THEWILL JULY 18-24 EDITION

JULY VOL 1 NO.23 •

18 – JULY 24,

Restructured Nigeria Will Benefit All – Okurounmu

2021

SILENCE, A MOMENT OF LTAN SU D UN SO FOR

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State of the States: Lagos and Ogun

Chioma Ude Face of AFRIFF

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Seyi Shay sive tribute by list With an exclu NTOWN play curated DOW And a specially

Price: N350

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JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2021 VOL . 1 NO. 23

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SPECIAL REPORT

ABUSE, RIGHTS INFRINGEMENT TOP SOKOTO GIRL-CHILD’S WOES HUNGER IN THE LAND

Nigerians Groaning Under Severe Food Shortage

● Insecurity Takes Toll On Food Production

● Price Of Foodstuff, Commodities Hit The Roof ● More Nigerians Fall Into Poverty

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NEWS

I’m Not in Plateau for Tea Party – Tunde Ogbeha

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

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he Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Plateau State, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, has underscored the seriousness of his assignment in the state as he warned party faithful that he is not in Plateau State for a “tea party”.

Senator Ogbeha made this emphasis during an interactive session with aggrieved members of the party, some of whom were so bitter that they sued the party in court seeking one prayer of redress against the party.

Ogbeha let it be known to all that he was on a peace mission to the state to reconcile aggrieved members, reposition the party and entrench a system in which equity, inclusiveness and equality are the rule.

Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje (left), watches as President Muhammadu Buhari cuts the tape to commission a three-layerbridge constructed by Kano Government during the President’s visit to the state on 15/7/2021.

COVID-19 Reversed Gains of Population Management – NPC Chair FROM BASSEY ANIEKAN, CALABAR

he Executive Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra, has said that the COVID-19 pandemic reversed the gains of population management in Nigeria.

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“The outcome if left unchecked will have enormous and immediate, long term negative impact on our efforts to moderate population growth, improve the standards of living and quality of life of all our citizens, even during the aftermath of the COVID-19.”

Speaking during the commemoration of World Population Day in Calabar, capital of Cross River State, Kwarra warned that if unchecked, the development might impact negatively on efforts to moderate population growth in the long term.

He added that the lockdown occasioned by the pandemic impacted more on women and girls, impeded access to basic healthcare, sexual and reproductive health services, as well as family planning.

The event was themed, ‘Rights and choices are the answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution kids in prioritising the reproductive health and rights of all people.’

He said there was a need to address major data gaps that limit the people’s understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on fertility.

The Chairman’s address was delivered by the State Director of the NPC, Eteng Bassey. He said, “In the frantic effort to address matters arising from COVID-19 in Nigeria, issues of reproductive health, particularly family planning, suffered complete neglect.

This, he stressed, raises “the urgency and imperativeness for the conduct of the next population and housing census to provide data and evidence.”

“This reverses the gains made on population management with short and long term implications, regarding efforts to align our population growth with economic growth.

He described the full implementation of the just approved Revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development as a prerequisite for addressing the concerns highlighted by the theme of this year’s World Population Day event.

EndSARS Panel Recommends Employment For Two Amputees in Edo

FROM ENAHORO IYEMEFOKHAI, BENIN

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he Edo State judicial panel of inquiry set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the activities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the #EndSARS protests in the state on Tuesday recommended the employment of two petitioners hit by stray and identified bullets during the protest.

Ehigiamusoe added that of the 170 petitions, 25 were struck out for lack of diligence, while 10 were dismissed for lacking in merit.

She further explained that 10 petitioners out of the 135 petitioners sought the enforcement of judgment from various high courts against the police for acts of brutality and extrajudicial killings.

Justice Ada Ehigiamusoe (Retd.), chairman of the panel, who presented the report to Governor Godwin Obaseki, named the two petitioners as Ohimai Stephen Asekhame and Miracle Aihenlen Okhuria.

“The panel recommended the payment of compensations to the victims or their families, as well as the enforcement of all the judgments in debts as granted by the courts, which have not been complied with by the police till date,” she said.

Ehigiamusoe said the two petitioners were hit by stray bullets, which resulted in the amputation of their limbs. She, therefore, appealed to the state government to consider their plight in terms of possible employment.

In his remarks, while receiving the report, Governor Obaseki commended the panel for its commitment and diligence in arriving at the recommendations.

She also drew the state government’s attention to the plight of two deaf and dumb petitioners whose spinal cords and genitals were damaged as a result of shooting during the protest.

Obaseki, who assured that he would study the report and implement the recommendations, pledged that his administration would continue to enforce the rights of the citizenry and focus more on the young ones.

The panel chairman explained that the two physically challenged petitioners were hospitalised at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, with a damaged spinal cord and genitals.

She added that a total of 135 petitions were considered to be meritorious, out of the 170 petitions filed by petitioners.

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“Let me start by appreciating specifically the chairman of this panel. We thank God that we have people like Justice Ada Ehigiamusoe (Retd), who is still available to work for our people. You will all agree with that the chairman brought to play not only her deep knowledge in the administration of justice, but also her motherly instinct in the way the affairs of the panel was conducted.

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“I am not here for the sake of any particular interest. I am not here to support one faction or the other. Rather, I’m here to kill impunity in the party by providing a conducive atmosphere for all and to reposition the party to accommodate all members. I am not here for a tea party,” he said.

The purpose of the interactive session was to initiate a ceasefire among warring groups within the party and to embrace inclusiveness and common purpose, as the group pledged support for and cooperation with the caretaker committee and agreed to withdraw all cases against the party pending in court.

The new wind of friendship and togetherness was again strengthened when former governors Fidelis Tapgun and Jonah David Jang jointly visited the committee at the party’s secretariat in Jos and pledged their loyalty and subordination to its assignment.

Plateau PDP Drags PLASIEC to Court

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

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he Plateau state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has dragged the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission, PLASIEC, to court for excluding it from the list of political parties qualified to participate in the local government council polls scheduled to hold on October 9, this year.

In a suit filed in the High Court of Justice, Jos Judicial Division, with suit number PLD/J250/2021, the PDP, among other grounds, is praying the court to determine whether as a registered political party in Nigeria, “it does not have the right to, and is not entitled to hold primaries to nominate candidates, to obtain nomination forms from the defendant, to participate and canvass for votes, present and sponsor its candidates in any election, and in particular, the elections into the various seats of chairman and councilors of all the local government councils in Plateau state scheduled to hold on October 9, 2021”.

With a seven-point ground for determination, the originating summons filed on behalf of the PDP by Pwajok, Ikowe & Co, the Party is also seeking a declaration, inter alia, that the claimant, as registered political party in Nigeria, “ is entitled to nominate and present, participate and canvass for votes, and sponsor its candidate in any election, and in particular elections into the various seats of chairmen and councilors of all the local government councils of Plateau State” In a twin development, the PDP has also filed a motion on notice against the PLASIEC as contained in suit number PLD/ J250M/2021.

The Party wants the Court to issue an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendant from conducting the said elections until the determination of the substantive suit.

Including an order of accelerated hearing, the motion on notice is also seeking an interlocutory injunction barring defendant from giving effect to its letter to the claimant dated June 23, 2021, notifying it of its disqualification from participating in the scheduled local government elections.

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COVER

Nigerians Groaning Under Severe Food Shortage

BY AMOS ESELE & SAM DIALA

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scene at the popular Ile-Epo Market in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos, penultimate week, paints the picture of the harsh reality facing most Nigerians today. A huge, brown skinned man whose appearance gave him away as well-to-do had marched his equally tall but lightcomplexioned wife, who cowed under his angry looks to the market, both walking with such haste as to attract attention from other members of the public.

The couple stood outside a foodstuff shop, close to one of the exit points in the market that is springing up with new shops and immediately started an argument. Apparently the man suspected that his wife had misused the money he gave her to buy some food items. According to him, she came home with “only a bag of rice and some things from the N40, 000 I gave her to take to the market.”

Visibly embarrassed, the woman took time to explain herself, pointing out from the list in her hand every single item that she bought with the money. Sensing trouble as he could not believe that the man was convinced, the shopkeeper brought out his calculator and together they calculated everything.

Surprisingly they both found that the lady even owed some money, about N500, for ground pepper. The man beat a hasty retreat, leaving his wife behind, while tongues began to wag at him.

“That is what we see every day,” the shopkeeper said, as the crowd dispersed. “The other day, a man dressed in a white garment, who looked like the pastor of a church, came and asked me to ground ogbono, melon, crayfish in large quantities and measure some rice and garri.

“As he ordered the items, I asked my older brother to let the man know the costs. But my brother assumed that he must be able to afford the things. By the time I finished and calculated the cost, we found out he had insufficient money. We had to reduce some of the ground stuff to sell to other customers later. We laughed when he said he would have disappeared with the stuff if he could.”

These stories are a tip of the economic crunch that many Nigerians are undergoing at present. And no less a personality than the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, hammered home this challenge facing Nigerians during President Muhammadu Buhari’s courtesy visit to his palace after commissioning the Kanu-Kaduna railway line and the Dangi Interchange under Bridge Road, which was constructed by the Kano State Government, on Thursday.

The Emir said, “We are delighted that you found time to visit the palace. We appreciate your gesture and we want to commend the President for the infrastructural development across the country, particularly in Kano.

“We are hoping that the President’s aides would continue to advise him on the condition and well-being of the poor masses, especially in those aspects that he will need to be informed on certain development for necessary action. This is a responsibility that we need to discharge accordingly.

“We are calling on the President to look into various departments of the Nigerian society and find ways to ameliorate the suffering and hardship experienced by the masses, especially in the areas of security and economy, particularly food and other commodities.”

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Things have become so bad that even the House of Representatives, a fortnight ago, called on the Federal government to convoke a “Special Economic Roundtable” to address these challenges.

The House tasked the Federal Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Investments to devise new intervention strategies to cushion the harsh effects of economic hardship, particularly the ongoing food crisis, in the country.

The House took the resolutions, following the unanimous adoption of a motion sponsored by Shehu Kakale, Julius Ihonvbere, Mukhtar Dan-Dutse, Amiru Tukur, Amos Gwamna, Jatau Mohammed, Benjamin Mzondu, Ahmed Zanna and AbianteAwaji-Inombek.

The lawmakers stated that unemployment and underemployment affects all sectors of the economy, accounting for social pressures and general dissatisfaction.”

A visit to the market in recent times, and as a matter of fact, in the last one year, revealed that the cost of food items has increased drastically! Life has therefore become increasingly difficult for many Nigerians, especially the low-income earners, unemployed and other vulnerable people.

A market survey carried out by THEWILL showed the prices of staple food in the country, namely rice, beans and yam have gone through the roof and beyond the reach of many Nigerians in the national minimum wage bracket.

This newspaper recalls that the Nigeria Labour Congress as at June 20, 2021, said 10 states were yet to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.

The survey showed that a medium-sized cup of beans, which sold for N250 or N300, a few weeks ago is now sold for N500 or N600, while a bucket of 16 cups, locally called ‘ike’, has jumped from N4,000 to N6,000 with to N8,700 as of July 2021.

Also a ‘paint’ bucket of garri, which sold for N350 a few weeks ago, is now sold at N1,500. A tuber of yam, which used to sell for N700, is now sold for between N1,200 and N1,500. In fact, a small tuber of ‘new’ yam that has just arrived in the market sells for N1,200.

A fist-sized loaf of bread costs between N100 and N300, whereas a full loaf costs between N250 and N400 or N500, depending on the ingredient. The cost of rice, which is a common feature at parties and ceremonies, including marriages and birthdays, has risen astronomically, too.

The cost of a 50kg bag of rice is between N28, 000 and N30,000 for imported varieties as against N24, 000 or N21,000 for locally produced rice, depending on the brand and location.

Apart from foodstuff, utility bills, school fees and multitaxes have increased and made budgeting compulsory for many families, in the process determining what to leave out and eat with scant regard for nutrition and a “balanced diet.”

HUNGER, OTHERS FUELLING WORSENING MISERY INDEX A detailed study by THEWILL found out that hunger and unemployment are both fuelling the worsening misery index in the country. The worsening insecurity across the country has also driven farmers away from their farms, despite the onset of the planting season. This has resulted in acute food shortage and high cost of food.

With unemployment at 33 per cent as at December 31, 2020, more Nigerians are out of job than ever. At present over 90 million Nigerians are out of job, and still counting. Unemployment – the worst ever – is, no doubt, hitting hard in the urban centres. Businesses are closing down, just as cash-strapped parents are unable to pay their children’s school fees.

This has worsened Nigeria’s misery index and resulted in a lower standard of living. Although inflation has declined for three months running and currently hitting 17.75 per cent as of June, it is still above the single-digit target of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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COVER The overall consequence is that more Nigerians are falling into the poverty trap. With the high inflation rate in the country persistently eroding incomes, not even well-paid urban dwellers are spared the horror of falling into the poverty bracket.

Penultimate weekend in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, described Nigeria’s poverty index as unacceptable, saying the country has what it takes to be prosperous.

A report by SBM Intel, a geopolitical research firm, says 40 per cent of Nigerians living below poverty line reduced the number of meals and food quality in the second half of 2021 due to increase in food prices.

Coupled with this are multiple taxes that are strangling small businesses burdened with unending levies, taxes, fees and extortion.

FG’S ENDLESS, RECKLESS BORROWING More worrisome is the fact that the Federal Government continues to borrow recklessly. A recent report by BudgIT says that Nigeria used 97 per cent of its revenue to service external debts in 2020, thus leading to the Federal Government living on ways and means and the Central Bank of Nigeria giving significant financial support to Abuja and the States.

As Nigerians groan under increasing public debt and increasing debt servicing, Finance Minister, Zainab Muhammed, says public debt currently at N33 trillion may hit N38 trillion by December 2021, following government’s plan to borrow N6.7 trillion in 2021. This will lead to increase in debt servicing, amid dwindling revenue, as ways and means worsen.

Between January and May this year, the Federal Government borrowed N1.8 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria with N680 billion interest. In Feb 2021, DMO announced that it would convert N10 trillion “ways and means” loan into a 30-year bond. The World Bank has however warned against Nigeria’s mounting loan stock, even as public finance management lacks discipline amidst mounting profligacy.

EXCESS BORROWING HAS GRAVE CONSEQUENCES, YUSUF WARNS Meanwhile, the immediate past Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, has expressed concern over excess borrowing by the Federal Government in the midst of dwindling revenue. He observed that a large portion of the domestic borrowing was through ways and means, which has serious implications for inflation.

adverse effects on the people’s standard of living, which has become a source of worry to Nigerians.

“It has inflationary implications. It is not healthy for the economy because inflation erodes the value of people’s income and affects their standard of living. The value of a currency has a lot to do with poverty and welfare.

We must be worried about the fast rate of money supply because inflation triggers poverty.

“An inflationary environment elevates production costs with adverse impact on corporate profitability, thereby making it increasingly difficult for businesses and corporations to meet their debt obligations to lending institutions. This translates into a significant increase in credit loss provisions with adverse impact on banks’ profitability.

“We need to caution the government against being too dependent on the CBN for financing deficits because of the high inflationary impact. Inflation is a terrible thing.

When people complain about hunger and poverty, it is because the money they have in their hands cannot buy anything much,” he said.

WEAK ECONOMIC GROWTH PUSHING MORE NIGERIANS INTO POVERTY – NESG Only last Friday, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group said many Nigerians were expected to fall into the poverty trap amid rising unemployment in the country.

The NESG, which is a private sector-led think-tank, noted in its economic report for the first quarter of 2021 that the country’s economic growth in the period under review was relatively weak.

“Nigeria’s economic growth trajectory is better described as jobless and less inclusive, even in the heydays of high growth regime. While the economy recovered from recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level ever at 33.3 per cent in the same quarter. With the COVID-19 crisis heightening the rate of joblessness, many Nigerians are expected to fall into the poverty trap, going forward,” the group said, noting that the World Bank estimated an increase in the number of poor Nigerians to 90 million in 2020 from 83 million in 2019.

“This corresponds to a rise in headcount poverty ratio to 44.1 per cent in 2020 from 40.1 per cent in 2019. The rising levels of unemployment and poverty are reflected in persistent insecurity and social vices, with attendant huge economic costs,” NESG said.

Ways and means is a mechanism for the government to borrow from the Central Bank under a specified credit policy which, most times, entails printing money.

Speaking at the Bi-Monthly Forum of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) held at its national secretariat in Lagos on Thursday, as part of its capacity building programme, Yusuf, who spoke on “Nigerian economy in first half 2021 and outlook for the financial services sector,” described the Federal Government’s borrowing spree as injurious to the economy as it escalated the already high rate of inflation in the country.

He disclosed that the facility usually came at a huge cost to the taxpayer as the government paid N480 billion interest on the N1.8 trillion facility granted to it through the ways and means window between January and May 2021.

He expressed concern that government’s excess borrowing had put pressure on the apex bank to exceed the “five percent ceiling of actual government revenue for the preceding year”, specified in the CBN Act. According to him, the fast rate of money supply has THEWILLNIGERIA

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URBAN DWELLERS NOW AFFECTED – WORLD BANK Last month, a new World Bank report predicted that about 11 million Nigerians, mostly urban dwellers who depend on service-sector and non-farm business income, will fall into poverty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic by 2022.

“Before the COVID-19 crisis, the poverty rate was forecast to remain virtually unchanged, with the number of poor people set to rise to 90.0 million by 2022 due to natural population growth. Yet the poverty rate is now forecast to rise to 45.2 per cent by 2022, with 100.9 million people living in poverty, ” the report titled, ‘Rising to the Challenge: Nigeria’s Covid-19 Response,’ said.

According to the report, “Simulations suggest that 10.9 million Nigerians may fall into poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis, a large share of whom are set to be urban dwellers who depend on service-sector and nonfarm business incomes. Before the COVID-19 crisis, the poverty rate was forecast to remain virtually unchanged, with the number of poor people set to rise to 90.0 million by 2022 due to natural population growth.

“While poverty has traditionally been concentrated among rural households dependent on agriculture, more than one-third of those falling into poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis are projected to be urban residents, around one-third are projected to live in households whose heads work in services, and almost half are projected to live in households whose heads work in non-farm enterprises.

