked attack on members of the media by a hitherto respected cleric who decided to embark on strange errands, is unacceptable and it is becoming clearer now that he is pursuing a different agenda.

“We equally recall a recent statement credited to Sheik Gumi where he was inciting bandits, by encouraging religious biases among soldiers on the battlefield.

“We are more shocked that the same Sheikh Gumi who has used the media to speak to leaders and to advance the course of his mission to the bandits across the North West, is at the same time attacking the Journalists for simply describing bandits as criminals. “ Sheikh Gumi’s attempts to seek amnesty for killers and abductors of innocent citizens, especially school children is most unfortunate”, NUJ said.

NUJ further said, “ We invite Sheik Gumi to explain to Nigerians why despite his recent negotiations with bandits in Zamfara State, the criminals have continued maiming, killing, raping and kidnapping innocent citizens, including the 370 female Students just abducted in the same State.

“In saner climes, Sheikh Gumi, a non-state actor involved in negotiations with criminal elements, should have been behind bars, but alas, thanks to the weaknesses of our Leaders, he continues with his reckless comments and forays into bandit territory unabated” “ By insulting the Press as “Criminals” Sheikh Gumi has exposed himself the more as an intolerant person who will not want his activities closely scrutinised by the media”. “It is instructive to remind Sheik Gumi that by embarking on such an errand and choosing to speak for the bandits, the Press will continue to scrutinise his activities and also hold him accountable for his actions as enshrined in the Constitution.

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Airport Concession: Catalyst for Job Creation, Economic Boost - SSG

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he Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Mr Chiedu Ebie, has said that the concessioning of Asaba International Airport would create more jobs for Deltans and stimulate export of agricultural produce and other items.

He said the step would also engender huge economic activities within the State and its neighbours.

Ebie made this known while speaking on “News Across the Nation”, on Channels Television monitored by THEWILL on Wednesday According to him, the other aspects of development expected from the consession is in the area of other facilities such as movement of cargo to foster export operations.

He listed the other facilities to include hotels, a conference centre, industrial site, o tank farms and a hangar for the maintenance and overhaul of aircraft.

“We expect that with the investments that are coming and the revenue that will accrue, it will make a lot of economic sense for the benefit of Deltans,” Ebie said.

He stated that the State Government was partnering the private sector to boost revenue in the State.

“We settled for consession arrangement for the Asaba International Airport but there are other things we have partnerships with the private sector, like the Kwale Industrial Park which we started due to the opportunity of gas in the area and the anchor investor - ceramic manufacturing.

“There is also the Agro Industrial Park in Ogwashi-Uku and also the modular refinery in Kwale and also a trailer park somewhere in Umunede.

“So, there are a lot of private sector initiatives that we are working on; not necessarily consession, but most important is realising that government cannot do it all alone so there is the need to bring in private investment to boost commercial activities as well,” he explained.

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“ His reaction was totally unacceptable, dishonourable and reprehensible and we demand a retraction of his untoward, irritating and awkward utterances which negate simple decorum and civility”.

NUJ therefore caution him to remember that “riding the tiger might be an exhilarating experience but the consequence are bound to be unpleasant.” He should thus be guided. “ We equally invite the global community to document the utterances and actions of Sheik Gumi and to hold him to account for any bandit related mishap that may happen to Journalists around the country”, NUJ said •

Security Agents Can Harass Igboho But Can’t Arrest Bandits - Adebanjo

BY AYO ESAN

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hieftain of the Pan Yoruba Socio - Political Group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has reacted to the harassment of Chief Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Igboho on Friday, saying the security agents can harass Igboho but find it difficult to arrest bandits that kidnapped students of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State for more than a week now.

He said there is the urgent need to improve the security situation in the country.

Speaking with The Will, Adebanjo said “It is true he was to pay me a visit but he was harassed on the way. He wasn’t arrested, but overzealous police officers allegedly harassed him on the road. We have more pressing security issue that need attention. And if we talk now they will say we are profiling criminals.

“We don’t have anything against the Fulani. We have issues with criminals among them, those Fulani that are killing and kidnapping our people. Is Aliko Dangote, an industrialist who have many industries here and is building a refinery in Lagos not Fulani. Do we fight him, no? What we are saying is that we don’t want criminals on our land.

In its reaction, Afenifere, has warned against any plan to arrest Igboho saying his arrest will create tension and insecurity in the South-West.

Public Relations Officer of DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, debunked the report in a statement released on Friday evening. It read; ‘’The Department of State Services wishes to refute the news that it attempted to arrest one Sunday Igboho, today, at Ibadan, Oyo State. The said news is misinforming and should be taken as fake and therefore be disregarded.

Bello Tasks Education Stakeholders On Workable Sector Plan

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overnor, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has admonished education stakeholders to develop a workable and reliable State Education Sector Plan (SESP) and State Education Strategic Operational Plan (SESOP) that would reflect the critical needs to delivering quality education in the state.

The Governor gave the advice at the Stakeholders Dissemination Meeting on the Drafted State Education Sector Plan (SESP) and State Education Strategic Operational Plan (SESOP), held at the Glass House, Government House, Lokoja over the weekend.

Bello, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, Chief Asiwaju Asiru Idris, said there was no better time to plan for education development in the state than now.

He stressed that education remained his top most priority and it occupied the largest part of the state budget of 20 per cent allocation from 2021 till the end of his tenure.

According to him, if we are to be part of the 21st Century, Education, Science and Technology is very key, hence the need to put together a workable and reliable SESP and SESOP that would address the critical needs in the state education sector.