“Social protection programme coverage has remained low during the COVID-19 crisis. Between midMarch and July 2020, just 4.9 per cent of households had received assistance in the form of cash from any institution—including the government—and 3.6 per cent had received in-kind (non-food) assistance. While food assistance was more common, having been received by 23 per cent of households over the same period, such transfers are more likely to be received by non-poor households.

“Innovative techniques are currently being explored to target poor and vulnerable Nigerian households in the wake of COVID-19. Given the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on urban areas, where prepandemic poverty rates were the lowest, it is vital to better understand emerging pockets of poverty in Nigeria’s towns and cities. To this end, a poverty map using satellite and other ‘big data’ sources has been produced to estimate poverty at the ward level in Nigeria.”

THE WAY OUT OF CURRENT MESS The federal and state governments must as a matter of urgency frontally confront and end the attacks on farm owners by armed herdsmen and bandits that have made farmers abandon their farms for their safety. No nation can produce food or cultivate enough farmlands under the current state of insecurity nationwide.

The current state of affairs should be a source of worry for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which has played ethnic politics with the herdsmen crisis.

Dr. Yusuf also wants the Federal Government to prioritise its borrowing in the light of dwindling revenue, noting that up to 90 per cent of the nation’s revenue is committed to debt servicing, which he said should be a major concern to the Nigerians.

He suggested rationalisation of spending as a way out of excess borrowing, noting that borrowing to fund recurrent expenditure is inimical to economic development. He also advised the government to consider private partnership in funding projects that require huge capital outlay, as well as selling idle assets to raise funds for building infrastructure.

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GLOBAL NEWS

Indian Photojournalist Killed in Afghanistan

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ulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist, Danish Siddiqui, has been killed in Afghanistan, said the country’s ambassador in Delhi.

The 41-year-old, who was chief photographer for Reuters news agency in India, was on assignment when he died.

He was embedded with a convoy of Afghan forces that was ambushed by Taliban militants near a key border post with Pakistan, according to reports.

It is unclear how many others died in the attack.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay, said he was deeply disturbed by the news of “the killing of a friend”.

Based out of Mumbai, Siddiqui worked with Reuters for more than a decade.

In 2018, he won the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography.

He won it alongside colleague Adnan Abidi and five others for their work documenting the violence faced by Myanmar’s minority Rohingya community.

Recently, his photos of mass funerals held at the peak of India’s devastating second wave went viral and won him global praise and recognition.

“While I enjoy covering news stories - from business to politics to sports - what I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story,” Siddiqui had told Reuters.

Riots Over Zuma Jailing Pre-Planned – Ramaphosa

STORIES FROM ZACHEAUS SOMORIN IN TORONTO

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outh African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the violence that has rocked the country was pre-planned, describing it as an assault on democracy.

Riots were sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. The resulting death toll has risen to 212, up by almost 100 since Thursday, the government said.

Police officers have been protecting deliveries of food to supermarkets after days of widespread looting led to shortages.

An estimated $1bn (£720m) worth of stock was stolen in KwaZulu-Natal with at least 800 retail shops looted, a mayor in the province said.

“It is quite clear that all these incidents of unrest and looting were instigated - there were people who planned it and coordinated it,” Mr Ramaphosa said in a visit to KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Zuma’s home province and the epicentre of the violence.

The president said the riots were an attempt to hijack South Africa’s democracy. He told supporters that instigators had been identified, but didn’t elaborate.

“We are going after them,” he added.

In KwaZulu-Natal, many have been queuing for food, sometimes from the early hours of the morning, just to get a few items. People waiting told the BBC that they were concerned about feeding their families, getting formula and nappies for their babies and even food for their pets.

The week of violence in the province has left roads damaged or blocked by rioters and the government wants to make sure the food supply is not disrupted, said Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, an acting minister.

Soldiers have been deployed to potential flashpoints and police are providing escorts for the transportation of oxygen, medicines and other key goods, she said.

In a 30-minute televised address later on Friday, Ramaphosa said there was no shortage of food or supplies and urged people against panic buying.

He said more than 2,500 people had been arrested in connection with the unrest and urged South Africans to come together.

“If we stand together, no insurrection or violence in this country will succeed,” he said. “We are engaged in a struggle to defend our democracy, our Constitution, our livelihoods and our safety. “This is not a battle that we can afford to lose.”

Siddiqui was covering the clashes in Kandahar region, as the U.S withdraws its forces from Afghanistan ahead of an 11 September deadline set by President Joe Biden.

The Taliban – a fundamentalist Islamic militia – controlled Afghanistan from the mid-90s until the U.S invasion in 2001. The group has been accused of grave human rights and cultural abuses.

With foreign troops withdrawing after 20 years, the Taliban are rapidly retaking territory across the country, sparking fears of a potential civil war.

Biden, Merkel ‘United Against Russia’s Aggression’

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he US and Germany will stand together against Russian aggression, President Joe Biden said as he welcomed outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Washington.

Biden said he had voiced concern to Merkel over a Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline, but they agreed Moscow cannot be allowed to use energy as a weapon.

The U.S president said the two allies also opposed antidemocratic actions by China.

Mrs Merkel, who has worked with four U.S presidents, is leaving office.

“We stand together and will continue to stand together to defend our eastern flank allies at Nato against Russian aggression,” Biden told Thursday’s joint news conference with Merkel.

He acknowledged the two did not see eye to eye on the nearly complete $11bn (£8bn) Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. The White House has said it will be used by Russia as leverage over Ukraine and other neighbours.

“Good friends can disagree,” said Mr Biden, who recently waived sanctions against Nord Stream 2.

The U.S president also said, “We will stand up for democratic principles and human rights when we see China or any other country working to undermine free and open societies.”

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South Africans looted everything in sight.

Europe Floods: At Least 120 Dead, Hundreds Unaccounted For

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t least 120 people have died and hundreds more in western Europe are unaccounted for after some of the worst flooding in decades. Record rainfall caused rivers to burst their banks, devastating the region.

In Germany, where the death toll now stands at over 100, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a determined battle against climate change. At least 20 people have died in Belgium. The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland are also affected.

Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.

The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, declared July 20 a national day of mourning. “We are still waiting for the final toll, but this could be the most catastrophic flooding our country has ever seen,” he said.

Some 15,000 police, soldiers and emergency service workers have been deployed in Germany to help with the search and

rescue.

Entire villages have been destroyed and officials in the western German district of Ahrweiler say up to 1,300 people are unaccounted for.

Gregor Jericho, a resident of Rheinbach in North RhineWestphalia, told the BBC: “It’s a very sad scene. Streets, bridges and some buildings are destroyed. There’s garbage everywhere.

“Parts of buildings are in the road, people are sitting and crying.

It’s so sad. People have lost their homes, their cars are in fields flooded. My city looks like a battle has taken place.”

In the same town, Ansgar Rehbein told Reuters he saw the river’s water level rising so rapidly that he had to immediately get out of his house.

“Once the river started overflowing and the water came down from the hillside. It was a matter of two minutes before the courtyard was flooded with waist-high water. We had to get out through the window and uphill in order to save ourselves,” he told the news agency.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Abuse, Rights Infringement Top Sokoto Girl-child’s Woes

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n May 13, 2021, residents of Sokoto State were shocked to learn that a 12-year-old girl identified as Joy was allegedly locked up in a room by her guardian for eight months in the Dadin Kowa area of Sokoto, the state capital.

Neighbours, who are witnesses to her ill-treatment in the hands of her guardian, Mrs Esther Emmanuel, told THEWILL that joy was left without food for most of the period she was locked up. The girl’s suffering, they added, got to a point where they had to report to the police who eventually rescued her.

The police arrested Mrs Emmanuel and her husband, Emmanuel Bassey, as well as their children, all of who allegedly conspired to inflict pain on the young girl.

Investigation by THEWILL showed that Joy dropped out of Yahaya Gusau Primary School in the Sokoto South Local Government Area of the state in Primary Five. Some of her classmates, who spoke with our reporter, said she was last seen in school in 2019, just before the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Joy’s case reflects the ugly situation in which many young children in Sokoto State, who are living with their relatives, instead of their biological parents, without a tangible arrangement for their welfare, have found themselves.

“Her (Joy) case was a typical spotlight on both parental neglect and our inability to implement protection laws for children in this country,” said Wale Sunday, a psychologist.

While Joy is a victim of her supposed caregivers, the case of 12-year-old Fatima (not real name), who was gangraped by seven men who lived together within her mother’s neighbourhood in Panawa, a suburb of Sokoto town, seems slightly different.

Fatima’s alleged assailants, it was gathered, were almost as old as her father, if not older. Her mother’s outcry led to a court suit that is currently before a competent court in the state.

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TUNDE OMOLEHIN looks at the rising incidence of child abuse and gender violation in Sokoto State and how the non-domestication of the Child Rights Act has denied female victims access to justice.

Sadly, she was forced to drop out of secondary school due to trauma and the fear of being stigmatised by her schoolmates.

abuse. Boys are also being abused. But young girls are most prevalent among them. So, it is a societal issue,” he said.

A similar case was recorded by the police a few months later.

The culprit, it would be recalled, is a young man, who was arrested for luring a 16-year-old girl (name withheld) to a hotel and unlawfully having carnal knowledge of her. He was also alleged to have filmed the girl’s nude body in an 18 seconds video clip. The incident resulted in the termination of the victim’s wedding, which was already scheduled to take place within the period the video was circulated on social media.

Gandi blamed the parents of the victims for failing to fulfill part of their responsibility to the children. “I always say that no child has the predominant knowledge of who will give birth to him or her. Parents are the ones that ask God for a child. But most of them have failed to take care of these children,” he said.

The pathetic stories of these young girls were not part of the over 400 cases of rape and child abuse exposed by the Save the Child Initiative, a non-governmental organisation campaigning rigorously against the menace. Similar statistics from the Sokoto office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) indicates that no fewer than 151 survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) were so far recorded in this year.

The figure showed that 103 victims were girls, while 48 were boys, all of who were abused in one way or the other.

Data obtained from the agency’s Research and Programme Development Unit showed a surge in cases of child violation amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Such violations, according to the agency, include cases of rape, sodomy, child abuse, child labour and sale of babies.

Giving an insight into the distressing act, the Head of Evacuation and Implementation, Rabiu Gandi, described the development as a societal issue. “Women are being abused and girls are being abused on a daily basis. Women are victims of

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He noted that child protection must start from the parents, while government at all levels should put in place mechanisms that will help to protect the children through a vibrant justice system.

“The government must complement parents’ efforts with their responsibility for these children. Also, the society should always serve as the watchdog to ensure justice against any child predators. But if this measure fails, our children’s rights will be abused,” Gandi explained.

Experts say the rise in the incidence of child abuse is unconnected to the increase in of out-of-school children in the state. However, the Sokoto State Government has said that it recorded mass enrolment of schoolchildren since the inception of the present administration.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Muhammadu Bello Guiwa, said 247,884 children have been enrolled in school from 2016 to date, adding that, based on the schools’ census statistics in 2020/2021, the state government now has 2,065 primary schools with a total of 965,535 pupils, comprising 546,675 boys and 420,860 girls. *Continues on Page 8

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SPECIAL REPORT

Why Sokoto Needs Child Protection Law – Comrade Gandi Comrade Rabiu Gandi is a civil rights activist. In this interview with TUNDE OMOLEHIN, T he speaks on child rights violation in Sokoto State, delay in the justice system and how

here appears to be a resurgence of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Sokoto State. What do you think could be responsible for this?

Well, many factors are responsible for the rise in gender-based violence. One of them is the fact that most perpetrators are ignorant of what they are doing. They are just doing it without knowing the gravity of the offence they are committing.

Another factor is cultural practices. Someone’s parents or grandparents are notorious in a particular act and then you emulate them.

the domestication of rights protection laws can salvage the situation. Excerpts:

the Ministry of Justice for legal advice and so on. It is very difficult to get a speedy conviction in abuse cases. The issue of families, who are not cooperating with us, is another challenge. So, the whole justice system needs to be reformed.

There is the issue of poverty. Some of the underage girls who are victims of such violence are out-of-school. They left with the option of hawking petty stuff on behalf of their parents. In the process, they are victimised by boys or older men. These are some of the factors responsible for it. There is also the issue of a broken home where there is no parental care. If parents are weak in taking actionable decisions to guide their children, the latter are likely to be abused in society.

The little boy had no shoes on his feet and he was wearing dirty clothes. When I asked him about his parents, he said they were in Shinkafi, Zamfara State. Sometime ago, an Islamic teacher in a school in the Arkila area of Sokoto State was in the news for sodomising Almajiri pupils in his custody. He was arrested by the police after it was confirmed that he was hiring out his pupils to people for sexual abuse in exchange for a fee. The parents of these children will never believe such things are happening to their children. In fact, the parents don’t even know how these children are faring under Islamic teachers.

Between government and parents or the society, who is to blame for not protecting children from abuse?

It is the society at large. Everyone is involved in giving protection to these children. Let’s start from the parents. I always say that no child has the predominant knowledge of who will give birth to him or her. Parents are the ones that aske God for a child. But most of them have failed to take care of these children. Child protection has to start from the parent.

Then, the Government has to put in place mechanisms that will help to protect these children. Whenever a child is abused, such mechanisms should be enforced.

Also, the justice system and law enforcement agencies have to be proactive in protecting these children’s rights. But if the Government fails to put these in place, our children’s rights will be abused. The family should be responsible for the children, the Government has to complement their efforts and

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Do you recall witnessing cases of abuse or violence against vulnerable persons, especially underage children, in the course of your work in Sokoto State?

I have witnessed a lot of cases so far. Women and girls are being abused on a daily basis. Even grown-up men and boys are being abused by women. So, it is a societal issue. We have treated cases that affected both genders. We have a lot of cases in hand and we shall respond to them accordingly.

If you go to the State Ministry of Women Affairs, there are lots of cases affecting genders, but girls and women are most prevalent among them. In Sokoto state, we also have issues of Almajiri children who are sexually molested by their teachers.

Imagine, the Malam (Islamic teacher), who is supposed to take care of these children are the culprits of their molestation. For instance, you give your child to one of these Malams without making any provision for their upkeep. Even, the Malams are also looking for a ways to feed themselves, not to talk of feeding the children under them. Recently, I saw a fouryear-old boy Almajiri pupil crying in the street because he was hungry and had nothing to eat.

A bill on Child Rights Abuse (CRA) and Violence Against Persons Act (VAPA) are yet to be domesticated in Sokoto State. What are the misconceptions about the bills?

I can’t really say this is the misconception about the two bills because government and civil society organisations are both working assiduously to ensure its passage. What I can say is that, the Child Rights Act has been changed to Child Protection Law. Thank God, we have the support of all the stakeholders, such as government, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, as well as civil society organisations in the state. We have perfected various documents of these Acts and hopefully, they will go to the State House of Assembly for passage. Also the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act has been worked out. Hopefully, the two acts will be assented to by the governor of the state before the year runs out.

society should be the watchdog to ensure justice.

Most of the time, it is very difficult to bring Child Rights violators to justice. It is a herculean task on the part of civil society organisations or government prosecutors.

What do you think is denying victims of abuse access to justice?

There are many reasons. First, in a case of abuse, the victim has to report the matter to the police or other security agencies for investigation. But, sometimes and right from the investigation, things seem to go wrong. Some of these violators are well connected. They are influential in society.

Some of them have vast knowledge in the justice system.

They know where to go and ambush justice. They know the possible place the victims are going to lodge complaints.

They will even go there before their arrival. Sometimes, our security agencies have to do proper investigation in this regard. Family of the abused person has to be ready to stand by the victim in challenging their violators.

There are instances where families of victims have swept the cases under the carpet by encouraging the victim to leave it to God or for fear of intimidation. Even if the victim has the courage to take the case up with enough evidence, her family might discourage such a move.

We also have delays in the justice system. It will interest you that from January 2020 to till date, we have only six convictions out of about 406 cases reported to security agencies in the state. We tried as much as possible to get cases in court for prosecution, but it has to be in process. It has been from this point of investigation to another- before getting to the Court. The fact is that, we can’t bypass these processes directly to court. We have police for investigation,

Abuse, Rights Infringement Top Sokoto Girl-child’s Woes *Continued from Page 7

The statistics, he stressed, shows that the state government has a total population of 1,179,781 in all the schools, compared to 742,679 in 2014/2015. But THE WILL investigation has revealed a sharp decrease in the successes achieved by the state government due to the high rate of insecurity in the state.

It would be recalled that in January 2021, the state government ordered the indefinite closure of boarding schools situated within the border towns in the state, in response to the

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incessant abduction of school children by armed groups in some states.

One of the affected schools, a N1 billion secondary school in Balle in the Gudu Local Government Area of the state, was built with the purpose of improving girl-child enrollment.

Kabir Shagari, an educationist, believes the repeated closure of schools in the state, due to COVID-19 and non-existence laws that could protect the girl-child from incessant rights violation, has hit girl-child education hard and threatened to

There were laws (both Shari’ah and Conventional laws) already in existence to bring these perpetrators to justice.

Are they not enough to protect victims of violence abuse in the state or perhaps, a duplication of the new bills?

Yes, I agree with you that there are laws in place. But issues in the justice system are pushing the laws backward. Also, some of the provisions of these laws are obsolete. What I mean is that, some of the charges for grievous offences are still in kobo and naira. For instance, in a case of a person that physically abuses his victim and permanently causes scar on his/her body, the court can just put a meager cost as fine against the perpetrator. Also, such a fine will be paid to the government, leaving the victim with nothing for restitution.

The victim will only be left to carry the scar for a lifetime and you can imagine the trauma that will follow. So, in the Violence Against Persons Act, we requested that the payment should not be for the damage alone, but also to compensate the victim adequately. So, these are some of the charges that these Acts are coming to effect if signed into law.

A Coalition of CSOs is currently championing the domestication of the CRA in Sokoto State. How best is this body facilitating the general acceptability and enactment of the act?

The coalition members are doing a great job in facilitating the acceptability and possible enactment of the two Acts. We really appreciate the effort of the Malala Foundation through YouthHubAfrica, who has been supporting the coalition in achieving this objective. Their effort is going a long way to ensure that we push for the domestication of the laws in Sokoto State. Our appreciation also goes to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Sokoto State for their efforts.

I will encourage members of the coalition not to relent in their individual and collective effort to push for the enactment of the two laws in the state.

How soon can we expect Sokoto State to embrace the CRA, being among 11 states left behind in its domestication?

Hopefully, we don’t want to pass this year. All stakeholders have known the value of these laws and are working together for domestication in the state. roll back several years of progress in the state.

Aisha Maina, Special Adviser to the Governor on Female Education, was indifferent when approached by THEWILL to speak on the state government’s efforts on goal-4 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Jerry Ameh, who heads the Centre for Media Advocacy and Community Reporting, a non-profit organisation, urged the state legislature to speed up the process of the Domestic Child Protection Law presented by the executive to mitigate many gender issues in the state.

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Yakubu

POLITICS

Anambra, Ekiti, Osun Governorship Elections: Task Before INEC

BY AYO ESAN hree off season elections will take place between 2021 and July 2022. They are the Anambra State Governorship Election, which is scheduled for November 6, 2021; Ekiti and Osun State Governorship Elections, both of which will take place on June 18 and July 16, 2022, respectively.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), whose responsibility is to conduct all three elections, has expressed its readiness to accomplish this task in spite of the high level of insecurity in the country.

Speaking while announcing the dates for the elections, INEC reiterated its commitment to raise standards set in previous elections. The Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, charged Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to work towards addressing some reccurring logistics issues in the conduct of future elections and ensure that the forthcoming elections are different from all previous elections, in terms of INEC’s preparations and delivery.

Preparation for the Anambra governorship election is at fever pitch. Up to 11 political parties in the state have already picked their standard bearers. However, unexpected changes in the choice of candidates through court pronouncements cannot be entirely ruled out.

According to the timetable announced by INEC, the candidates for the Anambra governorship election will start their campaign on August 8, 2021 and end it on November 4, 2021, about 48 hours to the election scheduled for Saturday November 6, 2021. Also, the official list of voters registered for the election will be published on October 7, 2021 alongside the final list of nominated candidates.

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EKITI INEC said the tenure of the incumbent governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, will end on October 15, 2022.

The timetable for the election, which was extracted from the commission’s website, also revealed that the conduct of political parties’ primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from the primaries, will take place between January 4 and 29, 2022.

Other details on the timetable of the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti include: Publications of personal particulars of the candidates ( EC9) – February 11, 2022; last day for withdrawal by candidate (s)/replacement of withdrawn candidate (s) by political parties – February 25, 2021; and the last day for submission of Nomination Form (EC13B) by political parties – March 11, 2022.

According to INEC, political parties and their candidates will begin public campaign on March 20, 2022 and end on June 16, 2022. This will be preceded by final list of publication of nominated candidates by the commission.

OSUN INEC also announced that the tenure of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State will end on November 26, 2022. It fixed the governorship election in the state for July 18, 2022.

According to the timetable on INEC’s website, the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from the primaries, is scheduled to take place between February 16 and March 12 , 2022, while the last day for withdrawal by candidates /replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties will end by April 8, 2022.

Campaign by the political parties and their candidates will

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start on April 17, 2022 and end on July 16, 2022.

INEC has also expressed its readiness to follow the timetable for the election religiously. To political analysts and observers, this position is sacrosanct. Their optimism is drawn from the commission’s determined efforts, which led to the conduct of two governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States in 2020.

The way and manner in which INEC officials and adhoc staff conducted themselves during the two elections gave Nigerians the hope that the future of Nigeria’s democracy is bright.

One feature of the election that received praises from the electorate in the two states was the transmission of results at the polling units directly to the commission’s website, thereby rendering manipulations at the collation centres impossible. But like Oliver Twist, Nigerians are demanding more innovations and improvement in the performance of the electoral umpire.

Assuring the voters in Nigeria, particularly in the three states where the off season elections will take place, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the commission had always striven to improve on its performance during elections.

Stressing that INEC would perform optimally in the forthcoming elections, he called for the cooperation of the electorate and the security agencies in ensuring peace before, during and after the election in the three states.

Also speaking on the Anambra governorship election in an interview with THEWILL, the National Chairman of the *Continues on Page 12

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

Restructured Nigeria Will Benefit All – Okurounmu

Senator Femi Okurounmu is a chieftain of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political group.

He also represented the Ogun Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003. In this interview with AYO ESAN, the octogenarian speaks on the worsening insecurity in the country, the National Assembly’s efforts to amend the 1999 constitution and the issue of restructuring. Excerpts:

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he issue of insecurity, which is one of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria at present, has assumed a frightening dimension. What do you think the Federal Government should do about it?

I would advise President Muhammadu Buhari and his Fulani henchmen to stop their plan to Fulanise Nigeria. That is the main cause of the insecurity. You know we have to go to the root cause of the insecurity before you can solve the problem, otherwise you will just be beating about the bush.

The main cause of insecurity in the country today is the agenda of the Fulani led by President Buhari, promoted by him and with the cooperation of the Fulani from Niger, Mali and other countries where there are Fulani in Africa. They all believe that Nigeria has been ordained by God to be the Fulani country, where the Fulanis can make their home.

Buhari believes in this agenda. As president, he is using his position to further the agenda, to make Nigeria the home of all Fulani. This is the major cause of the insecurity in the country.

Many of the bandits fomenting trouble across the country are not really Nigerians. Buhari himself has said so. A lot of them are Fulani from outside Nigeria. They were encouraged to come in fully armed and they are trying to take possession of lands. Kidnapping is the means of funding their operations.

When they kidnap people and collect ransom, a large chunk of the ransom money goes into funding their clandestine operations. It looks like the Nigerian authority knows about it and that is why none of them has been arrested. That is why they demand ransom and government ensures that the ransom is paid and they get the money. For example, look at the case of the kidnapped secondary school students. In Kaduna State where the students were captured, the bandits are asking for foodstuff to feed them. How do you deliver food and other necessities to people and you don’t know them and you can’t arrest them?

Sheikh Abubakar Gumi has been saying that the Federal Government should cooperate with bandits by giving them money. So this is the agenda that the government cannot claim to be ignorant of. Even when Boko Haram terrorists are captured, they are released immediately for rehabilitation and later recruited to join the Army. And when they join the Army, they become fifth columnists.

So our problem is that the government in power itself is in support of bandits, terrorists and all those promoting insecurity in Nigeria. By the time government dissociates itself from them and begins to see them as terrorists and those apprehended are prosecuted and jailed, the problem will become minimal.

Some of the political fallouts of the worsening insecurity are calls for secession. While some people are calling for Oduduwa Republic, others are agitating for a Republic of Biafra. Is self-determination the right approach to solving the problem?

Well, the time has come for Nigeria to face the truth, which is now steering us in the face. We can no longer hide from the truth. The question we need to ask is, have we really had one country? That is the question we must answer. What is the definition of one country? When you say the nation has one country. First, they must be united by a common set of

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values. Perhaps the most important ingredient for uniting a country is the set of values because people live and die for the value they hold dear. All the wars that the western countries have fought and died for are wars to prevent western values from going into extinction. The West, for instance, fought the Soviet Union because of a clash of values: Democracy versus communism. The West goes to other parts of the World to go and fight, fight to die in order to promote democracy and preserve western values. That is all. They don’t go to fight for two things but to preserve their values. And to ensure that the values they hold dear are not threatened.

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If we restructure and we go back to relatively autonomous regions, things will get better. If we don’t go back to the autonomous regions of the past, we can have autonomous states. We can define what we call states

Do we have common values in Nigeria that hold us together and for which a Yoruba man, Fulani man and an Igbo man would want to die to preserve such values? What values do we have in common? We don’t have religion in common. We don’t have love for education in common. Our lifestyle and beliefs are quite different. Some of us believe in democracy, some believe in the ranka dede system. Then with these differing values, how can we say that we are going to die for something? What do we want to go and fight for and die for? If you say Nigerians should go and die for Nigeria now, a person should ask himself, what he is going to die for. Is it to preserve a Yoruba way of life or is it to preserve the Fulani way of life? One has to ask himself. So I have just asked, do we really have one Nigeria? The answer is no.

But the thing has not been so bad until the last six years.

Buhari has now thrown it in our face that all of us in this country are second class. We are just slaves to the Fulani.

He does it with relish and without any remorse. All the appointments he has made are to the advantage of the Fulani.

He appoints Fulani to juicy positions and marginalises other Nigerians. So the rest of us have to follow and obey. It is the Fulani who govern and control. When they make laws, the laws are only meant to keep us in check in the South. Laws are not equally enforced. They may make a law and the law sound like a good one, but it is only for us here. The law will not be enforced in the North. It will be strictly enforced in the South.

Even a blind person can see that we are now slaves to the Fulani. The condition for our living in Nigeria is to continue to be slaves to the Fulani. That brings me to the agitation for Biafra and Oduduwa Republic and so on. As I have said, if you value freedom, if you don’t want to be a slave to anybody, and you feel that under the present system in Nigeria, you are virtually a slave and the system is trying to make your enslavement total, the only option you have is either to fight for your independence or to surrender and say I will continue to be slaves as long as I am allowed to have my three square meals a day. You can’t even eat three square meals because of bad economic policies. Many people today cannot eat one square meal. So you may say I will continue to be a slave as long as they don’t kill me.

What about the issue of restructuring the country. Will that stop the agitations?

We said we should restructure because we have always argued that if we restructured, the situation will become better. Those of us who are old enough to know what Nigeria was like between independence and the first military coup d’etat (that was between 1960 and 1966) would know

there was relative autonomy for the three regions, which later become four regions. Those regions were relatively autonomous. The Western Region was operating without its hands tied behind its back by the Federal Government. We were able to exploit our own resources. Our major resources were cocoa and, of course, palm kernels. These were the things we exported for money. And we developed cocoa and rubber. With these, we were able to acquire money to finance the needs of the Yoruba people. We were not told by the Federal Government whether we could do it or we could not do it.

Every region at that time had its own constitution. We also had a Federal Constitution that united all of us and took care of issues, such as defence and so on. In fact, between 1960 and 1966, it was the region that was contributing funds to the central government. So from whatever we gathered, each region was made to contribute certain percentages to run the centre. The others you used for the interest of your regions. That is why we were able to have free education, even though other parts of the country couldn’t afford it.

Some people in the West said we could not afford it, but Awolowo said we could afford it. With prudent management of resources, we were able to afford it and it was a success.

So with this kind of autonomous relationship, the country was able to develop. There was healthy competition among THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW If you look at the membership of the National Assembly, especially the Senate, the North is in majority. In the House of Representatives, the North is in overwhelming majority.

And when we say we want a new constitution, they will tell us it is only the National Assembly that can change the constitution. Who is the National Assembly? The National Assembly is what has been put together by the North to guarantee northern domination. So, anything the North does not want cannot pass through the National Assembly.

The National Assembly is there to guarantee and safeguard the interest of the North. For those who don’t understand, the National Assembly is nothing more than that. Look at the PIB, it has been before the National Assembly since Obasanjo’s days. They refused to pass it because they didn’t like the provisions. It was there during Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, but they refused to pass it because they didn’t like it. Now it is Buhari’s time and they modified the provisions to say they will give only three per cent or five per cent, depending on whether you go by the position of the Senate or the House of Representatives on profits to the areas where the oil is obtained.

About 30 percent of the profits will be used to look for oil in virgin areas. And those virgin areas are, of course, in the North. This is what the North wants. If it were a case where the National Assembly can protect the interest of the nation, as opposed to the interest of the North, such a bill would not have passed through it. Since the assembly is not effective enough to protect the national interest, we can’t depend on it to amend the constitution to give us a fair and equitable Nigeria. Never. We have to write a new constitution and the National Assembly is not in a position to do it.

We cannot blame those agitating for Biafra Republic or for Oduduwa Republic because they are executing the only option they have other than to live as slaves in their own country.

The governors of the 17 southern states met recently and insisted that, come 2023, the president must be from the South. How do you see their position?

The southern governors, under the present political dispensation, cannot do anything other than giving the appearance of doing something. There is nothing they can do. They can only give the appearance for the sake of their people thinking that they are doing something. But really there is nothing they can do. As long as you are in the All Progressives Congress or the Peoples Democratic Party, your loyalty must be to Abuja and the Fulani. If the Fulani don’t endorse you, you cannot become a governorship candidate of a state like Ogun or Lagos because the parties are under the control of the Fulani. You cannot even become the governor of the state under the PDP. Both the PDP and APC are under Fulani control. After all in 2019, even we in Afenifere decided to support Atiku because he was talking in favour of restructuring. But we knew then that Atiku himself is a Fulani man. So it was Fulani Atiku versus Fulani Buhari.

the regions. This is what made the country to develop between 1960 and 1966. We were ahead of some Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Singapore. We were ahead of them during this period. Now, you can imagine where those people are now and where we are as a country. They left us several miles behind. They are rubbing shoulders with America, Japan and China, while we are getting poorer every day. And we are becoming more primitive everyday because we have centralised governance.

The various ethnic groups in Nigeria have lost the autonomy that enabled them to develop. All the cocoa farms have dried up now because there is no more incentive to develop cocoa. The palm trees are no longer being cultivated. I don’t think that anybody even cares about the groundnuts in the North. Everybody has abandoned agriculture because all of us are now depending on oil from the South-South. It is the revenue from oil exports that everybody goes to Abuja to share. We abandoned what used to sustain us even before oil came. And that is because of the centralised government we are operating.

If we restructure and we go back to relatively autonomous regions, things will get better. If we don’t go back to the autonomous regions of the past, we can have autonomous states. We can define what we call states. After all, under Yakubu Gowon we had 12 states. So we don’t need to have THEWILLNIGERIA

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a multiplicity of states like the 36 we have now. Of course, the idea of 36 states is wasteful. If we go back to 12 or six states and they operate relatively autonomously without their hands tied, given the chance to exploit their resources, respond to the needs of their people and develop at their own pace, Nigeria will start moving forward again.

But the Fulani, who are benefitting from the current system, are saying no. They are saying they don’t want restructuring. It is clear why they don’t want restructuring. It is because this centralised constitution was created by their past military leaders, who were in power before they gave power to the civilians, starting from the 1979 Constitution, which was made by Murtala Mohammed. Obasanjo was just there, always afraid of being killed today or tomorrow.

Obasanjo was just an observer in that government, although they called it Murtala/Obasanjo government. They started this centralised government and every other ruler upheld the status quo, from Ibrahim Babangida to Abdulsalami Abubakar. These are all northern leaders who believed that before power returned to civilians, they must give us a constitution that would ensure that the North would always be in power and the North would forever be in control.

That is what the 1999 constitution is all about. The 1999 constitution was framed by military leaders from the North in such a way that when the civilians take over governance the North would always be in control.

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The country has been so structured that the Fulani has gathered all the power to themselves. Unless a southerner that has agreed to play their own game, he will not become president. They are already threatening the southern governors that if they stop open grazing, they will not have the presidency. So if they are in a position to say that, it means that they are in control of who gets the presidency, not to talk of which candidates. We have had this kind of experience before. During Sani Abacha’s time and the Yoruba’s struggle was so intense that they had to concede the presidency to Yorubaland. They didn’t allow us to choose our own man to be president. When we, Yoruba people, chose Olu Falae they decided to release Obasanjo from prison because that was the man they wanted. This was because Obasanjo played their game right from the time of Murtala Muhammed. So Obasanjo became president, but he was not there to represent the interests of the Yoruba.

Instead, he was there to represent the interests of the Fulani.

That is what they will do, if today they say the presidency goes to the South. They won’t just pick any southerner; they will choose somebody from the South who they can dictate to and they trust to protect the interests of the North.

That is why an average nationalistic Yoruba man does not care about 2023. What we care about is either we restructure, in which case, we can control our own affairs or we give room for other people to have their own country. Let us have our own country because being in Nigeria does not pay us.

It doesn’t pay the Yoruba. If we agree to restructure today, I am all for one Nigeria.

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POLITICS Anambra, Ekiti, Osun Governorship Elections

*Continued from Page 9

African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Ralph Nwosu, urged INEC to give Nigerians credible elections in the three states and the 2023 general elections.

“We need to advance our democracy. I heard that the APC are saying that they are going to write the result of the Anambra election by all means possible. INEC should resist this. We need to advance our democracy beyond election. INEC should give Nigeria a credible election.

I told INEC: If you give us credible elections and ensure credible and transparent election in Anambra State, ADC as a party will guarantee all Nigerians a super power country within the next 20 years . It will begin immediately and in less than 20 years.

“Nigeria will be well established as a super power economy in the world. If you have that it will privilege all ethnic groups in Nigeria. So if people are thinking small, I will introduce corruption into the system. I am introducing this or that, when we have this parochial view of leadership it will be disadvantaged to everybody . But if you have this panoramic, broad spectrum view, vision, attitude and discipline it privileges everybody”.

While also speaking with THEWILL, Comrade Sola Olawale, who has served as an election monitor in various elections held in Nigeria, described the task before INEC in the coming elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun States as huge.

“The elections are important for INEC, the electorate and the security agencies because it will be a rehearsal for the 2023 general elections. IN EC should therefore use the conduct of the elections to assure Nigerians of its readiness for the 2023 general elections. The commission’s performance in the Edo and Ondo governorship elections is commendable, but there is still room for improvement,” Olawale said.

The National Coordinator of Democracy Vanguard, Comrade Adeola Soetan, told THEWILL that INEC should always walk its talk by being firm on principle and implementation of its public pronouncement concerning the conduct of election.

He said, “If INEC says there won’t be manual accreditation of voters, except by card readers, so be it. No manual here while they use card readers there. It creates suspicion and confusion.

“Logistic problem should be avoided. Any delay in the arrival of INEC personnel and materials leads to tension and rumor. Punctuality is key.

“Collation centres are always unnecessarily tensed due to the late arrival of Local Government Collation Officers.

Regarding the alleged denial of some collation agents of political parties, INEC should insist that the parties must forward their agents on time and such persons should be publicly announced to prevent agents of some parties from fraudulently impersonating agents of other parties”.

Will INEC deliver credible elections in the three off season elections? Nigerians are watching and waiting.

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Gurumaraji

“I will advise INEC as a Pan–Africanist. Nowadays, we in ADC don’t talk of only Nigeria; we talk of Africa. You are in Lagos. Lagos is in Africa and Lagos is supposed to be the economic power of Africa. Kano is supposed to be another major hub in Africa, not in Nigeria. So we in ADC, we are thinking globally. We want our people to start to thinking globally because when we are involved in the project called Nigeria, before you know it, we will start to spit on each other. We start to engage each other and in such a system, there will be a form of disharmony. Then the energy to see the big picture will disappear. So ADC is thinking about Africa and the world. That will help us to grow within ourselves and the large nation we want to see.