The governor commended the commissioner for initiating the SESP and SESOP project, and the entire staff of the ministry and all other stakeholders that had contributed to the draft and development of the sector plan.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Wemi Jones, FCIB, commended all the relevant stakeholders for coming together to strategise on how to propel the education sector to a higher dimension.

According to Jones, globally, education has assumed a central focus in most countries as a determining factor for economic development as well as development of social capital.

He stressed that quality and sustainable education can only be achieved through evidence based education sector plan.

Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of Confluence University if Science and Technology, (CUSTECH), Osara, Prof. Engr. Salawu Sadiku, said the university was established to bridge the admission gap that Kogi indigenes had hitherto been facing in getting admitted to study the courses of their choice in other universities especially in science and engineering.

According to Sadiku, in 2018 the number of candidates from Kogi who sat for JAMB was over 60,000 but only 5000 of them were able to secure admission into higher institutions in spite of the fact that they qualified.

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SportsLive

Celebrating Cricket In Nigeria Nigeria Cricket Federation

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BY JUDE OBAFEMI n Thursday, February 25, the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) celebrated the 80th birthday anniversary of Professor Olajide Bademosi, described as an exemplary model of who a complete athlete should be on and off the pitch.

In highlighting the reason for the flowery compliments that attended the celebration of the life of one of Nigeria’s foremost pacesetters in cricket, the NCF, through its current president Professor Yahaya Ukwenya urged budding cricket players to emulate the life of dedication and professionalism to the game demonstrated through Bademosi’s life.

In a country where every other sporting activity pales into near invisibility under the bright lights of football’s firmament, encouraging young and aspiring sportsmen and sportswomen to emulate the lifestyle of patriotic dedication, without commensurately providing the enlightening information required to arouse interest is not nearly a workable project.

Although the celebration of Gbadamosi’s life once again brought up the sports into the radar of the sporting media, there is scarcely anything in the news about Nigerian cricket enough to evoke in willing youngsters the desire to pick up the sport as a career option for personal and national glory in much the same light as athletics, basketball, boxing, weightlifting, to say nothing of football.

As much the the NCF may take some credit for remembering to celebrate a national cricketing icon as the professor and to once more call to the attention of the nation his inimitable contributions to the heritage of cricket in the country from its earliest years, they must recognise the lacuna that exists in the collective national consciousness of the historical and current perspectives of cricket.

It is not enough to say that the renowned University of Ibadan neurologist represented Nigeria as part of the cricket team for 18 years, the last four of which he captained the team, playing as an all-round batter and bowler whilst leading the team to win the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Quadrangular Series for the third time in 1982, which afforded Nigeria the leave to retire the event’s first trophy.

This information cannot be presented as if in a vacuum. Just as it is incomplete to highlight the fact that Gbadamosi’s service to Nigeria included administering the game at various levels including serving on the working committee of the Nigeria Cricket Association from 1981 to 1989 and also rising to become the association’s Vice Chairman in 1987.

Since, it is not a common and abiding interest in Nigeria, as football is, for instance, there must be an accompanying body of information that will serve as foundational material for the person, sacrifices and contributions of the patriotic professor to make better contextual sense and not only be better understood but also to be most appreciated in a way that can evoke in young, impressionable minds, the desire to emulate and imitate Gbadamosi.

Providing such information necessitates a recourse to history.

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According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is the global governing body for cricket, the sport was introduced into and first played in Nigeria by British colonial administrators in the 19th century. That initial spark was enflamed by English missionaries and army personnel whose added impetus helped in the spread of the game.

Nigeria’s first ever international cricket match on record was against the Gold Coast (the country now known as Ghana) all the way back in 1904. The Gold Coast won that 25th of May match by 22 runs.

In the time between the two world wars, there were two cricket associations formed and competing actively in Nigeria: the Nigeria Cricket Association (for expatriates) was formed in 1932 while the indigenous cricketers responded with a Nigeria Cricket Association of their own the following year.

Progress towards a singular representative body began in the years leading up to the country’s independence from colonial rule. In 1951, a joint board of control was inaugurated in Lagos that allowed each association retain its identity. But, an amalgamation of both expatriate and indigenous bodies led to the creation of the Nigeria Cricket Association (NCA).

Eventually, in 1957, three years before independence, the body today known as the Nigerian Cricket Federation (NCF) emerged after all the dualised functioning of the previous years, but was only changed to NCF in 2006.

As part of the development of the players, the NCA sent cricketers on training tours of England in 1975, 1981 and 1990. During these visits, Nigerian players trained at the Alf Gover Cricket School and Lord’s, while also playing friendlies to improve their performance levels and apply knowledge learned in training.

At a time of political interest in regional hegemony, Nigeria initiated the process to form a sub-regional body in the early 60s filled as the country was with the heady ideals of self determination. The process culminated in the inaugural meeting of cricket playing countries in West Africa in Freetown, Sierra Leone in May 1965, and the formation of West Africa Cricket Federation (WACF) with headquarters in Nigeria. And, in 1976, WACF evolved into West Africa Cricket Conference (WACC).

Nigeria’s international competitive games which began with the May 1904 loss to Gold Coast continued in 1959, when the Urhobo-born cricketer of repute Rex Edijana Akpofure made history by becoming the first Nigerian to captain a joint Nigerian team (expatriates and locals) in a series against Ghana.

Four years after independence, Nigeria expanded its international participation by establishing contact with African cricketing teams in the Gambia and Sierra Leone. When the WACF was formed in 1965, a quadrangular tournament featuring the four West African countries of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone was established. *Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

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