FG’s Lacklustre Performance, Cause of Ethnic Agitation – Maharaj Ji

The founder of One Love Family, Sat Guru Maharaj ji, in this interactive session with journalists held in Lagos, speaks on issues as they affect the nation.

AYO ESAN was there. Excerpts:

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INSECURITY e have the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police. Those institutions must be made to work. About 15 years ago, I recommended that the salary starting point for new recruits in the police should be N250, 000 plus free accommodation and the salary starting point for new recruits in the Army should be N350,000 with accommodation. Those protecting the citizens must be well paid.

brothers and sisters in the states that with the situation now, if they have any project that will make the states stronger, they should introduced it. When a state is strong, there will be no need for agitation. Look at Florida, the wealthiest state in the world, for example.

Sunday Igboho and the likes are coming out because the government has not been able to move at the pace the people want it to move. Somebody is saying all the appointments at the federal level are given to the Fulani. In all the northern towns, we have Emirs. They have pushed the original Hausa people aside. The only area they have not been able to penetrate is Bornu because they have a Shehu there and he is very much awake. I believe that is what is just happening.

You can see school children being kidnapped by bandits and their families engaging in discussion with the kidnappers for their release. This is too bad.

So Sunday Igboho, Nnamdi Kanu and many others are just trying to express the feelings of all Nigerians. Many Igbohos and Kanus are going to come up, if the government doesn’t clear what is going on.

President Muhammadu Buhari must wake up to his responsibility and sack all the ministers or retain few ones who are working hard . The three tiers of government must be very effective and the media must will ensure that all the parasites around the President, who are after money, are removed. The mass media has a great role to play and if it fails, Nigeria will disappear.

GOVERNANCE The federal executive must not be dictatorial. The National Assembly must pass laws for the common good of Nigerians and the judiciary must not be sterilised. Yes, where people are not well paid, they may be tempted. In the last few years , we have seen how many judges that have been sacked in so many countries.

CONSTITUENCY FUNDING The issue of constituency Fund should be investigated by the media. Let there be checks on each and every one of our legislators . How much bribe did they receive? Let us start from 2015 to date and make a forensic audit. This is the point we are now. If you want to be a leader, then you must be ready to account for your actions. If you don’t want to do that, then leave the government.

The President must not see himself as the President of the Fulani. He must see himself as the father of all.

AGITATION FOR ODUDUWA REPUBLIC The President must review his appointments and change his attitude and behaviour, otherwise, he is going to be dropped in the dustbin of history. Sunday Igboho’s agitation for Oduduwa Republic is due to the lacklustre performance of the present Federal Government. The government needs to wake up. I have advised our fellow

GAGGING THE MEDIA How could you detain a journalist? How do you want to gag the media and say this is hate speech and it is going to be taken up by a government agency or minister? That is wrong. It is the judiciary that must determine what is against the law or not. What the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, will call hate speech should be determined by the judiciary.

We don’t know how the former Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, left office. What are the charges against him? That should not be hidden. We want the government to be transparent.

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JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

REPORTER’S DIARY When Mother Nature Alters Your Destination N

Passengers in a Lagos-bound flight from Abuja to Lagos last Thursday found out how nature can alter one’s destination, and insultingly so without any apologies.

When the more than 150-plus passengers left their homes, offices or from wherever in the Federal Capital Territory to board Aero Flight 5N-BYQ on Thursday, July 15 to Lagos, none of them ever imagined they would end up in the air more than the fifty or so minutes it would take them to reach their destination. None of them ever imagined they would have to make a detour to another airport in Rivers state before coming back to Murtala Mohammed International Airport hours later for safe landing.

Though they are trained to handle such situations as professionally as they can, airline crew sometimes run or fly into the unexpected. For the passengers and crew on board the flight from Abuja that day, the expectation was that after boarding at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, all would go swimmingly. It did not.

The flight was to take off by 3.05pm. Flying at 32, 000 feet, it would take about 50 minutes to reach Lagos. As if it was a premonition of what was to come, we didn’t take off until well past 4 in the afternoon.

The Boeing 737 was smack down on the tarmac when we boarded. As we taxied for take-off, the pilot announced right there that we had to wait a few minutes because three incoming aircraft from Lagos would soon land.

True, incoming and outgoing flights on the same runway have been known to wing themselves without proper clearance from the Control Tower. Engine purring, we endured another grueling wait inside the aircraft. By the time the 150-plus capacity jet lifted off for the journey to Lagos, we were all relieved.

Not long after, the voice from the cockpit came again. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have clearance to land in Port Harcourt Airport…At 32, 000 feet we will make the airport at Six-ten. We do apologize for the inconvenience to our passengers.

Thank you.”

It was not necessary. The passengers understood. The fault was not man’s or machine’s. The aircraft itself was in excellent condition, manned by a professional crew. Thus began another unscheduled, unpaid for trip from one littoral capital to another.

Soon after the pilot announced the diversion to Port Harcourt, some of the travellers visited the loo. Impromptu conversations began among the otherwise soporific passengers. I was having the time of my life, a free ride to another state.

In the cabin

BY MICHAEL JIMOH ature is capricious. It can, without seeking man’s opinion, do whatever it likes with us mere mortals.

It could be for good or ill.

“This is a pleasure ride,” I told the guy sitting to my left. He laughed and threw his head back, an expression his masked face couldn’t quite conceal.

As we taxied to a stop at Port Harcourt International Airport, I called my editor, Olaolu Olusina of THEWILL to inform him of the development. I was due in the newspaper’s GRA, Ikeja office that day. “Just take your time,” he reassured me.

Having spent more time in the air because of the diversion to PH, the Boeing had to refuel. No sooner had we landed in the Rivers State capital than a refueling truck drew close and the nozzle went straight into the aircraft. At about the same time, the weary passengers formed a long queue in the aisle, hoofing it to the convenience. Mother Nature was, indeed, at work.

“Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts…” the pilot announced once again, “for we are about to land.”

While the plane was being tanked up, the passengers were also downloading right in the convenience – men and women, mostly Nigerians. There was a heavily tanned Asian, an Indian, a sturdy Caucasian with a shiny pate reminiscent of the skinheads (Yobs) who terrorized London streets back in the seventies and eighties, and a tall, bespectacled Scandinavian type, all masked up to relieve themselves. It occurred to me that if lavatories could talk, the two at the rear of the aircraft would have griped about seeing so many visitors in such a short time.

Any travel-weary passenger will be delighted for that last piece from the pilot and his crew. We were. But it was short-lived. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen,” the pilot announced once again. “We are sorry we are unable to land because of Mother Nature.”

Two beautiful and leggy hostesses – always beautiful and comely – helpfully controlled the throng, squirting hand sanitizers into our palms as we exited the loo.

Remarkably, not one of the passengers complained about the diversion and forced landing.

Mother Nature, it turns out, was the heavy downpour in Lagos at the airport at that very time. Visibility was down to zero. Risking it could result in a crash. Though the pilot didn’t spell it out, all the passengers knew the consequences of crash-landing a jet like a Boeing 737 with over 150 travellers aboard in an inclement weather.

Done with refueling and answering nature’s call, we took off at exactly 7.15 back to our original destination and just hoping, hoping that Mother Nature will spare us the ordeal we just went through.

The sweetest part of flights, as any frequent flyer would tell you, is when the aircraft begins its descent, banking to the left and right and the pilot’s announcement that his bird will be landing any time soon.

One more time, the pilot nosed his aircraft to the skies and we were soon up in space though we didn’t know where we were headed this time. There was studio-quiet silence in the cabin. It is not hard to imagine what would have been going on in our minds.

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The journey back to Lagos from PH, the pilot assured us, will take about 50 minutes flying at 32, 000 feet. Though it was getting dark, most of the travellers had their faces glued to the windows. Some of us craned our necks to see what the weather was like outside. Was it raining? But the pilot reassured us, once again, that the control tower in Lagos had cleared his bird for landing.

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We finally landed at the international wing of Murtala Mohammed Airport. Time was 8.10. As if on cue, some of the passengers busted into a spontaneous applause as if a miracle had just been performed. It was a great relief from the internal turmoil some of them went through from the moment we couldn’t touch down in Lagos, proof that some of them had their hearts suspended just like the aircraft hovering in the air.

And still, it was not over yet. No sooner had we touched down at the international wing than the pilot announced, once again, that there was no parking space there. What? Is this a jinxed flight?

From the delay at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja to the failed landing in Lagos to the diversion to PH, back to Lagos and now this. The pilot told us for the last time that we had to taxi to Aero’s tarmac. It took some 15 more minutes. But then we were already home, and relieved for the first time since we departed Abuja four hours earlier.

More than anything was the uncommon understanding between crew and passengers all through the ordeal.

Though a passenger – he identified himself as a pastor with Zion Ministry - right in front of me (I was in the second to last row on the left from the entrance) prayed when it seemed there was going to be some sort of calamity. As is common with some Pentecostal devotees during prayer time, he started nodding his head vigorously, then swinging it from side to side correspondingly, muttering words.

Aside that, no other person, as far as I could see, showed any sign of fear that we would be the worse for it in the end.

The crew of 5N-BYQ demonstrated a stoic resolve to the end. By the time we exited, the pilot himself mounted a guard of honour of one on the ramp, along with a hostess who dispensed snacks, thanked us and wished us well as we departed to our various destinations.

Yes, the journey started with a delay in Abuja, more delay on the tarmac, failed landing in Lagos, diversion to and refueling in PH, then lift off for return to Lagos and all the febrile apprehension of what might have been. As they say, all’s well that ends well.

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EDITORIAL

Need for Local Government Autonomy T

he quest for financial autonomy by the 774 Local Government Councils across Nigeria is one issue that has dominated discussions in recent times. These local councils, being the closest to the grassroots, are expected to perform certain roles that will ameliorate the difficulties daily encountered by the people at the local level.

To the people at the grassroots, the state capitals and the governors seem far away, leaving them to depend solely on the local government councils for most of their daily needs.

In the past, the provision of medical assistance for issues, such as child delivery at maternity centres and treatment for minor injuries, to sickness or the provision of first aid, were performed by the local councils.

However, the local councils have become a shadow of themselves. They can no longer perform their duties to the people and their finances have been reduced through manipulation by state governors through the State/ Local Government Joint Accounts.

Observers see the governors making use of resources belonging to the local councils to run their various states. This unholy financial wedlock between the states and the councils, which has made the latter unable to perform its statutory role of serving the grassroots, has received condemnation from many Nigerians.

President Muhammadu Buhari also condemned the corrupt tendencies. On June 10, 2021, while speaking to Arise TV, the President said that if the federal, state and local systems were being followed properly, there would be no problem. He went on to allege that the problem in the system stemmed from the fact that the chairmen of the local government councils were being compromised.

“You, as a local government chairman, are supposed to receive N300 million. A document is given to you to sign that you have received N300 million, but you are given only N100 million,” he said.

In 2019, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) stirred the hornet’s nest when it issued guidelines that barred governors from interfering with statutory allocation accruing to local government councils from the Federation Account.

The guidelines titled, ‘NFIU enforcement and guidelines to reduce crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawal from Local Government funds throughout Nigeria’, took effect on June 1, 2019.

The NFIU directive was aimed at enthroning financial transparency at the local council level and freeing funds for development at the grassroots. NFIU therefore imposed a daily cash transaction limit of N500,000 on all the 774 local government councils in the country. It also barred commercial banks, financial institutions, public officers and other stakeholders from tampering with local council statutory allocations.

The governors frowned at these guidelines, which they see as an affront on the state’s control of the local government councils. They vehemently kicked against it. Acting under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, the governors had at the height of the controversy, approached President Buhari to complain that the NFIU was acting beyond its mandate with its new directive.

The Forum in a letter dated May 15, 2019, argued that the NFIU Act of 2018 did not give the body the powers that it tried to exercise in the guidelines, saying it was acting in excess of its powers and in doing so, showed

complete disregard for the constitution.

While the governors opposed the NFIU’s directive and kicked against it vehemently, many Nigerians were particularly happy and believe that the intervention by the NFIU will make the third tier of government and the closest to the people at the grassroots have enough funds to carry out its desired functions and programmes.

While we are not against the supervision of the spending at the local government level by the various state assemblies, we are of the opinion that the tendency to tamper with local government funds, on the part of state governors, is not in the best interest of the citizens, who are deprived of the services expectedly performed by the councils.

We agree with the President that local government chairmen are being compromised as they are made to sign money they didn’t receive during the monthly state /local governments Joint Account Committee meetings.

We have also realised that this is the reason why the ruling party in the states often manipulates local government council elections through the various state electoral commissions in order to have easy access to their funds. This is as many of the governors have refused to conduct elections at local councils and instituted illegal caretaker committees whose members were usually handpicked.

We appeal to the state governors to desist from this act of manipulating the local government funds and allow the chairmen of local councils enough funds to take care of their citizens.

The air of freedom, we believe, will result in the development of the grassroots, if granted. This is our position.

AUSTYN OGANNAH

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Editor – Olaolu Olusina Deputy Editor – Amos Esele Politics Editor – Ayo Esan Business Editor – Sam Diala News Editor (Online) – Felix Oboagwina Copy Editor – Chux Ohai 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 [Letters/Opinions: opinion.letters@thewillnigeria.com] PAGE 14

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JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

OPINION Africa and The Challenge of Development

JEROME-MARIO UTOMI

I

t is no longer news that the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph Ari, officially presented the ITF Mobile Android GSM smart phone to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

During the presentation, the DG said the ITF mobile phone, which he described as comparable in quality to any other brand of android phone in the world, was assembled by the ITF Model Skills Training Centre (MSTC) in Abuja, as part of the implementation of the vision of the incumbent management of the Fund, with particular emphasis on research and development.

According to Ari, the phone was produced with 100 percent locally sourced material. It is proof that given the enabling environment and opportunities, Nigerians will unleash their creative potentials.

Definitely a cheerful development, but such joy easily gets abbreviated when one remembers that the shadows of similar attempts in the past, which ended in shame, still linger.

There also exists a new awareness that this challenge is by no means unique to Nigeria as a country but cuts across Africa.

Ringing apprehension is the fact that the continent is the second most-populated in the world (1.2 billion people), yet, sadly represents only 1.4 percent of the global manufacturing value added in the first quarter of 2020. This is further exacerbated by the fact that out of over 51 countries in Africa, only South Africa qualified as a member of BRICS, an acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

This worrying concern about how off track Africa has gone in all the facets of technological development and advancement came flooding recently during a conversation with C.N Oragwu, an erstwhile university lecturer, at his Lagos residence.

Apart from the facts that the conversation stems from the title and partially formed the content of this piece, he (the host) during the conversation critically highlighted how his new book entitled, ‘Technology and Wealth of Nations’, which is set for presentation to the public, chronicled the slanted and unsustainable efforts that different African governments made in the past to bring their nations out of the technological woods, as well as outlined the way forward.

There is also another distinction to make. Similar to the construction of any business strategy, where it is acknowledged that three main players must be taken into account, the corporation itself, the customers and the competition, as each of the ‘strategic 3C’s which form the strategic triangle, is a living entity with its own interests and objectives. But it must be taken care of by any organisation desirous of survival. Likewise, the book is evident with some strategic antidotes that signals solutions to Africa’s hydra-headed and multi faceted technological challenge. A fact

DANIEL IGHAKPE

A

Bible Chapter discussing about “the sign of Christ’s presence” - Chapter 24 of the Bible Book of Matthew, Verse 7 in particular, lists food shortages or famine, among the “pangs of distress” that will afflict mankind in “the time of the end.”

A recent newspaper report shows that 41 million persons are at risk of famine worldwide. Based on this report, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that 41 million people in 43 countries were “teetering on the very edge of famine.”

Conflicts, climate change, economic shocks, and soaring food prices have been identified as the main drivers of hunger.

Currency depreciation in many countries has also been listed as a factor to the problem.

The World Food Programme, an agency of the United Nations, says that 584,000 people were experiencing famine-like conditions in Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen.

Nigeria and Burkina Faso are also mentioned to be of particular concern.

What can help with this threat of famine? David Beasley, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, emphasised the urgent need for financial support.

He said that the price tag to reach those 41 million people, who are literally knocking on famine’s door, is about $6 billion. “We THEWILLNIGERIA

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that more than anything else qualifies it as a must read for policy makers in Nigeria and Africa as a continent.

The above is not the only explanation as he went ahead to make further distinction. Separate from thoughtfully and masterfully examining the inspiring relationship between technological development and economic progress of nations, the book deftly argues with facts that the point of sail of all economies is the introduction of the manufacturing sector or the industrial economy. He establishes that Africa’s prolonged economic plight is centered on the two fundamental challenges of a manufacturing economy. It traces Africa’s economic backwardness to its roots – a key problem that has kept our policy makers handicapped and our economies crippled. With documented facts on the institutionalised crippling policies and organised sequences of stagnating events of the colonial masters, the author asks; ‘Why is it that Europe, which hosted the industrial revolutions in the 17th and 18th centuries, did not permit technological education in Africa in about 50 years of colonisation and preferred to send aids afterwards?’

Of course, the above question in my view may not be lacking in merit, considering the fact that Africa is littered with projects built with foreign aids from Europe, the United States of America and lately, China.

For a better understanding of this piece, let’s take a look at the Chinese development aid to Africa.

Going by reports, Chinese development aid to Africa totalled 47 percent of its total foreign assistance in 2009 alone. Between 2000 and 2012 it funded 1,666 official assistance projects in 51 African countries. Also, the Brookings Institution Aid Data study found that at least 70 percent of China’s overseas aid was sent to Africa between 2000 and 2014.

Some of these projects include but are not limited to the African Union building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which cost $200 million and was handed over in 2012. Also, China recently announced that it was willing to give the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a $31.6 million grant to build a new headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. China’s scarves have found their largest African market in Egypt, which imported supplies worth $45 million in 2014. The nations also have a healthy exchange of carpets, with multi-million dollar supplies traveling in both directions.

Dozens of African hospitals have been built with Chinese funds in recent years. China’s largest commitments in Africa are to infrastructure projects, such as Nigeria’s $8.3 billion Lagos-Kano railway line, largely funded through Chinese loans.

Whatever the true situation may be, I believed and still believe that there exists something troubling technologically that characterises Africa more as a dark continent. More so,

looking at the current happenings and commentaries within the continent, it is obvious that fair-minded and well-foresighted Africans are in support of the position as canvassed by the book. In fact, many have at different times and places argued that although Africans may have overtly shown remarkable improvement in their culture and civilisation, African countries still look up to China for aid and this covertly tells the story of a continent lacking the capacity for taking responsibility for its actions and initiatives or values.

On the way out of the continent’s technological debacle and the current disparity in wealth among nations (industrial and industrial economies), let us again cast a glance on what the book is saying.

It(the book) argues that the current wealth disparity among nations (industrial and industrial economies) represented by highly industrialised Europe, North America and Japan on one hand and most developing (non-industrial economies) countries, in particular, those in sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, is primarily the difference in the technical capability and capacity to produce and manufacture modern technologies and to use the technologies to produce globally competitive industrial goods, as well as to sustain the commanding tasks of science and technology in the economy The disparity it added, has since considerably widened and will continue to do so as long as the developing countries depend almost totally on industrial nations for the technologies and industrial inputs they need to sustain their economies. Consequently, the only way to bridge the wealth gap is for the developing countries of the world to build their domestic endogenous capabilities and capacities to produce modern technologies and competitive industrial goods in their own economies. He concluded.

Catalysing the process will again necessitate African leaders borrowing from Asian tigers in order to raise Africa’s industrial soul. They need to analyse and understand the essential ingredients of foresight in leadership and draw a lesson on how decision making processes involve judgment about uncertain elements, and differs from the pure mathematical probability process.

Find out why Asian countries, after grappling with the problems of unemployment in the region, came to the conclusion that the only way to survive was to industrialise.

Finally, Sir Joseph Ari, may be right in his claim that, in terms of quality and performance, our phone is comparable or even superior to most Android phones currently in our markets.

However, it is important to underline that for us to succeed, there are lessons that policy makers in Nigeria and Africa must draw from the above explanation.

Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy) of the Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA) in Lagos

The Threat of Famine need funding and we need it now,” he said.

Apart from funding, there is also a need to revive and transform our agricultural and food systems to, among other things, deliver improved nutrition. All stakeholders need to redouble their efforts in order to boost food sufficiency and improve nutrition.

It is not just about feeding people, it is also about providing the necessary nutrients for a healthy life.

Also, Nigeria is currently grappling with security challenges, especially in the North-East and Middle-Belt regions. This has also affected agriculture/farming in such areas, as many people are hindered from planting or harvesting crops.

In some cases, terrorists insist on payments before farmers are allowed to have access to farmlands during the planting season.

They return during the harvest season and extort farmers before access to the farmlands is granted. This has contributed to scarcity of food and a surge in the prices of certain food items.

This situation is made even worse by a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in which northern states, such as Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, have recorded new cases.

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Also, what began as localised clashes between farmers and herdsmen over access to land, has degenerated into a major conflict and loss of lives across northern Nigeria. If such security challenges are properly addressed, it can reduce the high risk of famine.

Climate change is another factor that contributes to famine.

Climate change refers to the increase in temperatures of the atmosphere over a long period of time. How does climate change affect food supply? Floods and drought brought on by climate change make it harder to produce food.

Erratic rainfall patterns can also severely disrupt local food production. As a result, the price of food increases and access becomes more limited, thereby putting many at higher risk of hunger.

The primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, which emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere - primarily carbon dioxide. Unless climate change is reduced by substantial reductions of greenhouse gases, it will greatly increase hunger and famine, especially in the poorest parts of the world.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

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Tackling Passengers’ Bill of Rights Over Flight Delays, Cancellations PAGE 33

Crisis Looms in NIMET Over Workers’ Welfare Package PAGE 16

Banking: Surviving in Hard Times PAGE 34

Crisis Looms in NIMET Over Workers’ Welfare Package Professionals (ANAP) confirmed to THEWILL that the union was already informed, saying that plans were underway to meet with the management of NiMET on the issue in the coming weeks.

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

A

lleged removal of allowances meant for workers at the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) by the management is causing some ripples in the aviation agency.

Speaking on the issue, the General Manager, Public Affairs, NiMET, Muntari Ibrahim, debunked the claims of some of the workers.

THEWILL gathered that an exclusive allowance allotted to the workers was removed from their packages in May 2021. Most of the workers are believed to be unhappy with the management, a situation that has triggered tension within the agency.

Ibrahim stated that some of the beneficiaries of the allowance had grown to Level Grade 14 and are no longer entitled to it. According to him, the management took the decisive step to stop the allowance after conducting an investigation, following a series of complaints from the Accounts Department, which insisted that some of the beneficiaries were not entitled to such benefits.

Rebutting the workers’ claim, the NiMET management through Mr Muntari Ibrahim, General Manager, Public Affairs, informed that the allowance was not removed from the system. According to Muntari, some of the staff from Level 14 upwards, who were not supposed to enjoy such allowance, had wrongly been benefiting from it over the years.

A source, who spoke to THEWILL on condition of anonymity, informed that the management must have based its decision to stop the allowance on “an outdated civil service reform,” but said this was not in conformity with the Condition of Service (CoS) of the agency.

The workers claimed that the removal of the allowance was an attempt to relegate them to the background, stressing that was the only allowance that separated them from the support staff.

The source said, “All meteorologists believe this is a travesty and illegal by the management of NiMet to reduce meteorologists to the background, despite the hardworking conditions of meteorologists to make Nimet viable.”

Besides, the workers also accused the immediate past management of NiMET of accelerating the promotion of some selected staff, purporting that it had a tribal colouration and centred on the support staff. Rather, the meteorologists are clamouring for adequate promotion of all personnel, which they said would make them at par with their colleagues in other agencies in the industry.

It was learnt that various union bodies in the Nigerian

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Onyema

THEWILL investigation showed that for the past 18 years the said benefits, which had been among the welfare packages for meteorologists, were unilaterally removed in May without recourse to extant rules and negotiations with the workers.

Ibrahim explained further that the allowance was only meant for workers on shift period, maintaining that those on Level 14 and above or Assistant General Manager (AGM) could not lay claim to it.

“

It was learnt that various union bodies in the Nigerian aviation industry were already informed of the recent happenings in the agency and may meet with the management in the next few days to discuss the issue

aviation industry were already informed of the recent happenings in the agency and may meet with the management in the next few days to discuss the issue. A top union leader in the Association of Nigerian Aviation

He said, “What transpired is that there was a series of complaints from the Accounts Department that some of the meteorologists that are earning the allowances have reached AGM position, which is Level 14. Members of staff from Level 14 upwards are not entitled to such allowance, but unfortunately, they have been benefiting from it over the years.

“So, when the management investigated, some of the names were expunged from the system. This decision didn’t affect everyone, but those on Level 14 upwards. It is only those who are on shift that are supposed to enjoy such benefits. If you are not on shift, how can you get what you are not entitled to? If there is anyone that has any complaint, such a person should come forward,” he added.

NIMET is a government agency charged with the responsibility to advise the Federal Government on all aspects of meteorology; project, prepare and interpret government policy in the field of meteorology and to issue weather (and climate) forecasts for the safe operations of aircrafts, ocean-going vessels and oil rigs.

The Act that established the agency also makes it the responsibility of the agency to observe, collate, collect, process and disseminate all meteorological data and information within and outside; co-ordinate research activities, among the staff and publish scientific papers in the various branches of meteorology in support of sustainable socio-economic activities in Nigeria.

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AVIATION given AOCs based on the fact that they will comply with the regulations. During our surveillance, if we find out that they don’t comply appropriately, we will sanction.

“But, on the issue of force majeure, you can’t sanction them. It is an act of nature. Even the law recognises this.”

The NCAR 2015 Section 19.6.1.1, as amended, indicates that for domestic flights, when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it will provide the passengers with a reason(s) for the delay within 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time.

It states that after two hours, refreshments as specified in section 19.10.1 (i) and telephone calls, SMS and e-mails as specified in section 19.10.2; while beyond three hours, reimbursement as specified in Section 19.9.1(i) ; and (iii) at a time beyond 10pm till 4am, or at a time when the airport was closed at the point of departure or final destination, the assistance specified in sections 19.10.1 (iii) and 19.10.1(iv) (hotel accommodation and transport).

For international flights, the regulation says that when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it would provide to the passengers between two and four hours, compensation as specified in sections 19.8.1 (i) and telephone calls, SMS, e-mails as specified in 19.10.2.

Tackling Passengers’ Bill of Rights Over Flight Delays, Cancellations

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

T

raveling by air or using air transport services confers certain rights on passengers. But it also comes with some responsibilities. Among the major ones are the right to the full value for your money; the right to compensation for flight cancellation, delays, damaged/loss baggage and denied boarding for reasons other than technical, weather conditions, air traffic control restrictions, security risks and industrial disputes that affect the operation of the flight; the right to book and confirm tickets with an airline of your choice.

Others are the right to the provision of conducive airport environment before, during and after flights; the right to seek redress for all irregularities during your flight and the right to timely feedback, in respect of matters/complaints lodged with service providers.

The airline passengers also have the right to be fully informed about flight status and the right to be treated with respect and dignity, irrespective of race or physical condition.

Sadly some air passengers in Nigeria do not know that they are accorded these rights and they are therefore, frustrated whenever there are flight disruptions.

For instance, Mr John Ibe bought a two-way flight ticket from Lagos to Kano to travel 30th May, 2021. In the evening of his departure, he was informed that the flight has been cancelled.

Going back to the airport in the morning of the day of his travel to enquire if the flight has been rescheduled, Ibe was shocked that no aircraft was heading to that route. Consequently, he missed the important meeting in Kano.

Nothing was done about his case and he was refunded the money he paid for air ticket one month later, after he had wasted his time and equally missed his engagement.

Ibe is not alone in such situations. Many Nigerians have lost their jobs, valuables and appointments through such failure on the part of some airlines to meet up their obligations.

To address such a situation, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said that it will commence public sensitisation soon to further enlighten air travelers, in the case of flight delays or cancellations.

The agency also said that the law on 100 per cent refund on THEWILLNIGERIA

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air tickets, in case of three-hour delays, is not novel to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulation (NCAR), stressing that it was gazetted by the Federal Government and has been in existence since 2015.

Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of NCAA, in an interview with aviation journalists in Lagos over the weekend, said the agency would in the coming weeks commence an information drive to passengers, maintaining that this would enable them to respond appropriately in case their rights are trampled upon by airlines.

According to him, before the 2015 amendment to the extant regulations, airlines were supposed to pay 100 per cent compensation to passengers after two hours of delay, but the regulatory agency amended it to three hours in order to accommodate the complaints of the indigenous airlines and in a bid to ensure fair play for all.

Nuhu insisted that whatever the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, the said on compensation, recently was not new, stressing that the minister was not reinventing the wheel.

He, however, clarified that in case of a natural phenomenon, the airlines would not be sanctioned by the agency, describing it as a force majeure.

He stated that airlines were given Air Operators’ Certificates (AOCs) based on the fact that they would comply with civil aviation regulations, maintaining that once any of the carriers is found wanting, the agency would not hesitate to sanction such an airline accordingly.

But, Nuhu regretted that most passengers failed to report to the regulatory agency whenever their rights were trampled upon, pointing out that soon NCAA would commence a campaign to educate the travelling public on their rights and the available report channels.

He said, “The minister was just referring to NCAA in his statement. Before the amendment to the regulation, airlines were supposed to pay full compensation to air travellers the moment their flight is delayed for two hours, but during the review, the operators complained that the two hours was too short. Then, it was extended to three hours.

“We will implement the new law to the letter, but if the consumers don’t complain, how can we know? We need to educate the passengers about their rights. All airlines were

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Besides, it says for a flight that is delayed for more than four hours, meal, as specified in 19.10.1 (ii) and telephone calls, SMS, e-mails as specified in 19.10.2; and (iii) when the reasonably expected time of departure is, at least six hours, after the time of departure previously announced, the hotel accommodation assistance as specified in sections 19.10.1 (iii) and transport assistance as specified in 19.10.1(iv).

On compensation, the regulation said passengers would receive at least 25 per cent of the fares or passenger ticket price for all flights within Nigeria and 30 per cent of the passenger ticket price for all international flights.

Compensation For Domestic Airline Flight delay Generally, the right of a passenger to compensation for a flight delay will depend on the length of the delay and the reason for the delay/cancellation.

Under the Nigerian law, by virtue of Part 19 of the NCAA Consumer Protection Regulations, passengers on Domestic flights are guaranteed certain levels of compensation if they are denied boarding or their flight is delayed, or their flight is cancelled.

You can claim from 25 per cent of the ticket price as compensation, based on the length of your flight delay and the circumstances around the delay.

However, there are certain rules that guide the process.

First, it must be for a flight departing and landing within the domestic territory of Nigeria. Again, passenger must have a confirmed reservation on the flight that is delayed. In addition, the passenger must have presented himself for check in at the stipulated time, and if no time stipulated, then not later than 1 hour prior to flight departure time.

Airlines Obligations Despite the increase in number of delays and flight cancellations in recent times, domestic airline operators in the country had justified the delay and cancellations of domestic flights.

The operators, led by the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, had before the Senate Committee on Aviation chaired by Senator Smart Adeyemi, listed the reason for flight disruptions on non-availability and rising cost of aviation fuel and inadequate parking spaces at airports.

Other reasons cited by the operators were non-availability of forex for spare parts and maintenance, sudden change of weather, delay due to VIP movement, inefficient passenger access and facilitation, delayed clearance of spare parts from Customs and inadequate screening and exit points at departure.

THEWILL gathered that, in most cases, airlines do not refund passengers whenever there is flight cancellation due to bad weather or technical glitches.

It was also gathered that two forms of refund exist: refund can be voluntary, where the customer is refunded 75 per cent of the fare and this occurs when they no longer wish to fly on the service paid for. On the other hand, refunds could come be involuntary when it was the airline that cancelled the flight and the passenger is refunded the full fare, which takes less than one month, depending on the airline.

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BANKING

Surviving in Hard Times

Banks devise means to remain profitable despite the impact of COVID-19, writes BEN IGBOKWE

W

hen a new strain of the Coronavirus became noticeable in Wuhan, a city in mainland China, in October, 2019, the world did not pay much attention until March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a global pandemic, giving it the name COVID-19.

Some banks were faced with the need to sack some staff despite assurances by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that no bank worker would lose his or her job due to COVID-19.

Some closed down some of their branches, while others alternated branch operations. In order to stay afloat during the troubled times, banks had to re-strategise and redesign their services, as well as operating models and value propositions in order to remain competitive and profitable.

Furthermore, the quest to survive motivated and encouraged Nigerian banks to massively embrace and invest in digital technology and infrastructure in order to sustain retail banking services and offerings to their customers, despite the adverse effects of the pandemic. This saw a sharp increase in the deployment of e-payment and digital payment channels such as point of sale (POS), automated teller machine (ATM), internet banking, etc across the country to complement limited physical banking activities.

As part of strategies to remain profitable, some banks embarked on establishment of branches in other African countries and beyond. This helped in shoring up their profits during the financial year. Despite the challenging operational environment occasioned by the pandemic, many banks posted impressive results at the end of the financial year ended December 2020, contrary to the predictions of some financial pundits and industry observers.

In an analysis by Nairametrics on the performance of 12 Nigerian banks, indications at the end of 2020 financial year showed that their combined total assets improved by 27 per cent, from N38.7 trillion in 2019 to N49.4 trillion in 2020.

They are Access Bank Plc, FCMB Plc, FBNH Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, GTB Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc. Others are StanbicIBTC Plc, UBA Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. Also, in 2020, the combined asset of the 12 banks increased by 17.9 percent. It was also observed that all the affected banks had significant increases in their net assets in 2020, as total customer deposits increased by 32.1per cent. They all recorded customer deposits growth higher than 20 per cent during the same period, with exception of Jaiz Bank and Sterling Bank, which grew by 7.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

The banks under review delivered improved profit after tax, with Zenith Bank declaring N230.6 billion; Guaranty Trust Bank, N201.4 billion; UBA, N113.7 billion; Access bank, N106 billion and Stanbic IBTC, N83.2 billion. The exceptions were Fidelity and Wema Banks. There was also improvement

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This helped them to remain in operation and make profit, even as physical services and activities at both the branch and corporate headquarter levels remain skeletal and unattractive to the majority of bank customers.

For instance, banks in Nigeria successfully recorded $428 billion through e-transactions, which is 40 per cent way above the 2019 result, according to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc data. During the same period, Inter-bank transactions were put at 364 million valued at N20 trillion ($52 billion) while POS transactions reached 77million worth N574 billion ($1.5 billion).

“Non-interest income accounts for approximately 42 per cent of the industry’s net earnings, and is largely driven by electronic banking activities, account maintenance fees, credit related fees and securities trading income”, Augusto observed in its post-pandemic report.

Since then, the world has taken a hit from the pandemic in every aspect of human endeavor, including health, economy and social life. The financial sector was not spared in the rage unleashed on the world as financial institutions found themselves in a situation in which they had to struggle for survival, just like other sectors.

“With the lockdown resulting in skeletal operations, banks have leveraged their electronic banking platforms to boost income as more banking transactions are only consummated through digital channels during the lockdown period.

However, minimal trade activities will moderate credit related fees”.

Wigwe

The situation in Nigeria was made worse by the fact that the country was just emerging from the second recession within four years. For financial institutions and regulatory authorities, the pandemic presented challenges that threatened the systemic stability and traditional banking model which favoured customers’ physical presence and contact in a branch-oriented retail banking system. Consequently, banks were forced to reduce banking activities and operations that promote physical contacts between staff and customers, such as transactions in banking halls. Other measures included reduction of branch activities, rescheduling of normal working hours and days in a bid to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus.

penetration across the country, banks and other payment tech companies invested massively in digital infrastructure.

“

As part of strategies to remain profitable, some banks embarked on establishment of branches in other African countries and beyond. This helped in shoring up their profits during the financial year. Despite the challenging operational environment occasioned by the pandemic, many banks posted impressive results at the end of the financial year ended December 2020, contrary to the predictions of some financial pundits and industry observers

in their return on investments, with GTB leading the pack with N26.8 per cent; Stanbic IBTC Holdings, 24.4 per cent; Zenith Bank, N22.4 per cent; Jaiz Bank N17.4 per cent and UBA, 17.21 per cent.

“The strategic actions that the bank has taken over the past 12 months is evidence of a strong focus on retail banking and financial inclusion, an African expansion strategy and a drive for scale for sustainable value creation”, said Herbert Wigwe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc. “In 2020, Access Bank proudly opened its doors for business in Kenya and Mozambique, further increasing our footprints across the African continent. Access Bank Zambia also concluded the acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited in January 2021 and the Group recently announced the approval by relevant regulatory authorities for the acquisition of Grobank Limited, creating an inroad into the South African market in realization of the Group’s strategic ambitions,” Wigwe added.

The banks effectively leveraged the information and digital technologies which further boosted and encouraged growth in electronic payment transactions in the country and elsewhere. With increased public awareness and embrace of the e-payment system by a large segment of the banking public, coupled with improved internet and mobile network

Marcel Okeke, former chief economist of Zenith Bank and public analyst, commended the courage and performance of banks that have declared their financial results for the year 2020. He said digital technology and investment in e-payment infrastructure contributed significantly to the strong performance witnessed by banks during the period.

“During the pandemic people were sending money and making all kinds of transactions with or with less encumbrances”, he said. “Whether bank staff went to work or not, the system was still working.”

Okeke said the cost reduction measures embarked upon by banks to cushion the negative impact on the fortunes of financial institutions such as grounding of most of the official vehicles including staff buses and pool cars, reduction of branch activities including at head offices, dropping of some staff and others impacted positively on the performance of the banks.

Dr. Alaba Olusemore, a banker and financial analyst, said it was expected that bank profits would reduce as a result of COVID-19, which would spike bad loans in the financial system, but that did not happen due to resilience by banks.

“Ordinarily, we expect bank profits to reduce when there is general lull in the economy”, he said, adding “I expect many loans to have gone bad, requiring write-off or postponement of interest collections”. He further said that Nigeria’s banking sector has always been non-cyclical, implying that they are usually immune from the adverse changes in the economy.

“Insurance business is also doing well; so also is the telecom sector. So, cost reduction is a major contributor to their profit in 2020. Banks have rationalized branch operations. Some branches have been closed and operations staff reduced to the barest minimum. Non-professional staff are doing some sensitive operations jobs in order to reduce cost”.

It is instructive that the various deliberate and coordinated intervention measures put together by the CBN and other relevant government agencies to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic were critical to the stability of the economy and the financial sector in particular, consequently contributing positively to banks’ ability to deliver good performance in 2020.

The CBN and other regulatory authorities had articulated and put in place special intervention funds, credit support facilities, regulatory forbearance, tax reliefs, among others, aimed at supporting and boosting businesses and household incomes and, by implication, the entire economy.

“Banks are always resourceful and I believe they are likely to continue to declare huge profits in the periods ahead, ‘’ said Olusemore. “Banks are adaptive and innovative. They will continue their financial engineering that will produce optimal financial results. Banks that have foreign subsidiaries will also continue to do well because they are able to diversify their investment portfolios.”

•Igbokwe is a banker and investment analyst THEWILLNIGERIA

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CHIOMA UDE: FACE OF AFRIFF THEWILLNIGERIA

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Movies of Global Standards Require Adequate Funding – Chioma Ude

Chioma Ude is the first female organiser of a film festival in Nigeria. A pace-setter of sorts, she is also the driver behind the wheels of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).

She speaks with IVORY UKONU on her passion for film, her aspirations and how she plans to make a difference in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Enjoy:

Y

ou once said that you have absolutely no interest in film making. But you are already making inroads into that aspect of entertainment. What changed?

A change in direction. Like the Igbos will say, you don’t stay in one spot to watch a masquerade. You need to go round.

By the time you move round, you will see your proclivities.

In the course of organising film festivals, I got really exposed. I believe in organic growth and not just dabbling into something because everyone is doing it. Sometime in the past, it dawned on me that I could do it. I truly believe in what I set my sights on. Besides, people trust me to deliver.

I mean, if you give me N100m to do a film festival, I will spend N110m. I like to do things well. If I have to add my own money (which I have done in most cases) to get things done properly, I will. These international people see these things and they know it isn’t a joke. Here in Nigeria, people just feel entitled.

A few years ago, during one of the past editions of AFRIFF, I got the Japanese Government involved and they gave me a budget for what they wanted to do. The day they arrived, the ambassador himself was shocked. I spent twice what they gave me to ensure that I achieved the look and feel of what I wanted. Thereafter, they flew me to Japan and treated me in such a manner that you can’t even begin to imagine. So sometimes, we do things because we really love to do them and because we have a knack for doing things right. As to my inroads into actual movie making, in 2019, we went live with Envivo TV, a subsidiary of Envivo communications, a technology-based company with our own cloud domiciled in Main One, a leading provider of innovative telecom services and network solutions for businesses in West Africa. On the cloud, we have two apps, one for education and the other for entertainment. For entertainment, we started Envivo TV, which is an Internet-based TV where you can watch miniseries and contents created for entertainment, etc. What we did with Envivo is to see how people consume data and content so that when we are ready for the big league, which involves making proper movies, we will know exactly how to do it.

We have done this for a year and we spent a lot of money on it. With all I have been doing in the film industry, I realised that I am very passionate about storytelling, not in scripting but in putting the entire story together. So I give directors my story idea and they just broaden it. Right now, I am doing a course in production. And if I’m going to do something, I might as well go big. In that regard, I have been talking with different platforms and I have a deal with some of them to make movies. I am working hard on procuring a studio outside Nigeria and when that is done, filming will start.

Why do you want your movies to be shot outside the country?

For so many reasons. Here there is so much that keeps you down beyond electricity, equity, politics, etc. There is always something that makes it more difficult for you to achieve what you want to achieve. So I will be doing movies with Nigerians but not necessarily here. And that is the agreement I have with these foreign studios. Until

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and Leisure Resort and the Cross River Government. This meant going into a new locale, which always presents its own unique challenges. I say this because a lot of work goes into every new location to get things right by engaging with the local suppliers, finding the right resources, working out logistics, timelines, flights, hotels, event spaces, ground transportation, protocol, etc. But once you get it right the first time, it becomes easier subsequently.

I build my own studio, I am not going to make movies by running into someone’s house. I want to do it the proper way. That isn’t to say that the people here are not making movies the proper way, but if they have adequate funding, they will also do movies right so that they can attract a lot more money for their films.

A movie executive once told me that Netflix pays people here much less for their movies because we do not put in as much as people from other countries. There is no story development, no set building and no sound stage. There are many other structures that we don’t make use of when making movies here. Have we made great films? We have.

But are they of global standards? No. So I have secured funding to do things differently and also get good pay.

When you get good pay, the actors get paid differently. I am not going to be making hundreds of movies a year, but when I do make one, it should be a great one.

Calabar and Tinapa presented a warm, scenic and nurturing environment, a tonic needed by the festival to springboard it after the year-long hiatus. Now in 2015, we came back to Lagos and worked assiduously to grow the festival to its rightful place as the most inclusive festival in Africa.

The biggest challenge has primarily been funding. Making corporate Nigeria understand what we were trying to achieve and getting their buy-in is still an ongoing battle, which we believe will get better as the entertainment industry continues to grow and capture everyone’s imagination.

But it is additional cost for you to fly out actors for filming Well, it is, but I have spoken with the relevant stakeholders and we have our agreement and they want it done there, regardless of the bill.

What are your plans for this year’s festival, since last year’s edition didn’t hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

For our 10th anniversary, which was last year, I brought in a device that looks like a pair of goggles. You open it, put your cell phone inside and watch all the movies that would have been showcased, were it to be a proper festival.

Everything was programmed. I bought 2,000 pieces of the device and then the EndSars protests started and spoilt my plans. I just cancelled everything. That isn’t how I imagined the 10th anniversary to be. But this year’s festival, which will be held between November 7 and 13, will now be my 10th anniversary.

What is the story and the vision behind AFFRIF of which you are a founder of?

Founding AFRIFF was motivated by certain factors. One of them is my desire to create a legacy. I founded it in 2010 after some key interactions with film makers that first began with our involvement, in our capacity as a logistics company, in the production of the 2007 Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) road show in the United Kingdom. As a result of this, between 2008 and 2009, I produced The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) Charity Benefit. This novel initiative, which I designed, was an annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project for The Africa Film Academy.

In 2009, my team and I produced one of the most talked about film premieres at the time in Nollywood, Through the Glass, a film produced by Stephanie Linus (nee Okereke).

Also in 2009, we were recruited as local producers for the ION International Film Festival (IONIFF) which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. IONIFF is a global touring festival originating from Hollywood, whose objective is the promotion of global awareness and peace through arts, culture and films. It dawned on me that the local industry needed to have a platform to showcase the amazing work that they had been doing for many years.

A film festival is a unifying platform that offers creative engagement and it enlivens any city where it is held.

AFRIFF is a world class show that presents a complete immersion into the world of film making with participation from local and international film makers, celebrities, actors, directors, film buyers, distributors, visual artists, film students, amateurs, equipment manufacturers and the international press. Every November when AFRIFF is held, it features a rich and diverse film programme. With films in various genres from all over Africa and the world, it keeps aficionados in cinemas over seven fun-filled days.

The festival also holds a retinue of various audiences enthralled through series of technical talent development workshops, industry discussion panels, as well as, business networking events where partnerships are encouraged through the development of film contents and trade channels, consequently making AFRIFF a celebration of the talent and beauty of Africa.

“

A movie executive once told me that Netflix pays people here much less for their movies because we do not put in as much as people from other countries

celebrities like Lynn Whitfield, Tchina Arnold, Rockmond Dunbar, Malcom Jamal-Warner, Adnan Siddiqui, Giancarlo Esposito, Eriq Ebounaey, Hakeem Kae Kazeem, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Vanessa A Williams, as well as their Nigerian counterparts. Overall, we usually have an international and domestic audience of over 10,000 participants.

Our vision is to raise awareness in Africa about the vast potential that the entertainment industry holds and the impact it can generate in the economy, to establish bridges for partnership with international counterparts, to ensure quality, expertise and global standards across the local industry, accelerating its sustainable development and to re-establish Africa’s significance as the original birth home of civilisation and indeed, the last frontier for unique film stories and content development.

Funding is sourced from corporate sponsorships, barter arrangements, goodwill, personal funds and yes in the past, some support from both the Federal Government and some of the states where the festival had been held in the past. Logistics and organisation is primarily handled by my team. So as not to inundate ourselves, certain functions are outsourced to other competent professionals.

However, certain organisations have been heroes in the AFRIFF story. Organisations, such as Africa Magic and the American consulate, have been my partners for six years and provided tremendous support. Access Bank and The Bank of Industry (BOI) share our vision and they have been committed to assisting in building a stronger and more viable film industry.

Holding an annual film festival is by no means a huge task, one that is capital intensive and requires top notch organisation. How do you source for funds, plan the logistics for bringing a large number of people together and still have it being talked about, many years after?

Since its inaugural edition was hosted in Port Harcourt in 2010, the festival has brought together over 2,000 international entries from professional and amateur filmmakers around the world, including American guest

What challenges have you encountered in the course of running AFRIFF and how have you been able to overcome them?

Trying to establish the AFRIFF brand used to be a huge challenge, not only in Nigeria but around Africa as well.

Securing and setting the festival in a conducive habitat with requisite support system was also a big challenge, which meant the festival had to take a break in 2012. In 2013, we were able to secure a relationship with The Tinapa Business

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Did you ever imagine that you would end up as a major player in the entertainment industry?

No. I wouldn’t say that I planned to play in the entertainment industry, talk less of being a ‘major player’. I was just sensitised after my chanced foray into the industry as an event organiser eager to fill certain gaps that were quite obvious. I wanted to make a difference, to try to bridge that gap. I just wanted to help as best as I could.

Have you ever been unfairly treated for being a woman in a male dominated part of the entertainment industry?

Yes, but I take it in my stride. I endeavour to interact with those who may not be aware of my capabilities and after a short while, they realise that my gender does not inhibit my creative ability, effectiveness or busiess acumen.

You come across as a strong-willed woman. What life experiences would you say significantly shaped you to be who you are today?

I must say that I do my best to achieve whatever I set my mind and heart upon. Life has been my greatest teacher and friend.

Trying to pencil it down to one or a few experiences won’t be doing it any justice at all. I believe it has been a culmination of virtually everything. One thing leads to another and that sets the tone for the other, which brings about some other, if you know what I mean. I take each day as it comes, preparing as best as I can to face the challenges I perceive I might experience. I like to think that there isn’t really anything that can’t be achieved and I face each opportunity or adversity with the same mindset.

You have four grown-up children and you recently clocked 50, but you don’t look it. What would you say is the secret behind your good looks?

I take care of myself. I indulge in spa days and I am one of those women who will go to America and visit my doctor and ask him to check my facial skin. That being said, I am not a makeup person. I am also not fussy about certain beauty routines. But I care about the kind of food I eat and I always try to be happy.

What has life taught you in 50 years?

I have discovered that trustworthy and loyal people are very hard to find nowadays. If you turn back and see that you still have a few friends, then thank God. It means that you are blessed.

What advice do you have for women who desire to make an impact in their chosen professions, especially in a male dominated industry?

Try! Try! Try and never relent. If anyone, irrespective of their gender, possesses that extra ‘something’ then they will stand out. That‘something’ is a mixture of vision, focus, doggedness, God’s grace and mercy. It’s a journey of selfrealisation. It isn’t the easiest of journeys, but it’s one that is guaranteed to yield true happiness and fulfillment.

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BY IVORY UKONU & SHADE METIBOGUN

How Mike Adenuga, Nora Johnson’s Love Affair Turns Sour

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lmost 200 friends of Obi Iyiegbu, otherwise known as Obi Cubana, resolved to make the burial ceremony of his late mother, Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu, who died in December 2020, one that will keep many Nigerians talking for a long time.

And did they succeed? They did, to a large extent. First, they each sent in their widow’s mites of varying sums of money through a Fidelity Bank account set up for that purpose.

Friends of the bereaved made their contributions, ranging from sums of money as low as N200, 000 to N5million. The contributors include Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who donated N1m; popular businessman and hotelier, Chima Anyaso, who donated N500,000; businessman Emeka Okonkwo (E-Money), a younger brother to singer Kingsley Okonkwo, aka Kcee, who donated N2m; and a member of the Delta State House of Assembly, Friday Osanebi, who donated N500,000.

Also, Kingsely Okpala, the face behind New Age phone accessories, donated N1m and Obi Obi donated N5m, among other donors. Leading the roll call for cow donations was none other than Pascal Okechukwu, otherwise known as Cubana Chief Priest, Obi’s former staff, friend and confidant who consolidated their renewed friendship with 46 cows. Recall that the duo were not on speaking terms for about 10 months after Okechukwu decided to leave Obi’s employ to set up his own nightclub business. They however resolved their feud in May at a friends’ mother’s burial ceremony.

Jospeh Eze Okafor, otherwise known as Jowizaza, donated 10 cows and others followed with one or two cows as their contribution. The burial proper, which held on Friday, July 16, at Afor Uzo Oba in Anambra State continued till Saturday. The event would probably have lasted one week but for the need to return to work on Monday. Besides his friends and associates who made it to the ceremony, quite a number of celebrities like Alex Ekubo, Kingsley Okonkwo, aka Kcee, Kanyo O Kanayo, Ubi Franklin, etc, joined in the merry making.

Trouble started when Nora allegedly started pilfering from her lover. From over invoicing on the purchase of vehicles to inflating air ticket fares and appropriating to herself the sum of $300,000, which was money from accounts domiciled in BNP Paribas, Paris, meant to be transferred to another account, on Adenuga’s instructions.

Adenuga also accused her of stealing another $350,000.

Pained by this, the Ijebu-born high chief petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, through his counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), accusing Johnson and five others whom he named as co-conspirators, of conspiracy, forgery, stealing and obtaining money under false pretense.

He then got an order from Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, Lagos, instructing the EFCC, to take possession of all properties owned by Johnson and her co-conspirators.

This includes her residential building, all, but one of which she had bought between April, 2001 and February 2010 and to also freeze her bank accounts. This court order was issued on February 16, 2021.

However, in a petition to the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, via her lawyers, M.J. Partnership, on March 1, 2021, Johnson denied all of Adenuga’s allegations, claiming that she was being harassed for being bold enough to walk away from him after 30 years and refusing to continue to be his lover for her peace of mind.

She insisted that at no time in 2013 was she instructed by Adenuga or Worldspan Holdings Limited to close any account or transfer the said $300,000 to DSL nominees, China as claimed by Adenuga.

Johnson also said that until she left Adenuga in 2019, both as his mistress and employee, she was never queried for the money nor did she steal the sum of $350,000 as claimed. She also added in her petition that she handled many sensitive matters for Adenuga and at no point during her work as his confidential secretary or lover, was she accused of any financial crime or misdemeanour whatsoever.

Motilola & ex-husband

Motilola Finally Walks Out Of Her Marriage

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ix years ago when Nollywood actress Motilola Adekunle came after naysayers for insinuating that her marriage was troubled, many people blamed rumour mongers for speaking ill of the actress and wishing her bad luck in her marriage. But then she shocked her fans about two weeks ago

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when she publicly announced that it was over between her and her handsome husband, Adekunle, who is an Air Force officer. Motilola confessed she was overwhelmed by the fact that she couldn’t save her marriage and felt odd to announce its collapse publicly. She said that she decided to part ways with her husband of 10 years because the marriage didn’t work out and announced that she would be co-parenting her children alongside her estranged husband. The actress has since removed her husband’s name from her social media handles.

It was rumoured that her marriage ran into troubled waters after a report claimed she could no longer get along with her mother-in-law who was described as a troublesome woman. Adekunle’s mum, it was gathered, always complained of Motilola’s expensive lifestyle and how her son could no longer afford to keep funding it.

Motilola reportedly moved out of her matrimonial home after her husband got transferred to the North. She has been spotted at different events and occasions without her wedding band. It is also alleged that Adekunle made frantic efforts to save their marriage and did all he could to satisfy both his wife and his mother, but in vain. Motilola came into the limelight through her role in Bashorun Gaa a movie from the stables of late veteran producer and playwright, Adebayo Faleti. She also played the role of Bimpe in the soap opera Share of the Sun a pet project of Mrs Segun Agagu, wife of former Ondo state Governor, late Olusegun Agagu and also acted as Ada in the series Valley Between. She has also played notable roles in different movies.

Adenuga & Johnson

Friends of Obi Cubana Donate 246 Cows, N500m for Mum’s Burial Ceremony

Fearing that she might lose all that she had acquired, Johnson got a stay of execution order on March 12, 2021 to cancel Justice Liman’s order. But Adenuga was able to get Justice Ambrose Ezeolisa Allagoa of the Federal High Court to deliver a judgment on July 15, 2021, insisting that Justice Liman’s order of February 16th, 2021 still stands in all its ramifications and must be carried out.

In the process of trying to effect Justice Allagoa’s order on Thursday July 15, all hell went loose as Johnson began to weep profusely, pleading with the billionaire to leave her alone.

“Mike Adenuga, leave me alone. What have I done? He said I stole money. But I didn’t steal any money because I wanted to break up with him. For 30 years, I gave my life to Adenuga.

Yet he wants to drive me away from this house. This same house that I built. How many houses do I have? What did he do for me? He didn’t do anything for me. I have no husband or children. I am finished,” she said, weeping uncontrollably.

We hope the erstwhile couple will find an amicable way to settle their differences.

Isaac And Nneka Moses Add Another Feather to Their Cap

The Moses

Iyiegbu

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illionaire businessman, Michael Adenuga and Nora Johnson, one of his former mistresses, no longer understand the love language they both spoke secretly for 27 years when she was his confidential secretary. Their working relationship began when he was the chairman of defunct Devcom Bank. While the sweet nothings they whispered to each other turned sour about three years ago, the current state of things between them has transformed that sourness to acidic venom such that they now wish that they never met.

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he duo of Isaac and Nneka Moses, founders of the panAfrican tourism and cultural TV show, Goge Africa, have added another feather to their cap by clinching the Trail Blazers Award for Tourism sponsored by the Aeroport College of Aviation in Lagos State. The award was given during the convocation and award ceremony of the institution, which took place a few weeks ago. This award is coming a few months after the two tourist experts were honoured by the Lagos State Government in recognition of their dedication to tourism development in the state. Isacc and Nneka were honoured after fulfilling part of their goal to train 1,000 tourism practitioners by 2025. The first set of practitioners who were trained in February were 20 and they are from Bonny Island. Recently, the couple collaborated with the state government to train another set of 22 young entrepreneurs and they are planning to train more before the end of 2021.

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JULY 18 - JULY 24, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

STORIES BY SHADE METIBOGUN

Super Eagles Captain Ahmed Musa Marries Third Wife in Nine Years

Toyin Kolade Bags Chieftaincy Title

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Kolade

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ocialite and Fisolak Global Resources boss, Princess Toyin Kolade, has been crowned as the Iyalaje Oodua or Head of market women and men in Yorubaland by the Oni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi. The installation ceremony, which took place in Ile-Ife on Saturday July 17, 2021 had top political officials, business moguls, captains of industry, socialites and royal fathers in attendance. All were present to celebrate with the lady of style. It was gathered that the Oni of Ife waited to celebrate the Aje Festival, which took place in February, before fixing a date for Iyalaje’s coronation. As the new Iyalaje of Oodua, Princess Kolade will oversee and monitor all market women and men in Yoruba land. It was gathered that the title was bestowed on her for her unflinching support and loyalty to the Oni. She has also been actively involved in a campaign to revitalise Yoruba culture and tradition, a cause His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi is so passionate about. That is why she has been shuttling between Lagos and Ile- Ife in order to offer her support to the monarch. This is not the first

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chieftaincy title the beautiful business woman would be having. She is also the Iyalaje of Apapa where she plays a big role in the import business.

n 2017, Kano Pillars player, Ahmed Musa and his estranged wife, Jamila had a dispute that resulted in the police being called to his home. Despite the intervention of the police, the issue wasn’t amicably resolved and it later ended in a divorce. Not long afterwards, the talented footballer took Juliet Ejue, another beautiful lady from Ogoja in Cross Rivers State, as his second wife. Musa showered Juliet with love and was always praising her publicly because of her support and the way she handled the home front anytime he was away from home. However, he decided to follow his late father’s footstep by venturing into polygamy four years after his marriage to Juliet. It was gathered that the footballer secretly got married another beautiful lady known as Mariam about a week ago. This makes it his third marriage in the last nine years. The couple is currently on a honeymoon in an undisclosed location.

Musa has said that his current union would stand the test of time and would be a happier one, compared to his first attempt which packed up four years ago.

Ramsey Nouah, Mo Abudu Join Oscar Voting Academy

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the list of members for the class of 2021. This development, no doubt, will further propel the Nigerian movie industry forward and earn the industry more global recognition. Made up of 395 members, it was gathered that members were drawn from 49 countries outside the United States out of which 46 percent are women and 54 percent men. In 2018, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde was invited to join the Oscar voting academy and in 2020, a similar invitation was extended to Genevieve Nnaji and Akin Omotosho.

Dosunmu

Nouah

Abudu

Musa & new wife

he trio of Mo Abudu, Ramsey Nouah and Andrew Dosunmu are now members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, popularly known as The OSCARS. Mo Abudu was invited on board as the only Nigerian and African woman in the producers’ category, while Ramsey Nouah was invited to join in the actor’s category. Andrew Dosunmu got invited to join in the directors’ category. Major Hollywood players like Janet Jackson, Robert Pattinson, Issa Rae, some past Oscar nominees and 25 past Oscar winners made

More Troubles For Baba Ijesha as GoFundMe Account is Taken Down

Yomi Fabiyi’s Controversial Film, Oko Iyabo, Gets 1 Million Views

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Baba Ijesha

could not possibly be suspended. He also denounced the rumour that the movie had been pulled down from YouTube.

According to him, the movie is still showing on YouTube and it has got more than one million views. He even went ahead to thank his fans and critics for watching the controversial movie. Not done, Yomi also boasted that he would make another movie that he would title Oko Baba Iyabo very soon.

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Fabiyi

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few weeks ago, controversial actor cum movie producer Yomi Fabiyi released a movie titled Oko Iyabo. The story line of the movie clearly depicts what transpired in Baba Ijesha’s rape case as real names of people fighting to enusure justice for the victim, were used in the movie. Thereafter, the movie sparked controversy with many Nigerians and celebrities berating the actor for making fun of a serious situation and also questioned the motive behind the project. Actor Femi Branch was among the celebrities who berated Yomi Fabiyi. He accused the latter of using the controversial movie to bring another colleague down and thereby defeating the purpose of mending fences. Also, some people in other quarters blamed Yomi for misrepresenting the story to make the victim and those calling for justice look bad before the general public.

But the actor refuted the claims, saying that Oko Iyabo was a mixture of fiction and reality and it was never intended to undermine the victim of the rape case.

In reaction, many Nigerians called and requested that the movie be pulled down from Youtube while the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association (TAMPAN) summoned the actor and co-producer of the movie. They were later suspended by the body after finding them guilty of professional misconduct and unethical practices.

According to TAMPAN, the work of art is a Cinema Verite and no one is allowed to use the real names of another person in a feature film. Yomi however sent a message to the association claiming he wasn’t one of its members and

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wo weeks ago, Oladele Matti a fan of embattled actor and alleged rapist, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, also known as Baba Ijesha, launched a 50,000 Euros GoFundMe account on behalf of the actor. According to him, the fundraising was a gesture of support, goodwill and solidarity to the actor who is facing a complicated and lengthy legal battle in the case of alleged rape and child molestation leveled against him. The news didn’t go well with people who berated the move and criticised Matti for the act. According to them, the actor doesn’t deserve such assistance. They are of the opinion that the only person who deserves such is Princess’ foster daughter who was Baba Ijesha’s victim and they promised to report the account and ensure it is pulled down. T he account was eventually reported and pulled down two weeks after it was set up, only after realising 20 Euros.

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BY KEHINDÉ FAGBULE

Behind The Scene:

Habeeb Okunola’s Installation as Akosin of Yorubaland A

few weeks ago, His Imperial Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba (Dr.) Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, installed the third Akosin of Yorubaland, Habeeb Okunola, after consultation with the Oyomesi (the Kingmakers) in an event that will go down in history as a memorable one to be cherished by residents of the ancient town of Oyo. Here is how the installation ceremony went.

Halilu-Ahmed

THE MAN, HABEEB OKUNOLA Born on August 2, 1981, Habeeb Okunola is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of TILT Group of Companies Limited, a multinational corporation with 10 successful brands that cut across real estate, construction, oil and gas, energy, engineering, agriculture, trading, dredging, asset management and technology. Hakeem also sits on the board of several blue-chip companies. He is the founder of Habeeb Okunola Foundation, a non-profit organisation. He is also an author.

WHY THE ALAAFIN CHOSE TO CONFER OKUNOLA WITH CHIEFTAINCY TITLE Hakeem Okunola was installed as the Akosin of Yorubaland due to his philanthropic gestures, which have impacted millions of underserved poor people and communities across Africa, especially in the area of financial inclusion, education, health, security and prison reforms.

Okunola & wife

VENUE OF THE EVENT The installation ceremony was held at the Alaafin’s palace. Initially scheduled to take place in March 2020, the ceremony was postponed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The post-event party also held at the expansive premises of the palace.

midwife the congress held across the 351 wards in the state.

He is also a close friend of the celebrant.

THE ALAAFIN AND HIS WIVES One of the biggest spectacles of the day was the Alaafin of Oyo’s entrance. His Imperial Majesty, Oba (Dr.) Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III walked in surrounded by his beautiful, light-skinned and young wives, delegates and aides. All dressed in matching colours of gold, it was quite the moment as he and his wives got serenaded at intervals.

THE BOOK LAUNCH An integral part of the event was the launching of the celebrant’s book, Little Bites of Inspiration. The book is a personal guide filled with short motivational messages to help keep young people and budding entrepreneurs on track. An unspecified sum of money, which probably ran into several millions of naira, was realised from donations and pledges at the book launch.

OBA ELEGUSHI CAME THROUGH FOR OKUNOLA One of the royal fathers in attendance at the event was the Oba of Elegushi, His Royal Majesty, Oba Alayeluwa Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Kusenla III. The monarch attended the installation ceremony unaccompanied by either of his wives. Had they been present, Olori Sekinat Elegushi and Olori Hadiza Elegushi, both of whom haven’t exactly gotten along, according to reports, would have caused quite a storm. Oba Elegushi’s decision not to attend the event in company with either wife would certainly have raised a few eyebrows. If he had decided to come along with his first wife, Olori Sekinat, questions of tribalism might have surfaced around his treatment of his second wife, who is a

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Alaafin & Elegusi

THE MCS The event was hosted by four Masters of Ceremonies. One of them was the Editor of THEWill Downtown Magazine, Latasha Ngwube. The others are comedian and actor, Woli Arole, whose traditional roots and in-depth knowledge of the Yoruba came handy; comedian Kenny Blaq and MC Bleach.

northerner. On the other hand, Olori Hadiza, the daughter of famous human rights activist, politician and businessman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, couldn’t have accompanied the king alone to the event as it would only aggravate the rumoured friction in her relationship with the first wife. Besides being from the North, she isn’t quite used to the Yoruba tradition yet and would have been out of place.

PRESIDENT BUHARI’S BROTHER IN-LAW THREW WEIGHT BEHIND OKUNOLA Another monarch who also made it to the ceremony was the Dujima of Adamawa, Musa Halilu- Ahmed. Dressed in his full royal regalia, he was accompanied by up to 50 delegates, all dressed up in similar costumes. The Dujima, who is the biological brother to wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, played a key role in the president’s election campaign back in 2015. He has close ties with the Alaafin, having served as the chairman of the All Progressives Congress Ward Committee for Oyo State. At that time, he led a seven-man committee appointed by the presidency to

OTUNBA OSIFESO REPRESENTED IJEBU ROYALTY The recently conferred Olotu-Olowa and Madasa of Ijebuland, Otunba Lekan Osifeso, also graced the ceremony.

The businessman cum socialite, who had just launched a new construction company, Retro Construction Company Limited, was at the event.

ABISOYE FAGADE’S POSITIONING Public Relations and communications marketing guru, Abisoye Fagade was in attendance as well. Being a close friend of Okunola, one might argue that positioning himself in one of the most influential gatherings in recent times, could only do his political aspirations some good.

The Sodium Group boss, who had just lost his mother a fortnight before the ceremony, still turned up in a cheerful mood to celebrate with his friend.

GANI ADAMS PUT ASIDE OODUA MATTERS TO PARTY The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Otunba Gani Adams, was also present at the ceremony. The activist, who was anointed generalissimo of the Yoruba by the Alaafin of Oyo back in 2017, had to put aside the Oduduwa selfdetermination agenda to let his hair down.

ROLL CALL OF VIPS Other notable dignitaries in attendance were the Oloja of Epe Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun; Aladeshonyi of Odo Noforija, Epe, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja; Alara of Ilara, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo; The Oloja of Ugbe Ayekaland, Ondo State, Prince Babatunde Michael Ayeyiowa; Olu-Nla of Itori, Oba Abudulfatai Akamo; The Alaketu of Ketu Epe, HRM Adegboyega Adefowora; Olotu-Olowa, Sports Minister, Sunday Dare; Chairman of Ogbomoṣo North Local Government, Oyo State, Hon. Olamiju Alao-Akala; Hon. Shina Peller, Fatai Owoseni and many others.

K1 DE ULTIMATE’S PERFORMANCE Not to the surprise of many, K1 De Ultimate was called on to end what was a blissful event. The Fuji icon who was also installed by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi as the first Mayegun of Yorubaland about seven months ago, spent the first half-hour of his arrival exchanging pleasantries and granting photo requests from other dignitaries and fans alike. King Wasiu Ayinde did what he does best as he kept the guests on their feet, performing some of his classic hit songs as he brought the event to a close late into the night.

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SHOTS OF THE WEEK PHOTO EDITOR: PEACE UDUGBA [08033050729]

L – R: Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Past President, National Council, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Group Chairman, Board of Directors, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) Plc; Oba Otudeko, CFR, Past President, National Council, NSE; Mr. Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, Former Federal Director of Culture; Mr. Pascal Dozie, OON, Past President, National Council, NSE; Mr. Goodie Ibru, OON, Past President, National Council, NSE; Alhaji Aliko Dangote, GCON, Past President, National Council, NSE and President, Dangote Group, and Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CON, Past President, NSE and Chairman, Coronation Capital, during a condolence visit to Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede, to commiserate with his family on the death of his mother Mrs. Emily Aig-Imoukhuede on 12/7/2021.

L-R: Chairman, The Petroleum Club, Dr. Layi Fatona; Honoree, Dr. G. S. Ihetu; Director-General, Department of Petroleum Resources, Engr. Sarki Auwalu (FNSE); Honoree, Chief C. O. Oyibo; and Executive Chairman and Founder, AA Holdings, Mr. Austin Avuru at The Petroleum Club’s 2021 Annual Business Dinner in Lagos on July 14/7/8 2021.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila (M); Chairperson, House of Representatives Press Corps, Mrs Grace Ike (3rd, L); Governor of Kano State Abdullahi Ganduje (4th, R); Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa (3rd, R), and other awardees, during the House of Representatives Press Corps Annual Dinner/Award of Excellence, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on 13/7/2021.

L-R: Regional Bank Head South/West Fidelity Bank PLC Wale Mesioye; Anchor Kwara State Social Investment Programme Mohammed Brimah; Managing Partner SME Capital, Sherifat Suleiman; Kwara State Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi; Governor of kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Commissioner for Enterprise Hajia Arinola Lawal; Managing Director Ilorin Innovation Hub, Temi Kolawole; Adebayo Lawal (Rep. SMEDAN), and Special Assistant on Technical Investments, Kabir Shagaya, during the grand finale of the State Entrepreneurial Initiative for people under 35, in Ilorin on 14/7/2021.

L-R: Temi Popoola, CFA, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX); Dr Femi Pitan, Head, Occupational Health, Chevron Nigeria Limited; Mr Olukayode Pitan, FCIB, FICA, FCS, Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry Limited; Mr Olatunde Amolegbe, FCS, President & Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), and Mr Jude Chiemeka, Divisional Head, Trading Business, NGX at the Investiture of Mr. Olukayode Pitan as an Honorary Fellow of CIS in Lagos on 13/7/2021.

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STATE OF THE STATES

BY SAM DIALA & OLAYEMI SHABA

Introduction:

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here are concerns that Nigeria’s deepening revenue challenge may escalate into a financial implosion, with the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (sub-nationals), being the worst hit. The situation is aggravated by the nation’s escalating public debt stock (standing at N33.107 trillion as of March 31, 2021), consuming a huge amount of money for debt servicing.

The debt stock comprises domestic and external loan obligations of the Federal Government and the subnationals.

With over 70 percent of the nation’s revenue committed to debt servicing annually, governments at all levels are struggling to survive. There is little left for capital budget,

pay salaries and undertake other priorities to grow the economy. Moreover, there is a limit to which the people and corporates could be taxed. Yet, profligacy takes the centre of our governance space while frugality assumes the back seat.

As such, the sub-nationals are hemorrhaging huge resources in paying salaries and other emoluments of a bloated bureaucracy. To survive, they are urged to diversify their resource base, embark on aggressive internally generated revenue (IGR) and depend less on shrinking federal allocations.

The purpose of the State of the States project, is to present evidence-based alternatives. These include avenues for the sub-nationals to become more viable and less dependent on the proceeds of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) – referred to as Abuja handout, in unpopular parlance.

State of the States, a bi-weekly publication, will periscope two states per edition. It endeavours to unearth hidden treasures in each state and ascertain, through consultations and evidence-based survey, areas of competitive advantage.

The publication will show-case, in no exaggerated terms, the socio-economic status of each state and highlights the opportunities and threats.

Furthermore, State of the States will examine existing realities that hinge on sector-specific competitive advantage – Agriculture, Tourism, Transportation, Education & Skill Acquisition, Wellbeing and MSMEs. Ultimately, the project seeks to create the desired spotlight on the sub-nationals to motivate them into something different for better results.

State of the States debuts with Lagos and Ogun.

LAGOS

Created in 1967, Lagos has metamorphosed into a humongous business and commercial hub competing evenly with the economies of some independent African states. About 20 years ago, it was physically relieved of the status of Nigeria’s capital which it bore till December 12, 1992 when the seat of government actually relocated to Abuja.

▪ Total FAAC

N115.94 bn (21.57% of Total Revenue)

▪ TOTAL IGR

N418.99 bn (78.33% of Total Revenue)

FACTS-FILE OF LAGOS

▪ Service Output N29.7 trillion

▪ Has one of Africa’s busiest ports; handles about 80% of the nation’s imports.

▪ Gross State Output N37.6 trillion or 33.1 percent of Nigeria’s GDP in 2017

▪ The revised UN World Urbanization Prospects estimates Lagos 2021 population at 14,862,111; this is additional 493,779 representing 3.44 percent growth over 41,368,332 in 2015 - one of the fastest in the world.

▪ Life expectancy: 50 years

▪ Domestic Debt N508.78 bn Lagos remains the heartbeat of the nation’s economy and the largest contributor (33.1 percent) $1.4bn to the nation’s GDP. It maintains a strong backbone in industry and commerce and is the ▪ External Debt largest economy in the South-West, the South and the entire country. It controls the coastal advantage of the entire South-West. With the smallest land mass in the country, it is the most ▪ Agricultural output N20 billion (@ 2017) densely populated after Kano and reaps bountifully from its lucrative borders and strategic ▪ N8 trillion non-oil industrial base coastline.

▪ Drives economic and developmental strides of South-West

▪ It’s Africa’s most populated city; the only African city in the List of “The World’s 10 Most Populated Cities” and the 4th most populated city globally.

▪ Population projected to hit 32.6 million by 2025 ▪ It has the third highest number of millionaires in Africa (after Johannesburg and Cairo) and is home to about 130 individuals of ultra-high net-worth of over $30 million of net assets excluding their private residence.

▪ It has a total of 1,001 primary schools, 339 Junior Secondary Schools and 319 Senior Secondary schools.

▪ Population of primary school pupils is estimated at 430,000.

▪ There are over 18,500 private schools in Lagos state; however, only 5,105 of them are approved by the government.

▪ Over 200,000 vehicles are registered in Lagos annually.

▪ Lagos state leads the country in the percentage of vehicular movement accounting for 30% of all Nigerian traffic ▪ It generates 25% of Nigeria’s total gross domestic product and represents an excellent example of what is possible when the government offers energy and other initiatives to its residents.

▪ The 2021 budget is N1.15 trillion – the highest among the sub-nationals.

▪ Over 6,000 companies operate in the state, hosting most of the nation’s MSMEs ▪ Total Revenue bn (@2020)

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STATE OF THE STATES

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES L agos’s most strategic endowments are its Atlantic coastline and large population. Experts describe this as a status that confers unique competitive and comparative advantage to the state; but which has not been adequately harnessed.

Dr Muda Yusuf, immediate past Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) told THEWILL in an exclusive interview that Lagos has lots of untapped

Restaurant: Strategic business venture.

“There are huge investment opportunities in Lagos that have not been tapped. Lagos is an aquatic state; there is a lot of water. We need to see a lot more private investments in water transportation. There is a huge opportunity there. As a coastal city, a lot more can happen around the maritime sector taking advantage of water. There are opportunities around trawling, fishing and water transport. Lagos should be a fishing hub.

Manufacturing: Real sector activity.

Courier & Logistics: As e-commerce gains traction.

Tourism: Place of relaxation.

Wellbeing: Healthcare facility.

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opportunities as a coastal city with a large population.

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Silo and Processing: Huge agricultural produce and other perishable items brought into Lagos rot away due to lack of storage facility.

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“We have some agricultural beds in areas like Badagry with lots of coconuts. We need to see a lot more of processing than what is going on there at the moment. The population is huge; food processing is a key area of investment because people have to feed. There should be storage facilities to feed a population of about 20 million; instead of allowing perishable items like tomatoes to rot away. Go to Mile-12 market and see things that can feed the population rot away.

“The huge population also creates opportunity for healthcare.

Rather than going abroad for treatment, there should be opportunity for excellent healthcare facilities in the state. The population is there, the purchasing power is there. There is a whole lot that we can still do in Lagos.”

Retail/Supermarket: Fluid business.

Maritime business: Inland River transport on Ogun River.

Financial Services: Mobile money/Agent banking services.

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STATE OF THE STATES

O

OGUN

▪ The current population estimate is 7.1 million with growth rate of 3.36 percent.

gun State was created from the old Western State on February 3, 1976. It has Abeokuta as its capital and largest city. Located in South Western Nigeria, Ogun State covers 16,762 square kilometres. It borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo and Osun states to the North, Ondo State to the east and the Republic of Benin to the west. Like Lagos, Ogun is a coastal state with viable boundaries.

Ogun State has the highest number of tertiary institutions in Nigeria – 23 (16 universities and 7 polytechnics).

According to NigeriaGalleria its natural resources include an extensive fertile soil suitable for agriculture and mineral deposits. The climate and soil of the state are suitable for the cultivation of a wide range of crops.

The major food crops include rice, maize, cassava, yam and banana. The main cash crops include cocoa, kolanut, rubber, palm oil and palm kernels. Ogun State is one of the largest producers of kolanut in the country. It also produces timber and rubber on a large scale.

About 20% of its total area is constituted of forest reserve suitable for livestock. The State has enormous industrial potentials. Its natural resources, manpower and geographical proximity to Lagos make it a potential industrial zone to the nation.

Its extensive limestone deposit according to scientists can last for some five hundred years.

The multi-million naira cement factory in Sagamu is the largest cement factory in West Africa. Both this factory and Ewekoro Cement factory depend on the local lime stone resources for raw materials.

Other mineral resources available include chalk, phosphate, high quality stones and gravels for construction works.

There are also other modern industries producing high quality beer, bicycle tyres, ceramic goods, high quality clay bricks, carpet and clothing materials

▪ It has a total of 1,873 public primary schools and 348 public secondary schools (2005) ▪ Population of public primary school pupils: 388,930 (2007).

▪ Gross State Product (GSP): 1.2 percent to Nigeria’s GDP 2017 ▪ Its GSP is the 4th in South-West, 8th in the South and 18th in the country.

▪ 68 percent of its GSP is Service output; 27 percent is non-oil, 5 percent is agriculture (all @ 2017).

▪ Its 2021 budget is N338.6 billion, 15.7 percent of total South-West Zone budget of N2.16 trillion ▪ Over 3,076 companies operate in the state, including MSMEs; Agbara is hub of Nigeria’s manufacturing companies.

▪ Total Revenue

N88,43 bn (@2020)

▪ Total FAAC

N37.68bn

▪ TOTAL IGR

N50,75bn (57.39% of Total Revenue)

▪ Domestic Debt

N153.49bn

▪ External Debt

$103.49m

(42.61% of Total Revenue)

▪ Agricultural output N65.6bn (@ 2017) ▪ N358.1bn non-oil industrial base ▪ Service Output N905.1bn

FACTS-FILE OF OGUN

▪ Gross State Output N1.3 trillion or 1.2 percent of Nigeria’s GDP in 2017

▪ It has the highest number of tertiary institutions in Nigeria – 23 (16 universities and 7 polytechnics).

▪ Drives economic and developmental strides of South-West after Lagos.

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Water Falls

Olumo Rock

Source: NBS

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STATE OF THE STATES Ogun Seeks Private Investors on Health, Transport, Others

O

gun State is looking for investors that will develop its tertiary health facilities to a world class health institutions capable of providing quality healthcare services to the people.

It is therefore inviting investors to collaborate with the government on major infrastructural development projects such as road, railway, agro processing, energy digital economy and other social services under its public-private sector partnership arrangement.

The state governor, ‘Dapo Abiodun who stated these at the Nigerian-British Chambers of Commerce (NBCC) Webinar with the theme, “Meet the Governor of Ogun State: Investment and Business Opportunities’, in May 2021, also noted that the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, needed attention to bring it to standard and prevent brain drain.

According to the Governor, “we inherited an uncompleted 250-bed Hospital in Abeokuta. As part of our recognition that government is a continuum and anywhere the Commonwealth of Ogun State has been invested, we will not abandon.

“We are therefore looking for investors in order to

help us develop it into standard hospital to stem the tide of medical tourism, conserve foreign exchange and provide quality Medicare for our citizens and those who may require the services for research and investigations”.

Reiterating the vision of his administration which included; focused and qualitative governance, improving citizens’ confidence and trust in government through transparent and accountable leadership, the governor stated that several reforms on land, energy, judiciary, tax, finance and civil service, were deliberately put in place to ensure Ease of Doing Business in the state.

He said the creation of Public Private Partnership Office, Ogun Investment Agency, Business Advisory and the recently launched Civil Justice Transformation Strategy Document, were other steps taken to ensure seamless business operations in the State.

He further observed that with a landmass of 16,981 square kilometres, suitable for the cultivating of food and cash crops, the state has a well-diversified portfolio in key sectors including manufacturing, mining and trade which put together, jointly constituted 65 percentage of the state’s Gross

National Product value.

He said the present administration’s efforts were geared towards improving productivity, mobility and connectivity through the provision of adequate road infrastructure, particularly in the rural areas.

Abiodun who stressed the importance of having motorable roads that link its neighbours, particularly, Lagos State, said the 14km Epe-Ijebu-Ode road, constructed by his administration, would soon by commissioned, while the construction of AtanLusada-Agbara road had since been flagged off, calling on investors to partner his government in building such key economic roads in the state.

The governor lauded the partnership with the British Government in setting up a Multimodal Mass Transport System for the State, adding that his administration was discussing with the Federal Government to create spurs around Lagos-Ibadan Standard guage way to service the intermittent clusters and housing estates springing up along the corridor.

While urging British investors and others to take advantage of the state’s economic potentials, Abiodun maintained that investment opportunities existed in rice, cassava, spices and vegetables, cattle and dairy, poultry as well as in Agricultural International Market and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone and in the manufacturing sector.

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Energy Facility

Hotels & Hospitality

Cattle & Dairy: Essential needs for the population which interfaces with Lagos.

Tourism

Fintech

Backward Integration

Mining & Quarry

Spices & Vegetables

Haulage Services

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SportsLive

Olympics: ‘Basketball Will Make Podium Appearance in Tokyo‘ Arguably the youngest Nigerian to have served on the Board of the Nigerian Basketball Federation, Suraj Yusuf, talks about the country’s male and female basketball teams to the Tokyo Olympic Games and the achievements of the Engr Musa Kida-led board in this exclusive interview with ADENIYI OLUGBEMI. Excerpts:

F

our years ago, the North-West nominated you as its representative on the Board of the NBBF. What are the unique qualities that earned you its trust?

What you are asking me is similar to the question I asked myself four years ago when I was to be nominated as the representative of the North-West on the NBBF board that was dissolved last month. My findings was that my modest contributions to the development of the game, which I didn’t know at the time was huge in the reckoning of basketball stakeholders within the zone, was what made them to saddle me with this worthy responsibility.

What value(s) did your presence on the NBBF board add to basketball in the North-West?

I would have suggested that you go round the zone for an independent assessment of my scorecard as their representative on the NBBF board, but, since you have given me the opportunity, I will gladly grab it to blow my trumpet.

I earlier told you how I earned the confidence of basketball stakeholders to represent the zone on the NBBF board, this, from day one, convinced me that I need to do more than I was doing with my meagre resources, contacts and intellect.

Things like committing my hard earned resources and sometimes sourcing sponsorship to organise kiddies’ basketball clinics and camps, organising competitions and supporting basketball teams within the zone to attend competitions, which I was doing with pleasure, is what people saw and unanimously decided to endorse me as the zonal representative for the NBBF board. I had never dreamed of it.

How eventful was the tenure of your board?

If I may borrow your words, , it has been an eventful year for basketball in Nigeria so far. We set out with massive successes recorded in the Afro Basketball Women’s Championship, which we won back-to-back in Mali between 2017 and 2019. The U-17 boys too, did not do badly, finishing in second position in Tunisia in 2017. The 2019 edition of the competition held in Senegal saw Nigeria triumphing over the hosts. We went to Lome, Togo and won the 3x3. The story was the same for the Salamatu Mairiga U-18 boys 3x3 in Mali.

D’Tigresses also participated at the Olympics qualifiers in Belgrade and at the World Cup in Tenerife, Spain, narrowly losing to the world super power, the America Dream Team, in the quarter finals to finish eighth in the world. D’Tigers and D’Tigresses qualified together for the Olympic Games. These are great achievements recorded on the international scene.

On the home front, the board programmes ran successfully, except for a distraction from a tiny clique that temporarily stalled the men’s premier league. But, at last, the Kida-led NBBF board triumphed as the court ruled in our favour. Even with the distraction, we came up with the novel idea of The President’s League Tournament to save the players from being match rusty. Royal Hoppers won and represented Nigeria at the African Basketball League in Rwanda. Another milestone recorded by the board was the five-year sponsorship of Total Division One and Two Basketball League.

Podium appearances by the Nigeria basketball teams at the Tokyo Olympics will be an icing on the achievements recorded by our board. I am very optimistic about this and D’Tigers have rekindled our hopes when they ran over Team USA, who are current Olympics champions, in an exhibition game played at Las Vegas, Nevada.

Significantly, the victory was the first for Nigeria against the Americans after suffering back-to-back defeat in 2012 and 2016. Forty-eight hours after the record victory over the U.S team, D’Tigers also defeated Argentina, ranked fourth-best team in the world, in another exhibition game.

D’Tigers is a collection of foreign-based Nigerian players.

Is basketball now following the trend in football where the national team is exclusively reserved for foreign-based players?

This, I would say, is not intended to shut any category of player out of the national team. Without holding brief for the team’s handlers, I think merit is the parameter that determines who makes the team. If you recall that the NBBF President, Engineer Musa Kida, in his inaugural speech dwelled extensively on grassroots basketball, an agenda that every member of the Federation imbibed and took back to our different zones. The

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The state championship events that I normally organise received a boost during my tenure on the NBBF board. The youth camp that was aimed at ‘catching them young,’ where I invited notable coaches across Nigeria, were also stepped up across the zone. I also organised 3x3 competitions within the zone.

Yusuf

Before I was nominated, my thinking was that such a position was beyond me, as qualifications for the position may require certain pedigrees or credentials like age, financial and societal status, etc. Here I am today, contributing and adding value to the development of basketball at the highest level.

I earlier said, is a mere distraction to our board. Now that a judicial pronouncement has put an end to it, what is expected of all genuine stakeholders of the game is to close ranks for the good of the game. This, I assure you, would be on display during the next Federation elections.

President specifically mentioned that home-based basketball players would be given every opportunity they deserve to rub shoulders with their foreign counterparts and I can proudly say the Federation has done wonderfully well in this regard.

I can vividly recalled that four home-based players were part of the D’Tigers that participated in the 2017 Afro basketball championship in Tunisia. The same applies to the D’Tigress, where the likes of, Nkechi, Nkem, Okoro and Tina, from the Zenith Bank sponsored female league made the team.

Prior to the World Cup camping and preparations, a sizeable number of home- based players were invited to the camp and they gave a good account of themselves. Personally, I think the stalemate in the Nigeria Basketball Men’s Premier League, was a disservice that robbed the home-based players the opportunity to be at same level with their foreign counterparts.

Why was it difficult for basketball stakeholders to settle their disputes amicably instead of heading to court?

The irreconcilable difference you are going back to, like

To address the disturbing trend in which there is a dearth of FIBA badge referees in the zone, with Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Katsina States not having a single referee to officiate basketball (not FIBA), I organised a referee refresher course early this year in Kano, with the support of Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, the Chairman, Kano State Sports Commission, who graciously granted the use of the Kofar Mata Indoor Sports Hall for the clinic. FIBA badge referee instructors were invited and they taught 56 participants stuff, such as how to handle the whistle, how to run on the court and the rules of the game.

My imprint, in terms of financial support to clubs in the zone that participated in NBBF organised competition, was the first of its kind in the zone.

Can you confidently beat your chest and say that you have been a worthy representative who deserves another term on the NBBF board?

If I can do all that I catalogued as a first timer on the NBBF board, I will leave the rest to the stakeholders within the zone to decide whether I have kept fate with the trust they reposed in me or otherwise. If I can do this little as the youngest ever in the annals of the NBBF board, I honestly deserve the backing of the zone in my return bid. I have identified lack of sponsorship as one of the challenges facing basketball in the zone and plans are already ongoing to attract notable sponsors for different categories of competitions, clinics/seminars at the state and zonal levels.

AP Sources: Ogwumike Files Appeal to Play in Olympics

L

AS VEGAS (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams have filed appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a last-ditch effort to play basketball for Nigeria in the upcoming Olympics, said two people familiar with the situation.

The pair were notified earlier this week by FIBA that their petition to play for the African nation had been denied because they played for the U.S. national program for too long. The people spoke to The Associated Press Friday on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.

The two WNBA players would need to have FIBA’s decision overturned by Sunday’s registration deadline for the Olympics or have the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) grant them a provisional allowance and add them to the roster until a hearing can occur.

The CAS, which is located in Switzerland, helps facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation.

Williams, Ogwumike and her younger sister Chiney also sent a letter to FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis hoping he might overturn the decision.

Ogwumike and her two sisters have dual citizenship with the United States and Nigeria and feel they believe they should eligible to represent the country in Japan. The Ogwumikes’

parents, Peter and Ify, were both born in Nigeria and came to the United States before their daughters were born.

Erica Ogwumike is on Nigeria’s provisional roster as a Nigerian citizen, but Chiney was given permission to play for the country as a naturalized player. Because each country is only allowed one naturalized player, if her status remains the same and Nneka is granted permission to play but only as a naturalized player only one of the two would be able to play for the African country.

FIBA’s regulations do allow the organization’s secretary general to authorize a player to compete for their country of origin if it will help grow basketball in the country.

No African nation has won a game in the Olympics since Nigeria went 1-5 in the 2004 Athens Games. The Nigerian Federation has already filed an appeal to FIBA, but that potentially could not be decided until after the roster deadline.

Nneka Ogwumike and Williams have been given consent by USA Basketball to play for Nigeria. Usually players that compete for the U.S. in major FIBA events after they turn 17 are not allowed to start playing for another country.

Nneka Ogwumike competed for the U.S. in the 2018 World Cup where the Americans beat Nigeria in the quarterfinals. She had hoped to make the U.S. roster for Tokyo, but was left off the team when it was announced. She had been dealing with a knee injury suffered early last month.

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